Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter 18

It was late the following morning when they happened on the vale of floating stones. The track had been rising steeply, causing the graylesh to move into low gear. All of a sudden, it levelled off and dropped towards a narrow ravine. Lyall who was riding out in front, raised a hand, signalling the wagon to stop.

Keris rode around the wagon to join him. “What’s the problem?” Lyall pointed above the ravine. Rocks of varying sizes and at different heights were hanging over the pass, like a rock fall, frozen in an instant of time.

Shann pulled up to Lyall’s other flank, eyes filled with wonder. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure… Keris?”

Keris patted her mount’s striped sides. “Lodestones, obviously, although I’ve never seen them floating like that.”

“They’re ‘Kal’ stones,” Shann blurted out. The other two looked at her. “You know, from the sacred texts.”

Lyall extended his lower lip. “You may be right… I think it must be a naturally occurring phenomenon.” He pointed again, his finger moving from the steep incline to the narrow floor of the gorge. “The ravine must act like a funnel, so that when lodestones fall they are collected at the bottom. Then other stones tumble down the sides and occasionally become suspended like that. Of course, that leaves us with a problem…”

Shann turned towards him. “What do you mean?”

“Recall the lesson I gave you at the farmhouse, Shann.”

“Kal stones are unstable,” she recalled. “So that means…”

“Precisely. If we are not very careful, we could easily end up bringing an avalanche down on our heads.”

“But don’t other people use this path?”

It was Keris who answered. “Not for many years, I think. It isn’t even marked on the map. The main road east lies well to the north of here. We only ran across this trail by accident.” She pulled her mount back and urged it over to one side of the path and then the other. “I don’t see any other way around, not for the wagon at any rate.”

Lyall was deep in thought. “I think we can make it through, if we are careful. I don’t want to take any chances, though. “Alondo!”

“Yes, my liege?” Alondo called in a tone of mocking respect.

Lyall smiled wryly. “Get down from the wagon, would you? We have some preparations to make.”

Alondo swung himself down and walked over to the three mounted figures. “I assume it has something to do with that?” He indicated the pass with its silent stone sentinels.

“That’s right. We are going to need to muffle the wheels of the cart.” He glanced at Shann and Keris. “Let’s see if we can lend him a hand, shall we?”

They all dismounted and followed Alondo. In a short while, they had broken out the blankets and had them tied to the wheel rims. Boxx had climbed down from the rear of the wagon and was eyeing them curiously.

Lyall assembled the group. “All right, when we enter the pass, it’s important that we maintain silence. Any sound might set off a rock fall. If you need to communicate, then signal to each other. We will travel on foot. Avoid the temptation to move too quickly. Any questions?”

“We could all travel in the covered wagon,” Shann suggested.

Lyall shook his head. “If a large enough stone falls, it will rip right through that canvas and we’d never even see it coming. Out in the open, we at least have a chance of moving out of the way.”