The Zodiac Stone

Chapter Twenty: The Zodiac Stone

"It really existed! I was afraid this was going to be a wild goose chase," she said, admitting her doubt. Aine hadn't known she had doubted it but he was glad they found it.

At the top of the small hill, what looked like once was a mighty tree was now just a husk of its extinguished existence. It sat with pale, sun-dulled bark that seemed to have mostly peeled away from the hot temperature. They crossed the small area of browned grass and up onto the knoll.

"A tree on a knoll at the edge of the Sea of Sands," Aine said recalling his father's description.

Aine just stared at the dead tree. Now that he was there he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.

"We found the tree, what are we supposed to do next?" Westerlee.

Aine squeezed his eyes shut to try and remember exactly what his father had said. He wished the scholars hadn't thrown his things out, he had written it down on a piece of parchment to make sure he had it, if it ever happened. The heat scorched his skin and he could feel the warm sweat dripping down the length of his nose, to hang at the very end and then drop off, only to have another slip down a moment later. His skin was hot to touch and was turning cooked-red. He pushed back his wet hair feeling drops drip from the ends down his vest which he desperately wanted to take off and fan himself with.

Finally, like a flame going out, he remembered and it burst from his mouth, "At the tree's center all your questions will be answered."

He looked over at Westerlee and then back to the tree, but at its center was a trunk. A thick trunk that was wider than his body.

"How... at the center?" Aine crouched down looking at where the trunk met the brown grass. He pushed the crispy pieces down, hearing them crinkle from being baked in the sun, and right at the dirt's line he saw something. A tiny crevice like there was a section of the tree that could be removed. But he couldn't get to it with the dirt in the way.

He leaned back for a minute, the blood rushing through his ears both from excitement and the heat boiling his head and thought about what he had in his bag that he could try and dig with. He knelt and began searching through the satchel. A few pieces of fruit roll out and started rolling down the hill. Westerlee grabbed them quickly, and then knelt down next to him holding the fruit out for him when he had picked up his bag and emptied everything onto the ground.

They stared down at the quills, the glass ink jars, various pieces of parchment that had been crumpled under all the fruit, including the map, and a few other things. He only had one scroll holder, a small one, and the pendant his mother had given him that had been his father's.

As Aine glared down at the useless objects scattered around his knees Westerlee came up beside him and handed him a rock. He looked up seeing she had one as well, ones that fit easily in their palms with a sharp edge to cut through the grass roots and dirt.

"Why don't you use a rock?" she said with a smile and moved over to the base of the tree and started scratching into the ground.

Aine picked up the one she had brought over, shoved everything into his bag and then moved closer to the tree and started moving the dirt out of the way too.

It took them a few hours, judging the time with the curve of the sun in the sky but finally they dug away a hole big enough where they had found a square shape cut into the tree.

Aine pulled the dirt away from the bark, unearthing a thick root system that he had to cut through with the edge of the rock and pull apart to get to the trunk.

It took them a little longer before they had managed to pull enough dirt away where he could fit both of his hands and a few more fists inside the area they'd dug away.