Ben-4/11/17

(This isn't directly after my previous submission)


The ring touched her hand and all went black.

Ann’s figure flickered and the ring popped and crackled; Felix shoved it out of her hand. Her arms trembled, and her legs collapsed. “Did she have an opal?” Lefty asked.
“I…I…” Felix pointed at her necklace. The skin around her stone was…black. Dead.
Lefty leaned down and placed his head over the wound. He shook his head. “This isn’t good.” He reached into a concealed pocket in his jacket and pulled out a small bag. He emptied the contents into his hand. Dozens of small, red crystals. “Her heart has stopped, but if we hurry, we can save her.” He handed one crystal to each person in the circle. “When you use the stone, think about her heart beating.”
Felix could smell her skin—burning. He swallowed his crystal, and the world opened up. The people around him were glowing. Ann…Felix looked at her. He saw the burns. My mind…it’s different. He could see her heart. It wasn’t moving. Concentrating, he forced it to move. To pump. He watched her heart start again.
***CHAPTER***
Another dream. A young boy. Felix led him to the stone, and they both left without too much trouble.

The ground lurched beneath Felix. He opened his eyes wearily. He was in a wooden room which was dimly lit by a couple translucent windows. They gave enough light to see pretty well, but their weathered surfaces provided no view of the outside.
He heard a retching coming from behind him. He turned around to see Ann throwing up into a bucket. “Are you okay?”
Ann looked up, put down the bucket, and stood— knock-kneed— stumbling over to him. “You’re awake!” She croaked.
Where am I? He asked. Then he saw the blackened skin around Ann’s neck. “You’re alive!” He sat up and hugged her. “What happened?”
“You know how I was wearing an opal?”
Felix nodded.
“Well, when I touched the onyx, it caused a reaction. The opal transported me to where I was when I touched the onyx, which was the same spot. It kept on doing that until you knocked the onyx away.”
“Why did it hurt you so badly?”
“Every time it did it, the magic created energy. The discharge from the reaction killed me.”
“But how are you here?”
“You all saved me. Talin says that Lefty handed out garnets, and you all restarted my heart!”
“Wait, what? What’s a garnet?!”
“Oh, yeah.” Ann said. “Sorry. When you use a garnet, it gives you whatever you want, but it takes away something that’s just as important.”
“What does it take away?”
“It depends.” Ann shrugged. “Yesterday, when you used it, you basically gave me your heartbeat. You would have died, but everyone shared the load, so nobody’s heart stopped completely.”
“But where am I?”
“Well, other than Lefty, Jared and I, everyone fell unconscious. I rested while Lefty treated my burns, and Jared helped to raise your heartbeats to a more healthy level.”
Ann went into a description of how they had gotten onto the boat, something about Jared, something about… Felix drifted off again.

Felix’s eyes flitted open. A blue person. Felix jumped a little.
Ann’s eyes opened. Her hair was still bright red, but her skin was blue. Bright blue, and scaly. She was holding Felix’s hand. She hurriedly let go, and almost immediately, her skin returned to normal.
“What are you?” Felix asked.
Ann smiled guiltily, “Sorry, I can see how that might freak you out. You see, I—”
“Your burn, it’s healed!” Felix pointed at Ann’s neck. The skin had returned to normal.
“Yes, just let me explain.” Her voice ran smoothly, unlike the scratchy moan she had spoken to him with since the accident. “There’s another stone called the sapphire. It turns your skin blue, makes you tougher, and heals your wounds.”
“Why were you grabbing my hand?”
“For the sapphire to work, I need to be touching an amethyst. It’s one of the draconic gems.”
“What’s a draconic gem?”
“I can tell you later, it isn’t important for now. What is important is that you’re finally awake!” Ann said. “All of the others woke up a few days ago.”
Felix started to stand. He pushed up with his arms; they gave out, and he stumbled back into the wall. Ann extended a hand. Felix accepted the help, and he noticed that as she helped him stand, her hand was faintly blue.
“Where’s your opal?” Felix asked.
“After what happened, they didn’t want me carrying it around. But remember why I gave you the ring?”
“Yes, it stops onyxes from working.”
Ann nodded. “If I touched my opal, I would be taken back to Serc, but since you’re touching an amethyst, nothing would happen. You’re the only one who can safely hold onto it, so I put it into your pocket.”
Felix checked his pockets. His left pocket still contained the letter, and his right pocket now had a white stone on a silver chain. He stood up. “Where’s everyone else?” He asked.
“They would probably be in the other room. The captain gave us two rooms; one for the boys, and one for me. Before anyone else woke up, I spent my time in here, waiting for everyone to wake up.”
Felix walked through the door. They emerged into a hallway lit only by the light coming between metal bars in the ceiling.
“Where are we again?” Felix asked.
“Talin should be able to tell you, I’m going to go lie down.” Ann turned back toward the room where Felix had been sleeping.
“Where is everyone?” Felix asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Ann turned and lurched down the hall. “They’re over here.”
She led him down the hall, and brought him to a door. “They’re in there.”
“Are you using another gem Ann?” Felix asked.
“No, why do you ask?”
“You’re turning green.”
Ann sighed. “I’m going to go lie down.” She walked back to the room.
Felix knocked on the door, and Talin opened it. “Felix! You’re awake!”
This room was bigger than Ann’s. Three windows—very similar to the ones in Ann’s room—lit the far end of the room. There were five beds. Germ was lying on one of them. “Hi Felix.”
“Hi. Where are we?”
Talin guided Felix to a pair of chairs in the corner. “Let me explain. After we saved Ann, she was the only one who had a fully healed heart. We were all stuck recovering. When I woke up yesterday, Richard explained the mission to me. We’re supposed to wait until we’re close to the Faden peninsula, and then blow up the ship.”
“We’re supposed to blow up a ship…while we’re on it?” There was definitely a flaw in the plan.
“This ship has been transporting flint powder from Shervian mines to the Ganian army.”
“Flint powder the explosive?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think you told me how we plan on surviving the explosion.” Felix said.
“You know those onyx rings that we were given?” Talin asked. Felix nodded, holding up the hand with that ring. “Whenever we touch an opal, it takes us back to where we last put the ring on, right?”
“Yes, but we would need to touch the opal right before creating the explosion. It sounds risky.”
Talin smiled. “Actually, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. The common opal is activated by the corruption energy that an onyx puts off. Flint powder is a special kind of opal; it can be activated by fire. When you light flint powder, it creates a chain reaction, and the energy released causes an explosion and at the same time sends everyone within its radius who’s corrupted back to where they touched the onyx, just like a regular opal would.”
“…So…when we blow the ship up, we get taken back to Serc?”
“Yes! We’ll be completely safe.”
“What about the sailors?”
“They’ve all got rings like ours. They’ll be safe, but the Ganian army will have one less ship bringing them deadly explosives.”
Felix nodded. “When do we blow it up?” He asked.