Jal was up with the dawn. It wound around the rocks to get to the other side of the mountain where the sun shone brightly. Looking down into a valley, it could see a small stream. Jal paused and took a drink from the canteen. “I shouldn’t let it get too low,” Jal said aloud.
A deep voice rang out. “You destroyed my brother! I will avenge his death!”
Jal looked around, trying to determine where the voice came from.
A boulder landed a long way below Jal. Jal looked around. Great pillars of rock were scattered over the mountainside. Jal began to make its way toward them. Several boulders sailed through the air. Thankfully, they were nowhere near Jal. Jal peeked between the columns when it felt the ground begin to shake.
A rock person climbed slowly toward Jal. This one was nowhere near as big as the first one had been. The yellow of the sun reflected off the creature. It seemed to move sluggishly, slower than its brother had.
“I’m going to find you,” the brute said loudly. “This is MY side of this mountain. You may as well come out and get this over with.”
Jal began to plan a strategy. It gathered a pile of good-sized rocks. Hopefully some would dislodge enough other stones and cause an avalanche. Others could be used as distractions. The “Tez,” as Jal mentally referred to it, stopped and looked around. Jal threw a rock far to the left. Tez moved toward the direction that the rock had landed. It paused, then resumed its climb.
Jal threw another stone, harder this time. Tez moved farther away. Jal picked up several of the rocks and began to pick its way down the mountain. As it did, it dislodged a pocket of stones. Tez headed Jal’s way, this time with more energy. There was nowhere for Jal to hide. Jal scrambled around rocks and slid through loose ones. The rock creature began to lob huge pieces of rock at Jal and slowly closed the distance between them.
“You can’t outrun me! You may as well give up!”
“No way,” thought Jal. “I wonder if it will step off the mountain onto the hill.” Jal ducked rock after rock.
Suddenly a boulder landed on Jal’s right. “I’m in trouble! It’s getting closer.” Jal pulled out the wand and pointed it at a large boulder, then at the creature. “Keen goon!” The chunk sailed through the air and hit the thing on the head. Tez's head shook and wobbled.
“You can’t stop me!”
“If I can hit it hard enough, maybe the head will fall off!” Using the wand, Jal threw two boulders one after the other. The head lay on the ground. Just as Jal had done with the other creature, it used the wand to lift and drop. After doing this four times, the head shattered. Rock pieces flew everywhere.
“Bevin zi charmed pieces.” Small lights shone everywhere on the ground. Jal picked up several handfuls of pieces and filled two pockets in the pack. Jal, satisfied with itself, went on its way down the mountain, past large pillars, and places where the layers of rock could be seen.
The sound of rocks tumbling down the mountainside made Jal look back. Two rock monsters stood at the top of the mountain. They seemed to be randomly throwing rocks down, but Jal knew that it likely wasn’t random – it was bad aim.
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Jal could see the grass of the hill clearly. “I can run when I get to the trees, and I can jump so they can’t find me.” Jal slid through pockets of loose rocks and climbed over big slabs. These Tezcatliopocas had come down from the ridge and were moving quickly over the terrain. Jal wondered how many more times it could cast spells. It noticed that one monster's head was joined to the rest of its body by balancing on what seemed to be a small edge.
“Keen goon!” Jal’s boulder hit that monster and knocked its head off. The second monster was now running. “Keen goon!” Nothing happened. Jal was out of energy to do magic. “What am I going to do now?” Jal began to jump from rock to rock. It thought about putting the backpack down, but then would have to go back for it. “A charm!” Jal thought wildly. “I can use a charm.” Jal hoisted a boulder from the ground with one hand and rubbed the brown charm it was wearing. “Hab krok no!” It threw the boulder as hard as it could. The rock monster tripped, then fell. It slid down the mountain.
Jal threw a second huge chunk of rock smashing the creature in the head. It was still trying to speak when Jal heaved another. This rock caused the monster’s head to split. Shards of amethyst shimmered in the sun as they flew into the air then fell.
Exhausted, Jal stopped and sat down on a rock to catch its breath. “Should I try to collect some of those, too?” it thought. “Any of these rocks I’ve collected could be used for charms or they could be worthless.” Jal put three handfuls of the purple rocks in the backpack. It took a deep breath, then made its way down the mountain. As Jal stepped from the rocky ground onto an open area filled with gravel, it looked back. More rock monsters had gathered. “I’m so tired but I have to keep going!” Jal ran for the grassy area ahead, glancing back occasionally. The creatures began to come down the mountain. Jal saw trees ahead and ran in and out between the trees. The rock monsters turned away.
Jal sat in a tree for a long time, trying to gather its energy. It walked toward the stream it had seen, and when Jal reached the water, it drank all the water in the canteen. After refilling it, Jal dropped a purifying tablet into it. The sun shone brightly, but Jal wanted to sleep. It stumbled through the trees and walked until it couldn’t take another step.
Jal climbed into a big leafy tree and sat there a long time. Eventually it climbed down. It tried to use the wand to erect the tent, but it wouldn’t work. Jal knew it was out of energy to use it. Jal erected the tent by hand between some trees near the water. It was relieved to step inside and roll out the sleeping bag. After saying the words for the shield charm, Jal went right to sleep.
The sun was on the other side of the mountains when Jal awoke. It wasn’t quite so tired but knew that it couldn’t let its guard down. It wasn't long before it had a fishhook in the water. When it had caught enough fish for a meal, it built a fire pit, started a fire and cooked it. The fish was delicious, and Jal finished with a few berries it found nearby.
“How far should I go?” Jal said aloud. It studied the map that Haerm had given it. There was no way to tell what was in this area. The little stream was not marked on the map, so Jal added it. “I’ll go one more day before I start home. I need to take a different route home, so I don’t have to fight the Tezcatliopoca.” As Jal sat by the fire, a sense of separateness set in. It missed Eiske and wished it could see him. It missed Jan and Tarryn. And it felt vulnerable and worried that something would hurt it.
“What can I do?” Jal thought about the various charms that it had. Each of them had a purpose, but none would defend it so it could sleep soundly.
“Wait! There was a gray stone with white flecks in the collection that Eiske gave me. Grays and Blacks are defense charms.” Jal dug it out of the backpack and placed it on the ground. “Herk!” A box popped out next to the rock. “Charm, defensive. Level: 3. Effects to user: None. Length of use: 10 hours.” “Thank you, Eiske!” Jal thought.
Jal cleaned up the dishes, put out the fire, and crawled into the tent. It barely uttered the words for the defense charm before it fell asleep.