“He’s lying,” said Stone.
“Father!” scolded Lira.
“Oh, all right. Yes, I do know. I found out what powers the stones have when I was guarding them for the gods. I just don’t know which stone does what. Now, if only I had known it took the Chosen One to actually use them, I never would have stolen them to begin with.”
“Stone, give me the one to hold that burned my hand,” said Persimmon. “I already know I have a connection with that one, so mayhap it’ll open the portal.”
“I don’t like this.” Stone felt overly cautious. “We need to have a plan. And I need to bring back Rancor and Filip. I’m afraid we’re not going to have time to go through the portal and return before Sethor gets here.”
“Then we can hide and jump out and surprise them when they arrive,” said Aithrod. “If Persimmon manages to open the portal it will attract them, so they won’t be looking for us.”
“Yes,” said Stone. “We can grab the thieves and dive through the portal before anyone realizes what happened.”
“Then, I can close the portal before King Sethor and his armed men go through,” added Persimmon with a nod.
“Wait a minute. Stop.” Stone held up his hand. “We are getting ahead of ourselves. We don’t even know yet if you can open the portal, sweetheart.”
“I can do it. I’m sure I can. But I’ll need to try all of the stones to figure out which one works on the portal.”
“You heard her. She needs all of the gemstones, Elric.” Stone nodded at the elf. “Give her the bag.”
“Yes, Father, give me the bag of gems.” Persimmon held out her hand this time.
“What? Nay!” shouted the elf, his hand going to the bag to protect it.
“Father, she is your daughter,” said Lira. “You can trust her.”
“I have to bring these stones back to the gods. I don’t want her giving them to the big oaf.”
“Trust me,” said Persimmon. “I don’t want the stones getting into the hands of an evil king. I just want to start trying them all before Sethor arrives.”
“You can stay right here with her to guard them,” Stone assured him.
“Well…all right.” Finally, Elric handed over the bag of gemstones to Persimmon.
“And now yours, Stone.” Persimmon held out her hand to him now.
Stone knew he had to give them up. If he didn’t, Elric would probably take his back and they’d be right where they started. They were wasting precious time. And as much as he realized that he couldn’t give the gems back to King Helix anymore, he also knew that if he didn’t, he’d be giving up a wife, a position at court, and most of all his security back on Taelgonoth. It was a bitter poison either way.
“Here, take them,” he said, dropping them into Persimmon’s hand. “But if and when that portal opens, I want you far from it, Persimmon. Do you understand? Aithrod and I will pull Rancor and Filip through it and then you close it fast behind us before Sethor and his army can get through.”
“How will I know when to open it again so you can come back?” she asked.
“You’re not going to do that,” said Stone sadly, the words breaking his heart, but it was something that needed to be done. “Once we’re through, do not ever open the portal to Taelgonoth again. I mean it, Persimmon.”
“What are you saying?” asked Persimmon, taking the gems from Stone. “If I don’t open the portal again, how will you return?”
“We’re staying there and not returning,” said Stone, nodding at Aithrod. “Taelgonoth is our home, not Mura. You belong here.”
“Nay, I don’t belong here,” she said. “Stone, I don’t want you to leave me.”
“Here comes Zann and his brothers,” announced Lira, taking their attention.
“They’re coming,” shouted Rhys, riding faster than his brothers atop his war horse.
“Hurry, Persimmon. You’ve got to learn how to open the portal quickly. Aithrod, let’s get into position to surprise them.” Stone gave her a kiss on the forehead, and ran off to hide with Aithrod. Fang followed.
“You’re going to have to go inside the cave to do it,” Elric told her. “You need to be where the portal opened last time to make sure you’re not opening a different portal entirely.”
“Inside the cave?” asked Persimmon. “But I thought there were nasty gnomes in there.”
“There are,” said Lira. “Father, how will we hold them back?”
“Leave that to me.” Elric zipped away, and returned riding on the back of Fang. Fang barked and tried to buck him off but without success.
“Let’s go. Follow me,” shouted the elf, leading the way inside the cave from the back of the dog.
As promised, Elric distracted the gnomes, which gave Persimmon and Lira the chance to get inside the cave without being noticed or attacked.
“Over there,” yelled Elric, pointing to where the portal had appeared last time. Then, he took off once again atop Fang, with all the gnomes chasing him with their picks and axes pointed at them.
“I hope they don’t get hurt,” said Persimmon, pulling the first stone out of the pouch. She had added Stone’s gems to the bag along with those that her father held.
“I think they’ll be fine,” Lira told her. “Quickly, I hear King Sethor and his army approaching. Try the gems.”
The first gemstone she held did nothing to open the portal, but she screamed when her feet left the ground and she started to float around the cave.
“Oh, my!” exclaimed Lira. “Put it down and try another one. Quickly.”
