An Empire of Stones Read online

  The stones.

  “We’ve found the lock, haven’t we?” I asked Tejus quietly.

  “I think so.”

  He reached out, locating two grooves where stones were clearly missing from the formation.

  “Two missing,” he said softly.

  “How many stones do you think need to be removed until it’s unlocked, all of them?”

  “I’m not sure. I suppose there’s no way of knowing, perhaps until it’s too late.” He removed his fingers from the grooves and started to run his hands along the top and sides of the granite wall. There was no alternate pathway that Benedict could have taken—somehow he must have passed through the wall.

  “Can we open it?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so.” Tejus heaved against it, but the wall didn’t even shudder at the force. It appeared to be held tight.

  “I think I heard it move,” I continued, “when Benedict disappeared. There was a slam—the sound of stone moving…there must be a way to get it open.”

  “I heard it too,” Tejus replied, “but I imagine it’s under control of the entity. I’ll send the ministers in to see if they can be of more help… but I’m afraid we’re blocked off.”

  “There must be a way,” I insisted, squeezing past his body to get closer to the stones. I fumbled around the edges of the wall, seeing if there were any small cracks or an indication of how it might have opened that Tejus had missed. I found nothing.

  “We can’t be blocked off,” I said. “Benedict got through here—it will open somehow.”

  “Benedict is under the control of the entity, Hazel. Clearly it wants him to travel freely through the passageway, but we are definitely blocked off.”

  I thumped the wall in frustration. The stones continued to glimmer and sparkle. I irrationally felt like they were teasing me, like stupid little pixies laughing at our efforts to get past.

  “We need to head back.” Tejus’ breath was cool on the back of my neck, and I was suddenly aware of our physical closeness. Under any other circumstances it would have felt claustrophobic, but with Tejus in such close proximity I felt my stomach churn and flutter.

  Really inappropriate, Hazel, I scolded myself.

  Suddenly I was more inclined to move back out of the passageway.

  “You go first,” I muttered, too shy to squeeze past him again. Tejus started to walk back the way we’d come, and I dutifully followed, looking back at the stones every now and then, still a little entranced by their beauty.

  “The stone from the Hellswan sword,” I said. “I think it was one of those—the size was about right. It just didn’t glow as brightly.”

  “I agree. It confirms the theory that my father removed one of them to assist Jenus in the trials,” Tejus replied, and then muttered an expletive under his breath that I doubted was for my hearing.

  The way back felt shorter, and it seemed that we were stepping out into the hallway in nearly half the time. Most of the humans had gone back to their quarters, but Yelena stood opposite the passage with her back against the wall, avoiding making eye contact with the ministers.

  “What happened?” she asked, wide-eyed.

  “He’s gone. We can’t follow—there’s a wall blocking the way that Benedict must have been able to pass through,” I replied. Turning back to Tejus, I prepared myself for another argument.

  “We need to go out and look for him outside the castle,” I insisted.

  Tejus crossed his arms and glared down at me.

  “Absolutely not. It’s the middle of the night. We’re better off looking for him in the morning.”

  “But that’s my point!” I said. “It’s the middle of the night—he’s going to be somewhere on his own, in the dark…he’s going to be so afraid.”

  Tejus sighed. “He’s done this before—he’s been doing this for a while now.” He glanced over at Yelena, who nodded miserably. “He’ll be fine for one evening. We’ll go out at daybreak tomorrow, I promise.”

  In his eyes I read a warning. There would be no persuading him this time. I looked around at the ministers, staring at us as I pleaded with their king.

  “The morning, then,” I relented.

  I received a nod from Tejus, and an intense look that I couldn’t quite understand—gratitude, perhaps?

  “Lithan, Qentos,” Tejus barked at his ministers, “inspect the wall—see if there’s any way we can open it. I am escorting Hazel to my quarters, and will rejoin you shortly.”

  The ministers started shuffling toward the passageway, and I took Yelena’s hand.

  “We should take her back first,” I murmured to Tejus. She looked exhausted and red-eyed, the events of tonight having been way too much for her to handle—more than any of us could handle…except perhaps Tejus, who looked as determined and inscrutable as he always did.

  We walked past the emperor’s room, and then on the opposite wall, the writing that Benedict had created with his own blood.

  “To follow me is death. But I shall come. I shall come back to claim you.”

  It had been a message directed at Yelena, but I supposed it had meaning for us all. Tejus had said that we didn’t understand the plans of the entity, but to me, this made it clear. My fear for Benedict was overwhelming, weighing on me till I thought it would crush the breath from my body, but it was accompanied with a fear for us all. I didn’t like the ministers, and I didn’t respect them, but they—and the guards, the rest of the sentries in Nevertide and all the human children under the castle’s protection—were in grave danger.

  I worried about Tejus too.

  He might have seemed unbreakable to me most of the time—the man, or creature, who would protect me with his own life in a heartbeat. But the more we saw of the entity’s power, the more fallible and human Tejus became in my eyes. And the more I loved him for it.

  “Will you take me with you tomorrow?” Yelena asked as we reached her door.

  “No,” I replied firmly. “It’s too dangerous. I need you to stay here and look after the rest of the kids with Jenney, okay?”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  She turned to open the door, but then paused.

  “Will he be back for me tonight?” she asked, her voice hitching in fear as she began to tremble in front of the door.

  “No!” I exclaimed, pulling her back round to face me. I pushed her hair back from her face and gazed solemnly down at her. “You’re going to be safe here. Tejus will put guards and ministers outside the door. Benedict’s after the stones, not you.”

  What am I saying?

  In what crazy world was my brother a figure of fear for a young girl? I felt sick.

  “I know it’s not him,” she replied softly.

  I nodded, unable to speak for a moment. Yelena flung her arms around me fiercely.

  “We’ll find him tomorrow,” I reassured her. “We’ll bring him back.”

  “I know,” she whispered against my hair, before untangling herself from the embrace and slipping back into her quarters.

  “We will find him, right?” I asked Tejus, watching the closing door.

  “We’ll try.”

  “Just lie to me, okay?” I retorted through gritted teeth.

  “We’ll find him and he’ll be fine,” Tejus lied softly.

  Ben

  The morning after his unexpected visit, Sherus had requested that my father and I join him for a meeting that was taking place in the fae kingdom. We were standing at the peak of Mount Logan, Canada. Mona had transported us here from The Shade and stood a few paces back from the two of us, staring down into the starry, swirling blackness of the portal. My father looked out over the mountain range and the cloud mists that hung miles below us. We were both wearing black GASP uniforms, and our figures stood out starkly against the white snow. The mountain brought back memories that I would rather forget—the tasks that I’d had to accomplish to earn my ticket out of The Underworld. The uncertainty that River and I had faced when we’d believed I
might never return to her in physical form. It was fair to say that my feelings toward Sherus were complicated.

  “I wonder how long we’ll need to—”

  Before my father could finish his sentence, Sherus stepped out of the portal and onto the snow. He was accompanied by two other fae, who I suspected were guards—heavily armed, with their expressionless gazes fixed on the three of us.

  “Thank you for coming.” Sherus bowed his head politely.

  My father nodded, a touch stiff, but not unmannered.

  Sherus’s eyes flicked to Mona.

  “Our guards will escort Benjamin and Derek the rest of the way. Your services are no longer required.”

  Mona nodded stiffly. “Call me when you need to return,” she muttered to my father and me. After casting one last suspicious look at the fae, she vanished.

  With Mona gone, we were alone with these fae, and the idea made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

  My father stepped closer to the portal.

  “I will lead,” Sherus asserted, and gently lowered himself down into the crater. Feeling the suction, my father grabbed hold of my shoulders to stop himself from hurtling downward—since I could fly as a fae, I could resist the pull. We followed Sherus gradually, with the guards floating down behind us. I looked at the translucent, bluish smoky walls of the portal that surrounded us, and resisted the urge to touch them until it was required. It had been a long time since I’d passed through them.

  We followed Sherus down a few feet further, and then he stopped.

  “Here,” he commanded, and pushed himself right through the swirling walls.

  I did the same, still supporting my father, and soon we were hovering in the silent vacuum of the In-Between.

  “Behold the empire of the fae,” Sherus said softly, pointing up at four globes that created a gentle arc in the black sky. Each glowed softly: white for the air kingdom, blue for the water kingdom, golden-brown for the earth kingdom, and a red hue that marked where we would be headed—the kingdom of fire.

  “It has been a long time since we have entertained guests,” he continued, eyeing us. “But it is now a must.”

  We drifted from the tunnel, moving closer to the fae kingdom. I recalled the time I had come here as a spirit, how frightening it had seemed, leaving the tunnel and drifting out into the great abyss. Even now, with my father with me and the fae as our escorts, I didn’t want to look back and see the reassuring form of the tunnel disappearing from view.

  Our journey took a while, though it might have seemed longer because of the lack of landmarks and the oppressive, unrelenting silence of this strange in-between world. I heaved a sigh of relief when we eventually entered the atmosphere of the fire kingdom. We were all cast in a warm, red glow that blinded us for a few moments as we passed through, and looking down I could see a bustling city, with a large palace rising up to meet us.

  We landed lightly in the palace gardens.

  “That was something,” my father muttered, and I nodded in agreement.

  Sherus didn’t stop, but moved forward in the direction of the palace, expecting us to follow. I glanced around at a vast lawn with multiple pathways, winding their way through red-leaved trees and small, decorative rockeries of ruby, carnelian and dark ochre topaz. As we moved closer to the impressively large doors, the pathway widened and six fountains marked the final trajectory—three on either side of us. Their heat was immense, and I realized that instead of water emerging from the fountains, huge bursts of brilliant white flame leapt up into the air. I must have stopped and gaped, because Sherus glanced back at me and then turned toward the fountains.

  “It was a trick my father learned from the jinn. They can actually create ice fires—this is merely a replica, a trick of the eye.”

  I nodded, impressed. I’d never seen a jinni create an ice fire, and I wondered how Sherus’s father had ever found that out. The jinn and fae weren’t exactly close—even after Cyrus Drizan’s death so many years ago, the jinn of The Dunes were nobody’s allies.

  Sherus continued leading us forward. The vast doors opened, their gleaming steel exterior reflecting the fires back to us so it looked as if we were entering some huge white inferno. Inside, the palace was just as impressive. The structure was created from the same polished steel as the doors, but every piece of furnishing, ornament and tile seemed to be created from the same semi-precious stones I’d seen in the garden. It was beautiful indeed, but overwhelming—and I couldn’t imagine living in a place where everything was constantly tainted with a soft, red-golden glow. It brought a whole new meaning to ‘rose-tinted glasses.’

  We were escorted through the palace, and, after ascending a grand staircase, we stopped in front of another large set of doors.

  “This is the council chamber,” Sherus announced. “I have called the rulers of the three other kingdoms to meet here today, to discuss my…premonition.” He frowned, clearly deliberating about what he was about to say next. “The other rulers don’t take too kindly to outsiders.” He looked at me and grimaced. “Even if one is in the form of a fae. Be warned—things may get a little unpleasant.”

  My father and I exchanged a glance, our brows raised. We knew well enough already that the fae tended to keep to themselves, but Sherus’s warning didn’t exactly make us feel welcome.

  Sherus nodded to the guards, and they opened the doors. Sherus led the way through, and we entered a large, airy chamber. In the middle of the floor was a huge pit of fire, and around it stood three other fae kings, each dressed in robes that matched the colors of their element kingdoms.

  Sherus went to stand at the head of the fire pit, with my father and I following.

  “Brothers.” Sherus bowed to the waiting men. “May I present Derek and Benjamin Novak of The Shade.”

  The rulers nodded politely in our direction, but their expressions were stern and just as unwelcoming as Sherus had warned they might be.

  “What is the meaning of this meeting, Sherus?” one of them asked in a clipped tone. “You spoke of danger, but I see none—and I hear of less. My council suspects a fools’ meeting, but I am giving you the benefit of the doubt.”

  I expected Sherus to reply in anger, but his expression remained calm and he addressed the king in a measured tone.

  “Patience, Sahaero. I bring you here to tell you what is writ in the stars. Lately I see bad omens everywhere I look, and I can’t shake the feeling that something is coming—something that will tear kingdoms apart.”

  The kings were silent for a few moments, some looking down into the pit of fire, and some gazing at Sherus with barely concealed irritation.

  “You are not the only star-gazer here, Sherus,” another king remarked. “My people have seen nothing, and neither have I.”

  Sherus slowly shook his head.

  “I have seen it—there is something erupting in another dimension. Something that needs to be stopped before it is too late.”

  The fae might not have believed Sherus, but his words sent icy shivers down my spine. I didn’t know if there was any truth behind his words, but I did know that he believed it, and that kind of conviction was hard to ignore.

  “The delusions of paranoia,” Sahaero muttered. His robes were white, and I assumed he was the ruler of the air kingdom.

  “Sahaero,” another king interrupted. “Peace! I want to hear what Sherus has to say—and why he has brought outsiders to our meeting.” The king glared at us both, but his outburst silenced Sahaero.

  “Ierde,” Sherus addressed the green-robed king, “I want the Novaks to assist us in trying to understand what exactly this threat is. My knowledge is limited—I only know what I feel and what I see in the stars. The Novaks and their army have a great reputation on Earth and in the supernatural dimension for achieving the impossible, bringing peace where others wish bloodshed.”

  “We have never aligned ourselves with outsiders,” Ierde replied, and Sahaero nodded in agreement.

  “For good reason,”
Sherus agreed. “Until now. I believe our isolation policy will do us no favors here. We are about to confront a great threat, and I do not know for sure that we alone have the power to stop it.”

  More silence ensued, and I risked a glance at my father, who looked faintly skeptical.

  Eventually the last king spoke up.

  “We have heard you, Sherus,” he said. “We need time to think on what has been said. You ask a great deal of us—a great deal of trust. Let us reconvene at another date, and we will determine how we should proceed.”

  The kings bowed their heads, and Sherus sighed.

  “Let it not be too long,” he replied quietly.

  While the kings remained with their heads bowed, Sherus nodded toward the door. It opened and a guard appeared, waiting for us. My father and I left the silent kings, and stepped out into the hallway. A few moments later we were joined by Sherus, and to my surprise, he was smiling.

  “All things considered, that did not go badly,” he informed us as we descended the staircase.

  What?

  Sherus smirked at my expression.

  “The fae are different, Benjamin. We tend to take our time on decisions—rarely acting rashly.”

  Like making an impossible deal with ghouls? Oh, please.

  “Think what you like of us,” he continued, “and of my warnings. But I tell you that there is danger coming, and your Earth will not be immune. With or without the support of the kings I intend to fight this—but I do wish for your help to discover what it is we will be up against. Will you help me?”

  My father, still frowning, looked at me before nodding to the fae.

  “We will help you, Sherus,” he replied.

  Hazel

  As promised, at the crack of dawn, Tejus knocked on the door to my bedroom. I was already bathed and dressed, and though I’d only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before, I felt clear-headed and was absolutely convinced that we would find Benedict today and bring him back. I would do whatever it took.