With One Stone

A thousand steps lie before me, winding up the mountain and through the clouds. Legend speaks of a treasure so invaluable, and yet incomprehensible, waiting at the peak, and I would very much like to have a peek. With sweat running down my whole body I set foot on the summit, and

There stood a wall of the fiercest warrior monks I’ve ever seen. “Hoo boy,” I thought. “This will be tricky.” “I say there, you fine fellows,” I said as jovially as I could. “How’s the treasure? Is it still intact?” The monks looked at each other in confusion.

The Gelfren Monks of the Sacred Septre monestary were renowned across much of Galantia. Their courage, wisdom and unrivalled skill in combat proved the turning point during the War of the Stones. I looked one of them dead in the eye. “The Last stone, “ I said. “Is it safe?”

“We hope so,” the monk whispered. “We hid it so well and with such secrecy that none of us knows where it is now. In fact, we kept no record of what the stone looks like, so we won’t know if we find it again. In hindsight, this approach is flawed.”

The monk's words sparked a memory in Emma's mind. Could it be? In the bottom drawer of her desk sat a red box her Aunt Petra had given her on her 16th birthday. "Inside is the Perfect Skipping Stone," she'd told her. Emma had never skipped a stone in her life, but kept it anyway.

That week she made her way to the lake. She closed her eyes and threw the rock. It skipped seven times and then flew into the air, exploding into a cascade of sparkles. A unicorn descended. Your Aunt Petra says ‘hello,’ it said. ‘She would like you to visit.’ And off they went.