The Tinker entered a dark chamber and switched the lights on near the door. The room has metal plates across the floor, surrounded by desks covered with mechanical parts. Toward the back, a metal safe rested on a cylinder pedestal. Orb lanterns hung across the rocky ceiling, shimmering the entire chamber.

The mole rat pointed his long claw at the safe. “It’s in there.”

Zena poked his back with her staff. “Go open it.”

The Tinker snarled and proceeded toward the safe. He turned a dial on the safe clockwise until the little door snapped open. He stepped aside toward a workshop desk. “There you go. You can take it.”

Jenny reached inside for the stone and pulled it out. The stone has the same runic letters and the rough fracture half. Its warmness tingled through her fingertips.

She turned around and showed the second stone to her friends. “We did it! We got both of them now!”

“Not for long!” The Tinker grabbed a metal staff with a spiked ball on top from his workbench. He aimed it toward Jenny. “Nobody is leaving with that stone! If you have the other half, drop it now!”

Huntar growled and pulled out his sword.

“Don’t move!” The Tinker shouted. “This mechanical scepter will vaporize her into a skeleton! I suggest you put all your weapons down, now!”

Huntar grunted and dropped his broadsword. The others did the same.

“Now leave and never come back,” the mole rat ordered. “This will be the only mercy I will give you.”

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Zena glared at him. “We are not leaving without the stones.”

“Do you prefer death instead?”

“You promised us to give us the stone for your life!” Jenny shouted with her hands up.

The Tinker raised the scepter toward her face. “You don’t understand what kind of power the stones have. If anyone put their paws on them, they could change everything or destroy our world! That is why Nagendra and I made a deal to keep the stones apart.”

“You and that elephant?” Rani asked.

The Tinker glanced toward her while he kept his scepter on Jenny. “We were companions once. When we discovered our rival, Marzak, planned to erase us from existence, we teamed up to vanquish him for good. After his downfall, we slipt the stone in half and kept them hidden with us. Many tried to take the stones, but fortunately, they never survived.” He glanced at Jenny. “You may have succeeded in killing Nagendra to get the first half, but you won’t take my half!”

“We didn’t kill Nagendra,” Jenny explained. “I threatened his collection so he will give up.”

The Tinker shrugged. “He is a greedy fool to give up too easily. At least I won’t!”

Jenny pursed her lips. “Listen, the reason we need the stones is because I need them to return home.”

The Tinker tilted his head. “Home?”

“Yes, I am from the distant past. It is a long explanation, but I need the stones now. After I return to my rightful time period, my friends will give them back to you. We won’t use them for anything else.”

The mole rat’s whiskers twitched. “You are lying!”

“I speak the truth!”

The Tinker shook his scepter. “That’s impossible… Unless your kind built something to bring you here.”

“If they didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

The mole rat clicked his teeth. “I met humans before, and none of them knew the concept of time travel. Even if you speak the truth, I still can’t allow you to leave with the stones.”

Jenny held out her hands. “But-”

“I won’t risk it! If you are from the past, then you can’t return home without risking our entire-”

Suddenly, the walls tremored as exploding sounds echoed outside. Jenny felt the floor vibrate through her feet. “What’s happening?”

Huntar and the others glanced around. “I think this is an earthquake!”