The Stone Of Prophecy

mud and shadow. Neither spoke for a long time. Behind them, the cracked monolith

g from chimneys, the scent of woodsmoke and wet earth thick in the air. It looked unchanged, untouc

d path turned to gravel. Lira turne

l anyone," she

Why not? They

he vision, all of it. And worse... the Council has eyes

uld the

"It unravels things. Destinies. Power. The

n his stomach. "What am I suppo

all, leather bound book into his

s worn and old, its cover etched with faded

is t

the last who studied the old prophecies. She believed t

y to

Kingdoms," Lira said. "An

lanted and looping, the ink faded in places. Symbols an

bout the sto

d. Said it only awakened for the one

stars above the ruins doubled. I saw it. I

ur sign," sh

. The wind had calmed, but

o I go?"

ed temple in the Vale of Vireth. My grandmother said it held the firs

Vale of Vireth is

kno

he village. The warm lights o

ome with me

't. If I disappear, the Council will suspect somet

ly. "Then I'll lea

h above the village, through the break in the clouds, a faint sh

nt, the stars above realigned into a symbol he re

k of th

teps. Not fear though that lingered but a purpose. A thre

Lira's journal. No farewells. Only silence and mist as he slipped through the trees

rn cliffs, the fog lifted. Birds crie

tones, each marked with a single rune. He checked th

ween the Stones of Wakin

t split the clouds and fell across the trail ahead. Trees that once seemed tangled now

smiled

th had

the ground. He built a small fire beneath an overhang of rock, the journal in hi

. Beyond it. Truths no eye can bear. And yet, they must endure.

words long afte

im not from the cold,

rt of night, Kael

spe

t beyond the overhang was

hispers c

n the

is m

llo

ee

ake

ght of the moon fell upon a shallow pool nearb

ched, the su

igure a

red, it raised a hand toward him

reach

, a single stone sat in the grass at the pool's edge small, smooth,

ymbol from

ched it

lim

si

t a distant co

d a s

rect

egun to glow