“That’s amazing,” Syl’s father said, gently taking her hand to inspect it. “The Stone goes right through the palm of your hand and out the back. Does it hurt?” he asked, suddenly the concerned father.

  “Not at all,” Syl said. “If anything, it’s quite pleasant.”

  “Can you move your fingers? The bone and muscle that should be where the Stone is now…”

  Syl flexed her fingers tentatively, but they opened and closed unhindered. “No problem,” she told him.

  “Can I…?” Firon asked, gesturing to the Stone.

  “Go ahead,” Syl said.

  Firon reached out with a single finger, then pulled it back with a yelp.

  “Got a shock,” he said, blushing. “It didn’t hurt,” he told the others who were waking and gathering around. Murmuring passed through the group as they realized Syl had taken the Stone.

  Another snap of a small spark, but Firon didn’t pull away. “I was ready for that one,” he said sheepishly, and slowly ran his finger along the Stone’s surface to where it met the gold chains. “It’s warm.”

  Like the stone, the chains embedded themselves in Syl’s skin, so that the entire thing looked like an elaborate tattoo.

  “It really doesn’t hurt?” he asked her, and she shook her head.

  “What does it matter if it hurts?” Edar asked frantically. “Take it out. Put it back!”

  “Calm down, Edar,” Rogar said, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

  “I will not calm down,” Edar said and slapped Rogar’s hand away. “How am I the only one who sees how bad this is?”

  “It’s not like that,” Syl said. “The Cloud Stone isn’t connected to the Anihazi. At least… not like you think it is.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked suspiciously.

  “What is it, Syl?” Firon and Dena asked simultaneously.

  Syl tuned out the voices around her and focused on the Stone. “It’s full of knowledge,” she said, sorting through the emotions and sensations emanating from the Stone. “And it’s ancient. From before our people came to the valley.”

  “Jurik was right?” Reylo asked quietly.

  “Seems so,” Syl nodded.

  “But it’s connected to the Anihazi!” Edar said. “Connected with the thing out there killing our friends!”

  “No,” Syl said, trying desperately to sort through all the information flooding her mind. Finally, on the verge of being overwhelmed, she had to completely shut it out and take a break. “It’s not connected to the Anihazi out there, but I think it has something to do with why the Anihazi hates us. With why it’s hunting us.”

  “What does that mean?” Rogar asked, crossing his arms.

  “I’m not sure,” Syl admitted. “The Stone is trying to give me too much information all at once. I need to work through it slowly.”

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  “That’s convenient,” Edar spat.

  “You’re not helping,” Reylo said.

  “Does it tell us how to kill the Anihazi?” Kule asked.

  “These weapons,” Syl said after a moment of communion with the Stone. With each question, it got a bit easier, like the Stone was learning how to best inform her. “They’ll hurt or kill it.”

  Kule held up his hands. “And kill us in the process?”

  “The arrows aren’t… what’s that?” she stopped as the Stone explained a difficult concept to her. “The arrows aren’t insulated,” she finally said. “It means the lightning from the Anihazi will travel through the arrow and into us, which is what happened to Kule.”

  Syl pointed to the Sho-Vals. “The same thing won’t happen with the spears under normal circumstances. They were made to fight Anihazi at close range.”

  “So, they’re… insulated?” Firon asked, testing the new word.

  “Yes,” Syl said. “And, according to the Stone, will discharge more of the Anihazi’s power with each strike. That’s what the lightning bolt was. Like blood for us.”

  “We need to get these to the village,” Rogar said as he walked over and hefted one of the Sho-Vals. “They don’t have anything to protect themselves. If the Anihazi gives up on us because it can’t find us…” He didn’t need to finish the statement.

  “The sun should be up soon,” Reylo offered. “I was keeping an eye out the front,” he said guiltily when Syl raised an eyebrow.

  “And we don’t have much time,” Dena added, counting on her fingers. “Maybe I missed a day in all the… excitement, but the rains should be coming today or tomorrow at the latest.”

  “Then we don’t have the time to be sitting around talking about it,” Rogar said, taking a second Sho-Val in his other hand. “If we push ourselves and don’t take any breaks, we can make it.”

  “You’re not in any shape for this,” Syl said to Reylo. “You and Kule should stay and rest.”

  “Stop talking nonsense,” Kule said from in front of the rack of Sho-Vals. “Insulated, huh? Well then.”

  “Kule, your hands!” Syl said, but Kule ignored her.

  He reached out with both bandaged hands and wrapped his stiff fingers around the shaft of the Sho-Val. To his credit, he barely grimaced at the pain it caused.

  “You fixed my hands enough for this,” he said and carried the Sho-Val to the arch leading out of the cave. “I’ll wait at the end of the path for fifteen minutes. If you haven’t caught up by then, I’m going ahead without you.”

  He strode out of the room without waiting for an answer.

  “He loved her, didn’t he?” Dena asked quietly from beside Syl. “I never noticed it… he was always acting such a fool.”

  “Since they were old enough to walk,” Rogar said somberly. “He’s always had on his eye on her. Always looked out for her when it counted. Best friends, and probably would’ve been more. Their parents were even talking about marriage after they came of age.”

  “What? I had no idea!” Dena said, eyebrows almost up to her hairline. “What about what’s-his-name? Nak! That was it.”

  “Just flirting to make Kule jealous,” Rogar said with surprising insight. “Leeze knew who she belonged with. That’s why she always wore that pendant. Why she held it for comfort. Kule made it for her when they were children. And Kule… Kule never considered any other options. Only her.”

  “Then we should probably go with him,” Reylo cut in.

  “You can’t…” Syl started, but stopped herself. It wasn’t her place to be so overprotective. “You can’t fall behind,” she amended what she was going to say. “Keep up. You hear me?”

  “Loud and clear,” Reylo said with a big smile.

  “Who else is coming with us?” Syl addressed the crowd around her. They had questions about the Stone, and she’d answer what she could on the road. For now, though, she needed to know how many weapons they could carry.

  The people from Teb’s farm eyed each other with looks of determination.

  “All of us,” one of the women said, and stepped forward, a small baby in her arms. “That… thing… killed my father. Took my home from me. I won’t let it take anything else.”

  “The baby?” Syl asked.

  “Is Teb’s grandson,” the woman said. “And as damn stubborn as his grandfather. When he’s grown, I’ll make sure to tell him how he marched with the rest of us to get justice for the grandpa he never got to meet.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Firon spoke loudly. “Arrows and Sho-Vals, that’s what we need to prioritize. I don’t see anything special about the bows themselves, so we can leave most of those behind.”

  “Most?” one of the men asked.

  “Carry a bow to defend yourself, but no extras,” Firon instructed. “We’ll take as much as we can to the farm and find a wagon there to put it in. But we won’t be coming back,” he went on. “No time for that.”

  They worked quickly to bundle Sho-Vals, stuff quivers full to bursting, and march out of the cave well before Kule’s deadline arrived. They found him sitting on the ward stone to the path, Sho-Val in one hand, the other hand clenched around the pendant at his neck.

  “Took you long enough,” he said. “Let’s go kill that thing.”

  Spark of War (Progression Fantasy) | Royal Road

  Time For Chaos: A Progression Fantasy | Royal Road

  Rune Seeker: A Progression Fantasy litRPG ( Book 6 Running now on RR) | Royal Road