If this is your first time here, check out chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, and chapter 4 before reading on.

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Chapter 5 – A Plague of Stone

Bonfires rimmed the forest clearing, lighting the night with a purposeful glow. Fiora’s smokey apparition stood next to him, shimmering like coals. It had been a week since the Guardian had first appeared. That night, he hadn’t been sure if this truly was one of the fabled Guardians, but now, he knew. No one except a Guardian could do the things he’d seen this woman perform.

It had taken most of that time to prepare this area for what they were about to do. He’d had to clear the area of trees, then pile that wood into pyres. Even with the help of the medallion aiding his strength, it was slow work.

Betany stood on his other side, worry creasing her brow. However, she kept her words to herself. A first.

Compared to the first night the Fire Guardian appeared to him, the woman’s outline was more defined, more in focus. Something he attributed to his use of the Earthspark medallion on her behalf. He gripped it now, stirring the mass of energy inside, urging it to spill over.

“It’s ready,” Fiora said. Her voice whispered like an echo, twining its way into his mind.

Himmel crouched down and placed a hand on the leaf-strewn soil. Forest life resonated beneath his fingers. He had to search deeper. The Earth Guardian had locked their target down where no mortal should be able to reach it. But with this medallion, Fiora promised he could.

“Have you found it yet?” Fiora asked.

“I can’t sense it,” Himmel said, glancing up at her. Betany’s eyes bored holes into the back of his head.

She’d begged him to give this up. To dig a hole where no one could find this medallion again, but she hadn’t had to endure the glares of everyone in town since he was young. She hadn’t been shoved off the boardwalks by passing people simply because she was in front of them like he had. 

He’d been beaten, spit on, rejected, and harassed. But that ended tonight. And the Meyers would be the first to pay.

“Reach deeper,” Fiora encouraged. 

He delved farther into the medallion’s power and reached deeper. Then he sensed something about eighty feet below. It stirred at his probing.

“I think I found it.”

“Now open a gap in the earth. Create a tunnel for it to crawl out.”

He closed his eyes in concentration, pulling on the Earth magic clutched in his hands. Then it pulled back. It was like a vice pressing on his chest, compressing his lungs. It was fighting him.

He let the magic go, and his breathing returned to normal. Releasing the medallion, he stood, stretching his lanky legs before facing the Guardian. Betany’s hand touched his shoulder. She likely still hoped he’d stop this and let them go home.

Himmel stared at Fiora, arms crossed. “You said nothing about this endeavor stealing my strength. If I release that rock beast, this could kill me.”

Her red lips thinned as her eyes narrowed. “To get what you want is going to require some sacrifice. You don’t get something for nothing. The medallion won’t let you die, but as it helped create this prison, it will not let it go lightly. You must push past its barriers and free the Grimmole. Otherwise, there will be nothing I can do for you.”

The backs of Himmel’s teeth ground together. This wasn’t supposed to make him weak. How would he make a living after this if the medallion stole the breath from his lungs or the strength of his arms?

“You must master the medallion before it will obey you,” Fiora said. “If you can’t do that, then you might as well return home and I will continue to wait for someone with a stronger will to finish the job.”

The tendons in his neck stood out as he pressed his teeth harder together. He was not weak. He felled this entire clearing in less than a week. A job that would take the normal man twice as long.

He swung a finger in Fiora’s disinterested face. “You promise that by releasing this monster, I will get the revenge I seek on the councilors of Feltus?”

Fiora inclined her head. “I promise.”

Himmel wasn’t done. “What if you only mean to release this creature and then use it to kill us?”

Fiora placed her hands on her hips, annoyed. “The monster will obey the ones who free him. As you possess the medallion and create his escape, he will do as you say.”

Himmel clutched the medallion tighter. It warmed beneath his skin, as though giving him a warning. It seemed reluctant to follow this plan. Or maybe that was just him.

With narrowed eyes, the Fire Guardian swiveled her gaze between Himmel and Betany. “If you release my Grimmole, he will ruin this town. It won’t just be the councilors, but everyone in Feltus who ever mistreated you. They will bow to your every wish.”

The tips of his fingers sifted away from the medallion until they found Betany’s. “What do you say? I want this desperately, but I know you are hesitant.”

Betany’s gaze grew distant. Logs cracked in the flames from the bonfires. She squeezed his hand. “The people of this town have mistreated us, especially you, long enough. The Meyers will never leave us be, and we can’t put up with it any longer. Do it.”

Himmel’s heart lightened at her words. At last, they were united in this. 

With that, he crouched again, one hand clutched around the medallion and the other pressed firmly against the soil. Green magic rippled beneath his palm and he imagined a hole widening in the ground. 

Trees shivered. Rocks cracked. Soil turned. 

Smells of life and decay filled his nose while the ground rocked beneath his touch. If nothing else, the rollers from this eruption should shake the town’s residents. Their warning shot that something was coming. That he was coming.

He rooted his purpose firmly in his mind, staving off the fatigue and bone-deep soreness starting in his muscles. The medallion pulled on his strength the way he’d been pulling on his pipe earlier that day, but he was near the creature. He could feel it. 

Then, an ear-splitting screech rent the night as the medallion reached its target. He’d found it. The moment the tunnel was wide enough, the sound of rock scraping against rock replaced the screeching, and Himmel stumbled back.

Something dripped from his nose. He wiped it with the back of his hand; the skin came back red. The medallion took more than his strength, it appeared.

A moment later, scythe-like fingers gripped the ledge of the hole, followed by the grotesque face of a monster made entirely of boulders and sand. Glowing red eyes lit its face.

“Well done,” Fiora said, stepping forward, her silhouette glowing brighter.

The beast turned its attention to her and dipped its head before clambering out of the hole. 

“Welcome back to the open air,” Fiora said. Her smokey hand passed through the beast.

“Your command, My Lady,” the creature rumbled out. 

The Grimmole’s voice made Himmel cringe. The less this thing talked, the better for his ears.

Himmel glanced at Fiora. “What do we do next?”

Fiora rested an ethereal hand on the beast’s shoulder and glanced up into its brutish face. “You need a weapon, my pet.”

The monster’s expression darkened even as a smile cracked its jagged face. “We need more fire.”

***

The heavy footfalls of the rock beast melded with the sound of rushing water. Faint moonlight shone on the tree’s silver-white bark while light rippled in the pool at its base. Himmel grinned as they approached their target. Tonight, his fortunes would change.

He brushed a lock of brown hair from his eyes and pulled at the silver chain around his neck. The medallion slid free of his shirt. His dirty finger traced the delicate vines that wrapped around the gem, and a green glow flared to life at his touch. He was the master of the medallion.

He’d had no idea killing the monarch tree near the edge of the dark woods would lead to this. The ghost of the saw in his hand as he sliced through the ancient bark tingled against his skin. A groan so deep it echoed throughout the forest as the tree crashed to the ground. And there, inside the smallest rings on the trunk, lay the trinket he now held in his hands—the fabled Earthspark medallion. 

Then his mistress appeared in the smoke, and had guided him to the monster now beside him. Once they found him, it had taken nearly a month to craft the final piece to their plan—the monster’s weapon.

Himmel stepped into the pool with the rock beast, who carried a thin obsidian sword. The blade looked too small, too delicate, to be carried by the Grimmole, but Fiora said this was the only way to set their plan in motion. He hoped the beast hadn’t broken it on their way up the mountainside.

They crossed the pool between the upper and lower Lombard Falls to the island where a large tree stood like a sentinel. Small buds of leaves populated its branches. Spring was coming to the mountains. 

Himmel clutched the medallion in his fist. His part in this was simple. He needed to use the medallion to wake up the world’s Earthspark, the magic that had once lived in every living creature. 

It had lain dormant for a millennium, and if he was going to find the power needed to release his mistress, he needed it to wake. When the magic awoke, the one with the ability to open her prison would emerge. In the meantime, he’d get his revenge upon the town of Feltus, and no one could stop him.

Just as he was about to press it into the tree, he hesitated. If he pursued this course, his beloved forest would die, along with many innocent lives. Yet if he didn’t, he’d never be free.

The faces of the villagers who’d spit on him or beat him senseless just because of how he looked filled his mind. They deserved everything that was coming and more, especially those spineless councilors who ran this town. 

Himmel stuck out his jaw and pressed the medallion to the tree, willing the sleepy power in the gem to ignite. Green tendrils snaked their way up the trunk of the tree. It shivered, and the leaves unfurled. Light flared out from the base and into the surrounding hillside. Everything seemed to come alive. The ring of magic continued to spread outward until it disappeared deep into the woods. 

Himmel sank to his knees as the medallion fell beside him. A blinding pain erupted behind his eyes as he crumpled at the base of the tree.

Blood trickled down his nose as wrinkles and spots appeared on his hands. How many years of his life had it taken to wake the magic? The lock of hair that constantly fell in his face came forward now, but it was stark white.

I’ve become an old man. His hands shook as he pushed to his unsteady feet, adjusting to his withered body.

Good thing I was already hideous to look at. “It’s your turn,” he commanded the creature. Even his voice had lost much of its strength.

The moonlight revealed a savage expression as the rock beast eyed him. Without warning, it bellowed and raised its blade high above its head. 

Himmel’s eyes went wide. This was it. Fiora had tricked him. This beast was about to murder him and steal the medallion. He should have kissed Betany goodbye before he left the cottage. 

 Himmel put up his hands and cowered as the black tip descended. To his surprise, the blade bit into the wood several feet above his head. The Grimmole stared down at him, a mocking tint in its red eyes.

The tree groaned, branches snapping in an invisible wind. Leaves that had been alive a moment ago curled inward, turning brown. Then they fell into the pool and the current carried them downstream toward the lower falls. 

The bark of the tree, which had now turned the color of ash, oozed black sap that dripped into the water. With a final shudder, the tree stopped moving. 

Himmel got gingerly to his feet. With the Earthspark awake, the missing key to his mistress’s prison would soon emerge. And when they did, he’d be ready.

Picking up the medallion, he placed it around his neck, and strength flowed into him. His skin and hair, however, remained the same. Himmel’s lips pressed together. A necessary sacrifice.

He limped back across the pool and onto the opposite shore. “Come on,” he called to the beast. “We have work to do.”

THE END

Thank you for reading along with this short story over the past five weeks. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. If you enjoyed this story, head over to the book shop and pick up this short story’s companion novel The Earthspark, if you haven’t read it already.

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