Neophytes of the Stone

by C Lee Tocci

  “Thank you anyway, sir, but I don’t want any cookies. I really have to go now.” Lilibit said as she looked for the doorknob. There didn’t seem to be any handle on this side of the door at all. She pushed against the door, but nothing moved.

  “Oh come now,” Duke said with a melancholy smile. “Surely you can spare a few minutes for an old friend of your family? Come over here and sit with me. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for such a long time.”

  Lilibit inched back toward the desk. She was still more worried about getting in trouble with Gil-Salla, but she was starting to feel a little uneasy about Duke. “Okay, but I can only stay for five minutes. Then I really have to go.”

  Duke smiled warmly as she sat back into her chair. “Your aunts told me what a special girl you are. That you can speak to stones and that they talk back! What an amazing thing! Could you tell me about it? It sounds wonderful!”

  Lilibit slipped her hand into her pocket. The touch of Ewa-kwan was reassuring. “It’s no big thing,” she mumbled. “It’s not really talking; it’s more like buzzing.”

  Duke looked delighted and might have asked another question, but the door opened and Holly came in carrying a tray of cookies and two glasses of milk. It was silent as she placed the tray on the desk. She smiled at Duke, sniffed at Lilibit, and then left. Lilibit swiveled to watch her; she had a small black wand hanging from a strap around her wrist and when she waved it at the door, the door clicked and swung open.

  “So what do your stones tell you when they’re buzzing?” Duke’s question brought Lilibit’s attention back. He was looking at her closely, not even blinking.

  “I don’t know. They can see things, not like pictures, but how things are, you know, deep down.” Lilibit’s feet swung beneath her as she thought about it.

  “You mean, like under the ground?”

  “Yeah, or the way things are between the ground and the sky, stuff like that.” Lilibit knew she wasn’t describing it very well. “Not the things that are between the ground and the sky, but the way the ground and the sky think about each other. If they could think.” It wasn’t getting better.

  Duke didn’t appear to be lost at all, but he did look like he was trying very hard to understand what she’d said. “Well, that’s very interesting, but you haven’t had any cookies yet! Please, I had them made special for you!”

  The cookies were oatmeal raisin and seemed a little stale. Lilibit quickly ate two of them and then stood up. “Thanks for the cookies, but I have to go now. Could you please open the door.”

  Duke looked disappointed. “Of course, I understand.” Behind her, the door clicked and swung open. “But I hope you can come again and visit me. I’ve very much enjoyed talking to you.”

  “I’ll try. Thank you again.” With the door open, Lilibit was a little less nervous. She scooped up two more cookies and took a large mouthful of milk. She put the glass down, wiped her mouth with her sleeve and then stood staring out the window.

  A moment ago, there was only one lemon tree in the backyard. Now there were two. Now there was one. And now there were three. She shook her head very hard to clear it and turned for the doorway. The room was suddenly very dark. It got darker.

  And then, there was nothing.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Missing

  The Ravens discovered that Lilibit was gone before they realized she was missing.

  She had made it through Quaybo practice that morning with her normal reluctance. Todd could tell that her ribs had healed, she always healed quickly, but she was still milking the excuse to get out of practice. She’d sat more quietly than normal during class, staring off into nothing, thinking about something. Todd hadn’t thought about it much at the time; he’d just been grateful that she was behaving for once. He should have known better.

  Their next class was Tracking, and that’s where he’d lost her. Lilibit always stayed up at the front, near Jojobo so she wouldn’t miss anything, and Todd tended to hang in the back with Sylvie.

  That she wasn’t around for lunch wasn’t surprising. She sometimes grabbed a bite from one of the Valley families’ hearth before wandering off, sometimes by herself, sometimes with her friend, Garen.

  Lunchtime was quiet that afternoon and Todd enjoyed the peacefulness. The hogan was his last sanctuary against the loquacious Sylvia, especially since she’d discovered that it was no problem for her to stand outside the latrine and keep talking.

  Marla’s lips moved silently as she spoke with Ulex below. Even with all four sets of eyelids closed, daytime inside the hogan was not comfortable for the Netherockian so he waited down in the catacombs. Donny stared at the dust motes in the sunbeam that came through the chimney hole and Jeff lounged on his mushroom, his mini computer in his hand, occasionally popping food into his mouth. Nita and Devon had skipped in and out earlier. Todd suspected that they were up in the hills, running as wolves, their favorite pastime since they’d learned to morph.

  With nothing better to do, Todd watched Jeff. There was no rational reason why his web surfing should annoy him, but it did. He wanted to say something, but then he looked down at his new sneakers and decided it was a little too hypocritical.

  Jeff was staring off into space as well, but unlike Donny, who was just watching floating flecks of dust, Jeff was seeing things that weren’t in the hogan. With his stone, Dave, and an internet connection, Jeff’s eyes could travel through the web, not only seeing everything available to the public, but he could jump firewalls like they were curbstones and was able to peek into places that few people could access.

  It was easy to tell when Jeff when was doing a little e-breaking and entering. His face would glow with an unholy glee and he’d snicker quietly to himself. By now, he should have made a serious dent in the fifty thousand dollars he’d scored by selling Lilibit’s gold nugget, but instead, inside knowledge gained from his hacking had enabled him to flip that money over several times. He now had a couple of hundred thousand dollars in the bank. And from the gleam in his eye, it looked like he was about to double it again.

  Todd flicked scraps of bread crust into the hearth flame, watching as they flared and withered. He wondered where Lilibit was, not because he was worried, but because even when it was quiet, things didn’t seem as boring when the brat was around.

  The sound of Jeff gasping brought Todd’s thoughts back. Jeff sat straight up, his face pale, his eyes focused on something that looked like he was having trouble believing.

  “What is it?” Todd asked.

  “Where’s Lilibit?” Jeff spat out the question with a horrified rasp.

  “I don’t know.” Todd felt uneasy. “She’s probably around somewhere. You know Lilibit.”

  “No she’s not.” Jeff was on his feet and halfway to the door. “We need to see Gil-Salla.”

  By the time Todd and the others reached the courtyard cobblestones, Jeff was already in Gil-Salla’s hall. All three totems were alert; Wakinyan harrumphed with disapproval as they ran past. Todd paused at the door, but hearing Jeff’s voice inside, pushed through the tapestry and rushed in.

  Gil-Salla sat at her hearth; Keotak-se and Cohanna were rising to their feet. Jeff stood in front of them, shifting back and forth frantically.

  “And what makes you think Lilibit is not in the Valley?” Gil-Salla’s voice was calm but there was the hint of tension in her body.

  “I know she’s not.” Jeff shook his handheld computer like it was a hammer. “Eight minutes from now, a corporate jet owned by a company called Endrune is scheduled to take off from a private airfield outside of Grey Rock, which is only thirty miles east of Alamos Tierra. On the passenger manifest, they’ve listed an eleven year old girl named Lilibit Moore.”

  Todd sucked in his breath. Now he understood what Jeff was upset about.

  “Certainly a coincidence,” said Gil-Salla, “but even though ‘Lilibit’ is not a common name---”

  “But that’s the same name that the Nil and Voight
Medical Research Institute used for her.” Jeff was on the edge of panic. “‘Lilibit Moore!’ It’s the same! And when I did a records search for that name, I found out that David Dauntry, the president and CEO of Endrune, filed papers to legally adopt an eleven-year-old orphan girl named Lilibit Moore. Somehow, they got her out of the Valley and they’re taking her to Commerce City.”

  Gil-Salla placed her hands on the soil to listen for less than a moment before rising to her feet. She crossed the hall to the door with almost mystical speed before speaking to the totem in clipped cold words. “Beckon Those Who Watch and Wait.”

  Forewarned, Todd and the others slapped their hands over their ears just a second before Wakinyan bellowed “The Flame Voice beckons The Others Who Watch and Wait.”

  Did the words really echo that much? Or were there dozens of totems all over the Valley, calling out at the same time? The echoes faded and for a moment it was quiet, then Cohanna spoke.

  “How do you know this?” Cohanna didn’t sound as much skeptical as she did curious. “What power do you possess that gives you this knowledge?”

  “It’s the Internet,” Jeff said. When Cohanna looked even more perplexed, he continued, “Out there, almost everything you do, everywhere you go, everything you buy is linked to a computer. And since most computers are linked to the Internet, you can find out just about anything, if you know where to look.”

  “And anyone who possesses one of those devices may obtain such knowledge?”

  “No, that’s the cool part. Most of this stuff is protected with security called firewalls, but with Dave, I can get past their firewalls like that!” Jeff snapped his fingers.

  “And who is Dave?” Cohanna asked.

  “My stone, Dave,” Jeff answered.

  Cohanna might have asked more, but at that moment, the Others Who Watch And Wait arrived. Dozens of crows flew through the chimney hole and swarms of wolves, squirrels and rabbits flooded through the archway. They clustered around Gil-Salla as she stood.

  “Search the Valley. Seek out the one called Lilibit. Return and report.”

  An image of Lilibit flashed in Todd’s head. It seemed different from his own image of her, she looked smaller and more fragile then he normally pictured her. It took him a minute, but then he realized that Gil-Salla must have projected this image into their minds since the animals all seemed to nod in acknowledgement before dashing out of the hall.

  All except two. One large white wolf and a smaller brown wolf still stood near the far wall, looking puzzled. They pattered over to Todd before rising up on two feet as Devon and Nita.

  “What’s up?” Devon asked quietly.

  “Lilibit’s missing,” Todd whispered back. “Jeff thinks she been kidnapped and is being taking to Commerce City.”

  Devon and Nita looked frightened.

  “But how did they get into the Valley?” Devon’s voice was so soft, Todd could barely hear it, yet Gil-Salla answered.

  “Perhaps the question is not how they got into the valley,” Gil-Salla stated quietly, “but how Lilibit got out. Several nights ago, Lilibit was seen, in wolf form, up by Red Rabbit Ridge. Was she simply exploring? Or was she trying to find a way out? And since she wasn’t able to cross over the Ridge, could she have found another way out?”

  “Marla?” Todd was worried that his question might trigger Gil-Salla’s anger, but he had to ask. “Do you think she might have got out through Ulex’s tunnels?”

  All three elders straightened alertly, but Marla shook her head almost immediately, her hand clutching the stone at her neck.

  “No, Ulex says all the tunnels are guarded by the Netherockians. He’s checking with them now.” Marla’s head tilted as she listened to Ulex, down below. “No. Ulex says they’ve got sentries posted up and down all the caverns. There’s no way anyone could get by them.”

  Gil-Salla’s eyes narrowed and Keotak-se shot Cohanna a speaking glare, but it didn’t look as if they were going to ask any more questions about the Netherockian’s tunnels. Today.

  Grateful for that reprieve, Todd scoured his brain, looking for some other possibility. “Maybe she flew out.”

  “What does it matter how she got out?” Jeff was fuming. “That plane will be taking off any minute now!”

  “What do you mean, flew?” asked Marla. “How could she fly out?”

  “Remember that time, a couple of weeks ago, when Lilibit, Devon and Nita had water-ballooned us? I started chasing Lilibit and she morphed into a hummingbird.” Todd shot a glance over to the elders. “Gil-Salla thought it was best if we didn’t spread it around.”

  Marla looked indignant that she hadn’t been told. She opened her mouth to reply, but Gil-Salla spoke first.

  “Todd, do you recall if Lilibit said anything before she morphed into the bird?” Gil-Salla asked.

  “Said anything?” Todd echoed.

  “Yes, if she has mastered the bird-morph, it is probably linked to a trigger phrase. Do you recall hearing her say anything before she changed?”

  Todd shook his head. “No. She was just panting for breath because she was running so hard. When I started chasing her, she was with Devon and Nita, but they split off and I kept chasing Lilibit.”

  “They’re cleared for take off!” Jeff was almost screeching as he glared into his computer screen. “We’ve got to go!”

  “Patience,” Gil-Salla said softly, her brow furrowed in thought. She turned to Devon and Nita. “Do you recall her saying anything before you separated?”

  Devon crumpled his face as he tried to remember. “Nothing much. She just yelled for us to ‘split up!’ and kept running.”

  Gil-Salla stared intently at the two young neophytes before turning her attention to Todd.

  “And she said nothing to you before she morphed?”

  “Well,” Todd hesitated. He remembered very well what Lilibit had said. “She might have said something to me, but it wasn’t important.”

  “And what was that?”

  “Something stupid,” Todd mumbled, his face burning hot. “Like ‘Kissy Kissy’ or something silly like that.”

  “Can you recall exactly what she said?” Gil-Salla asked with an intensity that forced Todd to answer.

  “Well, maybe it was something like ‘Kissy Kissy Kissy Face---’”

  Suddenly, everyone was much bigger. Todd felt a strange sense of alarm in having everyone looming above him, staring down at him. His heart thrummed faster. He tried to stand up, but instead of his arms pushing off from the ground, his wings flapped and small clouds of dust rose up around him. He rose up in the air for a moment, but then fell back to the ground with a grunt. He looked down and saw his own chest and legs beneath him.

  Todd’s breath panted in his chest as he stood up. “What did I turn into?”

  “A raven!” Marla was impressed.

  “Cool,” Todd answered.

  “Well, now we know how Lilibit got over the Sienna Sentries…” said Gil-Salla.

  “Gil-Salla?” Todd shot a glance over to Keotak-se before continuing. “Keotak-se said that the trigger word is something that helps you recall the feeling of the first time you morphed. How come we can use Lilibit’s words?”

  Gil-Salla seemed to consider the question very carefully before answering. “You might have misunderstood Keotak-se. The trigger word helps the Stone Voice recall the faunamorph. Once the Stone Voice has mastered the morph, then her stone warriors will also be able to use the same command to effect a similar change.”

  Silence.

  It was out.

  This was the first time that anyone had openly acknowledged what Todd and the rest of the Ravens had known for months: that Lilibit was the Infant Stone Voice. They exchanged worried looks with each other and Todd wondered how much things would change when all of Kiva recognized Lilibit as the Stone Voice.

  Assuming they could get her back.

  Jeff hopped frantically, urgency making him stutter. “W-w-what are we waiting for? We should---” />
  Whatever Jeff thought they should do was lost as suddenly chaos descended on them all.

  A coldness, like a gaping well of ice, seemed to open inside Todd. He grabbed at Tai-Kwee in his pocket and felt panic swallow him as the voice of his stone trembled and faded. He fell, only vaguely aware that the ground too was trembling. He was nearly blind with grief but around him he could sense the other Ravens collapsed and writhing as well. Gil-Salla and Cohanna crouched by the hearth, their hands splayed on the dirt floor, their eyes unfocused and staring. Keotak-se stood like a statue, his face pale and bloodless, a hand gripping the stone at his neck.

  Only Devon was able to move. He ran from one friend to another, trying to help while tears rolled down his cheeks.

  But there was nothing he could do but watch as their world fell apart.

  Black. Bitter. Colder than ice. Lilibit was being pushed into darkness. But this wasn’t the soft inky dimness of night; this was a frigid blackness that ripped her with icy claws. Her back arched and she screamed.

  Frenzied voices bled into her nightmare.

  “What’s wrong with her?” The Duke’s voice was shrill with panic.

  “I don’t know. She started twisting and moaning right after takeoff. It’s getting worse.”

  Hands grabbed at her, pushing her down. Her body bucked against their weight.

  “Get her a blanket! She’s freezing!”

  “Her eyes are rolling back in her head!”

  “What’s our altitude?”

  “I don’t know; probably around thirty or forty thousand.”

  “Take us down to twenty. Fast!”

  Whether their words stopped or her awareness faded, it was several minutes before she heard anything else. The cold was still bitter; her teeth chattered painfully, but the killing blackness was starting to fade.

  “That seems to be helping.”

  “She’s still freezing. She’s shivering badly.”

  “Bring it down farther. How low can we go?”