Half Magic | Book 2

Seventeen: Seeping Souls

I pressed my palm flat on the Stone of Souls. It was eerie how warm it was, and it wasn't anything to do with the desert heat. My shoulder sank, Puko's weight surprising me for a moment, but we were both able to remain silent as we stared at the stone.

"What do you think?" I asked him. "Have you seen anything like this with Mila?"

His feathers ruffled and he let out a soft croaking sound.

"What about with Lark?" I looked at him, and he looked back at me with his cloudy eye. He bobbed his head and took off, gliding overhead in a lazy circle. I lifted my face to the moon and watched him drift around the sky above.

"You're not a very helpful raven, do you know that?" I sighed, turning back to my companions.

"I don't know what to make of this stone," Nassir said. "I tried to move it gently but somehow..."

He shook his head.

"Could you not do it?" Schula asked.

"No, I could if I wanted to. But it feels to alive. I can't bring myself to change it's shape." Nassir's answer gave me chills.

"You don't think the names on this rock really tie those souls together, do you?" I asked quietly.

Schula and Nassir didn't say anything, and I slid my hand off the stone.

"Well, what if we walked around it?" I asked. "Maybe we'll sense the origin of the problem."

"It's possible," Nassir said. "It wouldn't hurt to try."

"So what do we do with them?" Schula asked, nodding toward the hunters and Tali who were standing a little ways away from the stone.

"I don't want them here if it will make them sick. There is also a chance we won't get sick since we aren't human," I said. "Could I just ask them to leave?"

"I don't see why not," Schula said. "You're probably right about them getting sick anyway. It would be safer for them to wait back at camp."

I nodded and began walking over to Tali.

"What have you discovered, aoyi'ka?" she asked.

"I'm not sure yet," I told her. "But it doesn't seem to be doing anything to us like it might you. I'm going to need time to investigate, I think it would be best for you all to go back to the camp for now."

"Aoyi'ka," Tali said. "I can't leave my task, the shaman gave it to me."

"Well, why don't you guys wait a ways back then?" I looked in the direction we came from. "Don't go so far that you can't see the stone anymore, but give us some space and maybe you won't risk getting sick."

Tali scrunched her face up under her wrappings. I could see the crinkle at the top of her nose as she thought. Bada placed a hand on Tali's shoulder.

"It's not an unreasonable solution, Tali," Bada said. "The shaman wouldn't want you to get sick. We are merely here to assist as needed and to report back what happens."

Tali sighed through her nose and nodded. "Alright, we make a small camp not far from here. If you need us, you call. Okay?"

"I will," I said. "Thank you for coming with me, now let me try to figure out this curse."

The Khusuru nodded and backtracked our path until they were what I could only assume the distance that had the stone just in human sight. I returned to Schula and Nassir, who were still staring at the stone.

"Well, if we're going to walk around the whole thing we had better get started," Nassir said. "I'd prefer to be under a shade by the time the sun rises."