The Stone of Power (The Legendary Keepers Book 2)

by Cassidy Bennett

  “Hey, Valida?” William asked, hobbling over to me the best he could. I slowed down a little bit so he could catch up.

  “Yeah?”

  “I-I know it’s a lot to ask, but...you believe me, right?” His wavering voice was heartbreaking.

  “You’ll have to be more specific,” I said.

  “That I didn’t want to betray you, but felt like I had no choice? That I’m not spying for the person who...who k-killed my little sister?”

  I could see the sincerity in his teary eyes. His story had started to unfold and, to my surprise, I realized that I did believe him.

  I nodded. “I believe you. I don’t know if I can fully trust you, but I understand why you spied on us before. Still, you’ve helped us at every opportunity.” I paused. “Speaking of which, I never got to thank you for helping me rescue my parents and for getting the Brass Compass for us. You were a crucial ally as the Classified Comrade, William. Knowing who you are behind your mask and fake deep voice shouldn’t change that.” As an afterthought, I added, “It doesn’t change that.”

  Relief settled over his formerly anxious face. “Thank you. I won’t let you down, Valida. I’ll never let you down again.”

  I gave him a small smile. “In that case...it’s good to have you back.”

  Chapter 22

  That night, I had third watch with Selene. Once Lori woke me up, I went over to Selene’s sleeping bag, where she slept with her back to me. As soon as my hand touched her shoulder, she whispered, “I’m awake.”

  “Couldn’t sleep?” I guessed.

  She rolled over to face me, then sat up and nodded, rubbing her eyes. “It’s time for our watch, right?”

  I nodded. She slipped out of her sleeping bag and joined me in tonight’s designated watch spot.

  “I heard you and William talking earlier,” she began when we sat down, sounding utterly exhausted. “I-I can’t forgive him like you did. You didn’t know some of the werewolves personally. I did.” Her voice tightened. “They were like family to me. Now, everyone in Lythacan who was ever kind to me there and took me in as one of their own is dead.”

  “You’re right,” I acknowledged. “I didn’t know any of the werewolves personally. What I do know, however, is that there isn’t a way to make up for that, but William is doing what he can.”

  She listened in silence, tears streaming down her face.

  “I know you can’t forgive or trust him completely or immediately,” I continued. “If I were in your shoes, I definitely wouldn’t be able to. Just…” I trailed off a bit, looking for the right words. “...just don’t murder him, I guess. Do your best to start letting go of it.”

  “I want to, but I have so many questions,” Selene said, burying her face in her hands. “Why would he say everything he did if he didn’t actually believe in the Attackers’ cause? Why wouldn’t he tell us what happened when Regina called him out on his betrayal?”

  “I wanted to tell you everything.”

  William’s sleeping bag had been placed only a few yards from the designated watch spot. He had slipped out of it and was standing up when he’d spoken and we’d whipped around to see him. He turned a bit red and ran his hand through his hair as he approached us.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he apologized. “I couldn’t sleep.”

  Selene looked like she wanted to storm off, scream at him, punch him, or just about anything to show him her outrage.

  Yet she didn’t even seem to have the energy to do anything about it.

  “Just stay away from me,” she said eventually.

  “Selene—” he began.

  “I’m not in the mood.” Even that statement seemed to exhaust her. I could tell this whole situation was weighing on her mind.

  He hesitated, then sat down a few feet away from her. “Okay, I deserved that,” he acknowledged glumly. “I know you can’t forgive me, but can I at least answer some of your questions?”

  Her expression softened a little. “Okay. You were eavesdropping; start with the questions you heard.”

  “Like why I acted like I actually wanted to be an Attacker?” he clarified.

  She nodded.

  “Esora told me I’d better make you believe I’m a cold-blooded traitor or Summer would die,” William explained. “Something about breaking your spirits? Anyway, it was part of the terms when we negotiated for Summer’s life.” With bitterness in his voice, he added, “Not that it mattered in the end.”

  “So, it was all an act?” I asked, realization dawning on me. “That’s why I couldn’t shake off how out-of-character you acted!”

  He looked surprised. “You noticed?”

  I shrugged. “I’ve known you for a while, though, I admit, not super well. Everyone at Oakwood High knew how much you valued loyalty and friendship. It struck me as weird that you’d throw it all away so easily.”

  William’s gaze returned to Selene, who glared at the ground so intensely that it looked like she was trying to light the stone on fire with her mind. She wouldn’t look up to meet William’s eyes, as if she didn’t dare believe he was telling the truth.

  He cautiously moved closer to her. She tensed, but her gaze only flickered toward him from the ground for less than a second. He was only a few inches from her now.

  “Selene, please,” he pleaded. “I messed up really bad and I know you can’t forgive me on the spot, but…” He trailed off for a moment, as if trying to find the right words. “...but there has to be something I can do so we can be on somewhat decent terms again.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she continued to glare intently at the ground. She didn’t respond.

  William waited a few minutes—it felt like an eternity to me—then tried again. “Is there anything I can do to—”

  “Unless you can bring them back,” she spat, finally snapping and giving William a look of pure hatred that was only enhanced by the tears streaming down her face, “then no, there is nothing you can do to make it up to me. They’re all dead, William! And you practically gave the order for it!” She got to her feet and stormed off to the part of our makeshift camp that was furthest from where William and I sat. She sat on the hard, dirty, stone floor and hugged her knees to her chest, burying her face in them.

  William looked close to tears himself. “I ruined everything, didn’t I? I got Lythacan annihilated. I lost my best friend. I couldn’t even save my sister!”

  “Give Selene some time,” I said, hoping I sounded more certain than I felt. “She’s still upset over her friends in Lythacan being murdered by the Attackers and just found out that you aren’t actually a cold-blooded traitor on top of that. She needs time to process everything and to calm her emotions.”

  William nodded numbly. After a moment, he said, “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so why don’t you get some sleep? I can take your place for the rest of the shift. It’s not like I’m going to be able to sleep anyway.”

  I tried to protest, but he insisted.

  “I’ll wake you if anything happens,” he assured me. “Who’s on watch after this?”

  “Felix and David are,” I answered. “You’re sure you want to take my place? I don’t know how Selene will react.”

  He nodded. “I’m positive. Get some sleep.”

  I finally accepted his offer and went to bed, snuggling into my sleeping bag. I was nervous about leaving William and Selene on watch together—she wasn’t too happy being anywhere near him, after all—but I decided to trust him. After all, we just had two days left.

  Two days left to find the Zemayta Stone and get it to Umarek in Fate’s Clearing.

  Two days before time would run out.

  Chapter 23

  I woke up to Felix yelling.

  “ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY, UP AND AT ‘EM!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, his excessive volume jolting me awake. “IT’S SIX THIRTY SHARP, SO GRAB SOME GRUB AND LET’S HIT THE ROAD! I MEAN, CORRIDORS! OR WHATEVER THESE ARE!”

  Davi
d facepalmed. “I see you’ve only gotten more obnoxious,” he remarked grumpily.

  Tom scowled at Felix. “I’m trying to sleep, Wilson,” he grumped. “Shut up.”

  Felix walked right over to Tom’s sleeping bag. Then, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “RISE AND SHINE, GRUMPY WARTHOG! WE’RE BURNING DAYLIGHT! UP, UP, UP!”

  “I hate you so much, you potato-obsessed dimwit,” Tom growled. He grudgingly slipped out of his sleeping bag and started packing up. “There isn’t even daylight to burn down here!”

  Felix ignored him and continued making sure everyone was awake and getting ready to go. I think he just liked annoying us all to pieces, but it was surprisingly effective for convincing us to get up and going.

  Once my little sleeping area was packed up and ready to go, I walked over to where William was packing up his area. He had bags under his eyes and slumped shoulders.

  “Did you get any sleep last night?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “A little bit, after I woke Felix and David for their shift. I had another dream with the same message from Kristina.”

  “I’m glad you got a little bit of sleep,” I commented. I lowered my voice. “Did you have any trouble with Selene?”

  He shrugged again. “Kind of? I’m not really sure what to call it. For the most part, she just refused to speak to me. Every time I tried to approach her, she’d move.” He sighed, glancing over toward Selene, where she struggled with her sleeping bag. She shoved her sleeping bag to the side, frustrated with its lack of cooperation. She looked both exhausted and infuriated. “I hope she warms up to me again.”

  “Good luck,” I said sincerely.

  He took a deep breath, then released it slowly. “I’m going to need it,” he said.

  He set his sleeping bag, which was nicely put away, to the side and walked over to Selene. Wordlessly, he rolled up her sleeping bag and put it away. He didn’t even try to make eye contact, let alone try to say something. Then, he put it in her travel bag and walked back over to where I stood to put his in his bag. Thankfully, although Gabrielle was currently unconscious in Lena’s emerald amulet, her magic had remained intact. Our travel bags were still able to hold a lot more than simple bags should have been able to.

  Selene stared at William during the whole ordeal, shock evident on her face. When she saw that I’d seen her reaction, she quickly went back to packing the rest of her stuff in her bag, avoiding eye contact.

  “How did she react?” William asked softly. Since he didn’t dare make eye contact with Selene when he helped her, he hadn’t seen her look of complete surprise.

  “She looked shocked, but didn’t look like she was going to murder you,” I answered at the same volume. “That was pretty brave.”

  “Thanks,” he said, sounding a little more hopeful. “I just hope it did some good.”

  “For your sake,” I said, “I hope so too.”

  “Alright, everybody!” Lori called out once our makeshift camp was packed up. “Let’s go find that Stone!”

  A few exhausted cheers went up. Lori gave everyone a tired smile, then started walking, leading the way through the winding corridors of the Labyrinth once more.

  ◆◆◆

  Lori stopped. We stood in front of a huge sphinx statue made of black quartz. It was blocking the only doorway in the room, besides the one we’d just come in from. Its eyes were closed and it wore a peaceful expression. At its base was an inscription of strange symbols.

  “You’re up, Peterson,” Tom said, turning around to beckon Steven forward.

  Steven stepped forward, then crouched down to get a better look at the inscription. “Oh!” he said. “This one is easy. ‘Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.’”

  The statue’s eyelids fluttered open, displaying beautifully polished rubies as eyes. It yawned and stretched. Steven jumped backwards, tripping over a rock and landing hard on his back. Scraped and bleeding from the uneven, rocky ground, he scrambled back to his feet to face the sphinx of black quartz.

  “Oh!” the statue said, looking over our group with some surprise. “I haven’t seen a traveling party this big in centuries!”

  Mallum and I exchanged looks. I stepped forward and asked, “Who are you?”

  "My name is Zenner," it introduced, lowering its head in a bow. "I am the judge of all those who proceed."

  “Okay, cool...I think,” I said uncertainly. “We’re all a bit...new...to this, so would you mind explaining how this works?”

  Zenner shrugged. I didn’t know statues could shrug, but live and learn, I guess. “Okay, why not? I haven’t had to explain this in ages!” He recited a small poem.

  Take my paw and in your mind

  Deepest hopes and fears I find

  Those I judge, so to proceed

  A noble cause is what you need

  Selene glanced back at William, as if watching for his reaction. He looked relieved.

  “Hypothetically speaking, what if one of us has a cause that isn’t noble?” she asked. William looked hurt. I looked away from them. We all knew that Selene’s question was asked because of him. Or, more accurately, because of her distrust of him.

  Zenner watched the nonverbal exchange with a raised eyebrow. “Well, you’d either be teleported back to the entrance of the Labyrinth of the Lost, stuck down here to forever wander any corridors or rooms up to this point, or destroyed instantaneously, depending on how bad your cause is. I’ve only destroyed one person instantaneously in the last two thousand years or so that I’ve guarded this section of the Labyrinth of the Lost, and they were...well, they were more evil than I ever imagined a person could be. Most people end up teleported back to the entrance of the Lost if their cause isn’t exactly good.”

  “So, each of us have to take turns holding your paw?” Felix asked.

  Zenner nodded. “Yes. If there aren’t any more questions, who would like to be first?”

  Felix turned to me. “How about you, Miss Magenta?”

  I shrugged. “Okay.”

  I took Zenner’s outstretched paw. Memories flashed before my eyes faster than I could comprehend them.

  “Hmm,” Zenner said, his brow furrowing. His paw didn’t leave my hand as he spoke aloud. “You’re certainly a strange situation. About nine years of your life’s memories are gone...how strange. That makes my job a bit more difficult. Since then, you’ve grown quite a bit, though you’ve been forced to grow faster with the weight of the Dimensions on your shoulders.” He released my hand. “I must add, Valida Smith, that Lady Ryntha was right in your dream.”

  I looked at him quizzically.

  “If you don’t choose wisely as far as your methods of facing Umarek go,” Zenner said, choosing his words carefully, “you have a very high risk of dying, young Magenta.”

  Choose wisely or die, I recalled. So that’s what she meant.

  It dawned on me that Zenner had seen what I’d experienced during my trial of character when he’d held my hand. He knew I planned to face Umarek alone. He was warning me.

  If I faced Umarek alone, I would die.

  Chapter 24

  I tried not to show my panic.

  I knew I couldn’t let my friends die for me, even if that meant that I would die for them. Still, the idea of dying in less than two days—assuming we even found the Zemayta Stone by then and could get it to Fate’s Clearing in time—petrified me.

  “Miss Magenta?” Felix asked, looking concerned.

  “Y-yeah?” I stuttered. Wow, Valida, real smooth, I chided myself. Now, Felix will definitely know that something is up. My panic grew.

  “Are you okay?”

  Great, just great, I thought sarcastically. Everyone was looking at me. Mallum and Lena exchanged concerned looks.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, maybe a little too quickly. “Don’t worry about it. Just...um...realizing some stuff, I guess,” I finished lamely.

  Felix raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question further. I suspected he knew th
at I wasn’t being entirely truthful, but I think he also knew that I wasn’t going to tell him anything else. At least, not for the time being.

  I knew the subject wouldn’t be dropped forever, though. He would likely confront me tonight when we stopped for camp. I really hoped something more interesting happened so he wouldn’t.

  I won’t ever see him again when this is over.

  The thought invaded my mind without permission. I won’t ever see any of the Legendary Keepers when this is over.

  All because I planned to face Umarek alone.

  All because I would rather die for them than let them die for me.

  Zenner saved me from further thinking—and questioning from my friends—by asking, “Alright, who wants to be next?”

  “I’ll go,” Lena volunteered, stepping forward and putting her hand in Zenner’s paw. I did what I could to focus on the present. If I was going to die, I was going to hold on to every moment I had left of life.

  Zenner closed his ruby red eyes and concentrated. “The purest of heart sleeps in your amulet,” he began. “She has time, but not much. I estimate about two more Earthen weeks and six days, with a heart and mind as strong as hers, but if you wait that long, her mind will be near crumbling. If you and your friends put your plan to save her into action right after the Stone is delivered to Umarek, you may be able to salvage her sanity.”

  Tom glanced at Regina to see what her reaction to this revelation was. Her gaze, as stone cold and guarded as ever, showed no significant reaction to the news. Tom looked uneasy, like he was worried. I’d never seen Tom act worried before.

  Quite frankly, it scared me a little.

  Zenner continued his judgment, opening his eyes and making eye contact with Lena. “As for you, Lena Zelak, your compassion has saved many lives already. Whatever you do, don’t let go of it. A kind heart like yours is extremely difficult to come by in this world.”