Stone Guardian Read online

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  In the soft light of the setting sun, Keira looked out over the vast landscape before her. Her hand rested on one of the stones that marked the entrance to the barrow. At her left lay Salisbury Hill as a mysterious pyramid and behind it the standing stones were hidden from view by the rolling hills. A car drove down the road in the valley. Keira recognized Chad’s Ford. Not much later he joined her, lightly panting from the climb up the hill.

  “Beautiful,” he said. “I still cannot believe that all of this is ours.”

  Keira chuckled. “Don’t exaggerate, sweetheart, we are stewards on behalf of English Heritage and the National Trust. We don’t own anything.”

  “Ah well, details, details,” laughed Chad.

  Keira turned around and entered the burial chamber. The last rays of sunlight were just enough to be able to see something. It felt empty now. The skeletons, the knife of obsidian and the other artifacts that they found at the dig, were packed by the archeologists and shipped to the British Museum. The heavy hoisting machines that still stood at the site were now the only reminder of the months in which the archeologists had conscientiously studied each millimeter of the West Kennet Longbarrow. She walked to the rear chamber and kneeled before the four stones that lay sisterly side by side. Keira put her hand on one of the stones.

  “You will be brought to the stone circle tomorrow,” she whispered. “The archeologists were able to find out which stones you were cut from using the fracture area. They are not a hundred percent certain of course, but they showed me the stones and it felt right.”

  “Are you talking to those stones?” Chad had followed her. In the twilight she could just make out his surprised look.

  “Um, well…“ She shrugged. “I feel something when I am near these stones, as if they were very important once.”

  Chad held out his hand and helped her up. “Come, it will be dark soon. Let’s leave before you start telling me that you have also seen ghosts.” He grinned.

  Keira woke early the next morning. With the tip of her tongue out of her mouth she tried to braid her hair and put it up nicely. She just slid the final bobby pin in her braids when Chad joined her yawning in front of the mirror.

  “That’s quite a work of art,” he said while he kissed her neck. “Looks beautiful in those raven black hairs of yours.”

  Keira kissed her husband on his forehead. “You’d better hurry. I want to be at the barrow on time.”

  When they reached the barrow, two men with arms at least twice the size of those of Chad, were already carrying the stones outside. Keira walked towards them. “I would like to help.”

  The man laughed. “No worries, ma’am, we have everything under control.”

  She gave the man an annoyed look. “I can see that but I am the administrator here and I would like to help.”

  “Okay, okay.” The man repositioned his grip on the stone so Keira could also hold part of it. Together they descended.

  Keira wiped the sweat from her brow and tried to pull up her nylons unseen, when all four stones lay on the right spot. Chad walked towards her with a big smile on his face.

  “Come,” she said and she pulled him towards one of the standing stones next to which they had positioned a piece of stone from the burial chamber. “Put your hand on the stone.”

  “My dear, I am not going to feel something.”

  Keira grabbed his hand and put it on the stone. A split second the air seemed to vibrate in a soft, purple glow. The friendly mockery in Chad’s eyes disappeared and he also touched the surface with his other hand. “Warmth, thankfulness,” he whispered with wide open eyes.

  Keira smiled. “They are finally home again.”

  - The end -

  Thank you for reading my story. I hoped you enjoyed it and if you did, perhaps you would be willing to take a moment to leave me a review? It would be very much appreciated! If you would like some more information about what inspired me to write Stone Guardian, read on.

  Thanks,

  Iris Versluis

  Background

  Stone guardian is set among the beautiful landscape of the Avebury stone circle and the West Kennet Long Barrow. Although the Avebury stones themselves are smaller than the stones from Stonehenge, the stone circle itself is much bigger and is one of the largest in Europe. The Avebury stone circle consists of two small inner stone circles that are surrounded by a big outer circle. The West Kennet Avenue is an avenue of paired stones that leads up the circle and this is the place where the story begins. The burial chamber to which Sila takes the Cireara is now called the West Kennet Long Barrow and is a located on a hill near the stone circle. Currently, the site is managed by English Heritage and the National Trust. They make sure that the stones and surrounding landscape will be preserved for many more generations to come.

  Each year I spend my holiday in England and Avebury is often one of the places we visit. The tranquillity and atmosphere that surrounds the stones is extraordinary. It is one of those places where it is almost impossible to not get inspired. When the weather is cooperative (and for some reason it often is in Avebury, perhaps divine intervention? ), it is lovely to sit down and lean against one of the big standing stones and just soak up the atmosphere. This is also how Stone Guardian came into existence. Leaning against one of the big stones I saw Sila and Ava walk towards the circle, followed by a procession of priestesses. On their faces I saw the tension about what was to come but also their great trust in the standing stones and the Goddess.

  Please note that the characters and events are all fictional and not based on actual historical events. Much is still unclear about why the stone monument was built and how it was used.

  About the author

  Iris Versluis is a Dutch author who caught the writing bug in 2009 and hasn’t stopped writing since. She loves to write historical stories with a fantasy twist, but also enjoys writing stories in other genres such as science fiction and high fantasy. For inspiration, she often visits flea markets or antique shops, looking for special books or objects. She competed in various Dutch short story contests and took second place in Fantastels 2012 and third place in the Fantasy Strijd Brugge 2012. Her stories were published in the Dutch anthologies Pure Fantasy 28, Grenzeloze fantasie, Fantastisch Strijdtoneel III and Fantastisch Strijdtoneel IV.

  Discover other titles by Iris Versluis

  Passie uit het verleden (in Dutch)

  Contact

  Website: https://www.irisversluis.nl/

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iris.versluis.5

  E-mail: [email protected]