The secret of the stones is revealed through excerpts of the original book. Both Gib and Harris study its words to show the way, but the words are often even more confusing than the wilderness they travel. 


            Their legend doubted by all but the faithful, dismissed with time as the wild imaginings of the superstitious, the power of the stones yet waits to be recovered…

Archer gazed triumphantly upon the stones. Their intricate lines twisted and curved across the glassy green surface; shining gold upon shimmering, translucent emerald. They would carry him wherever his heart desired; above the mountains or across the seas or to distant lands not yet seen. The options of a deity, Archer thought, but such kingly desires no longer enticed him. Prosperity and joy were far less elusive than he once believed.

Archer clung tightly to the cliff wall, his legs quivering as they strained under such precarious footing and his finger tips raw from the rocky climb. Still he would not look down. The opening was thirty feet higher up. Slowly, with the burning pain of each new grip and with the tedious task of finding secure footing, he forced himself higher. The promise of what could be numbed his pain and fear.

The world looked different now; its absolutes had dissolved into mind-bending abstractions. The once clear sky now rained upon him countless dark drops, the solid earth beneath his feet held untold chambers with unimagined dangers, and the ever flowing river now swirled and eddied as if to question its proper direction. These were the same as ever, of course. The change was within him and he could afford no such doubts now. The riddler would have his answer or the people would perish. Indecision was now Archer’s enemy and he felt ill-equipped for such a battle.

Years pass quickly under the weight of anticipation; the promise of future so favored over today. Faces grow ever distant with the turn of each generation and surely we forget. Some will hear the call of home and they will return.

Archer folded his arms against his chest, digging his fingers into his ribs and holding himself still as he tried to contain his overwhelming excitement. It swirled inside him, this passion for the quest that had taken him, bubbling and building to the brink of explosion. One crack, one tiny fracture, and it would let loose; a geyser of exhilaration spewing out torrents of uninhibited emotion, threatening and dangerous if not released carefully