Mountain of Stars

By Mir Foote

Deserted on an alien planet, chased by pirates, haunted by a prophesy, and left on the doorstep of a mountain with no doors. The Chronicles of Evrion continues when Jinx and his friends face a mountain. In the mountain is a spaceship, their salvation, and, at the center of it all, a Tree. They just want to find the spaceship and go home. But is home really where they need to be?

"When the stars line up, the ten must join, or face the doom of all the worlds."

With new friends and an old enemy, are they the ones to fulfill the prophesy and save the universe? Time is slipping away, faster for one than the others. Forget going home, they just want to survive to the end of the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mir Foote
• Release date: Nov 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311791801

Mir Foote

Mir Foote grew up in the country, in a small community called Whitehawk. There she had the woods for her playground, dirt roads for her adventures, and an entire wilderness for inspiration. She was lulled to sleep at night by the sound of drums and coyote calls. By day, she explored.Now, the world is her playground. She spent a year of school in France and another month in Prague. She taught English for a year in South Korea. She has walked on the Great Wall of China, scaled Reichenbach Falls where Sherlock Holmes nearly met his match, and stood in the ruins of Pompeii.Mir Foote is a world traveler, an amateur linguist, and lover of the written word. Currently, she is looking into the far reaches of the past and future, exploring new stories, and working on her next book.

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Mountain of Stars

Book 3 of 7 within the Chronicles of Evrion

By Mir Foote

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 9781311791801

©2012 by MIR Foote

All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

For Liam.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: On the Doorstep

Chapter 2: Moss Gathering

Chapter 3: Gouge

Chapter 4: Jewel of Change

Chapter 5: Tomb of R’binsn

Chapter 6: Doorways

Chapter 7: Strength of Arm

Chapter 8: The Tree

Chapter 9: The Heart

Chapter 10: Kea

Bonus Excerpt: Pirate Perdita

About the Author

Prologue

El’ris and Eiva were nervous. The two children stood at the center of a circle, surrounded by a high priest from each of the ten orders, and then beyond them by the council of elders and representatives from the Mountain Evraia and nearby villages. Eiva faced east, towards the Mountain and the rising sun. El’ris stood with his back to hers, facing the pyramid and the setting sun. Between them they were able to look at everyone in the circle and everyone was able to look at them.

Nobody spoke yet. The priests sat within their ceremonial chairs at each of the ten points, and the elders sat within raised seats wherever they liked beyond them. Everyone else stood. They were beginning with a meditative silence. This was proper. The children’s teacher had told them this meant that everyone took the time to clear their thoughts and organize their minds within the meeting, and, he had added, to give the latecomers a chance to slip in without drawing attention to themselves.

So everyone meditated while Eiva and El’ris stood at the center, back to back. Eiva hated the waiting. This was her first time to ever attend a Gathering, as she was only a disciple, and she didn’t like being in the center. It was El’ris’s first time too, but when they had been told of the Gathering he had been excited more than nervous. Now, however, Eiva could feel him shifting against her back. They waited. Finally, the priest of the order of Vaia stood up from his chair.

He did not begin the meeting at once. He began with the chant of awakening, to call people back from the silence. Then, together, they all sang the song to All. Eiva began to relax as they sang. She knew that song, and she began to feel that she knew what she was doing there. Then they sang to Vaia, the Gatherer and Guide, because it was a Gathering, and only then did the meeting truly begin.

I am a Priest to Vaia, the priest announced in a loud, clear voice that projected throughout the temple, I have called upon all the Orders to gather, as is my right, that we may discuss an occurrence important to us all within Evrion.

We have come, answered the other nine priests, Tell us this occurrence of importance. We listen.

I see that you have come. I see that you listen. Now I will speak. But the priest didn’t, at least not at once. This was expected.

I follow the path of Vaia, the priest said, after the moment of complete silence, "Within my order, there are many disciples. Some may follow this path to its end, and join me. Others may turn aside, to other paths. This is as it is. All water finds the Sea by its own way.

Among these disciples are two who are very young. I name Eiva, disciple to Vaia of the people of Evrion, and El’ris, disciple to Vaia of the people of Evrion. El’ris and Eiva have seen a vision that is important to us all.

Again the priest was silent. Someone beyond the circle coughed, in a muffled sort of way, and then the priest continued.

These two young ones have seen, with their open eyes, Visitors of a different place, walking as spirits within our city. I now ask Eiva and El’ris to speak.

All eyes were on the children. All present had heard, at least in rumor, what had passed, but this was the first time for most of them to hear the full story. If they were surprised by the priest of Vaia’s announcement, they did not let it show. Eiva knew it was their turn to speak, but for a moment she didn’t know how to begin. The silence was very strong, and she felt almost afraid to break it. A short silence was to be expected, though, and so it was all right. Then El’ris spoke first, more carefully than usual to make sure he spoke correctly.

The priest of Vaia calls upon me to speak. I am El’ris, disciple to Vaia, of the people of Evrion. Then he nudged Eiva.

The priest of Vaia calls upon me to speak, Eiva said carefully, trying not to tremble, I am El’ris… And then she stumbled. She had been copying El’ris too closely. She felt her face heating up. No one laughed, though, not even El’ris, and she swallowed and tried again. I am Eiva, disciple to Vaia, of the people of Evrion. El’ris immediately started again, his young voice strong and confident.

I, El’ris, was in the Dance of the Stars, in the Temple of Vaia, he said, And I saw, with my waking eyes, a vision. There sat at the center of the temple two children, of a stranger’s appearance, who looked at me as well. Then they vanished. These were the words they had rehearsed. Eiva found her voice again, sharing her part.

I, Eiva, also saw this. A girl and a boy at the center of the temple as we danced. And this I thought strange, and perhaps but a dream, and we spoke of it not. But that is not the final time we saw these children.

The day after the dance, as we walked near the temple, we saw again these two children, now standing at the edge of the temple, El’ris continued the story. Eiva frowned, nervous again. He was rushing the telling and leaving out many points of formality, but she let him speak on anyway.

They spoke to us, and named themselves Jinx and Emma, and we thought they must be spirits, though they claimed to be only children as ourselves. We thought it wise to bring them to the priests, and they followed us to the House of Vaia, and to the presence of the priests of our order.

I saw these disciples enter, the high priest spoke suddenly, But I did not see these children who entered with them. Not with my waking eyes, though I knew their presence and could speak with them. They had about them the black glow of the Jewel of Remembering, and I soon knew them to be R’binsn, the Explorer, and Meiwa, the Poet, though they used not these names. We asked of them questions, though they did not understand our ways, and learned that they travel with companions, though how many and who they might be was not revealed at this time, for they were called back into Waking and left our place.

Then the priest was silent, and the children paused, wondering if they should continue now. When the priest continued to say nothing, El’ris decided they could speak.

We saw these children with our waking eyes, he said, And we saw them vanish. We believed them to be two of the ten, perhaps a sign of the prophecy.

We, Eiva and El’ris, Eiva began speaking again, because she thought El’ris was getting too informal and away from the point, We saw with our waking eyes those visiting from another place, but without understanding, and so we knew that it was we that must now visit them, though we are young.

We dreamed using the black jewels, El’ris said, getting into the story, And opened our eyes standing far from here, before five children. Jinx and Emma, we already knew, but there was also one who called himself both Ian and Brat, and another boy, called Trey, and a girl called Jane. The youngest, Brat, had with him many animal companions, whom he seemed able to talk with as though they spoke the same tongue. I believe him to be Ebar’rn, the Lover, for his compassion with the animals was clear, but I had not the time to see whom the other two might be.

Eiva continued the story, feeling annoyed with El’ris’s last comment. Perhaps Brat was the Lover, but perhaps not and she didn’t think he should have said that. We learned more of the children. We learned that they walked to the Mountain Evraia, though not by the road, for they are of the future and claim the road has long ago been destroyed. We did not learn much more of them, except that they seem to be strangers of this island.

They mentioned a ship, El’ris added, And seemed to know little about where they were. We could not stay long, or ask many questions, but I believe them to be strangers to this island, and all our ways. Then neither spoke, and waited to hear what the priests would decide.

It is said well, disciples to Vaia, said the priest, and then he announced to all present, We have spoken. You have heard.

You have spoken, all the priests answered, We have heard. Now let us discover what is to be done. This, the children knew, meant that the real discussion was about to begin. It also meant that they were supposed to leave the circle. They were careful to be silent once they left, for the temple had no walls but only high stone pillars and a roof. El’ris wanted to stay at the edge and listen, but another priest of Vaia was waiting for them to lead them away back to the House of Vaia where they would wait until a decision was made and they were called back.

So that is over, then, El’ris said while they sat within the front hall, I’ve always wondered what a Gathering was like.

I just hope we didn’t do anything really stupid, Eiva told him, I’m sure we rushed the story, or left out important things. She didn’t even want to mention the blunder at the beginning when she called herself ‘El’ris’. El’ris kindly didn’t bring it up.

If the priest thought we did, he would have told it for us, El’ris he said instead, And anyway we said everything that happened. I wonder if they will let us return again…to see the children, I mean, if we can. I liked them.

It is dangerous, though, to travel with the jewels, Eiva said, And we are only children. They will probably choose someone of greater wisdom to go instead.

They cannot, El’ris insisted, "We were the ones that could see them. And the children saw us, when we followed them back to their time and