26 The Legend of the Stone

Falcon stared. 'The next person to….inherit a power? What power?'

'This might sound insane but…the stone has the power to open up a gateway…it can be anywhere and only the person in possession of the stone knows and can create the archway….or the entrance.'

Falcon licked his lips. His throat suddenly felt parched and he wished some of the water in Autumn's bottle was still swishing away in there. There was a sudden desire to quench the thirst which made his throat feel like sandpaper. Somehow, he knew the answer was not going to be pleasant when he asked her, 'What's behind the gateway?'

Autumn sighed. 'The invisible creatures.'

Falcon snorted. 'Yeah, right.' He rolled a blade of grass in his fingers, waiting for her to speak more or laugh it off by saying "I was kidding." After a few moments of complete silence from her side, Falcon looked up at her, to find her staring intensely at him. 'You are not lying.' He stated, his mouth falling open.

'Thank you.' She snapped. 'The gateway conceals, or imprisons, the ancient unseen demons which are controlled by the possessor of the stone, but they have to be released by the same person. Falcon, the creatures would do whatever you command them to, including theft, murder, and other horrendous crimes.'

Falcon realized he had been gaping at her and quickly shut his mouth. He shook his head slowly to get out of the daze and whispered, 'The power to control invisible monsters?'

'This can't happen, Falcon. Your client MUSN'T get hold of the object. You realize the consequences would be more than grave?' She sounded desperate.

'Cyan would die.' Falcon rubbed his eyes, a wave of fatigue crashing onto him. 'Why didn't you tell me all this before?'

'When?'

'When you were yelling at me in the cabin, of course.'

She glared at him. 'How many times are you going to raise this topic again?'

'Actually, this is the first time.'

She looked away annoyed and Falcon grinned internally. When Autumn was annoyed, she looked like she was on her way to behead someone. 'Who else knows of the package?' he asked.

'That's the thing, I don't know. It could be just me and Grandpa or it could be several other people.'

'That really narrows down the plan of action.' He said.

'Look, are you going to be like this the whole time?'

'Like what?'

'All sarcastic and snappy, and acting like an idiot in general.' She said.

'Yes.'

She groaned and looked away purposely, holding her mouth firmly shut from responding to him anymore. Falcon hid another smile and said, 'Autumn, how do you think the stone ended up with Cyan's parents in the first place?'

She looked over, her eyebrows furrowed together, as if a million wheels were spinning in her mind. 'I have my doubts, but I can't confirm anything yet.' She shook her head.

'That cleared everything.'

'Shut up.' She threw a handful of mud over to him which he dodged away.

Autumn stood up suddenly, dusting her pants violently to get rid of the mud and dung from her clothes. 'Let's go to Renatus.' She said.

At first, Falcon thought he had misheard. 'Renatus? Surely, you don't mean….The Renatus? As in Renatus, the Demon Slayer.' He gulped.

A chilly breeze swept over the field, and the blades of grass rustled briefly while the goose bumps on Falcon's arms stood up. Has Autumn really called her grandfather Renatus? This was completely insane, or maybe the lack of sleep was finally making him hallucinate the wildest of fantasies.

'Really, how stupid are you, Falcon? I have been going on and on about the demon slayer and you didn't figure it out?'

'But, isn't he a legend? The hero of the tragedy that marred this city six years ago? Are you telling me the comics and movies are based on a person who is real and not just made up by the police to give an explanation for how the city was saved?'

A strange shadow crossed Autumn's face, disappearing just as quickly, but not before Falcon caught the fleeting look of mortification. What he had said had somehow offended her but he couldn't understand what it was. 'All legends are based on facts.' She stated quickly.

'True that.' He nodded. He couldn't understand why she looked a little angry still, but then again, he was just imagining things this late in the night.

'How do you open up the gate?' He asked, by way of distracting her.

For a moment, a hint of a smile appeared on her mouth, as if she couldn't wait to tell him. Falcon knew the answer would be unpleasant, or downright disgusting but he wasn't expecting what she said next.

'You sacrifice your blood.'

'Eh?' An incoherent sound escaped his mouth before he shut it quickly.

'The possessor of the stone has to slash their wrist or any other body part they choose to and drip the blood on the sealed gateway EVERY single time they want to summon the demons.' Autumn said, shaking her head slightly.