Black Crystal

by R A Oakes

  Andrina had been fighting so well that her heroic efforts greatly inspired those around her. When her fellow warriors, all men in those days, saw what was happening, they encircled Andrina and fought for her life. Many a brave man died that day in the defense of this incredibly courageous woman.

  But it had all been to no avail. The baby was stillborn. And so, when the farmer had seen Chen by their hearth a few hours ago, the look in his wife’s eyes was undeniable. He’d seen the child hunger on her face before. For after that one baby, she’d never become pregnant again.

  Yet after all of that, Chen had come into their lives, and his wife finally had what she wanted, a daughter to nurture, protect, defend and care for. If Andrina was dangerous before, she was doubly so now.

  The farmer didn’t know what the changes at Crystal Castle meant for Lord Daegal, but he knew one thing. If that architectural masterpiece was indeed Chen’s, then his wife would fight anyone who attempted to take it from her. And he knew that Lord Daegal wasn’t going to allow a fortress like that to slip through his fingers, if he could do anything about it.

  Once Lord Daegal learned of Glenitant’s death, he would respond in force.

  Chapter 24

  Crystal was seething in anger and frustration. Eldwyn had captured the dark sword days ago, and she’d been languishing on the great room floor bound with golden ropes made from strands of Aerylln’s hair.

  Even life with Glenitant was better than this, and she never amounted to much, Crystal thought bitterly, the old witch having been easy to dominate but incredibly difficult to motivate. Sighing in exasperation, Crystal recalled how Glenitant had never wanted to leave the valley.

  By contrast, the dark sword wanted to travel far and wide. She wanted evil adventures, warped excitement and cruel initiatives. In short, she wanted to spread her mischief-making as far a field as possible. But that was not to be, for Crystal and Glenitant were as different as night and day.

  No matter what enticements I offered, they were all to no avail, Crystal thought. When I had Crystal Castle rise up from nothing, right out of the bare ground, I’d hoped it would inspire Glenitant and make her want more out of life.

  But to the dark sword’s disappointment, it hadn’t.

  And yet, such a magnificent fortress would have inspired the imagination of many others, for the beauty and elegance of Crystal Castle was undeniable. However, in the end, Crystal had discovered that giving Glenitant such a luxurious home was a mistake. Rather than inspiring her former mistress to greatness, it just made Glenitant even more contented. And then, without a doubt, she wanted to spend all of her days in Crystal Valley.

  The valley was a beautiful place with lush, green fields, wondrous mountains and fine weather. But Crystal longed for the widespread suffering, devastation and death of a battlefield.

  Glenitant was driving me insane, and if Chen hadn’t arrived, I would have gone mad, Crystal thought. But what Crystal ignored about herself was that she’d gone insane long ago.

  But Crystal loved Chen. The dark sword thought, That woman’s a fighter! She’d never be satisfied to stay in one place, not her. But what am I going to do now?

  Looking around the great room, the dark sword thought, The black crystal floor I’m lying on is stunningly beautiful but languishing here isn’t doing me any good. I’ve got to escape.

  While Crystal was pondering her fate, Aerylln was also in the great room wondering about her own future.

  Unfortunately, while in a particularly morose mood, the dark sword’s eyes settled on the teenage girl.

  Aerylln jumped when she felt Crystal’s penetrating gaze and quickly turned around seeing the dark sword lying bound and gagged on the floor. Being a very sensitive soul, Aerylln became acutely aware of the sword’s discomfort. The young woman hated to see anything or anyone in such torment and so, feeling sympathy for the weapon, she walked over to it.

  Looking down at Crystal, Aerylln felt a darkness she’d never encountered before. There was also something else, something even worse.

  What is it? Aerylln asked herself. But then, she started wondering why others feared this sword being that it was so beautiful, even an artistic masterpiece.

  Aerylln noticed that Crystal wasn’t as incredibly beautiful as Baelfire, but she could see the high quality workmanship that had gone into making this very attractive sword.

  As she marveled at the sword, Aerylln thought, Crystal really is an example of exquisite craftsmanship.

  Delicate patterns had been etched into Crystal’s scabbard, and Aerylln found herself beginning to drift along and daydream as she followed the designs. Without even thinking about it, the teenage girl found being near Crystal to be restful.

  Aerylln thought, Baelfire is always so intense and

  driven.

  However, once again, Aerylln felt something disturbing about Crystal but couldn’t exactly put her finger on what it was.

  Suddenly, Aerylln felt Crystal reaching out to her, comforting her and inviting her to get closer. The young woman leaned down to look more carefully at the intricate designs and felt herself being swept up by a strange power. It was as if someone or something had gripped her by both shoulders and was pulling her towards the dark sword.

  Eldwyn, Zorya, Marcheto and Ritalso were in the great room with Aerylln, but they had wandered over to a window and were calling out to someone below in the courtyard. Even Baelfire was off a ways lying quietly on a table near the massive fireplace.

  Frightened and confused, Aerylln tried calling out to her friends but found she couldn’t speak, almost as if she were mute.

  The grip on the teenage girl’s shoulders tightened.

  Aerylln tried pulling away but found herself being drawn ever closer to the dark sword. Suddenly a deep, dark pit opened up in front of her, and she found herself balancing precariously on the very edge. Waving her arms around wildly, Aerylln struggled to keep her balance but felt her body tilting forward. Terrified, she screamed, but it was a soundless cry of desperation, nothing came out.

  Wide-eyed with fear, Aerylln saw Crystal hovering near the surface. Glancing down and seeing only fathomless darkness, the young woman somehow knew she was looking into insanity itself. Crystal came closer, now directly in front of her, and Aerylln sensed the perverse joy the dark sword was taking in her predicament, a gloating gleefulness.

  Whatever this is, it’s a horrible place, Aerylln thought while trying not to panic. The teenage girl could almost hear Mistress Xan saying, When in danger, be disciplined. Discipline is more important than brilliance, more important than any gift or talent. Without it, there’s nothing, only chaos.

  Desperately attempting to control and discipline her fears, Aerylln tried tearing her eyes away from the pit but could not. Peering into the darkness, she looked into the very origin of chaos, into the heart of madness!

  Feeling herself beginning to faint, Aerylln gripped the sides of her head with the palms of her hands and screamed within her inner being using every ounce of strength she had!

  Sitting straight up, instantly springing from the tabletop and balancing on the point of her scabbard, Baelfire quickly surveyed the room. In shock, she saw what her half-sister, Crystal, was up to!

  Baelfire began shaking violently along the entire length of her blade and handle. Outraged, the magic sword was convulsing as though having a seizure. Baelfire fell from the table, where Aerylln had placed her, and landed on the black crystal floor with a clatter.

  Immediately, cracks began forming in the highly-polished surface accompanied by a sound like shattering glass. The floor splintered erupting into broken shards of very hard, durable black crystal. It would have taken an enormous weight pounding down upon it to even scratch the floor, let alone shatter the entire surface, but it didn’t stop there.

  Hairline fissures began threading their way up the walls and creeping across the ceiling. All four sides of the great room shuddered violently while the sound of shattering crystal intens
ified as the surface of the walls began exploding and filling the floor with piles of black shards.

  Staring in awe at Baelfire, the dark sword quickly closed her deep pit of insanity and lay trembling on a floor still erupting all around her.

  Materializing out of nowhere, a bright light shot down from the ceiling and slammed onto Baelfire with the intensity of a hurricane. The pulverizing, high-speed, thundershower of light particles radiated enormous energy like gale-force winds of incredible velocity and fury. With this unimaginable display of power, the Creative Light shot straight down on Baelfire.

  Then, as quickly as it began, it was over.

  But Eldwyn, already lost in meditation, had opened himself to the very depths of eternity. When the Creative Light appeared, the old wizard had instantly closed his eyes dropping down a well within his very being. Detaching from the world around him so rapidly and so deeply, Eldwyn no longer knew which was more real, the inner well or Crystal Castle’s great room. The surface world could easily have been a dream, as far as he knew. But the forces of creation were not a dream. At this level, they were real, very real.

  “Cathrak dantay sechum tasterak! Cathrak dantay sechum tasterak!” Eldwyn shouted while throwing his arms wide projecting more Light energy into all those near him, including a very surprised Aerylln.

  The young woman was sitting on a chair with Baelfire at her feet, the good sword recovering from the intensity of the Creative Light’s infusion of power into her. But Crystal was nowhere to be seen having been banished to the furthest corner of the great room.

  Looking down at the good sword, Aerylln saw Baelfire was glowing red-hot with a little whiff of smoke curling up from her. The young woman, herself, had been so infused with Light energy that she appeared to be made of translucent porcelain.

  But Aerylln stayed calm. For even though overwhelming, the encounter was strangely familiar, as if she’d experienced it before. The Light energy shining through her began fading, and she was once again herself, yet not quite. Something was different about her. When the Creative Light shot through her, it had altered her physical appearance.

  Aerylln’s long, white dress had been replaced by a new outfit. Now, she was wearing white leather pants, a matching jacket, a white long-sleeved blouse and knee-high riding boots made of white leather. Further enhancing her appearance was ultra-white hair flowing luxuriously down her back to her waist.

  Aerylln still had the face of an innocent young woman, but for the first time there was a hint of power, or of power yet to come. It was subtle, but it was there and everyone recognized it, except for Aerylln who wondered why they were looking at her.

  Eldwyn turned to Baelfire, who was exhausted after her encounter with the Creative Light, and said, “It’s been a long time since I saw or felt anything like that.”

  “I’d forgotten what it was like,” Baelfire admitted. “I think it’s going to take some getting used to.”

  “There’s no getting used to that,” Eldwyn said.

  “Only total submission to nothingness can be the

  response to a power like that,” Aerylln said absentmindedly. “Going blank inside, your mind and emotions blank, being as fresh as an artist’s white canvas. Being open to nothing and everything.”

  “You’re right, so completely right,” Marcheto said proudly slipping behind her on the chair and wrapping his arms around her. Resting his head upon Aerylln’s shoulder, they both seemed lost in another world.

  “Who does she sound like?” Zorya asked, still a bit shocked from the suddenness of the Creative Light’s reappearance after so many years.

  “Lyssa,” Eldwyn said with joy and relief. “Aerylln’s grandmother had that same mystical look about her.”

  Looking up at her master, Baelfire smiled and said, “People once referred to me as the Sword of Light.”

  “They’ll do so again,” Zorya said encouragingly. “I’m sure the process of our transformation into the Trinity of Light has begun.”

  “Yes, it’s begun,” Eldwyn agreed, “the formation of the Trinity has begun.”

  The old wizard, almost breathless with excitement, added, “Did you see how Aerylln handled it all?”

  “Yes, she did really well. When infused with the Creative Light for my first time, I didn’t stay nearly as calm,” Baelfire said.

  “You’re not as calm as Aerylln, even now,” Zorya laughed. “And as I recall, on your first encounter, you flew around the room in a panic.”

  “You weren’t any better, not your first time,” Baelfire laughed remembering Zorya screaming hysterically as a torrential surge of Creative Light careened through her body.

  But their reminiscing was cut short. Barely having recovered from the Light’s first appearance, a second energy surge was unleashed upon them. This time, it was Zorya, not Aerylln, who began glowing brighter and brighter.

  Knowing what was coming next, Zorya headed for the nearest window leaping over the ledge and falling like a stone towards the courtyard below. Feeling a rapid buildup of the Creative Light’s energy within her, the warhorse braced herself as it came hurtling out with a vengeance. Exploding with prism light, Zorya’s body transformed into clear crystal as she shot upward through the sky leaving a stream of purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red in her wake.

  I feel strong and whole for the first time in, how long has it been? Zorya wondered. But then, as she began weakening, the warhorse sighed in frustration and flew back to the castle gliding to a soft landing in the great room.

  “That was quite a ride!” Eldwyn said, his eyes wide with excitement.

  “It didn’t last very long,” Zorya lamented.

  “Every time the Creative Light appears, we’ll be able to sustain the energy longer and longer,” Baelfire reminded her.

  “Honestly, I’ve been apprehensive over Aerylln’s readiness to serve as a catalyst,” Eldwyn admitted. “Only Baelfire’s heir can trigger the transformation, but I wasn’t sure if Aerylln was up to it.”

  “Yes, Lyssa was much more outgoing,” Baelfire agreed. “But this encounter was encouraging, and Aerylln shows great promise.”

  “For now, we should go down to the courtyard and find Pensgraft and Dartuke,” Eldwyn said. “They’ll be interested in learning about the mess we just made of the entire great room.”

  “And they might want an explanation for why a warhorse went shooting through the sky like an arrow,” Marcheto said smiling.

  “Yes, true, but I’m not responsible for turning the great room into a shambles,” Zorya said looking over at Baelfire.

  “Don’t blame me, Crystal was the one starting trouble,” the good sword said.

  “Oh, that’s it, we’ll blame everything on your half-sister,” Zorya chuckled.

  As they headed downstairs, Crystal was over in the far corner of the great room plotting her revenge. And it would be no laughing matter. The dark sword was now desperately seeking a way out, any way out.

  Chapter 25

  In the great hall of The Rock, Lord Daegal was in a foul mood.

  The warlord was angry and frustrated that, as of yet, he lacked sufficient troop strength to wage a decisive assault on Crystal Castle. Lord Daegal wanted to possess the dark sword, Crystal, with all his heart but was unable to act.

  Over the years, he’d tried taking Crystal from Glenitant, but each effort had ended in failure. Glenitant wasn’t all that smart, but she was far from being stupid. On several occasions, Lord Daegal had found out the hard way that his sister possessed an innate cunning, a knack for survival.

  Also working to his disadvantage, Lord Daegal had always been way too impulsive. Repeatedly, the warlord had made the mistake of behaving impatiently and even rashly when dealing with Glenitant. Being that she was his younger sister, Lord Daegal had frequently underestimated her.

  “I wish I knew what was happening at Crystal Castle between Glenitant and Chen,” the warlord growled at Tark, the captain of his personal guard. “It would be helpf
ul if I knew whether Glenitant was dead or alive.”

  Having thrown Chen at his sister like a winged predator, Lord Daegal was reluctant to send spies into Crystal Valley. The warlord didn’t want it to appear obvious that he was behind the black leather panther’s arrival at Glenitant’s castle. He wanted to hedge his bets in case things didn’t work out.

  “What bothers me most, Tark, is that we haven’t heard back from the warriors I sent along to guard Pensgraft when he and Chen rode off together,” Lord Daegal said, the lack of information grating on his nerves.

  “Yes, sire, they should have sent word by now.”

  “What about Marcheto? Have you heard anything from your son?” Lord Daegal asked glaring at the captain of his personal guard.

  “No, sire. All we have is a report from our scouts telling us about the ‘bandits’ being massacred.”

  “I had those warriors attack Aerylln, Baelfire, Zorya and Eldwyn so Marcheto could play the hero. How did things go that badly?” Lord Daegal demanded.

  “I should have sent additional spies, but I figured all the ‘bandits’ would still be alive to report back,” Tark confessed.

  “At least Marcheto’s body wasn’t found among the

  dead.”

  “Yes, sire, and I’ve sent scouts everywhere searching for some sign of him. That is, everywhere but into Crystal Valley. It’s possible he may have headed over that way.”

  “What news of Aerylln and her companions?”

  “Nothing, sire, it’s as if they vanished.”

  “Well, if you don’t want to vanish along with them, I’d suggest you find them.”

  Just then, the Crystal Medallion that Lord Daegal always wore around his neck began trembling against his chest and glowing. Although anxious for news from Crystal Castle, the warlord was powerless to initiate contact with the dark sword. She had to contact him. Lord Daegal knew Crystal and the medallion were linked together somehow, which is why he constantly kept it with him.