CHAPTER EIGHT

As daylight approached the deep woods, an owl sitting in a tree next to an outcropping of rocks prepared itself for a long nap. Preening itself, as it was apt to do before slumber, it was interrupted by sounds coming through the woods. Turning its head to see what had disturbed the silence of the forest, it watched with interest as a man and a shadow child; hand in hand, walked through the leaves into the entrance of a cave. Even as the owls forefather had watched a similar, albeit different procession many years before.

Once in the dungeon, Stray lit up his torch and noticed that Little-Bit had gone ahead of him. She had gone as far as she could go without losing sight of him and seemed to be beckoning him to hurry.

"I'm coming!" he called out to her. He was in no hurry to face any more shadows that might have replaced the ones he had killed earlier, but he hurried his steps to follow his guide anyway. As he made his way through the now familiar hallways however, all he saw was emptiness. Nothing impeded his way to the final chamber. When he entered the final room, the shadow girl was already back at her place by the wall decorated with carvings, pointing again at something she had wanted him to see the first time he met her.

"All right wee one, let's see what we got here." He said, moving up to the wall and moving his torch so that he could see more clearly. There on the wall, directly in the center-was a gap. It was a fairly shallow hole, but now that Stray saw it up close, he saw that it was exactly in the shape of the stone he carried. Even down to the dowel looking protrusion on the top right hand side.

Excitement started to get the best of Stray as he realized that the item he carried might actually be some sort of key that would open the way to the next chamber where he knew the altar stood. It was no wonder he never saw this wall in his visions. It had been open during that time and closed afterwards. Fumbling through his pack, he brought out the stone and unwrapped it. Carefully holding the stone in his hands, he lined it up with the hole in the wall; placing it within.

As he removed his hand, he began to wonder if anything would happen and his if trip back might have been for naught. He looked at Little-Bit who had stopped pointing and just stared at where he had placed the stone.

"Is that it? All ya wanted was the wall fixed?" Stray was thinking to himself, when he suddenly he heard a "click". Stray looked back at the wall and saw a blue line of light forming on the edge of the stone he had placed. Like a snake, the light pulsed and followed the outline of the stone until it had made its way back to its origin and then doubled in intensity.

Rumblings began under Strays feet and he moved back a few steps uncertain as to whether the wall might fall directly on him. Instead, it began to drop into the floor. Slowly but surely the wall became shorter and shorter; opening for the first time in ages-the second half of the room. A gust of stale air met Strays lungs and he choked down a sneeze brought on by all the dust the falling wall had kicked up.

Once the wall had disappeared seamlessly into the floor, he watched as the shadow child walked into the darkness of the second half of the room where the light from his torch would not reach. Drawing a deep breath, he mustered his courage and followed after her. The altar he had seen in his visions now took the shape of reality and also brought back to his mind the images of evil that had taken place here. As he looked at the altar, he saw two items sitting upon it. The first was a raggedy doll that had been darkened by time and dust. The other, a dark green stone. It was the stone! The
vicious gem that the shadow Spike had used to make humans into shadows! Though covered with dust, Stray could see that within its heart still flickered an evil green flame that yearned to gorge itself on another soul. As he approached it, it began to brighten as if the presence of a human heart caused it to awaken. All that Stray wanted to do was to destroy it. With his desire burning to make an end to the stone, he began to un-strap his axe from his side to make a quick end of its' existence. His actions were arrested however when he caught movement out of corner of his eye and he stopped
cold. A new shadow had entered the room.

Moving his torch to see what the shadow was doing, he saw that it was not the only one. There were more-several in fact. As he watched, other shadows came as well. Like a stream of blackness and in total silence, different shapes and sizes of shadows filed into the room, taking their place in a ring around him and the altar. They did not come close to Stray; nor did they move to attack him. They watched him, much like Little-Bit had watched him; with empty eyes devoid of expression. He looked for Little-Bit to see what had happened to her, but could not place her amongst the throng that now
surrounded him. For the longest time, Stray watched the procession of shadows as they filled the rooms' expanse. Knowing there was no escape, and that the hope of it was in no way an option, he dropped his axe and sat next to it on the floor in complete resignation.

At length, the coming of the shadows dwindled to a trickle. Stray looked around him waiting for the inevitable, but no action was taken on the shadows part. They stood around him waiting. Peering into his eyes as if they were expecting him to confess something before they started to make piecework of his body.

"Why do you wait shadows?" Said Stray. "I've little strength left, and would thank you for doing what you've come to do quickly."

The Shadows response came as a whisper. With no discernable timber, he could not tell whether it was a male or a female voice, but it called his name. "Stray-unbind us."

"What? Who-what are you?" he said, his voice wavering.

"The stone... Unbind us." Came the voice again.

Stray then saw that a few of the shadows were pointing at the green stone on the altar and realization hit. They did not want to hurt him; in fact, they seemed to need him. Perhaps these were the ones that had been changed into shadows through the power of this stone; and they wanted him to "unbind" them from it.

He was about to ask why the shadows had not destroyed the stone themselves, but another thought kept him silent. The stone was used to make them shadows. Maybe it was yet a part of them; and something they could not touch nor retaliate against. They needed him; a human; an outsider to act in their stead. It made sense; but there was still a question as to how he could help them.

"How do I unbind you? I am no mage! This is a job for Asheron! Not an gimpy old man!" was his answer to their callings.

The dark faces of the shadows showed no change, but the circle began to close in around him as the inner ring drew closer to where he sat. The whisper surrounded him once more-louder than before; more desperate. "Destroy the stone!" it pleaded.

Stray stood up. A smile crept over his face and his eyes brightened. He could not save the family in his visions. The little girl had perished as he watched powerless. But by Asheron, he would take retribution upon this malevolent jewel that glared at him from atop the altar as if daring him to take an affront to its' powers.

"Gladly." Replied Stray.

Moving up to the altar, he brought his axe above his head and brought it smashing down upon the green crystal.

For as long as he lived, the events that followed were burned into Strays mind and he never forgot them. As his axe fell on the stone and split it asunder, a great thunderous explosion filled the room causing him to be thrown to the floor. At the same time, a light so bright issued forth that he was blinded and could not make out any form. For a while, he felt that he was dead. Not the kind of death that always ended up with him standing by a lifestone, but a true-final end to his life. But the light soon faded, and he found that he was still in the room lying on the cold stone floor. He
felt for his axe and found it laying in pieces on the floor next to him. He tried to sit up, but his body and his mind were too weakened to respond to his will. In darkness he lay with eyes closed, waiting to recover his wits, wondering what had happened.

When he opened his eyes again, expecting darkness, he was startled to see a light. Not the green sickly light of the gem, or the yellowish tinge of his now extinguished torch, but a soft glowing bluish-white light that reminded him of the sky on a beautiful sunny day. Looking around, he saw the source. Angels-no-people surrounded him where the shadows once stood. Each one was surrounded by an aura that seemed to glow with a sort of purity. And all of them were smiling at him. Stray moved to stand up and fell over again in a heap on the floor. His legs would not work. His strength had yet
to return.

"Oh Dayen. My sweet, sweet Dayen." Came a melodious voice from behind him. "Be still and rest. Do not struggle. You have taken upon yourself the brunt of great magic upon yourself by coming against the Shadow Stone. The fight is over my hero, and your strength will return. But for now, be at rest."

Stray turned his head to see who spoke to him and gasped when he recognized the shining visage of the woman who he had earlier seen shackled to the nearby wall. He wanted to speak. There were so many questions to ask. The woman seemed to sense his need for answers and relieved him of the task.

"Dayen," She began, "we are those that have been imprisoned by the evil you have destroyed this day. We can but thank you, for none of us could act against the power that held us for so long. For many long years we have waited for someone who could act in our stead and free us from this eternity of darkness."

"But-" Stray managed to speak. "But why.. I.. I don't understand.."

"And many of your questions will remain unanswered my dear." Said the woman. "For our time now is very short. It is time for us to leave this world. But I will tell you that of all those here that lost their souls to the power of the stone, one did not completely succumb. Whether it was through childish innocence and purity, or by chance another beneficial hand was involved, my daughter Lyneaone retained at least a piece of her former self. While the rest of us answered completely to the will of the stone, she stood alone. Terribly alone, awaiting the day when someone might come to
help."

The woman moved closer to Stray and knelt by his side. "She took a great risk, Dayen. Many would have killed her on sight I am certain. But you didn't Dayen-and I bless your soul for it."

Stray just nodded his head. He didn't know whether to feel good about himself or feel guilty that if circumstances had been just a little different, that he might have made a quick job of-

What was her name?-Lyneaone. Pushing himself up into a sitting position once more, he looked up into the beatific face of the apparition before him. "May I-see her?" he asked while looking around at the throng of light-beings around him. The woman smiled, turned around away from Stray and beckoned to the crowd. As he watched, the sea of people parted and a little angelic girl with red curly hair and a smile that melted his heart walked up to where Stray sat.

"Hello Little-Bit-um, Lyneaone. I'm so glad your ok." Was all that Stray could think of to say. He wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, but feared that her now ethereal form would not allow it.

In response, Lyneaone bent over and kissed Stray on the cheek. Stray did not feel it as he would a real kiss. It was more like the feeling of a cool breeze that passes for only a second; but it was the sweetest moment he had ever experienced. And with the kiss, the light that surrounded him began to diminish. As a candle is snuffed out at bedtime, those that he had saved began to fade into the darkness. Where they went, he could not tell; another world perhaps-a world beyond the lifestones.

Finally, only one remained. It was Lyneaone, and as she began her crossing to whatever awaited her purest of souls, he heard her sing to him; a verse that brought stray full circle to his long forgotten mothers arms and to all that was good in the world.

"For my arms, my eyes, my fingers, my heart.."

"Shall 'ere be with thee, 'til all ends draw nigh."