Cambria had been on the road for six hours now. It was nine PM and she was getting tired. She was in Ohio now and needed to rest. She followed the signs to a state park where she filled out the little envelope and placed the cash inside. 

It would cover the night and park entrance fee. She had used the name Cammie Thorn instead of her real name. She didn’t want to be found easily. Her license plates were registered to Cambria Thorn. 

Thorn was her mother’s maiden name and Cambria felt it was best not to use her original last name. All of the paperwork she had with her was in her new name as well. That included the truck and prepaid card. It would be harder for anyone to track her that way.

It was nearly pitch black in the campground as she made her way to the campsite she had rented for the night. Her headlights lit up enough of the road to guide her as she slowly worked her way through the campground. 

Low signs marked each loop of campsites as well as each campsite. The only light came from the moon and the main bathrooms where the showers were located. There was a street light on that corner as well as the lights on the wall of the building's exterior.  

She had deliberately chosen a more secluded site to use. She turned into the last loop and found her campsite. In the loop she was in the only light you could see was from the slowly dying campfires in other campsites dotting the area. 

She parked the pickup and hung her slip on the campsite's numbered post by the driveway. Then she covered the truck with a large camouflage tarp. Once she had the tarp in place and tacked down, Cambria slipped underneath it and into the truck cap on the back of the truck. She set an alarm for four am and snuggled into her sleeping bag where she fell asleep.

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Darron pulled into the campground at nearly two-thirty in the morning. He wasn’t sure if she was even in this campground, but at this point he didn’t care. He was exhausted and needed sleep. 

He filled out the required paperwork, stuck cash in the envelope and deposited it in the payment slot. Then took one of the last remaining campsites. Darron didn’t notice anything about the campground when he arrived because he was so tired he was on autopilot. Had he been more awake he would have noticed the one campsite that appeared completely empty, yet clearly wasn’t.  He parked and stretched out on the front seat where he promptly passed out.  It had been a long day.

An hour later, He was awakened by the rumble of a motorcycle. He raised up slightly, saw Chet park the bike in the last campsite and set up a tiny two man tent that Darron didn’t think he’d fit in. Within a few minutes, Chet had disappeared into his tent and started snoring away.

It was apparent that Chet was as exhausted as he was, if not more so since he stumbled around as he set up the tent muttering that he should have just rolled out the sleeping bag under the stars.  This had Darron wonder briefly how Chet hauled the tent with him on a bike. But sleep overcame him yet again so Darron laid back down and drifted off again.  His last thought that of starting again in the morning,

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4 am

Cambria sat up and stretched. She had a long day ahead of her. Slipping out of the sleeping bag, Cambria changed her clothes quickly. She went for a pair of camouflage pants, forest green T-shirt and Camouflage jacket along with her biker boots.  She quickly re braided her hair then grabbed her purse and climbed out of the bed of her truck.

She didn’t worry about food at the moment, instead removing and folding up the tarp that covered the truck. It was her grandfather’s tarp and it was unique; he had figured out how to design a tarp that actually blended in with any terrain. No one knew how he did it.

Several companies tried to get her to sell it to them so they could figure out what he did, but Cambria just couldn’t bear to part with it.  She stashed the tarp and items she used to secure it in the back of the truck and locked the truck cap. Then she climbed into the truck and started it. She pulled out of the camp site and was headed out of the campground by 4:45 am. 

She noticed the Harley that had been parked outside her place of work the day before parked at another site not far from the one she had taken. The oaf appeared to be asleep. She didn’t hurry, just kept going until she was out of the park. Her little truck made less noise at lower speeds. She hoped he’d think it was the ranger patrolling and ignore her truck completely snoring on. 

Once out of the park she headed for the highway and a steaming cup of coffee.  She needed the caffeine badly. Cambria noted she wasn’t used to this early in the morning anymore. It had been three years since she’d run on farm time and it was catching up. She had been driving on the interstate for an hour when she spied a McDonalds and pulled off.

She ordered a sausage biscuit nix the egg and a large Caramel Macchiato. (She hated powdered eggs and most restaurants used them.) Her favorite breakfast when she was in a hurry. She paid quickly and got her food, then she was off again. She was hoping to get as close to her destination as possible before she stopped again.

She glanced at the map and paperwork for the cabin that was now hers when she’d stopped for supper.  It was just outside a little town in southeastern Minnesota called Medicine Creek.  Right in the middle of a hardwood forest, a state forest at that. It sounded perfect.

She thought about it while she drove. She would have a little garden and some chickens. She’d also have a dog as well.  She’d missed having a dog ever since they’d lost their dog, Duke. to age when she was thirteen. Her grandparents weren’t ready for another dog. After they’d passed, she didn’t have a place suited for a dog now she would.

She’d do her best to live off the land, canning vegetables from the garden and other fruits she gathered from the surrounded forest. She’d store nuts and seeds, too. Anything to keep her fed in the harsh northern winter.  Just like her grandparents taught her to be

Self sufficient the way she should be. She knew how to hunt and fish. She could use a gun if needed and had a permit for the hunting rifle she carried. She even made sure to get a permit to have her rifle in Minnesota. 

She knew how to track animals and people. She can make slingshots and homemade bows and arrows. She even knew what kind of stones to use to sharpen her knives with. She was prepared. She didn’t need much as long as she was fed and sheltered. 

The one thing she was going to practice was crocheting and sewing so she could make her own blankets and clothes. Maybe even some items she could sell. She’d also need a job so she could earn money. She could work at a bar if there was one nearby. She had enough experience having worked at Suelai's Bar, The Booze Barn, for the last two years. That should count for something.  

Cambria felt her mood lighten as she drove. She was looking forward to her new life. Her chance to be happy and free. Suelai had promised to check on her parents and grandparents graves for her so she didn’t have to worry about that. Who knows maybe when her dreaded Aunt Delila passed away, she could return to Turtle Creek even if it was just for a visit. 

Darron awoke to Chet’s grousing. He stretched and glanced Chet’s way. Chet was struggling to pack up the tent again so it would fit in his saddle bag. He eventually ended up securing it to his handlebars.  Chet then busied himself with a fire and breakfast.  He was obviously not in a hurry.

Darron straightened up in his seat, started the truck and drove to the bathrooms.  He changed quickly into a clean shirt and jeans, then headedout to find breakfast and coffee. He wasn’t delaying himself for a fire. He wondered if there was something that Chet knew that he didn’t. 

It wouldn’t matter anyway, Darron always used his intuition and it told him she was heading towards Iowa. He took the Interstate in that direction. Stopping long enough to get food and coffee at a McDonalds along the way.  He glanced at the clock on his dashboard and winced. It was almost eleven o’clock. He slept for quite a while and that meant she had an even bigger head start than before.

As Darron drove he went over some things he’d learned. The Council was the ones who chose the guardian of Soul Stone and it was kept in the realm of myth even though it existed to protect the whole world.  It was truly dangerous. So If she was the stone’s true guardian, it was for a reason. So why did one of the council want the girl and the stone? What was Adrian’s agenda with the stone?  And the biggest question of all, how much danger was Cambria in? 

The last question caused an ache in Darron’s gut. He had a feeling she was in very real danger. But from who? He somehow knew he had to reach her first and keep her safe. It was the trust issue that would be the biggest barrier to that plan. One thing he knew for certain was that there was something not quite right about the mission Adrian had sent him and Chet on. 

Chet was not one to question things, he just completed his assignment and that was that. Sometimes people got hurt along the way.  That was just how Chet worked. So Darron had to be the one to get to Cambria first, if only to protect her from Chet and solve the mystery regarding Adrian’s mission. It was her only chance as far as he was concerned. 

Little did Darron know that Cambria had someone else on her side. Someone who had no intention of being used to harm others again. The great war had cost many lives and almost cost him his existence. Gram Stone, the spirit who resides in the Soul Stone. He was once a free man, but that ended when he started a war for his own gain. A war fought by religious zealots over a holy land. Many lost their lives in that war.  

Not even Celestials were spared as is the way with war, no one is spared. He used his great powers to convince mortals to fight and even went so far as to use his element in front of mortals. He called the things he did miracles, stating that it was proof the Almighty had chosen him to lead.

The war was stopped when several powerful Celestials called upon the Gods for help. The Gods revealed themselves to him through a young Celestial and sentenced him to imprisonment inside a stone. The Gods created the stone and chain it rests on. The young Celestial they spoke through became the first guardian of the Soul Stone.

After centuries of imprisonment, Gram realized how wrong he was and is determined to prevent anything like that calamity from happening again. He has only been partially successful as two great wars have since been fought and both were started by Celestials who’d been led astray by the power they held in the stone. The last great war nearly destroyed the Soul Stone and Gram. 

The only reason it wasn’t was because the Gods prophesied that one whose soul was darkened by tragedy and hatred would take Gram’s place within the stone. Only then would Gram be free to take his eternal rest or if he chooses to return to life on earth as the stone’s guardian.

Darron only knows the myth regarding the stone. Not the truth behind it. So he knows very little about the spirit inside the stone. He pondered the Soul Stone as he drove, working out the puzzle of events that may very well cost Cambria her life

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Cambria glanced at the passenger seat, not at all surprised to see Gram sitting there. He smirked at her just before she returned her gaze to the road.

“You're afraid of those two men, aren’t you?” He asked. Her gaze shot back to him in surprise.

“I don’t know. There’s trouble brewing that’s for sure. As for those two I don’t know much about them just that they seemed awfully focused on me which I don’t think bodes well for either of us.” She sighed and ran a hand over her hair dislodging a few strands of hair.

Gram studied her as she drove. Yep, he felt it too. Trouble was brewing and the stone that was his home is in the middle yet again. “You will have to confront them eventually. You know that. Just remember I am with you and you can call me if you are in trouble and I will help you.”  He hoped his words gave her courage.

Cambria knew he was trying to encourage her, but she didn’t have a reply. Besides at the moment she felt like a coward running off across the country like she was. However, she didn’t see any other choice. She knew she couldn’t put her friends in any more danger. Suelai and Bret had their son, ten year old Maverick James to worry about. He was a brother to her and she wasn’t getting him hurt, period.