Stone of Ascension by Lynda Aicher

pain caused him real, physical pain deep in his chest. Exactly where his doubt festered and burned and the energy waited to bloom and fire.
    Cronus paused in his caress and shot a covert glance at Damian.
    “In two days you will turn twenty-four, yes?” Cronus spoke his question softly to Amber, a lazy murmur that was imperceptible to all but her and Damian. Her brow furrowed before she gave a slight nod.
    The elder gently replaced Amber’s hand next to her side then shifted and turned until he stood before Damian.
    “Well,” boomed Damian’s father. “What is the verdict? Is she really the Marked One? The one who was prophesied to hold the power of evil in her hand? The one who could destroy us all?”
    Amber’s breath hitched in surprise, but Damian still couldn’t look at her. He didn’t want to see the fear in her eyes or the pain that shouldn’t be there. That he put there.
    Cronus kept his gaze on Damian, but raised a hand to silence Kadmos. The elder was a few inches shorter than Damian, but he had the regal standing owed him by age. He was the oldest member of the North American enclave, an Ancient. That designation alone garnered him respect. But the elder earned his respect through his actions and unwavering guidance to the community.
    You have a large challenge before you, Damian .
    The words whispered in Damian’s mind and startled him, but he withheld his reaction. Cronus was the Head of the House of Spirit and had the power to control the elements of the body. He could read minds and communicate via thoughts, but they were powers he used sparingly.
    “The mark appears fake,” Cronus stated to the room.
    Amber gasped as the crowd murmured and his father growled. Damian just stared, too stunned to react.
    The time has come for you to rise.
    Quick as lightning, Cronus grabbed Damian’s wrist and yanked on the fake skin that was skillfully attached to the back of his hand. The roar in his ears increased with each gasp, each exclamation of shock. But it was the slight intake of breath beside him that echoed through his mind.
    Finally he turned. Amber stared at the mark now exposed on the back of his hand, a look of stunned fear on her face and in her eyes.
    Your suffering was not for nothing. Become who you were born to be. Damian’s gaze flicked to Cronus in question.
    “The white dragon,” Cronus bellowed over the rising din of the room, holding Damian’s hand high. His grip was surprisingly strong and unrelenting. “The sign of Gog. A sign of evil. Clearly a sign of false words. Of false intent.”
    “No!” Damian insisted as his world crumbled around him. Again. “It is not true. I am not evil. I have never been evil.”
    “Words,” the elder admonished. “Words of the Slander. Lies to hide the truth.” He turned to Amber, grabbed her arm and raised it high until it was next to Damian’s. “Two signs of evil. The bird and the dragon. Here to trick us. Here to destroy us.”
    “It’s not true.”
    “Guards, take them to the cellars,” Cronus ordered, dropping their hands now that his verdict was rendered.
    The chamber broke out in chaos as people shoved and pushed to watch. The wolves darted and nipped as the circle tightened around the sacrificial lambs.
    “Damian?” Amber stared at him in question. Her fear was no longer hidden, but instead slapped him in the face as strongly as her palm had. “What’s going on?”
    Listen to the energy. Trust the truth it speaks.
    Damian was torn between Amber and the words Cronus whispered in his mind. The elder projected thoughts that made no sense, thoughts that contradicted his harsh judgment. Amber begged for answers he didn’t have. The confusion clogged his throat and stalled his mind.
    He had taken a risk with his life and Amber’s. And it had failed. Now, she would suffer for his mistakes and blindness.
    For his selfishness, just as she had stated.
     
    “ Damian !” Amber shouted over the rising noise. The strong show of