Peacebringer

Chapter Twenty - The Secret of the Stone

That afternoon was meant to be used for each team to work together on a strategy, but as Asha's group was made up of only teenageers, they quickly decided on a basic strategy - wait for directions, run in, save people, maybe blow something up, and get out - and then adjourned to messing around some more in the training field. Even though Asha was still very fearful of their mission, the relaxed nature of her team members helped her to calm down a little. Besides, messing around gave her a chance to practice.

After a few more experiments with spinning, they all sat on the ground in a circle, out of breath, but smiling. Asha removed the stone from her pocket to look at it shimmer in the afternoon sunlight. She was still just as amazed by its luster as she was when she first picked it up.

"Hey, weren't we going to figure that out?" Havi asked.

"Figure what out?" Natalya peered over at the stone. "What is that? It's so shiny!"

"Well, we don't really know." Asha flipped it over, revealing the strange design on the back. "Tana sent Finn to find it."

"And you haven't given it to her yet?" Valda traced the design in the middle with her long, elegant finger.

"Alright, alright! I just wanted to figure out what it DOES before we hand it over!" Finn said with exasperation.

Natalya grabbed the stone and held it close to her face, examining it intently. Her wide brown eyes squinted in the sunlight, and her whole face contorted in concentration.

"Do you know what this symbol is?" She asked about the carved design in the center.

"No idea," Finn shrugged and repositioned himself, crossing his legs and leaning into the circle to be closer to the conversation. "I was literally told nothing except, 'you need to find a black stone in Stone Creek.'"

"That's helpful, find a black STONE in STONE Creek. What did she want you to do, dredge the creek and bring back every rock?" Havi laughed.

"She said I'd know it when I saw it." Finn sneered.

"But you didn't see it, Asha did." Havi pointed out.

"I AM AWARE." Finn's sneer turned into frustration.

"Shut up, errand boy." Asha chided. She grabbed the stone back from Natalya.

"Farm girl..." Finn muttered and stared away from the circle at the treeline. Finn was seeming to get increasingly irritated whenever anyone questioned his actions. Asha supposed it was because of his pride, but maybe it was also because he felt like he needed to prove he was the best. Maybe all that preening and cockiness was hiding something...after all he lived in a place where he was the only one of his kind.

"These oval marks look like fingerprints..." Havi said, looking over Asha's shoulder.

"Yeah, and there's three of them..." Asha placed her thumb in one of the ovals. The stone flashed white in a brilliant blaze of color. For a moment, it looked like an opal. It felt warm again, and Asha looked up at the others.

Without saying a word, Natalya placed a finger on the stone as well, this time it flashed a pale purple.

"We need one more," she said. Valda reached forward and placed her thumb on the stone. Nothing changed. All three of them let go, confused.

"Wait a second," Valda looked at the four-sided knot in the middle. It had a circle in the center with four ornate loops coming out of it. "What if the four sides represent the four types of spinners?"

"Maybe..." Asha peered at it too. "Maybe we need three spinners to unlock it." She placed her thumb in the oval again, initiating the white flash.

Natalya reached in, starting the lilac flash. Finally, Havi reached over and placed his thumb on the last oval.

The stone erupted into a blaze of fantastic color, deep blues and purples radiated from it, until it looked like they were in the center of a galaxy. They were surrounded by darkness and stars. It was almost like a fog, as they could still see the trees surrounding them. It was like they had been covered in a haze of night sky.

A large white star floated over the center of their circle, directly over the stone. Suddenly, a deep female voice projected from the star. Asha thought the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place who it was. Maybe the voice was just like Tana's, instantly comforting.

The voice started to speak, reciting a mysterious poem.

In the time when the Phoenix sits upon the throne

And a boy with hair of gold returns fire to the land,

The creatures of darkness will rise again,

Humans crushed beneath their hand.

But out of the desert from the north,

The lost magic will return

And the evil ones who rule with fear

At last will burn.

The cloud of stars dissipated and the stone went back to it's normal iridescent black. The five friends looked at each other, not sure what to say.

Finally Valda spoke. "The phoenix on the throne is my father...He is called the Red King."

Havi nodded in agreement. "And the fire returning, that's Asha. She's the first fire spinner in Karda since the start of this war."

"The evil ones rising up could refer the rangers," Natalya jumped in. "They certainly rule with fear."

"Whoever wrote it wasn't exactly the best poet," Finn said jokingly. No one laughed.

"I'm half Sayreenian." Asha said, more to herself than to anyone else. "And the lost magic could refer to fire spinning too. And Finn brought me here."

"So, this...prophecy..." Valda said slowly, "Is about you."

Asha felt all their eyes on her, and her stomach sank. She could feel her hands shaking. I wasn't sure if I could handle being a resistance member, she thought to herself. I really don't think I can handle saving the entire kingdom!

Finn stared at the stone, and then at Asha. "I think maybe we should show it to Tana, like NOW." He said.

Dusk was starting to show over the trees, they would have to make it back quickly. They all stood up quickly and headed back to the camp in silence. Asha could feel her dread growing with every footstep. She wasn't ready for this, she was only fifteen, that's too young to save the country!

They approached the camp and Havi ran ahead, spying Rone.

"Where's Tana? We need to speak with her!" He said a little too loudly.

"Tana's not here," Rone said, clearly puzzled. "You know she always goes off by herself the night before an attack. She uses it to clear her head and be well rested. She won't be back until we leave for the prison."

Asha didn't think her stomach could handle sinking any more. That meant they wouldn't be able to tell Tana about the prophecy until after the attack. Havi thanked Rone anyway, and they walked back towards the houses.

Valda tried to comfort Asha, putting an arm around her. "It's going to be okay, we don't even know what this is or if it's actually important. I'm sure Tana will be able to help us sort through it."

As they entered the small house, Asha went straight to her bedroom and sat on the bed. She wasn't hungry, and she just wanted to sleep and forget about the whole thing.

Instead, she had a night of tossing and turning and nightmares, leaving her tired the next morning. Just what she needed for going into battle.