Raven's Game by Kerry Adrienne

Author:Kerry Adrienne [Adrienne, Kerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Earthshine Publishing
Published: 2019-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

“You found these where?” Rupe turned the smooth black stones over in his hands and ran his thumbnail across the devoted runes embossed on one side of the rocks. The runes hadn’t been visible when the stones were wet but had appeared on the dry rocks as if by magic.

“Are they speaking stones?” Raven clasped her hands. “I think they are.”

“We found them in the town well. We stopped to get a drink of water, and these came up in the bucket.” Ben took a step back from Rupe. “Somehow the rocks came up in the water bucket.”

“We were looking for the stones but didn’t expect to find them there.”

“That’s the best way to find things. When you aren’t looking.” Rupe gazed across the field.

A crowd had gathered as the day waned, hoping to see the winners of the first task. They stilled, waiting on Rupe to announce whether Raven and Ben had succeeded.

“Maybe,” Raven said.

Telling Rupe about the mountain talking to her would take away any advantage the voice provided. Plus, Rupe might think she was crazy and boot her from the contest. She wasn’t sure she believed it was the mountain talking to her anyway, but whoever it was, they hadn’t led her astray yet. Even if it was her own imagination talking to her, which she doubted, it seemed to know more about the game than she did.

“Yes, these are speaking stones.” Rupe raised them in the air.

The crowd cheered, and some jumped up and down or raised glasses of ale. Any reason to celebrate, she guessed.

Rupe traced the rune on one of the stones, then tapped it three times. He held a stone out to Raven. “Come closer and listen.”

Raven stepped near and tilted her head. Rupe held the stone to her ear.

She closed her eyes and waited, the sound of her breath filling her ears. In a matter of moments, the rush of chatter replaced her voice, and she almost jerked away from the shock.

She heard it then. Talk about husbands and wash and fresh bread. Pegasusi and beer. Children and elders and whispers about dragons. Hundreds of voices spilling one over another into a jumble of sound and laughter and tears. She moved back.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Speaking stones gather and store anything they hear. They hold on to all conversations around them, collecting conversations, prayers, whatever is near.”

“Why didn’t they talk when we found them?” Ben asked. “I didn’t hear a word.”

“You need a little magic to release the words, but they are there. Waiting.” He smiled.

The speaking stones were incredible. What stories they could tell. She wondered if they had a limit to how many conversations they could hold, but she wasn’t going to ask Rupe. She’d find out later, when the game was over.

Raven scanned the crowd. Would any of the other contestants find stones? The contest couldn’t be over so quickly, but dusk approached and no one else had returned.

Raven looked to Ben. “The stones are amazing.”

He nodded and held out his hand.

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