Rising Moon (The Rune Stone Trilogy)

by Anne Haley

  Aylin shrugged. "The earth. It has a pulse just like anything else. But it’s old, and deep down, so you won’t feel it as much as everything else, like the plants and creatures, but if you ever feel disconnected just wait for that beat and it will set you right."

  Next Aylin tried to show her how to grow a plant from bare dirt. She placed her hands on the dirt, forming a diamond between her hands, and closed her eyes. In a few blinks a green sprout wiggled out of the black dirt. Before Terra’s eyes Aylin grew it until it became a violet and yellow pansy.

  Unfortunately, when Terra attempted the same thing she only produced a dried up vine that looked to have died years ago. She tried three more times, and couldn’t get anything to break ground. "This is horrible!" Terra exclaimed, looking down at the black dirt. "I can’t grow a single plant. I must be the worst faerie ever!"

  "Not at all. You just haven’t ever put your mind to doing something on purpose." Aylin put her hand on Terra’s. "Don’t worry. Just practice. Relax yourself."

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The following evening Aylin had been successful keeping El home instead of going on another date. "I can’t believe you told her about The Rune without me." El was washing the dishes from their dinner. "That’s kind of a big deal, you know."

  "Well, if you were home longer than to just change your clothes and shower then you could have been here. You are so busy dating the entire male population and expect me to plan around your schedule. Guess what El, life doesn’t happen that way." Aylin narrowed her gaze at El.

  "I like the attention of a good man. When was the last time you went out on a date?" She pointed a sudsy finger at Aylin.

  "If you get one more drop of that dirty dishwater on my hardwood floor you’ll be the one refinishing it with one of your magic potions." Aylin turned on her heel.

  "Good job changing the subject," El muttered, putting her hand back over the sink. "Part of us is still human, you can’t ignore that!"

  Terra arrived shortly after, and they were still bickering with each other. "What’s going on?" Terra asked El quietly as Aylin went to grab candles.

  "Your brother is what’s going on. He’s got her all bent out of shape and she’s taking it out on me. Unfortunately, I dish it right back to her." El was wiping down the counters.

  "My brother? But she said-"

  "Ready?" Aylin walked into the kitchen.

  "Let’s go." El opened the back door.

  When they stood at the edge of the woods Aylin turned to Terra. "Just watch this time." She and El cupped their hands together, forming small balls of twinkling light. They let the balls go, and the twinkling lights hovered just in front of them. "Lead us to The Rune," Aylin spoke to the lights, and slowly the lights began to drift into the woods in a single line. Aylin held out her hand to Terra, who took it quickly. El led the way, and soon the forest surrounded them. The lights were bright enough to show them an easy path through the brush and roots of the trees. "There it is." Aylin stopped and pointed for Terra.

  Only a few yards away in the middle of a small clearing was a large white stone slab set on a pedestal. The two pieces formed a table that might as well have grown from the earth as naturally as a tree. Aylin let go of Terra’s hand and walked into the clearing. The lights hovered around The Rune. Once Terra was in the clearing the noise of the forest ceased. Here there was no sound of the wind, or birds chirping, or the sound of the ocean. Here, it was The Rune and them only. The pedestal and sides of the slab were covered in small carved symbols. Terra bent over to take a better look at them, still standing on the edge of the clearing. "What are those?" She asked.

  "Those are the runes. Each has a different meaning, and when used together they can create spells. If you listen you can hear them whispering their secrets," Aylin said from the edge of the clearing. "Do you see? It is welcoming you." She motioned to the top of the slab. Four large symbols were etched into the top.

  "What do they mean?" Terra whispered.

  "The first one is Beginnings, next is Protection, then Journeys, and the last is Fate," Aylin pointed to each individually as she said their names.

  An ancient force pulled Terra forward and she hadn’t realized her legs were moving until she stood within a foot of the stone. She laid her hand on the stone, and found it to be warm and smooth. Aylin and El stood on the other side of The Rune, watching her.

  Terra closed her eyes and focused on the air around her. A gentle breeze swept her hair against her neck, and on that breeze were faint murmurs, just barely audible. She concentrated on those murmurs and they became louder in her ears. It was a chant in a language she’d never heard, at the same time was strangely familiar.

  Something inside her settled. Her heartbeat slowed to a relaxed beat. The chanting slowed with her heart, turning to a haunting melody, and it vibrated in the blood that coursed through her veins. The Rune wasn’t something just for her to protect, it was a part of her. She was tied to it just like she was to the earth, to the air she breathed. Without The Rune she couldn’t survive. "I understand now." Terra closed her eyes. In those brief moments she had assumed the responsibility that every protector before her needed. The feelings poured into her like water in a fountain. She felt a connection to The Rune and could feel the power it held inside. A power that belonged to no one, and it was her duty to make sure of that.

  They left the clearing almost an hour later. "That was amazing!" Terra was almost floating. She was intoxicated by the deep connection she now held with the earth, and had promised The Rune that she would protect it with her life. She’s never felt so strongly about anything before.

  "Yes, it’s incredible. But remember, you must not mention any of this. Especially to your brother," Aylin warned.

  "Yes, I know," she said with sadness. "Though, it would make things easier. But I understand," she said quickly before Aylin rounded on her. "Can you tell me what each one means? The symbols that were on the top?" She changed the subject.

  Aylin let out her breath. Terra was sly, but Aylin wasn’t distracted. The look in Terra’s eyes was screaming at Aylin to accept Blake and open him to their world. It was eventually going to crush Terra when she realized that she couldn’t. One thing at a time. "The first symbol, the one that looks like a B, is for Beginnings. It envelops our lives from the beginning of our magical lives to the end. It was once used to open the gates to the first forest." They were walking slowly through the woods toward their home. El was silent as Aylin explained this to Terra. "The second symbol, the one that looks a bit like a fork, is for Protection. That is pretty self-explanatory. It will protect you as you protect it.

  "The one that is shaped like an R is for Journeys. To help you take the safest route in your journey through this. And last, the diamond with the elongated ends is Fate. It has always been your fate." They broke through the trees and into the backyard.

  "There were so many others too, all over it." Terra was chewing on her lip.

  "Yes, and each have their own meanings. Runes are very old, and hold ancient powers that shouldn’t be taken lightly. We avoid using their magic because it is very strong and hard to control. They were formed by the oldest of our kind. It is The Rune’s magic and spells to use, not ours. Do you understand that?" Aylin looked to El for support.

  El stepped closer to Terra. "I once tried to tap into one of the runes. It was the symbol for Memory. I wanted to keep some of my memories crystal clear for as long as I was alive, and instead my mind was taken back to an ancient time. I have some memories now that weren’t mine, and they still haunt me. If Aylin hadn’t come to my aid, I would be still lost in history."

  Terra’s jaw was hanging open. "Wha-"

  "No. I’m not going to tell you what I saw. It’s…" El tightened her jaw and narrowed her eyes. "I’m not going to talk about it." She turned and followed the stepping stone path to the patio.

  "Not much scares El. She’s tough, and if something can jar her, than you know it’s not something to meddle
with." Aylin watched El disappear into the house.

  "I didn’t even think about it, really." Terra shrugged. "I can barely control my own abilities. I think it would be absurd to try anything more."

  Aylin smiled. Terra was wiser than she had given her credit for.

  When Terra woke up the next morning she found Blake sitting at the dining room table with his packed suitcase by the front door. "You’re leaving?" She dropped into the chair next to him. His face was twisted with pain and sadness. "Something has happened," Terra guessed, being jolted straight.

  "Yes. It’s Mom. She called last night while you were out with them," he said coldly and his eyes wouldn’t meet hers. She knew what she would see in them if he would look at her. He was angry with her, for forcing him away from home to run after her while she dealt with her own issues. "She ended up going to Urgent Care last night because she had passed out a few times in the last few days. Susan, her neighbor, took her and I guess they moved her into the hospital in Grand Marais and kept her overnight for observation." He still wouldn’t look at her. He couldn’t look at her because he knew if he asked her to come with him she would, but not because she felt concern for their mother. It would only be because she is trying to make up for what she had put them through.

  "Did the doctors give any indication as to what it might be?" She was sitting rigid in her chair, gripping the arm rests until her knuckles turned white.

  "No. They’re going to run some more tests today. I need to go home to be with her. This would be a whole lot easier if we were at least all in the same state," he scowled.

  "I should come with you." She looked down into her lap.

  Blake sighed and closed his eyes; he couldn’t believe what he was going to say to her. "No, you should stay. You’ve made a lot of progress here in the last few weeks. When I get there I will see how serious it is. I will call you and let you know what they say and then you can come. But don’t come back just because you think we need you. Come back because you want to be there for her." He stood up and walked around the table and knelt in front of her. "Remember that we love you, and you love us too."

  Terra threw her arms around his neck. "I do love you and mom." She let the tears fall and dampen the shoulder of his t-shirt. "Call me right away when you know something. Please."

  When Terra returned that evening from work she sat in her tiny backyard, and propped her back against a tree. She closed her eyes and dreamed of home. She missed the lake, the bookstore, her mom, and her home. The memories brought tears to her eyes and she swiped at them with the back of her hand when they trailed down her cheeks. She would go home soon, she just didn’t know exactly when.

  The light began to change as the sun lowered in the sky, giving her surroundings an orange glow. She closed her eyes and tried to push home out of her mind.

  Exhaustion overwhelmed her and Terra drifted off to sleep. She dreamt of wandering around a forest, with the sound of a waterfall close by. She felt calm and at peace with her bare feet on the cool grass. Her eyes fluttered her open and her hand twitched on the ground, touching a fleshy stalk. She looked down and saw the delicate pansies that surrounded her hands.

  The forest was dark in the late hour; the moon’s light didn’t reach the forest floor. Aylin was bare foot and felt the cold, hard earth under her feet. She could see her breath coming out in puffs of steam. The bitter cold air told her it must be close to winter. Her flannel pajama pants and shirt did nothing to protect her from the cold. She didn’t know these woods, and they felt completely foreign. The trees were bare, stripped of their leaves. There were no sounds of wildlife, only the crunching of brittle leaves with every step she took. One of the gifts of being a faerie is to move through the woods in absolute silence so they wouldn’t disturb nature, which meant she knew something was terribly wrong. She couldn’t move silently. Tonight she moved with heavy feet.

  At the sound of a branch cracking she moved to a squat as she turned around to find what followed her. Eliana stared wide-eyed down at her. Her lips were blue from the cold. "Where are we?" she whispered.

  Aylin rose to stand again. "I don’t know." They brought their hands up at the same time, and waited for the heat to rise in their palms. But none came. "Are we human?" Aylin wondered.

  "Shit!" El hissed as they crouch down again at the sound of footsteps.

  "Aylin?" Terra whispered to them. She came around a tree, holding her elbow in her hand.

  "What happened to you?" Aylin went to her and brought Terra’s hand away. Her elbow was scratched deeply and bleeding.

  "I fell. I think I tripped on a rock or something." She winced when Aylin pressed her shirt against it. "It’s so cold."

  "There is something very wrong here." El joined them. "Do you know this place?" Terra shook her head as she looked around.

  "Maybe we should split up, see if we can see something we recognize." Terra suggested.

  "No, we are going to stick together," Aylin said firmly.

  "Aylin!" El called back to her, and she started running away from them.

  "El!" Aylin and Terra hurried after her. Aylin saw what had El running. The Rune was off in the distance. She picked up her pace when she saw the glow around the large stone.

  "No!" Aylin screamed.

  When they broke through the trees into the clearing Aylin dropped to her knees and sobbed into her hands. El knelt beside her and held on to her shoulders. Terra was frozen in place, with shock.

  The Rune was broken; a deep crevice had broken it into three pieces. The glow that they had seen around The Rune was the power of the elements. It was now gone. The symbols that had once covered the white stone were fading, disappearing before their eyes. The magic was gone. All that remained was cold, hard stone.

  Aylin woke in her bed sobbing. "Aylin!" El exploded into her room. "Oh thank god." She climbed into her bed and wrapped her arms around Aylin’s neck, squeezing the air out of her lungs. "It was just a dream." El was crying too.

  "It’s okay." Aylin calmed her sobs and ran her hand down El’s back. "Yes, it was only a dream." She pulled El away so she could look at her. "We had the same dream then."

  El shook her head in despair. "The Rune."

  "The Rune is intact. They didn’t get to it. It was a dream. Bad one at that." Aylin pushed El’s hair behind her ears. "It’s okay."

  "It was so real." El sniffed and wrapped her arms around her middle. "The cold, the horrible feeling…" She brought a hand to cover her heart.

  Aylin had felt it to. When they had gotten to the clearing it was like her heart had turned to stone. It had turned hard and cold, just like The Rune. "Come on. Let’s get some water." She pulled El out of her bed and went downstairs into the kitchen. She barely had the glasses down when Terra burst through the back door.

  "The Rune!" she exclaimed. "It’s been destroyed!" Her eyes were blazing with fear. Her hands trembled at her sides and she dropped into the chair.

  "It was a dream Terra." Aylin went to her and wrapped her arms around her. Terra’s skin was cold to the touch. "It’s okay."

  "You had the dream?" Terra gasped.

  "We all did." El nodded, taking deep breaths.

  "It was real!"

  "No, it wasn’t." Aylin stood and decided on making one of El’s herbal blends of tea to warm them up. She put the kettle on and turned back toward them. "If it was real you would feel it still. But you don’t. Panic maybe, but that’s it. Did you run all the way here?" Terra’s home was on the other side of the downtown, and their home was near Orca Point. It would have been an almost twenty minute run.

  "Yes, I ran here. I was terrified!" Terra dropped her head in her hands. "It was the witches?"

  "I believe so. It was a warning, I’m sure of it." Aylin crossed her arms. "They know who we all are now, not just me. It could be a warning that we are not a secret anymore."

  "Couldn’t they just say ‘Hey, I know you’re a faerie,’" Terra said with sarcasm.

  "That wouldn’t
be as much fun, would it?" El dropped into the chair next to Terra. She snorted and plucked at Terra’s nightshirt. "Nice pajamas." It was a very old cotton football jersey that was worn thin, and in some places had small holes.

  "You too." Terra frowned at the satin tank and shorts.

  "Thank you." El ran a hand over her hip on the slippery fabric.

  Aylin set cups of peppermint tea in front of them and sat down. "I don’t think we should take this lightly, even if it is a warning. It’s a threat. I think we are going to have to push back soon. Let them know they’re getting too close."

  "What did you have in mind?" El asked.

  "I don’t know yet. But attacking us like this isn’t okay with me. I wonder if there is a way to put up a block." She looked into her mug of tea. "I’m open to suggestions."

  "Oh yeah? I say we hunt them down and take them out. Then we can spend the rest of our days laying on the beach and swimming with dolphins." El grinned.

  "I like that idea," Terra added.

  "Yes, it sounds tempting. But we have no idea who they are El. Unless you have a witch radar in your head." She raised an eyebrow at her.

  "Not exactly."

  "We need information." Aylin crossed her arms. "We need to find out who they are before they attack us again."

  After a few moments of silence El broke it with a snort. "So, Aylin tells me you can’t produce plants." She nudged Terra with her elbow. "I thought it would come natural from you, you know since your powers are directly linked to the earth."

  Terra glared at her. "As it so happened I did, earlier tonight. I drifted off in the backyard and when I woke up I was surrounded by flowers."

  El raised an eyebrow. "But you can’t do it on command?"