The little turtle

Previously

…“The Sunstone?” Randy whispered, awestruck. But there was no time to marvel. The creatures of shadow were closing in, their dark forms silhouetted against the moonlit trees. Randy knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that this was not just a sanctuary. It was a battleground. He had reached a place of power, but the darkness had followed him, determined to claim it. He looked at Elaine, her eyes blazing with a defiant courage, and then at the glowing flower. The river’s call had led him here, to the brink of a confrontation he was not sure he was ready for.