Seekers of the Stone Maker

The door burst open, revealing armored Count Godfrey, his eyes glazed over, sending splinters of wood throughout the dining hall. Myla ducked behind her chair, then spun herself around to face him. To her right, she could hear Rhokhishi holler out.

“They have us surrounded!”

Godfrey pulled his sword forward and swung. Myla parried the blade between her daggers. Using the momentum of the attack, she let herself lean back, raised her foot, and kicked at his chest. The impact pushed him back, knocking him against the wall. His sword fell from his hand, and she took advantage of looking to her right.

At the other door, Rhokhishi was just inside another room. She held up her left arm, and her bracer pulsed outward, becoming a black, shiny buckler shield for just a second. Ana turned in her spot. Her body became wisps of smoke as she rematerialized on the opposite side of Rhokhishi’s assailant. Myla took her dagger and threw it in their direction. As Rhokhishi brought her shielded arm down, the blade flew through the opening and hit the human in the neck. Myla called the dagger back to her, and as it teleported back, the now open wound gushed out. The human held his hands to his neck, his eyes wide in shock. Rhokhishi pushed him down and moved over to protect Ana from the next enemy.

Godfrey had managed to grab his weapon and stand again. In her mind, she could hear Lyla.

We need to flank him, or we’ll never be able to hit him!

How? He’s in front of the doorway!

Throw me over!

Godfrey jabbed his sword forward. Myla moved to the side and dropped down to one knee.

Now!

Myla let her daggers fall from her hands and clasped them together. Standing back up, she felt Lyla’s shoe land in her hands. She pushed her sister up with all her strength, who spun forward and tumbled through the opening between Godfrey’s head and the doorframe. As Lyla landed, the door opened on the other side of the waiting room, and three guards rushed in.

“There goes that plan!” Lyla shouted.

To her left, Myla felt the rush of energy pass by her. Lightning and fire came in a barrage, crashing against Godfrey’s armor. He screamed out, and Myla took advantage of stepping away and saw Mr. Muffins and Leaf preparing their spells. She aimed her daggers at Godfrey, finding an opening, then recalled them as another arcane energy flew by her and struck him.

Count Godfrey screamed out in pain. Myla watched his features shift, changing as if they were not his own. His skin turned pale, then reddish-brown. His eyes, nose, and mouth disappeared, and Myla took another step back as his body and items turned to clay. The morphed figure broke into pieces and crashed to the ground, sending dust around it.

“That wasn’t Godfrey,” Mr. Muffins called out.

“Is that a clay golem?” Leaf asked.

“Seems so,” He answered back.

“I have an opening. We need to push forward, or we’ll be trapped here!” Lyla called out.

Myla looked through the doorway to see two of the three guards unconscious on the floor. Lyla stepped forward, jumped, and used the doorframe to swing herself forward and kick the chest of the third guard. It knocked the guard, and they fell prone on their back. Lyla rushed forward, the door swinging shut behind her. Myla let her mind reach out to her friends.

Lyla’s got a way out. We need to move back through the waiting room.

We’ve made a way out of the kitchen too! Ana replied.

Then move! Mr. Muffins commanded.

Myla moved through the doorway, through the waiting room, and opened the opposite door. She could hear the footsteps of her friends behind her. Out into the foyer, she stopped as the door swung open to reveal the sight in front of her. Countess Cecille was standing over Lyla’s body.

Myla rushed in, hoping that Lyla was just unconscious, but she couldn’t tell with the movement around her. Guards rushed in, and Cecille enveloped herself in shadows that sprung from the ground and cocooned her body. A door burst open from her right, and Myla saw Ana and Rhokhishi immediately take action. Behind her, Mr. Muffins and Leaf were also stepping out into the foyer.

“It seems like we’re a bit outmatched here,” Cecille stated sarcastically.

The shadows pulled her down, and she disappeared before Myla’s eyes. She ran forward to Lyla, kneeling to check her pulse.

Still alive.

Rhokhishi moved over to her, blocking an attack from one of the guards.

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah. She’s just out. Do you have any healing left to give?”

“I should have enough for a spell or two.”

Rhokhishi kneeled, giving Myla a direct view of Ana. Ana cast her spells toward two guards, who crumpled to the ground as if they had fallen asleep. She looked at Myla and gave her a thumbs-up and a triumphant smile. Before getting the chance to respond, the shadows erupted behind Ana.

“Watch out!”

Cecille reappeared in a flash of voided black. She grabbed Ana’s wrist, spun her around, and sunk her dagger into her stomach.

“Ana!” Leaf cried out.

Cecille looked over to Myla, an expression of sheer joy on her face.

“Let’s even the game, shall we?”

Shadows poured from her body and wrapped around Ana’s. Within seconds, they took away any sight Myla had of her, then vanished in a wisp of smoke. Cecille laughed maniacally as Ana’s body was gone.

“What did you do, ya hag?” Mr. Muffins shouted, pointing his weapon in her direction.

“She’s from the fey realm, so I did what anyone should do… I sent her back,” Cecille smiled wide, cocked her head to the side, and shrugged.

Mr. Muffins aimed his magic at her and pulled the trigger. As the mechanism inside hit the red crystal, sparks flew out the barrel, and fire erupted in a line toward Cecille. Cecille raised her hands reflexively, causing the shadows to pull around her body again. As the fire hit the void, it passed through harmlessly.

“She’s not there anymore!” Leaf angrily shouted.

Myla turned back to Rhokhishi. She could see the blue phosphorus on her hands and realized that most had received wounds every time they cast a spell. Rhokhishi let her magic coalesce as a white, radiant light, then laid her hands on Lyla’s shoulders. As the light touched her body, Myla waited for signs that her sister was okay.

“Something is wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

Rhokhishi freed her hands from the spell and looked into Myla’s eyes.

“The spell should have worked. I think this blue stuff is stopping it from working.”

“Wait…”

“I don’t know if I can heal her in time, Myla.”

No… No, Lyla. Please… Gods no… Come back to me!

She closed her eyes as tears started to fall. She wasn’t a magic user. She didn’t even have a medicinal bag to attempt to help. She had nothing. Myla cried out angrily.

I tried to protect you… Please, Gods! Please come back.

Her ears seemed to block out the noise of the battle around her, and the temperature seemed to rise. It wasn’t until she heard a bird’s cawing that something was off. Myla wiped away her tears quickly, then opened her eyes.

Directly before her, she could see bright white clouds with hints of pinks and blues from an evening’s sunfall. Below, she could see stone stairs traveling miles down a mountainside. Two ravens flew slowly and effortlessly in the sky near her. To her left, she could see someone sitting next to her. She turned and looked up at a tall man. He was easily ten-foot-tall, but his long, braided beard and eyepatch made him still recognizable.

“Allfather?”

“Hello again,” He spoke in a calm voice.

Myla looked down at his hands. He whittled at a piece of wood almost the size of Myla. Wood pieces lay on the ground below him, and further down to his side sat a gray and black wolf that stared out at the clouds and world below. She sat on the stone steps near him. She could still feel the adrenaline and panic she had from where she was previously, and her mind raced over and over on the image of her unconscious sister at Karthmere Keep while her friends fought.

“It is okay, Myla. Time is… different here. You have been gone for only a blink of an eye and will return before anyone truly notices your absence.”

“Why am I here?”

“That,” He paused, setting the wood down next to him and looking at her. “Is a question that I still don’t know. You have been connected to me in some way. I assume it’s because I helped you, and my magic somehow floats between us across the realms.”

Myla sat and listened, trying to make sense of it all. She wasn’t experienced in the arcane, but she had met many who were.

“Sir, my sister is hurt. I know I’ve asked for a lot, but I need to return to her.”

“I think that this time, that would be a good idea. I don’t think you can heal, though, am I correct?”

“I have friends who can heal, and I may have a potion in my bag…”

“I don’t think that will be enough this time. It seems like you are up against insurmountable odds.”

Odin looked over to the clouds again as if lost in thought.

“We are,” Myla replied. “We are fighting in a way we’ve never had to. Magic causes damage to my friends. We’re all trying, but it may be too much. I don’t know what to do.”

“I can help you revive your sister before it’s too late, but it may cause our connection to grow stronger. I can’t guarantee what it will do. Are you ready to take that risk?”

Myla thought back to the past few years, running and hiding for her sister. She had left everything for her, as Yla directed her to do.

“Yes. Anything for her.”

“Very well.”

Odin held out his hand, placing it on Myla’s shoulder. Her vision blurred, tunneling until all she saw was a golden light, blinding her from her surroundings. She felt the warmth of his magic running through her, and something else… She could see runes encircling her, their magic surrounding her and filling her with something new. Her body became weightless, and she felt herself float up from the stone steps of the mountain, and then the pull of something took her away. The energy squeezed around her, keeping her safe, and in an instant, she looked down to see the golden light around her body and her sister on the cold marble floor.