Chapter Eighty-six: The dark rock

I wake seemingly a few hours later as it’s still dark above. I sit myself up and see that Elijah is still fast asleep and Nuria hasn’t returned.

I lay back down and snuggle into my sleeping bag, suddenly jumping as I feel the jagged edges of the rock on my side. I move my hand down and grab the rock, bringing it up into my view.

I observe it and see it gleams as I turn it in my hand, even though it is as black as night. I think back to what the Geodra said about it being powerful for Fedori, but it could also be his downfall. I wonder what Nuria could do with this. I hope it helps her and her powers. I wonder if she’ll be able to feel the power from the rock on her return. I tuck it back next to me and just look up to the night sky. I see the Sun starting to topple over the Eastern horizon. I sigh, deeply, knowing that we now have the task of finding Fedori and fighting this war he’s started.

My thoughts drift to Lukas. I hate knowing that he’s hurting. My heart cracks at the thought of him surviving through this all this time. I hope he knows I will never stop searching for him. I will find him and we will be together once again.

I see Elijah raise from his sleeping bag, raising his arms above his head, stretching. He turns to me and smiles.

“Morning. You’re up first, as usual.” He sighs. “You know, you should sleep more, you’re starting to get really dark circles under your eyes.”

I give him a deadpan look which causes him to chuckle.

“I know, I just can’t sleep.” I state, yawning.

“Looks like your body is telling you otherwise. I’d suggest trying to rest more, we can wait for Nuria to get back.” He says after noticing she’s not back yet.

Just as the words exit his mouth, a portal opens and Nuria returns, a chicken already skinned over her shoulder. She looks at as her portal closes.

“You’re both up early.” Nuria says, dusting herself down. She looks over to me and I see her brows knit together, but she shakes her head and stands upright, lobbing the chicken next to her sleeping bag which is never used.

“What’s the plan for today?” She asks.

“Today….today we start this war.” I say, causing them both to snap their heads my way.

“What do you mean? I thought we were still looking?” Elijah says, unable to hide his surprise.

“Oh, I found them. Or well, they found me, last night.”

Elijah raises his eyebrow. “Who? Who is it we’ve been looking for? I don’t understand why you’ve kept this quiet.”

I sigh, feeling his frustration. “I didn’t say who or what because I wasn’t even sure myself. I thought I had seen them years ago when I was travelling on my own.”

Elijah crosses his arms and Nuria moves closer to listen in. They both patiently wait for me to finish.

“I was looking for something the humans called a Geodra.”

Nuria makes no expression but I see Elijah’s mouth open slightly. “No one’s seen them in hundreds of years.”

“What’s a Geodra?” Nuria asks, unsure what I’m referring to.

Elijah looks to her. “A Geodra, or what we called the crystallised ones, are, in legends, blue giants that had been turned to stone, or well these crystallised beings by an evil person. It’s told they will stay like this for a millennium, never to go back to what they were.

In our history, it was said they made a deal, not understanding the full context of this deal with this evil person. They fulfilled their side of the deal, but on completion, they turned into these stone creatures.”

I frown. I did not know any of the backstory. “That’s horrible. Is there any information on what it was they made a deal for?”

He looks at me. “Immortality. I’m unsure what it was they gave in return.”

I raise my eyebrows. It seems like everything wants to be immortal. I think about my time with Lukas but brush away the thoughts instantly.

“Well, anyway, they climbed up the cliff last night….after I was playing with the water.” I say, a slight blush coming up on my cheeks. I see Elijah smirk at me. “What! I like training, what’s wrong with that!”

He and Nuria laugh at my bashfulness. I disregard their laughs and continue. “They were slow and didn’t really say too much. However, they did give me this.” I reach into my sleeping bag and pull out the stone. I see Nurias expression change to confusion.

“They gave me this to give to you.” I say to Nuria, standing up from my sleeping bag and staking a step towards her, extending my hand to give her the stone. “They said that our next task is to find the dark one, which I assume means Fedori, and that he must die. They then gave me this and called it obsidian, saying that you will be able to find him with this.”

She still looks shocked but doesn’t move. “They described it being the rock of darkness, and that it can bring the dark one immense power, but it could also destroy him.”

Nuria still doesn’t move so I step closer. Her black eyes glisten at the rock.

“I can feel the power emanating from it the closer you get. I thought your aura felt weird as soon as I returned. That’s the reason why.” She says, pointing at the rock.

“I’ve never come across something like this before.” She says, and I can feel worry wash over her.

“What is it your worried about?” I ask.

“I’m worried that that will turn me into my Father.”

I look down at the rock which looks harmless. I can’t feel much from it, but I can feel a bit of power pour from it as it’s in my hands. I look back to Nuria.

“I would never let that happen. But the Geodras were adamant that this would help us find him, which is what we’ll have to do now….if you’re not comfortable then I’m sure we can find another way?”

I push my hand forward, the rock in my palm. I see Nuria hesitate but I see determination in her eyes. She knows she’ll have to be more powerful if we’re to face her Father together.

She steps forward and clasps her hands around the rock. I instantly feel the power from the rock entwine itself around her hand as she touches it. She gasps as the power from the rock encases her body.

After a few moments, she seems to settle down and opens her hand to view the rock settled within.

“Woah…..what was that. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life.” Nuria says, unable to contain her shock.

I smile at her, seeing her enjoy the power it’s given her. I suppose it’s similar as to when I touched the Elder tree, bar the being pushed back forcefully. She tucks it away in her pocket. I look to Elijah who is smiling at her as well.

I bend down to grab my sleeping bag to roll it up and pack up the camp we’ve made for the night. “I believe it’s time we start bringing everyone together. It’s time to end this war and bring your Father down.”

Elijah moves to his own sleeping bag to do the same. “What about the Geodras? Do we need to tell them where?”

“No, they just said they’ll be there. I’ve no idea how, but I assume they can probably tell when it’s going to happen. I have a feeling they’re drawn to power.” I say, noting that they came to me when I was using my own powers.

“Did they say where they got the stone from?” Nuria asks, and I can see she’s intrigued about its origin.

“Unfortunately not, they didn’t say much at all apart from what I’ve already said.“

She nods in understanding. I suspect she’ll ask them when we see them again.

We spend the next thirty minutes packing everything away and trying to make it look like we were never here, just like we have all other nights. I throw my bag over my shoulders and stand next to my friends who have journeyed with me here.

“Now…..now all we have to do is summon the darkness, fight them as ours and everyone elses life depends on it, defeat them and kill Fedori, save Lukas and whomever else he’s captured, make use of our promise to the vampires and then send everyone home and live happily ever after.” Elijah says in a sarcastic voice. I slap him on the arm.

“You make it sound so impossible. We’ve got this. The main thing we need to do is get rid of my Father. That will probably wipe out or scare away his army. Then we can go from there.” Nuria says and I smile at her knowing she’s gained some confidence since touching the stone.

I look up to the sky which is now a blue and orange haze as dawn starts to tower over us.

“It’s time for us to figure out where we’re going to have this war.