The Five Sacred Stones of Geraptiku: Part Two

I stood on the steps of the Deserted Tomb, awestruck. Somehow I had traveled back in time to see the destruction of Geraptiku firsthand. I was both frightened and curious. How could this have happened? I was sure the stone had something to do with it.

     The ear-splitting screams brought me out of my thought process. There were people scattering everywhere, genuine fear displayed on their faces. I glanced around, trying to find something to help these people. But first, I had to see what they were running from. I looked for someone to talk to.

     A large, slightly overweight Moehog galloped past. “What’s going on?” I shouted as he dashed by me. He slowed down only to reply. “Someone…no, something is attacking the town! Get away from here as fast as possible!” He took his own advice and continued to run out of the village.

     Well, that was helpful. I could’ve figured that out myself, I thought. I headed towards the source of screams and fire, only half aware of what I was doing. I still couldn’t believe I had traveled back in time, and why I was rushing towards the attack was even more unbelievable. But something was pulling me towards it. I felt like I had to do something.

     As I neared the screams, I noticed a blue-white shimmery shape floating through the village. As I stared at it longer, I realized it was a specter. There were literally hundreds of them, hovering around the town. The townsfolk were running from them, as they destroyed the huts.

     I looked around for something, anything to stop the spirits. I found a stone by my paw, and picked it up. I hurled it towards the nearest phantom, but it passed right through it. Of course. Why didn’t I remember that? After the stone had sailed through the specter, it looked my way, and began to glide towards me. I stumbled backward, slipping on the stones.

     As it neared me, I grasped more stones, frantically searching for something to hurt the nearing ghost. Of course, everything I tossed at it flew right through it. I was doomed. Was this how I was going to go? I closed my eyes and hoped for the best.

     Suddenly, the ghost made a horrible screeching sound. I opened my eyes to find it dissolving into nothing, its face contorted into a painful grimace. I looked around and found a female Kougra standing behind me, with a glare on her face. I stood up and looked at her more carefully. She was light blue in color, with a small tuft of fur sticking up all along her spine.

     “Thanks for that. What’d you do to it?” I asked her.

     She showed me a sharp stone with engravings all around it, much like the eye shaped stone I found in the tomb. “I found this stone a few weeks back. The engravings on it tell me it’s for ‘defeating evil.’ I didn’t know what it was talking about until today. I saw those ghost things floating around town and thought I’d try to use the stone,” she told me, with a confident, unwavering voice. She seemed more male than female.

     “Can I see it?” I asked eagerly, curious about this stone that seemed so much like the one that brought me here in the first place. She gingerly placed it in my Gelert paws, and I felt the weight of it.

     “How do you use it?” I asked.

     “I just threw it at the ghost, and it did the rest. Then, it jumped back to my hand. It was weird, like it was conscious or something. When I threw it, I used the same technique as if I were trying to skip a stone across a pond, you know? But it came back to me. It was very weird.”

     “That is weird. And you said you just found it?”

     “Yeah, a couple weeks ago. I was walking from the beach and I found it on the pathway.”

     “So you can read these engravings?” I asked, trying to get some answers although my head was spinning already.

     “Yeah, everyone can. Can’t you?” she asked suspiciously.

     “Er, no. I’m not exactly from here. Anyways, can you read what it says on this one?” I asked, pulling out the stone shaped like the eye. I gave it to her, and she examined it closely.

     “It says something strange,” she told me. “It says ‘When the glorious village is in need.’ Why would it say that?” she asked as she looked at me.

     I shrugged. I still didn’t have any answers. “What’s your name?” I asked.

     “It’s Ekwi,” she told me.

     “Nice to meet you. I’m Jake.”

     “Hello, Jake,” Ekwi said. She looked around. “Well, looks like we scared them off.”

     I hadn’t noticed, but it was true. There were no ghosts around anymore. “Why were they here in the first place?” I asked.

     “It is a long story. Do you know who Tura-Kepek is?” she asked me.

     I didn’t. Shaking my head no, I replied, “Who is he?”

     “He is a shaman. He lives in Techo Mountain, to the south.”

     “What does he have to do with the spirits?”

     “He conjured them. He asked for a sacrifice from the town, and we didn’t submit to his orders. So, he sent the spirits.”

     “Is this the first time he’s done this?” I asked.

     “Yes. It has shocked and surprised us. We weren’t expecting this, not in the least,” she said somberly.

     “I’m sorry, Ekwi. Is there anything I could do to help?” I asked.

     “No, I do not think so. But I will take you the Council of Elders; they might have more insight into what these stones are for. If we both have one, then they must be important.”

     “Great, maybe we’ll get some answers,” I said eagerly.

     Ekwi led me towards one of the huts. It was larger than the rest, circular and dark brown, like mud. It had a large chimney belching out dark smoke in the center, and there was a curtain made of enormous leaves covering the entrance.

     Ekwi led me to the entrance and shouted: “Oh, great Council of Elders, it is Ekwi, daughter of Ozinma, here to share news with you!”

     Faint murmuring came from inside, and after a moment, a feeble voice allowed entrance. We stepped inside and I surveyed the room. Five elders, four males and one female sat on oversized cushions in a circle surrounding the fire. The female was a Techo, and two of the males were Kougras. The other two were Myncis. They all wore headdresses painted with the colors of fire.

     “Speak, Ekwi,” said the female, who seemed to be the leader. Her headdress was the largest, and she sat facing the entrance to the hut.

     Ekwi stepped forward. “I have two things to share with you. First, I present to you Jake, who wishes to speak with you. Second, I would like to share with you this stone I found, which seems to have magical properties and engravings. I’d like to add that Jake also has a stone similar to mine, with the same type of engravings.”

     I felt the council’s collective eyes swivel towards me, and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. “Um, hello,” I said sheepishly.

     “Where did you come from, Gelert?” one of the Myncis asked me.

     I didn’t know how to answer this question. I didn’t want to lie, but would they accept the idea that I time-traveled? I decided to bite the bullet.

     “Er, you see, I’m from the future.” I held up the stone. “This stone brought me here. That tomb you built, well in the future, it’s open to anybody. I went inside and found this stone, which in turn took me here. I don’t know why and I don’t know how, but it did. I was hoping you’d be able to shed some light on it.”

     The elders stared at me for at least a minute without saying anything. Finally, the Techo spoke up. “We know nothing of this stone. May I see it?” she asked. I walked towards her and handed her the stone that started this adventure. She held it in her hands and read the symbols.

     “Why does it say these things?” she asked with a hint of distress in her voice. “Why does it say ‘When the glorious village is in need?’” The other elders murmured, concern on their faces.

     I shrugged my shoulders. “I just found it, I don’t know what it’s for.”

     “Well, we will have to discuss this. Ekwi, you said you had something else as well?”

     The Kougra, happy to be acknowledged again, stepped forward. “Yes, I do. I found a stone similar to the one Jake has.” She handed it to the Chief Elder, and she examined it much like the other one.

     “What does this one do?” she asked.

     “It hurts the specters,” she said. “I threw it at one earlier and the spirit disappeared.”

     “Ah, then this stone is a valuable weapon in the hands of the Geraptikuans. May we examine it further?”

     Ekwi nodded. “Very well,” the Techo said, “we will have a discussion on the matters at hand. We will call for you later. Thank you, Ekwi. Thank you, Jake.”

     Ekwi and I left the Council’s hut, and looked around. “Well, that went better than I expected,” I told Ekwi.

     “What do you mean?” she replied.

     “Well, I thought that me being from the future would have caused a bigger commotion,” I confessed. “I almost didn’t tell you the truth.”

     “To be honest, that is not the strangest thing to happen to this town, Jake,” Ekwi told me. “This village is not normal.”

     “Even still, how often is it that you have a person from the future showing up?” I asked her.

     “That is true, but-” she stopped and threw up a paw to signal to stop talking. Her ears perked up.

     I heard it too. There was a whooshing sound, and then there was a scream from the left. I turned my head toward it to see the spirits I saw earlier.

     “They’re back!” Ekwi shouted.

     For the second time in a day, the spirits had returned to ransack the town.

To be continued…