Now that the deal had been officially made, Kenrich and Violet followed Farrell to an inn that was a few blocks away from the guild. They wanted to leave as soon as possible for a plethora of reasons, but most of all, it was Farrell who could not seem to stand to wait a second longer to hit the road. Once arriving at the inn, Farrell took a few moments to gather all of his things while Violet and Kenrich waited outside. After a few moments, Farrell was lumbering out the front entrance dragging some large sacks behind him which were filled with the goods they were about to transport. They realized that the pile of burlap and paper that they were contracted to start hauling was not nearly as massive as they thought it would be, and once it was separated amongst the three of them, the weight was nothing more than that of a large bag of flour.

“Any stops you two need to make before we saddle-off?” Farrell asked.

“We have plenty of supplies, so we should be good to go,” Kenrich said.

“Wonderful! Then let’s not dilly-dally!”

The group then made their way out of the town to start their journey to the capital of Aquarium, Paradise Falls. As they left Loch, they noticed even more canals that were running through the open space outside of the city. It looked as if the entire country was connected by these canals, regardless of if there were people around them. It seemed like a massive waste of resources to Violet, but Kenrich could only think about how cool the idea of it was. While it is true that Aquarium has unlimited fresh water, they would still need the labor to dig these canals across the entire nation which rivals Admia in size. This sort of infrastructure would definitely be unheard of in Admia where many cities are left to rot by the government if they do not have immediate military use.

“So, how long of a journey do you think this will be?” Kenrich asked.

“Two days if we hurry,” Farrell said. “Think less about reaching the destination and more about the journey though, my boy! There’s no feeling quite like being on the road!”

“We…don’t exactly have the best luck on the road,” Kenrich said. “It’s nice to have you along though. We know nothing about Aquarium having been in Admia the majority of our lives.”

“I still think we could have figured it out,” Violet said. “You better not lead us on a longer route, green-coat. We need to be there as soon as possible.”

“Green-coat? That’s a new one. Not as vulgar as I’m used to though, so I’ll take it as a term of endearment my dear,” Farrell said with a hint of humor in his voice. “I promise that it will be as quick as I can make it. I have business at the capital too after all. There will be very few stops we need to make.”

“There better be no stops.”

“There is a deal I have to make in Ravine, but it will be quick and it’s right on the path straight there. It will take a few minutes at worst.”

“We’re not here to be your damn entourage! We have no time to wait for your scams!”

“Scams?!”

“V, please. It’ll be fine. We’re already getting a pretty good deal with this stuff being the only cargo we have to carry. We can waste a few minutes.”

“You’re too damn soft.”

“Both polite and reasonable? You’re truly a rare breed, Sir Kenrich!”

“Just Ken is fine, Farrell. I’m just happy to have you on board.”

Violet sighed and rolled her eyes.

They traveled on the road for a few hours, passing through a few cities before dusk started to settle in which caused the group to pull over to the side of the open road to set up camp for the night in a nearby forest. Violet hitched Atlas to a nearby tree and Farrell did the same with his own horse. The sun was almost invisible in the sky now, and the forest they set up near gave them cover that made both Kenrich and Violet feel at ease for a bit. They both could not completely let their guards down though after what happened the last time they set up camp. They were not sure how the members of the Coalition appeared so quickly in their camp and until they knew, they could not be sure it would not happen again. Violet’s first thought was that it was a gemstone that gave them this power, but of the gemstones that she found on their bodies, none of them had an ability like that. Just some more speed stones and some mist stones. The camp was now set up, and everyone was prepared to settle in for the night.

“I’ll take first watch,” Violet said.

“Okay, but make sure to wake me up in a few hours so I can take my turn,” Kenrich said. “You need to make sure to get some sleep too.”

“I will,” Violet said. She was not a very good liar.

“I can stand watch as well,” Farrell said.

“Can you even fight?” Violet asked, dismissively.

“I travel alone often, miss. It’s hard to be always on the move if you can’t take care of yourself.”

“You don’t seem to carry any weapons,” Violet said.

“These stones are all I need-” Farrell showed them an assortment of different colored stones in his palms.

“That’s an impressive amount,” Kenrich said. “Can you use them all?”

“Of course, my boy! My father owned a gem shop, and he taught me how to control a vast amount of them from an early age…I could even show you a thing or two if you wanted. I’d definitely consider myself an expert in this area.”

“Well, actually he alread-”

“Really?! You will?!” Kenrich said, cutting Violet off. “Do you really not mind?!”

“Of course not! Go ahead, pick a stone at random and I’ll show you the best and most efficient way to use it.”

“Okay! Violet, why don’t you sleep first then? Farrell and I will take the first watch.”

“I’m an expert in gems too! What about our lessons?!”

“You’re a great teacher, but it’s not often I get to learn from a different source, y’know? Besides, there are stones here I’ve never seen before!”

“Whatever. Have fun. I’m going to bed.”

Violet did not know why, but she was a little irritated by all this. She decided to do her best to get some sleep.

Farrell began telling Kenrich about the many types of gems in the world and showing him the ones that he had that Kenrich was unfamiliar with. Kenrich learned that most gems fall into one of four different categories: passive, creation, offensive, and the Shift Stones. Passive stones were ones that enhanced someone’s abilities without the need to activate them through any physical means other than being in contact with the stone or wearing gold jewelry with them embedded. These included water breathing stones, speed stones, jump stones, etc. Creation stones are known for creating different matter through activation of them. This includes stones that create fire, ice, lightning, wind, light, as well as photograph stones, glitter stones, healing stones, etc. Offensive stones (which sometimes overlap with other categories) are stones that are often used by militaries for dealing damage in battle. Some examples include fireball, weapon creation, raise zombie, lightning spear, ice spike, etc. The last category, the Shift Stones, include all of the known most powerful stones in the world which Violet had explained the concept of to Kenrich a few days earlier. Kenrich already knew about the Liquid Ring, which was held by Queen Puri, but Farrell told him of some that he had never heard of before.

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“Knowing about the Shift Stones is important for any merchant. There are five that are known by the public as of today. Whether or not there are more out there being used without our knowledge, who can say? But I believe that there are many more out there. It’s likely that there are plenty that are being hidden from the world for one reason or another.”

“Y-you think so?” Kenrich said.

“I do. A great burden it must be for them. Keeping secrets is not something that humanity is very good at for long periods of time, but I digress. Let’s continue our study of the Shift Stones.” Kenrich nodded. “Alright, so you are already familiar with the Liquid Ring, so the next to discuss is the Night Ring. It is not known who holds this stone, but it has been confirmed to exist and to be within the nation of Darkvent. If I had to guess, it would almost certainly be under the control of their government, but they vehemently deny that fact.”

“Why would they deny it?”

“Darkvent is a nation of little intrinsic value on its own, which has kept it safe from conquest for many years. The land is filled with swamps, marshes, and most notably – darkness. If word got out that the government had the stone, Admia would certainly break down their borders and take it by force. As of now, Admia still suspects that they hold it, but without proof, they can do nothing more than window shop within Darkvent hoping to stumble upon it.”

“Since when has anything ever stopped Admia from starting a fight with someone they know they could beat?”

“I tend to agree with you, but the power of the stone itself is a deterrent. Knowing that is within the nation, but not knowing where, creates too much risk for even Admia’s military.”

“So, what does the Night Ring do?”

“It creates a massive army of warriors made from shadow that obey the wearer of the ring.”

“A ring that creates an army out of nothing?! How could Admia help themselves from taking something like that?!”

“Darkvent is a difficult nation to traverse, and if they manage to use the ring within the darkness of their land, it would be able to push away any army, even Admia’s.”

“Why don’t they use it to fight against Admia then?! The rest of Nebulan suffers every day from the way they bully the world…If they have this type of power, why not use it?!”

“There’s a catch to using the stone, sadly. Once there is light in the sky, the clones disappear. If they were to fight any battles, they would only be able to fight during night. That’s why the stone is so useful for protecting a place that is draped in darkness constantly. If they were to plan an assault though, it would not go well for them.”

“So, they can only use the stone for defense? That really is unfortunate.”

“It truly is a shame, but at least those within Darkvent are safe under that stone’s protection…I can only imagine what a stone like that would go for on the market today…”

“I doubt you’d be able to sell it before they flay you and take it from your cold dead hands,” said Violet from within the tent next to them.

“Don’t say something so frightening!” Farrell yelled.

“Sorry Violet, are we keeping you up?” Kenrich asked.

“It’s hard to sleep anyway with what happened last time we tried to relax,” she said while leaving the tent. “Besides, this is a history lesson that I’m interested in. Go on, pickleman.”

“Pickleman? Now we’re getting closer to what I’m normally called. Alright, Violet. Feel free to sit in on the lesson.”

“I could be the one giving the lesson. I’m only here to observe. This is all information I know already.”

“If that’s the case, then why haven’t you shared it with Ken here?”

“We were getting there!”

“Regardless, I’ll continue on with the lecture and save you some future work. The next known Shift Ring is the Meteor Ring which is allegedly held by the nation of Shangloo in the north. This stone has the power to change the weather in a very wide radius.”

“Ah…Shangloo. I haven’t thought about that place for years.”

“Have you been there before, Violet?” Kenrich asked.

“My first military expedition was there. It was one of the few places where Admia lost a few of the battles.”

“I didn’t realize you were a soldier, Violet,” Farrell said.

“I’m not anymore. That was a long time ago.”

“I see…But, yes. The war with Shangloo was definitely closer than most expected it to be,” Farrell said. “The Meteor Ring played a key role in that.”

“How would changing the weather help them in battle?”

“During a lot of the battles, Shangloo would plan an extreme weather change that would directly affect Admian troops based on what we were wearing. If they saw us bundled up, they would throw in a heatwave. If they saw us with lighter wear, they would throw a blizzard at us. It was like that throughout the whole war. It was a horrible time to be an Admian soldier. I can still feel the frostbite on my fingers and sunburn on my neck…”

“Did Admia win the war?”

“They did,” Farrell said. “There was great sacrifice, but Admia did not let up. They now lead Shangloo as a sort of puppet-regime.”

“Is that why you said the stone is allegedly there?” Kenrich asked.

“Correct. Admia claims to have made peace with Shangloo, but no one is stupid enough to believe that. They control their government, and they have almost certainly taken the Meteor stone as well, even if they deny it.”

“Why would they care about any of that?” Kenrich asked. “Everyone is aware of Admia’s aggressiveness, so who are they trying to fool?”

“Very few people are buying it, but those who are, are the only ones that need to,” Violet interjected. “The rich and powerful of Admia that know nothing of the horrors of war, or the effect that Admia has had on the world, love their blissful ignorance.”

“Violet is exactly right. It’s nothing more than to keep good relations with their biggest donors who claim to dislike war and conquest while keeping their fingers in their ears and their eyes closed to the truth.”

“What a sorry state of affairs…” Kenrich sighed.

“It truly is. It gets no better either because the next Shift Stone is the Death Ring which is kept within the Admian military.”

“With a name like that, there’s no way it can be anything good.”

“It’s not good, but I would consider it the least powerful of the Shift Stones,” Violet said.

“You should not underestimate it, Violet,” Farrell said. “It still has the power to grant death to anyone who the wearer comes into contact with. It works through clothing and armor as well, so it is a force to be reckoned with.”

“Even so, it can only be used once per day.”

“That is true, but I can’t help but think that there are things about it that we still don’t know. Admia controls all the info that we know about the ring after all.”

“That's a scary thought,” Kenrich said. “Being able to kill someone every day is still a horrifying power to have.”

“A nice, heavy club gives you that same ability though,” Violet said.

“The only stone left that we haven’t discussed is certainly the most powerful, but it’s also the one with the least known about it. It’s the only one of the Shift Stones that has never been completely confirmed to even exist even though everyone is being told it does by the World Church.”

“The Stone of Creation?” Kenrich asked.

“So, you knew of it already?”

“Only from a few religious lessons I had back in my hometown. They didn’t really tell us much about it other than it being the first magic stone to exist and how it was said to be used to create our world.”

“It’s just a dumb fairytale,” Violet said. “If you believe that a tiny rock made a bigger rock that was thousands of times the size and filled it with people, then you should be put in a mental ward.”

“I guess you’re not the religious type then, huh, Violet?” Farrell asked.

“It’s just a way to try and control people and have them do your bidding. The World Church is run by a bunch of freaks who are only vying for power. That stone doesn’t even exist.”

“Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but regardless the World Church does hold a lot of power. I wouldn’t be so eager with your lack of belief as we make our way through these towns. Many would see you hanged for such words.”

“Like I care.”

“You should. The power of the majority is enough to overwhelm most opponents. Anyway, that is the end of my lecture on stones for tonight. I can show you more tricks and teach you some more another tim-”

Out of nowhere, they heard an intense rumbling around them. As Violet looked through the brush of the forest, she saw many sets of red, glowing eyes.