by Lori Hyrup
Aria’s stomach suddenly overwhelmed her with nausea, and a cold chill washed over her. Alarmed, she stared at Healer Fehrun and then at the two priests. Aria threw off her sheets. A twinge of panic set in as she turned her eyes to her left arm. Unlike the krumetus she fought, her arm still resembled that of a human’s, only made entirely of crystal. She suspected the full, hideous mutations would not happen until the person lost hold of their humanity. Aria traced the crystallization from her fingertips, up her arm, over her shoulder. She touched the spot where the krumetus had stabbed her beneath the collarbone, but it had crystallized as well. She followed the line of her neck, slowly running her fingers along the crystalline tendrils. She licked her lips.
“I need a mirror.”
Healer Fehrun studied her, worry setting into his eyes. “Perhaps you should rest for now.”
“Please just get me a mirror.”
“Very well,” he said, nodding to Tronnick.
The priest moved to the end of the long room and grabbed a mirror from a table. He returned and handed it to Aria.
Aria took a few deep breaths and then lifted the mirror. She sat on her bed, stunned by what her eyes saw. The crystalline tendrils had spread up her neck, over her cheek, and covered her left eye. The effect was both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Her entire eye was now made up of the crystal. She touched the spot with her right hand, the warmth from her still human hand quite palpable. The crystalline skin had not lost its sensation. She tried to poke and pinch at it but could not. She closed her right eye and then her left, right eye, then left. Her vision was the same as ever. How was that possible?
Now she understood the behavior of the two priests and why they were in the room. They likely expected her to be completely consumed at any moment. At the slightest indication of the process continuing, they would use their crystalline daggers to kill her before she became a danger. So many thoughts and emotions swam through her head, she thought she would lose herself in the flood.
Aria began to cry, and to her surprise, the crystallized eye was still able to shed tears. “I’m sorry. All of this is my fault.”
“Not so, my child,” said the shardhealer. There were times when Aria would have laughed at someone calling her a child. They tended to forget she aged much slower than they. “Your actions exposed a cancer that has been eating away at the inside of our order. Priestess Pleria spoke on your behalf and had many things to say about what has been going on. We search for Priest Kilgor as we speak, as well as for his accomplices. Many within this academy’s grounds were killed by the krumetus three nights ago, but many others are spread out across Tanoria. Some are at the other academies while more still reside at various shard temples. Pleria did not yet know of their full agenda or of the entire list of those involved, so we move discreetly for now.”
Aria fought through grogginess and swung her legs off the bed. Fehrun placed his hand against her chest, and she paused. “Hold up, you still need to rest. Whatever you did the other night to defeat the beast has had significant side effects. Not just the crystallization, but it drained you so thoroughly we thought we lost you a few times. You must stay here for your own safety.” And for the safety of others, she was sure he left unsaid.
“Shardhealer Fehrun, thank you for the wonderful care, but I have a friend who needs my help. I’ve already wasted far too much time here. I need to be going.” She stood, pushing his hand aside in the same motion. She grabbed a robe from a hook on the other side of the room, put it on, and headed for the door.
Priest Rensin moved next to her, grabbing her arm. “We need you to get back into bed,” he said firmly.
“Unhand me,” she demanded in a low, steady voice.
Rensin’s hand tightened, and Tronnick grasped her other arm. They attempted to drag her back to the bed. Calmly, she tried to twist herself free.
“Try to hold her,” said the shardhealer. “I am going to have to sedate her again.”
Aria twisted harder, kicking over a table as she did so. A number of glass jars and canisters hit the stonework floor and shattered. Priest Rensin twisted her arm in the opposite direction, forcing her toward the ground. He put his foot against her right shoulder. Had she not had some of the last dose of sedative still flowing through her system, he would have been no object for her, but in her current state, her limbs were uncoordinated and sluggish to respond. Healer Fehrun maneuvered closer with a long crystalline rod.
The wooden door crashed opened. “Take your hands off of her,” thundered a voice so full of fury and rage she did not immediately recognize it.
Both priests released her arms, and the shardhealer stepped away. She stood, finally able to see the person to whom the voice belonged. Incredibly tall, white hair slithering around his waist, eyes blazing like blue furnaces, Zephyron looked like everything the tales about Guardians said they were. At that moment in time, he appeared to be an angry god who had come to deliver his wrath upon civilization. Just behind him stood Zai’il, her entire right shoulder wrapped in bandages.
Priest Tronnick paled as he pressed himself up against the wall. Priest Rensin clutched his dagger. Shardhealer Fehrun struggled to find his voice. “Please,” he said weakly, “we need to keep her here. Her condition…I have never seen a kruusta’s condition so far advanced while they are still in control. We can’t risk—”
“I will take responsibility for her,” Zephyron said.
“Sir,” the shardhealer countered, his voice quivering, “you don’t understand. If the crystal takes over, she will become more dangerous than the ones that attacked the other night.”
“I’m aware of her condition. Aria, let’s go.”
Needing no further prodding, Aria dashed for the exit. Without turning she uttered, “Thank you for not killing me just yet, Shardhealer Fehrun.” Aria slipped around Zephyron and passed Zai’il out the door.
Aria ignored the cold stone floor on her bare feet as she strode across the academy grounds toward the guest wing. Zephyron and Zai’il moved up to either side of her. “Thank you,” she said, staring down the hall as she walked. People stared at her as she maneuvered in and out of the busy noontime foot traffic, but she forced herself to ignore them.
“That’s what friends do,” said Zai’il.
Aria nodded.
Zephyron spoke up. “I’ve spent the past three days searching for Kharra without any luck. She is neither in the city nor anywhere within five leagues of here. I need your help to find her.”
“Of course, it’s the least I can do,” she said. Images from three nights ago flashed through her mind. If she had just waited and not confronted the priests by herself, then Kharra would not have been taken and the other kruustas would still be alive.
“It is my fault those beasts got loose,” she whispered.
“Not true,” said Zai’il.
Zephyron nodded in agreement. “Don’t blame yourself. From what the priestess said, your actions saved at least seven trainees. And the situation was not your fault. If you’re going to blame anyone, blame the corrupt priests.”
They reached the quad, and Aria’s steps faltered. Though the fountain and walls had been repaired, the flagstones were still stained with blood. She closed her eyes, and her head swam with emotions. The cost of her actions had been great. How could she value one person’s life over that of another? Isor’s brilliant radiance shone down on her face, intensifying the focus of her thoughts. She swallowed around the lump in her throat. Zai’il put her hand on Aria’s shoulder, and Aria opened her eyes and glanced at her friend. Zai’il gave her a nod of encouragement and understanding. Aria continued toward her rooms as Zephyron and Zai’il followed quietly.
In her quarters, she packed her gear while Zephyron waited with his back to her. Zai’il stood beside Aria’s wardrobe and watched. As Aria dressed in something more suitable for travel, she asked Zai’il, “You’re not going to try and stop me?”
“Nope.”
“Why no
t?”
“Because I know it would be pointless. Besides, I know I’d do the same if I were you, and you were the one taken.”
“Are you coming?” Aria asked her.
Zai’il shook her head. “I don’t recover as fast as you do. Healers say I have a punctured lung and that nearly all of the muscles in my shoulder have been torn. So I’m no good in a fight right now. I think I’m going to stay here and help Pleria.”
Aria looked to Zephyron. “The healer was right, you know. The crystal’s progressed too far. I’m a danger to everyone around me.”
“I’m willing to take that chance,” the Guardian responded. “Kharra and I both need you. Besides, I don’t give up on friends.”
“Zephyron there is convinced you can beat this conversion,” said Zai’il. “If anyone can, it’d be you.”
Aria finished lacing her boot and looked up at Zai’il. She saw colors like she had with the shardhealer. Except around Zai’il, they swirled around her in green. She glanced at Zephyron. The colors appeared around him as well. They swirled in a pattern of blue and white, interweaving with each other. She blinked, and the colors disappeared.
Aria turned to Zai’il and hugged her. “Thank you, my friend.”
Zai’il returned the embrace with one arm. “Of course. You are like family to me. Please be safe.” Zai’il excused herself from the room, leaving Aria and Zephyron alone.
Aria placed her hand on the closed door and lowered her head. She took a deep breath and returned to Zephyron. “Look at me. Look at my face. It’s hideous. I am becoming one of those monsters. My entire life has been sworn to protecting people from shard beasts. I can’t allow myself to become the thing I’m trying to protect them from. I don’t want to hurt or kill some innocent person.”
Zephyron approached her, grabbed her shoulders, and leaned over slightly so that he was level with her eyes. “I won’t let that happen. You’ve lived your life protecting others, never looking for anything in return. The people you seek to protect fear you because they think you will become this monster you believe you are destined to become. I don’t know why this thing happens in your land, but I do know more about Mattekan than almost anyone else in a way only a Guardian can understand. The crystals and shards are not evil nor does their influence become evil over time. They are things of beauty and life. Something else is causing this corruption to both them and you. I will not allow you to become a monster and neither will Kharra.
“And for the record,” he added softly, “your face is beautiful.”
Zephyron’s words reverberated down through Aria’s soul. Stunned, she stared at him for several moments, ignoring the tears streaming from her eyes. She knew without a doubt he meant them. His arms embraced her, enveloping her in their warmth and strength. She put her face against his shoulder and continued to cry. Nothing had ever caused her so much terror as the thought of becoming a monster.
“I will help you fight this every step of the way,” he whispered.
Aria steadied herself and regained her cool kruusta composure. She checked the rooms one last time. A tendril of pain washed over her as she glanced at the area where she had met with the other kruustas. She would not let the loss of Tual and Rauss be wasted.
17
COLORS OF THE HEART
Kharra still hung in her shackles. She had lost track of time. Each day the man returned to question her and bring her pain through the crystal collar. She would scream until her throat became raw. In the lucid moments between the pain, she wished for her sister’s ability to resist it. How she missed her sister. Jayde was the strategist and the fighter. She likely would have already figured out a way to escape.
Kharra’s answers never changed, but her captor seemed to find pleasure in hearing her scream. During one of the sessions, a second man had walked into the room. “Oracle Lukav,” he began. A short man, round of face and bald, he wore the blue robes of a priest of the shard. He glanced at Kharra. His eyes flicked to her collar and then he looked at Lukav. “I have reports telling me all three of the krumetuses were destroyed. Two of the kruustas died as well, but two survived, Kruusta Zai’il and—”
“Aria?” asked Lukav, turning to the priest.
The priest nodded.
“Figures,” Lukav spat.
“There is some good news though.”
“What could that be?”
“They say Kruusta Aria is in the process of conversion, but they don’t understand how she retains her humanity, the condition is so far advanced.”
“Is that so?” said Lukav with a vile grin. “Makes sense. She is already the oldest living kruusta. To survive such an encounter, even someone of her experience would need to draw on a considerable amount of power.” He peered at Kharra, his smile still intact. “This might actually work out nicely.”
Kharra stretched out her mind and scanned his surface thoughts. The collar grew cold around her neck but did not interfere. Kharra sensed leyoen in him, though weak. She took satisfaction in knowing he would not sense hers. She had discovered four years ago that no one, not even her sister who was quite powerful in her own right, possessed the ability to detect Kharra’s leyoen except in specific situations. The only one who had ever demonstrated a way to even sense Kharra was Aria, through the use of one of the large shards. Then she froze.
This conversation with the priest had brought new information to the surface of Lukav’s mind. His unique ability allowed him to control and manipulate small bits of crystal.
Even in her state of pain, Kharra’s mind worked well enough to fit pieces of the puzzle together. She now understood that Lukav compensated for his own weaknesses by creating devices that amplified his meager ability. With them, he could not only control shard beasts but allow others to control them as well. Lukav could not manipulate a kruusta who possessed the free will of a human, but if they lost their mind to the crystal, he would be able to assert complete control over them.
Kharra now also understood that the krumetuses’ power levels differed based on the kruusta from which it came; the more powerful the kruusta, the more powerful the krumetus. Lukav believed that Aria was the most powerful kruusta to ever live. If Aria lost herself, Lukav would then have control of the most powerful krumetus the world had ever seen. If the group of four kruustas had had so much difficulty with the ones created from trainees, who would be able to stand up to the one created from Aria?
The priest continued, “Aria and the white-haired man departed from the city three days after we left.”
Lukav chuckled and ran his finger along Kharra’s chin. “They are coming for you. Your interference set me back months, if not years. I will exact the cost from you one way or another.”
Another shock came through the collar, but this time Kharra resisted the urge to scream. Through the pain her mind raced. She needed to escape.
Aria let Xierex have his rein. The poor zegu had received no exercise while she had been in the infirmary, and he wanted to make up for it. Head down and horns back, he propelled himself forward with the ease of a deer. People often wondered how such a massive beast could run so fast. His legs were powerful, certainly, but he also carried the added weight of the thick crystalline-plated armor along his chest and neck. The crystal of his natural physiology was what provided him with the extra surge of power needed to sustain greater speeds. She had not made the connection before, but now she understood with absolute clarity.
Aria glanced at Zephyron. His sleek cat form loped easily beside her. His transformation between human and tigron continued to amaze her. His shoulders moved rhythmically back and forth beneath his white fur. Without Kharra, they were not able to carry out silent conversations. Zephyron’s mind seeking ability was limited to those who had the ability themselves. He claimed he could detect the thoughts of those who did not have the ability, but it required a lot of concentration on his part, something difficult to maintain while they ran.
As she rode Aria gave more thought to what
Zephyron had said. The shards were not evil nor did their influence become evil over time. Zegus lived long lives with crystal as part of their bodies. They never became monsters—well, not real monsters. Some people might be frightened of the wild ones. They might fight to protect their young, but the behavior was no more savage than any other wild animal.
Something must have happened during the Battle of Death’s Pillar that affected only kruustas. Shard beasts existed long before then but not the krumetus. More than before, Aria was convinced that the events of the battle were also related to the story Zephyron told about the Sauru going mad. The blue and white colors swirled about Zephyron again and disappeared just as quickly. Aria looked away, back at the road ahead. Without asking him directly, she sensed Zephyron also believed the two things were somehow related.
The colors were coming more frequently, always when she looked at a person. They had started right after she had defeated the last krumetus. Though she had no idea why they appeared, she suspected they had something to do with her crystalline eye. Maybe Zephyron would know more.
Xierex ran for three hours before finally tiring, his pent-up excitement exhausted at last, but the lightness of his steps indicated he still had plenty of energy. He snorted when they slowed, which was his way of saying thanks. Long shadows spread over the road as darkness crept up on them. Wei’s moonlight was the only light tonight. With the other moons present, Wei’s light augmented theirs, but by itself, its dull orange cast made the terrain more difficult to make out than with no moon at all. Aria spotted a good area to camp, reined in Xierex, and dismounted.
