The Healing Stone

By Vacen Taylor

After finding the Silvershade and escaping the attacking forces as the Wilder Forest city was scorched to the ground, Mai, Akra and Kalin must now face the evil that has consumed Long. 

When they reach the land of Cruscar and enter the ice city of Algus, the children are confronted with an ice challenge to win an audience with Queen Isolda. A treacherous journey now awaits them if they are to reach the Healing Stone to save Long. 

But Piceptus, the underworld king, will not give up his search and he will do anything to bring the pilgrims' journey to an end. The children grow stronger as they begin to master their powers, but will this be enough to escape this danger and continue on their pilgrimage to fulfil the prophecy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odyssey Books
• Release date: Apr 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781922200211

Book preview

Barker.

The Prophecy of the Seven Nations

seven nations sit under one sky

thought will come over many moons and travel by foot

light and dark will be searching but blind to the truth

sound will travel closely for it is bound by touch

soul will not stop until the truth unfolds

with fire comes a secret that must be spoken

water will heal one and the other it will pound

earth is the key that must be found

one child remains their only link

one child will bind them

one child will show them

one child will lead them again

and then, there will be peace

The children were aware of the dark enemy that had gathered in the southern region of Sahas. But unbeknown to them, a force far greater than they could imagine was eagerly waiting to be released. The underworld was gaining strength in both weapons and numbers. From the very first night the prophecy was set in motion, all who believed knew the events that had been predicted were changeable. The search for the children was gaining momentum. One of the four children had already fallen to the dark power. The words of the foreknowledge had begun to fade. The prophecy was now at risk of being extinguished.

Chapter One

Water and Ice

They had travelled so far, yet it seemed like only yesterday that Mai was selected to journey to the Valley of a Thousand Thoughts. Her memory of the selection day was still clear because she was a thoughtbanker. A thoughtbanker’s memories never fade over time, and sometimes their dreams are not dreams at all, but real memories. The previous night Mai had dreamed of the forest on fire and Akra uprooting the earth to save them from the wall of flames as they fled, leaving the forest city behind to its fiery fate. Now, after two weeks of sailing towards Algus, the City of Ice, Mai stood on the deck, searching the horizon. There was only water for as far as the eye could see.

Mai looked back to the quarterdeck where the captain stood, his arms crossed and his hands kept warm under the armpits of his soft leather coat, which was lined with fur. Gloves were mandatory for everyone who ventured outside. Even the sailors who were working on the deck wore them. The cold this far north had the power to freeze one’s fingers, the captain had told them. Mai had felt so cold for so long she couldn’t feel her feet. Even with all the layers she wore the cold found a way into her body. She missed the warmth of the desert sun beating down on her.

The captain’s shout to a sailor climbing the foremast broke Mai’s thoughts of the hot desert sun. She watched him step down from the quarterdeck, leaving control of the ship to his second-in-command. He disappeared from her sight with two sailors trailing behind him.

The captain was a big man with a big voice. He could be heard clearly above deck and sometimes below too. His big size matched his big head, which was always covered by a phthalo-green hat complete with a long feather. It was the strangest feather Mai had ever seen. When she had asked the captain about it, he’d said it was from the upper tail of a male peafoth—only the male birds had feathers in shades of brown, blue-green, a dusting of yellow and the most amazing turquoise colour. He’d said, with great appreciation, that they run wild in the forest. Then his face dimmed as a sad thought took him home for a moment. Mai had heard his thoughts and she felt sad for the peafoths too. Those that didn’t flee the forest would have surely died in the fires.

Mai cared about the soulbankers and the creatures that lived in the forest. She had always cared about animals, even when others in her village gave them no regard or importance in being part of the world. The elders in the village had tolerated her little pet lizard, Barka, but she knew not to bring him to classes. To bring any animal or creature into the teaching rooms was considered an insult. Classes were for learning, and animals had no place there. The elders believed a creature’s thoughts had only one objective: survival. Therefore, their purpose was simple. They were to be used for transporting goods or for food. Any communication between a thoughtbanker and an animal was forbidden.

As if sensing Mai’s thoughts about animals, Barka popped his head out from under her coat. His horns brushed against Mai’s chin. He squeaked at her as if to say it was too cold to come out any further.

‘Stay in the warmth,’ Mai said, pushing him back inside her coat. ‘You’re going to be the one who will suffer in this part of our journey. You will freeze before all of us if you don’t stay warm.’ Mai knew the little lizard was a cold-blooded creature. He needed to control his body temperature through things like the sun. This was easy in the desert but here, on a day like this, lacking both the sun and a warm place to hibernate in safety meant that Mai would need to keep him warm herself.

Today, like yesterday, the ship rolled and plunged. All around, the sea swelled to form monster waves that spread over the deck and disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Kalin had spent both days of bad weather vomiting over the side of the ship. Even when Mai offered him some water, all he could do was wave his hand about to move her away. She had left Akra sitting below deck with Long. She knew Akra was anxious about the bad weather the ship had encountered. Mai was worried too. She didn’t know a lot about ships, but she knew about water and how dangerous a sea full of huge unpredictable waves could be. She tried not to think about the ship sinking if the weather was to worsen.

As Mai looked out towards the horizon, she rubbed her thumb gently over the golden amulet that was attached to a thin leather lace hanging around her neck. She needed to believe in the feeling of protection it offered. Her brother, Long, was still suffering from raging fevers, and now he was having bouts of hallucinations and rambling out incoherent sentences. What also made this journey worse was the bitter cold that came with the rolling sea and heavy grey clouds that loomed over the ship. The Sea Bold was dwarfed to the size of a toy on the open sea, a watery expanse that met the horizon at every point of the compass.

Even with her cold-weather clothes on—a long brown skin jacket, lined with jackback fur and a hood edged with the same fur, provided by Queen Shanore—Mai could still feel the bite of the wind through the layers of her clothes. Her cheeks had turned red, as had her nose. Her body swayed as the ship rocked. Mai let go of the amulet and crossed her arms tightly over her chest as she staggered along the deck, stopping when she spotted the first signs of ice. A row of icicles had formed on one of the ropes that was tied from the bow to the mainmast. She knew it would be the first of many to become covered in ice over the next few days. Mai shivered as a cold burst of air hit her face.

With the ship still rolling from side to side, Mai made her way below deck to check on her brother. It was stuffy, and foul-smelling odours wafted around because of the lack of ventilation. Long had been placed in an officer’s sleeping quarters, furnished only with a small bed, desk and chair. Kalin and Akra slept on the floor in Long’s room. Mai had also been given an officer’s quarters, next to Long. The sailors all slept below them in hammocks that, in bad weather like this, swayed from side to side all night and all day.

As Mai entered the sleeping quarters, Akra opened his eyes. His legs were crossed in front of him and his hands were resting gently on his knees. Kalin appeared at the door behind her after a long time above deck. He walked in and slumped into the chair in the corner of the room.

‘Why don’t either of you get sick?’ Kalin groaned.

His face had turned the oddest colour, flushed with a greenish tinge. The captain had said Kalin had no legs for the sea.

‘We’re thoughtbankers. If we choose to erase the conflicting messages our minds receive we will not become sick. Our minds remain calm, eliminating any discordance there may be.’

‘On days like this I wish I was a thoughtbanker.’ His cheeks ballooned out but he kept his lips pressed tight together. After a brief moment, he sprang from his chair and raced out of the room, heading for the deck above.

‘I hope Kalin feels better soon.’ Mai sat on the chair and gazed down sadly at her brother.

‘I miss the earth under my feet,’ Akra said.

‘Me too.’

Long’s sleeping face was covered with beads of sweat.

‘I’m sorry, Mai. He’s like this because of me.’ Akra hunched over. Mai read his thoughts. They were heavy with responsibility and sadness.

‘None of us knew what this journey would be like or what dangers we would face. I plunged a sword into my own brother’s shoulder.’ Mai picked up the piece of cloth from the small table next to the bed. She dipped it in a bowl filled with water, squeezed it tightly so it wouldn’t drip and replaced the old cloth on Long’s forehead. ‘I thought all we’d have to do was journey to the Valley of a Thousand Thoughts. Instead, we have milked a spiderflax, killed a dementra, entered the land of Naroan, and we found the Silvershade, only to then have my brother taken from me and left like this. And, at the end of it all, we watched the Wilder Forest burn.’

‘That was my fault too. If I had not stayed in the forest city, it would still be beautiful now.’ Akra stood up.

Mai grabbed his hand before he could leave. ‘Don’t think that way, Akra. It’s not your fault. You know this king plans to rule every nation. He would still have come to burn the forest.’

‘No, I know his army came to Naroan because of me.’

Mai knew his thoughts were filled with guilt. The elders had teachings on the feelings of responsibility, and she knew the feeling of guilt would not go away easily.

Akra walked away, leaving Mai with her brother.

She sat with Long all through the afternoon. Kalin came and went, not really knowing where he felt better, above or below deck.

The captain passed by the door, stopping to look in on Long. ‘How is he?’

‘I think he’s getting worse,’ Mai said, feeling sad.

The captain sighed heavily. ‘We’re almost there. Within hours we will see the first of the great icebergs. Then we will see the ice city.’ He started to leave but stopped. ‘I’d like you all to have a meal with the captain tonight. The captain being me,’ he reminded her with a smile and a wink. ‘I’ll get someone to sit with Long.’

‘I’d like that. I’ll tell Akra and Kalin.’

‘Good! The meal will be served at seven. Tell the sealer boy I will have a bucket if he needs one.’ He winked again.

Mai smiled. She couldn’t help but feel some relief in knowing they had almost reached the ice city.

‘Hold on, Long,’ she whispered to her brother. ‘We’re almost there.’

Later that evening the sea calmed and the ship settled, remaining on a steady course towards Cruscar, the Land of Ice. Mai, Akra and Kalin left Long to sleep, with one of the captain’s sailors sitting on the chair in the corner to watch over him. They walked towards the captain’s door at the end of the ship. It was a big green door and it was always closed. Mai knocked three times.

The captain shouted for them to come in, and when she opened the door he was standing next to the table.

‘Come.’ He encouraged them in with a wave. ‘Please, sit and enjoy.’ He sat down first, followed by Mai, with Akra and Kalin sitting either side of her.

The captain’s table was filled with an array of food that made Akra’s mouth drop open. Kalin seemed to be feeling better than before, but he’d mentioned on the way to the captain’s room that his stomach was still very sensitive. Up till now they had eaten basic meals each night, delivered to them from the galley by a small stout women who never spoke. But tonight there were several different types of meats, as well as fruit