Jon's grandfather pulled them along through the jungle. They ran through a seemingly endless maze of trees, vines, undergrowth, and fallen branches until they appeared to have lost their pursuers.
Finally, they stopped at a very small area. They sat on a log to catch their breaths.
Jon and Karyn turned to Jon's grandfather. He looked the part of a distinguished older archaeologist/explorer. His clothing was covered in sweat and grime but on the whole he appeared reasonably well.
"When I sent you the stone, I hoped you wouldn't use it to find me." Jon's grandfather said.
"But we're here anyway." Jon said. "What's happening? I thought the Incas died out a long time ago. Just how far back in time ARE we?"
"We're in the time of the Incas. At a time when the stone was being created and powered in the first place." Jon's grandfather replied. "At the moment, the stone is at the top of an Incan pyramid, guarded by Incan priests. At least, the version of the stone native to this time period. You still have its future self, the one I sent you?"
Jon checked. He sighed with relief to know the stone had traveled back in time with them, and hadn't been lost in the chase through the jungle.
"But why are you here?" Karyn asked. "Jon said you'd died and there was a body, but he wasn't sure it was really you. Why did you fake your death and send Jon the stone?"
"That's a long story." Jon's grandfather replied. "And I don't know how much time we have right now. I should start with the most immediately important part. The reason the Incas were chasing me is because they believed I was trying to steal their stone. In truth, I was only going to borrow it long enough to make a few wishes."
"But why?" asked Jon. "Couldn't you have made those wishes before?"
"Since you made it this far, you've read my letter." Jon's grandfather began. "Wishes can't be undone - not directly, anyway. There are ways to work around wishes, but those depend greatly on the way the original wish was phrased. The thing is, many centuries have passed since the stone was first created and when I first ran across it, and during that time a number of wishes have been made on it. I've run into a few occasions where my wishes could not be granted because that would contradict a wish made by a previous user of the stone. However, if I were to go back in time to when the stone was first created, I could make any wish I wanted without worrying about whether they contradicted a previous user's wish."
Jon's grandfather continued. "So, I wished that after the stone was safely sent to you and my false body was found so that everyone - including my enemies - believed me to be dead, that I would be sent backward in time and space to the time and place of the stone's origin. So I ended up at the Incan pyramid during the ceremony where the stone was being infused with power. I'm afraid that I did not have time to make as many wishes as I would have liked. Even though I had wished to be able to understand and speak the Inca language, they still objected to my interfering in their ceremony and one of the priests accused me of trying to steal the stone. So I ran into the jungle, and then you arrived here. But before that, I managed to learn a few things about the stone."
"The stone native to this time is just starting to grow in power. As such, it only grants wishes and affects a range within arm's length. It took centuries for it to be fully charged with magical power and become the stone we know from our own time period, with a range limitation of several miles in all directions. This is why the Incas didn't use the stone to defend themselves just a few short years from now when the Spanish conquered them. The stone didn't have its full power at that time. So the Inca civilization fell, and the stone was lost for centuries while its power slowly increased. It's best, sadly, that we not tell the Incas this or we risk changing history and being unable to return to the present that we know."
Jon and Karyn tried to take in what Jon's grandfather was saying. Karyn, of course, had to voice the questions that had been bothering her ever since Jon showed her the stone and his grandfather's letter.
"But why did you fake your death? Why did you send the stone to Jon?" asked Karyn.
"As I said, that's a long story." Jon's grandfather replied. "In my travels around the world, I have met a number of other archaeologists and historians with, shall we say, less scruples than myself. At least three of them know of the existence of the stone and will stop at nothing to possess it. I sent the stone to you, Jon, so that you would keep it safe. You've read old fantasy stories about these sorts of items, so you know they can be very dangerous if allowed to fall into the wrong hands."
He sighed sadly, before continuing. "However, I knew it would not be enough. I needed to go back here, to make a wish on the stone as it was being created, to make a wish to protect Jon and the rest of the family, and their friends, from being harmed by my rivals. But I did not get a chance to finish making the wish before I was chased away."
"So what do we do?" asked Jon. "And who are these rivals of yours?"
There was noise in the distance, and shouting. Was it their Inca pursuers, or someone else? Jon still had the stone - the fully powered version from his time period. He thought of making a wish but he also wanted his grandfather's advice before he made any sort of drastic decision. Grandfather had more experience with the stone than he did, after all, and would likely have some good ideas. And of course he still had plenty of questions he wanted to ask.
