Three Stones

Chapter One

When Kira was a young child, she had heard the stories just like everyone else.  Folklore, lessons learned, and cautionary tales... no one believed they were real once they were old enough to work on the farms.  Thoughts of magic and mystery seemed to vanish with the demands of the work required to keep the village alive.  Soon enough, the stories were no longer told to children around crackling fires at night, as music played and people danced.   The music faded night after night, and before long, the mysterious elements that were said to have brought life to the village were all but forgotten.  

Hard work kept the village around, but not thriving.  Elders would take the goods into the nearest town and sell or trade for necessary supplies, while the young adults would work from sun up to dusk harvesting, building, creating.  The village was remote, kept quietly and peacefully for centuries.  Children were often tasked with indoor chores, cooking, cleaning, caring for the youngest of the village.  There was no time for imagination, stories of the past, or anything else fun.  It was all about survival, and lately, there had been more deaths of village elders than Kira remembered throughout her entire thirteen years.

One morning, Kira woke to the sound of thunder cracking through the mountain air.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky,  but the sound was unmistakable.  A low rumble at first, gently easing its way into her ears as her eyes refused to open.  There was only the slightest bit of light edging over the crest of the mountain tops.  Gradually, as if keeping time with her waking mind, the thunder grew louder, more violent.  It became loud cracks that sounded like a raging storm sitting right upon the village.  But there was no storm. The air was calm, no rain drops falling through the sky, the trees appeared to be reaching up toward the sun to grab onto the early morning rays of light.

This is strange.... Kira curiously crept out of her room and down the hallway to her father, who sat at the small table by the hearth.  A small kettle hung above some glowing embers, the smell of porridge hung in the air. 

"Father, what is this strange weather?" Kira asked as she sleepily sat beside him.  Aedan was a strong man, a hard worker, and father of thirteen children.  Kira was the youngest, thirteen years old. All but Kira had married and had homes of their own.  It was just the two of them now, Kira's mother died in the spring of Kira's seventh year, she was buried under the looming willow tree at the back of the cabin. 

Aedan had a weary look on his face, his skin pale, and his eyes tired.  "This sound, Kira, means that we will soon leave this life, unless we intervene.  The ancients are warning us to find our way back to them.  Do you remember the story of the magic stones? The one your mother used to tell you when you were just a babe?"

Kira nodded, thinking back to when she would anxiously sit at her mothers feet, with her brothers and sisters all around her, listening to the melodic voice of her mother.  What a beautiful sound, almost like a song.  If everyone was quiet while her mother was telling her tales, Kira thought she could hear a peaceful melody in the background, softly caressing her ears with her mothers words being carried on the light, heavenly notes.  A smile played on her lips.  "I remember mother, and how beautiful her voice was.  But the tale of the stones, I'm afraid the details are lost, father."

Aedan stood and removed the kettle from the fire, replacing it with a pot of water.  Aedan kept hot teas brewing most of the day.  The aroma often lingered just outside of the cabin.  He began the to tell Kira a story as he put the tea leaves in the infuser basket. 

"Long ago, this land was controlled by Salvin,  Lord of the Mages.  Salvin's power was great, but his greed was greater.  The more control he had, the more he inflicted punishment upon any man who did not follow his every command.  The growing towns that were once in the valley started dwindling down as people left in search of a better way of life.  Taxes were placed on anything that was possessed by our people.  Life became very hard for any village, as everyone scrambled by day after day to survive under Salvin's rule. 

"When the people became weary enough, and more villages began to talk of breaking from Salvin's control, there was an uprising.  Villagers, from this village and many others, gathered together at the Tree of Life and formed an alliance they believed to be strong enough to end Salvin's reign of the mages.  A war was waged with Salvin and his followers, which lasted many years.  Our people were eventually successful and rid the land of Salvin.

"To ensure that this bit of history did not repeat itself, the mage stones were gathered from all who held them, and they were offered to the gods to be destroyed so there may be a life of peace and prosperity.  The mage stones were placed on Table Rock, the large flat boulder at the edge of the grove where the Tree of Life grows to this day.  A large, lively ceremony was held, and that night, a storm rolled into the mountains.  There was no wind, no rain, but there was the most amazing show of lightening that anyone has ever told tale of, and thunder that shook the earth as it rippled through the mountains and valleys.  As suddenly as the storm entered the land, it ended with after a large bolt of lightning struck the earth. 

"They say that the bolt of lightening struck down on the pile of mage stones, fusing them into one large, blue rock.  The three eldest mages of the surrounding villages had expected that the stones would be destroyed, and were afraid for any one person to hold this one mage stone.  It's power would be phenomenal.  So, they set out to break it up into many small pieces and get rid of them as best as they could.  Instead of it shattering as they pounded upon the stone with a heavy hammer, it cracked into three pieces.  The elders took those three stones, set out on a journey to the three points of the sacred land, and hid the stones as deeply in the earth as was possible. 

"The power of the mages had come to an end with the loss of the stones, as that is how mages harnessed their powers.  Some villages thrived, and some died off.  Others, like our small village, have just survived.  But the way of the mage only lives in our stories now, and those have all but died off, too.

"We are descendants of those villagers, Kira.  We are mages, although many of us have lost our way.  We each have the ability to make magic, and the magic ability is different for every one of us.  Some are cloud mages, some light mages.  There are many different types of mages, you must remember those stories.  Many of us were taught some of the old ways when we were young, but we have all but abandoned our heritage because it was impossible to see the outcome of such workings without the stones. 

"If the story is true, Kira, and I believe it is, we must find the mage stones."

Kira sat silently listening to her father.  His voice stern, sincere, and scared.  He had always been superstitious, and others thought him to be crazy at times.  He would often travel north, saying he was going to the wilderness to reflect on life.  Kira had always wanted to go with him.  She loved being outside surrounded by the beauty of nature.  Aedan would never let her go.  There were many nights that Kira would take a quilt and lay at the base of the weeping willow tree, gazing at the stars through the branches swaying in the moonlight.  She felt at peace there.  She wasn't sure if it was because she was close to her mother, or if she just loved the night sky so much.  

This is where she went now.  Sitting in the tall grass by the tree, she thought hard about her fathers' story.  She felt the familiar, relaxing calm come over her.  It was almost like she could hear the melody of her mother's stories... or maybe feel the melody... she wasn't sure.  She became lost in her thoughts.  Was her father really crazy like the other villagers had said so many times? Did he really believe that this strange thunder was some kind of omen? Kira was confused by her fathers sincerity and worry about the mornings events.