Page 64 of Charmed

Fourteen

Stone, Persimmon, and the others stood just outside the Quamm Caves, thankfully having gotten there before King Sethor and his army of men arrived.

“I will distract the gnomes while the rest of you go with Persimmon to open the portal,” said Elric. “Stone, go through and warn your king, but first give me the two gemstones you hold since we don’t want that evil man to get them.” His hand was out in front of Stone once again.

“I can’t do that,” said Stone.

“Persimmon will need to use one of them to try to open the portal,” Elric continued.

“Will it really work, Father?” asked Lira excitedly. “Will Persimmon be able to use a stone to open a portal?”

“She will,” said Elric. “One of the thirteen gems will open the portal, and also close it.”

“How do you know this? I thought you said you didn’t know what powers the stones held.” Stone exchanged glances with Aithrod as Fang sniffed around the opening of the cave, afraid to go in since the dog remembered about the gnomes only too well.

“I might know a little about this, after all. I’m a sage, remember. I’m the keeper of knowledge.”

“Do you know what each of the thirteen gemstones does?” asked Persimmon.

“Nope. Just the one.” The damn elf was biting at his hangnail again.

“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.