Book of Fate: Siren Stone (Book 1)

Chapter 5

I head back to the healing hut only to find Elixa standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and a furious expression.  I hurried to the door and she didn’t even say a word to me until I got inside.  She began to scold me about how I should really take better care of myself.  When she saw the stone in my hand, she stopped scolding me and snatched the stone.  I ignored the rest of her reprimands.

Towards the end of her lecture, I started to feel a little dizzy.  I fell over and she fell silent.  She quickly got the medicine and made me swallow all of it.  It tasted bitter and disgusting, but I held it in.  When I managed to swallow all of it, I coughed a little and the dizziness was gone.

“Now that you’re all better, I should report it to the Chief.  But first I want to talk to your parents about your condition,” she said coldly.

“My condition?” I asked, confused about which one she was talking about.

“Your behavior,” she said in a clarifying tone,” You have been acting strange since you came back from the trials.”

“Oh,” I said. “Do you really have to tell them?”  I was really hoping that she wouldn’t tell them since I’m already in enough trouble as it is.  Especially with the Chief and whatever the hell he was doing with his stone last night.

“Your parents put you under my care ever since you became my apprentice, so I am obliged to do so.”

“What exactly do you mean acting strange?” I asked. 

“Over the past few days you’ve been saying crazy things in the middle of the night, like you’re freezing or burning, and then you would just start screaming for no reason.  Then you would be all calm again”

“Oh, sorry,” I said, knowing I have nothing else to say and how embarrassed I was.

I couldn’t say anything anymore.  “Now I want you to head to the Chief’s hut.  He has been impatiently waiting for you to recover from your fever.”

I was in no position to argue with her so I went straight to Chief Xanders right after she left.  On the way there, a lot of the girls and boys who took part in the trials looked at me with expressions that were filled with fear and worry.  I ignored the eyes that turned towards me and the gossip the people whispered about me.  In this village, there is no such thing as keeping secrets.  Everyone knows everything about you.  When you get in trouble, you can’t hide from your parents in your friend’s home.  Their parents will turn you in, no arguments.

I felt like I was walking for hours, ignoring the stares and the whispers is a lot more difficult than it looks.  When I finally reached the meeting house, the Chief was waiting outside his hut, in the same position as Elixa this morning.  I slowly walked up the steps, and when I reached the top, the chief greeted me with a warm smile and led me in.

“I’m glad you are feeling better now.  The whole village was really worried about you,” said the Chief.

“Thank you.  I didn’t mean to make everyone worry about me.”

“Don’t worry,” he replied,” please sit down.  Make yourselves comfortable.”

We did as we were told and his daughter brought us herbal tea.  “So can you remember anything that happened that day?”

I shook my head,” It’s still fuzzy.  I haven’t been able to fully grasp what happened that day.”

“Can you remember as to what happened to the siren’s body?”

“No,” I lied once again. “It may take me some time to fully remember what happened.”

“I see,” there was some disappointment in his eyes and voice.  “What is your name again?”

“My name is Kresla, sir,” I replied.

“Kresla, can you tell me what this is?” He brought a stone from his pocket.  The stone that was pulled from his pocket just last night.  The stone that he was doing something strange with it.

“A stone,” I said, playing dumb.

He gave me a suspicious look and leaned towards me saying,” Take a closer look.”

He brought the stone in closer for me to take a closer look.  I held the stone and made a face that showed that it felt familiar to hold in my hand.  “Is it the stone that I was holding in my hand on the day of the trial?”

“Yes,” he said with a surprised expression. “It looks like you still remember that part, but do you know what it really is?”

As he said this, my parents and Elixa walked in.  I looked over at them for a few seconds, while the Chief barely acknowledged them.  Once they took their seats I turned back to the Chief to answer his question, and I shook my head in response, still playing dumb. He gave me a dark and suspicious look.  The stone looked like the one I took from the black image when I went to go see the siren, but I know the one he is holding is not mine.  I felt my parents’ gazes fall on me and then he said,” This is a siren stone.  One of the rarest items an island trial person would find. This is the one I found during my island trial.”

“May I ask what is so special about it?” I asked, acting curious to learn more.

“A person who finds a siren stone on their trial would usually end up with the most powerful magic on the island.  It happens in every generation of the Chief’s descendants, however, you are the first to find one that is not of my family’s lineage.”

    “Is that so?” I asked, trying to hide the excitement welling up inside me. Maybe he will train me to be the next chief of the village or even help me learn what it is like to control magic on the next level.

Chief Sander then said,” I am willing to make a trade with you.”

My excitement instantly dimmed and I gave him an incredulous look.  “What do you mean?” I asked, getting really suspicious.

“I want my daughter to have this stone, if word gets out my daughter didn’t find the siren’s stone during her trial this year, then they will look up to a new leader.  In return, I will give you whatever you want.”

Right at the moment, Liera became tense as she drew in a deep breath with excitement and readied herself to snatch the stone. I didn’t even realize she was here the entire time.  My father looked confused and my mom looked angry.  Elixa gave the chief a look that said “are you freaking crazy?”  The chief stared into my eyes with a hopeful look, hoping that I would say , yes, hoping that I would be willing to give up the item that I found during my trial.

Just like the images from my dream last night.  I couldn’t understand why I looked so angry at the chief but now I see why.  I got mad at him for trying to take something that I had rightfully earned during my trial.  For trying to give all the credit to his daughter just so the chief lineage would continue in his name.  I abruptly stood up and frowned at him, Liera became even more tense, my parents and Elixa looked like they were ready to run out of the room any moment.  “You expect me to give something up so easily, just because you are the chief?” I said in a cold voice. I felt icy rage rising up.

“Well, yes, I mean-,” the chief stuttered.

Suddenly the air around us started to feel really cold.  My hands clenched into fists with mist emitting from my hands.  The chief looked like he realized he just made the biggest mistake in his life, and now he regrets it.  “What could you possibly give me that would be equal to this stone?” I asked.

I may sound selfish right now, but the one who is truly being selfish right now is him.  There is no way I am going to give something up so precious that easily.  And I doubt there is anything on this island that is of equal value as the siren stone.  “Don’t think you can just take away the things that people rightfully found in their trial will just trade it just because the big chief asked really nicely,” I continued,” It’s not my fault your daughter couldn’t find the siren stone before me.  It’s not going to be my fault if the lineage changes to a different bloodline.  This may have worked on other people in the past, but you know well enough that in the trials, whoever finds it, keeps it.”

As I kept talking, the ice froze the wooden furniture and I actually heard some of them splinter apart and icicles forming on the arm rests of the chairs.  The chief was so pale, he looked like he had seen a ghost.  When I got out of the hut, all the people were gathered, their curiosity getting the best of them.  I saw Eiress and Sirene at the front and they looked really worried.  I felt the cold air from the inside coming out here.  I realized how tight my hands were and I loosened up a bit.  Realizing what I had done inside the Chief’s hut, the cold air disappeared and I ran to any place I could think that would get me away from here.