A Hero's Journey
Act IX - The Gift of the Desert
The High Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Peace had returned to the Kingdom of Pinnacles.
With the enormous bat defeated, the strange sounds beneath the mountains had ceased. The miners were preparing to reopen the caves, and the people of Condor could once again travel safely through the surrounding countryside.
The father and son had spent several wonderful days among their new friends, but their journey could not wait much longer.
On their final evening, the local boy offered to take them to one of his favorite places.
“There's something I want to show you before you leave,” he said.
They followed him along a narrow trail that climbed above the settlement.
As they rounded a great formation of stone, the landscape opened into a magnificent view.
Thousands of brilliant purple wildflowers covered the rocky mountainside, their delicate petals glowing beneath the setting sun. Beyond them, rugged peaks stretched across the horizon.
The son stopped in amazement.
“I thought deserts weren't supposed to have so many flowers!”
The local boy smiled.
“They don't always. The rains come for a short time, and then the flowers appear. You were lucky to see them.”
As they walked among the blossoms, the son noticed something moving between the rocks.
A small fox emerged from the brush.
Then a rabbit.
Several quail gathered along a nearby ledge, while a desert tortoise made its slow journey through the flowers.
High overhead, a magnificent condor circled against the orange sky.
“Father, look!”
His father stopped beside him.
More creatures were appearing.
Lizards rested upon the warm stones, and a small owl watched quietly from an outcrop.
Then, from behind a great boulder, a mountain lion emerged.
The local boy froze.
“Don't move,” he whispered.
The father instinctively stepped forward, placing himself between the great cat and the boys.
But something about the animal seemed unusual.
It showed no aggression. Instead, it approached slowly, almost deliberately, while the other creatures remained strangely calm.
The mountain lion stopped before the son.
It lowered one enormous paw.
Something tiny sparkled against the stone.
The boy leaned forward.
“Father… what's that?”
The mountain lion gently moved its paw, revealing a small red gemstone.
It was barely large enough to hold between two fingers, yet a beautiful crimson light shimmered deep within it.
The boy looked at his father.
His father studied the gem.
He remembered the green stone they had received after their adventure in the forest.
“I believe,” he said softly, “it's meant for you.”
The son knelt carefully beside the mountain lion.
The great animal gently nudged the tiny gemstone toward his outstretched hand.
He lifted it between his fingers.
For an instant, a faint pulse of red light passed through the stone.
The boy stared in wonder.
“It's beautiful.”
The father smiled.
“And I suspect it's rather more than beautiful.”
The local boy leaned closer.
“Do you think it's like the green stone in your father's sword?”
“Perhaps,” the father replied. “Though we'll have to discover what it can do.”
Around them, the desert creatures remained peacefully gathered as the last golden light illuminated the mountains.
The son looked toward the mountain lion.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
The great animal regarded him for a moment before turning and disappearing among the rocks.
One by one, the other creatures returned to the surrounding wilderness.
The father placed a hand on his son's shoulder.
“Two stones now,” he said.
The boy smiled.
“Only five more to find!”
His father laughed.
“One adventure at a time.”