The Elderine Stone (5 page)

Morning seemed to come too soon for Jason, who had been more exhausted than he realised. He was awakened by a knock at his door. Though at first he did not realise what it was that had disturbed his sleep. He sat up in bed hearing another knock. He tried desperately to work out where he was, and why Aunt Florence had come to his door instead of just shouting as usual. As the events of the preceding day flooded back into his mind, he jumped up, grabbed the robe that someone had thoughtfully hung on the door, pulled it on, and opened the door. San was waiting outside with a smile on his face.

“Good Morning, Jason! I am glad to see you slept well. Food has been prepared for you in the Lord’s chamber. You should dress, and proceed there as soon as you can.”

Jason thanked him, went back into his room, had a quick wash and put on some of the clothes that had been left for him. Once dressed, he left his room and with San as his guide, walking hurriedly towards Lord Elindril’s Chamber.

Having travelled all night with her grandfather, Emily was now thinking that this journey was not all she had expected it to be. In fact, it was rather uneventful. The greatest moment of excitement was when her grandfather’s told old tales about his youth. Emily was footsore and weary when her grandfather finally stopped and nodded.

“Ah! At last we have arrived.” He turned cheerfully to his granddaughter. “Wasn’t that a splendid walk?”

He struggled to suppress a grin at Emily’s baleful expression.

“Well, I guess we’d better head to Lord Elindril’s Chamber. He has been expecting us.”

The two wizards, one jauntily swinging his staff, the other using hers as a much needed support, passed up through the town to the central tree. Emily had heard many tales about this elvish town, but her tiredness prevented her from fully appreciating its beauty. She did remember that a great and very wise elf lived here. She assumed that this person must be Lord Elindril.

Despite the haste with which he had begun, Jason had slowed on his way to Lord Elindril’s chambers. He took his time so he could watch some of the elves of this town go about their daily business. It was so different from any town he had ever visited back home, and he was interested in everything that went on about him. Finally, he made his way to the top of the white stairs and walked into Elindril’s chamber. Finding that he was alone, he walked to a seat and sat down. The scent of the freshly cooked breakfast reminded him that whatever else had changed, he was still a growing boy who could happily eat a horse, or whatever horse equivalent they had here. As if in answer to his hunger’s unspoken cry, a smiling Melina brought in a tray of breads and fruits, and a large cup of steaming, dark liquid.

“Here is your Breakfast.” she told him simply, and withdrew.

The food was filling and tasty. Some of the fruit tasted familiar, but others had a strange yet pleasant tang; while some of the smaller berries were spicy enough to bring tears to his eyes. He found that they went especially well with the drink they had provided, which was chocolaty and rich, but as refreshing as tea, or coffee. With a happy sigh, Jason finished everything he had been given, and sat back to wait for Lord Elindril. His mind kept returning to a single question: why was he here?

A short time passed, in which Jason watched, life at the Elven life go by. The silence was broken by a girl’s voice. Jason turned as the source of the voice walked in, accompanied by an old, but sprightly looking, bearded man. Jason did the quick calculation in his head of “pointed hat plus beard plus staff” and sat up straighter. He was evidently in the presence of a wizard. Lord Elindril stepped in from another room.

“Master Talathin! I am pleased that you could come, and I see your granddaughter has joined you on your journey.”

Removing his pointed hat, the robed, elderly man spoke,

“Indeed. I hear you have news that you wish to discuss with me. I assume it concerns the boy?”

The wizard looked at Jason with one arched eyebrow raised higher than the other, as if he was probing his very mind. Emily stood behind her grandfather, also looking directly over at Jason. However she wore a different expression upon her face. This expression could only be described as complete interest.

“So what is this news?” the old man asked, “What news is so urgent that it merited my coming?”

Jason saw that the expression on Lord Elindril's face was much like the one he had witnessed yesterday. Elindril looked at Talathin and in a low voice, said,

“I believe the time has come. She will try and break the seal.”

The room was still. No one said a word. Jason and Emily stood wondering what this seal was, and how it being broken would cause alarm between two such noble and heroic characters. The wizard was the first to speak.

“Hmm, yes, I can see how this could be of some concern. Am I correct in saying that this boy has some connection with the Stone?”

Elindril nodded, and continued,

“I believe that Jason could be the answer to what we seek. With the arrival of the Dark Lady some years ago, we saw an era of darkness spread over the lands. It had been prophesied that a second shall follow in her wake. The same birth for them both in this world but different paths they will follow”

The wizard began to chew on his lip, and looked down at Jason.

“Perhaps it would be in the best interests of the young ones if we discussed these matters somewhere a little more secluded, Elindril.”

The elf nodded, and called Melina into the room.

“Melina, take Emily and Jason to their quarters, there are some things I wish to discuss with Master Talathin alone. Jason, I apologise for inviting you to breakfast and failing to join you. But please feel free to look around our wonderful city. After all, you may be here for a while. Glen Tirel could be your new home.”

Aber Talathin expressed a look of distaste at Elindril’s invitation, but hid the reaction by continuing to chew on his lip.

With a small bow toward Elindril, Melina beckoned Emily and Jason to follow her. Elindril and Aber walked through a side door, already deep in their muted and private discussion. As he followed Melina and Emily Jason just picked out the words “end the evil in the north” drifting in the Elven lord’s resonant tones. A cold hand gripped his heart as he joined the others outside.

“What do you suppose they are talking about?” Emily asked, as soon as Melina left them to their rooms. So great was her curiosity, she forgot to introduce herself, choosing instead to voice the thought that had itched in her head since they had left the two men.

“I’m not sure,” Jason replied, “I’m really not too sure about anything at the moment.”

Emily looked at him with her head tilted to the side, reminding Jason of a rather confused chipmunk. She sat down on the bed, and remembered her manners.

“Oh, I’m Emily Emerald Talathin.” She gave a little smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hi, I’m Jason. Jason Greaves. Um, well it is nice to meet you too.”

He sat down on the bed opposite Emily’s.

“That’s a rather odd name, “Jason”. Where are you from? Are you a traveller from the east?”

“No,” Jason said vaguely, “I’m from Ireland.”

Jason looked at his watch, and realised it had stopped.

“Hmm well I’d have to say I’ve never heard of that place. Must be Akerian...”

Emily was only half paying attention to what she was saying, spending every second going over the small part of the conversation between Elindril and her Grandfather that she had heard. She had a funny feeling about Jason, and was in fact pretty sure she knew who he was, or more precisely
what
he was.

Jason looked around, trying to see if he could recognise anything from the world he knew as home.

“What are you doing? You look silly,” Emily remarked.

“
Oh, I’m just looking for things. Actually, anything that I can recognise as something I
know.
Something similar to anything from
my
world.”

“Oh I see. Well, perhaps we should take up Lord Elindril’s invitation and have a look around the city. I have heard that elvish cities are spectacular, and I only got a brief look around when we got here. My Grandfather has no time for anything except for business.”

“That would be great. It might help lift my mind a little, and if I’m here to stay, I better get used to things.”

“That’s the spirit!” Emily said, springing to her feet, “I’ll have you shaped into a typical Hasparian before you can say, “Miriwena Smudgels ate Friggles pie!””

“What?” Jason asked, looking and feeling very confused.

“Oh, never mind!” Emily said with a giggle. “Let’s go explore, before they send us to our beds.”

Emily ran out the door, quite obviously full to the brim of excitement.

Jason had a feeling that Emily could be quite a handful, but he was happy to find someone so cheerful, and if he was here forever, then he was glad he had met someone who could be potentially very entertaining. Without another thought, he hurried out the door after her.

Jason soon caught up with Emily, who was standing outside looking from left to right, as though weighing up the potential for fun in each direction.

“So which way shall we go first?” she asked, breathlessly, but continued while Jason was still opening his mouth to form an answer. “I think the city is a circle, so it doesn’t really matter which way we go, though I have to say I think we should go right, it’s much brighter that way, don’t you think?”

“
Sounds good to me,” Jason replied. He didn’t notice much difference in brightness from either the left side or the right, but remembered what Tommy the Milkman had always told him: “Never argue with a woman, son, they can’t half throw a good pint of milk.” He decided to go with Emily’s suggestion, fearing the milk bottles they might have in this world, or what the counterpart could be.

The trees surrounding the city blocked out much of the sunlight, but there were many lanterns hung from hooks either in posts along the pathways or hanging from ropes descending from the treetops. There was a pleasant green-blue light about the area, giving a sense of calm and tranquillity. Some of the buildings were up amongst the trees. Jason looked up and watched as a group of elves gracefully walked along the tree top platforms from one upper area to the next.

“This place is so strange.” he said at last, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it.”

“I can’t really imagine what your world must be like, Jason, though I’m sure you’ll get used to things here, eventually. Besides I’m here, although I don’t know how long for, but if I can, I’ll help you as best as I can to settle in.”

“Thanks Emily. I think I might need all the help I can get. In fact, I definitely need it now - I don’t even know if I’m coming or going!”

“
Coming or going
where
?”

“Oh, it just means that I’m not sure what I’m doing, which is very true.”

“Well, we’ll soon sort that out,” Emily said purposefully.

She stopped outside what looked like a shop.

“
Ah, well, here we are. My mother told me to try and get a visit to this shop if I could. I honestly didn’t think I’d get a chance. Are you coming in?”

Emily entered the shop before Jason could get a chance to answer her.

The shop was bathed in the same light as that outside, but when they entered, there was a much greater and more intense feeling of peace. There wasn’t much in the shop, just a few tables covered in silky blue fabric, with boxes placed on them. In each box sat a few different coloured stones, each one carefully labelled. Jason looked at a few and read their titles: memory stone, summoning stone, reading stone. Emily seemed deeply intrigued by each of them, carefully picking each one up, turning it around, placing it down, and moving on to the next. Jason hated shopping and had heard how bad it was to shop with girls. Now it seemed, however, that it was his turn to experience the tedium for himself. Unfortunately in his case, there didn’t seem to be any waiting seats, in this small shop to cater for those who were less interested in the merchandise or the shopping experience.

It felt like hours passed while Emily continued her ritual of examining the strange stones. Jason was finding it very taxing indeed to work out what interest she could possibly have with them. He didn’t bother to ask her though, as he knew this would only hold things up, which was probably the one thing that he would least like to happen at this very moment. Instead he looked around the shop himself and every so often poked a few things, he was slowly losing the will to stay awake, that was, until he found a strange black disc on the wall. The disc kept changing every few moments, depicting different scenes. According to the plaque posted below it was entitled:

Scenes from Haspar

The Seeing Eye

Absorbed in the pictorial history, Jason almost jumped when he heard Emily come up behind him.

“Well? Are you ready? It’s getting pretty late, and we should probably head back to our rooms. Don’t want to upset the old folk now, do we?”