Chapter 14

Stone, Persimmon, and the others stood just outside the Quamm Caves, thankfully having gotten there before King Sethor and his army of men arrived.

"I will distract the gnomes while the rest of you go with Persimmon to open the portal," said Elric. "Stone, go through and warn your king, but first give me the two gemstones you hold since we don't want that evil man to get them." His hand was out in front of Stone once again.

"I can't do that," said Stone.

"Persimmon will need to use one of them to try to open the portal," Elric continued.

"Will it really work, Father?" asked Lira excitedly. "Will Persimmon be able to use a stone to open a portal?"

"She will," said Elric. "One of the thirteen gems will open the portal, and also close it."

"How do you know this? I thought you said you didn't know what powers the stones held." Stone exchanged glances with Aithrod as Fang sniffed around the opening of the cave, afraid to go in since the dog remembered about the gnomes only too well.

"I might know a little about this, after all. I'm a sage, remember. I'm the keeper of knowledge."

"Do you know what each of the thirteen gemstones does?" asked Persimmon.

"Nope. Just the one." The damn elf was biting at his hangnail again.

"He's lying," said Stone.

"Father!" scolded Lira.

"Oh, all right. Yes, I do know. I found out what powers the stones have when I was guarding them for the gods. I just don't know which stone does what. Now, if only I had known it took the Chosen One to actually use them, I never would have stolen them to begin with."

"Stone, give me the one to hold that burned my hand," said Persimmon. "I already know I have a connection with that one, so mayhap it'll open the portal."

"I don't like this." Stone felt overly cautious. "We need to have a plan. And I need to bring back Rancor and Filip. I'm afraid we're not going to have time to go through the portal and return before Sethor gets here."

"Then we can hide and jump out and surprise them when they arrive," said Aithrod. "If Persimmon manages to open the portal it will attract them, so they won't be looking for us."

"Yes," said Stone. "We can grab the thieves and dive through the portal before anyone realizes what happened."

"Then, I can close the portal before King Sethor and his armed men go through," added Persimmon with a nod.

"Wait a minute. Stop." Stone held up his hand. "We are getting ahead of ourselves. We don't even know yet if you can open the portal, sweetheart."

"I can do it. I'm sure I can. But I'll need to try all of the stones to figure out which one works on the portal."

"You heard her. She needs all of the gemstones, Elric." Stone nodded at the elf. "Give her the bag."

"Yes, Father, give me the bag of gems." Persimmon held out her hand this time.

"What? Nay!" shouted the elf, his hand going to the bag to protect it.

"Father, she is your daughter," said Lira. "You can trust her."

"I have to bring these stones back to the gods. I don't want her giving them to the big oaf."

"Trust me," said Persimmon. "I don't want the stones getting into the hands of an evil king. I just want to start trying them all before Sethor arrives."

"You can stay right here with her to guard them," Stone assured him.

"Well…all right." Finally, Elric handed over the bag of gemstones to Persimmon.

"And now yours, Stone." Persimmon held out her hand to him now.

Stone knew he had to give them up. If he didn't, Elric would probably take his back and they'd be right where they started. They were wasting precious time. And as much as he realized that he couldn't give the gems back to King Helix anymore, he also knew that if he didn't, he'd be giving up a wife, a position at court, and most of all his security back on Taelgonoth. It was a bitter poison either way.

"Here, take them," he said, dropping them into Persimmon's hand. "But if and when that portal opens, I want you far from it, Persimmon. Do you understand? Aithrod and I will pull Rancor and Filip through it and then you close it fast behind us before Sethor and his army can get through."

"How will I know when to open it again so you can come back?" she asked.

"You're not going to do that," said Stone sadly, the words breaking his heart, but it was something that needed to be done. "Once we're through, do not ever open the portal to Taelgonoth again. I mean it, Persimmon."

"What are you saying?" asked Persimmon, taking the gems from Stone. "If I don't open the portal again, how will you return?"

"We're staying there and not returning," said Stone, nodding at Aithrod. "Taelgonoth is our home, not Mura. You belong here."

"Nay, I don't belong here," she said. "Stone, I don't want you to leave me."

"Here comes Zann and his brothers," announced Lira, taking their attention.

"They're coming," shouted Rhys, riding faster than his brothers atop his war horse.

"Hurry, Persimmon. You've got to learn how to open the portal quickly. Aithrod, let's get into position to surprise them." Stone gave her a kiss on the forehead, and ran off to hide with Aithrod. Fang followed.

"You're going to have to go inside the cave to do it," Elric told her. "You need to be where the portal opened last time to make sure you're not opening a different portal entirely."

"Inside the cave?" asked Persimmon. "But I thought there were nasty gnomes in there."

"There are," said Lira. "Father, how will we hold them back?"

"Leave that to me." Elric zipped away, and returned riding on the back of Fang. Fang barked and tried to buck him off but without success.

"Let's go. Follow me," shouted the elf, leading the way inside the cave from the back of the dog.

As promised, Elric distracted the gnomes, which gave Persimmon and Lira the chance to get inside the cave without being noticed or attacked.

"Over there," yelled Elric, pointing to where the portal had appeared last time. Then, he took off once again atop Fang, with all the gnomes chasing him with their picks and axes pointed at them.

"I hope they don't get hurt," said Persimmon, pulling the first stone out of the pouch. She had added Stone's gems to the bag along with those that her father held.

"I think they'll be fine," Lira told her. "Quickly, I hear King Sethor and his army approaching. Try the gems."

The first gemstone she held did nothing to open the portal, but she screamed when her feet left the ground and she started to float around the cave.

"Oh, my!" exclaimed Lira. "Put it down and try another one. Quickly."

She slipped the first stone into her pocket and pulled another out of the bag. The next one she picked up seemed to do nothing either so she put it back and tried three more. Still, no portal appeared. "I don't understand it," said Persimmon. "None of these gems are doing anything."

"Don't be so sure about that." Lira nodded and Persimmon turned around to find a huge pile of food and several barrels of what looked like wine behind her. The gnomes spotted it and were all over it, climbing to the top of the stack.

"Well, at least we know we won't go hungry or thirsty."

"Fast, try a few more," urged Lira.

"I will." She picked up another one and it glowed pink. "How pretty," said Persimmon, getting lost in the colors of the stone.

"Persimmon? Where are you?" Lira looked around the cave.

"I'm standing right next to you," said Persimmon.

"Where? I can't see you."

"Oh, I must be invisible." Persimmon giggled, having fun with these new powers. She threw the stone into her pocket and plucked another from the bag.

"Can you see me now?" she asked Lira.

"Oh! You frightened me." Lira held her hand up to her face, peeking out from between her fingers.

"Why? It's just me." When Persimmon looked down at her hand, she had long talons and scaled skin. "Oh, I don't like this one at all." She dumped it into her pocket with the others.

"Hurry, they're coming," said Elric, zipping by in a blur. Persimmon turned to see King Sethor dismounting his horse just outside the mouth of the cave. He, Rancor, Filip, and at least a dozen of his guards drew their weapons, looking around as they entered the mouth of the cave. The rest of his army stayed out there.

"Hurry, Persimmon. They are headed this way," cried Lira.

They'd tried so many stones now, but none of them was the right one. Persimmon was starting to worry.

"I only have the one stone left to try. This must be it." She scooped up the last stone, feeling the heat against her palm. Since Elric was still distracting some of the gnomes, and the rest of the cave-dwellers were focused on the food and wine, Sethor and his men were able to sneak into the cave unnoticed.

"Over there!" shouted Rancor, spotting Persimmon and Lira and pointing them out.

"Get them," commanded Sethor.

"You'd better make that last stone work quickly, or we're going to be in a very bad situation," Lira warned her.

"I will. This has to be it." Persimmon rubbed the stone, but no portal appeared. "It didn't work."

"Oh, yes it did, but not in the way we thought. Look," said Lira.

Persimmon turned around to see a large ugly beast that reminded her of a bear with the head of an eagle. It growled and charged toward Sethor. The king and his men fought it while the gnomes scurried around in a frenzy, surprised to see so many inside their cave.

Elric stopped the dog right in front of them. "Persimmon, I can't hold these gnomes off forever. What are you doing? Why haven't you got that portal opened yet?" he asked.

"I've tried all the gemstones, Father, but none of them worked," said Persimmon. "I don't understand it."

"I do," said Elric with a sigh. "The stone that opens and closes the portal must be the one that the thief Rancor still has."

"It figures. What are we going to do?" asked Lira.

"Don't worry. I'll get it." Elric got off the dog and zipped away, heading toward Sethor and the others. It wasn't but a minute before he returned, holding out the last stone to her.

"You are amazing, even for a grouchy little elf," said Persimmon, taking the gem from him. Sure enough, as soon as she touched it, those same swirling colors of blue, pink and orange appeared. They made a circle and grew larger and larger. Then she saw an opening appear, and bright lights coming from within.

"I did it!" cried Persimmon. "I opened the portal. This is so exciting."

She heard a fight going on behind her. Turning to look, she saw Sethor pulling his blade out of the beast that now lay dead. The Blackseed brothers appeared at the mouth of the cave, fighting off the three guards that had entered with Sethor. The rest of his men were outside of the cave, afraid to come in.

"Now!" she heard Stone shout. Stone and Aithrod shot out from behind a rock, managing to surprise Rancor and Filip. "Grab them and head to the portal, quickly, Aithrod. There is no time to lose."

It was a struggle, but since they'd managed to surprise and unarm the Taelgonoth thieves, Stone and Aithrod had no trouble dragging them to the portal. Fang barked and nipped at the heels of the thieves. They were just about to step through the portal when the gnomes started to attack again.

"Dammit, I'll take care of them." Elric jumped atop Fang and started riding around the cave again.

"Quickly, let's go." Stone looked over his shoulder. "Fang, where are you?"

"Elric has him. They're trying to distract the gnomes," Persimmon told him.

"Take good care of Fang, sweetheart. And of yourself as well," said Stone, holding Rancor's arms behind him. "Be sure to close the portal as soon as I get through."

Aithrod entered the portal first with Filip. Stone still held on to Rancor. "I love you, Persimmon and will never forget you."

Tears filled her eyes as Stone took a step through the portal holding Rancor, and disappeared from sight.

"Close the portal. Quickly," shouted Lira. "They're coming!"

She was about to do so when King Sethor pushed past her, diving into the portal, followed by at least six or seven of his men.

"Nay!" she screamed. Sethor had knocked into her as he passed by her and she'd dropped the gemstone. It rolled along the floor and slipped through the portal as well. "I lost the gemstone. It went through the portal. I need to find it." Persimmon panicked.

"It's too late," Lira told her. "Look. The portal is closing."

Sure enough, to her horror, the portal became smaller and smaller. In another few seconds it would disappear for good. Without that gemstone, she'd have no chance of ever opening the portal again. And that also meant she would never see Stone again either. The man who said he'd loved her would be gone from her life forever.

"I'm going after it," she told Lira, diving toward the portal just as it finished closing. She hit the ground hard, feeling the cold, dusty floor of the cave as the colorful swirling lights disappeared into nothingness over her head.

She was too late!

The portal had closed and taken Stone, the others, and the gemstone with it. Now she had lost the key to making it open again.

"He's gone," she cried, lifting her head from the ground to see nothing but a dark cave in front of her eyes.

Persimmon had failed, and lost Stone Nightstalker forever.