The Stone of Salazara (Book 1 of Saga of the Stones)

Chapter 8

I had a dream that night, unlike any dream I had ever had before.

I was standing in a cave, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling fifty feet above, and stalagmites rising from the floor to meet them. Water dripped from the black stone ceiling, and I automatically guessed that I was in an underwater cave.

On one end, sitting on an obsidian black throne was a man with dirt brown hair and a beard, sky blue eyes, and sea blue robes. He was glaring at someone on the ground in front of him, wearing a green cloak, with brown hair, and eyes that looked like the sky with pupils so dark that any light reflected in them looked like a star in the night sky.

"Matt!" I wanted to cry out and run to him, but my voice stopped in my throat, and my legs locked up.

The man in blue looked down at Matt, glaring. Matt glared back. They looked so alike, I would have thought that they were related. Then I realized....

This man was Massadonic, Matt's uncle.

"Where is the stone?" he yelled. "Tell me, Mattophew!" He kicked at Matt.

Matt winced. "I don't know! It wasn't on the ship!"

"You lie! It must have been there!"

"Well, it wasn't. The chest was empty."

"Liar!" Massadonic roared. He turned to one of his servants. "Bring me the man that sailed to that ship before! He might know something."

A minute later, two men dragged an elderly man forward. He had brown eyes, and a long scraggly brown beard, laden heavily with white. He looked as if he had not eaten a proper meal in years. His eyes were set with a grim determination, and he looked familiar.

I imagined his with a young face, a trimmed beard, and happiness in his eyes, and suddenly it hit me.

He was the man I had seen when I had my vision the first time I met Isabelle! He was her father. He had given Isabelle the stone in her necklace, which she said he had gotten off a shipwreck and given to her right before he had disappeared at sea. Which meant.....

Isabelle had the stone!

It all clicked into place at once. Isabelle had had the stone the whole time! I wondered how Matt hadn't noticed it, but then I remembered how Isabelle had hidden it under her dress so it wouldn't catch the attention of the dragons. Dragons can't resist treasure.

Massadonic turned on the man. "When you went to that shipwreck years ago, did any of you take the stone?"

"Stone?"

"Don't play coy with me! The green stone in the small chest in a crate! Did any of your crew take it?"

"Why? Was it important?"

"YES!" Massadonic boomed. "It was VERY important!"

"Yes, I took it."

"WHERE IS IT?"

"I don't know."
"How could you not know?"
"I gave it to my daughter, and I don't know where she is," the man said calmly.

"WHY- oh, never mind," Massadonic said, annoyed at how he was getting nowhere. He turned back to Matt. "Where was your crew headed?"

"It doesn't matter. We don't have the stone, and the person who does is miles away from here!"

"Shut up! Answer me!"

"I can't do both."
"What?"

"I can't shut up and answer you at the same time."

"Why you little-"

"Sir," called a timid voice from the back.

Massadonic rolled his eyes and turned. "What?"

"Um, we have been magically showing what is happening now to Siv as a dream, and-"
"WHAT?!" Massadonic roared, and the cave shook. "For how long?"

"Since you started interrogating Prince Mattophew, sir."

"DON'T CALL HIM PRINCE! I AM THE ONLY PRINCE HERE!"

Suddenly, before I could react, the dream faded, and the echo of Massadonic's yell slowly died away.

I woke up on the floor by my bunk. Jem was still asleep, and I slowly stood. I grabbed a shawl and went out on deck. Levilan was taking watch, and he smiled at me as I approached. He must have seen the worried look on my face, because he frowned. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," I said. Then I explained the whole dream to him, including the part about Isabelle's father. He didn't interrupt.

"The man you said is Isabelle's father; his description sounds familiar... hmm. But anyway, Matt is alive?" he asked "That's good. Jem will be so relieved."

"I just don't know where they are," I said. "I was hoping he would mention it, but the dream cut out before he had a chance."

"I say we wait one more day to let Jem know. You might have another dream, and they might mention where they are."

There was a moment of silence. "By the way," I started, "Massadonic was asking Matt where we were headed. Where are we headed?"

"Well, we were going to go back to the Elven Realm, but a merman showed up not long ago with a message from my parents. The elven docks are full up on cargo boats, so we're headed for the dwarf docks. Besides," he said, flushing. "I need to ah.... apologize to some of the dwarves for how I acted last time I was there."

"Oh." I stretched, and yawned. "I'm gonna go back to bed. If I have another dream, you'll be the first to know. Unless Jem is directly concerned."

"Alright. Goodnight, Siv."

"Goodnight, Levilan," I said, smiling. I turned and headed back for the sleeping quarters.