The Elderine Stone (7 page)

“He could cast magic as soon as he picked it up?”

“No, not right away. At first it was only when he was in need of something. But over time he worked it out, and with age he became wiser.” Emily gave Jason an acknowledging smile, and pushed some strands of hair from her face.

“So, this boy was the first mage, and all other mages are in his family?”

Jason was really interested. He had always wondered about how mages had actually
become
mages when he read about them in the fantasy books back at home. Most of the theories he had read didn’t make much sense to him, though he assumed that was because in reality
any
of the theories would be impossible in his world.

“
I
guess
all mages could trace their family back to him, but there were other stones, and probably others who picked those stones up. He was the first to realise what the powers were, and keep a record of the words needed to make them useful. Maybe there’s a mageline for every one of the Tears of Averin.”

Jason looked confused for a moment. Emily looked at him understanding that Jason might need some time to comprehend what she had just told him. After all he came from a world that didn’t have magic. He looked as if he was about to ask a question, perhaps a question for clarity that he would fire at her next.

“So, can you only cast magic if you have that stone with you?”

Emily laughed. Jason’s question wasn’t that tough for her after all, but Jason really did look confused.

“No, no. The stones are just a sign of the gift that Averin left us. It just helps us remember”

“Oh, I see.”

Emily put the stone back in her pocket.

Jason, feeling increasingly more exhausted, rested his head on a nearby rock, sighing as he prepared to let sleep take him. As his head rested, there was a rustle behind them. They jumped to their feet, turning instinctively towards the sound. Jason started edging back towards the fire as his past experience of “rustle in a bush” came back to him. Emily cautiously moved in front of him and raised her staff. There was another brisk rustle, and then the scuffling sound of little feet, as if a small creature was now running away.

“What was that?” Jason asked, turning a bewildered and slightly fearful face to Emily.

“I’m not sure. Let’s go find out.”

With that, she ran into the forest, following the creature - whatever it was. To Jason, the choice of either following a potentially dangerous creature with Emily, or waiting behind to be attacked by potentially dangerous creatures on his own was simple. Muttering under his breath, he picked up his pack, and followed Emily’s noisesome trail.

As he crashed through the undergrowth, Jason wondered how Emily could see her way ahead. He could only hope to follow by the sound she made running over dry twigs and loose stones. Probably some sort of magic, he thought, she was either tracking the beast or augmenting her sight. As she suddenly came to a stop, Jason barely avoided knocking her over.

“Quiet,” she said, rebalancing herself again, “I hear something.”

Jason stopped and tried to listen, but the sound of his heart and his laboured breathing meant he couldn’t hear anything.

“There it is again!” Emily whispered.

Jason listened carefully, and soon he heard it too. First there was a fast
swoosh
. Then a thud
followed by a yelp. This cycle of noises repeated a few times, and Jason gulped as he realised what they were. Someone or something was being attacked. Emily nudged Jason on the arm.

“We have to see what’s making those noises. Someone could be in danger!”

Emily burst through the trees and started to run towards the noises, with Jason once again left to grit his teeth and follow behind. The noises got louder. With every yelp originating from the creature Jason could feel the pain surge through his body. Emily finally stopped at a large rock, and peered over the top of it. Quickly, she drew her head back down.

“What? What is it?” Jason gasped.

“Shush! Do you want to get us killed?”

Jason shrugged, wondering why Emily was whispering.

“Well, be quiet then. There are three trolls over there and they are torturing something.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, and slowly lifted his head to see over the rock. He wished he hadn’t. Standing only a few metres away were three of the ugliest creatures Jason had ever seen towering over a small creature. They were large, fat creatures. Dressed in nothing but torn animal hides. Each dragged a menacing looking club along side them. The small creature that was currently the focus of their attention sat very close to a tree stump, trembling. Jason couldn’t make out what it was, and was sure he would never get the chance if those trolls did any more damage. Without thinking, Jason jumped out from behind the rock. Emily gasped and tried to grab onto his top, but it was too late. The trolls had spotted him.

With a grunt, the biggest and in Jason’s opinion, ugliest of the three trolls turned around to face him. Lifting its club, it swung it directly at him with great force, but thankfully, with mercifully little accuracy. Jason ducked and avoided it, feeling the rush of air pass across his head with less of a gap than he would have liked. By now the other two trolls, despite not being the brightest of creatures, had caught on to the new presence. Jason darted from side to side of the small clearing. Ducking under swings of the large clubs, and running circles around the three large trolls to desperately try and avoid a deathly blow. Emily watched in horror. Her heart rate speeding as she noticed that Jason and the three trolls were getting ever closer to the rock that she hid behind. Without a second thought she stood up, grabbed her staff and ran around the edge of the clearing, coming out of the wooded covering behind the trolls. Jason was starting to panic as he realised he was running out of places to dart to. He risked a glance back at the rock they had been hiding behind, and started to make a dash for it, leaping crazily over the downstroke of one of the trolls weapons. He jumped right over the top of the rock and slid to the ground, as a club came crashing down beside him with splintering force. He was starting to feel as though he had been in this situation before, but he was sure that there were no trolls back in Northern Ireland. Except for the Spenser Brothers, perhaps. Jason heard the club scrape off the ground, and knew it had been raised once more. He looked up to see an old, dirty, wrinkled face staring down at him, with an odd mixture of puzzled interest in its expression, much like a cat’s first encounter with a frog. Jason drew breath to scream, knowing that this
had
to be his end. He had chanced his fate once too many times already in this strange land. He couldn’t be lucky again this time. Instead of screaming, though, he let the breath out slowly, listening to a strange noise that seemed to envelope the clearing. It sounded rather like a mid-force wind that had been strung with little bells. Jason closed his eyes, waiting to see if he would see a light at the end of a tunnel, or images of his life passing by, but nothing happened. The noise grew louder and there was a strange growl.
“This
is
it,”
Jason thought, as he tightened his arms around himself.

Still nothing happened.

Estimating that the troll had had time to probably kill him twice, Jason gathered all the courage he could muster and opened his left eye. He looked up. There was nothing there that could do him any harm, and so with a small huff of surprised relief, he opened his right eye too. He cautiously looked from side to side, wondering where the troll had gone.
“Maybe
waiting
in
the
clearing
,” he thought,
“Or off to find another weapon to bash peoples’ heads.”
Turning around slowly to face the back of the rock, Jason braced himself on it with his two badly shaking hands. He pulled himself up to the top, slowly moving his head higher and higher to take a peek over. Finally, he had raised his head high enough to see, but to his surprise, the trolls were now engrossed in something else. Jason couldn’t make out exactly what they were staring at, but he was glad that it wasn’t him. Jason felt a tap on his shoulder, and spun around quickly, to be met by Emily’s rather cheeky grin. She was standing beside the small creature that they had rescued from the trolls.

“Well, are you going to sit around all day?” Emily asked calmly, “Or do you want to wait for those trolls to find an interest in you again?”

Jason’s puzzled expression returned. The small creature jumped up and down, still standing behind Emily.

“Come on, let’s go.” she said in a low voice.

Jason got up, brushed himself off and risked a sidelong glance at the trolls. They still seemed utterly absorbed by whatever it was that had distracted them. Emily and the small creature were walking back into the woods, not paying much attention to the threat nearby. Their lack of concern restored Jason’s confidence, and he hurried to catch up.

“
How did you
do
that?” He asked when he was within earshot.

“Do what?”

“Distract the trolls! I was sure I was done for.”

“Oh, that was nothing. I just cast a curiosity spell on them, and directed it towards a bunch of Fengnog mushrooms. They should be fascinated for days to come.” She laughed, and then shook her head as though remembering something she should have done.

“Oh! Jason, this is Sherbit. He’s an imp.”

“
An
imp?
– oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just…” He sighed. “Nice to meet you.”

“
He hasn’t talked much. The poor fellow’s a bit shocked.”

Seeing the dying light of their fire ahead, she smiled.

“Right! The best thing to do then is get a good night’s rest, and start nice and early in the morning.”

“
Do you think it’s wise to stay here? We are still pretty close to those trolls. I wouldn’t want to wake up in the night to find one of
them
staring down at me.”

“
Don’t be silly,” Emily replied, “They won’t bother us. I don’t even think we need to stand watch. I’m sure we could all do with a good, deep sleep. I
know
I could.” She yawned, for emphasis. “What about you, Sherbit?”

The imp, who had stood trembling a little way behind her, looked up with a baleful stare. Jason shrugged, rolled his eyes, and gave in.

Emily busied herself helping Sherbit to make a little ball-like nest out of dried leaves, while Jason scuffed a little groove around the fire to keep it in place while they slept. Banked up properly, it should give off enough heat to last until morning, so he dragged their blankets toward it and set out their packs to act as pillows.

Emily settled herself down with remarkably little fuss, and the leafy rustling of Sherbit’s nest gave way to a soft, huffly little sound that could be gentle snores. Jason lay down on his side, with his back to the fire, and looked around at the cold, dark wood.

“
How could this happen
?” he thought,
“More to the point, why did this happen? And why did it happen to me?
Let’s recap, shall we? I fell down a hole that sealed itself up;
was attacked by a - a thing; met and stayed with elves; ran away with a girl, which is strange in itself but not weird enough, oh no, I had to run away with a girl who could do magic; and together we just rescued an imp from some trolls. Now I’m trying to sleep in a forest which feels alive and trying not to think about what I might face tomorrow. Surely this is far too unreal to be happening.”

He lay quietly for a while, letting the weariness wash over his body like a drug, and soon the gentle heat on his back, and soft sighs behind him from the sleeping girl and imp lulled him into a deep and dreamless slumber.

Emily was a morning person.

For a moment, half hopeful, half horrified, Jason thought he was back at home with his aunt, as loud and cheerful humming brought him out of his sleep. He willed his eyes to open and tried to stretch his limbs to get some feeling back into them. Emily was bright, clean, and brewing something that smelled suspiciously like tea in the small pot she had brought with her. He closed his eyes again and groaned.

“Good morning, sleepy! You’ll never guess – there’s a small pool just through those trees. I re-set the fire and I’m making some tea. It should be ready by the time you’ve washed up.”

This time it was a little easier to open his eyes and he managed a grunt.

“Don’t do anything irresponsible like relieve yourself in the pool. I’m hoping to fill our waterskins from there before we move on.”

Jason hoped his expression was indignant, but imagined it was probably just the blank zombie look he always wore upon awaking. Joints protesting, he stumbled through the trees Emily had pointed at and tried to work out what time it was. He settled for
early
.