response and still looking disbelievingly at him.
“I’m sorry ‘V’, I will be back. I promise! You have my word. I won’t leave you for long mate, just until I know that Ben is safe. I have to do this, I have to know he’s gonna be alright. Then I’ll return, believe me.”
Verastus bowed his head in despair as Jake took the two pieces of Reolite that Tien had given him from out of his pocket. He carefully placed one back inside and he was just about to use the first, when Tien stopped him.
“Jake! What of the box of stones? Are you not taking them? You are the Keeper, you have to look after them, without them...”
He stopped in mid sentence, certain that Jake understood the gravity of his decision.
Jake stared briefly at the box in Tien’s hand.
“You keep them, Tien. Look after them for me. I leave them here with you, as a sign of good faith, to show all the people of Estia that I intend to return. As I have promised to do. Continue with the quest to find the stones, I will find you. The Reolite should return me to somewhere close to the stones’ location. That much I have learned. Now, I have to go, time may be critical for Ben!”
Tien nodded at him and Jake knelt down at his friend’s side. He lifted Ben’s stiff body up with a little help from Verastus, who rushed to his aid. Then he threw the Reolite stone on the floor in front of them as he shouted out loudly.
“LeaddFenukearalesskechad...... Ferek!”
The words came out of nowhere. He hadn’t thought, he’d just spoken, and it had flowed instinctively. A bright light shone out of the stone, it shot quickly up to the sky, reaching the clouds in less than a second. Jake nodded to Verastus, who let go of Ben. With a brief glance at Tien, he shoved Ben into the light, following immediately behind him and falling into it just before it disappeared. A dull stone was all that was left on the floor.
The Keeper was gone! Whatever trials and tribulations lay in store for all those opposing King Vantrax on Rhuaddan, they would now have to face them alone. For the moment at least. Tien looked over at the disconsolate face of Verastus.
“Well, my friend. It is you and I who must now rise to the challenge. Jake will need us all to be strong, we must try to minimise the disruption to our plans that his absence brings. Are you with me? We are on our own, it is an unexpected and unwanted development, but we are a force to be reckoned with, are we not?”
Verastus lifted his head slowly to speak. “Yes, wizard, I am with you. I have yet to repay my debt to the Keeper and I am sorry for my show of despair. Many years of captivity have eaten at my courage. It is like you appear to be I am afraid, frail and....”
“Chaar, yes,” interrupted Tien, but, like me Verastus, appearances can be deceptive!”
Verastus smiled at him and walked over to pick up his bag. He returned as Tien was packing the box of stones away into Ben’s.
“Tien, tell me truthfully, can Jake save Ben? He looked as close to death as any creature I have seen. Will he succeed? And, I do not believe I am saying this, more importantly, will he return? Can you see it?” he pleaded anxiously.
“I told you,” began the old wizard, “I cannot speak of events to come, though I yearn sometimes to warn of danger. I could not interfere with what was meant to be! Events such as these happen for a reason. My powers are limited, the spirits know this, I can only see that which I am allowed to see. The gift of foresight has deserted me now, I see nothing. I am as blind as you are to future events. All I have now to guide me, is faith. And I tell you, Verastus… The Keeper will return!”
Chapter 43
‘Home’
Jake stepped into the light with Ben’s stiffened body falling just ahead of him. For a split second or two his senses were overloaded by a kaleidoscope of different, brightly coloured lights. He found himself whirling round and round inside some kind of vortex, a long, blurred tube which seemed to have no visible end. Both of its sides seemed to be constructed from a cacophony of different sounds and sights, none of