Chapter 14 On the way to the border

They were getting ready, Torib, Illia and Melody. Melody's rucksack was the smallest as Illia decided to carry part of her stuff. Melody went outside followed by Illia while Torib was still inside looking for a set of silver knives.

"Illia, why do I need to go to that border? Will we be able to check if I'm a Stone Whisperer there?" Melody corrected her clothes again as something was grazing her neck.

"Yeah, you see along the border there are magical stones placed in stone lanterns. They create a shield that protects us against the creatures from the wasteland. They are the most powerful and Stone Whisperers can hear them from afar." Illia fastened a sword to his back so he could lightly pull it out.

"Recently there have been problems as some of the stones are fading and their power is becoming weaker. That's why we were attacked before by the werewolves. Sometimes the shield fades for a moment creating a loop for the creatures to come across. The stones are very rare and hard to find. A single stone can be worth up to fifty golden coins." Illia explained further.

Melody's eyes widened.

"So much money for a single stone?"

"Yes, but for us they are simply priceless. Without them there is no shield and we won't be able to cover so much ground and protect other people as we do now."

At that very moment Torib went out of the house followed by Lorien. She looked worried.

"Illia, Torib come back safe and bring back my daughter. Safe and sound." She waved them goodbye as they were leaving. Melody turned around and waved back, she noticed Jin. He was standing with a gloomy face at the side of the road next to Ilia's parent's house. He was looking at Melody, who decided to turn away and followed Torib and Illia. For a moment the sight of lonely Jin was stuck in her head.

They quickly left the village behind and were heading north. The way at first was quite comfortable, even and wide, but soon however it became narrower and bumpy as they entered the dense forest. Melody used to spend a lot of time in the woods collecting herbs so out of habit she was looking around. She even spotted little yellow flowers, they were good if you had a cold.

"Melody, we don't have time for this." Illia rushed her and She unwillingly followed, leaving the herb behind. They didn't talk much, all their effort was put into walking.

"We need to get to the upper cave. It's a safe spot. It will get dark soon." Torib, who was leading the way, set a faster pace. It was hard for Melody to keep up with it but she grit her teeth together and followed. The reached the cave as it was already getting dark. The path was barely seen and Melody tripped twice.

"We are staying here for the night." Torib took off his rucksack and put it on the ground.

"Illia check the surroundings." Illia moved without a word and Melody decided to unpack the fur pieces they were supposed to use for sleeping.

"We won't make a fire, it attracts attention. But we will use this little stone to create a barrier. It's not like the border stones but it works well for smaller spaces." He showed Melody a small piece of blue crystal that was luminescent. "These stones are precious, I got this one from my father after his death. If you find such stones, the whole tribe would be more than grateful." Thorib sighted and sat down. Melody suddenly felt a lot of pressure. They all expected some amazing achievements from her.

A twig cracked and from the darkness Illia appeared.

"It's clear." He sat down next to Melody.

"Let's eat, we will rest and tomorrow we will move. At dawn. I think we are going to reach the barrier by noon. We will have plenty of time to check the stones."

Silence nobody said anything, they ate some bread and cheese. Melody was really hungry. The exertion made her appetite stronger. As soon as she finished, Melody lied down. Illia curled up next to her, soon his arm slipped round her waist. He was hugging her tightly and his chest was pressing against her back. The heat radiating from him was making her drowsy. It was nice having someone so close like this. She felt warmth, not only the physical one but also the inner warmth. She liked that feeling.

"Are you warm?" he whispered in her ear.

"Yhmm." She hummed, leaning closer. It's hard to say when she fell asleep.

She woke up burying her face in Illias chest, their legs were intertwined.

"Did you sleep well?" She immediately heard him asking. She was silent for a moment and Illia continued his talking.

"I know you are awake, your breathing's rate has changed."

Damn those tribe men, was Melody's thought. She started to disentangle from Illia's embrace. He let her go reluctantly.

Torib was already awake and packing his stuff, getting ready to leave.

"You're up, eat and we leave."

"I need to go to the side." She whispered to Illia. He nodded and they went a bit out, behind the rocks. Illia gave her some privacy and was looking around for any signs of trouble. Melody finished quickly and was about to leave when a low sound drew her attention. She followed it.

"Where are you going?" Illia was right behind her.

"I hear something, it comes from those rocks here." She pointed at stones under her feet. She bowed and started digging with her hand.

"Stop Melody, you will hurt your fingers. Let me help you." Illia took out a knife and dug out a stone, then he hit it with another one. It got split and inside there was a yellowish crystal.

"That's a healing crystal Melody." Illia smiled at her. "You are a Stone Whisperer." He looked at her with eyes full of admiration, Melody blushed.

"Let's show it to my father." They went back to the cave.

"You sure took your time." Torib said as soon as they came back.

"Melody heard another stone, look." Illia showed the crystal to Torib.

"That's a healing one." Torib confirmed what Melody heard from Illia before. "It's not that rare but still worth a silver coin. However, more important is the fact that you actually are The Stone Whisperer." Torib was looking at the stone and then back at Melody.

"Back then in the inn, I knew you would be a treasure for my son, but now you will become a treasure for the whole Tribe." Melody felt awkward.

"I'm happy for the two of you, but I'm also worried. Many people would do anything to have you Melody any you my son will have to face many angry men." he sighed but then smiled at them.

"Let's move to the border to make the ultimate test."

They were back on the path and Melody kept thinking about her new ability. How will her life change? She used to collect herbs and now she would collect stones. That sounded pretty similar, no?

The path led up and was rocky. Melody was thankful for the shoes Lorien has given her. They helped a lot. She was slowly getting out of breath, the men seemed less tired.

"Soon we will reach the top, it is a nice view from that place, you can actually see a piece of wasteland from there." Illia grabbed her hand and pulled her a bit, that felt nice. They were silently climbing up so the sound of falling rocks seemed pretty loud in this silence. Something was ahead of them. Illia let Melody's hand go and took out the sword. Torib did the same.

On the top they sow them. It was Jin with his father accompanied by some other man. There were about ten of them.

"Who are those men?" Melody asked Illia.

"I don't know them. They are from a different village." Was Illia's answer.