The Stone of Power (The Legendary Keepers Book 2)

by Cassidy Bennett

  “If you knew him as he is now, Denayka,” Tom informed her boldly, “you would believe us.”

  “Mark my words, young Legendary Keepers,” Denayka declared. “The Hunter will turn on you, whether you like it or not. It is just a matter of time.” Her tone changed to be more lighthearted. “There. I gave you a warning. Consider my debt repaid. Now run along.”

  “You can’t do that!” Tom protested.

  “I’m the last Elven Enchantress,” Denayka retorted. “I can do what I want.”

  She muttered something under her breath and made a weird hand motion in Tom’s direction. A column of smoke erupted around him. A horrible smell instantly filled the cottage. I wrinkled my nose in disgust, then pulled my shirt over my nose so I could breathe. When the smoke dissipated, a warthog was standing where Tom had been.

  Nayila looked between Tom, who was now a warthog, and Denayka, who was smirking. “Did you just turn Tom into a warthog?” she asked the Elven Enchantress.

  “Of course I did,” Denayka responded. “He talked back and I think it suits him.”

  Smirking despite the smell, Felix crossed his arms and said, “See? Now, he’s an actual grumpy warthog!”

  The warthog glared at him.

  “As satisfying as this is,” Felix said, “can you turn him back? And, you know, give us a lead on the location of the Zemayta Stone? We’re kinda in a hurry.” He wrinkled his nose. “And Tom smells bad. Like, really bad.”

  A few muttered words, a weird hand motion in his direction, and a column of smoke later, a small brown potato had taken Felix’s place.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I breathed, picking up the potato. “You really are a Potato Brain now.”

  The potato didn’t respond.

  “Now, take your potato and your warthog and run along,” Denayka instructed. “My debt is repaid.”

  Hoping that I wouldn’t get turned into something ridiculous as well, I stepped up. “No, it isn’t. I gave you a vial of my blood for a lead on the location of the Zemayta Stone. You agreed, so change my friends back and tell us what you know. I’m done with your funny business.”

  Tom the Warthog nodded in agreement. I set Felix the Potato on the ground next to me.

  Denayka gave me a long look, like she was weighing her options, before giving me her answer. “Fine. I’ll change your friends back and tell you what I know about finding the Zemayta Stone. Then we’re even, right?”

  I nodded. She sighed, but turned Tom and Felix back into their normal selves. Tom punched Felix in the arm.

  “What was that for?” Felix whined, rubbing his arm.

  “For your earlier comments when I was a warthog.”

  Denayka cut off their argument by saying, “The Zemayta Stone is hidden somewhere in the Labyrinth of the Lost. I don’t know where, and like most ancient labyrinths, the Labyrinth of the Lost is always changing. The only way of not getting lost in it is with the help of a person with the gift of navigation and this stone.” She handed me a small, rectangular stone. It was a beautiful seafoam green. “It’s the same color as the Zemayta Stone and will help you locate it. That’s all I know.”

  “In that case,” Nayila said, “let’s go. Akevul, Denayka.”

  “Akevul,” Denayka returned.

  Nayila opened up another purple portal, this one to her home. I was glad to leave Denayka’s stone cottage of weirdness.

  Chapter 6

  Nothing particularly eventful happened at Nayila’s place. She informed us that she would stay behind in Mezanif, since she had her own adventures to deal with. We moved on without her, opening a portal from her place to our headquarters, where Mallum and Lena were waiting for us.

  The first thing they noticed was that Regina was with us, very much alive.

  “You’re alive?” Mallum questioned incredulously. “The Legendary Keepers said the manticore killed you months ago!”

  She showed him the scars on her right arm. “It got close. Nayila was nearby and was able to save me.”

  Regina’s shoulders were tensed, her eyes narrowed, and her words almost cold. She didn’t trust him.

  Mallum seemed to pick up on her body language as well and tried to make amends. “I’m sorry, Regina. I really am.”

  “Why would you do it in the first place?” Regina snapped, arms crossed. “Why did you send that manticore after Nayila and me? Why did you tell them to murder Coppercrusher and make me watch? I was only ten! How could you be so cold-blooded, then expect me to forgive you on the spot?”

  “That wasn’t me. The one that gave the order for Coppercrusher,” Mallum corrected calmly. “I told Esora to do whatever it took to get the Leather Book. She didn’t tell me about Coppercrusher until after she had him killed.”

  “So?” Regina challenged. “You’re still a cold-blooded monster and you know it.”

  “Regina!” Lena scolded.

  At Mallum, Regina snarled, “I’ll die before I work with you.” She stormed off to the girls’ room.

  Mallum sank into one of the cushioned sofas and buried his face in his hands. Lena sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulders. “She’ll come around,” she comforted, though she didn’t sound too sure of it herself.

  “How could I have turned into the other members of my family so quickly?” he asked into his hands. “How could I have messed up this badly?”

  Gabrielle joined them on the sofa. “You didn’t know any other way to cope, Mallum. You were brought up by people who believed that vengeance would bring them satisfaction, so naturally that was your first response.”

  “But it shouldn’t have been,” Mallum said, taking his hands away from his face and laying his head on Lena’s shoulder. She gently positioned her head on top of his, hugging him tightly. “I should have set out to help the Magenta, not kill her. What was I thinking?”

  “You weren’t,” Gabrielle said gently. “Your emotions when Lena vanished were so strong, it clouded your judgment. You let them control you, rather than the other way around.”

  Gabrielle’s wisdom still astounded me.

  “Besides,” Selene chimed in, “we have a job to do. We only have until the next full moon to get that Stone to Fate’s Clearing. We need to leave the past in the past and move forward.”

  “I’ll talk to Parker,” Tom offered. “Maybe I can talk some sense into her.”

  “No offense, Tom,” I said, “but you probably aren’t the best person to calm Regina down. Besides, we need you here to help us plan our next move.”

  “Let Regina cool off,” Gabrielle said. “She needs time. Meanwhile, we need to find someone with the gift of navigation to help us get through the Labyrinth of the Lost. Fortunately for us, the Eikosi Tessera agents have quite a few connections and we know of a couple of formerly-rogue agents who would be willing to help us out.”

  Tom groaned. “You can’t possibly be talking about Agent Lambda.”

  Gabrielle nodded. “Eikosi Tessera agents Lambda and Delta still have their communication pens. We can contact them. Is anyone opposed?”

  Felix said, “Do we have to call them by their agent names? I mean, we already know that Delta’s name is Darren.”

  Selene shrugged. “I doubt it matters. If it does, I’m sure Darren will tell us.”

  Nobody else spoke up, so Gabrielle said, “I’ll take that to mean that no one is opposed.”

  No one protested, so she took the communication pen out of her pocket and clicked the top. “Lambda, Delta, can you hear me?”

  “Loud and clear, Gabrielle,” Darren’s response crackled over the pen. “What’s up?”

  “Do we need to come save the day again?” Lambda’s voice asked. “We aren’t far from your headquarters.”

  “We aren’t being attacked, but we could use some help,” Gabrielle clarified. “How far are you from our headquarters?”

  “Probably twenty minutes if we use our tree gear,” Darren answered. “Do you want us to come?”

  “If it
isn’t too much trouble, then yes, that would be ideal.” Gabrielle brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Thank you.”

  “No problem!” Lambda said cheerfully. “See you soon! Bye.”

  Gabrielle clicked the top of her pen and grabbed her knitting from the table. “Now we wait. Steven, would you mind looking in the kitchen to see if we still have that bag of cookies from last week? It will probably be in the freezing chest.”

  Steven nodded and went to the kitchen, emerging a few minutes later with a bag of frozen cookies. Gabrielle’s little bits of magic did a lot, including speeding up the healing of wounds, getting rid of the smoke from the wood-burning stove before it could fill the cave and choke us all, and creating a freezer-like environment in one of the chests to preserve food longer. It was truly incredible. I honestly didn’t know how we’d manage without her.

  About twenty minutes later, as Darren had predicted, he and Lambda arrived. Darren took off his Eikosi Tessera cloak and mask, but Lambda kept both on.

  “Lambda, you don’t have to keep your identity a secret anymore,” Darren told him. “Besides, it’d be cool to know who you really are.”

  Lambda shrugged. “I’m good, thanks. I prefer to keep it a secret.”

  “Why?” Felix asked.

  “Because reasons,” Lambda said. “So, what kind of help do you need from us, Gabrielle?”

  Gabrielle explained everything that had happened from Umarek’s threat at the victory celebration up to the present—in condensed form, of course—and ended with, “...so we need to find someone with the gift of navigation to help us get through the Labyrinth of the Lost. It’s our only chance to save us all from being consumed by the Darkness.”

  “You’re not going to like this,” Darren said after a second or two of silence, “but I have a solution.”

  Chapter 7

  “Lori?” Felix exclaimed, springing to his feet after Darren had explained his idea. “You want us to convince Lori to come with us? She hates my guts!”

  “She hates your guts?” I cut in with crossed arms. “She looked like she was going to murder me last time we talked to her!” I turned to Darren. “Why is she your idea of a solution?”

  “She has the family gift of navigation. I’ve seen it in action,” Darren answered. “She can navigate the impossible, making her the most ideal person to help you.”

  “Can’t we ask another member of her family?” Felix asked desperately. “If it’s a family gift, we might have a better chance of convincing her brother, Connor, to help us. I mean, he probably still hates me after the whole Lori episode, but I’d still rather work with him than her.”

  “No offense to Connor,” Darren responded, “but he wouldn’t be able to find his way out of a paper bag.”

  "Doesn't he share the same family gift as Lori since they're family, though?" I questioned.

  Darren shook his head. "Nope. They're half-siblings. Same mother, different fathers. Connor's father died, then his mother remarried and had Lori. Lori's family gift comes from her father."

  Felix groaned. "Please tell me there's another way to navigate the Labyrinth."

  Darren shook his head. "Sorry, Felix, but this is the only solution I can think of."

  “Besides, Wilson, we don’t have time to look for an alternate solution,” Tom reminded him. “Time is running out and this is the only lead we’ve got.”

  "Fine," Felix yielded. "We'll recruit Lori. But I am not using my charming personality to do it."

  “Not everyone needs to leave to recruit Lori,” Tom pointed out. “Some of us should stay at headquarters and get some stuff ready for our trip to the Labyrinth of the Lost.”

  “For once, I agree with Tom,” Regina said. “I volunteer to stay here.”

  “I’ll stay too,” Felix offered. “I need as little Lori time as possible.”

  “Okay. I’ll take Valida, Gabrielle, Mallum, and Lena with me to the Shapeshifter Shack to get Lori,” Darren decided. “Lambda, Steven, Regina, Selene, and Tom can stay here to prepare for the Labyrinth of the Lost. Is everyone fine with that?”

  “Actually, I have a mission with Omicron in about an hour, so I gotta go,” Lambda said. “Alpha is going to kill me if I don’t show up on time, especially after giving me a second chance in the agency.”

  “Fine,” Darren said. “You’re excused.”

  “Lori hates me, so can I stay at headquarters?” I asked hopefully once Lambda left.

  Darren shook his head. “We might need your Magenta firepower or your ability to control the weather if things go wrong, so no.”

  “Fair enough.”

  I still wished I wasn’t going.

  “Anyone else opposed?” Darren asked, looking around. When no one spoke up for a few seconds, he chanted, “Opatay clekavra the Shapeshifter Shack!”

  I exchanged looks with Felix, shrugged, then walked through the portal. The odds of Lori joining us weren’t good. The odds of us being able to handle working with her were worse.

  One way or another, Felix and I were likely going to be miserable.

  ◆◆◆

  The portal took us right to the doorstep of the Shapeshifter Shack, which was still as rundown as always. Darren glanced back to make sure everyone had come through the portal, then opened the doors. Nobody paid any attention to our entrance. I scanned the room slowly, almost hoping Lori wouldn’t be here.

  “Over there,” Darren said, nodding over to a spot occupied by Connor, Kayla, and Lori. They looked like they were having the time of their lives.

  As soon as we made our way over to them, that changed.

  Lori spotted us first, her face souring. She rocked a new look now—a black short-sleeved shirt, dark denim jeans with thin chains as a belt, and black boots—which didn’t make her look any more approachable.

  Unfortunately, her attitude matched her clothing. “Look what the cat dragged in,” she remarked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

  I rolled my eyes. “Nice to see you too, Lori.”

  Connor glared at us and growled, “What are you doing back?” He noticed Mallum shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot and jerked a thumb at him. “And who’s that loser?”

  “Connor!” Kayla scolded.

  “We were all thinking it,” Lori said with a shrug. “He was the only one who said it.”

  “I’m not a loser,” Mallum said forcefully, looking up from the ground and glaring at Connor and Lori. He balled his hands into fists. “I’d advise you to keep your rudeness to yourself.”

  “That’s Mallum,” I answered against my better judgment. “Look, we wouldn’t come back if it wasn’t important—”

  “I don’t care,” Lori interrupted. “Beat it.”

  “Whoa, back up a bit,” Kayla said. “Did you say that guy–” she pointed at Mallum–“is Mallum, as in the Hunter?”

  “Yes, but he’s changed and is on our side now,” Lena assured her before she could say anything else.

  “Like I was saying—” I tried to continue. Lori interrupted me again.

  “And like I was saying,” she informed me venomously, “I don’t care. Get. Out.”

  “Hear us out,” Darren pleaded. “The fate of the Dimensions is on the line.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Nice try.”

  “He isn’t kidding,” I insisted. “Look, we have one week to find the Zemayta Stone and bring it to Fate’s Clearing. If we fail, the Dimensions go dark.”

  “Forget it,” Lori told us, her frustration growing evident in her voice.

  “Wait,” Connor said. “What do you mean the Dimensions will go dark? The only thing I’ve ever heard of that can turn Dimensions dark is Umarek himself.”

  “He vanished years ago, according to the stories,” Kayla added. “How can he—”

  “I may not have a permanent physical form at the moment, but I am still the most powerful being the Dimensions.” Umarek’s voice resonated from Mallum’s body once more, just as it had during the victo
ry celebration. Mallum’s eyes were as red as glowing rubies. Right before our eyes, his hands became claws and wings grew from his back.

  Dingvars screamed from all over the Shapeshifter Shack. All eyes were on Mallum, who had slowly risen in the air and was now speaking from a couple of yards above the ground.

  “Leave him alone, Umarek!” Lena ordered.

  “My apologies, healer, but that’s not in my best interest,” Umarek responded. “I just wanted to remind you all of our...little agreement.”

  “It wasn’t much of an agreement,” I informed him. “You didn’t give us a choice in the matter.”

  “What’s going on with Mallum?” Kayla asked fearfully, backing away.

  “Umarek takes over Mallum on occasion,” I explained. “That’s the price of the Dark Power, but things have been getting worse.” I turned my attention back to Umarek. “We are well aware of your threat. If you have no other purpose being present, please leave. We’re trying to do stuff here!”

  “My other purpose in being here,” Umarek said, “is to let you know of a small change in plans. Mallum’s mind has weakened because of the stress of his new life, making this quite the opportunity for me. Out of mercy, I won’t turn him dark yet, but mark my words, Magenta: if you fail in your task, Mallum will be the first of your Legendary Keepers to become darkness. For now, his mind alone will suffice.”

  “No!” Lena shrieked. “You can’t take him!”

  “Are you offering to take his place?” Umarek taunted.

  “No, she isn’t,” Gabrielle cut in with confidence, “but I am. However, I have one other condition.”

  “Name it.” I hated how amused he sounded.

  “You leave the rest of my friends alone until the deadline passes,” Gabrielle said. “That means no more taking over Mallum, no more waging war on our minds, and no turning anyone into darkness. You break the terms, I return. Deal?”

  “Gabrielle, don’t!” I protested. “The Legendary Keepers need you!”

  “I accept your terms,” Umarek declared. “I will have to content myself with watching the Legendary Keepers crumble without their cornerstone.”