n

n

nThis was unbelievable.

"What do you mean?

" asked Daryn.

n

"See, what is it that Brantley is really interested in?

" she asked, gesturing with her hand.

"My dragon. Now I don't know why the hell is he so interested in Quetz because he already has one for himself. But he sure is mega-greedy about Quetz.

"

nDaryn nodded.

n

"When I refused to part with Quetz, he moved to his next plan, say, Plan B, which was to send me on a trail to find the ruby, and according to him, no one has found it so far. The reason why no has found it because no one ever reached the Shaman,

" she said in an animated voice.

n

"Why?

" asked Daryn, most bewildered.

"That is a silly thing to say that no one in thousands of years had come to him? It is preposterous.

"

n

"Daryn, the Shaman is the priest of werewolves. Who would even know about him other than a pure blood werewolf? Or even if they know why would anyone go to the Derize Barrens to meet him? Suppose— and I mean suppose— if anyone tried to go to the barren, they would get killed by the shadows,

" she said. She was trying her best to make a coherence of the events.

"Unless they were invited by the Shaman. You are the prince of the Silver Clan. Do you know of any pure blood, who was invited by him?

"

nDaryn exhaled heavily.

"That could be a theory… I haven't heard of any pure blood going to meet him for a long time…

"

nDawn continued,

"According to me, Brantley knew about my dragon for a long time. I don't know how?

" she shrugged.

"But he had been keeping a track on our movements. He waited patiently for us to come to Ulfric and then trapped Quetz and me in the enchanted lands. I can bet a wager on the fact that he wasn't sure that you would stay back with me. His idea must have been that I would wither away without you and he would obtain Quetz. But you stayed. And this is where he had to move to Plan B, in which he sent us on a chase to find the jewel, thinking that we would approach the Shaman, with whom he already had an 'understanding'.

" She made an apostrophe sign in the air.

nDaryn shook his head.

"If it was so easy to find Chimala's stone, why didn't Brantley come to get it himself? You sound so complicated Dawn!

"

n

"That's where I am also confused. Why didn't he come to find it himself?

" she said as she stood on top of a lichen covered rock.

"It is possible that something prevents him?

"

n

"Hmm,

" said Daryn. He extended his hand to her. She caught it and stepped down carefully.

n

"What I am guessing is that the Temple of Anubalis is located after the Derize Barrens. Derize Barrens act as a kind of a bridge to get to the temple. No one must have traveled to the barrens for the fear of dying in a desert, and hence no one knew about the Temple of Anubalis.

" She stopped, kept her hands on her waist and puffed. The jungle trail was tiresome.

"Now the Shaman is kind of a God to the Cadvals. They protect him. Why? Because they think that he is capable of bringing back prosperity to the land. They guard him fiercely. He is an old man, unable to move much, and so he waited for someone—a pure blood, to come to the barrens and carry the out the integral part of the plan.

" She looked at Daryn.

"And you Daryn, you—are the integral part of the equation. If you hadn't stayed back, there was no hope of getting the stone back. Brantley would have killed me somehow or the other and claimed my dragon. For him it was a win-win situation. Either he got the dragon or the stone or both.

"

nDaryn's eyes bulged. His eyebrows shot up to the sky.

"You mean we are pawns of a plan?

"

nShe nodded.

"We are part of their contrivance. The Shaman wants us to bring the stone back to him so that he fulfills his promise to the Cadvals of bringing back life to the barrens. And so he made me promise to go back to him. With that stone installed on the barrens for a year, it would breathe growth. Unfortunately he didn't know that Brantley had allowed us to travel through the enchanted forests on a condition - we can't go back to the same place more than once.

"

nDaryn's mouth fell open.

n

"Brantley is a greedy man. He wants the ruby as well as the dragon. Not only is he not breaking any part of his agreement with the Shaman, he is ensuring that the ruby goes to where it belongs.

" Dawn said and grinned at Daryn. Her theory fitted too well.

nDaryn's face darkened.

"I would love to see the greenery on Derize Barrens,

" he said and walked ahead.

n

"I would love that too Daryn,

" said Dawn.

"We can't go back there… and if we can, that would mean that we have to stay back for a year and then also it is not a guarantee that the Shaman would allow us to leave.

" She sounded off. She walked after him avoiding the branches and tendrils, feeling his sadness.

nDawn almost slammed in Daryn when he stopped and held his hand up in front of a clearing. She looked from behind his shoulder and her eyes became wide.

nNestled amongst the trees, a small, old, dilapidated temple with white stained walls and deep cracks, came into view. It was covered with small plants, ivy and thorny bushes all over. Dim lights shone sparsely through the branches of the ash trees. The structure was so old that what was left kind of gripped by the tree roots from all sides to prevent it from falling down. The temple was like a secret kept for long. A flock of birds flew, chirping noisily.

nThey walked slowly and climbed the four steps.

n

"Is this the Temple of Anubalis?

" her voice almost a whisper.

n

"Most likely.

"

nThey stepped carefully over the white floor, which was broken at several places. Inside there were huge columns and they were the only structure that was complete, everything else was so decayed that it was on the verge of crumbling. A small courtyard in the center on which the mist had settled looked daunting.

nDaryn held her hand and guided her inside the main chamber through the corridor avoiding the courtyard. When they reached the main chamber, a white marble statue of a deity, standing over twenty feet tall came into view. And in his hand was a large red ruby.

nDawn gasped.

"Is that— is that— the Stone of—?

" There was an explosion in her brain. Her body quivered. The more she looked at the rock, the more it gleamed. It was sitting quietly in the hands of the deity. The gem glittered like the sun-kissed sea reflecting the morning rays; it's brilliant red color was so vivid, like blood flowing in veins.

n

"That's Anubalis, our God of wealth and fertility,

" he whispered, looking at the God who had the face of a wolf and body of a man.

nDawn stared at the dragon sized, egg shaped jewel. Her skin tingled with excitement. Of all the gems she had seen, this one reigned supreme.

n

"Your theory is correct Dawn,

" Daryn said in a low whisper. Together they had found the gem. He gulped as he stared at it, mesmerized to the core.

nDawn stepped forward to pick it up.

n

"Wait,

" Daryn said.

"You need to kowtow in front of the deity.

"

nHe kneeled down on the ground and so did Dawn right next to him. Together they kowtowed.

nDawn rose and then slowly walked towards the statue. She extended her hand to the rock, but fell short. Daryn came and lifted her up from behind. This time she reached the jewel and picked it up from the hand of the deity. She grabbed it tightly to her chest. Daryn brought her down.

n

"We made it!

" she exclaimed.

nA huge smile erupted on Daryn's face. He hugged her.

"Yes darling, we did it!

" Let's hurry back without wasting a minute.

n

"Yes!

" she shook her head. This was the best moment in so many days. She kissed Daryn on his cheek as her neck flushed red in thrill.

nDaryn caught her hand and started walking out of the main chamber.

"This is wonderful my love. Now we will be able to go back to Bainsburgh.

"

nThe wooden door of the chamber creaked followed by a subdued rumble.

n

"Run!

" he said.

nThey dashed out. When they were near the door, suddenly a large column ruptured, broke in two and fell in front of the door, blocking their way. Soon other columns started to develop deep fissures.

nThey looked back at the statue. It was still intact.

nDaryn wriggled his way between the broken pieces and pulled Dawn out.

"It seems the structure is crumbling. This old place was hanging till now in peace. The moment it sensed disturbance, its disintegration must have begun.

"

n