Book on the Isle by Stuart Jaffe

Author:Stuart Jaffe [Jaffe, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, parallel universe, elderly, female lead, action, adventure, magic
Publisher: Stuart Jaffe
Published: 2018-11-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Roni kept her eyes closed, feeling the cool grains of sand along the back of her neck, beneath her fingers, and under her legs. She wanted to move and not to move. If she kept her eyes closed, she could be at the beach hearing the soft waves under the cool night stars. But she heard Gram to her left sitting up, and to her right, Sully helped Elliot do the same.

“Is everyone okay?” Elliot asked.

Roni heard Gram brushing sand off her clothes as she stood. There would be no reprieve. Roni opened her eyes. “I’m okay. What did you do to us?”

Elliot sat with his bare feet in the sand. While Sully knelt behind him and massaged his temples, Elliot said, “I used the power that I had hoped I never would have to use. I learned of it in one of the old journals in the Grand Library. You see, you are not the only one who ever steps foot in there.”

“We’ve all made use of the Library, too,” Gram said as she walked over to the book. With a practiced hand, she created chains and wrapped them around the cover like ribbons around a Christmas present. “I’d still like an answer to Roni’s question, though. I’ve never seen you do that before. I’d like to know if there’s going to be some residual effects. Like this ringing in my ear — how long is that going to last?”

“There has been no permanent damage, I promise you. As to the reason why you have never seen me do this before, it is because creating that particular shockwave, the kind that disoriented those creatures, puts great strain upon me.”

Sully said, “He’s underselling it. The words great strain mean it damn near killed him. Maybe when he was a younger man, but at our age, he shouldn’t be creating that kind of thing.”

“It was, as you have probably begun to surmise, a loud blast of sound. It self–calibrated to cause maximum damage to those creatures while harming us the least possible.”

“That was the least possible?” Gram said. “I’ll pray we never have to experience it again.”

Elliot leaned over towards his side. Sully held him as his stomach convulsed. But after three fruitless heaves, Elliot continued down until his cheek rested firmly in the sand.

Roni had made it to her feet. “Any idea how long it’ll take him to recover?”

“What’s the rush?” Sully said. “You have somewhere special to be?”

“Sorry, no. I’m just happy to be done with this. We have a long walk home, and I’m looking forward to a hot bath. That’s all.”

Gram crouched near the pedestal, poking at a hole in the sand. “We’re not leaving yet.”

“I got the kyolo stones, so the mission is over. It’s what we came for. Of course, we’ll wait for Elliot to feel better, but —”

“I’m not talking about Elliot.” She looked to Sully. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. In fact, we need him to be fine. Look at these marks.”

Roni did not need to inspect the holes that had caught Gram’s interest.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.