KINGDOM OF THE STONE -- a Wattpad featured novel

Chapter Twenty

As spring gave way to verd, the season of the greening, the crops were so far along that the farmers were all planning to harvest and replant them by summer.

Karux had hoped the cry to lead the people back to the mountain would have lessened with time, but the prospect of living with the creator of the universe in his mountain home in the midst of endless blessings was just too great to forget. Only the fear of the angorym prevented them from immediately leaving for the mountain en mass. Finally a group was appointed, led by Jomel which included Karux, Arnion from Korion-Garanth, Akonti from Korion-Fugo, Sykane from Korion-Eidolon and Tephra from Korion-Spodos.

The anxious refugees at Har-Tor practically drove the six out of the stoma, so eager were they for the search to start. The six did not bring any pack animals since they intended to travel quickly and—above all—quietly, but as they neared the southern pass into the valley they slowed, casting cautious glances at the brush covered hillsides.

They first arrived at Korion-Spodos near the southern pass; at least they arrived where it was supposed to be. When the trail faded into a rock-strewn clearing, they turned to Tephra who wandered about in a daze looking for his house. Eventually he came across a low stone wall and shouted, "Those murderous beasts!"

The other five looked around curiously.

"This is it!" he said gesturing at the wasteland around them. "This is Korion-Spodos!" He bent and lifted up a fire-blackened piece of wood. It looked like a piece of firewood and still stank with the sour smell of charred wood, but the end was squared off like a rough cut ceiling beam. "This was my house!" Tephra walked in a slow circle running a hand through his hair. "Did they have to burn it all and tear down the ruins?"

"It would seem the angorym do not want anyone returning to live here," Sykane said.

"But if this was just a raid, what would they care if anyone came back?" Arnion asked.

"Unless they intended to come back and claim it for themselves," Akonti suggested.

"Perhaps this means that they do not yet have the numbers they need to occupy the valley," Sykane suggested. "If so, this bodes well if we should try to reclaim the valley."

"We will reclaim the valley," Tephra vowed. He turned to Karux. "You said you were appointed by the Most High to prepare us for a coming conflict. I want you to teach me how you fought the angoran at Korion-Garanth."

Karux nodded. "I will."

They left the remains of Korion-Spodos, heading north. They paused to catch their breath where the path branched to the west and Korion-Garanth. Karux stood staring down the trail remembering all the times he had passed this way with his father and cousins on their way to the summer pastures. It had been less than a year since he had last traveled here and though he was not surprised, it seemed somehow wrong that everything should appear exactly as he remembered it. Just on the other side of the field was the stream near which he had kissed Charissa for the first time. The trail seemed to promise a link to an unrecoverable past. He could go back to his village, but nothing would ever be the same again.

His heart ached from the longing to go home.

Jomel walked up next to Karux who staring down the trail. "Korion-Garanth is near here, isn't it?"

Karux nodded.

"You would like to go see it, wouldn't you?"

Karux nodded again.

"Shall I tell the others we will be taking a little detour?"

"No." Karux shook his head.

Jomel gave him a penetrating stare. "You want to go back, but you're afraid of what you'll find."