Chapter 50: THE BLACK STONE'S POWERS

After travelling for days, we have finally arrived at our final destination, according to the map drawn in the black book. The book says the dark stone is hidden deep in a mountain, which protects it from the outside world. 

My problem now is that I'm staring at lots of mountains, which look exactly alike. How do I know which mountain holds the black stone? The book didn't further explain anything else.

“Damn it!” I cursed, tossing the book away.

“What is the problem, princess? Are you having trouble finding your stone?” Hama asked, picking the book off the ground.

“How on earth am I supposed to know the right mountain to perform the ritual? The book says it's dangerous to perform the ritual twice, which means I have only one chance to find the stone.”

“I thought you said the stone would find you.”

“That should be after I performed the ritual on the mountain while leaving my handprint with my blood. The stone will find me with the blood.”

“Did you see this part that says finding the mountain requires the secret dance?” Hama said, and that had me rushing to her side. I took the book from her but couldn't find anything.

“I'm not seeing anything,” I told her.

“But it's right here, just close to the mountain image.” Hama pointed at a particular spot close to the mountain image drawn in the book.

It was only then that I realised that the rest of the instructions were written in a secret code. In my eyes, it's just a blank space, but Hama, on the other hand, can read them. 

“Here, I want you to read the rest of the instructions out to me; don't leave anything behind.” I said, giving her the book.

“It says you should find the highest mountain and climb up it; there you will do the secret dance, which will show you the right mountain where the ritual will be performed.” Hama said.

“Is that all?”

“No, there is a strict warning about the ritual you are about to perform.”

“Which is”

“It says that all the mountains here are illusions except for one, and if the ritual is performed on the wrong mountain, great danger will come.”

“Is that all?” I asked when I noticed that Hama had gone quiet.

“Yes, I can't find any other information here.” I took a deep breath as I prepared myself for the worst. I took off my backpack, giving it Hama. I took out the little pocket knife I had with me and hid it inside my boot before taking the black book from Hama.

“Stay here; I will go by myself.”

“What? This is insane; what if something goes wrong?”

“Nothing will go wrong; I will come back with the stone with me, and then we can go and visit Almaruda for teamwork.” 

I said to Hama as I started running towards the first mountain, a few metres away from us. When it comes to climbing, we are good at it. We might not be able to run, but climbing is like our middle name.

The tallest mountain, but why do they all look alike? It doesn't look like any of them are taller than each other. 

That leaves me with only one way to find out. I took out the dagger I hid in my boot and cut my palms with it. The secret dance wasn't actually what people thought it was.

The secret dance is like a ritual done with blood, but it attracts not just good fortune but bad fortune too. When the elves discovered this, they banned it from all the elves kingdoms. With time, the memories faded away, and when the queen decided to bring them back to the world, they erased the part that made it a ritual, which was the blood.

They called it the good fortune dance done by the royals, whereas it was a ritual normally performed by elves. I closed my eyes and gathered the wind around me. Even the wind surrounding me could feel the power of the black stone.

I opened my eyes and splashed my blood around the wind that circled me.

“Take me to the mountain that has the power of the black stone, and I shall bring your existence back to the world. I know you have been starved, and I can feel it. Help me obtain the power that I seek, and I will make the elves worship you,” I said to the wind.

The wind felt satisfied with the blood I offered, but I could feel how hungry they were. Every wind surrounding an elf has its own spirit, and mine is hungry.

It went in circles around me before speeding away from me. It surrounded each mountain one after the other, but it wasn't settling on one. I waited patiently until the wind settled on a mountain.

I began my dance by calling upon the winds as I listened to them talking to me. The wind surrounding the mountain came back to me as my dancing became more intense. I closed my eyes, allowing the wind to lead me to the right mountain.

When my dance ended, I opened my eyes and found myself in front of the same mountain the wind settled on. I just hoped within my heart that this was the right mountain, but I had to trust the wind.

I took out the black book and opened the page that contained information about the ritual. It requires just one thing, and that is my blood.

“I am Alma of Álfheimr, and I have been wronged, as has my mother. I am here to claim what has been denied to my mother, what has been taken from my family; do not reject a soul ready to become one with you.” That was the oath I had to take to summon the stone.

All I have to do is input my blood handprint on this mountain and see what happens.

“You do know that if this happens to be the wrong mountain, you are in trouble.” I heard Hama say, When did she even arrive here?

“Then trouble I will face,” I replied to her before placing my hand on the mountain. The heavens began to change as darkness covered the beautiful sunlight that once appeared in the sky.

A smile crept into my face as I watched every other mountain turn to dust and disappear. They all turned to dust, leaving the one I picked behind. The heavens began to rumble, lightening the black cloud as the earth began to shake.

The mountain split into two, reviewing the black stone. It gave out a blinding light as it approached me. It came towards me in slow motion at first, but as it approached me, it sped up.

It went directly to my heart as it hit my chest, entering my body. I could feel the powers consuming me; it was dark and powerful. I took a deep breath before letting out a laugh—a very evil laugh.

“I can't believe this; for years I have searched for this stone but couldn't find it. How could you find it in the space of an hour?” Hama said it with an unbelievable shock written on her face.

“That's because I am Alma, and I get what I want. And what I want right now is your power. I need to use you for my next practice, and that is testing if I can absorb your powers,” I said to her with a creepy smile.

"No, please don't do it; it's irreversible." She said this and started drawing away from me while shaking her head continuously.

I saw her fear, and that made me feel good. I want all the elves to fear me just like this. She dropped my backpack and started running towards the woods.

I smiled as I stretched my hands towards her, and she froze at the spot. She was struggling to move, but it was hard to break through my power. I walked up to her and paced around in a circle around her.

“This is how I'm going to consume all the powers of every queen in each kingdom. I will be the strongest queen ever to rule Álfheimr.

I will bring the whole elf kingdom together and be their ruler, but first I need to take your power, then that of Almaruda, and every other queen that follows.

“Please don't do this; I have been nothing but helpful to you. I don't deserve this.” 

“I know, that's why I'm going to spare your life but not your powers; I need it for something more useful.” I placed my hand on her head, and just like that, I felt her power within me.

She slumped to the ground immediately after I took her powers. I just picked up my backpack and headed for the ocean, where great power lies.