Leon turned to see Miskit standing before him. "Are you crazy!?" he demanded. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"Destroyed, actually," the pink rabbit corrected. "Technically, I'm not alive. Besides that, I have a very specific duty to perform, and that's to keep Emily safe."
The fox scoffed. "You? Keep her safe?" he asked incredulously. "I admire your courage, but you look like you'd be better at being an animal's chew toy than protecting her from harm!"
"Look who's talking. Listen, mister," Miskit said, poking a finger in Leon's face, "my master built me to protect and guide Emily, so don't think you can get rid of me so easily."
Leon was about to argue further when a third explosion rocked the building above and more rocks fell. "Run!" he yelled, and led them into the old storm drainage system. The water was about ankle-deep and far from pleasant. It was full of garbage and reeked of every-thing that people leave to be washed away. He led them down several tunnels, and unlike when Miskit led them through the streets, Leon never once found a dead end or a turnaround. "This way," he said, running over to a ladder. He started to climb. "Follow me."
"Right behind you," Emily replied. They followed him up the ladder until they came to an iron lid that covered a manhole, where they stopped while Leon peeked out and checked the street above.
"The coast is clear," he said, and climbed out. When he'd pulled himself clear of the manhole, he turned around and helped Emily out, though Miskit said she didn't need any help and pulled herself out. Leon didn't answer. They found themselves in one of the many alleys of the city. Pipes crisscrossed the space above them, and dumpsters of every shape and sort sat against the walls, all overflowing with trash. The smell was a horrific mixture of everything that the people didn't want to keep around, including bodily waste. The stench made Emily gag, and though Leon wore a small pouch of spices over his snout, she could tell the odor bothered him as well. The only one unaffected by the suffocating stench was Miskit.
Leon peeked around a corner, and the others followed his gaze. They saw three elf guards interrogating a frightened and confused citizen. "The elves have taken over the streets," Leon observed.
"Thanks for stating the obvious, fox man," Miskit grumbled.
"Miskit, give him a break," Emily said softly. Then to Leon, she asked, "So what do we do now?"
Leon withdrew behind the corner and looked up toward the roofs. "We take the high road," he replied. "Follow me." He ran towards the wall, jumped and landed square on both feet, then quickly leapt to the far side. Emily and Miskit watched in astonishment as he jumped nimbly back and forth several times until he reached the roof. From there, he looked down and called, "What are you waiting for?"
"Are you kidding?" Miskit called back. "We can't do that!"
Leon let out an exasperated sigh. "You can't, but she can," he said. "This is precisely why you shouldn't have come along."
"But I don't even know how!" Emily said.
"She doesn't know how!" Miskit repeated.
"Yes she does," Leon replied. "Now stop fooling around and get up here!"
"Don't let him bully you," Miskit said to Emily, who responded by turning her back to the pink rabbit. "What are you doing?"
"Get on my back," the girl replied. Miskit started to argue, but she cut her off. "Miskit, please, there's no time. Get on my back!"
Miskit wanted to argue the idiocy of whatever Emily might be considering, but soon realized it was hopeless and instead asked, "Are you sure about this Emily?"
Emily's answer was to will the stone around her neck to life. The stone activated, and as if reading her mind, surrounded them with its energy and lifted them toward the roof where Leon stood waiting for them.
The fox stepped back as they cleared the edge of the roof. "Bravo," he cheered, clapping and smiling. "Excellent work, Stonekeeper. Now try to keep up with me." He turned and ran toward the far side, then leapt over to the roof adjacent to them.
As the stone's energy surrounded them again, Miskit whined, "He's got to be joking."
Back at the clinic, Luger and Prince Trellis walked through the hole that had been freshly blasted in the wall. Their soldiers were in front of them. As the dust settled, they could be seen on their hands and knees searching through the debris for clues as to their quarry's whereabouts. "There's no sign that they were ever here, sir," one soldier reported.
"Then you're not looking hard enough," Luger growled.
"This is what you wanted to show me?" Trellis asked. "We assaulted a building full of innocent civilians to get at some people that we don't even know were ever here?"
"Patience," Luger said, looking at the prince from the corner of his eye. "Our search has only begun. We're just getting warmed up." At that moment, he communicator beeped. "What is it, Captain?"
"Sir, we've found them," said the Captain's voice. "They've taken to the rooftops."
"Good work," replied Luger. "Get after them."
Out in one of the alleys, the Captain and his men watched as their quarry sailed across the gap between the buildings above them. "Good work," Luger's voice said. "Get after them. Destroy them however you see fit. Be creative."
The Captain's smile was full of sharp teeth as he replied, "With pleasure." He replaced his communicator and signaled his men to follow him. He took the same route to the roofs as Leon had, jumping back and forth off the walls. Then he peeked over the edge.
Miskit happened to look back right at the moment and saw the top of the elf's bald head peep over. "Look out," she warned. "We've got company!"
"Don't look back," Leon ordered. "Just keep moving and don't stop!" He leapt onto the side of a water tank and jumped back at the elves. Timing his movements, he twisted his body and landed a mean kick to one the nearest elf's jaw. Then he wound up and kicked straight out, forcing his foot into the middle of the second elf's face. No sooner had he been taken out than a third elf showed up, sword drawn and hissing.
"Leon!" Emily cried.
"I'll be fine! Just keep going!" Leon ordered, looking back toward his opponent just in time to skip away from a sideways slash. In the same movement he reached back and drew out his own sword, which he then swung into the elf's blade with all his might. There was a loud metallic clang, and the elf leapt back a few feet. He glanced down at his weapon and saw that Leon's attack had made a small but deep cut into the blade. In a rage, he brought it down at Leon again and again, and the fox parried each blow with expert ease.
With Leon distracted, one of the elves assigned to hunt down and kill Emily had gotten past and leapt over to the next rooftop and charged at Emily, a sword in each hand.
"Emily," Miskit cried, "look out!"
Emily saw him coming, and willed the stone to power up. It took a few seconds to get the stone charged with energy, during which time the elf got closer. The elf had been getting ready to make a downward slash and remove Emily from the elf king's worry list right when the stone discharged a bean of high-powered energy, launching him away from his target, back over the rooftops he'd just crossed, and into the middle of the neighborhood marketplace.
Leon and the elf continued to duel. They were so close together that they could feel each other's breath. "Leon needs my help," Emily said.
"But he told us to keep going," Miskit reminded her. "Besides, he can handle himself."
"But it's two against one," the girl pointed out. "He can't take on both at once. Look!"
One of the elves over where Leon was leapt up and attempted to take him from behind. The fox sensed this and forced the elf he was currently facing back with a heavy blow, then turned and shoved his foot into his would-be assassin's gut. The elf grunted as the wind was forced from his body.
Emily and Miskit looked on in amazement as the elf fell away, doubled over and gasping. "You were saying?" Miskit said.
Just then, the first elf Leon had been dueling swung his sword upward. Leon felt the rush of wind as the blade missed his face by half an inch, then the sharp sting of pain as it clipped off a piece of his ear. He yelped and fell backward. The elf seized his chance and drove his blade at Leon like a spear, but the fox caught it in his rubberized grips, the tip just off his nose.
"I still need to help him," Emily replied. "I can use the stone to—"
"But what if you can't control it?" Miskit asked. "What if you hit Leon by accident?"
"I won't let him die!"
"But Emily, there are other ways—"
"I can do this!" the girl hissed, glaring at the pink rabbit from the corner of her eye.
Miskit deflated. "Okay," she relented. "But please, just be careful!"
Emily began to concentrate on preparing the energy within the stone for one attack on Leon's assaulter. Light and energy swirled around her and collected on the surface of the stone, growing brighter and gaining intensity. Her eyes began to take on a reddish glow as she tapped into the spirit force inside the stone. The energy made her cape and hair flap wildly even though there was no wind. Soon, a shell of energy encased them both.
"Uh, Emily?" Miskit cried, more than a little worried.
Just then, the elf who was trying to slice Leon into bird food looked over with a perplexed, "Huh?"
Leon also looked over to see what had caught his attention, and immediately realized what was happening. With a burst of strength, he lashed out and kicked the elf away from him just as the energy from the stone was unleashed. The elf never stood a chance. He was caught right in the middle of the beam and let out a piercing shriek as the energy hit his body and burned his flesh. Within seconds, it was all over, and he fell to the roof in a crumpled, smoking heap. Leon and Miskit looked on in wide-eyed amazement. The last two elves had also seen what happened, and turned tail and ran for their lives, screaming like girls.
Meanwhile, Emily was beginning to have trouble controlling the spirit inside the stone. "It's so easy, isn't it?" asked a voice only she could hear. "So easy to have this much power. And you're the one who gets to wield it."
Emily was tempted for a split second to let the power of the stone to take her over, but then remembered that if she did, it would ultimately lead to her own demise. True, I've been given a great privilege, she answered. But I won't let you use me.
"Won't you stop fighting?" the voice asked. "Must you be so stubborn?"
Leave me alone, Emily demanded.
"Just think," the voice went on temptingly. "You and me, together. We'd be unstoppable. We could rule this land."
No! Emily screamed. Go away!
"All you have to do is let go and let me take care of things. Imagine it. No worry, no cares—"
Get…out…of my…head! Emily ordered.
"Very well," the voice agreed, and left her mind.
As the spirit's presence left her conscience, Emily suddenly became very unsteady and started swaying like a drunk. Then she fell down.
"Emily!" Miskit and Leon called at the same time.
"Emily, get up," Miskit begged, shaking her young friend.
But Emily was far from incapacitated, and she could still feel the spirit of the stone teasing the fringes of her mind. As soon as she realized this, she shot upright, grabbed the cord on which it hung, and tried to yank it off, shouting, "Get it off of me!" But despite her efforts, the cold held strong. "Why can't I get this stupid thing off!?" she demanded.
"Because it's your curse," Leon explained softly. The girl looked at him. "I'm sorry it has come down to you, Emily," he continued, "but it's your chosen path."
"Excuse me?" Emily demanded incredulously. "I didn't choose this, Leon. I never asked for this. It was chosen for me!"
"Because it's your destiny," Leon replied. Emily looked at him, desperate to hear something else. "There's not a whole lot I can do to help you, Emily." She looked to be in shock. "You have yet to understand the extent of the power you possess, and that is one thing I can help with, if you'll let me. Once you gain that understanding, and learn to control the power you've been given, you will turn this curse into a blessing that you can't even begin to imagine. A blessing for both you and Alledia."
"But how, Leon?" Emily begged. "How can I control this? It's too powerful. It's like it had a will of its own."
"That's because it does," Leon explained simply. "I'll show you how to control it." He reached out and took her hand and helped her up. "I've spent my whole life preparing for this time." Seeing her confusion, he continued, "When I was young, the elders told me that I would meet you."
"The elders?" Emily asked. "Who are they?"
"The leaders of the resistance," Leon explained. "They have foretold everything that has transpired here. I only hope they're right about you too."
"Whoa, hold up a second," Emily said. "You said the elders foretold that we would meet. But how could they have possibly known about me?"
"They didn't," Leon replied. "Not about you, specifically. They only said that a Stonekeeper with great courage and a selfless heart would someday arrive to help cleanse Alledia from the shadow of the elves. I'm now certain that the one they spoke of was you."
"Ah," Emily said, trying to take it all in. "And where are these elders?"
"Near the south side of the city, in the old mining tunnels. Your brother will meet them soon."
At hearing her brother's name, Emily suddenly became worried. "Navin!" she blurted. "Will he and Mom be okay?"
Leon put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "No need to worry," he said. "They're in the best company available."
They continued on their way over the rooftops, past top-floor windows and billowing chimneys, in the other direction and toward the enormous, imposing mound that was their destination: Demon's Head Mountain.