Flames of the Dark Crystal

by J. M. Lee

  Rian curled his lip in, eyes going far away. “So they’ll come here and we’ll be martyred.”

  “No,” Naia said. “But that’s our challenge. To stand before them and to prove we are stronger. That we can persevere. To do all that without succumbing to the darkness in our hearts, and without losing our lives.”

  “I hear what you’re saying, Naia, but it’s just . . .” He shook his head, eyes locking on to the sword. “Aughra sent me to find that, you know? A sword. A weapon. What else is there to do with a weapon but harm?”

  If only Aughra were here to explain, Naia thought. So many answers had come, from the fires and the Gelfling themselves. She had fought so hard to find those answers, to earn the wisdom and the explanation. And yet it still came to this, a strange and dangerous riddle.

  Rian let out a weary sigh.

  “Why would she send me to retrieve a blade foretold to stop the Skeksis if she didn’t want me to raise it against them?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Naia said. “We’ll have to find out.”

  That night, she sat before the Stonewood hearth with the others as they rested, and Kylan sang the ballad of the Gelfling Gathering that he’d first told in Sami Thicket. Naia listened to him tell the song, hearing the lyrics that had been only a dream so recently. Now each part had come to pass, like a prophecy unveiling itself, one flame at a time.

  As the embers dimmed and the Gelfling prepared to return to their work, Naia took a sip of water and stretched. It would be a long night, one which would turn into morning before she knew it. She handed her waterskin to Amri when he came over. His cheek was smudged, his fingers and knuckles raw from working with the black dust all day.

  “You should try to get some sleep,” he said.

  She snorted. “I can’t. We have so much to do. Even if we all work through the night, we’ll never be as ready as I wish we could be.”

  “I know. But you have to let the others help prepare. Your duty will be to lead, and you have to be rested to do that.”

  He said it so firmly, she wondered if he might be right. She looked away. “I’m not sure I can sleep even if I try.”

  “Even if you can’t, at least give your body a rest. Just for a little bit. Come on.”

  He held out his hand, and Naia realized she couldn’t say no.

  They found a bed of moss below a tree on the border of the village ground. The stars were out and were it not for the ghostly silhouettes of the collapsed buildings all around, it might have seemed like any other night in the Dark Wood. They sat together, and Amri fluffed his cloak on his knee.

  “I’ll keep an eye out in this dark for you, and I promise to wake you if anything stirs.”

  Naia had never laid her head in a boy’s lap before, but it was surprisingly comfortable. His cloak smelled like fresh earth, familiar and soft. She closed her eyes when she felt his hand rest upon her shoulder. Thra’s endless turning seemed to slow, the rest of the world and all her worries vanishing. There were no Skeksis here. No darkening between them. For once, it was just the two of them, and in the safety of that moment, she fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 27

  They all awoke long before the first scouts reported back. Naia looked up from the ditch she was digging, alongside Gurjin, Kylan, and others equipped with spades and makeshift tools scavenged from the village.

  A Spriton girl appeared, out of breath from her sprint through the Dark Wood canopy.

  “We counted twelve, in six armalig carriages,” she said. “As Rian guessed, they’re coming along this path. They’ll be in for a surprise indeed.”

  Naia thanked the scout and sent her on her way to warn the others back in the village. She wiped the sweat and dirt from her brow. The ditch was not complete, but the Gelfling who’d worked through the night on it had done well.

  “It’s good enough,” Gurjin said, catching her glance. “No way the carriages will be able to cross.”

  “We can only hope,” Naia agreed.

  “Part of me wishes we could stay and watch it work. I’d love to see the look on the Emperor’s face when he realizes he’ll have to walk.”

  “I’m sure we’ll see his face sooner than we like,” Kylan said. He glanced at Naia and then suddenly hugged her. She returned it, though briefly, holding him at arm’s length afterward and fixing him with a stern glare.

  “You stay safe now, you hear me? Keep the others safe. Don’t come after us. No matter what. Promise?”

  Kylan sighed and nodded. He pressed his hand against his firca.

  “Just . . . don’t die. All right?”

  “We’ll do our best,” Gurjin chuckled. “But no promises.”

  They and the other Gelfling climbed out and up into the trees, scampering across the boughs, hidden by the gnarled branches and thick leaves. Naia glanced back, but Kylan was already gone, to protect the children and those who were still too wounded to fight. At least she could feel relief about that. If anyone survived their confrontation with the Skeksis, Naia hoped it was her song teller.

  Rian was waiting in the center of Stone-in-the-Wood. The hearth had been relit and glowed orange and red at his back, casting light down the golden-hilted sword in his hand. The rubble was cleared, only a few Gelfling in sight. The last of them were armed with leafy branches, which they used to brush out the footprints that they had made overnight.

  Naia scanned the tree line as she approached Rian. She couldn’t see through the leaves even though she was looking. That was good.

  “Are you ready?” she asked.

  “As I’ll ever be,” Rian said, voice tight.

  “We’ll be right there. Ready.”

  They clasped hands. Naia wished for a moment she had more time to know the ex-soldier. Maybe if they survived the day, they’d have that time.

  “I know it,” he said firmly. “Thank you, Naia. And best of luck.”

  “To all of us,” she agreed, and went to join the others in the trees.

  Waiting was agony. Watching Rian pace, alone in the middle of the clearing, was almost worse. Naia’s hands sweated against each other, and it took every ounce of willpower to keep still. Their plan relied on surprise—one of their few advantages, and if any of them gave themselves away, they would have to flee. Abandon Stone-in-the-Wood a second time, take untold casualties as they were hunted by the Skeksis.

  No, they had to win. They had to turn the Skeksis away and reclaim this place as one they would protect, where the Skeksis were not welcome and would never be. Prove to all the Gelfling that hope was not lost. That there was a way to endure without falling into darkness. That the song of Thra was more powerful than even the darkness the Skeksis had brought upon it.

  Naia closed her eyes and pressed her hand against the bark of the tree.

  Mother Aughra, she prayed. Mother Thra. We fight for you today. We will show the Skeksis that we will not submit any longer. We will stand until we can stand no more. Let our footprints be left in stone as proof we did not give up.

  She opened her eyes and twisted her ears when something stirred in the brush. Shadows, tall and hulking, moved within the wood. Amri, crouched beside her, reached out and gave her arm one final, comforting squeeze.

  The Skeksis had arrived.

  Tall and armored, moving slowly and steadily like the arced shadow of an eclipse across a moon. Naia recognized Lord skekZok and Lord skekVar. skekSil, the Chamberlain, in his ruby and amethyst dress, close to the right hand of the Skeksis who stood in the center front. Whose voice had broken the Gelfling from their awe, whose metal helmet gleamed as if it were devouring the light of the now-dying Gelfling fires.

  Rian faced them as they approached, seemingly alone. The color had drained from his face, but he did not give ground. Not even as Emperor skekSo, bedecked in a frothing cloak of black pinions on top of shining iron armor, stepped to the front of
the Skeksis line. He held a scepter in one claw, his cruel beak plated with a mask of dark metal. His shadow engulfed Rian as he drew up to his full height, and yet the Stonewood did not step back.

  “skekSo,” Rian said. He tightened his grip on his sword, though he did not raise it. Not yet. “So you came after all.”

  “It’s just you?” skekSo exclaimed. He raised his head, casting over the ruins and through the trees. Naia held her breath. There was no way he could see the dozens of Gelfling waiting, was there? She gripped the smoke bomb in her hand, ready to give the signal the instant she saw any spark in the Emperor’s eye. But his gaze landed back on Rian, the spiked hackles around his neck only partially roused.

  “What a waste of our time,” he growled. “WHAT A WASTE.”

  skekSil the Chamberlain’s high-pitched voice was like a bug in the Emperor’s ear as he wrung his claws together. “My lord. Do you wish us to take him captive? Hmmmm, back to the castle for skekTek to drain?”

  “We have plenty of captives remaining at the castle,” Lord skekUng grumbled in reply. “I say we make an example out of him. Like you should have done properly the first time.” The last he spat to skekZok the Ritual Master, who turned away with a snarl.

  Emperor skekSo nodded slowly, running his claws over the head of his scepter. His breath came noisily through the armor plate across his snout, furious at the thought he’d brought all of his lords to this place to deal with a single Gelfling. But the fury was turning hungry. Lusting for any revenge he might be able to take, now that he had Rian in his reach.

  With the second of his four hands, he waved dismissively.

  “We will do both. Take him alive. We will kill him back at the castle. And be quick about it. This has already been too much a waste of our time.”

  It was his mistake. Naia raised the smoke bomb and screamed, “NOW!”

  The earth itself seemed to erupt with black smoke as smoke bombs rained upon the Skeksis. Naia lost sight of the figures below as the clouds of thick smog rose, smelling of sulfur and burning moss. The Skeksis cried out, thrashing in the stinking darkness, suddenly broken from their intimidating formation in surprise and confusion.

  That was where Naia wanted them. She pushed her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

  Winged Spriton led by Maudra Mera and Maudra Fara bearing Drenchen nets leaped from the trees, flinging the nets upon the Skeksis. The Gelfling darted above the boiling chaos below as other Gelfling on the ground emerged, snagging handfuls of the rope nets and pinning them into the earth with spears and staves. The ropes would not hold forever—even now, they snapped and sliced between Skeksis claws and blades.

  But the effect would last. As the Skeksis broke themselves free, one at a time, they spun away from one another, scattering in disarray and anger. They were no longer collected, smug, proud. Now they were enraged, primal. Naia beheld the scene from above, as Gelfling with spears jabbed between the scales of the Skeksis armor. One at a time and without fail, the Skeksis reacted, lashing out at the nearest Gelfling, pursuing them with snarling fangs and talons. Even massive Lord skekUng fell to their design, charging after a group of Spriton and Drenchen with a thunderous bellow.

  By the time the smoke faded, the Skeksis had fully broken from formation. Only Emperor skekSo remained, with the Chamberlain at his back. The Emperor’s armored carapace heaved with breath, steam jetting out from his mask as if an inferno raged inside him.

  “Emperor,” the Chamberlain began, but the Emperor held out a claw. Opened his dagger-toothed maw and screamed.

  “KILL THEM ALL!”

  Rian let out a piercing battle cry and charged. Startled by the ferociousness and speed, skekSo was barely able to raise his scepter in time to block Rian’s shining blade. The force of it on his unprepared parry knocked him back half a step, more than Naia might have predicted. When Rian brought his sword against the Emperor a second time, sparks flew and even the Chamberlain backed away.

  skekSo snarled and shoved at Rian’s blade with his scepter with enormous strength, sending the Stonewood flying backward. Naia finally left her perch, spreading her wings enough to glide until she landed with a whump beside Rian, helping him back to his feet. A moment later Amri and Gurjin joined them.

  “Vermin!” the Chamberlain cried from behind the Emperor’s back. “Fools!”

  He shut up when the Emperor lashed out with his scepter, even at his own ally. The Chamberlain whimpered and shrank back, though he still lingered when the Emperor thundered toward Naia and Rian. Though his footsteps shook the earth, up through her heels and into her legs and back, she clenched the soil with her toes. She had made a promise.

  “You should have stayed hidden,” Emperor skekSo roared, volume rising with every step. “You should have stayed scared. But now, you will all die!”

  Naia opened her mouth to reply, but the wind was knocked out of her as a black blur crashed out of the wood. The huge black shape whirled through the village, a storm the size of a Skeksis, in a pitch-black cloak broken by twisted, skeletal spikes. It finally stopped, crouching in a steaming mound of darkness between Rian and the Emperor. It twisted its head, and Naia saw a glint of white. A shard of bone, fastened to the monster’s face with twisted metal spikes. The remains of a mask he had worn until she had cracked it so many days and nights ago.

  The Emperor’s mouth split in a toothy, glistening smile as he looked upon the monster.

  “skekMal,” he growled. “Take care of this.”

  “Gelfling,” the Hunter hissed, a plume of hot steam rushing from his ragged lips. He twisted until he faced Rian and then reared up to his full, tremendous height. “What’s this it has in its hands? A pretty sword. A pretty trinket.”

  “This is no trinket,” Rian said. He faced skekMal, pointing the shining beacon of a blade at the Skeksis Hunter’s heart, its double edge reflecting the light of the triple suns above.

  The Emperor’s voice tore through the silence as if it were flesh.

  “Yes, skekMal. Now. Take that traitor fool. Make an example of him where everyone can see.”

  “With pleasure, Emperor.”

  “Rian!”

  skekMal hurled himself forward with unsated hunger, jaws open as if he might devour Rian whole. Naia leaped, trying to intercept, but she was too slow. Her fingers brushed Rian’s sleeve before the Hunter tore him away, mounting the Stonewood tower like a hulking black Arathim.

  CHAPTER 28

  “Now what will you do, Drenchen?”

  Naia’s neck ached to look away from skekMal as he climbed the rise with his captive. Emperor skekSo folded his hands across his scepter, tilting his head so his helmet shone like dark ice. Though the Chamberlain stood at his back, gripping his dagger, neither Skeksis moved toward her and Amri.

  “Fight us? Then where is your weapon? Or is Rian’s little toy the only weapon you stupid Gelfling have?”

  All around them, in pockets of battle throughout Stone-in-the-Wood, Gelfling and Skeksis voices screamed almost in unison. Trees near the border of the clearing had been lit up, choking the air with whorls of ember and stinking black smoke. Naia flinched as the Ritual Master smashed his scepter into a band of Gelfling rebels, killing one instantly and wounding the other two. Across the clearing, the Chamberlain knocked a Spriton off his Landstrider—Lun—and plunged his twisted dagger into his belly. Where his blood fell, the earth darkened.

  And above them, skekMal had reached the summit. Naia could only watch from where she stood below as he tossed Rian to the ground. Rian had managed to keep hold of his sword somehow, and climbed to his feet. From the tilt of his shoulders, though, Naia could see he’d been hurt during skekMal’s violent ascent. Still he faced the Hunter, and though every Gelfling in the wood could see him, he faced the Hunter alone.

  “When the Hunter kills him, this battle will be over,” skekSo said. “This battle and this resistance.
This rebellion. Over, in one move. Tiny flames die so quickly.”

  “Rian won’t lose,” Gurjin said. Naia clenched her fist. She could hear skekMal’s snarls and screams, the clanging of metal as he clashed weapons with Rian.

  “The Gelfling and the sword have called upon Rian as their champion, and he will win,” she said. But even as she did, fragments of doubt came swirling back. Could Rian defeat skekMal? And what if he did? What would happen if that magic blade sliced the Skeksis Hunter’s throat? He would fall then and there, in front of everyone. In front of his lords, and they would see Rian standing over him.

  All while somewhere in the Mystic Valley, urVa’s blood would quench the golden dust. And deep inside the Castle of the Crystal, the Heart of Thra would remain the same, as broken and incomplete as before.

  Emperor skekSo snorted a jet of steam. He tossed back his cloak, drawing a sword in one hand, balanced by the scepter he held in the other. His two remaining claws were free, twitching talons eager to snatch and tear.

  “Too bad you won’t live to see how wrong you are,” he said.

  He attacked. Straight at them, swinging his scepter. He had speed, and strength, but as Naia leaped up and Gurjin and Amri fell to the side, she could already tell the Emperor was not as practiced in battle as skekSa. His strikes were uncontrolled and reckless, making up in anger what he lacked in calculation. Naia held only a stone, using it to block his blade when she couldn’t avoid it.

  “DIE!”

  The single word echoed through the clearing.

  Even the Emperor turned away from Naia to see who had issued the dreadful command. At the top of the rise, in sight of all who watched, skekMal the Hunter brought his sword down on Rian.