The fifth stone

The colors of the aurora didn’t fade away completely; they only faded so much so that Ruki could see where she was. She was at the bottom of the breach, all the way to the end. Behind her, the huge pillar towered over her. At the bottom of the pillar was the door she had apparently taken while she was under the spell of this place; the same spell that had shown her Takato.

She hadn’t noticed it before, but suddenly the pull was back in full force. This time, it pulled her towards the door and back into the tower once again. She approached it with caution, not forgotten what had happened to her mother here. She decided to follow the pull instead of looking for Taira; her mother would surely feel the pull too, so she would find her mother at the centre. Or so she hoped.

As she entered the door, she was in the dark hallway again. The only thing that had changed was that the colors of the aurora now also seemed to flow along the walls in here; something she had not seen before. She felt the pull coming from the end of the hallway, and without giving in completely, Ruki continued along the path that the pull cut out for her.

As she got closer to the centre of the pillar, Ruki could see the light was actually flowing towards the centre, as if it could not resist the pull either. Was the stone in there? Ruki began to walk a little bit harder. The closer she got, the stronger the pull came. As she was about halfway through the tunnel, Ruki saw light ahead of her. Strange, Ruki thought, for surely it had been pitch dark when she had been there with her mother. How long ago was that anyway? An hour? Ten minutes? A few hours? A day? Ruki had lost track of time during the illusion.

Getting closer, Ruki noticed the light at the end was exceptionally bright as if the sun itself was captured there. Wondering if her eyes could ever get adjusted to such brightness, Ruki moved forward, following the aurora lights that crept past her along the walls. The walls themselves, Ruki now saw, were slightly decorated with a swirling line, but it was hard to see the details behind the light.

At last, Ruki arrived at the pillar. The light, she saw, came from the light that was now flowing along the walls of the room. Looking up, Ruki could barely believe how high it was. Apparently the pillar was hollow all the way to the top, for there was no ceiling and Ruki could see the dark sky faintly far above her. The pillar was huge, extending far to either side. Across from her, she could see the doors leading to the stairs her mother and her had used to enter the pillar.

Then it caught her gaze. Exactly in the middle of the room stood a large altar, sparkling in the aurora light that swirled around her. It seemed to be made of pure gold. The square base was half a meter high, and on top of it stood was looked like a large flower whose petals reached out to the sky above. Cautiously, Ruki approached the altar, only then noticing the drawings on the floor.

Signs Ruki never saw before covered the entire room, circling in ever smaller circles around the altar. They looked like runes, letters of ancient languages Ruki could not read, richly decorated with gold. Ruki was curious of what they said, but she did not stop to look; she was more interested in what the altar held.

When she finally reached the altar, Ruki was almost ashamed to climb on the base, but she had to if she wanted to look in the flower; it was simply too high for her otherwise. She didn’t want to defile this beautiful altar by making scratches… it would be rude and she would surely damage something incredibly old. Gathering up her courage, she climbed on it anyway, and looked into the flower.

In the middle of the flower lay a perfectly round stone. Its outer material was perfectly clear like a round glass window, but inside swirled a golden substance so beautiful Ruki had no words for it. Ruki could not help but stare at it. The golden substance swirled around freely as if it was not limited to the inside of the stone. Ruki didn’t know what it was, but part of her didn’t care much; it was simply too beautiful.

“You found me… Ruki, princess of the Friendship Lands.” The stone said.
Ruki gasped when she realized that unlike earlier, the voice did not just appear in her head but came to her from all sides. Looking up, Ruki saw that nothing had changed… but she was sure she heard the voice not only inside her head. Should she talk back? How do you talk to a stone, anyway?

“I… guess I did.” Ruki said hesitantly.  

“I am glad… you passed my test.” Once again, Ruki heard the voice echo from the room.
“Your test? Was that you?” Ruki blinked, unable to really grasp the idea of a stone testing her, no matter how magical.
“Yes… that was me. Only those who wield the Old Magic are allowed to find me, so I had to test you. But you passed. You are truly the True Heir.” Ruki blushed, not knowing what to do with such a compliment.

“How is it you can speak like this?” Ruki asked.
“I always could… how come it surprises you?” The stone asked.
“My family, we… are gathering the stones. All five of them. To save the world from eternal darkness. And the other stones don’t talk much at all… except for a few whispers here and there that linger in your mind only.” Ruki confessed, hoping the stone knew what she was talking about.

“My sisters… have lost their ability to speak? That is sad news indeed. It is a good thing that you are gathering us. There is not much time left.” The stone said.
“I know there isn’t. But we found all of you now. And me and my mother… we know where the winged one is.”
“That is good. You should find her. I fear there is still much she does not understand.”

“Do you have a name?” Ruki asked, suddenly thinking it would be weird for such a… creature to not have a name.
“My name… is Saule.”
“Saule… that is beautiful.” Ruki had to admit. “Does it mean anything?”
“It means Golden Glow in the ancient language.” The stone answered.
“Oh…” Ruki whispered, thinking that it was a fitting name indeed.

“I… I think I will have to take you away from here, Saule. We were told by one of the other stones to gather all five stones on one place to resurrect the Guardians, so I will have to take you away from here. Is that okay?” Ruki felt kind of weird, asking a stone permission to be lifted.

“That is not for me to decide. You know what you must do, Princess Ruki. The only question I have to ask is this; are you able and willing to face the consequences of your actions?”
“The…” Ruki began, but she stopped when she realized she did not know what the stone meant. If they took the stone, they would be able to resurrect the guardians and restore the world…

But then she remembered what their next task would be. The last stone they had to collect… the stone that kept her home the way it was, and whose removal would surely destroy it. And then she remembered the story of the other stone they had taken from the pure river Fiume, condemning the river to a normal existence. What would removing this stone mean?

“I am. We have no other choice; we need you to save this world. We will face whatever else happens, because if we don’t we will only face something worse.” A voice said. Ruki turned to see her mother approach the altar.
“Mother!” Ruki exclaimed, relieved to see her mother alive and well.

“Hello, Ruki.” Taira greeted her daughter.
“Where have you been? You suddenly disappeared!” Ruki said.
“I fell down.” Taira admitted as she walked on. “I fell down somewhere, and I got lost in the darkness. Only fifteen minutes ago or so, a light appeared and I could follow it, feeling the pull once more.” Taira explained.
“I see… I… I found the stone.”

“When I heard the voice I thought you had.” Taira smiled. “This stone… she is much stronger than the others, isn’t she.” Taira stated more than she asked.
“Yes, I think so. I never heard the others talk like this.” Ruki replied.
“I am sad to hear that. I wish my sisters were still awake… time is running out. Find my last sister and start your ritual.” The stone added.
“Don’t worry, we will.”

“Do you want to take her out?” Taira asked her daughter.
“Yes.” Ruki answered and turned back to the stone. “I’m going to take you out now.” She told it.
“I am prepared. It has been thousands of years since I moved from this spot… I think it is high time I will be taken away from here.” Saule said, not sounding altogether convinced. Could a stone possibly be afraid?

Ruki slowly lifted the stone from the flower, amazed at how light it was.

When she lifted the stone from the altar, the aurora lights that had been slowly flowing around inside the pillar started spinning like mad. Ruki became dizzy from the rapid spinning around her. Slowly but surely, the colored light came closer and closer to her and the stone, ever spinning faster and faster. Ruki stepped off the altar and stood close to her mother.

“Mom…” She whispered.
“Don’t worry. It will be okay.” Taira comforted her while patting Ruki’s hair. The light came closer and closer and closer… until it closed in on them and seemed to pass right through them. In the end the light circled around the stone only, to be absorbed by it only a moment later. For a while, everything went completely dark. Would they have to light their old torch again?

But then, very soft at first, a light appeared below her. From deep inside the stone, a soft light began to shine. Weak as a small candle at first, but rapidly growing into a bulb of light as strong as a small star.
“The stone…” Ruki whispered. The light coming from the stone appeared to her as a soft golden glow that illuminated the path in front of her.
“Shall we go upstairs again, to the others? They must be getting worried.” Taira said.
“Yea. We should go.” Ruki agreed.

They walked towards the stairs, which were faintly visible in the light the stone provided them. “I am happy we found it.” Ruki said to her mother as they walked.
“I am too. And to think this one is still so… strong and conscious. Very different from the others. Hikary will be amazed; Saule might be able to answer so many of her questions.” Taira smiled.

“Yea. I can’t wait to see her reaction.” Ruki agreed.
“Hikary is your sister?” Saule asked, and Ruki noticed her voice now only sounded in her mind.
“Yes. Hikary is my younger sister. She has been taking care of the other stones and she has led the research on them.” Taira explained.
They walked on, chatting about Hikary and the other stones, and much sooner than Ruki had anticipated they reached the stairs.

“Well, Saule, are you ready to leave the pillar behind?” Ruki asked.
“Yes. It’s about time, I’d say.” Saule replied, making Ruki laugh.
“Very well. Let’s go then; let’s take you outside.” Ruki held the stone firmly as she put her hoof on the first stair, suddenly dreading the long climb. Surely it would take forever to get upstairs again… but at least they were not in a rush, she thought as she walked on.

As soon as her entire body had left the room, however, a thundering noise came from behind them. Ruki turned, seeing the altar collapse in on itself. Only a split second later, the walls of the pillar began to show cracks, and small pieces broke off and fell on the floor. The cracks rapidly spread up through the walls of the pillar, and it took no genius to realize that very soon the pillar would collapse in on itself.

“It’s falling apart!” Ruki screamed, dashing up the stairs.
“Run, Ruki! We have to get out before the entire place collapses!” Taira screamed as she followed her daughter. Ruki galloped up the stairs as fast as she had never ran before.
“I will ask you one more time, Princess Ruki, True Heir to the Friendship Lands and wielder of Old Magic… Are you prepared to face the consequences of your actions?”