The Elderine Stone (3 page)

The chamber was lit with four blue-flamed torches, one in each corner, increasing the effects which appeared to make the chamber resemble a medieval tomb. Each of the walls bore some form of engraved writing. Of course, Jason had no idea of what these engravings meant. In the middle of the room a small stone pillar stood drawing all attention towards it. It appeared to be made out of smoothed grey stone; it was rectangular in shape, and had several engravings on each side. As Jason took a closer look, he noticed that the top was sloped creating a bowl-like shape in the centre. Several engraved lines emerged from the central bowl and cut through the stone down each side to the base of the pillar. It appeared to be a pedestal, perhaps for some strange ceremony or something. Jason walked around the pedestal, tracing his fingers along the grooves. As he touched it, a cold shiver descended his back, which caused him to shiver. He felt nervous, and afraid, but at the same time he was also excited. This was something that had never happened to him before, and he was sure that no one else had been in this room for a very long time. As Jason was walking around the chamber, something caught his eye. Behind the central pedestal lay another smoothed stone. In sharp contrast to the dull grey of the central stone, however, this was a large gem, of brilliant and fathomless blue. Jason was mesmerised by its appearance. Throughout his entire life, he had never seen anything as beautiful as this. That stone must be worth a fortune, he thought. Eagerly he picked it up. The cold touch of the surface caused him to shudder.

Scenes flashed through his mind in rapid succession, a dizzying montage of blue oceans, green valleys, large snow peaked mountains, gleaming forests and a beautiful white city. He watched as four robed men placed what seemed to be the stone, he had picked up, on top of a rectangular stone object. The image blurred and was replaced by that of a young woman. She was dress in clothes that looked much like those that people in the United Kingdom would wear. She too was placing the stone on the pedestal. Then there was a flash of light. Startled, Jason dropped the stone and the flow of images stopped. The scenes he had witnessed were of immaculate beauty, but the last scenes made him curious. He struggled to make sense of what he had seen. Were those men, and that woman, placing the stone
he
had been holding on the central pedestal in
this
room? Jason couldn’t think straight, and was unsure of what he should do. This strange new puzzle had made him forget he was trapped.

Scratching at his arm Jason noticed the time on his watch, six twenty three, his aunt would be home in seven minutes. She would be furious if she got home and he wasn’t there, never
mind
that he hadn’t cleaned his room or tidied the house. He ran back through the winding tunnel to the pit into which he had fallen as quickly as he could, although it seemed much more difficult to race
away
from the light than to travel towards it. A brief inspection revealed only the dark earth above him. Even as he started screaming for help, he knew it was useless. No one could hear him so far down, covered by earth, in a neglected building on a lane that people seldom walked.

He thought about his aunt and his friends, and started to think that he would
never
get out of this hole. Even going back to his
aunt
wouldn’t be as bad as being stuck down here forever! A few brief and morose thoughts passed and he found himself remembering the image of the robed men and the stone. This time he couldn’t shake it off. It seemed so clear! Over and over he saw the men placing the stone on top of the rectangular alter, the images playing faster and faster like a kaleidoscope of urgency and meaning. There was a flash, and they stopped.

Driven by his curiosity and the sense of need in the vision, Jason ran back to the lit chamber, and stared hard at the stone pedestal in the centre of the room.

Carefully he looked at the markings around it; he remembered watching a documentary on ancient writing in school. Jason had been particularly interested in the Egyptian hieroglyphics that were shown, but what he saw on this stone was definitely not Egyptian, and he was almost positive that the Egyptians were never in Ireland. Again the image of the robed men came into his thoughts. Jason looked to the right and found the gem-like stone glistening in the position he had dropped it. He bent down picking it up, he took a deep and shaking breath in preparation, but this time no images flashed into his mind. No scenes of forests, valleys, towns or people. He looked back at the pedestal and saw that the groove on top was almost the exact same size as the mysterious stone. He moved to the pedestal and gently placed the stone on top. Nothing happened.

Jason stood there, looking at the pedestal, half-disappointed at the lack of activity. Without warning a brilliant white flash emerged from the centre of the pedestal. Jason felt a strange sensation…

Then there was nothing.

Awareness brought a strange sensation to Jason’s stomach, yet unsurprisingly having had a sudden fall, bump and now having been blinded by what he wanted to describe as torchlights being shone directly into each of his eyes at the same time, he couldn’t see anything. He blinked wearily, then fluttered his eyelids a few more times trying to bring reality to the fussy image that his eyes were trying to interpret. Rubbing his eyes, and blinking a bit more, seemed to help him in the visual reconstruction process which thankfully was slowly coming back to normal. Jason sat back against the cave wall and watched the fuzzy haze resolve itself into the stone pedestal. He stared at it. What was that light? Why did he feel so funny? He thought to himself “
Why do I always manage to get myself into situations where everything I do causes more questions than answers?”

He looked around the chamber. Nothing looked different. The four blue flames still lit the room, flickering gently against the stone walls. He was still on his feet, even if his stomach thought otherwise, in more or less the same position as before. His mind struggled to make connections that weren’t there. As his senses came back to him he felt afraid, his claustrophobia returning. Somehow he knew that he must get out of the chamber. He ran back to the cave into which he had fallen. His panic caused him to be a bit careless as he ran through the tunnel, tripping on something that seemed much like a tree root, sprawling once again onto the soft ground.
“At least it’s not rock,”
he thought with a rueful smile, pleased that he had not lost his ability to find things to be thankful for even in such unusual circumstances.

Jason picked himself up and started to brush himself off, trying his best to remove the clumps of soil on his clothing. He paused as he became aware of a subtle change. The air felt
different
, somehow, and he could smell the strong, pleasant smell from earlier. It was a clean smell, and it seemed to be carried on a cool breeze. Feeling a little calmer than before Jason started to walk the rest of the way back into the cave, his puzzlement growing as he became more and more convinced that things were not as they had been. For one thing, it was colder, and the air seemed fresh and clean. A strange hope began to grow inside as he thought that the gap through which he had fallen might be clear once more. He turned the last corner, and his eyes dilated from shock.

What lay in front of him was not the cave that he had fallen into, but instead an open area dotted with trees. The tunnel led
outside
. For a moment Jason wondered if he had taken the wrong tunnel by mistake, but that was impossible - there only was one to start with. He walked slowly out into the open air, thinking he could look for the path that would lead back to his street. But something was different. Even the
trees
looked different.

More confused than he had ever been before, Jason looked around. He was starting to realise that he was no long anywhere near the Cavehill, in fact he was starting to have suspicions whether or not he was still in Belfast or anywhere in the United Kingdom for that matter. Looking back at the cave he had just left he noticed pillars on either side of the entrance bearing similar writing to that which he had seen earlier in the chamber. The Irony was not lost on him that he may now actually be in a fantasy world the like of which he had often dreamt of, and what he most wanted to do was get home. He shook his head with a wry smile at his predicament.

The sound of a branch breaking could be heard coming from the bushes to his right. Without hesitation, Jason quickly spun around to face the direction of the noise, not knowing what to expect. He waited, hardly breathing. The trampling of the forest ground grew louder. Jason heard grunting, and heavy breathing. He was starting to feel the sense of fear travel through his body, sending shivers to the surface of his skin. Moments later a large yellowy-green bush just a few steps away began to rustle and what looked a lot like a wolf’s head emerged. Large fangs dripping with saliva, which was slowly cascading downwards, creating gooey, wet splashes on the ground.

The beast walked slowly out of the bushes, standing about an arms reach away from Jason, allowing him to see its full monstrous size. If it was a wolf, it was the largest he had ever seen, with powerful shoulders almost three times the width of the creature’s head. Its front legs were as long as Jason’s. The lean, muscled flesh of its torso revealed ribs the width of rulers with each breath. A bristling stripe of coarse hair ran along the length of its spine, ending in a thick tail, which was, at that moment, held straight out for balance. The beast narrowed towards its rear, and the power in its thick hind legs was unmistakable. Paws wider than Jason’s face pushed against the ground with thick, black claws on display, curved and deadly. The beasts’ tan and dark hair dappled in the light, and every inch of the beast’s body exuded pure fury.

Jason was petrified, frozen in place. He had never seen a creature like this. In fact he wasn’t even sure his imagination would have been capable of creating something like this. The creature moved closer, tilted its head down, and snarled. Jason gulped as he saw the fangs. He managed to tear his gaze from the beast’s hungry jaw and look at the beast’s eyes, he wished he hadn’t. They were eyes filled with hunger, and sheer dominance. Jason was shaken to the core with fright, this beast was hunting him, it was sizing him up and he knew that he was to be its next feast. He thought about running, but his feet were glued to the ground. This was no ordinary beast and he could never outrun it.

The creature snarled at him, and as it licked its lips Jason knew only too well what the creature had in mind. He became aware of a murmured voice, and realised it was his own as he mumbled a desperate prayer begging for help. Praying for something,
anything
, to save him from what was surely the inevitable. Body shaking, he closed his eyes, and listened to the low growls of the slavering creature as it prepared to jump. The skin of his throat tingled as he imagined the deadly grip of those terrible jaws, and silently, wretchedly, he prayed it would be over soon.

There was a short, sharp sound, and Jason felt something fly passed him from behind. There was a yelp, and then silence. Jason opened one eye and then the other.

In front of him lay the creature, two arrows imbedded in its neck. Jason heard voices behind him, he slowly turned, and saw three cloaked men walking towards him.

“Boy, what are you doing in the Elderine Forests alone? You must know that this is a very dangerous place.”

Jason didn’t answer, but looked at the men, who were oddly dressed, in forest greens and browns. Each had a bow and a quiver on their backs; one was carrying a sword at his left side.

“Perhaps he is still frightened after that. Seeing that beast eye to eye is enough to scare even some of the most seasoned hunters.” he heard another say.

“Why was he here in the first place? Not many people know of this area, or are brave enough to tread here. Perhaps we should take him back to Elindril. He should know what to do.”

The three men looked at Jason, the man with the sword stepped forward.

“I am San and these are my two fellow watchers Seth and Rubin. Come with us. These woods are unsafe, especially for unprepared travellers.”

Jason watched as the three men walked off. He didn’t feel much like staying around on his own after what had happened, and decided for his own best interests, and also to feed his curiosity, he would follow the trio of archers.

At first, Jason hadn’t noticed the strange shape of his rescuers ears nor did he take much note at their names, which were rather unusual to him - definitely not normal names that he was used to. Perhaps he had been too overcome by his brush with death to have paid more attention, but now in somewhat safer surroundings, Jason most certainly did notice, and what’s more, had time to think it through.

Jason walked with the three men for some time, passing through the dense forest listening to the many strange noises, wondering what other strange creatures lived there. Jason often heard the others talking in some foreign tongue. Jason had no idea what they were saying. Feeling a bit bold he spoke up and asked,

“Where are we going?”