Prism

by Matthew D. Ryan

Chapter 6

  Towards the end of the day, they came upon the entrance of the Labyrinth of Vit, a massive cliff face of quartz along the edge of the vast Shield Wall that cut across the Plain of Stalas truncating its reach to the south.

  The entrance consisted of a single triangular-shaped hole, ten feet wide at the base, and twenty feet up the sharp slope of the cliff side. The trail they had been walking on led to the edge of the plain then disappeared in the transition to the new terrain.

  Akarra looked at the slope, trying to determine if there was an easy way up. But the angle looked remarkably steep, and as a quartzian she was not good at climbing. They did have one piece of luck, though: cut up pieces of quartz lay in angular formations along the cliff face. And much of the rest of the quartzface was filled with fissures and cracks—indicative of a meeting between clear and clouded crystal—hence, it was a mild, comfortable temperature and it offered plentiful handholds and footholds. Still, a bad fall threatened to chip quartzflesh. She was not looking forward to the climb.

  But Thaygos allayed her fears. Being more agile, he climbed the small cliff face using the divots and cracks to assist him. After a few minutes of determined effort, he reached the cave opening. He looked about, making sure the area was secure, then he tossed his yenshi rope back down to Akarra. Surprised, but pleased, she grabbed the end and climbed up with only little difficulty to join him.

  Once inside, they moved half a dozen paces down the path away from the treacherous cave lip. Then they sat down to rest. No sooner had they sat down than the lights began to dim. The day was ending.

  “I’ve never been this far south of the village before,” Thaygos said. “I hope you know the way.”

  “It’s not difficult,” Akarra said. “It’s a labyrinth.”

  He looked at her puzzled. “Yeah, precisely. How are we going to find our way through without getting lost?”

  Akarra’s antennae lit up yellow in amusement. “I think you are confusing a labyrinth with a maze.”

  “Aren’t they the same thing?” Thaygos asked.

  “No, not at all,” Akarra replied. “A labyrinth consists of a single, long convoluted path. It’s impossible to get lost in a labyrinth. You just keep following the path and eventually it will lead you out. A maze consists of many interconnecting pathways. Generally, there are only one or two correct pathways through a maze, but many decision points along the way, so it is easy to get lost.”

  “Oh,” Thaygos said. “I never knew that.”

  “It is a common error,” Akarra said. She leaned back against the tunnel wall—an uncomfortable position because of its angled surface. “You’re taking first watch again?”

  “Yes,” Thaygos said. “Get some sleep.”

  Akarra lay down and turned her back to Thaygos. She wasn’t tired yet, but she knew she needed to sleep. She did not know what she would find when she reached the Heart Crystal. She’d never been there. It was forbidden territory for all Quartzians save Shardshapers and their apprentices. And an apprentice could only go there when, like Akarra, she was preparing to become a Shardshaper herself. It was a place wrapped in mystery. Rumors said it was dangerous, but no one knew exactly why. Yet, as far as Akarra knew, not a single Shardshaper had ever died in the Cave of the Heart Crystal. So how could it be dangerous?

  Still, she remembered that final look on Yridia’s face. Something had frightened her. Some devilish horror from the past. Her eyes and antennae had looked haunted and grim, as if she were fighting an enemy she could not vanquish. An enemy she did not know how to vanquish. But whatever it was, she had never mentioned it to Akarra.

  What was it? Was there some strange entity at the Cave of the Heart Crystal? A protector for the Heart Crystal perhaps? No, it couldn’t be. Surely Yridia would have warned her. What could it be?

  “You don’t seem to be sleeping,” Thaygos said. “What’s on your mind?”

  Akarra turned onto her back and folded her hands behind her head. “The Cave of the Heart Crystal,” she said. “What will I find there?”

  “I can’t help you there,” Thaygos said. “We’re already out of the territory I am familiar with. I’m only a warrior, after all.”

  “You are the Chieftain’s Son,” Akarra said. “Has the Chieftain ever spoken of the Cave of the Heart Crystal?” Perhaps Glovin knew more; if only she had thought to ask him before they had set out.

  “No,” Thaygos said. “Not to me anyway. All I know is what everybody knows. The cave contains the Heart Crystal, the source of the mystical Heartshards that give the Shardshapers their power. My understanding is that the Heartshards are pieces of the Heart Crystal. They can’t be broken or destroyed, and every Shardshaper must journey to the Heart Crystal to obtain a Heartshard of her own. That’s about it.”

  “You know nothing of the Bond?” she asked.

  “I’ve heard rumors,” he said, “but that is a secret of your trade. You need not explain it to me.”

  “I’ve been told the Heartshards are living things,” Akarra said, turning over and propping herself up on one elbow. “The Heart Crystal itself is a living thing and the Heartshards are like appendages of the greater being. I’ve never sensed that, but that is what Yridia told me.” She drummed the fingers of her free hand across the smooth floor of the tunnel, absently tapping out the rhythm of a little ditty she made up on the spot. “As a Shardshaper Apprentice I was trained with the skills to manipulate the energy of a Heartshard. I can use a shard to summon and control any color of stonelight, even the deadly deathlight; so, I can provide nourishment for myself or others, or even shape crystals and prisms to my own desire.” She increased the tempo of her ditty, adding in a pair of staccato-like notes to every sequence. “However, to gain complete power over the Shard, I must bond with it. A Bond will connect my consciousness to that of the Shard’s. When I do this, I will learn how to manipulate lifelight as well, so that I can bring healing and comfort to those who require it.” She stopped drumming.

  “What of Yridia’s Shard? Why can you not bond with that?” Thaygos asked.

  “She is still bound to it,” Akarra explained. “Indeed her very life essence is contained within this Shard. I go to the Cave of the Heart Crystal not only to bond with my own Shard but to release her spirit as well.”

  “I see,” Thaygos said. “If Yridia is ever to achieve her final rest ...”

  “I must release her,” Akarra completed for him.

  He nodded his head then sank into silence. His antennae glowed with the purple-grey of deep thought.

  Deciding their conversation was finished Akarra rolled back over and closed her eyes. Soon she fell asleep. She dreamed of crystals and shards, lifelights and prism patterns. Then, someone was shaking her.

  She blearily opened her eyes.

  “Your turn,” Thaygos said.

  “So soon?” she asked. Her antennae glittered with the deep dark green of sleepiness.

  “Soon?” Thaygos asked, looking at her strangely. “It’s the middle of the Dimlight. You’ve slept for six hours.”

  “Okay,” she said, sitting up. “I’ll take over from here.” Thaygos lay down beside her and she scanned the surrounding area for trouble. This far away from the village a number of possible threats existed. There were the Light-eaters, of course. But also the Quarzings—sluggish worm-like creatures that fed on quartz and grew to a size as large as six feet in length—plus there was also the possibility of encountering Quartzians from other clans. That last wasn’t necessarily bad, but it wasn’t necessarily good either. All such encounters were touchy by nature. Clanfights had been started in the past by random encounters in the depths of The Cavern. Granted, encountering Quartzians was less likely during Dimlight, but she still hoped to avoid the matter entirely and encounter nothing and no one.

  And for that Dimlight, at least, her wish was granted.

  Thaygos awoke in the morning beside her. They had their firstmeal and then set off into the fabled Labyrinth of Vit. The pass
age was shaped like an equilateral triangle with the floor lying flat and the walls angling up to meet where one would normally find a ceiling. The most unusual thing was, though, it wasn’t made of quartz—at least, not anymore. It was made of glass, or more specifically, quartz that had been vitrified by extreme heat sometime in the distant past. The sides were smooth and sleek like regular quartz, but every crack and fissure that marred its perfect surface was glossed over. The walls and floor behind the glass were, as far as Akarra could tell, made of quartz: foggy white and hot, so that the temperature of the entire tunnel was far warmer than outside.

  The smooth floor of the tunnel made travel difficult, forcing them to scrabble along from handhold to handhold. It was lit by Lightshards placed at periodic intervals so that the shadows had very little opportunity to grow during the day. The occasional slope forced them to navigate on their knees, but they had Thaygos’ rope and his small collection of quartz cutting tools so that they could deal with virtually any obstacle that came before them. The route itself was convoluted and twisted, turning back on itself time and time again, but always leading forward offering no side branches or exits.

  After two hours of such travel, Akarra called a halt. The high temperature in the tunnel made the exertion exhausting and by this time she was quite ready to take a break. She slumped down by the side of the tunnel, but, again, the angle of the wall made it difficult to lean against. “Let’s just rest a few minutes,” she said.

  Thaygos nodded and slumped down beside her. “Good idea,” he said, laying his spear across his lap.

  For a short time, neither one spoke. Then, all of a sudden, Thaygos said, “My father is passing the Crystal Rod to me when we get back. I will be Chieftain soon.”

  “That is good,” Akarra said, even though inside she felt misgivings. “I am very proud of you.” She trailed off. What would it be like to work alongside Thaygos as Shardshaper while he was Chieftain? To be so near so often? To work with him closely, but chastely for all that time? She would see him every day with Leanna or whomever he chose as lifemate in her stead. Could she do that? Surely, it would be difficult.

  As if reading her mind, Thaygos said, “I wish you would reconsider your decision about being Shardshaper. I love you like none other. I don’t know how I’ll be able to function as Chieftain without you by my side.”

  For a moment, Akarra felt a pulse of commiseration. But a moment later, it turned to anger. Why couldn’t he accept it: it just was not to be? Akarra’s antennae flared red. “Must you keep harping on this?” she asked. “Life requires sacrifice. My position as Shardshaper requires sacrifice.”

  “Sacrifice?” Thaygos asked. “Why must our future together be such a sacrifice? This is our final time together as we are.”

  “Yes,” Akarra said, angrily. “Soon we must go our separate paths. We should be spending this time we have by reconciling ourselves to that fact.”

  “It’s not a fact,” Thaygos said, “It’s your choice. A choice you don’t have to make.”

  “Is it?” she said, heatedly. “You never answered me before: Would you give up being Chieftain to be with me?”

  “What does that have to do with it?” he replied.

  “Would you?” she asked.

  “Of course, I would,” he answered, but there was a trace of grey in his antennae. “But my being Chieftain is not what is keeping us apart. Being Chieftain does not preclude me from being someone’s lifemate. You being a Shardshaper does.”

  “But it’s the same choice,” she replied. “I’m trying to get you to appreciate the gravity of what you are asking me to do. Being Shardshaper is all I know. I can’t just toss that aside and pretend that I’m going to be happy. I have a purpose and a place in this world: and it’s being the Shardshaper.”

  “You’re an impossible she-quartz,” he said. His antennae were now a mix of pink and red. Their gazes met then he looked away.

  She sighed, wondering if they would spend the entire trip fighting about this. She had thought that they had already settled the issue; that he had accepted the inevitable. But no; he still did not understand. He offered her love, yes, but sometimes love just was not enough. There were other considerations: duty, honor, and justice. Her duty was to the clan. It was her honor to serve them. Failure to live up to her oath to do so would be a terrible injustice.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just can’t do what you ask.”

  The pink in his antennae turned blue and he still refused to look at her.

  “Come,” she said, firmly; her antennae flickered a deep iron grey—not doubt, but stern resolve. “Our rest is over. We must be on our way.”

  He gave her a glance as she slowly stood. She did likewise. He rose as well. They set out again with him leading the way, spear propped on his shoulder, head tilted downward as if he were studying the floor. She followed, arms crossed, yenshi robes billowing about her.

  The path turned back on itself again and entered a lengthy straight-away that stretched as far as they could see into the distance. Undisturbed, they plodded forward. The yards turned to a mile then another, and still they plodded on. Minutes turned to hours, hours to whole segments of the day. Finally, about midday they reached a spot where the nature of the quartz surrounding them changed; it turned clear, and, therefore, cold.

  At first, the temperature was a welcome change from the blistering heat, but soon they found themselves longing for the warmth of the earlier passages. An hour’s worth of chill seeping into their frames left them chattering and shaking. Their quartzflesh clouded over in an attempt to keep them warm, but even that was not enough. Finally, they were forced to take direct action. Thaygos pulled a tetraflame from his sack and set it aglow with red stonelight. Akarra did likewise with her Heartshard, and they continued the journey in much more reasonable comfort.

  When they reached the end of the long hall, it banked around a Lightshard and turned back in the direction they had just come. The walls changed back to foggy colored quartz and the natural temperature improved immeasurably. On the opposite side of the wall stood a water stala of clear quartz taking advantage of the differential in temperature between itself and the air that surrounded it.

  They took a moment to taste the water—even though with her Heartshard it wasn’t necessary. They found the water to their liking and decided to camp there. It was late in the day and the temperature was a comfortable lukewarm.

  They spent an hour talking that evening; neither one wanted to fight any more so they avoided the difficulties that loomed over them and kept the talk on superficial things: like how far it was to the Cave of the Heart Crystal, how must things be in the village in their absence, and similar such things.

  Finally, the nearby Lightshards hit baseline, the Dimlight began, and Akarra lay down to sleep.