by Wilbur Arron
“My animal friends,” I blurted out. “They are the forest guardians?”
“Yes,” she said, “Only they do not know of the crystals. Only the Old Ones know of their task. All your animal friends know is to keep strangers out of the forest. It is beyond their means to understand the nature of magik and the use of the crystals.”
“But Alkos and Alkina were killed by Pentheus recently,” I added.
“We know of this, and soon others will replace them,” she said. “But I must continue, and time is getting short.”
She reached out to touch the blue crystal. It glowed with a bright blue light. As she touched it, I could see through her hand; she was not solid like a man, but partly transparent like a sprit or a shade.
As the blue glow increased, she explained further. “The blue crystal is the Life Stone and works with Life Magik to focus the mental energies of the mage. With this crystal, you will be able to concentrate your power. It will aid you to heal more serious injuries and stop the aging process in you and others.”
That was interesting. “Where are they found?” I asked.
“On an island in the Southern Sea near the Argos Islands,” she answered. “Zilar and his brother found the island and killed the guardians there with a large military force. The Life Stone is why Zilar and his brother have lived so long. We are replacing the guardians there, but it will take time.”
She looked at me. “Now mage, tell me, what is missing?”
The answer was obvious. “There is no crystal for Metal Magik,” I said.
“True,” she said and motioned me to follow her. She turned her back and walked away. I followed behind her, keeping a respectful distance. She stopped in front of a small alcove in the rock and pointed at it. Lying on the rock was a red crystal the same size as the other two. “Pick it up,” she commanded.
I reached over and picked up the red crystal and then followed her back to where the other two lay. I put it down next to them. Athena touched it, making it glow with a bright ruby-red color.
“This is the Metal Stone, and it comes from deep in the central highlands of Syrina. No man lives nearby, so no one knows about them or the guardians that protect them. With it, you will be able to make metal hotter, make metal stronger, make complex metal items and tools, even cause parts of the earth to turn to liquid rock, like that from the volcanoes of the north. Take it, it is yours.”
I put the Power Stone and Life Stone in separate pockets of my robe. I was going to put the Metal Stone in with the Power Stone when Athena stopped me.
“No, keep the crystals apart and under no circumstance ever let them touch each other until you learn to control them. With all three stones, your power will increase almost to our level. We trust you with these, Alexio, for two reasons. The first is you have already worked with two crystals; we can see you have the knowledge and ethical understanding to use all three. The second reason is that soon, you will need them. But be prepared, others around you will see your power and be envious.”
I stopped reaching for the Metal Stone. “I am not sure I want that kind of power,” I told her meekly. “The others do not trust me with what I can do with just one crystal. With all three, everyone will fear me. I do not want this. I certainly do not want the power of the gods. I am afraid I would be tempted to use that power however I wished, or think of myself as a god, and I know I am not.”
She actually started to laugh. “We know, Alexio; that is why we trust you. All I will say is that this power will become useful to you soon. Take the crystals, learn their secrets, and above all, keep them safe.”
I put the Metal Crystal in my backpack. I looked up at the glowing figure, and she seemed to be dimming. “I hope you and the other gods have not made a huge mistake giving me these.”
The image was fading before me. “I hope so too, Alexio. The gods are wise, but not infallible; however, we feel we have made the best choice possible. Farewell Alexio Sopholus, you will hear from us again.”
The image dimmed and shrunk, and within moments disappeared from view entirely, plunging the cave into near-total darkness. Only the glow from the three stones gave me any light. I had no idea which was the way out. I took out the renamed Power Stone and let magik power flow into it. It was not nearly as bright as when Athena was here, but bright enough to see, and I found my way back to the entrance to the cave. Nearby the two Old Ones were waiting. It was still a while before dawn.
“I think we should wait here until sunrise and then go back home,” I suggested.
Both huge figures stood up, planted their feet firmly into the ground, and went dormant as I have seen them do before. I made myself as comfortable as possible and went soundly to sleep.
As I dozed off, I could have sworn I heard laughter in my ears.
The Old Ones took me home without incident then left. These creatures do not say much, but this time they said nothing to me at all. That was good. I was not in the mood for casual conversation. I had just been given power beyond measure, and frankly, it scared me. I was afraid of what may happen, but I was more frightened of myself. As I walked up to the door Melina came out looking worried, but as she got closer, her face looked like someone who had gazed on some horror.
“What happened to you?” she cried out.
I had no idea what she was talking about. “What?” was all I could say.
“Your hair,” she shrieked. “It has a large band of white running down the side.”
I quickly moved by her and went to our bedroom and picked up my wife’s mirror. Sure enough, she was right. A band of white hair ran down the right side of my head. It was as wide as my thumb is long. I had no idea where it came from.
“I do not know,” I said and then stopped. It was obvious what happened, and there was no way to hide this from my wife. I looked around. “Is there anyone nearby?” I asked her.
“No,” she said, “We are alone.
“Good, now come with me. I must tell you something important. This you must keep secret. More secret than how we find gold.”
She just nodded, and I led her to my cave. We sat down on the stone bed, and I told her the story. I was not the only one who became speechless.
“The gods have spoken to you, my husband,” she repeated when I finished.
I showed her the three crystals. “What will they do?” she asked me.
“I do not know, but fortunately I have all winter to find out. Nothing much will happen until spring. Not many will come here during the winter. I hope it will be easier to keep this a secret. No one, not even the ethnarch, your brother, or the Megas Mage must know of this until I understand the power of these crystals better. This you must promise me.”
“I will,” she said. “I will stay here with you. We can tell anyone who comes that I am not feeling well.”
“Good idea,” I said. “Now, I must start learning about these crystals. I will keep both the Life and Metal Stones hidden in my cave. Everyone already knows I have the Power Stone. I will work with them only in my study or nearby.”
“Alex, I am scared,” she said, stroking my new gray hair gently.
“So am I,” I said, rubbing her smooth cheek. It was cool to the touch but made me feel warm on the inside.
“What will you do now?” my wife asked.
“First, tell my friends about this. They will know anyway when I start to practice with the stones. Then I must learn the secrets of these stones, in private. Once that happens, I do not know. Athena told me this power would be needed soon.”
I put both my hands on her shoulders and spoke to as seriously as I could. “I will need help from you on one crucial thing.”
Melina looked frightened. “What?” she asked.
“I need you to tell me if you see any changes in me. As I practice with these stones and learn to use this power, I am afraid I may lose myself or be changed for the worse. I need someone close to me to tell me if they see any changes in me. That person needs to be you, Melina. I must
depend on you to help guide me. I will not let myself be turned into a conquering fanatic like Zilar or a power-hungry ruler like Pytheas. You must tell me if you see those changes in me, either good or bad, and tell me about them. I am afraid of what I can become with these stones.”
I let her go, and she recoiled a little away from me. I think I scared her more, but she just looked at me. Finally, she nodded her approval and even managed a slight smile. “I will tell you, my love,” she told me and then leaned forward and kissed me.
“Thank the gods I have a wife like you,” I said.
“Do you feel any changes inside you now?” Melina asked and kissed me more passionately.
“Just the usual changes,” I said with a broad grin.
“Good,” she said and pushed me down, so I lay flat on the stone bed. We both found out that Athena did not alter me in at least one way.
The next morning, I called all my forest friends together, even the Old Ones, and told them what happened. The Old Ones accepted what I said immediately. My other eight friends had some trouble but seemed to understand somewhat the power I had and the dangers it may pose. I told them that starting tomorrow, I would be practicing with the crystals on the barren hilly part of the mountain. I asked them all to keep watch and let me know immediately if anyone came into the forest.
Thus began my new schedule of work. After breakfast, I would take the crystals and practice nearby in the same place I learned to use the Power Stone. I would take water, bread and some prepared meat and spend the day there. I started with the familiar, using the Power Stone to practice my protective sphere of force, the fire sickle, the force hammer, lightning bolt, and the fireball. I also practiced creating windstorms and balls of very bright light. While I still held just the Power Stone, I saw nothing unusual in my ability to cast. When I combined that with the Life Stone, I saw an immediate increase in my power, but I had to watch for the backflow. Since I kept my casting power low when I started, I found I could manage the reverse flow by preparing my body to receive it. Each night when I came home, I wrote everything I learned in my scroll.
I next worked on the Life Stone. I found that I could fix broken branches. If I came across an injured animal, I could repair its wounds if it was not already dead. Something else I saw: when I used the Life Stone, my sensitivity to injuries increased. It was like I could see through the body. I soon had my friends bring any sick or hurt animal they had dominion over. When I combined the Power and Life Stones together, that ability to heal increased many times. Keros took me out to the herd of horses to see a mare that had broken her leg in a gopher hole. Using both stones, I healed the leg in short order. Even when I looked inside an animal, I could almost see the injury as if it were laid out before me in bright daylight. Even the unicorns were impressed. I had to be careful. If I used too much power to heal, it would drain me. Many times, I exhausted myself almost to the point of collapse until I learned how best to use part of the power backlash to recharge my own energy. One thing I did learn; I could put power into any plant or animal, but if I used the power to help restore me, the reverse power flow would be very strong no matter how hard I tried to control it. I could still feel it course through my body.
The Metal Stone was the crystal I knew the least about. I took some scrap metal from when I made Philie’s swords and dug a pit to place it in. I used the Metal Stone to heat it. Usually, a mage can only add to the heat of a forge. Now I could heat the metal to melting without the need of a forge. I could quench a blade just as fast by removing heat quickly. With practice, I could even temper a blade, making it hard but not brittle. I made a trip into Korpolis and purchased more clean casting sand and borrowed a couple of arrowheads. I made impressions of several arrowheads in a sand mold. Then I put enough metal to fill every depression in the molds. Using the Metal Stone with help from the Power Stone, I melted the metal in each mold, and within a little while, I had made over a dozen arrowheads.
One of the last things I did during the winter was to take all three stones and charged them. With Melina, I walked up to the mountain away from my house. I cast my power into the side of the mountain, and in moments there was a red glow from in front of me. An area the size of my study started to turn red and then soften like butter being left out in the sun. The ground became molten. The dirt, gravel, and boulders turned to something resembling honey and flowed down the mountain. Melina and I had to move quickly out of the way as to not get caught up in this man-made molten flow. I did not have to cast with nearly the amount of power I had used in the past.
Everything I saw, felt, or did, I wrote down in the scrolls. I could only hope if anyone else ever saw them, they would treat this power with the utmost respect. I constantly asked Melina if she could see any changes in me for the worse. She swore there were none. I hoped she was right.
As expected, few people came to our house in the winter. Mostly it was Iolaos coming to bring us news. There was no sign of the Zilar, Pytheas, or anything else harmful. The winter was mild; we spent it alone. Even my animal friends stayed away. Only a few brave souls came into the forest, and they were easily scared away before they came in too far. It was both an exciting time and a lonely time for Melina. I was busy with my practice and my scroll writing. She had nothing to occupy her time, except weaving, cooking, and keeping our house neat. I made sure that one day in ten I would stay home with no magik or writing and spend my time with her. She was the one prize I was not ready to part with; I do not care how much power I was learning to control, what I felt for her would not change. I knew if I wanted, I could make her vasílissa * (queen) and me vasiliás* (king) in any of the uncivilized lands of this world, but that would make me as wrong as Zilar. I did not think the gods would like that either. I kept reminding myself this power was only to protect, not to make me great.
Once I was sure that I could control the magik, I started to use more and more energy, both with and without the crystals. I could feel my power increase. I began to use the Life Stone to direct power into me gently. I could feel me renewing myself. I asked Melina if she would like the same thing and she agreed. Being very careful, I found I could renew her also. This made me feel younger again but did nothing to remove my streak of gray hair.
Finally, as the days started to warm, we went out and started to prepare our fields for planting. I found that using force magik and the power of the crystals, it took only a single day to cut the fallows in the earth. This was after I used a fireball to burn the grounds of the field, killing all the weeds and other growth. Once I was sure there would be no further frosts, I started to plant my fields for the following year. It took only a few days, and I had my seeds in. I was about to flood and plant my rice field when on a late winter day, Kapria came to our door. The large boar could get through the gate but not the front door. Melina went outside and started petting the hog on her side and neck. Even with their prickly hair, she and Kypos loved us doing that to them. I was in the cave when I heard Melina call to me. I came out and saw my guest. We still had some fresh apples from the fall, and I gave her one.
“I like apples, Alex,” she said. “However, someone is coming. The scent I do not know. He rides on the road. He wears a robe like you, and I can feel him. He will be here soon.”
I repeated what she said for Melina.
“Have the others watch,” I told her. “Have them come here.”
“We will do,” she said and then scampered away like an overgrown pet dog.
Since I knew it was a mage, I put the crystals away in my secret place and put on a new robe with my red hood. Melina got dressed in a nice sleeveless chiton. I was not surprised when the hooded robed figure rode in front of my house. I was surprised when I saw the figure wore a solid red robe. I stepped out into the open with my wife.
“Megas Mage,” I called out and bowed slightly. “Welcome to my humble home. I did not expect to see you here.”
Philocrates got off his horse. Like me, he was never a great rider, a
nd he did not like to travel unless necessary. I expected to see him with at least some escort.
“Greeting, Alex,” he said and shook my hand and kissed my wife on the cheek.
“We did not expect to see the Megas Mage at our home,” Melina said with her smile. “Nor did we expect to see you alone.”
“Little gets by you two,” he said looking around him. “Yes, I am here for a reason. A reason I would like to discuss inside and in private. That is why I am here alone.”
We led in the Megas Mage, and we sat down on one of the dining couches. Melina got us some well-watered wine and the Megas Mage nodded.
“What happened to your hair?” he asked.
“I guess I am getting old,” I said, trying to make light of it. I could see the Megas Mage did not believe me.
“That is a minor thing. I have serious matters to discuss with you,” he said grimly “First off, the impressions I felt in my mind while I was riding here are from your friends?”
“Yes,” I said. “Like us, they can feel other sensitives. They also have much keener senses than we do.”
“I thought so,” he said. “I remember what Malcor had told his brother about them. However, that is not why I have come. Alex, I need to know what you are doing here. I am not sure what it is, but all the Mage Council members and many of the Master Mages have all felt disturbances coming from here all winter. You are using magik, powerful magik and I need to know what you are doing. Several of the senior mages of our order and myself are concerned.”
“Oh,” I said. I had no idea that what I was doing would be felt by others that far away. I should have known better.
There was no way I could deceive or lie my way out of this. I could only hope he would understand. I thought for a moment and started.
“Megas Mage, I had a visitor here and thanks to that visitor, I have made several discoveries about the use of magik. I have experimented with these discoveries and I have learned much new knowledge. I wanted to keep this to myself until I had learned how to best use it. This is what you and the others have sensed.”