Farlen led the entourage upstairs with Karn and the children, leaving Alec to wander the halls alone. He was anxious to explore the building and moved through the halls with a tiny hand along its walls.
Alec hesitated a step. He could feel vibrations.
With renewed determination, he moved deeper into the building, searching for the source. The vibrations grew, reverberated through his arms and legs. He was getting close. Green shimmers ran across the surface of the walls, guiding him to its centre.
Then he stopped. Alec had found it.
Deep under ground in a half spherical room stood an elaborate altar. Resting atop was a green stone with a golden rune carved on its side. It nuzzled in a nest of velvety green cloth that propped the stone up a few inches from the altar.
Alec sighed. “There you are.”
He moved purposefully into the room and stared up at the heart stone. The stone lay motionless, yet he could feel vibrations through the floor.
“You have arrived,” said a voice. It was distinctively feminine and faint. “Tell me, what is your name?”
Alec grumbled in his chest, speaking his true name in the language of his ancestors, then waited. The voice waited a long time and when it returned, was filled with sorrow.
“I will have to apologise. For the sounds you make are foreign to me.”
Alec stared at the Heart dumbfounded.
How does she not know our language?
Then his answer came.
“I was found as a pebble and rescued from capture as a stoneling, and was brought here by Farlen,” said the Heart. “I’ve never once been in the presence of another of my kind.”
Alec stared at the floor, then slowly poked his head up.
“Then my name is Alec,” he said softly.
The stone glowed faintly, then spoke, “Well met, I’m Akana.”
“Well met,” Alec repeated the greeting, then wracked his mind.
“I pulled my thoughts through the earth and could only feel your presence.”
Akana shimmered and rumbled. “It fills me with sadness to tell you that you are the last of us to walk the land.”
“The last?”
“Yes,” she spoke mournfully. “From what Farlen has told me. In a world without the freedom of the natural laws of magic, our kind has dwindled. The largest of our kind eroded first, then the rest. Our final sanctuary was then plundered, and we the Stonelings were powerless to stop the thieves who stole us.”
Alec felt rage boil in his chest. The image of Karn’s book was vivid in his mind.
Alec forced himself to calm down enough to ask, “how are you able to survive here?”
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A fresh wave of warmth emanated from the Heart stone as power washed over him. He looked at his feet and felt it pulsate through the floor. The velvet under the Heart stone rose steadily to reveal a green book hidden underneath.
“Power leaks from these cursive tomes,” Akana said. “And yet without it, I would fade as surely as my ancestors.”
Alec nodded idly while thinking back. Karn’s book had revitalised him.
He looked up at the green book. The power that emanated from it was formidable. However, it was only a drop in the ocean compared to the original.
“I can see, even now, destroying the book and releasing the magic is still my mission,” Alec said.
They chatted for a while, swapping stories of their past and after a time turned to talks of the future.
It was time to act.
With his questions answered he left the Heart stone alone on its altar and climbed the stairs to the surface. Since Karn and the others were otherwise preoccupied, it was time to find the man who handled the local quarry. Following Akana’s directions, he left the building and approached the eastern cliff face.
Alec felt a shiver caress the connections that made up his limbs. Both excitement and fear gripped at his very core. For he knew it was time to act. It’d been many years since he had such energy.
On Earth he waited unmoving.
If this was to be the end, then it would be he who would set the fleshing’s on the right path. He had decided that even it would kill him, he would destroy the red book.
Alec found the man Akana spoke of leaning on the supports of a pulley-controlled kart track. He was lost in thought, chewing a long sweet reed and polishing his wooden knife.
"Ah! Hello," said the man.
"Are you Roven?" Alec asked.
He chuckled to himself. “That I am.”
"The whole town’s gone a little crazy at your arrival, and I have to say if what they are saying is true." He gave a grimace, and he yanked the sweet reed from his mouth. "They say Hope has brought home a stray."
Alec shrugged and bounded towards a bulging kart. "Karn’s a good guy, bit thick sometimes but he’s got heart.”
“I guess I’ll have to meet the guy,” Roven said with a shrug then gestured to the stones. "There's a large bundle of quality goods here. Might take a while to fine tune 'em, but who knows?"
"Straight to the point? Thanks, Roven."
"No problem." He smiled. "I will take my leave. I'm needed at the barracks." Roven strode away with a nod and a wave as Alec mimicked the courtesy.
When the man was out of sight, Alec moved on top of the kart.
It’s been far too long, he thought. When was the last time? Maybe two hundred cycles?
Back then he was an Elementlet of high regard. Pain lingered after the many long battles. They were permanently engrained in his core. Shattered.
Once it measured close to that of a man's skull but now it was no more than an infant’s fist. His core stone felt so very brittle and nothing he knew could fix or change it.
Alec rummaged around the kart and felt around its contents. Progress. There were many sturdy and perfectly usable stones, with very little fracture points. With a wave, his arms fell lifeless. The small rocks that held his arms together split apart and bounced in between the cracks of the rocks below him.
He felt the bottom of the kart. At once the granite began to rise. Each smooth surface turned as if pushed by an invisible force. Every piece floated and turned and was tested one by one. A pile of stones expanded as certain pieces were set aside. A large granite rock was set apart from the rest as Alec began to collect some eroded shards of quartz. Alec needed the finest particles he could find.
With a swirl of energy, the small grains began to grind the largest section. A high-pitched scratching echoed throughout the quarry. Years’ worth of erosion happened in seconds as Alec shaped the stone and the particles dug deep into the rock. A careful hole was carved deep enough to hold his core stone.
With small pebbles, Alec lifted a handful of soil into the hole then pushed his origin, his whole identity within. The soil was compacted into the hole all about his core, then closed off with another few stones for added protection. The front of the large rock now had a rune inscribed on its front.
The rune said 'Alec' in his native scripture. For now, this was his centre and the protection of his core. His soul.
Around this stone, he pulled the finest granite to himself. His new legs now easily supported his new body. An hour passed as he picked through certain rocks and chose only the strongest, without imperfections, then ground runes to each ligament to strengthen their bond to his core stone. The bond would help protect against damage during heavy struggles and would only break under the most extreme stress.
After a time, the quarry fell back into silence as Alec secured the last stone. He was ready.