Karn found himself unreasonably comfortable, in a slumber so deep he forgot where he was. Lying face down he reached for a blanket, grasping for what wasn’t there. He felt around, connecting with something smooth. His fingers ran across the lines of embroidered leather and his mind touched a distant memory.
Karn’s eyes sharply cracked open, squinting as they adjusted to the bright light. In his grip was the red covers of the book. His uncle’s stone rested atop its surface, silent and still, betraying no hint of its former life.
He sat bolt upright ripping his hands away from them. Panicking, he turned his head and found he was still in the middle the shattered room. The roof was gone, windows smashed and all the fixtures on the remaining walls hung askew. Recognition filled in his mind as he quickly scrambled to his feet.
He looked down, wrestling with an internal conflict, and ultimately chose to pick up both the book and the stone.
"Hello?" His voice reverberated.
A sharp noise rang out from above.
Startled, he whipped his head upward, watching as a shower of small stones tumbled to the floor.
Taking a deep breath, he sighed in relief. The monsters had gone.
"Thank goodness," he muttered to himself.
"Charles! Ellie!" He raised his voice, hoping for a response.
Only silence answered.
Karn struggled to organize his jumbled thoughts, sensing something amiss, yet unable to pinpoint what it was. Everywhere he looked, remnants of his uncle's house told a story of abandonment. There was no trace of Charles or Ellie, no indication they had ever been there. All that remained were overturned pieces of furniture, worn and aged beyond their years. Karn hesitated, a nagging feeling pulling at him.
It was astonishing how much the room had changed in just one night.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed the house had been consumed by an unfamiliar flora. Strange weeds sprung from rotting patches of carpet, tendrils of vines crept up the remnants of walls, and a thick blanket of moss cloaked nearly everything in sight.
How long was I out for? He wondered.
Through sleepy eyes, Karn assessed the scene. There were enormous, jagged cracks in the very foundations of the house. Searching for his pack, he walked through a fractured doorway then gasped.
A surge of freezing winds buffeted his face. Somehow, the forest had vanished. In its place an immense golden valley lay sprawled far below him. A shiver went down his spine as he took in the overwhelming sight and felt a stab of vertigo from being so high up. The ruins of the manor now sat precariously on the edge of a cliff of a mighty mountain.
Far below, foothills gave way to hundreds of miles of a rolling plains that continued all the way to the horizon. Mist washed out into open space as an icy waterfall from above surged outwards into open air, crashing into a crystal-clear lake far below, feeding a wide river that stretched across the valley.
“Gorgeous,” Karn muttered to himself.
An array of shadows flickered beside him.
“Sckreee!” Scarlet wings flashed as a thunder of flying serpent-like creatures swooped above. One veered from the cluster and nested upon a cropping of rocks above, gripping the rocks with its wings like a bat. It peered at the newcomer with inquisitive golden eyes and flickered its forked tongue towards Karn, who took a tentative step back. The creature looked him over, dismissing him as non-threatening then returned its interest to what looked like a nest. There Karn spotted a cluster of tiny red heads popping into view, screeching for attention.
A strange sensation overtook him. Although he was certain he’d never encountered these creatures before, watching them stirred a weird sense of nostalgia. Thoughts of his uncle's books rushed to the forefront of his mind as he muttered the name his uncle had given them, “Skyclaws.”
Another clatter of stones stole his attention. A blue glow flashed into existence and his stone jumped out of his hand then rested on a pile of rocks. As Karn stared at it, a strange wind twirled around the glowing stone that somehow lifted it from the ground. Spiralling in a tremendous arc, the bizarre spectacle shimmered. More and more rubble snapped and crackled as the living tornado grew.
The scene fell into silence and the wind stopped, freezing the cluster mid-air. Karn shifted uncomfortably as the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Abruptly, the gravel churned and turned. It was moulding itself.
Suddenly, the stones froze in place, revealing a new form.
The once-inert stone from his uncle, which had flickered with a mysterious blue light, had changed. In its place was a small rock-like creature, animated and pulsing with that same blue energy. Its form resembled a miniature humanoid golem, and it stared up at Karn with eyes that twinkled like the night sky.
"Wha... Who are you?" Karn stammered, his voice trembling.
"Hello, Karn. I am Alec," the creature responded. Its voice was soft, like the murmur of a gentle wind, yet there was an underlying strength to it. "I’m now fully awake."
Karn tried to process this revelation, his mind racing. "What? Awake?"
Alec shuffled closer to Karn's foot, looking around at their new surroundings. "My heart stone resonates with the energy of this world. It sensed the transition and felt it was time." His eye’s glanced towards the red book in Karns arms and nodded as if to confirm his suspicion. “The book has given me enough energy to gain form for a while.”
“For what?”
“To guide you.”
Karn hesitated, a flood of suspicions surging within him, threatening to consume his thoughts. Suddenly, the words from his father's letter resonated clearly in his mind.
Alec... That name was mentioned in the letter.
'Trust Theodor and Alec in all things. Heed their judgement as I did.'
Karn slowly knelt down, leveling his gaze with Alec. "Guide me? To where? And for what reason?"
Alec's eyes shimmered with ancient wisdom. "Towards completing the task your father set out to complete. The world you are in now is not just a random place. It is connected to your past, to your uncle's tales. This world Ren Daral is in dire need of your help."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Karn stood frozen in shock. He almost laughed.
“My help? I can barely keep myself…”
Suddenly, the creature held out its arms. "Eight I count now." The rock creature said, wagging a rocky arm.
"Eight?" Karn asked.
"Yes. Eight. Eight times I've seen you close to death and eight times you've escaped it. I tell you, I’ve seen a lot of fleshling’s face much less and come off a lot worse." The creature looked him up and down. "Still, you are safe. For now."
He stared at the creature who had moved beyond the broken room and was now outside, looking up at the peak of the mountain above them.
“I would like to thank you, Karn.” Alec said.
“What for?” Karn asked as he followed.
“For keeping me safe in a world I couldn’t defend against. The stone you carried; the one Sir Theodor carried. It was no mere stone rather; it was my core stone, my heart stone. Like your human heart or brain, this stone not only contains my mind but also my energy and entire being. So once more, I thank you for caring for me.”
Karn gave the rock creature an unsure smile. “You are, um, Welcome.”
Alec then turned to the floor and began to prod absentmindedly.
“Do you know what’s happened?” Karn asked hopefully. “Alec?” He asked, trying to get the creature's attention.
The rock creature, however, wasn’t listening. He was sketching figures in the dirt at his tiny feet. Karn’s eyebrows knitted as he watched the creature craft a series of complex geometric patterns. Little feet danced between symbols and figures as Alec scooted, while periodically gazing towards the sky.
“Alec!” Karn repeated.
“Please, give me a second. You’re making me lose count.” The scribbling continued for another minute, then Alec abruptly stopped and looked up at him. “We are back. Somewhere to the west maybe,” he mumbled. “But the timing is all wrong. How long has it been?”
Alec nodded to himself. “We’ve returned to our world. Right now, I believe we’re somewhere to the south-west of Branside, by the angle of the sun, and…” he peered over the cliff and shook his head but then glanced up at the Skyclaws.
“The landscape of this region is odd, but we are definitely home, but it’s somewhat changed from when we left.” He looked around. “It’s definitely been a while.” He peered out into the plain before them. “This is all different.”
Karn’s mind reeled at the newfound information. “Our world? What do you mean?”
“Your father and Theodore were from here, as was I. You however, I believe were born here before the event took you to earth. I think... Honestly, I’m not sure. Fleshlings and are strange creatures.”
As the information slowly sank in, a wave of realisation washed over him. However, amidst the whirlwind of thoughts, one particular fact stood out, demanding his immediate attention. "But what about my friends?" he blurted out, a hint of panic creeping into his voice. He leaned forward, his eyes searching desperately for answers. "Where are they? Are they okay?"
His heart raced as he awaited a response, his mind racing with various scenarios with the safety of Charles and Ellie hanging in the balance.
Alec paused in thought. “I don’t suppose your friends were touching you when you opened and closed the book?”
Karn shook his head.
Alec gazed at his sketch. “If you are able to remember exactly where they were in relation to you, I may be able to calculate their exact location, but we’d also need to know the precise time they came through. And someone proficient in event casting.”
“Through where? How did we even get here?” Karn asked, now even more confused.
“The book, Sir. A transportation event has brought us here!” Alec said slowly.
Karn looked down at the red leather he still held. He remembered everything. He remembered opening it, the need he felt to save his friends and the searing pain.
“Alec. My father left me a letter,” he said. “It told me to trust you and that this thing was a weapon.” Karn gestured towards the book.
"Yes, our initial mission was to prevent the book's creation. But we fell short," Alec began with a hint of sorrow in his voice. "Your father was the only one who could successfully open the book. Before he left us, he claimed to have uncovered something extraordinary about the book. However, before he could reveal this secret, he was tragically taken from us. Left with only Theodor and myself, we endeavoured to destroy the book, but to no avail." Alec concluded with a heavy sigh.
“Why not just burn the bloody thing?” Karn asked.
“Theo didn’t teach you nearly enough,” Alec muttered to himself. The stones made a grinding sound.
Alec came closer and placed a stony hand on Karn's shin. “It’s not that simple. I watched as Theo tried everything. Fire, acid, ice. Nothing worked. And then we wound up getting caught in an event. We never intended to be transported to earth, and for a time we thought we were completely safe there. Since the Earth held no magic, we thought everything was fine. We heard nothing for years. Decades even.” Alec sighed. “We were wrong.”
Alec looked out over the valley for a moment, sitting, inviting Karn to join him.
As Karn settled into a comfortable position on the mossy ground as Alec began.
“Your father wrote you that letter before the end,” Alec said with sorrow in his gravelly voice. “He was a great man and a friend to my kind. But like all of us, failed.”
“Why is destroying it so important?” Karn asked.
Alec looked down at his little stone feet. “Theo should have explained all of this to you!” He spoke.
“The one who created this book did so for power and that power was not made but stolen from souls of friends and enemies alike.”
Karn waited patiently for the rock creature to elaborate.
Alec sighed and continued. “A long time ago, a war began between two nations. We were all naïve believing we were fighting for freedom and honour. Your father left to fight a great host of enemies. He left to defend our home. It was a righteous cause. Or so we thought. Our enemies thought the same. However, we were all misled.” Alec paused.
“Two armies met at the siege of the Eastern city of Hornbare. A man stood atop the tallest tower in the city and enacted a terrible evil.” Alec shuddered.
Karn could see the small creature struggling to articulate the horror.
“Trapping Hornbare in a dreadful power. A cataclysm tore through the city, killing everyone. Reality tore itself asunder, as souls were torn from flesh. Their essences trapped within the pages of a book. Stained red from the blood of millions. The book was created to control the flow of magic in this world.”
The book in Karns' hands felt heavier. The invasion of the earth and the war that took place in this strange land were somehow connected. That, he was certain.
Cold air slowly filled his lungs as he took a deep, steadying breath. Looking out over the peaceful valley, he felt the determination he was all too familiar with. His survival on earth depended upon it and it would now be his welcome weapon here. White lines appeared on his knuckles as he squeezed the book.
“Fine. Let’s find a way to destroy this damned thing. Will this friend of yours help us find my friends?”
Alec nodded as he looked up at Karns determined expression. “Good lad.”
“I’m guessing you have some sort of plan, then?” Karn asked.
Some time passed before Alec responded. The two stared off into the distance, contemplating the journey they knew was inevitable. Alec turned his head in surprise.
“Ah, whos’ this then?” The rock man said, humming with eagerness.
“Who’s what?” Karn studied the creature’s facial features. It was so realistic that it was eerie.
Alec turned to Karn. “Oh, sorry.” He shook his little stone head. “My core felt the presence of another.”
“Another like you?”
Alec nodded as a smiled fell on his lips. “Ah, Earth was so silent. I haven’t felt one like this in a very long time.”
“Can IT help us?” Karn asked.
Alec paused and turned his head. It was if he was searching for something. “There shouldn’t be enough natural magic in this world for one like her to thrive. She must have some sort of supply. Maybe she can help us? Either way, I believe we have no other choice.”
Karn looked down at the plains below and sighed. “Ok, let’s go find her.”
Karn motioned to move but the little stone man didn’t budge. “We going then?”
Alec nodded and held out his arms like a child asking to be picked up.
“You can’t walk on your own?”
He gave off a low rumbling that sounded like a chuckle. “Not with these legs, and besides, I only have a limited amount of energy until it's exhausted.” He pointed at the book. “In this world, the only source of natural magic is contained within the ink.”
“Okay, so magic books are batteries, gotcha.” He studied the stone creature as his features softened. “I’ll pick you up in a second. Let's quickly find some supplies and be off.”
“Sounds good.”
With a plan now in sight, the two checked the wreckage of the house for anything useful. Everything was torn to shreds so the salvage effort was futile. Luckily, Alec unearthed Karns' pack, filled with his golden treasures. Karn didn’t know if he should laugh or cry when he caught the sight of the stash of canned corn.
Instructed by Alec, Karn tore up rags he found around the house and tied them around his hands and shoes. Descending the mountain was a daunting task, and all the more since the path was full of sharp rocks.
With Alec riding in Karns pack, he would guide the two of them down the dangerous path.