The Black Stone of Elu

by Darrin Long

  He gave her a suspicious look, but he did as she requested. Iri walked to the end of the cave where the forest began and grabbed something from behind some trees. Neilan watched, trying to see what she was grabbing and when she turned to walk back, he knew exactly what it was. He could see that it was a bow because it was a lot longer than Iri was tall and she couldn’t hide it behind her. She walked back to Neilan with a big smile on her face.

  “I had it made special just for you,” she said holding the bow out to him. “I used the measurements from your old bow.”

  It was the most beautiful bow that Neilan had ever seen. It was made from red wood that had been polished to perfection and it fit in Neilan’s hand like it was made for it. He pulled back the string to test it out and it was amazing. The string pulled back to about his chin and then it effortlessly pulled the rest of the way back. He was able to hold the draw with his thumb under his jaw without any stress on his arm at all.

  “This is amazing,” he said to Iri who was beaming with delight.

  “I knew you would love it,” she said.

  He sat the bow down and pulled her to him.

  “Thank ye,” he said gazing into her eyes.

  “You’re welcome,” she said batting her eyes at him then, she leaned in and gave him a kiss. “Come on,” she said, “let’s go in and get something to eat.”

  Chapter 8

  A Friend is Made

  As the sun was getting ready to set, Neilan and Iri went outside to sit on the bench and enjoy the cool evening air.

  “Do ye think Kaylu is coming back?” Neilan asked, “he didn’t seem very happy with me after I almost drowned.”

  Iri didn’t answer him so he looked over at her.

  “Hello,” he said, but he could see that she was straining to see something out in the Glen. “What? What do you see?” he asked.

  Neilan strained his eyes and peered into the Glen. After a few moments, he saw movement and made out three figures moving southward through the Glen.

  “I’m not sure, but they look like Tunai,” she said.

  Neilan jumped up and ran into the cave to grab his bow.

  “What are you doing?” Iri asked from the doorway.

  Neilan walked to the door carrying the new bow that she had made for him.

  “I’ve seen those creatures every night for months now, I know what they are,” he said. “Stay here ok?”

  Iri nodded and Neilan took off running into the Glen.

  He headed south so he would not be noticed by the three travellers. He ran to get as far ahead of them as he could then, he closed the distance between them. Maybe he could surprise them and the fight will be over before it even begins. He wished it was still daylight because he really would have liked to have used the breastplate. He could feel his side starting to ache as he ran. After all, he had just finished two bowls of rabbit stew. Fortunately, he knew this Glen like the back of his hand and he knew exactly where to make his surprise attack.

  There was a large stone outcropping in the Glen a few miles south that would provide him with the cover that he needed. His only worry was that they were moving slowly and the sun was sinking fast. He reached the outcropping and leaned on the rocks trying to catch his breath. He was sure that he had arrived there first and took up a good position to shoot from. However, as he waited the sun began to set and it was getting almost impossible to see. So, he waited in silence, listening to hear footsteps or talking. He knew that they would be walking right past the rocks; it was his best chance. Suddenly a flame lit up in the Glen just a short distance to the north.

  “What luck,” he said, “good thing they can’t see in the dark.”

  Neilan hid behind the rocks and waited as the torchlight came closer. He could see that they would be passing about twenty meters from where he stood so he hid himself to let them pass by. As they passed him he could see clearly that there were two of Caudee’s soldiers and between them was their prisoner. They were moving very slowly because the prisoner had his arms and his feet tied so he could only shuffle his feet.

  “He must have given them quite a fight,” Neilan thought with a smile. “Good for him.”

  Neilan allowed them to get a few meters past him before he stepped out from behind the rocks. He drew back the bow and took aim at the closest of Caudee’s soldiers; the one that did not have a torch.

  “If I hit him in the right spot he will not be able to make a sound except for the sound he will make when he hits the ground” Neilan thought.

  He let the arrow fly into the darkness and a moment later he heard a solid thud; like something had fallen to the ground. Neilan waited and suddenly he could see the torch stop and start waving around. He knew that the soldier was looking for his partner, but he didn’t want to let the prisoner out of his sight so he just stood there waving the torch and looking into the dark. It was the perfect opportunity for Neilan and he inched closer so as to make sure of his target. He pulled up and took aim at the only thing he could see in the darkness; the soldier’s head. Neilan took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he released his arrow.

  Time seemed to stand still as the arrow left his bow and flew into the silent darkness. He watched the torch but it didn’t move.

  “Did I miss?” he said, “how did I miss?”

  But suddenly the torch tilted to the side and then fell on the ground. Neilan could hear the thud as the other soldier hit the ground. He inched his way closer to the torchlight until he could see the prisoner standing all alone in the Glen. Neilan picked up the torch and held it up to see the soldier lying on the ground with his arrow sticking out of his eyes socket. He smiled to himself for such a good shot in the dark. The prisoner was squirming in his bonds trying to free himself.

  “Don’t worry, I have no intention of hurting ye,” Neilan said, “my fight is with them.”

  Neilan pulled out his knife and walked towards the prisoner who struggled even more.

  “Relax,” Neilan said, “I just want to cut ye free.”

  As he approached the prisoner, Neilan noticed that this was no man and it wasn’t a magical either. He stood just below Neilan’s chest and the distinctive forehead told Neilan that he was right.

  “Ye are a Tunai,” Neilan said to him.

  The Tunai stopped struggling and held out his hands without saying a word. Neilan approached, intending to cut the ropes, but he could see that the Tunai still did not trust him. Neilan couldn’t blame him, after all, he was a man and men have always been hostile to anything they didn’t understand. Neilan swung the knife and cut the ropes from the Tunai’s hands.

  “Hold still and I will cut yer feet free,” Neilan said as he bent down to cut the ropes tied to the Tunai’s ankles.

  “Thank you,” the Tunai said to him, “but why are you helping me?”

  “I know how I must look to ye. I am not like other men. I am only half man and I do not share their views of the world” he said.

  The Tunai rubbed his wrists while keeping an eye on Neilan.

  “Yer free to go,” Neilan said, “I have to bury these two; so no one finds them.”

  The Tunai turned to leave but then turned back around. “I will help you,” he said, “I am Sonje.”

  “Neilan” he replied, as he bent down to search the soldier.

  “What are these things?” Sonje asked.

  Neilan hesitated, how was he supposed to tell him that the creatures that captured him were his own people?

  “Hey, that one is wearing a Tunai necklace,” Sonje said, “I guess I am not the first one they have captured.”

  Neilan knew that he had to just tell him, there didn’t seem to be any other way.

  “The necklace probably belongs to him,” Neilan said as he walked over to search the other soldier.

  “What do you mean belongs to him?” Sonje asked.

  Neilan dragged the first soldier back to where Sonje was standing.

  “I mean… I mean before he was changed by Caud
ee’s evil magic… he was a Tunai” Neilan said looking into Sonje’s eyes. “Can’t ye see the foreheads?”

  He could see the struggle as Sonje tried to come to grips with what Neilan was telling him. Then suddenly Sonje dropped to his knees.

  “Are ye ok,” Neilan said, “are ye injured?”

  He could hear a low guttural moaning sound coming from Sonje who rocked back and forth for a few moments. Realizing that this must be a form of mourning, Neilan took a few steps back and allowed Sonje time. A few moments later Sonje stood up and Neilan started digging a hole in the ground with his knife. Sonje walked over and knelt down next to Neilan and started digging with his hands. Neilan was amazed at how quickly Sonje could dig and the hole was finished before he knew it. Five minutes later the bodies were buried and Neilan retrieved his bow from the ground.

  “Thank you again,” Sonje said, “I am in your debt.”

  Neilan picked up the torch from the ground where it had been lying.

  “Listen, Sonje,” Neilan said, “do yer people know what is going on?”

  “What do you mean?” Sonje asked.

  “Those were yer people that we just buried and there are several more in Caudee’s camp just like them,” he said.

  Sonje looked at Neilan with shock, but then looked at the ground.

  “We have noticed that our people have been disappearing for the last few months,” Sonje said, “but we had no idea what was happening to them. We assumed it was Lamu and his stinking sorcerer.”

  “No,” Neilan said “Lamu and his people have the same problem. They too have had people taken captive by Caudee.”

  “Who is this Caudee?” Sonje asked.

  Neilan knew he had to be careful with what he said about the Dragoine to Sonje, they had been enemies for many years.

  “Caudee was tricked by a very powerful magic that changed him into an evil, power-hungry creature that will stop at nothing to destroy all men from the land,” he said. “He is controlled by a crown with a black glowing stone in it.”

  “The Black Stone of Elu,” Sonje said with a shaky voice.

  “Oh, ye’ve heard of it” Neilan replied. “Well, then ye know how bad this can become.”

  “He is a magical, isn’t he?” Sonje asked.

  “Well, he was, but the black magic turned him into something completely different” Neilan replied. “Now he will not stop until all men are destroyed and he will use the Tunai and the Dragoine to do it.”

  “I must warn my people,” Sonje said turning and walking north across the Glen. “We have defences and we can go deep into the earth.”

  “What then?” Neilan said “do ye think that the black stone will let Caudee stop once he has destroyed men? It will not, and after he had destroyed men, he will come for the Dragoine and the Tunai and he will not stop until he has destroyed us all.”

  Sonje kept walking and did not say a word. Neilan became angry with the Tuani’s stubbornness.

  “Good luck Tunai” he yelled “for, by the time he comes for ye, there will be no one else to help ye. Yer people will be trapped underground and he will pick ye off one by one. The black stone will not stop until it has destroyed everything.”

  Suddenly Sonje stopped in his tracks. Neilan could see the struggle that he was having within himself.

  “And what is it you would have of me boy?” Sonje yelled back. “Do you think you are going to fight the black stone? You are not even a man; you are just a boy. What can you do to fight the power of the stone?”

  “I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can kill Caudee. In fact, I am the only one who can” Neilan said.

  Suddenly Sonje was walking back towards Neilan at a very quick pace and Neilan prepared himself for the attack. Sonje stopped right in front of him and stared at Neilan for a moment, his face full of struggle and emotion.

  “You are either a very stupid, arrogant child or you know something that I do not,” he said.

  Neilan took a deep breath then, let it out slowly.

  “Caudee is held up in a valley that is protected by the powerful black magic of the stone” Neilan said. “The only way ye can get into the valley is by being a magical. But Caudee has power over all magicals; he drains their powers and uses it for himself.”

  “I still do not see how you think you can kill him yourself,” Sonje said.

  “Well, as it turns out the stone can only be destroyed by a man; that’s why the stone wants to destroy men,” Neilan said. “So, the only way he can be defeated is if someone who is half man and half magical enters into his valley and kills him.”

  “Humph” Sonje said “you wouldn’t stand a chance against that stone. You have no idea how powerful it.”

  “Then help me,” Neilan said.

  “Help you? You mean die with you” Sonje replied.

  “No, I mean fight with me and help me kill Caudee and destroy the stone once and for all. Help me save all our people” Neilan replied.

  “Wait a minute,” Sonje said, “I thought you said only Dragoine could enter the valley?”

  “Well, fortunately, the Tunai seem to be able to enter it also,” Neilan said.

  “That’s because we cannot be harmed by magic,” Sonje said with pride on his face.

  “Well, all magic except the black magic from the stone” Neilan replied.

  Sonje shook his head then, peered at Neilan in the torch-light.

  “Where are you from half man?” he asked, “perhaps we can talk more.”

  “That would be good,” Neilan said, “I live north of here a few miles, but as we walk, I have things that ye must know.”

  As the two of them walked through the Glen, Neilan began to explain to Sonje everything that had happened to him from the moment that the dreams started until now. He wanted to make sure that Sonje understood that it would take both Tunai and Dragoine to defeat Caudee and that he could not do it with only one of the two peoples. Neilan had a difficult time trying to persuade Sonje to join ranks with the Dragoine. Twice on the way through the Glen Sonje threatened to just leave and go home, but something kept him from doing it. He kept asking more questions and Neilan sensed that Sonje had his own reasons for wanting Caudee dead. Then Neilan told Sonje about Kaylu and Sonje stopped in his tracks. He kicked the ground with his foot and scratched his bearded chin.

  “Uh, Listen, boy,” he said “I don’t think I can do this. That wizard has done much harm to my people. He betrayed our king and cost us many lives.”

  “Now, I know what it looked like then,” Neilan said, “but ye have to understand it was not Kaylu who betrayed yer people, it was King Lamu. That’s why Kaylu no longer lives with his people. He has isolated himself because he too was betrayed that day.”

  “I wish I could believe that,” Sonje said “but I remember his great magic and how he used it during one of the great battles. No, I am sorry, I cannot help you.”

  Sonje turned and walked off into the darkness of the Glen. Neilan wanted to try to stop him, but he just didn’t know what else to say.

  “This whole war business is getting very tiresome,” he said.

  He walked the rest of the way back to the cave deep in thought.

  “How can we convince the Tunai to fight with us?” he wondered.

  He could not ask Kaylu to stay behind because they needed Kaylu’s powers to protect them from Caudee. There had to be a way but how? Iri was sitting outside on the bench when Neilan approached the cave.

  “Neilan” she called out, as she ran out to meet him. “Are you ok?” she asked, “what happened?”

  Neilan leaned his bow against the door and sat down on the bench.

  “There were two of Caudee’s soldiers with a Tunai prisoner,” Neilan said.

  “So, it was a Tunai,” Iri said.

  “Yes, it was” he replied “I killed the two soldiers and set the Tunai free. I buried the soldiers in the Glen so no one would find them.”

  “And the Tunai,” Iri said, “what happened to him?�
�

  “Well, he was going to come back with me, until I mentioned Kaylu and he changed his mind.”

  “But I don’t understand,” she said. “Doesn’t he know that Caudee will come after his people?”

  “Yes, he understands” Neilan replied, “but they blame Kaylu for the betrayal of their King.”

  “But Kaylu did not betray King Lomar. Didn’t you tell him that?” she said.

  “Yes, I told him, but he did not believe me,” Neilan said. “Listen, I tried very hard to convince him to join us, but there is still a lot of anger and hurt in the Tunai people.”

  Iri breathed a sigh and shook her head.

  “Now what do we do?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Neilan said, “I just don’t know.” He put his arm around her and they sat on the bench staring at the stars in the sky. “This whole thing is crazy,” Neilan said, “I don’t know what made me think that I could defeat Caudee anyway.”

  “Maybe tomorrow Kaylu will come back and we can ask him what to do,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “But, for now, do not think on these things, not tonight.”

  They stood up and went into the cave. Neilan knew that Iri was right; there was nothing more that he could do tonight. He needed to get some sleep and maybe tomorrow he could think more clearly. That night Neilan did not dream, for his mind was full of conversations with the Tunai. Over and over again he tried to convince them to fight side by side with the Dragoine. Kaylu however, always seemed to show up right at the worst time and the Tunai refused to help. Every scenario he ran through his head turned out the same way; the Tunai people would not fight with Kaylu.

  Chapter 9

  A Commitment and a Bond

  The next morning Iri and Neilan were awakened by a knock on the door. Neilan grabbed his sword as Iri went to the door and asked who was there.

  “Kaylu” the voice replied.

  “It’s Kaylu,” she said unfastening the latch and opening the door.

  Kaylu entered the cave but instantly noticed the looks on their faces.

  “What happened?” he asked.