Seven Stones: Part Ninety-Six
Previously on Seven Stones: Power starts to surge around the stone circle, heating the air. The ritual to stabilise it includes a human sacrifice. However, as a Courser drains the wielder’s strength, Haelen suggests Kobb might be able to avoid the need to kill anyone. When Kobb shoots the altar, the temperature drops to normal and the surging stops. But the world outside the circle becomes faded and indistinct. Reverend Gannon — Kobb’s supposedly deceased mentor — arrives.
Kobb lowered his Courser. “Reverend Gannon?”
“No need to be formal, Absolution. How’ve you been? How’s that cantankerous beast of yours?”
The sound of Anessa’s feet had stopped. She must’ve decided to give them some privacy once she realised Gannon wasn’t a threat. “Falcon’s fine. But never mind me. How did you survive? I saw Raveth obliterated. Nothing could — ”
“The Rules don’t tell the whole story. Power can destroy, but no more than an axe can destroy. There are other uses. Ways to move faster, to heal. It’s not the evil we were taught.”
It made a kind of sense. The Skithai used power differently. The Stones allowed people to travel. But, the Belt had driven him to unspeakable fury. “I’ve seen reason to question the Rule, to suggest it might overstate certain risks. But I’ve…
