Champions of Light: Gaëtano's Sword [Book One]

Part Two: Chapter Eight

Riverside

Peaceful psithurism was accompanied by the small noises of wildlife within the brush, and the happy gurgle of water bubbling over rocks before the serenity was rudely broken by the loud foot falls of running humans, erratically disturbing piles of leaves or roots of the trees. They didn't even bother to slow before they loudly splashed into the riverbed, making exasperated noises, and breathing loud enough to startle a deer away.

"Can we please stop now?" Charlotte asked, leaning on John to take off her shoes. The others didn't seem to wait for the answer either and settled down on the rocks or grass just before the water. Chris nodded, too out of breath to answer. They made a small camp after a moment and washed their clothes and dirt off in the water. Vikki fashioned a spear and began using it to catch fish. Kim played on the rocks within the river, shooting arrows at the fish as well. What they caught, they roasted over the fire for food.

Clean, full, and reenergized, the group began to relax again. Skylar was the easiest to express her renewed optimism, and even Richard allowed himself to smile at her witty remarks. Gregory was unnaturally quiet, though, and no one wondered why. Sean set up some traps for tomorrow's breakfast, since it had been an unspoken agreement that they would stay there for the rest of the day into the night.

Chris sat and turned the gem in his hand with curiosity. There was a lull in the conversation, and Skylar glanced his way. In a lighthearted fashion, she teased, "perhaps you should put that down before you blind us all again."

Chris looked up at faces turned his way. "I have no idea what that was. It's not as if I planned that. But it's not happening anymore, so maybe it was a fluke."

"Can I see it?" Skylar wondered, curious to see if the result was the same. They all flinched when the gem landed in her hands, but nothing happened. "Huh, maybe it was a faulty reaction." She handed it to Alice on her left. The wind softly rose, sending leaves to whirl around her hands, and a soft glow of green hugged her fingers, and then softly disappeared. There was a combined echo of wonder from those who looked on. Alice offered the gem to Kim, who took it and immediately dropped it with a sharp exclamation of pain.

"What the hell?" Kim said, a prick of blood swelled on her finger.

"What happened?" Chris asked.

"It's going to sound crazy, but I swear it felt like it bit me," and she carefully picked it up again, but this time she was unharmed.

She offered it to Charlotte who flat out refused, "Oh no, I'm not touching that weird, possessed rock."

Freddy came over instead and grabbed it. It seemed that nothing happened to him. He turned it over, inspecting it. "This is very interesting. This gem doesn't seem to be any sort of the precious gems sold in the markets. I've never seen anything like it. I would enjoy doing some tests on it." There was a chorus of dissents, and he smiled at their wariness. "I won't, of course, since we were charged to bring it to the White Citadel, and we have no way of knowing its reaction. However, it is interesting, knowing that the old man told us this gem holds power, and then the Giant King, warning that its power is too great to be in the wrong hands. I'm curious what this power is, and I'm wary. I'm not sure I like the idea of handing it over to the old man."

It seemed that most of them agreed with him. If they refused to give the old man the gem, they were afraid their journey would have been in vain.

Vikki suggested that they'd cross that bridge when they got there, which seemed to be a perfectly agreeable idea to them all. Once their spirits were calmed again, they began sharing stories once again to pass the time. Skylar kept her witty remarks up, glancing at Gregory edgewise to see if her attempts made his day even slightly brighter. Eventually, Chris asked for a small backstory from each of them, so they could know more about the people around them, as well as what had made them decide to go on this quest.