The Twelve Stones (36 page)

The
O
ld
M
an
smiled once again and indicated she should sit down.

“
I'm not God, but I am one of the good guys.”

Siobhan paused, hesitating before she returned to the table.

“Then what are you?”

The
O
ld
M
an
withdrew a pipe from his pocket and
lit it by conjuring a small flame from his pointer finger.
H
e
puffed a few times, staring at the small girl, as if figuring out exactly what to say.

“
I’m something special, just like you,” he began softly
.
“
J
ust like every person on this planet is something special.”

He turned and snapped his fingers. The wall behind him changed from a garishly decorated castle to a solid blank wall. He rose from his chair and began waving his arms, using only his fingers to paint a picture on the wall, until he had a set of concentric circles with a large sphere in the middle. Off to the side, he painted twelve dots in the vague shape of a man.

The Old Man pointed at the sphere in the middle of the circle. “This is your sun, rising in the east, setting in the west.” He pointed to the third concentric circle on the wall, “This is the path your planet takes around your sun, and has for several billion…” he paused as he realized his audience, “well, for a very
,
very long time.”

Siobhan pointed to the twelve dots off to the side of the picture. “What are those?”

“
They
,
my dear, are stars that appear in the winter sky. They call these pictures where I come from
‘
constellations.
’
Do you recognize this one
?” The Old Man smiled at his young pupil as she tried to think of the answer.

“
It looks like The Hunter
,
” Siobhan replied, her voice sounding uncertain.

“
You know your stars
,
”
t
he Old Man proudly replied.

“
My brother is a sailor, and when he's home, he teaches me things about the sky, how he navigates the seas using only the stars. He says if you know all their names and stories, they’ll never let you down or steer you wrong
,
” Siobhan said, her voice losing strength as she thought about the awful dream she had woken up from.

“
He’s quite right
,
you know.” The man smiled and offered his hand to the little girl, beckoning her closer to the picture on the wall.

“
Hold my hand,” the Old Man whispered
.
Siobhan hesitated at first,
staring at his ancient, wrinkled hand,
unsure of what
the man
wanted from her.

“
It’s all right
,
”
t
he Old Man said softly, “you’ll be safe with me.”

She extended her hand, and he grasped it firmly and stepped through the wall, dragging Siobhan with him.

Suddenly
,
she was floating. And then there were stars. Everywhere.

The stars filled her vision
with beauty
. The Old Man was there next to her
,
floating, with an enormous grin on his face as he watched her take in the
majesty
of the universe.

It was almost too much for a simple Irish girl who’d never been farther than a few miles away from the village she was born in. She looked around and felt every emotion possible. Love of her family and brother, hat
red
of the English who had killed them all, compassion for the lost children in the world, all of it filled her with an overwhelming urge to sob.

The Old Man drew nearer to her and pointed to a star. The star shimmered and grew in size
—
at least that’s what Siobhan thought was happening at first, but she soon realized that they were moving, flying towards the distant star incredibly fast. Siobhan watched as the stars around her turned into long lines
,
streaking
by
with astounding colors and patterns. As the star grew closer, the Old Man and Siobhan slowed their approach.

The star was massive, and as they approached, Siobhan could see that there was something wrong.
She pointed and said so to the Old Man.

“
Siobhan, this star is why I’ve brought you here today. Do you understand what destiny is?”

“
You mean like when God has a plan for you?”
s
he asked, hesitant.

“
Yes. And there is a plan for you, and this is only your first step on that journey. You are here to help some of my friends save the world. Would you like to do that?”
t
he Old Man asked.

“
Save the world from what?” Siobhan asked, not understanding.

“
Watch.” He extended his arm, and the star began to shake, growing in size, and then collapsing suddenly, growing again
,
and collapsing further in still. She could tell something incredible was about to happen.

The star shook and rumbled, and suddenly there was a light like nothing else Siobhan had seen before. It was incredibly bright, washing out everything else around her so that there was nothing but pure energy.

Then the explosion started.

It looked almost as if the star was blowing an enormous bubble out of its top at first. It grew larger and larger until Siobhan thought it couldn’t get any bigger. It bubbled furiously until finally exploding
,
destroying the planets
that sat in its orbit
. A vast and powerful beam of energy shot up out of the top of the
star’s
pole and extended out far into space.

The Old Man waved, motioning Siobhan to follow him. As she did, she noticed they were now racing alongside the powerful energy beam released by the giant star. Faster and faster, they moved through the universe
,
until ahead, she could see another tiny star growing bi
gger. Around that star were eight
planets, the third closest resembling a tiny blue marble.

The Old Man and Siobhan raced to the planet, until the Old Man stopped them and they watched energy beam crash into the planet’s atmosphere.

The reaction was instantaneous. Huge clouds of reddish brown smoke began to cover the world, erasing the beautiful blue marble,
churning it into
a muddy brown mess. They watched as the planet slowly died in front of them, the songs and music she
had
heard from the planet fading away.

Siobhan found herself crying, as they watched
the delicate and
beautiful sphere
be d
estroyed in a matter of moments
.

The Old Man looked at her tears and softly said, “That’s enough of that.” He clapped his hands, and suddenly
,
they found themselves back in the lavish banquet hall.

Siobhan, still crying, screamed at the Old Man. “Why did you show me that? What could I possibly do?”

The Old Man waited as she cried herself out before answering her question.

“
There are times in life when you are called upon to do a great service.”

“
Why me?” She stammered, “I’m nothing…”

The Old Man shook his head
.
“That’s the whole problem with people
.
I
t's
so easy to convince yoursel
ves
you can't do anything.”

“
I’m not old enough!”
s
he
cried.

“
You will be by the time this happens
,
”
t
he
Old Man replied evenly. He opened his coat and withdrew a small circular stone, with eleven different stones embedded on the top. Withdrawing a purple stone, he gazed at it
with some regret
before addressing the little girl
in front of him
.

“
You are the second human to ever receive a Stone.
And you
will need
this
someday to help save the planet, but not for a very long time.”

“
How long?”
s
he
asked
.
H
er
curiosity was beginning to override her emotional state.

“
Four, maybe five hundred years
,
”
h
e
replied offhandedly. “But not to worry
;
you'll be around long enough to help. So long as you stick close to this stone, you will live longer
and experience more of what life has to offer
than any human being has
.
D
o
you understand?”

She stared at the purple stone, long and thin, with a slight curve, resembling the claw from some fierce animal.

“
This stone will give you powers unlike anything you’ve ever experienced
.
Y
ou
can use them as you see fit over the next four hundred years, but
do try your best to
stay out of the way
of history
. Keep to yourself, and enjoy the life this will provide you.”

The Old Man extended a crooked finger and beckoned the child closer to him. She approached him timidly, wondering if she could trust the Old Man and his story.

“
What does it do?”
s
he asked quietly.

The Old Man smiled
.
“Whatever you wish it to, but once you’ve chosen its power, you cannot change it, and so whatever you decide it is
,
that’s what it will be
.
U
se this choice wisely.”

“
Like a wish.” She stated matter
-
of
-
fact
ly
.

“
Exactly like a wish
,
”
h
e
replied
,
nodding. “Take the stone
,
dear Siobhan, and enjoy life as fully as you possibly can.”

“
If it's a wish, can I use it to bring my brother back?” she asked quietly.

The Old Man's face fell as he shook his head. “It doesn't work that way
,
unfortunately. What I can tell you is
:
you'll never want for company ever again after this.”

Siobhan swallowed, extended her hand, and took the stone from the Old Man.

The second she did, the banquet hall and the Old Man disappeared from sight. Suddenly, she was alone in the damp, dark cave once again.

She moved back towards the front of the cave and the crack that led towards fresh air once again. Siobhan didn’t know how long she had been away, but somehow, she knew it was much longer than the few minutes it had taken to chat with the Old Man.

Making her way back up to the crack in the cave wall, she slid back through the opening, and found herself in the outer chamber once again. Her brother had still not returned. Feeling emboldened after her brush with death and the mysterious Old Man, she decided to go after her brother and hopefully find out what happened to him.

Wading through the dark pool of sea water, she exited the cave and found herself out in the cool Irish
nighttime
air.

Walking back towards the village and English encampment they had passed earlier in the day, Siobhan crested a hill
.
From there, she could see a large campfire down in the valley
. There was a large commotion near the fire
,
as several men were
being
pushed
headfirst toward
the
flames
, thei
r hands restrained by
English soldiers.

She moved closer to the camp, and when finally close enough
,
was shocked to see
that
her brother
w
as one of the men tied up and tortured. Seamus’ screams and pleas for mercy only attracted more ridicule and laughter from the soldiers, and one pushed Seamus’ head
further
into the fire pit, removing it only a few seconds later.