Guardian of the Stone

by Amity Grays

  If the knights couldn’t find a way to break through unseen, then they’d have to wait. What choice would they have? Explosives weren’t an option. No one wanted to injure the chamber or do damage to the caves. Someone had suggested gas, but the choice was too obvious. The Dogs would have thought of it as well and adequately prepared. Waiting seemed their only option, and unfortunately, that would bring its own bucket of risks.

  He looked back toward the long leather couch where Edeline lay facing the hearth. She was trying her best to fight off the sleep she so desperately needed. Her chest rose and fell slowly as her lids bounced up and down. It wouldn’t be long, and the choice would be stolen.

  A sharp wind blew against the castle’s stone walls, howling its dissatisfaction at having its path disrupted. It caught Dane’s attention and pulled his thoughts back to the night in the woods when five men had risked their lives to save the woman he loved. He wondered, not for the first time, what had become of his friends. Searching the well-guarded yards outside, he half-expected the brave warriors to appear.

  “My eyes are starting to blur,” Federic said from across the room.

  Dane turned back to the table where the men still stood studying the maps hoping for a stroke of genius to give them a way in.

  Graham tapped his finger against one of the maps and looked up. “Are we certain these are good?”

  “They’re precise,” Elliot assured. “We’ve had our experts look at them several times. If there’s an easy way in, they never found one. The caves are all deep, their walls as solid as they come. Any quick way in would likely jeopardize the structure, and in this case, announce our arrival.”

  Graham’s hands swept the maps lying across the table. “If we can just get inside, there are several paths we can choose from—paths they wouldn’t have adequately covered.”

  Dane looked to Elliot. “You said at one time there was access through the castle.”

  “There were rumors,” Elliot said, “most likely speculation. If there ever was such an entrance, we’ve never found it, and believe me—we’ve searched every corner, every crevice.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing.”

  “We can’t waste time looking for hidden passages that may have never been,” Graham said, already focusing back on the maps. “What we need to do is find a weak spot we can break through and send in a reconnaissance team to find out what they’re up to.”

  Elliot glanced back up toward Dane. “I agree. There’s been much renovation through the years. If an entrance was there, it’s more likely than not that we would have found it.”

  Federic grunted. “So much has changed. So much has been covered. The stone floors which run throughout the first story were once nothing but beaten dirt.” He looked up toward the plastered walls. “And those were merely stone and mortar. If there was an entrance from the castle, it’s most likely been buried.”

  “I can’t disagree,” Dane said. “Still, I don’t think it hurts to consider it.”

  Still leaning across the table studying the cave’s paths which lay far beneath the castle, Father Tom righted himself to standing. Moving his hands to rub his lower back, he stretched. “I could stand an excuse to move around a bit. We could go take a look. Have you any idea where to start?”

  Dane gave it some thought and looked toward Federic. “Who in the castle would’ve been trusted with such information? Where was their chamber?”

  Federic exchanged a fleeting glance with Father Tom.

  “The priests,” both men chorused.

  “Their chamber sat right below the chapel,” Federic said.

  “Which would be another likely place to consider,” Father Richard suggested.

  Edeline sat up on the couch, pushing back the quilt Federic had placed over her when she’d first lain down. “I’ll help,” she said, her lids still drooping.

  Moving across to the sofa, Dane bent to his knees. “Edeline, you’re exhausted. You should try and sleep.”

  “I’m fine, really.” Those same heavy lids fell across tired blue eyes. Covering her mouth, she yawned.

  Fluffing the pillow beside her, he motioned for her to lie back down. “No arguing. You need your sleep.”

  She yawned again and lay back down. “I really am tired.”

  Leaning forward, he kissed her brow. “Sweet dreams, my love.”

  “My love,” she repeated, a faint smile touching her lips. A second later she was lost to sleep.

  “My love.”

  The endearment wrapped itself around her, filling her with joy as it soothed her nerves and carried her into peaceful sleep.

  “My love.”

  It echoed through her mind and into her dreams. She was so blessed, so loved, so lucky to be cherished by these many wonderful men.

  A hand touched her face.

  “My love,” the words played back in feminine tones.

  Edeline smiled, remembering the soft, gentle voice from her time at the mansion.

  “Come with me,” it called to her, and without hesitation, she went.

  Down the spiraling steps and out the castle’s doors, she followed. The path moving faster than her feet, she seemed to simply glide across the grass and down the rugged cliffs.

  The ocean’s peaceful melody played all around her—restful, lapping waves rolling into sand. A warm breeze lifted her curls and tossed them behind her. Throwing out her arms, she met the wind on a run, the sand cushioning her steps before suddenly disappearing. Wind whipped through her toes, and she looked down to find herself flying.

  Free of all chains, her load was carried by faith.

  There was no fear, only peace surrounded her. No voices taunted. No chants rocked the earth. In her heart, she knew she was protected—loved by those who surrounded her, both the living and the dead. The earth was her home, but so were the heavens.

  Flying high above fields, over farms, past small villas, she took in their splendor and inhaled their sweet scents. The hills turned into a meadow, the meadow into a field. Horses’ hooves beat the ground as men stormed across the land. There was beauty in the moment and upon the faces of the men. They rode not for glory, yet glory echoed in their wake.

  The thundering hooves turned to the quaking of leaves as the field turned back into rolling hills and the rolling hills into rolling seas. Now the smell as well as the sound of the ocean surrounded her.

  Suddenly she realized she was not truly alone. The woman from the cliffs had been at her side. As the mirror image of her own blue eyes looked directly back at her, a love that she had before only imagined filled Edeline’s heart and warmed her soul. This was her mother.

  Taking the woman’s hand in hers, she flew toward the rugged cliffs, soaring like an eagle over their mighty peaks before dipping down toward the sparkling sands below. The sands turned to rocks and the hillsides to stone. In the very next instant, they were inside a cave. A wild wind whipped around them as shadows of men and beasts flew beside them on the stone walls. Cries, captured in the wind, were echoed throughout the passage.

  Her mother led her through a broken crevice and into a small passage within the stone walls. Lower and lower they descended down a spiraling stone corridor, deep into the belly of the cavern. They entered a room Edeline felt more than saw. Together they flew circles around it. What sounded like hundreds of voices began circling with them, each with a story begging to be told.

  In the next instant they flew out of the room and back into the passage. Toward the end of the corridor, the woman led Edeline up and into the shadows of the ceiling. The passage began to rumble, the stone above them started to fall. Instead of stopping, the woman flew directly through the falling rock and into a large chamber where the three men most vital to Edeline’s mortal world stood staring at the walls.

  Edeline woke with a start.

  Pushing away the large quilt wrapped tightly around her, she stood and scanned the room trying to get her bearings. Several confused faces stared at her from across the room.r />
  Father Richard moved her direction. “Edeline, is everything all right?”

  “I—I believe so.” With her heart still soaring, she found she wasn’t sure. “My father—where is he?”

  “I do believe Federic is right,” Father Tom said, standing in the middle of what was now the library but had once been the priests’ chambers. “If there was an entrance here, it’s long been buried.”

  Following the priest’s gaze around the room, Dane found he could only agree. “We’d have to rip the walls and floor completely apart to know for sure.”

  “It’s under the hearth.”

  They all three turned toward the entrance where Edeline now stood with Elliot and Graham directly behind her.

  “The hearth?” Father Tom repeated before looking around the room. “What hearth?”

  “There was a hearth,” Edeline said, pointing to the far left corner. “It was over there.”

  “How did you know that?” Federic asked, staring at the now empty corner.

  “I saw it in a dream.”

  Scratching his head, Federic continued to look suspiciously toward the corner. “A hearth did indeed sit there at one time. It wasn’t much of anything really, basically just a hole in a stone wall. I don’t even recall a fire ever burning. I wonder why you’d remember something so simple.”

  “It’s not a memory, Dad. It came to me in a dream.”

  “A dream surely pulled from a memory,” Federic said. “One of those…” He looked toward Father Tom. “What is it they call them—suppressed memories.” Not waiting for a response, he nodded his head as though approving of the answer. “Yes, that must be it. Being back at the castle has probably dusted loose some memories.”

  “I’m not remembering something from my past. It was a sign, and the hearth was right there,” she said, pointing once again to the corner. “I flew straight through it from the caves below no more than five minutes ago.”

  Federic blinked. Rubbing his hand slowly back and forth across his chin, he raised a sardonic brow. “Did you bump your head before or after the flight?”

  Edeline looked toward Dane for help.

  “I believe what Edeline means is that she had a vision,” Dane said, before looking to Elliot. “We haven’t anything to lose by testing its validity.”

  Elliot stared across the room toward the empty corner, then nodded his head in agreement. “Stranger things have happened. And you’re right—we have nothing to lose for trying.”

  “We’ll need tools to do the job,” Graham said.

  “Luckily, we’ve got an entire barn full of tools.” Elliot motioned for the men to follow.

  One by one everyone disappeared, leaving Dane and Edeline alone.

  Stepping across the room, he drew her into his arms. “Did you see anything else in your dream?”

  Resting her head against his chest, she sighed. “It was much like before. There were the warriors in the field and a flight through dark caverns.” She looked up. “And the woman from the cliffs—Dane, I think she’s my mother.”

  “What makes you think so?”

  “She looks very much like me.”

  He smiled and cupped her face. “Beautiful?”

  “She was beautiful,” Edeline said, too humble to verbalize the compliment in his words. “I wish she could have stayed. I wish…” She bowed her head.

  “She’s still here, Edeline.” He looked around the room. “I think they’re all probably here—watching us, protecting us. There are times I’d swear—if I could only turn quick enough—I’d find them right behind me.”

  “I feel them too, or I think I do. I suppose I could simply be imagining it. I want it so badly.” She leaned her head once more against his chest. “I know I’m right about the entrance though. I know I am. It’s there. We’re going to find it, and we’re going to find the cradle.”

  “Yes,” Dane said, but in truth he had doubts. The Dogs would have had plenty of time in the caverns and their interest in the caves had nothing to do with preservation. It was impossible to know what they had planned and impossible to know how it all would end.

  Bright blue eyes looked hopefully into his. “Tell me again about the knights and my father. Do you think they survived? Do you imagine we’ll ever know for sure?”

  “I can’t imagine them failing. They were incredible men, Edeline, not so unlike the men here today. But sadly, I doubt we’ll ever know for sure if they survived.”

  He bent low, pressing his lips against hers, kissing her softly.

  It was heaven holding her in his arms once again, feeling her body so close to his and enjoying her warmth. She was everything to him. A life without her would be no life at all. He would do anything to keep her safe—walk through hell or storm through fire. Whatever the Dogs had planned, he’d face it, fight it, overcome it or die trying.

  Edeline peeked around the corner. Brick, drywall, plaster and stone lay in the middle of the dustbowl that used to be a room. Standing on the opposite side of the rubble, was her father and Father Tom. “Any luck?” she asked.

  A dust-coated face looked up from the hole. “Just another layer of stone,” Dane said. He lifted one of the flat stones at his side and wiped off a layer of grime. It turned out the gray looking stone was actually red. “We’re almost through, I’d say. This is without question medieval.”

  Federic took the stone and turned it from side to side. “I believe this fella’ might actually be older than me.”

  Dane grinned and wiped his dust-coated arm across his brow. “Want to take a look inside?” he asked Edeline.

  “Sure,” she said, stepping around the corner and into the room.

  “Be careful,” Federic warned, now standing dead-center in the middle of the wreckage.

  Edeline tiptoed across the debris to look down past Dane into the hole. Layer after layer of flat stone went down at least ten feet. Every four feet the men had left footholds, narrowing the hole as they descended.

  Graham stood at the bottom, handing another brick to the young knight positioned between him and Dane. “We’ve reached dirt.”

  “Is it solid?” Elliot asked, coming up behind Edeline.

  Standing on the last established foothold, Graham braced himself between the stone walls and kicked. “It’s solid.”

  Elliot frowned and ran his hand through his hair. “Let’s clear a five foot square. If we don’t find—”

  “I’ve got something,” Graham said, his voice rising with excitement. He handed up two more stones. “Right at the edge, I can reach clear through.”

  A round of excited chatter rang through the room.

  Elliot hurried across the debris laden floor to the covered desk where a long metal wand lay. “Before we get too excited or do something stupid, let’s put a scope down there and get some pictures.” He handed Dane the wand before hurrying back to the desk and his laptop.

  “It’s in,” Dane said.

  Elliot tapped a few keys on the laptop. “Got it,” he said, turning the screen so everyone could see.

  At first it was hard to make out the scene, but slowly Edeline’s eyes adjusted to the odd colors and dim lighting. “Are those stairs?”

  Elliot looked her way and grinned. “So to speak.”

  “I’m sure that was their purpose,” Father Tom said.

  Wrapping his arm around her, Federic patted her shoulder. “You did it, Edeline. You found the back door. I never doubted you for a minute.”

  She shook her head and moaned. “Really, Dad?”

  “It looks clear,” Dane said, now standing behind them studying the screen.

  “What little we can see,” Elliot agreed. He handed the laptop to Father Tom, then turned to Edeline. “I need you to think back to your dream. Is there anything you haven’t told us?”

  “No, I’ve told you everything. We weren’t in there very long, and we were moving very fast.”

  “But you’re sure the opening was hidden?”

  “At l
east in the dream. It was hidden within the shadows of the ceiling.”

  “And the room, the one you believe holds the treasure, it was also hidden?”

  “Yes, down a long corridor hidden behind a thin crevice.”

  Dane’s gaze fell to Elliot. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m wondering if we can pull this off without waking the hounds.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER, they’d broken through the earth below and straight into what was indeed a tight stairwell. Edeline stood beside Dane overlooking the hole. She was both eager and apprehensive about entering the unknown.

  If Graham was nervous at all, it didn’t show. Determined to be the first man down, he stood outside the small opening, strapping the rope securely around his middle. The flashlight, hanging from a cord wrapped around his neck, swayed back and forth, shedding light sporadically down into the darkness. He braced himself against the narrow stone walls before looking back up to Dane. “Ready.”

  “Be careful,” Dane said. “Just because we don’t see them, it doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Graham assured.

  The men working the rope gave him some slack.

  One small step at a time, Graham lowered himself down. Just before he completely disappeared into the darkness, he stopped and looked up. “If you don’t feel the second tug, stay the hell out.”

  Dane nodded. “If the worst happens, do your best to stay alive.”

  “If the worst happens, I’m taking as many of them down with me as I can.” A second later he’d disappeared into the black chasm.

  Edeline slipped her hand into Dane’s. “He’ll be all right?”

  A heavy scowl appeared between his brows as he watched warily the hole. “The plan is a good one,” he said, not really answering the question.

  The plan was simple—get in, secure the chamber, pass the stone and get out. They were wagering their lives on the hopes of a dream—her dream to be exact. In her dream the chamber was at the end of a hidden passage, easily sealed off from the rest of the cave. They’d studied the maps and determined it plausible. Even if the Dogs had rigged the caves to explode, the chamber could be salvaged…if it hadn’t been found.