The Elderine Stone (8 page)

The water was cool and did its job well. He felt almost human as he returned to the camp. He took the small travelling cup filled with freshly poured tea that Emily held out to him, and sat by the fire. Sherbit sat close by, his large ears twitching occasionally. It was the first time Jason had seen him clearly. His body was covered in a sort of down. It looked soft, but neither fur nor feather. His ears were the largest part of him. His thin body was like a tiny child’s, with spine and rib bones just visible through the skin due to the hunched position he sat in. A thin tail about the same length as his legs was curled into his lap where he held it in both hands, stroking it gently in what appeared to be a nervous fashion. He had fingers and toes, but Jason couldn’t see if they were clawed; and his small but expressive mouth held tiny teeth, some flat, some pointed. He had wide nostrils that flared every now and then, and his big almond eyes were as dark and deep as a Labrador that
really
wanted a biscuit.

“Perhaps Sherbit will do some talking, if we get him warmed up.” said Emily, as she refilled her cup. “I want to know if it was him following us yesterday, and if it was, why?”

Jason had completely forgotten about the creature that had been watching them. Perhaps it had been Sherbit, perhaps not, but all the same it would be interesting to hear what he had to say.

The forest was definitely less foreboding in the early morning light, though Jason still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to it than just trees. The aura of power that it resonated was as strong as it was when he first entered. It almost had a taste, or at least a texture.

“U-ghuhh.”

“Did you say something, Jason?”

“Eh? No I didn’t. I thought that was you.”

Jason looked at her, but kept his seat, still warming his hands on the fire. Emily looked around, thinking back on her words that the trolls would never come after them, and wondering on the strength of her distraction spell.

The silence surrounded them.

Neither Jason nor Emily thought to look at Sherbit, who had got to his feet and was trying to clear his throat.

“T-t-thank you for… h-h-helping me,” Sherbit stammered.

Jason and Emily looked round at the little creature in shock.

“You can talk!” Jason said, realising as soon as he said it, how ridiculous it sounded.

“Of course I can talk,” Sherbit replied, with a much stronger sounding tone, “and I wanted to say thank you for rescuing me, although I could have done it myself.”

“Are you sure? Those trolls were rather big… and nasty,” Emily said doubtfully, as she made herself more comfortable. Sherbit moved closer to the fire and turned around to face them.

“
Well, I wouldn’t have
been
in that situation, if it wasn’t for you two.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Jason asked

“If you hadn’t chased me, I wouldn’t have been caught!” Sherbit’s face fell, “Oops, erm, no. You never chased me. It wasn’t me.”

He twisted his tail again, and dropped his gaze.

Jason jumped up, startling Sherbit so much that he nearly fell into the fire.

“
So it
was
you watching us! What were you doing? Who sent you?”

Emily had never heard Jason sound so focused and determined. She stood up and spread her hands in a conciliatory gesture.

“Ok, Jason. I’ll take it from here. We don’t want the little fellow anymore frightened than he already is.”

Behind her, Sherbit grinned mischievously at Jason, who looked at him with shock, feeling a cold prickle of unease at the back of his neck. Reluctantly, he sat down. Emily followed suit.

“So Sherbit,” she said with a reassuring smile, “why were you watching us?”

The creature squirmed.

“Erm, well, you see, you were both sitting, near erm, a rock I like to sit on, and I was waiting for you both to leave…” he trailed off with a nervous giggle, and quickly asked a question before Emily or Jason could respond his excuse. ‘So, erm, what brings two young folk like you into the Elderine woods, hai, hai?”

Emily sighed. “We aren’t too sure yet. Jason isn’t from here, you see. He was warped here from another world’

Jason nudged her.

“Emily, don’t tell him anything! He could be a spy, or - or something else that could be bad.”

Emily turned to him with a
yeah, right
, expression that slowly melted from her face as Sherbit’s innocent voice continued.

“I don’t suppose this has anything to do with…” he paused and turned away, coyly, just meeting their gaze and no more, “The Elderine Stone?”

He jumped onto the rock, and showed them a very large grin.

“How did you know that?” Jason asked sharply.

“So much for not telling him anything,” Emily said, and folded her arms, pretending to be in a huff.

Sherbit knelt down on the rock, crawled over to the edge and lowered himself down. “I can tell you what I know of the Stone, and I can tell you where you should go to find more….” He cocked his head, ears twitching, and spoke quickly and furtively, under his breath. “But you will have to take me with you.”

“
What? Why should we?” Jason asked, more uncomfortable than he wanted to admit. There was something not quite right about this creature. Or maybe it was just the forest playing havoc with his nerves. Or lack of sleep.
“Who knows?”
he thought.
“Who knows when anything will ever make sense to me again?”

“Jason, you can be very cruel at times, do you know that?” Emily said jokingly. “Poor Sherbit must have been through a lot. From what I know imps don’t tend to go off by themselves. He could be lost.” She paused. “I think we should keep him.”

“
Keep
him,” Sherbit repeated with a frown.

“Oh,” Emily giggled, “I mean that you can come along with us.” She smiled, and then giggled again.

“What about the Elderine Stone? Tell us what you know about it.” Jason demanded. Emily frowned. Jason was definitely wound up tighter than usual. She sighed dramatically and pulled a serious face, hoping to at least get a smile.

“It’s a long story. Not too happy for me,” Sherbit began, “Miss Emily is right, we imps do normally stay together, but one day, oh it was terrible!” He began to wail uncontrollably.

“It’s ok, Sherbit. Tell us what happened,” Emily said, trying to calm him down. As if by magic Sherbit stopped crying, and gave her a fawning look. Jason watched him suspiciously.

“Well, one day, the slave traders, they came to our enclave. They start picking us up one by one! Not many of us managed to escape their evil traps. I was unlucky. I was running and running and then swoop! I was caught. All I remember is black, until I woke up one day in a cage. I was frightened, and confused.”

“And the Elderine Stone?” interrupted Jason.

“I’m getting to it! I sat in the cage for a few days, but nothing happened. Then one day a lady came. She had a soft, gentle voice, but something seemed strange about her. Very strange. She picked me, and a few others, and we set off to the north. I don’t know how long we travelled. It seemed to be days. We couldn’t see where we were going as she had thrown a cloak over our cages. Then we stopped. The air was cold, and I could hear strange noises. Something came close to us and lifted the cloak. I saw the lady walk towards a large ruin with a tall tower. There were mountains all around. We were lifted up. I couldn’t see what was carrying us. We were carried up to the ruins and placed on pedestals around a big room. In the centre there was another pedestal. It had a blue stone sitting on top of it.” Sherbit stopped. His large eyes filled with tears.

“That sounds like the stone I touched back home!” Jason said with a touch of excitement in his voice.

“
It certainly sounds suspicious. Do you think that that Lady was
you know who
?” she dropped her voice to a whisper and added “The Dark Lady?” She turned to the imp. “Sherbit, was she?”

“Hmm, hmm, I think so,” Sherbit replied, rather nervously.

“
I knew it! He’s a spy!” Jason shouted, jumping to his feet. “I
knew
we shouldn’t have told him anything!”

“No, Master Jason! I’m not a spy! The Dark Lady, she did terrible things! She was always transforming her slaves into horrible beasts with her magical powers. The pillars drew our energy into her spells – so cruel, so cruel! When my turn came I managed to escape somehow, and I tried to get as far away as possible! Then I meet you two, and I’m safe.” Sherbit looked exhausted, but relieved to have told his tale. He breathed a sigh of relief, and loosened his grip on his tail, letting it twitch a little in his hands. His ears stopped quivering, and drooped.

Jason had been thinking hard.

“Sherbit,” he said slowly, “Do you know how to get back there?”

He was sure he already knew the answer, but wanted to see Sherbit’s reaction, perhaps glean some sort of clue as to where his loyalties lay.

“No, Master, I don’t.” He said, resuming the grip on his tail. “Please don’t say you want to go there. It’s a terrible place.”

“We have to go there, Sherbit,” Emily said gently. “We need to stop the Dark Lady.” The pride in her voice was unmistakable. “But, we need to know where the ruins are, and how to get there.”

Sherbit scuffed his heels a little, and looked up at her with his most innocent expression.

“You could always go to Haspar,” he hinted.

“
Of course! The Great Library! Now why didn’t I think of that? We could find out about the Order of Elderine
and
how to get to the Dark Lady’s lair. We may even get to see the King and Queen.”

“The King and Queen?” Jason asked, incredulously.

Emily nodded excitedly.

“Yes! They’re supposed to be the only living descendants of the Order of the Elderine. I can’t believe I didn’t think if that before!”

She stood up decisively, and started to kick dirt over the fire, handing the pot and cups to Jason as she did.

“Right Jason, you rinse those in the pool, fill the waterskins and bring them back here. I’ll cover the signs of the camp.”

Before long, they were packed up and the camp was as clear. Emily picked up her staff, and took the lead, Sherbit keeping close behind her.

“We have a long way to walk, but as soon as we get out of this forest we should be able to see Haspar. Then it’s only a matter of getting to the path, and following it. Is everyone ready? Let’s go.”

The day was spent walking through the brooding forest. They must have started out even earlier than Jason had thought, as the trees started to thin out while the sun was still high overhead. The heaviness of the wood lifted as they came towards the end of it, and it seemed to Jason that they made better time because of it, their hearts and footsteps growing lighter as they walked. Sherbit capered and sang and swung on nearby branches making them both laugh. Emily was glad to see that Jason’s earlier tension and suspicion had gone, and their conversation turned to brighter and happier things. Finally, they stood at the edge of the forest on a large slope that wasn’t too high or awkward to descend, but offered up the whole breathtaking panorama of the land. Jason had never felt so relieved to see open space. True to Emily’s words, they could see a vague image of what looked like a town to the south. It was further than Jason had hoped, but they could make it before dark if they put their minds to it.

Sherbit took a quick glance north and suddenly hid behind Emily’s leg.

“What is it, Sherbit?” Jason asked.

The creature raised a trembling arm and pointed.

“The Mingus Mountains” Emily explained. “That’s where we’ll be heading, when we find out more.”

Sherbit looked up at Jason with a look demanding only sympathy.

“It’s okay, Sherbit. We won’t let anything happen to you.” Jason smiled at him, and turned to head down the slope.

Slowly they made their way down and headed for a path that lay a few metres away.

As they joined it, they saw a signpost that proclaimed: “Haspar Walking Distance: 1 Day.”

“Well, I guess we best start walking.” Jason said with a wry smile, and they headed south, the Mingus Mountains a dark sentinel behind them.

It seemed like they'd been walking for forever, but Jason could tell by looking at the sun that it had only been a few hours. The trees of the Elderine Forest were now distant, but at least they knew they were heading in the right direction.

The day was warm and pleasant, with clear skies that stretched out above them, making the walk was more enjoyable than they had expected. Sherbit led the way, walking slightly in front of Jason and Emily. Every now and then, Sherbit would stop for a moment and look at something intently, flowers, stones, or random bits and bobs lying on the ground. When the other two caught up with him, he would stop his speculative stares and rush ahead again. It was almost as if he was marking his way; laying a secret path, in case he got lost.