Page 104 of To No End

“These are moonstones, also known as portal stones. They’re illegal for anyone but the king to possess. They’re extremely dangerous when in the wrong hands. They have the unique ability to open gateways between time and space.”

Gia, tickled that she’d guessed correctly, questioned with excitement, “How does it work?”

Theory replied, tossing one of the stones back and forth between her hands. “The stone must be on you physically. You can only travel to and from somewhere you’ve already been or can actively see. You have to be able to picture that place with clarity, for the moonstone’s precision relies on it. The longer you concentrate, the portal will begin to materialize. Keep it clear in your mind’s eye; failure to do so can result in ending up somewhere else entirely, or worse…lost. The farther the distance you travel, the more energy it’s going to take out of you.

“The short distance across the room was nothing at all, but if you were to try and portal from here back to your home, you might as well be crawling out of the gateway and preparing for a rather large meal and a long slumber.”

When she paused, I glanced all around the room, observing the reactions of my peers as they learned what could be done with the power of these tiny iridescent stones.

“Moonwalking requires massive amounts of energy and focus; doing it well means remaining undetected.”

Cairis snorted. “Moonwalkers?” he questioned with amusement.

Saryn looked especially irritated with his remark. “Laugh all you want, you’re lucky you haven’t encountered a Moonwalker. One minute you’re sleeping alone in your bed, and the next there’s a blade pressed firmly against your throat. Does that seem amusing to you?” He paused, waiting for Cairis to risk making another misguided statement.

“Everything is about energy and focus. All of your abilities require these two things to fuel them, and using the moonstones is no different. You may have earned these, but now you have to prove to us you deserve them.”

We all sat there, processing the severity of Saryn’s words. He was right. We had retrieved the stones, but they belonged to the king. If he was willing to let members of the Order have them, that had to mean it was a gift that came with a certain level of trust…and expectations.

Lost in thought of what it would be like to travel from one space to another from memory alone, I was snapped out of my daydream when I heard a familiar low voice question from across the table.

“How much energy and focus did it take her?” He jutted his chin in my direction, and we all knew what he was asking.

Saryn shook his head in disappointment. “You couldn’t just let us concentrate on the moonstones, could you, Trace?”

He growled back in defiance, “I want answers, we all do. Did you train her to do that?”

“No, I did not. Had we known she possessed such abilities, that would have been part of the plan…or at least the backup plan.”

I was convinced the two of them were going to lunge at one another any minute. I interrupted, not for him, but for the rest of my team.

“He didn’t know; I didn’t even know.”

Trace looked at me like it pained him. “Then how do we know if you can control it? What if you end up hurting one of us, or yourself?”

I just loved how he decided to pretend he was minutely worried about me at the end of his question.

“What? Are you afraid you might end up dead because of another team member?” I spat back venomously.

Before I could argue further, Varro stepped forward. “I was there, and she didn’t hurt me.” He glared at Trace.

“What was it?” Trace demanded while ignoring the Sea Fae, forcing an answer from Saryn.

“She’s a Dark Wielder.”

You could hear a pin drop from the silence.

“Be lucky there is one amongst you. With proper training, she will bring to the table an arsenal of abilities most of you can’t even fathom. She needs your support, not your criticism.”

I had never heard Saryn stand up for anyone or anything. Belief in duty and honor towards the Order was the only thing he cared about. There was an overwhelming sense of gratitude in my chest, but I knew better than to thank him.

Theory snapped the lid closed on the full box of moonstones. “You don’t deserve to work with these yet. Not when you can’t act like a team. I’ll return these when you all show some semblance of maturity.”

Seeing her clutch our prize in her hands, refusing to let us have them, strongly irritated me. We had risked our lives for them, not her.

My fury must have been written all over my face because Theory chided, “Good, Cress, let that be motivation to make sure the team gets their act together, and you’ll have these back soon enough.”

In truth, she was probably right. The team was volatile, at best. Between the palpable tension, curiosity about the stones, and my new untapped ability, we probably didn’t need anything else in the mix while we sorted through this mess.

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