Earland Khan's Arc

Chapter 2 of 7

The map's first symbol led the three brothers to an island of white stone. They climbed a worn path until they reached a marble statue in a clearing. It showed a strong man swinging a club at a monster with many snake heads. Words were carved at its base. Earland knelt and read them aloud. "I hold what you seek, but only the broken find it." "A riddle," Jimmy said. Earland's oldest brother leaned on his wooden staff and studied the carving. Age had slowed his hands, but his eyes still worked. "Broken. It wants us to break the statue." Brave grinned and cracked his knuckles. Earland's youngest brother needed no staff. Fire lived in his fists. "Finally, a job for me." He stepped toward the marble, hand raised. "Wait," Earland said. He pressed his ear to the cold stone. Deep inside, something rattled when he tapped it. Metal. "The key is sealed inside. If we shatter it wrong, we may break the key too." Jimmy nodded. "Then we crack it, not smash it." He pointed his staff at the statue's base. Green light crawled up the marble. Thin roots pushed into every hidden crack. The stone groaned. "Now, Brave. Heat the top. Earland, cool the bottom. Stone splits where hot meets cold." Brave laid both burning palms on the monster's carved heads. The marble hissed and glowed red. Earland raised his coral staff. Water gathered from the damp air and struck the statue's feet in a freezing sheet. The stone shrieked. A crack ran up the man's carved chest, then across his arms. "Again," Jimmy said. His roots pulled hard. The statue burst apart. Marble chunks tumbled across the clearing. Dust rose. When it cleared, a small iron key lay in the rubble, whole and cold. Earland lifted it. His fingers shook. One of three. The castle felt closer already. Then the ground trembled. The broken pieces of the statue began to move. The many-headed monster carved in the marble was pulling itself together. Stone snake heads rose from the dust and hissed. The man's shattered club reformed in a fist of rock. "It guards the key even now," Jimmy said, backing away. Brave laughed, but his hands were already burning. "Then we break it again." Earland gripped the key tight and stood between the reforming beast and his brothers. Cold water swirled up his staff. The first key was theirs. Now they had to survive the thing that had hidden it.