Page 86 of Stealing the Star Stone
“Let’s hope the rest of this is—” She screamed, tumbling back and into Eli.
Before them stood a frail woman, her skin burnt gold, her blue tattoos glowing brighter than Amenkar’s.
“My apologies, young ones.I did not mean to startle you.I am Senmut, a Tazoc.”She touched her temple then Eli’s and Nova’s.“I guard the Kovari Shol, as is my birthright.”
“But the one we found had no such guardian,” Nova said.
“Not all our temples are accessible like they used to be so many centuries ago.”She gave them a wan smile.“We live in a changing world.”With a flick of her fingers, she asked them to follow her.“I sense you carry a shol.”She paused, studying them.“And another has touched you.”She hummed as she waddled onward.“That one was old and taken by a monster from the stars.”
“Orien’s an asshole,” Nova muttered.
The old woman cackled.“Indeed.”She ducked and dropped to her haunches to waddle along, a bright light at the end of the enclosed passage.
“Tell me, Senmut, what do the names lining the entrance mean?”Eli called past Nova, who’d dropped to all-fours to crawl behind the older woman.
“Those are my sister shol guardians who have served the Kovari Shols for millennia.I await my replacement.I was hoping when I heard you coming that my time was near.”She huffed when she straightened in the next chamber.“I have been here since I was a girl.”
“How do you survive?”he asked as he cleared the low-lying rock.Before him stood a massive chamber, imposing pillars in black stone holding up the carved ceiling.In the center was a pool packed with silver plants, quet swimming in the crystalline depths.A waterfall cascaded from a high ledge, frothing the pool’s surface.A variety of fauna and flora dominated one wall, and pictograms filled every available space.
Nowhere was a stone or a pedestal.
“Parcels are delivered through a crevice.”
“And you never leave here?”Nova asked, her eyes wide.
“No, this is my purpose.”She waved them onward while sinking onto a nearby stone bench.“The shol is behind the waterfall.”
“You’re not worried that it might shatter?”Eli asked, pulling the stone out of the bag.
“Mine is too young to die.Besides, you have already been touched.Why would it want to touch you a second time?”
“To free us, maybe?”Nova arched a brow then glanced at Eli.“Ready?”
He palmed the stone and marched to the waterfall.Sure enough, behind it sat a pedestal.“Okay, do we touch both at the same time?”
Nova shrugged.She splayed her fingers on the two stones.Since Eli was holding theirs, he had only to touch the one on the pedestal.A vibration began.He squeezed his eyes shut, half expecting another explosion.
Instead, the humming became a squeal, and fire burned from his bicep to his shoulder and into his chest.
He snatched his hand away, breaking contact.
“What the hell?”Nova demanded, whipping her gaze between the stones.She rubbed her chest as if it ached.Like Eli’s.
“Let me see your shol.”Senmut wiggled her fingers.
Eli handed it over, hopeful that she might guide them.She growled and muttered, turning the stone over.She even shoved it close to the other stone, triggering that hum.
She angled her head as if she listened intently, then she cackled.“That dear boy.This is Vael’Tir’s shol—the one Amenkar guards.”
“I knew not to trust him,” Nova snapped.
“He swapped them,” Eli said, like stating the obvious would reveal the man’s motives.It didn’t.“Why would he do this?”
Senmut closed her eyes for a few moments.When she gazed at Eli, her expression softened with sadness.“It seems his intentions toward you were not benevolent.Perhaps hoping you would die when the stones repelled each other?He loved the old chief dearly, and when the monster killed him, he was devastated.”
Nova snorted.“And he claimed that lying denied him access to heaven.The ass.”She gasped, her face paling.“We left Frederik alone with—”
“He’s a big man; he can take care of himself,” Eli said, but he hoped he spoke the truth.
