The Crystal Clipper

by B. Roman

  “Of course, I cannot stop you, David. You are free to go anytime.”

  “Oh, sure. What are we supposed to do, just walk through this door?”

  “The door will open easily if you truly want to leave. So, obviously you wish to stay and learn more of the wonders of the Prism Palace.”

  “I've seen all I want to see of you and that monster you worship. The two of you deserve each other.”

  At her manipulative best Jaycina proclaims, “The Prism Palace is just the beginning for us, David. Soon there will be the temples of healing and science that Ishtar dreamed of.”

  “All monuments to lies and greed, built on the blood and tears of helpless people,” Saliana injects bitterly, coming out from behind David's protection.

  “You misunderstand my intentions,” Jaycina replies, with carefully disguised condescension. “I only wanted to give the Islanders a chance to live a purposeful life, to save them from their primitive existence of idleness and useless fantasies.”

  “You're the one who lives in a fantasy, Jaycina,” David sneers, “to think I would stay here in this crazy world with someone like you.”

  Jaycina's shrill laughter sends shivers through David's body, then her words pierce his heart like a knife. “You are so naive, my David. Is your world any different? Lies and greed have all but destroyed your own father. Did he not choose his work above all else, killing your mother and crippling your sister in the process?”

  “No!” David screams, clutching his stomach which feels like it's being ripped out. Saliana is taken aback at his outburst and stands frozen in shock.

  “It's not true. It's because of Fischbacher, that slave driver, that – snake. And I'll get even if it's the last thing I do!” David lunges at Jaycina threateningly, but his hands slip right through her. She is there, but untouchable, like a ghost, an illusion, an elusive fragment of a dream.

  “The only way to overthrow the powerful is with greater power, the kind of power I can give you,” Jaycina baits him. “Isn't that why you are here?”

  Why am I here? David asks himself the unanswerable question, wondering if he will ever comprehend this odd interplay of his life with the lives of Ishtar, Saliana and, most of all, Jaycina. What is it I'm trying to prove, anyway?

  “But it takes time, David,” Jaycina continues to cajole him. “And if Saliana will sing for all of us, we will have the time. We will all be immortal, you and I as well as the great Serpent Ruler.”

  “Immortal? That's an even bigger lie,” David confronts her. “You told me yourself Saliana's music can't make anyone immortal.”

  Jaycina circles Saliana like a hungry tiger stalking her prey. “But she holds the key. Somewhere in her song is the answer to all things. And I MUST HAVE IT!” Jaycina is shrieking now, venting an anger that springs up like a geyser of resentment finally bursting free. Stark terror emblazons Saliana's eyes and she places a protective hand over the Rose Crystal Pendant.

  Jaycina rails on. “For a thousand lifetimes I have subjugated myself to kings and conquerors, denied the status that I truly deserve, that is my birthright. The Crystal of Wisdom is rightfully mine,” she insists, not knowing she speaks of the singer David carries in his tunic. “I will find it and I will reclaim it, if I have to crush everyone in my path.”

  David moves between Jaycina and Saliana, guarding Saliana from this madwoman who stands before them. “Even me?” he challenges the High Priestess. David's forthright stare triggers something in Jaycina, and she becomes quiescent, yet her eyes are strangely pleading.

  “No, David. Not you. We are friends, you and I. Don't you see? I wasn't always corrupt. I have been corrupted by them. I have had to play the game their way to

  survive.” Jaycina grabs David's arm fervently. “But survival is not enough. I want to live again, David. I want to live again to fulfill my destiny as I choose.”

  David's heart swirls with a tidepool of confusing emotions, the same conflict he felt when he confronted Janice Cole. Once she had been his friend, someone he could trust. But she, too, was corrupted, by Nathan Fischbacher at the expense of her own free will and dignity. The remembrance of Janice's intent to marry Nathan Fischbacher raises his hackles and any ambiguity of emotion dissolves.

  “You can stay dead for all I care.” David pulls his arm fiercely away from Jaycina and begins to lead Saliana away. Stay dead? Why did I say that? David wonders why he didn't say drop dead.

  “Wait, please, David.” In her desperation, Jaycina's approach transforms to an appealing softness. “What about Sally? I will give you your Sally if you will leave Saliana with me.”

  David halts and turns to Jaycina. “You don't know where Sally is. It's another one of your tricks.”

  “Look, David. Look into my eyes and see. See your Sally.”

  Belligerently, David strides over to Jaycina and stands inches from her. He peers deeply into her glistening black eyes, believing he will see nothing save for her piercing glance. But, magically, there she is. Sally - laughing and happy, just as she used to be. She whirls and dances gracefully to a merry waltz like a princess, just like a princess…

  “Sally - Sally -” David whispers. He swallows the thick lump that grows in his throat. Jaycina extends her hand invitingly. David reaches out and takes it in his own. Jaycina's smile emits a look of conquest.

  Now, David. The voice in his head urges him. Ishtar's voice. Now. You know what you must do.

  In a remarkably deft move, David pulls the diamond ring from Jaycina's finger and forces the pyramid ring on in its place. Taken completely by surprise, Jaycina struggles to remove the ring, but it will not come off.

  “No! No! It's can't be! It can't be!” Jaycina wails. Anger, disbelief, and terror intermingle in her eyes and cries of protest. Mystifyingly, Jaycina transforms into the formidable and awe-inspiring form of the Glass Snake, then back to Jaycina again. She is a shimmering wave of color, she is smoke and fire, she is passion and fury, darkness and light. She is everything real and yet fantastic, everything imaginable but inconceivable.

  David and Saliana recoil in horror and rush to the hidden staircase. Amazingly, the barricading door opens wide and they pass through the portal.

  “What did you do to her?” Saliana asks, breathless as they descend the dozens of marble steps.

  “I exchanged rings - put on the one your father gave me. He said it would make her change.”

  “That was an understatement.”

  “She was supposed to change for the better.”

  At last, they reach the bottom of the stairs, then stop short of the archway.

  “Wait,” David cautions her. “Let me see what's out there.” He passes through the archway, then quickly returns. “It's the way out, to the front of the Palace. It's clear.”

  David and Saliana run, their feet barely touching the ground beneath them, the Prism Palace illuminating their way in the darkness. As they approach the perimeter of the Palace grounds, Saliana stops abruptly. Before them is Judiah, hovering over the mouth of the Glass Volcano. He is conscious but weak.

  “Holy cow,” David exclaims.

  “David - help me - help - me -” Judiah whimpers.

  Saliana is frantic. “What do we do!”

  “I don't know,” David says, completely at a loss.

  With surprising alertness, Judiah begins screaming. “He's coming. He's coming.”

  Saliana and David turn to see the Glass Snake thundering across the Palace grounds toward them. He moves quickly on massive clawed feet, despite the stubby thickness of his legs. His powerful gait shakes the ground, nearly knocking David and Saliana off their balance. They scramble to the pedestal at the mouth of the Volcano and climb up on it. The Snake is mere yards away, his wild eyes two red mirrors of doom. Saliana shrieks hysterically.

  David is unexpectedly struck with a sharp, searing pain in his ear and he reaches up to hold it. The pain then turns into an unbearable ringing and David pulls his hearing aid out, cutting off all the s
ounds of panic that surround him. As he does so, the din becomes a hum, then a soothing hush, like the tranquil ebb and flow of the ocean tides he loves so much. Immersed in this secure cocoon, David realizes instinctively what he must do and reaches into his tunic for the Singer crystal. He holds it high, like a cross of “good” opposing the forces of evil.

  Instantly, the Singer is ignited with the crackling energy emanating from the Glass Volcano and emits a dazzling, prismatic spray of multi-colored light, which then emblazons the Star of David on David's tunic.

  “His tail, David. Cut off his tail and he will die!” Judiah yells.

  David points the Singer toward the Snake's tail and the little crystal clipper spews out a hail of incendiary sparks. The Snake's scaly tail explodes into a million pieces, sending fragments of shattering multi-colored glass into the sky like a Fourth of July fireworks display. The Snake roars violently, one final gasp for life before the instant of death, then collapses in a thunderous heap.

  In the explosion, a glorious burst of light hurtles through the sky like a meteor toward the Moon Singer. The energy hits the gallant clipper ship's railing, slithers along the conduit Ishtar fashioned from the gold rings, and connects to the clipper's mizzenmast full force. Her sails burst open and, regaining full power, the Moon Singer begins to glide along on the water.

  Ishtar runs up and down the main deck, whooping victoriously, as a misty spray of water washes away his grateful tears. “You did it, David! You did it. You remembered, my boy. You remembered.”

  Twenty-three

  Like a mighty beast slain by a hunter's shot, the Glass Snake lies lifeless on the Palace grounds. David and Saliana stand back, shuddering in awe at the events that have just occurred. Then, hesitantly, they move in unison toward the beast to fully take in its charred image, but it disintegrates into a gaseous fog. When it clears, Jaycina stands in the beast's place.

  She has, indeed, changed. No more blood-red robe, ostentatious headdress, garish makeup or razor-like fingernails. This Jaycina wears a simple white sheath and a gracefully soft green cape. Her raven hair is braided gently with gold ribbons. And on her finger, the clear pyramid stone has turned the deep blue of a summer evening's sky.

  Do David's eyes deceive him still? She is Jaycina, but is she? Saliana clings to David and he, in turn, holds fast to her.

  “Don't be afraid, Saliana,” Jaycina says in a silken voice. “I'm not the Jaycina you once knew.”

  “Which Jaycina are you now?” David asks suspiciously. “What kind of trick is this?

  “No more tricks, my brave David Nickerson. No more deceit.”

  She sounds sincere, reassuring, but David is not quite ready to accept her transformation. “How do we know you're not lying again?”

  Jaycina nods with understanding. “Ask me anything and it shall be granted.”

  “Judiah,” David says, motioning to the poor wretch suspended overhead. “Save him from the volcano.”

  “As you wish.” Jaycina extends her hand and points the pyramid ring toward the Volcano. Instantly, the huge arc of electrical charges disappears. Falling, Judiah screams, but a surge of magnetic power pulls him swiftly toward the lodestone. Arms and legs spread-eagle, Judiah lands forcefully on the lodestone, then slithers to the ground.

  “Judiah will need care, but he will live,” Jaycina observes.

  “Not that he deserves it, the weasel,” Saliana comments with surprising candor.

  “Have you another request, David?” Jaycina asks.

  “Yes. Let Saliana and the Islanders go free.”

  “Their freedom is not mine to give -”

  “I thought so,” David jumps in sharply.

  Jaycina continues, unperturbed, “They have but to believe they are free and be slaves no more. One day you will understand. And perhaps one day you will also find it in your heart to forgive.” She bows graciously to David and Saliana, then turns and walks nobly back toward the Palace, her image dissipating into the ether.

  Twenty-four

  The morning sun is a warm glow in an Azure blue sky as David and Saliana cross over the Palace boundary and enter the dense forest of the Island. Lush groves have replaced the bramble, and mirrored pools of water give sanctuary to a plethora of birds and fish. Peacocks strut in rainbow-colored grandeur across the plush, emerald green carpets of grass.

  “If I didn't know better, I'd say this was Paradise,” David says, awed by the miracle that turned the dark and foreboding island into an ethereal and vital wonderland.

  “Paradise is where you are happiest, David,” Saliana says. “I suspect your Paradise lies back home with your family, and your Sally.”

  David is wistful. “Yes, Sally. Will I ever find her, Saliana?”

  “She is very close, David. Very close.”

  David is silent a moment, then asks a question that has been burning inside him. “Is it true, Saliana? Can your music really give someone the gift of immortality?”

  Saliana's eyes are filled with tenderness as she answers, “Only faith and love can give us eternal life, David. My music is the way I express faith and love to all who desire to listen.” She removes the Rose Crystal pendant from her neck and folds it into David's hand with her own. “For your Sally, when you find her.”

  David leans forward to kiss her and she turns her face up to his invitingly. But their sweet union is interrupted by the shouts of an excited Ishtar running toward them.

  “Saliana! Saliana,” Ishtar calls eagerly, gratefully, breathlessly.

  “Father!” Saliana runs to Ishtar, embraces him, and weeps with him in happiness.

  “Oh, dear daughter, I feared I might never see you again.”

  “Father, did you have so little faith?”

  “I am ashamed to confess it faltered, child, it faltered.”

  “Ishtar. I'm so glad you're all right,” David greets him fondly.

  Ishtar throws his arms around David in a bearish, fatherly hug. “My boy, I shall be forever grateful, forever in your debt.”

  “You don't owe me anything, Ishtar. But maybe you can help me find the Moon Singer.”

  “Find her?” Ishtar's laughs heartily. “David, my boy, she is not only found, but in full power, ready to set sail. Come, I'll show you.”

  Quickly, the trio makes their way to the Island beach. The Moon Singer, in all her splendor, stands proud atop the tranquil ocean.

  Ishtar gestures grandly toward the clipper ship. “There she is, David. Ready and waiting.”

  David is ecstatic, but confused. “But, how did you get her moving? There was no power.”

  “Not I, David. You did it. You and your little Singer crystal. I knew if you could get that ring on Jaycina's finger, everything would fall into place like a row of dominoes. I knew you'd remember the power that got you here in the first place, and use it well. When you aligned the Singer to the Volcano's energy flow - well, you should have seen it, my boy. An explosion of light like a flotilla of angels from heaven. In an instant, the Moon Singer regained her full power and order was restored to the universe.”

  “And killed the Glass Snake,” David surmises.

  “Because the Glass Snake was killed,” Ishtar explains. “The Snake was created by Jaycina's immoral use of the knowledge she possessed. You and your Singer restored wisdom and truth to the island, and evil is powerless in the light of Truth, my boy.”

  “What will you and Saliana do now, Ishtar?”

  Ishtar places his arm lovingly around Saliana's shoulder. “Try to rebuild our lives. Perhaps try to rebuild the City of Light for its true purpose. And perhaps this time Jaycina will unite with us instead of against us.”

  Recalling the vision of Jaycina disappearing into nothingness, David questions Ishtar, “But how can she? Saliana and I both saw her completely fade away as though she never existed, like she was dead.”

  “In a manner of speaking, she did die,” Ishtar says. “But if she truly atones for her past actions she will come back again.”
>
  Saliana kisses David's cheek. “Good-bye, David. Your voyage home will be peaceful and all your dreams will come true.”

  “Good-bye, Saliana. I'll never forget you.”

  “You had better not,” she says, with a warm laugh.

  David finds the clipper's dinghy on the beach and pushes it into the water. He jumps in and begins to row, with half-reluctant and half-determined strokes, to the Moon Singer. Ishtar and Saliana wave farewell from the shore. David waves back as bittersweet tears trickle down his face. He is going home, enriched by new friendships, but going home without Sally.

  “Do you think David really knows the true power of his little Singer crystal, Father, that it was fashioned from the masthead of the Moon Singer?”

  “No, not yet,” Ishtar replies. “But if he remembers what has happened here, some day he will understand why the Moon Singer came into his possession.”

  “I think he will use the knowledge well,” Saliana says with certainty.

  “Yes. But if it should fall into the wrong hands once he is back in his own world…”

  “It won't, Father. You see, I gave David my Rose Crystal pendant.”

  “Containing the music codes of the trinity?”

  “Yes. The Crystal of Wisdom activated by the Rose Crystal's Love results in Truth - the only power that David will ever need in this or any world.”

  “You are very unselfish, my daughter. And very wise. Now let us pray he acquires the third sacred artifact as well, the one that will let him unlock the codes.”

  “If he has the courage to follow his destiny, he will.”

  Steadily, the Moon Singer sails away, her white sails bursting full in the wind, her crystal masts glistening in the sun. David slips his hand into his vest pocket and retrieves the note Ishtar had given him just before he left the Island. He reads it with fascination:

  “You asked how I knew, living in what appears to be a primitive society, about such things as electronics and forms of energy that only modern man can know of. How did the ancient Egyptians know about advanced engineering and architectural concepts, or the Atlantians progress to a sophisticated civilization worthy of legend and fascination.