A Child of Two Worlds

by Mark Cole

“But,” Alex started, “you just said that the last time you tried to mount an offensive, you were ambushed and everyone killed.”

  “That’s right,” she said with a tone like she had explained this plan over and over again to someone else. “We were trying to move armies to one area to mount an offensive. Now, we are going to begin to rally by having the other races move smaller groups, no more than fifty at a time. With each group from the same place separated by a few weeks, they should avoid notice.”

  “How large an army does Azreal have at his command?” Terra asked.

  “Around two hundred thousand. And he can be reinforced from the other planes, but by how much and how quickly, we don’t know. That is why stealth is paramount to the success of this plan.”

  “How large a force do you have here?” Alex asked. He had not seen many men-at-arms, except those at the training ring, while he was walking around yesterday.

  “We have five thousand of The Fang in and around Starfall, with twice as many elven soldiers, around nine thousand human footsoldiers, and a thousand light cavalry. They are hidden all throughout the Forest of Souls.”

  He ran his hand through his hair. “That’s only twenty-five thousand. Even if you sent a group of a hundred from all three cities every week, and if they can make it safely, and if this plan isn’t discovered, it will take years just to move everyone here.”

  “How large a force could you muster if everyone you ask for shows?” Terra asked.

  “Everyone we ask for? We are asking for everyone.” Silvia shook her head and let out a deep sigh of regret. “A hundred thousand, if we are lucky.”

  Terra’s jaw firmed as her face paled. Alex swallowed. “You only have a hundred thousand men and women of fighting age? How many...” he trailed off not knowing how to ask.

  “Millions,” Silvia said, doing her best to maintain an even voice. “Millions upon millions have died since the Arcane City fell.”

  It won’t work, he thought, shaking his head. Alex stood and started to pace back and forth as he fought to come up with a solution. His eyes settled down onto the map. A large circle of land in the center was marked with grey lines. The ones in the center looked older than the ones near the outside.

  “What’s this?” he asked, pointing.

  “After the Arcane City fell, Azreal summoned the Obsidian Tower from the Realm of Hell. The area marked on the map is the part of our world that has been drained of all life, corrupted by the tower. Nothing lives there, and anything that enters, dies. It is spreading by a few miles every year.”

  He let out a long breath. “I don’t know if there’s enough. I don’t think it’s…” He jumped as Terra slammed her hands down onto the table.

  “We have to try, Alex,” she shouted. “I left them once, and I don’t mean to do it again.”

  “Where then, Terra? Where are we supposed to find enough to fight an army of monsters and demons? Show me.” He swung his hand to the map.

  Her eyes flicked to the southeastern corner of the map and then back to his face. “I don’t know.”

  “What’s down here?” Alex asked, pointing to the corner of the map she had glanced at.

  “Those,” Terra said, “are The Wraith Marshes, an endless swamp that is very easy to get lost in.”

  “Does anyone live in there?”

  “Not exactly,” Terra said slowly.

  “Terra, now is not the time to be evasive.”

  She looked at him with a long suffering gaze. “I’m not being evasive, Alex. The Wraith Marshes are full of spirits and beings of magic. They,” she paused, “aren’t always the friendliest of creatures. They don’t mean to do harm as far as anyone knows, but they aren’t like us.”

  “Aren’t like us how?” Alex asked.

  “They are spirits of pure magical energy called sprites. They have always existed, but we don’t know much about them. At best, they ignore you, at worst, there aren’t enough pieces left to tell who died.”

  “If we could enlist their help,” Alex started.

  “No,” Terra interrupted. “They would be a very destructive force, but they could kill you without you even knowing they were there. It is too dangerous to entreat them.”

  “Can we storm a magical tower, surrounded by a field of death, through an army of who knows what, with the forces we can muster?”

  Silvia looked down. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe,” Alex said flatly. He looked hard at Terra. “Are you strong enough, magically, to kill ten thousand reinforcements? A hundred thousand? A million?”

  “No.”

  “It’s their world, too. If they won’t fight to save it...” he trailed off. “I don’t know, but we have to try.”

  He glanced between Terra’s thoughtful face and Silvia’s expressionless one before he continued. “What we need is some way to coordinate a worldwide attack without any kind of delay or having to all group up first. Isn’t there something magical that lets you communicate long distances?” Alex asked.

  “Not anymore. The Crystals of Davinir stopped working when the master crystal was destroyed before Azreal took the Arcane City,” Terra said. “We didn’t want him to get them.”

  “Is there any way to make a new master crystal?”

  “I might be able to,” Terra said. “But the other crystals would have to be linked to it for them to work. Even if I was able to make the master crystal, and link the key crystals, I would have to attune those crystals to the people using them myself.”

  “What do you mean you ‘would have to attune the crystals to the people using them’?” Alex asked.

  She let out a sigh. “Sorry, I keep forgetting how little you know about magic. It is kind of like when a sorceress links a Shield to her. I have to join the person’s energy to the energy of the crystal. Without that, it will be just like any other pretty stone.”

  “So it is like syncing the crystal to the person?” The two women looked at him in blank confusion. “Never mind.”

  Terra shook her head. “But it won’t work anyway, because we don’t have a large enough crystal to serve as the master.”

  Alex stopped his pacing and visualized the Cat’s Eye gemstone. “How big does it need to be?”

  “Highwind Point is the farthest away from us of all the cities, and to be able to talk to them it would have to be the size of a fairly large tree.”

  “Does the shape or height matter? Or does it just need to be big?” Alex asked.

  “The taller it is, the better, but if it’s exceptionally large, then the shape shouldn’t matter.” Terra turned to look at Alex. He was looking at Silvia with a questioning look on his face. Silvia glared back at him.

  Terra began to understand the bones of Alex’s plan. “Alex, it might work, but we can’t ask that. The Cat’s Eye is sacred to them.”

  Alex’s eyes didn’t waver from Silvia when he spoke. “We have no other choice. We have to coordinate a worldwide attack simultaneously, and we can’t use messengers because we can’t have Azreal find out ahead of time. And we don’t have the time to spare because of the spreading corruption from the tower. Silvia, I know I’m asking a lot, but what good is that gemstone out there if we all die in a failed attack?”

  The leader of Changelings of the Fang let out a deep sigh. She looked from Alex to Terra and back to Alex. “We don’t have a choice, do we? We will do what you ask.” She turned to Terra. “What do you need to enchant the Cat’s Eye, Nexus?”

  Terra sat in thought for a moment. “I will need the crystal that you have, and to study the Cat’s Eye for a few days. It should be simple enough to attune the crystals, but I will have to figure it out from scratch.”

  Silvia nodded. “I will have the crystal brought to you.”

  “No,” Alex said. “If this is going to work, it will have to be just the three of us that know about it for now. Here’s the way I see it. Terra has to go to tune the other crystals, so we go in a loop to get all of the crystals in order. Plus, we will need to m
ove in a small enough group to keep from being discovered.” Alex paused a moment and looked at the map.

  “Do the sprites have a crystal?” he asked.

  Silvia shook her head.

  “Can we get them one?”

  “I suppose,” Terra said. “If the dwarves give us one. They created the original crystals before they were enchanted. But, I told you, the sprites won’t help.”

  “You don’t know that for sure,” Alex said. “And, if we go south, we go by the dwarves, enlist their help, tune their crystal, and get another for the sprites. We have to go through the Wraith Marshes on our way to Highwind Point anyway.”

  “We can try, but we are going to be gambling with our lives if you are wrong,” Terra said.

  “How many do you want to go with you as guards?” Silvia asked.

  “None,” Alex said. “The less in the know the better. The best kept secrets are the ones that no one knows about. Unfortunately, a lot of people already know I’m here, but only the three of us know Terra is here.”

  “No,” Terra said. “A pixie named Kris and an elf named Timothy both know I’m here.”

  “I met Timothy yesterday. I think we can trust him, but do you know we can trust Kris?” Alex asked. Silvia’s eyes narrowed at the name, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Without a doubt,” Terra answered. He saved my life out on the plains. The Halfmen were taking me to the Obsidian Tower, but he freed me, and we escaped.”

  Alex nodded. “All right, if you trust him. We’ll need to come up with a cover story for me though.”

  “When you leave, I’ll tell everyone that you are going to scout positions for our battle against Azreal.”

  The doors creaked open. The three turned to face the intruder. “So, when do we leave?” Caitlyn asked after she closed the doors behind her. She wore a new set of forest garb.

  “What are you…” Silvia started, but stopped when Alex put a hand on her shoulder.

  “You aren’t coming, Caitlyn. You almost died before,” Alex said. “I didn’t save your life for you to put yourself in danger again.”

  She came to a stop opposite them on the other side of the semi-circular table and put her hands on her hips. “Just because you saved my life doesn’t mean you own it. I have a debt to repay, and you can’t stop me, even if you are the Guardian. I’m going with you and Terra whether you want me to or not.”

  Alex looked to Silvia. “I think you should have someone go with you to help protect you,” Fanglady said.

  He looked at Terra for help. She smiled at him helplessly. “I grew up with these two. You won’t change their minds.”

  Alex laughed and shook his head at Caitlyn. “You are as stubborn as a house cat.” She narrowed her eyes at the joke. “But, we can always use another set of eyes.” Her golden eyes glinted as she smiled.

  “Thank you, Alex,” she said.

  “Just ask to come to any future meetings. Eavesdropping at the door is very unbecoming of the Fanglady’s sister,” Silvia said.

  She flashed Silvia a grin. “Where is the fun in that? When do we leave?”

  “Three days,” Terra answered. “That gives me time to get the crystal attuned and you two to get everything else together.”

  Chapter Eight - Eyes of the Stars

  The three days passed uneventfully as Terra, Alex, and Caitlyn went about their business of getting ready for the long journey. Alex tried to spend some time with Terra while she worked with the crystal, but she ignored him and stared out of the window at the Cat’s Eye crystal. “I’m sorry, Alex,” she had said, “but I’m busy and need to focus.”

  Walking around the village by himself made Alex feel uncomfortable. Everywhere he went people would call out to him and cheer. They would approach him on the street and give him gifts or ask if they could do anything for him.

  “I can’t do it,” Terra said the night before they were to leave. “It’s impossible.”

  “What’s wrong, Terra? Maybe I can help,” Alex said.

  “How are you going to help?” Terra snapped. “You don’t know anything about magic.”

  “I know that this will work.”

  She stood and spun on him. “How, Alex? How do you know?”

  “Because it has to,” he said.

  Silence passed between them before Terra echoed, “Because it has to.”

  “And I have a gut feeling that this is the right thing to do.”

  Her jaw tensed with frustration. “A gut feeling,” she muttered. “You are basing a giant assumption about something you don’t understand, on a gut feeling.”

  Alex stepped past her and looked out the window. It was the middle of the night, and no one was out. “Come outside with me,” he said as he grabbed her hand.

  Terra protested about it being the middle of the night, but Alex ignored her. She snatched the Crystal of Davinir she had been working on from the desk as he pulled her along. In moments, they were standing hand in hand next to the Cat’s Eye crystal. It gave off a soft orange glow in the night.

  “Have you tried touching them together?” Alex asked. His breath curled in the cold night air.

  “No, because it won’t work, and even if it does, it will make your plan take much longer.” She touched the crystal to the gemstone. They clinked, but nothing happened. “See?”

  “What kind of crystal was the master that was destroyed?” Alex asked.

  She held up the small quartz she had been working on for the last two days. She let go of his hand and held the crystal in both of hers. It was a perfect cylinder only a few inches around, about a foot long with pointed ends.

  “It was a giant quartz identical to this, only it was the size of a large tree.”

  “Have you tried changing the crystal into a Cat’s Eye?” Alex asked. He was starting to get cold, so he rested his hand on the Cat’s Eye gemstone, letting its warmth spread throughout his body.

  Terra shook her head at him, her annoyance clear. “Of course I did, Alex. I didn’t work, and I changed it back.”

  Alex leaned against the crystal and thought for a few moments. He saw Terra shiver in the cold night air. “If you are cold, touch the Cat’s Eye. It warms you up somehow.”

  Terra looked at him doubtfully. She touched the giant gemstone. “That did nothing. I’m still cold.”

  Alex frowned at her. He stood back up straight. “Keep touching it.” He put his hand over hers.

  Terra yelped and yanked her hand away. “Ow, it’s hot!”

  Alex gazed into the crystal’s depths. “I think that it didn’t like me helping you feel its warmth. Hand me the crystal,” Alex said. She handed it to him. He touched the smaller crystal to the Cat’s Eye, but still nothing happened. He ran his empty hand through his hair as he thought.

  “You think the Cat’s Eye is sentient?” she asked.

  Alex shrugged. “I need you to make this crystal work,” he said to the Cat’s Eye. “We need to be able to talk long distances to free this world of a great evil.”

  “What are you doing, Alex?” Terra asked.

  “Talking to the Cat’s Eye.” He touched the crystal to it again with no effect.

  “You are talking to the gemstone,” she said.

  Alex looked down and saw the fifth ring on the sword glowing with a faint gray light again. He curled his empty left hand around the hilt.

  a woman’s voice whispered in his mind. Alex drew the blade point down, wrapping his right hand with the crystal in it around the hilt as well. The points of the crystal stuck out a few inches from either side of his hand.

  “What are you doing now?” he heard Terra say. It sounded like her voice was coming from far away.

  it whispered more insistently. He lifted the wooden sword above his head, the point touching the glowing orange gemstone at eye level. With a shout, he drew the blade back and drove it into the stone with all his might.

  The scream of shearing stone filled the ni
ght air as the Guardian’s Blade dove into the Cat’s Eye. The strain of pushing the blade further and further in was making the muscles in Alex’s arms and shoulders stand out like corded steel.

  His momentum slowed, and then stopped just as the point of the Crystal of Davinir touched the Cat’s Eye gemstone. He felt the smaller crystal in his hand be drawn into the Cat’s Eye.

  He released the hilt of the Guardian’s Blade. Terra grabbed his arm. “What did you do?” she whispered to him. Alex took a step back from the gemstone.

  “I don’t know,” Alex said. A vein of blue began to inch up the stone. It widened to look like a giant vertical pupil. Five shafts of blue and orange light, like the points of a star, erupted from the ground around the Cat’s Eye. The light trailed off as the Guardian’s Blade slid out of its own accord.

  Alex snatched the wooden sword from the air as it fell. He ran his hand over where it had entered the Cat’s Eye. The spot was still perfectly smooth.

  From where the light had shot out of the ground, small orange and blue spheres lay in the grass. Terra picked one up, and Alex held another with a smile on his face.

  “How did you do that?” she asked him. Alex heard her voice come through the stone in his hand. His grin widened.

  “Let’s pick up the rest of these and go inside before people come to see what caused the light show.” He watched her eyes light up when she heard his voice through the small crystal. It was orange with a blue pupil in it, identical to the Cat’s Eye crystal. It seemed to be staring at him.

  The pupil seemed to follow them as they gathered the remaining stones from the grass. They went back inside and put the stones on the desk. “It’s like it’s watching me,” Terra remarked.

  “The blue must be in the center,” Alex said. “Just an optical illusion, it looks like it’s staring at me too.”

  Terra set the three orbs she held on the desk next to the two he had collected. She hooked some of her hair behind her ear and looked up at him. “How did you do that, Alex?” she asked again.

  “I have no idea, Terra,” he said honestly. “The sword wanted me to do it.”

  “The sword wanted you to do it?” she asked skeptically.