The Black Stone of Elu

by Darrin Long

  “In a few minutes,” she said with a smile.

  Neilan sat back against the wall and watched her cooking. He wished that it could be this way every day, but he remembered Iri’s dream. He felt a moment of guilt for not telling her that he had snuck into her dream like she snuck into his. Maybe, after dinner, he would tell her.

  He ate two bowls full of the wonderful soup that Iri had made. He would have eaten more, but Iri would not let him.

  “The soup may heighten your magical side, so I don’t want you to have too much at one time,” she said.

  “Ok,” he said, “but can we have it again tomorrow?”

  “Yes, we can,” she said with a smile.

  After they had cleaned up the bowls, Iri went outside and brought in the breastplate and the arrows that Kaylu had left and sat them by the door. Neilan felt a knot in his stomach when he thought about fighting that huge beast. As they sat down together and leaned against the wall of the cave, Neilan turned to Iri.

  “I have something to tell ye,” he said, “last night ye were dreaming and I touched the mark on yer forehead. I saw what ye dreamed Iri. I saw them take ye away from me.”

  Iri’s face filled with shame and she looked at the ground. “I did not know how to tell you,” she said. “They will not let us be together, Neilan.”

  “There must be away,” Neilan said, “maybe after I save yer people, they will allow it.”

  Iri placed her hand on his cheek and smiled as Neilan reached out and stroked her hair.

  “There must be a way,” he said as she laid her head on his chest. “If I kill this Caudee, then we will see.”

  He was feeling very tired and was about to tell Iri that he was going to lie down, but she had already fallen asleep on his chest. So, he pulled the blanket over them and closed his eyes and drifted off himself. He wondered what the dreams would be like this night, but the dreams did not come and Neilan slept through the entire night.

  When morning came, Neilan awoke lying on the blanket with Iri in his arms. He watched her sleep for a moment, wondering what it would be like to have her as his wife. But there was some very bad stuff that needed to be handled first, only then could they think about forever. He looked over at the breastplate and arrows lying by the door. Then, he noticed something strange; he could hear the insects outside flying around and he could even hear the breeze blowing through the small tree out in front of the cave. His mind had never been so clear before. Then, he remembered what Iri said about the soup.

  “It may heighten your magical side,” she said.

  Neilan slid Iri off his arm and climbed off the blanket. He grabbed the breastplate and his bow as he went out the door. Once outside he sat his bow down and put the breastplate on. He instantly felt a tingling sensation and it felt very cold to him.

  “Ok,” he said, “let’s see what this thing can do.”

  He grabbed his bow and took off running towards the mountain. He had climbed this mountain so many times that he knew exactly where to go and he also knew how tired he should be each step of the way. But when he had reached the summit of the mountain, he was not sweating or even breathing hard.

  “Wow, this is amazing,” he said.

  He stood a few minutes looking down into the Glen and he noticed that he could see a lot farther than he had ever seen before. He was also noticing things that he had never noticed before. Bending down, he picked a purple flower from beside a rock and as he held it in his hand, it turned yellow and then red.

  “Wow,” he said in amazement as he looked around and noticed so many new things that were not there before. “I have climbed this mountain so many times,” he said, “And yet today, it looks completely new.”

  He also noticed the smell of the mountain; he had noticed the smell of flowers and trees before, but this was not just flowers.

  “I can smell the rocks, the soil, the plants, the trees and even the animals,” he said. “This is what a mountain is supposed to smell like.”

  He walked around on the mountain in awe for about an hour before heading back to the cave, testing the breastplate along the way. By the time he had reached the cave his confidence had grown immensely and for the first time, he dared to think that he just may be able to do this. He was so excited when he reached the cave that he ran right in to tell Iri about his experience on the mountain. But by the time he had reached her side, his chest felt like it would almost collapse in on itself. A sharp pain shot through his arms and shoulders and he doubled over and fell to the floor, crashing against the stones of the fire pit. Iri jumped when the breastplate struck the stones with a loud crack. She quickly climbed out of bed and unstrapped the breastplate and slid it off him.

  “You cannot wear it out of the sunlight,” she said.

  He lay on the floor for a few minutes clutching his chest and ribs then, slowly the pain subsided and he rolled over onto his back. Iri laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. He couldn’t move for quite some time. It felt like the breastplate had sucked the strength right out of him.

  When he was finally able to move, Iri helped him over to the blanket and sat him up against the wall. Then she heated up some of the soup she had made and fed it to him. Slowly, his strength returned and he began to feel like himself again.

  “I will have to remember to take that thing off,” he said with a smile.

  He tried to laugh but Iri’s eyes told him not to. He knew that if Iri hadn’t been there, the breastplate would have drained every last drop of strength out of him and his heart would have failed.

  “You cannot forget again,” Iri said scolding him “you will need every ounce of strength you have to defeat Caudee.”

  Neilan nodded in agreement, “I won’t,” he said, “I promise.”

  Then, seeing her concerned face he said, “honest, I won’t.”

  Iri seemed satisfied and put away the bowl that she had been holding.

  “Iri,” Neilan said, “when I went up onto the mountain today, I saw things that I had never seen before. Where did they come from?”

  Iri sat back down next to him, “they have always been there,” she said, “you were just not able to see them before.”

  “Did yer soup do that to me?” Neilan asked, “will it wear off after a while?”

  Iri laughed, “no, it will never wear off,” she said, “your eyes have just been opened that’s all.”

  “My eyes,” Neilan said, “my ears, my nose, everything has been opened.”

  Iri laughed again seeing Neilan so excited about discovering new things.

  “Thank ye,” he said, “it was a wonderful gift”.

  Iri reached out and traced the veins in his hand with her finger.

  “So, how did it feel to have the breastplate on?” she asked.

  Neilan placed his hand on top of hers.

  “I ran to the top of the mountain and did not even break a sweat,” he said. “Then I ran all the way back down again.” He hesitated for a moment and then continued. “I am starting to think that I may just be able to beat this Caudee.”

  Iri gave him a worried look, but then she smiled.

  “In time, you will know,” she said, “do not rush it.”

  She stood up and walked over to the fire and he followed her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked her.

  “I am afraid for you,” she said.

  “But we both know that Caudee must be stopped and I am the only one who can do it,” he said.

  He realized how crazy that sounded, but he was actually beginning to believe it. He could even feel it within him; something had changed and tomorrow he would try the breastplate again.

  After they had eaten, they went for a walk on the mountain. Neilan was like a young child asking Iri a lot of questions.

  “What is this and what is that?” he said over and over again, pointing at the many plants he had never seen before.

  They sat on a large stone and looked out over the Glen.

&n
bsp; “Never has the Glen looked this way,” he said. “I like it better this way.”

  “This is what it has always looked like,” Iri said with a giggle. “You are just seeing it for the first time.”

  “It is sad that men cannot see things as they really are,” he said.

  “Many years ago, my people tried to teach men to see, but they became frustrated and angry,” Iri said. “Then, they turned on my people and we separated ourselves from them.”

  “Men always get angry when they do not understand something,” he said.

  Iri wrapped her arm in his, “but you are not of men” she said.

  He smiled at her then, he looked down.

  “Part of me is,” he said, “part of me is still angry.”

  Iri laid her head on his shoulder and they just sat and stared out over the Glen below them. The walk back to the cave was a quiet one. Both of them were deep in thought; concerned about many things.

  “Iri, if the breastplate makes it so I do not tire, I wonder if it will also let me exert myself more than I ever have before,” he said.

  Iri shrugged, “maybe,” she said.

  “Later I will try it again before the sun goes down,” he said.

  “Are you sure you want to put that on again today? Shouldn’t you wait until tomorrow?”

  Neilan thought about how his chest felt as he laid on the floor in the cave earlier. “No, I want to try it again today,” he said.

  “Ok,” Iri said “but after you have eaten more of my soup.

  “Ok,” he said “after the soup.”

  They went into the cave and Neilan grabbed the magical arrows from beside the door and sat down by the fire to examine them. He ran his fingers down the fletching and examined the metal arrowheads. They were the best-made arrows he had ever seen.

  “I wish I had a new string for my bow,” he said, “the one I have is very old.”

  “I think I can help you with that,” Iri said. “My people have been making bows and arrow for thousands of years.”

  Neilan gave Iri a questioning look.

  “Ye are full of surprises aren’t ye?” he said.

  “There are many things you don’t know about me yet,” she said teasingly then, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  Neilan knew that he was blushing, but he didn’t care. He gave her a big smile then, he remembered the dream Iri had and the smile left his face.

  “What is wrong?” She asked.

  “I was just thinking about when yer da finds out about us,” he said.

  “Neilan, many things have not changed for hundreds of years for my people,” she said. “But things are changing now; I think they must.”

  Neilan thought about his talk with Kaylu. “Will Kaylu help us?” he asked.

  “I do not know,” Iri said, “Kaylu is very wise, but it is hard to know what he will do. Our people have many traditions and rules that have never changed.”

  “But Kaylu went against them when I was a child,” he said. “They wanted to kill me, remember?”

  “That is true,” she said, “but we cannot be sure of what Kaylu will do.”

  “But we can ask him, can’t we?” Neilan asked.

  “Yes,” Iri said “we can ask him.”

  After the afternoon meal, Neilan grabbed the breastplate and went outside. Iri followed him and watched from the bench.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “Well, first I want to see how high and how far I can jump,” he said.

  He marked a line on the ground with his heel and then he went a few meters away and stopped.

  “I normally could jump just past where yer sitting,” he said.

  Then he ran to the line and jumped. Iri let out a squeal as Neilan flew past her by several meters before he landed again.

  “Woah,” Neilan said with disbelief in his eyes. He stood up and brushed the dirt off then, he looked at the tree that stood by the cave. “See that branch?” he asked “normally I could touch it if I jumped very hard. Let us see what I can do now.”

  He ran at the tree and jumped straight up, but instead of touching the branch he landed on it. Iri clapped her hands in delight as Neilan sat on the branch and laughed.

  “I think the breastplate is making me stronger,” Neilan said as he jumped down from the tree. Then he had an idea and taking a few steps back he ran at the tree and running several steps up the tree, he did a backflip and landed back on the ground. “This is unbelievable,” he said, “I’ve never felt this good before.”

  “Ok,” Iri said seeing his excitement and looking worried “that is enough for today, Ok?”

  Neilan could see that she was nervous about the breastplate, so he agreed. Taking off the breastplate, Neilan sat down on the bench next to Iri.

  She looked him directly in the eyes and said, “physical ability is not enough to defeat Caudee, Neilan. You will need to exercise your mind as well.”

  “My mind, how do I do that?” he asked.

  “Kaylu can help you,” she said, “he can help you see even more than you do.”

  Neilan thought about that for a moment. To see even more than he already does sounded amazing to him.

  “Do ye think kaylu will teach me?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Iri replied, “he will teach you.”

  “Ok,” he said, “then we should ask him to.”

  “Are you sure?” Iri asked, “you know what this means if I ask him?”

  “Yes, I know,” he replied.

  “Ok, I will find him tomorrow,” Iri said.

  “Iri,” Neilan said, “how many of yer people has Caudee captured?”

  Iri thought for a moment, “I’m not sure, about two hundred” she said.

  “Two hundred,” Neilan said surprised “how did he capture so many?”

  “He tricked them with his lies,” she said, “he sent messengers to my people to tell them that Caudee was dead and that they saw the body themselves. When the warriors went to investigate, Caudee snuck into our village and cast a spell on our people. They followed him right back to his evil place.”

  “But what about the messengers?” He asked.

  “When they reached a place on the mountain, the messengers threw themselves off the cliff to their deaths,” Iri said.

  “I am so sorry,” he said placing his arm around her.

  “No, I am the one who is sorry,” she said with a tear in her eye. “I am sorry to ask you to do such a thing for a people who will not even accept you, it is wrong.”

  Neilan held her in his arms. He was used to not being accepted.

  It was almost sundown when they finally went back into the cave. Neilan sat down and placed another log on the fire and Iri sitting down beside him, pulled something out of her pocket.

  “I have something for you,” she said, handing him a pin shaped like a bird.

  Neilan looked at it and smiled.

  “Thank ye, I will wear it often.”

  “It’s not a decoration” she laughed “It will help you concentrate.”

  She took the pin from him and pinned it on his shirt.

  “How does it work? He asked.

  Iri took off her necklace and pulled four coloured beads from it then, she started to juggle them.

  “Grab the green bead,” she said to him.

  Neilan laughed at her. He couldn’t even see the green bead, let alone grab it. But, as he watched the beads going from her hand into the air and then back into her other hand, he began to see the rhythm. After about a minute he could identify and follow the green bead as it made its circular path.

  “Grab the green bead,” she said again.

  Then, Neilan reached out and grabbed the green bead out of the air. He opened his hand and showed Iri the green bead in his hand.

  “Very good,” she said, “now place it back into the rhythm without disrupting it.”

  Neilan took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. Watching the rhythm of the beads going up
and down, he began to anticipate where each bead would be at any given time. When he was sure that he had the rhythm down, he held the bead just above the top of the arch made by the beads and dropped it. He watched as the green bead dropped towards Iri’s hand and then passed through onto the floor below. She caught the rest of the beads in her hand.

  “Very good,” she said.

  “I missed,” he replied, shaking his head.

  “Yes, you missed,” she said, “but you were also able to grab the bead out of the air without touching the others.”

  Neilan couldn’t believe how much the pin had helped him.

  “Thank ye Iri,” he said, “ye have done so much to help me.”

  “Maybe, it was to help us,” she said blushing.

  After they ate the evening meal they laid down on the blanket.

  “Iri,” Neiland said, “last night, I stopped the dreams.”

  “You what?” Iri asked.

  Neilan smiled “I stopped them.”

  “Neilan,” Iri said with a worried look on her face “you need to dream again.”

  “But why do I have to do that?” he asked.

  “It is the only way that you can see what Caudee is doing,” she said, “you need to keep an eye on him.”

  Neilan frowned because he did not like the nightmares; there was far too much pain and death in his dreams.

  “I will go with you,” Iri said to him “you do not have to be alone.”

  Neilan was glad that she wanted to go with him, but he did not want her to see her people treated like that. No, he would save her from that and he would dream by himself.

  “Ye have seen enough suffering and death among yer people,” he said, “I will be alright.”

  They talked far into the night about Iri’s people. Neilan was curious about their customs and what it was like to live in a magical village.

  “Well, magic is not practised by most of my people anymore,” Iri said.

  “But why?” Neilan asked.

  “Many years ago, the Dragoine lived alongside the Tunai people. Both practised magic, but some became greedy for power. That was when the Tunai found a black glowing stone; the Black Stone of Elu” She said.

  “The stone that Caudee wears,” Neilan said.