The Bloodstone Prophecy - Book 2 (complete)

Chapter 2 - The Bloodstone

Kami knelt over her grandfather and sponged water on his brow. He moaned, barely conscious and incoherent. His shallow, labored breathing didn't sound good, and his face was impossibly pale. She unbuttoned his ripped shirt and opened it gingerly. Large, splotchy wounds covered his chest and legs in patches. She had never seen anything like it. It reminded her of a burn in a way. The raw, serrated edges of skin that edged the wounds were a dark crimson color. But in addition to the burn-like wounds, there was swelling and discoloring on his chest and legs where the shapeshifter had come into contact with his skin. She winced at how painful it must be.

She shifted uncomfortably against the cool, hard surface. She felt something warm against her skin and pulled the necklace out from under her shirt. It was glowing brightly. Let me guess, she thought sarcastically. I'm in danger. She heard a scraping sound and looked up to see Haji crawling toward her.

"Haji," she said, relieved to have company. Claustrophobia was starting to set in.

He reached into his bag and removed a chunk of cactus and a pocket knife. Flipping the knife open, he cut the cactus into smaller chunks and crushed it with a piece of rock.

"What are you doing?" Kami asked.

"Making a drawing poultice for your grandfather, though I'm not sure if it will do any good," he said. "I was searching for the cactus to make medicine for the girl Liam saved when I saw Samuel and your grandfather leave the cave."

As Haji mentioned Liam's name, Kami felt sick. Liam and Yasmin were hostages now. She could only imagine what the Shadow Queen might be doing to them.

"Here," he said, distracting her from her depressed thoughts by handing her an odd-smelling paste. "Wipe it on his wounds." Kami scraped some up with her fingers and wiped it on Gedo's chest. He flinched and his body went rigid. She jerked her hand back.

"It'll sting a little," Haji said. "Keep going."

So, she did, on his chest, arms, back, legs, trying to touch him as little as possible, hoping that would make it less painful for him. She  wiped her hands on her pants, covered him with Samuel's jacket and scooted back against the wall of the cave. She looked up to catch Haji staring at her, or more particularly, at the glowing necklace. He quickly looked away.

"Do you want to look at it?" Kami asked.

Haji nodded. She pulled off the necklace.

"Careful, it's warm," she said as she handed it to him. The moment it left her hands, the glow extinguished.

"Interesting," Haji said. "And no, it is not."

"Not what?" she asked.

"Warm. It is cool, in my hands anyway."

"What?" She crawled over by him and touched it again. The necklace blazed to life. She pulled her hand away and the light died.

"There must be some kind of connection between you and the necklace," Haji said. He pulled out a flashlight and beamed the light on it to look at it closer.

"I've been curious about this ever since I saw it glowing at the dig site," Haji said. "I have seen a necklace like this before, years ago, when I was just a young boy. A merchant visiting my father wore something similar. Do you know what kind of stone this is?"

Kami shook her head.

"I'm fairly certain it's a bloodstone. According to legend, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, drops of blood dripped to the green jasper ground, spotting it red and forming the stone. Christians call it the martyr's stone. Another tradition says it is the scattered and dismembered remains of the demon god Vala.