Eric said, “All correct.”
“Are you wearing all our clothes? The armor?” She paused. “My amulet?”
“Yes.”
“And it happens each time? That’s interesting.”
“Why?”
“The summoning spell is supposed to outfit us, as it appears to be doing for each of you, but it takes the original item, like my amulet, and makes it disappear from its current location before putting it on me, for example. I arrive with it on even if I was not wearing it before the spell summoned me.”
“That’s what we’re experiencing.”
“Yes, but I have kept the amulet with me since your return to Stonehenge. You have disappeared at least once since then.”
“Twice,” Eric corrected. “No one but us knows about the second one, partly because it was very short. A few minutes.”
She frowned. In their years of quests, she and the others had seldom experienced a quest nearly that short. It usually took hours, if not days, sometimes a week or more. If a quest was so easy that it could be accomplished quickly, the summoning spell would not bring them because others could likely handle it. After all, the Ellorian Champions were the heroes of last resort, brought in when no one else could handle the challenge. Still, a quick quest had happened, and she wanted to know how their second one proved to be that kind.
“Why only a few minutes?” she asked.
Eric said, “Goblins and ogres killed the wizard who summoned us before he could tell us the quest, so we could come back without doing it.”
“Hmm. That happened to us once. They have to tell you within an hour. Less, I think. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that you’ve been summoned two more times, with one of you having the amulet on your quest, and yet it has not left my side during this time. The Quest Rings appear to have somehow created a duplicate.”
“That is interesting,” commented Matt, looking intrigued, “but I think we already know this, as I have a copy of Soliander’s staff when I’m on a quest. Just to clarify our roles, they think Eric is Andier, and he is wearing his gear. Anna is you. Ryan is Korrin.”
“And you’re Soliander,” she finished. Unable to resist her curiosity any longer, she asked, “You said you’ve seen him. I assume he is twenty years older like me? What of Andier and Korrin?”
Eric interjected, “We haven’t seen or heard a word about the others.”
“As for Soliander,” said Matt, “I don’t think he is twenty years older. I didn’t get a good look, really, but I have some of his memories in me and they include his face in a mirror. No images are past mid to late twenties. I think it’s only been a few years for him, though I’m not sure that makes any sense.”
“Not much does,” Ryan said sourly.
Eriana leaned forward, wondering if far more substitution had occurred than she would have imagined possible. Did they all have shared memories? That could be rather invasive and unsettling. What did Anna know of her life since before arriving in New Zealand? Her thoughts drifted to the troublesome parts of her past that she had never shared with anyone.
She asked, “How could you have his memories?”
Matt looked unsure how to explain and Eric interjected. “I think we need to exchange some history for the answer to make sense, because it’s just going to cause more questions. It will get confusing out of order like that.”
“Yes,” she reluctantly agreed, then offered, “and as much as you have questions about me, I think your situation is more urgent.”
“Do you have a situation going on?” Ryan asked. His eyes went to the hotel room door, beyond which they could sometimes hear people passing by, unaware that three of the famous Stonehenge Four were hiding on its other side. His thoughts went to Anna.
Eriana shook her blonde head, leaning back into the chair again. “No. Only to find out what is happening with all of you and how I can help.”
“No one is after you?” Eric asked.
She cocked an eyebrow. “Not that I know of. I suppose it is possible now, but it wouldn’t be someone from Earth, I don’t think, only one of the many enemies we earned during our quests. You’ve given me something to consider, but no one knows that Erin Jennings of Florida is Eriana of Coreth from the planet Elloria. You are the ones everyone is after right now. And this is partly my fault.”
“What do you mean?”
Eriana sighed, unsure where to begin. Too much history existed, so she focused on what would be useful to them at once, especially if this somehow proved to be their only conversation for a while—or maybe ever. “You went to Stonehenge while Anna had the pendant with her, right?”
“Yes,” answered Ryan, playing with his fork. “We figured that’s involved but only after the first quest, because we saw the poem inside it, the one written in magic words. Matt can read them now. Well, all of us can. Someone cast a spell allowing us to read various languages.”
Jack looked at them jealously. “Kinda wish someone would cast that on me,” he remarked.
Matt smirked. “If you’re nice, and I learn it, maybe I will.”
Eriana knew the lines, even though she had only heard them once. They had become a critical part of her life’s course. She said now to make sure everyone was familiar. They were part of an explanation she sensed she had to give.
Within the jewel magic resides
Creatures, too, and all abide
To keep Earth safe from she who lies
The prison here keeps hope alive
The henge of stone shall set them free
Good and evil, equal be
Undo what’s done and come what may
Risk the price all life could pay
“What does it mean?” Matt asked, leaning forward on the table, eyes intense. “Who is ‘she who lies’?”
Looking concerned, Jack said, “Better question. What is the ‘price all life could
