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  Ku-aya raised her chin. “I don’t know, Archmagus.”

  Sin’s nostrils flared, and he smiled tightly, the smile not reaching his eyes. “I created a special dungeon using the chronostone where souls are trapped in eternal suffering. There is no escape and no death, only eternal torment. Bending space and time is not an easy task, but when you have time like I do, anything is possible.” Sin narrowed his eyes. “Nasty place—one fit for those who fail me.” He turned and stalked to the chalice. “You failed me.”

  Ku-aya stayed quiet.

  Sin peered into the chalice. “There is too much at stake for any more failure. I sent the general to the dungeons. The thief was another story. The dungeons were too good a place for her.” He raised his eyes to the Crystal Hunters, the billowing smoke from the chalice framing his face. “I sent her to Junker’s Island to rot with the rest of the rubbish from Atlantea. You’ve heard of it, no? A hollow place filled with lawless savages. The unwanted and unneeded junk of this world belongs there to rust into oblivion. A place fit for a thief.”

  Sephonei swallowed hard. Her throat was dry, and it ached from the pungent odors in the room.

  Sin’s gaze drifted from Ku-aya to Abil, then it rested on Sephonei. “What am I to do? I am doing my part. I am leading Atlantea into the future. All I ask is that you do yours. Is that too much to ask?”

  Ku-aya lowered her head, her aura writhing in a multicolor wash Sephonei couldn’t decipher; the colors seemed to change with her emotions. Sephonei’s eyes flashed to Sin, whose hard gaze morphed to a malicious grin. She recoiled inside but didn’t move.

  Ku-aya raised her head. “No, Archmagus, it’s not too much to ask. We won’t fail you again. I’m… we are sorry.”

  A look of disgust crept onto Sin’s face. “You’re sorry, are you? I am beyond apologies and failures. Don’t insult me with your insolence. I demand excellence from myself and my Crystal Hunters. I will have it, or you will die. There is no other way.” He turned his gaze to Sephonei. “You are part of this Order now and under my command. How do you think your parents would feel if their daughter didn’t return to them on their little merchant barge? I found them once. Fail me again, and I will have no choice but to remove them from the service of the Atlantean Empire.” He leaned in and pierced her with his unblinking gaze. “Forcefully.”

  A loud crack came from the chalice, and a puff of blackened smoke exploded from the golden cauldron. A skull with an extended jaw and hollow eyes emerged from the sickening cloud. A high-pitched siren blasted.

  Sephonei’s hands shot to cover her ears. The room reeled in an unnatural motion. Scrolls fell from the old wooden shelves, and vials smashed to the ground; the air felt thick and heavy. Sephonei fell to her knees, and Abil and Ku-aya succumbed to the same fate. Sin stood at the table, unscathed.

  He strode to the three Crystal Hunters, their hands pinned to their ears. He waited with his hands folded neatly behind his back.

  The siren ceased, and the room was still.

  He loomed over the Crystal Hunters. “The next location has been revealed. You will go to the mainland, where you will find the Land of Darkness, and open the Gates of An’nuna’ke.” He paused and clenched his jaw. “Pass the trials, and retrieve the Bloodstone. This is the most powerful primary stone and necessary for my purpose. Fail me again, and you will find yourselves in the timeless dungeons.” He looked directly at Sephonei. “Some of you have more to lose than others.”

  Ku-aya bent her knee and tilted her head. “Ai, Archmagus.”

  Sin pivoted and stalked back to the arched window at the end of the chambers. “In the case of failure, I’ve taken the liberty of preparing three cells in the dungeons. Leave now and make haste.”

  ROEG

  Spirit Walk

  R

  oeg could see most of the interior of the hut through the gap in the mammoth bones. The morning light outlined Unn, who wobbled as he collected his herbs and other items before stuffing them in his satchel. Krukk loomed in the doorway. Only slivers of light snuck past Krukk’s wide body, his woolly red hair and thick beard lit like fire. His thick arms were folded menacingly across his wide body above his massive cave-bear loin cloth. The arms of the cave-bear’s hide knotted in the center, showcasing the massive claws of the beast. Krukk wore it with pride.

  Although much larger, Krukk was Unn’s younger brother, and it was hard to see a resemblance. Unn was small and thin, and his grayish-white hair and straggly beard were a stark contrast to Krukk’s thick mat of fire-red hair. Since they were younglings, Unn had always preferred a subtle approach and was not as abrupt as his younger brother.

  Unn hobbled to the blocked door and grunt-clicked for his younger brother to move. “I am going on a Spirit Walk. Move out of my way.”

  Krukk stood his ground, letting out a low growl, followed by two slow grunts and a gurgled “harrumph,” emphasizing his frustration.

  Roeg could smell the musk of the hides and fur that lined the interior of the hut. It mixed with the scent of the earflopp’r stew simmering on the cookfire. Roeg’s stomach growled, and his mouth watered—he had yet to break the fast.

  After shaking off the quell of his hunger, he leaned back and peered around the hut at Luli, Krukk’s wife. She served out the morning stew while she kept a watchful eye on Unn’s hut. She was like a mother to Roeg; she cared for him and fussed about when his hide-cloths tore. She would scold him gently then mend them with her stitch’r. Her eyes always crinkled, so he knew she wasn’t upset with him.

  “Why now? Why before the Great Hunter’s moon?” Krukk bellowed. “I don’t care if you go any other moon, but not this one! This is the moon where Ookum and Tsisa will join me on the Great Hunt!”

  “I must go,” Unn said. “There is a Great Sadness coming, and I must prepare. I can’t do that here.”

  Krukk huffed but did not move from the doorway. “Wait until the next buck moon, or the budding moon, but not the Great Hunter’s moon. I can’t prepare for the hunt and watch the clan!”

  Unn closed in on Krukk. He looked up at his larger younger brother and tried to inch by, but Krukk didn’t move. Unn stepped back, let out a huff, and gripped his walking stick tightly. In one quick motion, he jabbed the end of the stick right on Krukk’s toe. Krukk yelped and grabbed his toe, knocking against the hut. The jolt of the impact loosened one of the large mammoth bones that held the frame together. Roeg startled and jumped back.

  The commotion got the attention of the rest of the clan, who sat around the cookfire eating their stew.

  “Ouch, my toe!” Krukk grunted.

  After the tussle Roeg lost sight of the brothers, so he snuck to the other end of the hut to get a better view. Krukk and Unn stood eye-to-eye at the edge of the cookfire circle.

  “I am chief, not you, little brother. Get out of my way next time, and you won’t have to taste the end of my walking stick,” Unn growled.

  “Who are you calling ‘little’?” Krukk stuck his belly out, and it knocked Unn’s walking stick out of his hand.

  Rather than striking at his brother, Unn picked up the walking stick and said, “just because you are big doesn’t mean I won’t flatten you—little brother!”

  “Ha, I’d like to see you try, old man!” Krukk bellowed. He looked to the clan, who sat in silence around the cookfire. No one ate. They stared as the brothers argued.

  As Unn charged forward and struck Krukk in the face with an open-handed slap he said, “Who are you calling old man?” The smack echoed through the village, bouncing off the bone huts. Krukk held his cheek, stunned. His chest heaved, and his eyes blazed like wildfire; he looked like a tusksnort’r about to charge.

  Clank.

  Luli dropped her bone stew-bowl and stormed between the brothers. She grabbed Krukk’s cave-bear loin cloth and yanked him close to her. His thickset body lurched; he held his reddened cheek and glared at Unn. Luli reached into her wooly matt of crimson hair and pulled out he
r hidestitch’r. She jabbed the carved bear claw right into Krukk’s loincloth. “Don’t move, Krukk, or I might accidentally poke you.” The wildness in Luli’s eyes matched Krukk’s—her eyes may have even been wilder. Krukk stood motionless, still holding his cheek.

  Silence clung to the village. The crash of the Great Spirit Sea, the gurgle of the river, and even the hum of bugs quieted, as if everything had stopped to watch the pair. It was only when a small clan youngling let out a chuckle that the whole village erupted in laughter.

  Despite the tension in the air, Unn turned and walked toward the foothills west of the village. Roeg scuttled behind a bush for cover before Unn hobbled by. Roeg looked back to the cookfire and saw Luli still holding Krukk in place.

  Krukk let go of his cheek and bellowed, “Enough, woman!” He struggled and tore himself away from her grip, chasing after Unn. When he passed by the bush, Roeg heard him mutter curses under his breath. Something about the great budding moon and Luli in the hut.

  “Wait!” Krukk yelled to his brother, waving his arms in a gesture that meant “stop” even though Unn had his back to him.

  Unn didn’t slow. Speed replaced his usual wobbled gait.

  Roeg followed, scrambling up the hillside and using the edge of the thicket as cover. He caught up to the brothers and heard Krukk huffing as he tried to catch his breath behind Unn. “Why now? You never answered me.”

  Unn turned his head but kept his pace. “I need to speak to the Great Mother. It is important; there is a coming danger, and I don’t know what to do.”

  “What danger?” Krukk gasped.

  Unn’s gait didn’t waver or slow. “A danger… I can’t explain now. That’s why I’m going to the Great Spirit Mountain.”

  Krukk bounded forward, sidestepped his brother, and growled, “I am the clan’s protector. I am the best hunter. Surely I can protect the clan from this danger?”

  Unn stopped and looked up at his brother, his face pinched and gnarled. He let out a slow breath, and his face softened. He put his hand on Krukk’s shoulder and squeezed. “There is a danger coming we can’t fight with spears. I must prepare for what is coming. I will go now until the next great moon. You must keep our people safe; you must keep Roeg safe.” Unn emphasized “Roeg” with a low growl and headed up the mountain.

  Krukk shook his head then called out, “Roeg is your charge not mine… or Luli’s!”

  Why did Unn say that? Why did he need protecting? Although the brothers argued a lot, something about this argument wasn’t right; deep inside, Roeg felt it. He slunk down by the tree at the edge of the thicket and wondered what was going on.

  Stomps approached. Roeg looked up and saw Krukk looming over him.

  “What are you doing, boy? Spying?” Krukk bellowed. He grabbed Roeg by the scruff of his hide-cloth and pulled him to his feet. When Roeg stood at full height, he was eye-to-eye with Krukk. Because Krukk was Krukk, he stretched his neck to get a height advantage.

  Roeg’s heart raced. He fought for words that Krukk would understand. Then he grunt-clicked, “I didn’t mean to. I was curious, that’s all. Why is Unn leaving?”

  Krukk huffed. “Curiosity will get you killed, boy.” His eyes scrutinized Roeg.

  Krukk clucked his tongue like he had something stuck in his teeth. He turned and motioned for Roeg to follow him down to the village, then he stopped and looked over to the clearing where Roeg had trained that morning. Roeg’s spear still clung to the tree.

  Krukk whipped his head to Roeg, then to the spear and back again. “Is that your spear?”

  Unless Roeg thought of something quickly—this could turn ugly, fast.

  Krukk charged the tree and ripped the spear from the trunk. He marched over to Roeg, his nostrils flaring in and out. With every exhale, a puff of mist burst from each nostril.

  “YOU ARE NOT TO HAVE A SPEAR!” Krukk yelled. Spit flew from his mouth and globbed on Roeg’s forehead.

  Roeg stepped back and held his hands up in submission, a gesture he learned early on worked to cool Krukk down. “I was practicing, that’s all.”

  Krukk moved forward, closing the gap between them. “Practicing for what?”

  Roeg thought of what to say next. As he looked down to the village, he saw Luli stalking up the hill, her hidestitch’r in hand. All he had to do was stall Krukk long enough for Luli to get there.

  “Ookum said there was a challenge, and if we passed, we could go on the Great Hunt,” Roeg stammered out.

  Krukk eyed Roeg’s hand then looked at the red stone. “Not you. Your hand is a danger. That thing around your neck is a danger. You can’t throw a spear, let alone go on the Great Hunt. You’d be killed.”

  Roeg tensed. His heart burned at Krukk’s words, but he also knew they were true.

  “Ookum, my son who still doesn’t have a second name, will earn his second name on the Great Hunt. He will learn to throw a spear. Not you,” Krukk grunted.

  A fire grew in Roeg until he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He leaned into Krukk’s face and yelled, “You said everyone could try!”

  Luli slid between Roeg and Krukk. She faced her husband. “What is going on here? Why are you yelling at everyone?”

  Krukk looked at Luli with questioning eyes and gestured at Roeg. “He yelled at me—”

  Luli shot in, “Be quiet. You sound like a tusksnort’r!”

  Luli turned to Roeg and gently straightened his shoulder hide, brushing the grass off. She grabbed his shoulders with both hands, looked up at him, and gave him a gentle smile. Her eyes crinkled at the corners.

  “What is wrong?” Luli asked Roeg.

  Krukk stood behind Luli with his arms crossed and huffed. Luli quieted him. “Let the boy speak.”

  Roeg looked at Luli and said, “I want to go on the Great Hunt. Ookum and Tsisa said anyone could join the challenge. Krukk said if you passed, you could go on the Great Hunt. I want a chance!”

  Luli closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and nodded. She turned to Krukk. “Let him try.”

  Krukk grumbled. He turned and stormed to the village. In mid-step, he stopped and charged right back. “I will not be talked to that way! I got my second name on this mountain. I am Krukk Stonehamm’r. I fought a man-beast three times my size. It carried a stonehamm’r and nearly crushed me and Unn. I was the protector. It was me who—”

  Luli cut him off again, “We all know the story, Krukk—we’ve heard it many times. You and Unn were on a Spirit Walk. Two brothers on an adventure. Unn left you out of the cave at the top of Great Spirit Mountain with no food and nothing to hunt… blah, blah, blah… a giant man-beast almost bested you, but somehow you found the courage to charge it, and it fell to its death down the mountainside. We get it. Now let Roeg have his chance.”

  “A chance?” Krukk bellowed. “When he came to the clan many seasons ago with that thing around his neck and that damaged hand and that blue hair… He’s different from us, and he’s been nothing but trouble—”

  “Enough. Don’t you dare. He is part of this clan as much as you and I.”

  With that, Luli grabbed Krukk by his bear cloth and led him down the hill.

  Roeg watched them go. Krukk stole glances at Roeg then complained to Luli with exaggerated hand gestures.

  Roeg’s chest thumped with excitement at the thought of the Great Hunt. Then it hit him—he would have to throw the spear. Once the thought of the morning spear incident rolled through his mind, he grimaced. How would he learn to throw the spear before the challenge?

  SEPHONEI

  Harper

  I

  t was almost a full day’s journey by ferry from the central island to the main harbor. The small ferry sputtered along the main canal that connected the inner island to the Atlantean Sea. Three harbor gates, each requiring a toll, separated the land rings. Ferry ships and trader barges occupied the central canal, and on special occasions a Crusader ship would claim the right of way, travelling to the mainl
and in search of gold or war.

  Ku-aya leaned against the railing of the ferry beside Sephonei. “You did okay in there.”

  Sephonei let out a sigh. “If you say so. I didn’t get to say much.”

  Ku-aya laughed then gave Sephonei a long look. “Ai. Sin usually does most of the talkin’.”

  Sephonei held tight to the side railing as they crashed through some larger waves. The small ferry creaked and groaned. “Do you think Sin would actually send us to the timeless dungeons?”

  Ku-aya gave Sephonei a hard look before answering. “I don’t intend to find out.” She paused. “I’ve never known Sin to joke, so we need to do our best to find this Bloodstone.”

  Sephonei asked, “Do you think he would hurt my parents?”

  “I can’t say for sure, kid.” Ku-aya raised an eyebrow. “You know, if we keep our heads straight an’ our boots buckled, we should be able to retrieve this stone. Then you don’t have to worry about your parents. We come back with an eternal stone, an’ we will be legends, yaa?”

  Sephonei nodded. The thought of her parents in the dungeons or at the mercy of Sin sent a shiver down her spine. A twinge in her stomach called for home; she wasn’t even away from Atlantea, but she could have been thousands of leagues away for all it mattered. She was a prisoner to the Order of the Sons, bound by fear and held captive by invisible chains.

  “So, why haven’t I heard of the Order before now? I’ve never even heard of Crystal Hunters, an’ I’ve talked to a lot of traders,” Sephonei said.

  Ku-aya removed her glove and held it in her hand; the musty tang of tallow and sweat found Sephonei’s nose. “The Order is an advisory group to the King, an’ they keep to themselves. We, Crystal Hunters, are a part of the Order an’ are advised to be discreet. The thought is that what the commoners don’t know won’t hurt them. I don’t want to call us a secret society, but if you are not a Crystal Hunter or high up in the Order, then you probably haven’t heard of us.”