Prism

by Matthew D. Ryan

Chapter 5

  The trail led through the heart of the plain. They passed stalas and Lightshards on either side. The quartz floor of the Cavern was smooth and mostly a foggy white in color; so, the temperature was at least warm, if not hot. The sloping roof of the cavern rose above them many hundreds of feet; legend said that it carried many dozens of quartz stalactites on its surface—protrusions of quartz-rock much like the stalas below but hanging down instead of pointing up. When Akarra craned her neck back and squinted, she could see in the distance tiny glimmering points of light in some places. Were the stalactites above reflecting light from here below? Or were there gleaming Lightshards up there as well? She didn’t know.

  An hour before Dimlight, the first of the great pillars came into view. It sprang up from the floor, its base many dozen times around more than the biggest stalas. Like everything else, it was made entirely of quartz but it towered into the heights of the cavern until it disappeared from view—until the grey fog of the upper regions obscured it from sight. There were three such great pillars, Akarra knew. All of them located in the Plain of Stalas. Each one far too big to be a stala yet defying every other possible explanation for its origin.

  It dominated the landscape: a tower of quartz, glittering and implacable.

  Over the course of their remaining hour of light, they gradually approached it. It continued to grow in apparent size until it filled the front of their field of vision. When the path reached the base of the pillar, it banked to the side to follow its edge around in a grand semicircle. They followed the path, reaching the halfway point along the rim of the pillar before the light began to fade.

  Thaygos did a quick survey of the area and found a water-stala a short distance from the path. A typical stala made of clear quartz—and therefore very cold—the water-stala collected fluid from the surrounding warm air. The water beaded on its sides and trickled down to form a small pool at its base. With Akarra’s skills with the Hearshard, they did not need the water-stala for its precious fluid; but it made a convenient camp site: three other large stalas sprouted up nearby, forming an almost perfect shield wall to hide them from the view of the trail.

  After a brief discussion, they bedded down for the night. Again, Thaygos took first watch, but this time he did not seem as ill-disposed as the night before. Akarra lay back, closed her eyes, and went to sleep. Around mid-Dimlight, Thaygos woke her and she took her turn on watch, peering out into the semi-darkness and occasionally glancing back to study Thaygos’ jawline. In the morning, they had a quick firstmeal then gathered their few things and traveled on.

  The day passed, largely uneventful and without conversation, until about midday right before they stopped for lunch.

  “Yesterday you said we were in Light-eater territory,” Thaygos said. “I’ve been keeping my eyes open and I’ve seen no sign of one.”

  “They are very rare creatures,” Akarra replied. “They always have been. Ever since they were first encountered so many grand cycles ago.”

  “When they were first encountered?” Thaygos said. “Does anyone know where they came from?”

  “No, no one knows,” Akarra said. “The first one was spotted during the term of Mikalla Brightheart, the second Shardshaper of our clan.”

  “The second Shardshaper?” Thaygos said. “Haven’t we always had Shardshapers?”

  “No,” Akarra answered. She effused a brief trickle of gold lifelight. She had many fond memories of learning history at Yridia’s feet. It was good to have someone to pass that lore onto. Even if he probably wouldn’t remember beyond a day or two. “Alayla Thunshood was the first Shardshaper; she founded our order.” She continued, “She discovered the Cave of the Heart Crystal during the Great Crystal Blight.”

  “The what?”

  “The Great Crystal Blight,” Akarra explained. “It happened close to three hundred grand cycles ago, now.” She looked wistfully off into the distance as she tried to imagine such an enormous length of time. “The quartz crystals throughout the Cavern were contracting a terrible disease that rendered them so brittle that even walking by them could shake them to pieces. Our whole world was being threatened. Alayla went on a retreat into the depths of the Cavern. She discovered the Cave of the Heart Crystal and went inside. Three days later she emerged with the first Heartshard and the ability to shape quartz and heal the land.”

  “And drive off Light-eaters,” Thaygos said.

  “To be honest, I don’t think she ever encountered one,” Akarra said. “The Light-eaters didn’t appear until Mikalla’s term. As for us, we may go the entire journey and not encounter a single one.”

  “I pray we do,” Thaygos said. “I have no wish to tangle with one. My spear is all but useless in such a fight.”

  “We have the Heartshard,” Akarra said. “I can drive it off if it comes to that.”

  “Some warrior escort I’ll be then,” Thaygos said, laughing, “watching while my she-quartz charge drives away the foe.”

  Akarra felt a pinch of irritation at his mention of she-quartz—as if that mattered—but she did not say anything about it. Instead, she said, “It’s not your fault your weapons cannot harm such a creature. By all accounts, you’d be justified in running.”

  He looked at her, his face taking on a look of pain while his antennae shone with a mix of grey, black, and blue light. Then a flash of deep maroon. A painful memory. “I saw one, once, you know,” he said, shambling to a stop.

  Akarra’s antennae flickered from the purple of concern to the pale green of surprise and then back again. “You saw one?” she asked, stunned. She stopped as well. “A Light-eater?” He nodded yes. “You are lucky to be alive. When? How?”

  “About two grand cycles before I met you,” he said. “I was still quite young, then, just learning to use my spear.” He looked away. Grey. Black. And blue. Then deep maroon again. “I was out in the Shattered Field just south of the yenshi gardens back home. I was with Gordin Galldar. I don’t know if you remember him; he was my best friend at the time.”

  Akarra bent her antennae in thought. Gordin Galldar. The name did sound vaguely familiar. She scurried through her memories. Yes, she recalled that the young he-quartz warrior had died in a confrontation with a Light-eater. A Light-eater that had gotten dangerously close to the village before it was driven off by her mistress, Yridia.

  She blinked, her antennae straightening and glowing pale green in surprise again. She had not realized that the Chieftain’s Son had been involved. If she had, she would have remembered it for sure.

  “Neither one of us had been a warrior apprentice for more than a cycle,” Thaygos said. He wasn’t looking at her anymore; he was caught up in the memory and his antennae were still oscillating through a handful of dark colors. “We were just kids. We were out playing ... practice dueling with our spears ... just having fun.” A blue tear welled up at the corner of his eye and traced a path down his cheek. “We were playing, and then one of the Lightshards started to go dim. We both saw it at the same time. I’ll never forget what it looked like: a horrid wiry thing of black light and shadow. It was hard to tell where it ended and the darkness it created began. It had wrapped itself around the Lightshard and simply sat there sucking the stonelight out of it. Gordin—he was always a brash fellow—grabbed his spear and charged. I tried to support him. I even threw my spear at the thing, but it passed right through. Then the Light-eater was on him. I’ll hear his screams until my dying day. It just sucked all the lifelight out of him in a matter of moments. And just like that—” he snapped his fingers “—he was gone.”

  Akarra said nothing. What could she say? She reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder. Scintillating blue tears flowed freely down his face now. His shoulders slumped. Then he took a long, heavy breath.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I’ve never told anyone this, but I’ve always felt that it was my fault. I was the one with rank. I should have ordered him to retreat. I just didn’t understand our danger.”

&nb
sp; “It’s not your fault,” Akarra said. “Light-eaters are the most dangerous creatures of The Cavern. And you were young; you could not have understood your peril.”

  “But—” he began.

  “No,” she said, firmly. “I am a Shardshaper. I know what a Light-eater is. I know what it can do. If you both had fled, you may have led it into the village and other innocents may have died. You did your best. There was nothing else you could have done. Trust me.” Tenderly, she lifted both her palms in the air in invitation. He looked at her hands for a moment then lifted his own. They touched palms and gently nuzzled antennae that glowed pink. For a moment, they shared thoughts. His were dark and grey, filled with pain; hers were warm and forgiving; they drove away that pain. They held each other that way for several long moments, an ethereal kiss. Then they released each other, and he looked at her with a renewed strength and vigor.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I needed that.”

  She felt a shiver of golden lifelight pass through her being. It was so good to see him in good spirits. “Well, then, let’s get a move on,” she said. “We have a journey to complete.”

  “A journey that ends in our separation,” he said with a touch of the old sadness in it.

  She sighed. So much for good spirits. “Let us just enjoy the time we have left together,” she said. “Here, take my arm. We will walk together for a ways. If we keep a good pace, we should make it to the Labyrinth of Vit by Dimlight.”

  He wrapped his arm around hers. “To brief interludes and the eternity of their memory,” he said.

  She looked up at him and smiled. Now, it was her turn to feel sad.