The Black Stone of Elu

by Darrin Long

  Once Sonje was seated, Kaylu spoke to the group.

  “Ok, we know where he is and we know how many soldiers he has presently,” He said. “I think if we attack him before he grows any stronger, we just may be able to catch him off guard.”

  “And just how do you expect us to get hundreds of soldiers through the Glen without Caudee noticing?” Krell asked.

  “Well, that’s the trick, isn’t it?” Kaylu replied. “If you can get the soldiers to the north end of the Glen, I can get them across the Glen and to the mountain pass without being noticed.”

  King Krell gave him a surprised look.

  “You can?” he asked.

  “Yes, I can” kaylu said with confidence.

  Krell gave Kaylu an impressed look.

  “You can move an entire army with your magic?” Krell asked.

  Kaylu could see the same surprised look on every face in the room.

  “Yes,” he replied in a defensive tone. ”Do none of you remember the old magic?”

  “Well, it just seems like an incredible feat that’s all,” Krell said.

  Kaylu stood up and walked over to a picture on the wall.

  “Krell, do you remember this painting?” he asked.

  “Well, not exactly” Krell replied, “should I?”

  Kaylu lifted the painting off the wall and brought it over for Krell to look at it more closely.

  Krell scanned the painting and saw the signature at the bottom.

  “My grandmother painted this?” Krell asked, “why do you have it?”

  Kaylu smiled, “It was a gift. But do you notice what the picture is about?”

  Krell looked closely at the painting again.

  “It’s a picture of the day the Tunai left our Island and came here to start over,” He said.

  “And do you remember the story?” Kaylu said. “Well, yes,” Krell said “Every Tunai child is taught it. Mall had all Tunai stand on the tallest cliff on the island and join hands.”

  Then Krell looked up at Kaylu with realization in his eyes.

  “She moved my entire race with magic, didn’t she?” Krell asked.

  Kaylu nodded and returned the painting to the wall.

  “I had forgotten that story,” Krell said, “I always thought it was made up.”

  “No, it is not. The trick is to start in a higher place than you are aiming to end” Kaylu said. “We will start on the mountaintop north of the Glen and we will end at the base of the mountain in the south.”

  King Krell took a deep breath; he looked unsure of the whole magic thing.

  “We must have the element of surprise on our side,” Kaylu said. ”If Caudee knows we are coming, he will have prepared an unfortunate surprise for us all.”

  Krell stood up and walked over to where the painting was hanging.

  “Karn will not help us,” he said.

  “Well, the Dragoine army is one hundred strong,” Kaylu said.

  “And I can offer two hundred soldiers. I must keep my people well guarded. I’m sure you understand” Krell replied.

  “Yes, I do, but that is still twice the size of Caudee’s army,” Kaylu said. “With the element of surprise, we can defeat him.”

  Krell turned around, “and what of the Reiteach?” he asked.

  “The Reiteach?” Lamu said turning to Kaylu “you have enlisted that human boy?”

  Kaylu struggled to keep his temper under control, as he looked at Lamu.

  “As I have told you many times brother, no Tunai or Dragoine can kill Caudee,” he said. “It must be a man.”

  King Lamu’s face seemed to flush from the way Kaylu had spoken to him.

  “This child is an abomination,” the King said. “He wasn’t supposed to exist.”

  Kaylu turned to Lamu with one swift movement and a large book appeared in thin air between them. Kaylu turned to a page and pointed to a passage.

  ”Read this,” he said.

  “What is this?” Lamu asked.

  “It is a book of every prophecy that a Dream Crier has dreamed” Kaylu replied, “read it.”

  King Lamu leaned over and started reading the passage then, he sat back with a shocked look on his face.

  “Why is it that I, the King, knew nothing about this?” he asked Kaylu.

  Kaylu thought quickly of how he should answer that question then, with a smile he replied.

  “It was decided that the Kings had enough to handle running their Kingdoms, that they did not need the added worries.”

  King Lamu looked at King Krell then, back at the book.

  “This was written by Mall,” he said.

  “Yes,” Kaylu said, “She was Dream Crier during the reign of King Moghn.”

  “I see, so this Reiteach is supposed to single-handedly save our people?” Lamu asked.

  “Oh, no” Kaylu replied “it will take every single one of us to do this. Caudee will have an army and some pretty nasty wolves at his disposal. We will have to fight his army while trying to set up Neilan so he can kill Caudee.”

  “So, how do we set him up?” King Lamu said.

  “Well, we will have to distract Caudee with a full attack through the northern and eastern mountain passes at the same time and give Neilan time to sneak into the valley unnoticed,” kaylu said. “The hard thing is how we are going to get the crown from Caudee’s head.”

  “What do you mean,” Lamu said, “we’ll just kill him and take it.”

  Kaylu looked frustrated with his brother.

  “Lamu, listen,” he said, “If the crown is not removed from Caudee’s head first, Neilan will not be able to kill him.”

  King Lamu sat back in his chair and breathed out heavily.

  “So, how do we do that?” King Krell asked.

  “Leave that to me,” Kaylu said.

  “I will do it,” Sonje said before he realized that he had spoken without being spoken to.

  He quickly lowered his eyes expecting King Krell to chastise him, but he did not.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” King Krell asked him.

  Sonje looked up at Krell and then at Lamu and Kaylu.

  “The black stone destroyed my father and my family,” he said.

  “Of course,” Kaylu said “you are Brun’s son. How did I miss the obvious? You are the spitting image of him.”

  “Thank you,” Sonje said “but my father’s legacy was one of death. Not much to be proud of.”

  “That’s not true,” King Krell said “Brun was following the orders of King Moghn. He was a great soldier, son.” King Krell looked down then, he reached out and placed his hand on Sonje’s hand. “No one knew what the stone was capable of doing,” he said, “your father was a brave soldier and he is not responsible for what happened to him or to anyone else.”

  Krell looked up at Sonje who nodded to the King, then turned away to wipe a tear from his eye.

  “I will find another armour-bearer to follow me if I need to,” King Krell said. “When do you want the soldiers to be on the mountain?”

  Kaylu thought for a moment, “Two days just before dawn. I’d like to have the army at the mountain pass as the sun is coming up” Kaylu replied.

  King Krell and Sonje stood up.

  “Done,” Krell said.

  King Lamu stood up also and for a moment the two kings stood toe to toe then, to Kaylu’s surprise, King Krell reached out his hand to King Lamu. Lamu hesitated for just a split second and then grasped Krell’s hand.

  “Thank you, Krell,” he said as they all turned to leave the room.

  They walked back to the gate and Krell and Sonje walked back to their soldiers in the valley.

  “Well, we have our army,” Kaylu said to Lamu. “Now we just need to get Caudee where Neilan can do his thing.”

  “And just what is his thing?” Lamu asked.

  “I have been watching him his whole life,” Kaylu said with a smile. “This boy can shoot an arrow like no man ever could. He will hit his target when he needs
to.”

  Kaylu turned to Lamu and held out his hand.

  “Brother, I need to get back to Neilan and Iri,” he said.

  “Iri?” Lamu said, “Are they together?”

  Kaylu hesitated for a moment, unsure of what he should say.

  “Well, I have them both waiting for me to return,” he said. “I should be going.”

  “Oh, ok,” Lamu said, “Kaylu, please tell Iri that I miss her.”

  “I will brother,” kaylu said and then he disappeared.

  Neilan and Iri were sitting on the bench just watching the clouds drift across the Glen when Kaylu appeared.

  “Kaylu,” Neilan said excitedly, “we’ve been waiting for ye.”

  Kaylu gave him a questioning look.

  “Why have you been waiting for me?” he asked.

  “Because I need to tell ye what happened to me today” Neilan replied. “I ran with wolves Kaylu, with real mountain wolves.”

  Kaylu looked surprised, “how?” he asked.

  “Well, I was running and I ran up behind them, but they didn’t even see me,” Neilan said. “And I wasn’t even afraid Kaylu. It was like I wasn’t really there.”

  Kaylu clapped his hands together and breathed a sigh.

  “I was hoping that the magic would appear somehow,” he said “I wasn’t sure, but I thought you would have to be in touch with each of the different bloodlines that surge through your veins. That’s why I asked Krell to come and help.”

  Neilan smiled a big smile, but he was not going to tell Kaylu anything about what had been happening between Iri and him. Besides, it shouldn’t affect his being the Reiteach anyways. It was his destiny and the Dream Criers prophesied that he would kill Caudee. Kaylu sat down on the bench next to Iri.

  “Your father sends greetings,” he said “he also wanted me to tell you that he misses you.”

  Iri nodded “thank you,” she said, but Neilan could see that it would take more than an ‘I miss you’ to mend that relationship.

  “Iri, your father has changed,” Kaylu said, “he is not the arrogant and selfish man he once was.”

  “Well, I’m glad for him,” she said and giving Neilan a touch on his cheek, she stood up and went inside the cave.

  Kaylu breathed a sigh and shook his head.

  “Neilan, the Tunai have agreed to help us in our battle against Caudee,” Kaylu said. “We attack the day after tomorrow, early in the morning.”

  “So soon” he replied, “are ye sure I am ready?”

  “You are not alone,” Kaylu said, “my only problem is how we are going to get the crown off from Caudee’s head.”

  Kaylu stood up and walked over to the tree to lean and think. Neilan tried to come up with possible plans of how he could do that, but each one just seemed too ridiculous to try.

  “Kaylu, when I saw Caudee’s camp in my dreams, I went into his tent and saw how he spoke to the soldiers,” Neilan said. “He is very arrogant himself. Maybe I could use that arrogance against him to get him to remove the crown.”

  “I don’t know Neilan that is a very dangerous proposition” Kaylu replied. “You would have to get dangerously close to do such a thing.” Kaylu looked out over the Glen. “I just can’t take any chances. The prophecies don’t give us any information as to how the Reiteach is to kill Caudee; just that he does.”

  Then Kaylu turned and looked back at Neilan.

  “Unfortunately, we have never had a prophecy fulfilled before,” he said.

  “What, never?” Neilan asked, “I thought there had been Dream Criers for centuries?”

  “Well, there has,” Kaylu said “but the prophecies have all been about the Reiteach. So, we really don’t know for sure if they are very accurate since they have not come true yet. Or, if maybe they are just a possible outcome.”

  Kaylu walked back to where Neilan stood.

  “Remember, some of Mall’s prophecies were way off,” he said. “I just don’t want to take any unnecessary chances with this Neilan. I don’t want to risk your life without a guarantee.”

  Neilan’s heart sank in his chest as his confidence began to drain away. The prophecies all said he would kill Caudee, but if even kaylu is not convinced then, how can he be sure of anything? Kaylu placed his hand on Neilan’s shoulder.

  “I need time to think this through, Neilan,” he said. “I am going back to Gomore for a while. I will be back tomorrow evening.”

  “Kaylu,” Neilan said, “Iri told me that ye knocked the crown off of Brun’s head once with a large rock. Can’t ye do that again?”

  Kaylu smiled at Neilan. “Good thinking,” he said, “but Caudee will also know that story and will not make it easy for a repeat. Besides, things have changed since then.”

  “Wait,” Neilan said, “if Caudee has to be killed by a man, then how did ye kill Brun?”

  Kaylu smiled then, he stepped away.

  “I will be back tomorrow evening. Oh, Lamu is sending a soldier to help you practice with your sword tomorrow,” he said. “Neilan, you are the only one alive who can do this.”

  Without another word, Kaylu disappeared.

  “Practice with my sword,” Neilan said.

  With all the talk about fighting Caudee, he hadn’t thought about the fact that this will be a real battle with real fighting and real dying. Neilan sat back down on the bench as the reality sunk in. He would have to fight for his life and there will be people trying to actually kill him. His stomach was in a knot when he went back into the cave and he could see the worried look on Iri’s face also.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “We are going to attack Caudee the day after tomorrow,” he said.

  “The day after tomorrow,” Iri said, “but you’re not ready.”

  Neilan took a deep breath and grabbed his bow.

  “I will have to be,” he said, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the forehead. “I need to practice.”

  He headed out the door and walked up on the mountainside where he usually practised. Then, using an arrow with a string attached to it, he spent two hours shooting specific leaves off tree branches. As he shot he envisioned the black stone and each time, he hit his mark. That’s when the idea came to him.

  “If we could distract Caudee, I could shoot the crown off his head,” he thought.

  Neilan stopped at a target that he had set up for practice.

  “Speed, I need incredible speed,” He thought.

  He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, focusing on his breathing and on the beating of his heart. Then, he opened his eyes and shot six arrows in rapid succession at the target. Four of them were in the centre and two were slightly off centre.

  “I must be faster,” he thought “cannot give Caudee a moment to respond or react.”

  He gathered his arrows and took several steps further back. Again, he closed his eyes and concentrated listening to the rhythm of his heart beating. Then, he opened his eyes and shot six more arrows into the target; all six were in the centre. Neilan looked down at his bow.

  “Ye are my closest friend,” he said, “ye have never let me down.”

  Then, gathering his arrows, he headed back to the cave.

  Miles away to the North at Furrow Thor, Kaylu sat in the Tunai library of the King.

  “Perhaps I can help you locate what you are looking for?” an old Tunai said looking suspiciously at Kaylu over the top rim of his very thick spectacles.

  Kaylu looked at the bookkeeper for a moment then, cleared his throat.

  “I’m looking for any writings of Mall,” he said “perhaps a journal or a records book?”

  The old bookkeeper scratched his chin and thought for a moment.

  “Journal,” he said “well, let me see. If there are any such records they will be in the archives of Moghn I would think, follow me.”

  Kaylu followed the bookkeeper into a small alcove off to the side of the library. Kaylu watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an old key, which
he used to unlock a door in the bookshelf that was built into the wall.

  “This way please,” he said and Kaylu followed him into a dark and dusty room piled with books and scrolls and maps.

  Kaylu lit the torches by the door with his staff, which made the old bookkeeper jump with surprise.

  “Oh, sorry,” Kaylu said as the bookkeeper gave him an angry look over the top of his spectacles.

  “Let me know when you have finished,” the bookkeeper said and he turned and walked out of the room.

  Kaylu shrugged then, started searching the piles. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for; anything that would help him in planning their attack on Caudee. For hours, he sat sifting through the piles, but he still hadn’t found anything when there was a knock on the door. Kaylu looked up to see Sonje standing in the doorway.

  “Ah, Sonje,” kaylu said, “come in.”

  Sonje stepped into the room and looked around.

  “Have you found what you are looking for?” Sonje asked.

  “Well, no,” Kaylu said with a frown, “looks like we are just going to have to figure it out ourselves.”

  Then kaylu looked intently at Sonje, “What’s on your mind son?” he asked.

  Sonje swallowed hard, “I want to be the one to distract this Caudee so Neilan can get a shot at him,” Sonje said.

  Kaylu looked at Sonje with surprise.

  “Are you sure Sonje?” he asked, “such a task may require your life.”

  Sonje nodded, “I know what the King says about my father, but I also know what people think about him. I want the chance to make things right” he said. “If I can distract Caudee and Neilan can kill him, then they will not talk about Brun and his evil deeds, but they will talk about Sonje and his bravery. My father did not make it to the Halls of Honor. Now, I must take his place.”

  Kaylu looked down at the book that lay before him on the table.

  “Please,” Sonje said, “I owe this to my family.”

  Kaylu sighed then, nodded to Sonje.

  “Ok,” he said.

  “Thank you,” Sonje said.

  “But only if Krell agrees,” Kaylu said.

  “I will speak to him” Sonje replied then, he left the room.

  Kaylu put his head in his hands.

  “I guess any plan is better than no plan,” he said as he stood up and walked out of the room.