Fire Stones - By Kailin Gow Page 0,20

you. That's all I want.”

Chapter 8

I had run away from Varun, hoping he wouldn't see the tears streaming down my cheeks. His words had affected me deeply – and I felt as if there was some great malfunction in my soul, something thrown off-balance. I spent the rest of that day and night in a trance, unable to get him out of my mind. His words had struck me to the very core. Until that moment, I had thought only of two options: either I would prove myself to be Vesta, or I would die in the attempt. Either I would live with Chance, or I would die without him. There were no other choices. Chance had obliterated all else, burned the other choices away in the passion and flame of his life. I could not live without him; I could not live without being Vesta. I was willing to undertake that risk. But now another option stood before me. The option to choose life – life as myself, and not as Vesta. I could live – nothing had to change. I could stay me, Mac Evars. I could stay safe. The idea was suddenly attractive in its novelty. I had gotten so used to my decision that a life without that crossroads hardly seemed possible. How could I bring myself to live without being Vesta? How could I stand my own curiosity? I sighed as I pored over the Book once again. Was it even meant for me? I had certainly found one stone on my own – but I had nearly died in the attempt. Had it not been for Varun, the sharks would have had me for dinner. Did that mean that I wasn't Vesta, after all – would Vesta have been able to escape on her own? After all, I knew she had the powers of Water as well as Fire. I looked down at the book in my hands.

“Come on,” I said out loud. “Give me something. If I am Vesta, tell me.” I looked down at the book's blank parchment pages. “Give me a sign.”

Suddenly, a blot of dark ink appeared on the fresh page. “Go on!” I cried aloud.

It was drawing a map again, the calligraphy fine and precise. My heart started to beat faster and faster as I recognized the outline of the shapes. The map was luring me not to the ocean, but to the mountains. The trail I had gotten lost along my very first trek into the mountains – the trek that led me to find Chance and the mysterious Veteri. Once, they had looked on me as an outsider, a stranger, but now I was far less afraid. After all, was I not – if not the goddess herself – then at least a candidate suitable for the title? The Veteri trusted me now; they knew me as Chance's consort. I no longer feared them.

I looked down at the book, letting my feet and instincts guide me. I followed the path, entering that beautiful realm of sweet-smelling flowers, blooming in the evening light, their ripe color bright and powerful even in the dim of dusk. The vines trailed at my feet; I could smell jasmine and orange-blossom in the air; the breeze itself was sweet on my lips and tongue. This place truly was Paradise, I felt, as I wandered further into the brush. The book was leading me off the beaten track, now – this was, I knew, no tourists' trail. I was entering the quiet depths of the forest, places where the thriving industrial civilization of Aeros Island had not yet encroached upon the mystical quietude. Was this where the stone was? I felt my breath quicken with anticipation. Was this what I was meant to find?

I saw a dark figure in the distance. A guardian of the stone? I hesitated for the moment, but the book seemed to urge me onwards; the path I was to take magically traced out before me in blood-red ink upon the map. I drew closer to the figure, my body tensing up. Was this one of my attackers come back to finish the job? Would I have to fight?

But as the figure turned to face me, I felt my body sigh and slack with relief. It was only Chance.

“Good evening,” he said. He did not embrace me, and I noted that his manner was stiff, even formal. Almost cold.

“I looked for you last night,” I said. “In the gardens