Cursed Stone - Indigo Stone

Chapter 3

3

Hot sand rubbed at her face. Orla rolled to her side, moaning. Her entire body ached, but it was not the pain of battle, it was the pain of overtaxed body muscles after a body combat session at the gym. She opened her eyes, squinted at the bright sunlight, and immediately recalled what had just happened. She jumped to her feet, searching for Lorcan.

Behind a small sand hill, Lorcan drew himself up, squinted his eyes groggily, and registered the situation. He swung around, catching sight of Orla, and grinned. “Are you okay?” he asked, glancing up and down her body.

Orla nodded. “You?” She turned him around, checking him over.

“I’m fine.”

From behind a small shrub on their left, Roy and Mori stood up, taking inventory.

“How are you guys?” Orla asked.

“We’re fine,” Mori responded.

Lorcan ran back to the sand hill where he had landed and dug around in the sand. When Orla, Roy, and Mori approached, Lorcan explained, “I’m looking for my wrist unit.”

“The one Ciaran gave you?” Orla asked.

Lorcan grunted a response and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a black band sticking up from the sand a few feet away from him. Picking it up, he brushed the sand from it with the sleeve of his shirt. After blowing off the last bit of sand, he started coding. Everyone’s eyes were on the device, the only tool they had at the moment to reopen the portal that would take them back to the transitional zone of the multiverse. The device flashed green, signaling that it was operational. Lorcan sighed a breath of relief and put the device away.

Orla rubbed at her shoulders. “It was a rough landing, wasn’t it? I thought Ciaran was more skillful than that when he opened the portal for us.”

Lorcan smiled. He came over to massage Orla’s aching shoulders. “He is skillful. You should see him in battle. The transition was bumpy because we ran into some dust storms along the way. Anyway, I hope there won’t be too many rough days ahead of us.”

Orla rolled her eyes. “We can only hope.”

Roy stood stiffly, looking at Mori. “We’ll be all right. We’ll find the stone, and then return to the transitional zone. I’ll take you to Eudaiz.”

“Is that what Ciaran promised?” Mori asked, arching an eyebrow.

“If we complete this task, Ciaran will take you in. You can trust him—he’s that kind of guy,” Lorcan said.

“And you know that because . . . ?” Mori asked.

“We’ve had a lot of dealings with Ciaran. He has more important things to worry than dishonoring his promise,” Orla said.

Mori shrugged.

“He saved me and asked nothing in return, remember, Mori?” Roy asked. Mori looked at Roy. There was so much more she wanted to say to him, but she couldn’t say it in front of Lorcan and Orla. She tugged at the new weapon Ciaran had just given them to make sure it was secured, then walked away. “Where are we?” Roy asked.

“Ciaran showed me the map of the energy moments underneath the seabeds, but we didn’t have a chance to convert the information to a surface map. But I think we’re somewhere between Japan and some small islands in Southeast Asia. I could locate us by triangulating the wrist unit and the base station, but I’m reluctant to activate the signals unless it’s absolutely necessary. We can ask the locals.” Lorcan squinted, his hands on his hips, and glanced around the endless expanse of white sand.

“Well, this looks very promising,” Orla said, rolling her eyes. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a small head with black hair popping in and out from behind a black rock. Without a single word, her hand was on her weapon, and she was charging toward the possible stalker. She moved too fast for the person behind the rock to react or run away. The group followed her.

Orla pulled her gun, pointing it at the rock. “Come out and raise your hands where I can see them.” For Lorcan, she added, “Yes, I learned that from cop shows on TV.”

From behind the rock, a small child stepped out. He was a boy about ten years old with short black hair and huge brown eyes, which were filled with tears. The boy had his hands in the air, suggesting he’d understood what Orla said.

“Hey, don’t worry. I’m not going to shoot you,” Orla soothed. She almost sounded like she was singing a lullaby. She put the gun away. The boy put his hands down, but his eyes still gleamed with tears. “I’m sorry I scared you. It’s okay now. We won’t hurt you. We’re just a little bit lost. Do you know where we are?”

The boy stopped shaking, and a faint smile came across his face. Lorcan approached and pulled out the liquid map Ciaran had given him previously. He programmed it to reveal the surface map of the Earth and zoomed in on Asia. “Do you think you can point out on the map where we are now?” He laid the map on the ground where it flattened out and expanded like a paper map. Lorcan made a mental note to praise this technology to Ciaran. The boy crouched next to the map and reached his hand out, pointing to a particular location on the map, but before his finger could make contact, he turned his hand and pulled the gun holstered on Orla’s belt. The boy jumped back to his feet, stepped back, and held the gun shakily in his little hands, pointing it at the group of people.

“Easy, easy, kid, that’s not a toy,” Lorcan said.

“If you put it down, and go away, we won’t chase you. We don’t mean any harm,” Orla said.

The boy’s eyes fixed on Roy and Mori. He stepped back as the group advanced. Then he lifted the gun, pointed it at Roy, and pulled the trigger. Mori yelped and dove at Roy, squashing him down.