The Keystone

By Frances Day

Fouteen-year old Beth is enjoying the school holidays spending time with her family, teasing her brothers, and exploring the family's cattle station on her old horse, Black.

However, when Beth's father sends her to start the old petrol pump in one of the paddocks, she encounters an ancient ironbark tree stump . . . and she is immediately fearful of it.

Before she can race to safety, the portal disgorges a mischievous fairy who has unwittingly opened it from the other side and Beth is scooped up by the fairy and dragged through to a land of magic, danger and creatures that she thought only existed in fairytales.

It is here in this new world that Beth learns that she must harness the power of a magic stone and complete an extraordinary task.

A mystical destiny awaits her . . . if she survives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Independent Ink
• Release date: Mar 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9780987644077

Book preview

First published 2019 by Independent Ink

PO Box 1638, Carindale

Queensland 4152 Australia

independentink.com.au

Copyright © Frances Day 2019

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. All enquiries should be made to the author.

Cover design by Maria Biaggini Edited by Michele Perry @ Wordplay Editing Services Internal design by Independent Ink

Typeset in 11.5/15pt Adobe Garamond by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

ISBN 978 0 9876440 6 0(paperback)

ISBN 978 0 9876440 7 7 (epub)

ISBN 978 0 9876440 8 4 (kindle)

This book is dedicated to my children Peter, Jenny and Cathy

With a special thank you and much love, because I couldn’t have done it without you

to Jenny: who always believed and to Cathy: who held my hand and didn’t let go.

Chapter One

The inky night covered Thaldor in gloom; his own worries deepened the darkness that surrounded him. In contrast, the Statue he watched was bathed in the light of the full moon. His people, the Centaurs, were the only ones who knew the secret of the Statue and they had kept that secret for millennia.

Until Jeremiah!

Hatred flashed briefly across Thaldor’s face.

After another summer, all would know the secret, because due to the loss of the stone, the power of the Statue was declining, and Thaldor’s people’s magic could no longer substitute its power. Their own numbers were decreasing because of the effort it took to protect the Forlands.

And if the Forlands were not protected, the doors between the worlds would fail and the creatures held at bay from other dimensions would have access to their homeland as they did in the time of Jeremiah.

Rage flowed through Thaldor at the thought of Jeremiah. Fool! He had been warned, and look at the chaos he had unleashed.

With an effort, Thaldor reined in his emotions. He had to think!

The ancient Centaur turned his gaze to the magically interlocked trees formed by his people as a barrier to prevent the creatures behind it invading his homelands. Driven by the magic of the Centaurs it too had lasted, but now three had escaped via a tunnel they had dug under the barrier.

Three Pygmy cannibals were loose, but they were the least of the monsters kept at bay in the Preserve. Hunters were after them, so Thaldor was not too worried about the damage they would cause before they were disposed of.

However, he would have to find a way to prevent another escape, before something worse used the same means to break through.

His people’s magic was not of the earth. Powerful earth magic was needed to prevent further escapes. So he wondered, who had the magic that could help him?

A heartbeat later, the answer came to him.

Lillith!

Her magic was strong and bound to the earth.

She could persuade the trees to use their roots to build an underground wall. But would she? Her non-interference approach to life was something of a nuisance; however, she might assist if she knew what was required and why.

There was only one way to find out, Thaldor decided, and that was to ask.

Chapter Two

Hidden in a nest of leaves at the top of a very tall tree, Swerle watched the Wizard known as Theron crawl out from his hidey-hole behind the large shrub. She watched until she could no longer see the small puffs of dust his feet stirred as he walked towards the village. She sighed with the relief of knowing he wouldn’t be back until the same time tomorrow.

A strong breeze shook the tree, whistling through the leaves and whipping Swerle’s hair into a long, tangled mess. Grabbing one of the errant blonde curls and using it as a band, she secured the rest of her hair into a long ponytail and smoothed her hair into order.

The wind may be playing havoc with her hair, but Swerle knew that had she not been so far up off the ground, Theron may have sensed her presence and that would have ruined her fun.

With a graceful flap of her multicoloured wings, the tiny being floated down to land near the dense shrub that Theron had crawled out from. Her breath caught into her throat, this was so exciting; her long days of watching were over, and she was about to find out what was behind the bush and why Theron had been secretly visiting it every morning for these past few weeks.

He would be angry if he knew that she had been snooping again, but he need never know, and she couldn’t wait to tell Makdai. Theron had hurt her friend Makdai so many times, and if he was up to something, she wanted to know.

With these thoughts in mind, and with more than a little mischievousness as her motive, Swerle folded her wings and very carefully negotiated her way past the wicked-looking thorns on the large bush. Tearing her delicate wing membrane would be very painful and inconvenient, and it would temporarily stop her adventures – that wouldn’t do, especially when those exploits involved discovering what Theron was up to.

The entrance led into a tunnel, large enough for a man to crawl through easily. Swerle could see that the huge, shadowy passage led into a large underground chamber.

Peering into the gloom, she hesitated and listened. No sounds came from within. There didn’t appear to be anyone or anything alive in there, so Theron couldn’t be keeping anyone captive.

Of course not, silly, Swerle silently chided herself. Nasty he may be, but don’t be seeing monsters where none exist. Oh well, mustn’t tarry, she thought, as on gossamer wings she floated gracefully through the dark tunnel into the cave.

It never occurred to her that she might be in danger.

Swerle was surprised to see that the cave was sizeable and airy with a floor of fine sand. Light and air filtered in from a large vent in the roof of the cave. Immediately she knew the vent wasn’t wide enough for Theron, but certainly she would fit through.

She flew up to investigate.

Once through the vent, Swerle found herself on a small hill overlooking the countryside. In the distance, Theron could be seen making his way towards the village.

Satisfied he was well out of the way, Swerle began to take notice of her surroundings. She had often flown past the hill and never had she known of the existence of the cave. She was very curious about it, since she thought she knew everything there was to know of the district. After all, she wasn’t known as ‘Snoopy Swerle’ for nothing.

With a dismissive shrug of her tiny shoulders, Swerle folded her wings and dropped back through the opening to explore the cave’s interior.

Once back inside the cave, Swerle’s eyes slowly swept the interior, examining everything as she hovered and floated her way around.

Nothing.

How odd.

It was empty.

So what could have held Theron’s interest for so long?

He hadn’t taken such care to hide the existence of the cave for nothing, and neither would he have been visiting the cave every morning for nothing.

What had she missed?

Deciding to go a little higher, she flew upwards to a large rock near the top of the cave.

From there Swerle saw a darkened area towards the back; it was hard to see what was hidden within the recess, and she sat there for a moment thinking and regarding the recess thoughtfully.

This has to be what he is hiding.

There was nothing else in the cave. Her heart beat a little faster. Still, it wouldn’t do to go blundering in – all Wizards, and especially Theron, were tricky by nature.

Flying closer, Swerle settled herself on a ledge overlooking the recess where she could examine the area more closely.

Suddenly, Swerle gasped.

He was hiding something!

Concealed and cleverly placed, she noticed a ward guarding the niche. Swerle knew that if she hadn’t had the advantage of flight, she would have blundered straight in, and then of course Theron would have known of her presence. Once the ward was breached, Theron would feel it because all Wizards were psychically linked to the wards they created.

Swerle flew higher and settled on a large ledge that overlooked the entire chamber. From this position, in the very centre of the recess, she noticed a small round object in the middle of a large rock. Selectively placed crystals guarded the object.

Swerle screwed up her nose. Well what a silly little secret. It wasn’t very interesting, and it couldn’t be very powerful, because all the powerful amulets in the lands were in the keeping of the High Council. It was forbidden for anyone to have objects of power. It had been this way for … well … ever since the wars. The Council had maintained peace for so long, no one could remember the wars, and her people lived for a very long time.

Swerle decided that Theron must have been practising his magic arts. Well, let him have his little secret. Of course, she would have to tell Makdai. Together they could laugh at Theron and his little charm.

Launching into the air, she began to rise towards the vent in the top of the underground chamber. Now that she knew of a better exit, there was no way she was going to risk her wings on the thorns at the entrance to the cave.

However, a sudden blink of a soft light stopped Swerle’s flight. She hovered briefly then landed lightly on another ledge.

What was that?

Minutes passed.

Nothing, just the shadows of the recess and the trinket laying on the rock.

Just my imagination. Time to go.

If she stayed any longer she would be in trouble … again.

But the light blinked again, just once, very quickly.

Swerle sat on the rock, intently regarding the niche. Her heart raced as excitement shivered through her.

It had to be the ‘amulet’. But why?

Maybe it was a talisman of power and that was why Theron was being so secretive. He was hiding it from the High Council.

Swerle walked around the ledge, stopping occasionally to peer in the direction of the amulet. Now that she had found something interesting, she didn’t really know what to do.

If she could show the amulet to Makdai, he would know if it had any real power – after all if it was a talisman of power then Theron shouldn’t have it in his possession. The Council might even reward her, and Theron would be in big trouble.

The thought bought an impish smile to her lips.

How should I show him? Bring him here?

Theron might move it before she could bring Makdai back to see it.

Take it! No.

Stealing