The Diamond Bearers' Rising

by Lorena Angell

  I gasp, “Why?”

  “Probably because you changed the future, too. Apparently, you weren’t supposed to be able to bring him back.”

  Chris asks Jonas, “Was it going to matter when the diamond was inserted or would it have made a difference?”

  “No.”

  I say, “So, if I’d inserted his diamond, like they wanted, I wouldn’t have been able to save his life.” I rub my face hard, then turn to Chris. “But you inserted your own diamond and I healed you instead.”

  Chris asks, “How long have you known about this, Jonas?”

  Jonas hesitates. “For a while now.”

  “What?” Chris and I say together.

  He puts his hands up in front of him. “Before you go getting all mad that I didn’t say anything, remember what I’m doing right now.”

  “Did they actually tell you I’d die?”

  “Yes. I should tell you both, they’ve been grooming me to take Chris’s place.”

  Chris’s eyes meet mine. He gives me the look of “I told you so.”

  “Grooming?” I ask.

  “You know, preparing me to be with you. When the Elemental blast hits, you need to have a love interest in your life to give you the will to survive.”

  Chris walks a few steps away, cursing and throwing his hands in the air. “That’s right! I’m just a ‘love interest’ to them. How could I forget that?”

  Jonas continues. “Then, last week, something changed. The future showed something different. You two were going to fight and break up. Calli wouldn’t have to insert your diamond and you wouldn’t die. This had them worried for all new reasons.” He looks at me. “They came to me again and let me know you’d be distraught on your birthday evening following a breakup. I needed to be prepared. But then tonight you both came to the house, together, and Chris is a Bearer.”

  Chris turns his head and stares out to the breaking waves. “A week ago is when I decided to propose on Calli’s birthday.”

  I look the other direction to the distant lights of the main house. “Are they watching us right now?”

  “No. At least, I don’t think so. After you two left, and after they hashed things out, Crimson left the island. Maetha went into her room, I assume to meditate or bi-locate.”

  I say, “All this time they’ve instructed me to avoid looking at my future, to only look for my impending death. I’ve obeyed, for the most part.”

  Chris looks back at me. “Good thing you didn’t try to look or you would have seen our fight.”

  Right, the “issue.” I can’t worry about that right now. I ask Jonas, “Why are you turning on them and telling us everything?”

  “What do you mean? You’re my friends.”

  “Yeah,” Chris jumps in. “But you said you’ve known for a while.”

  “I thought it was nature’s will. I’ve always been a firm believer and dedicated follower of nature’s will. Calli, you knew I was going to die when we transported the diamond to the Death Clan and you offered me a chance to be healed. I chose to follow nature’s will instead of being tempted to live longer. I even donated my body to science, well, Maetha’s science, and you know how that turned out. I remember one particular moment after I was healed. Maetha was speaking to someone outside my room. I think it was Crimson, but I’m not sure. It could have been any other female Bearer. But I heard her say, ‘I was able to save the boy. She cares deeply for him.’ The other female said, ‘She must not know he’s alive until it will best suit nature’s will.’ Well, tonight, I realized there’s only Crimson’s will and she’s using you two.”

  I reach my hand forward and touch his arm. “Jonas, she’s using you as well.”

  He fidgets, clearly affected by my touch. He chuckles nervously. “Well, when she finds out I betrayed her, I’ll probably get Marketa’s fate.”

  I want to tell him he’ll be fine, but honestly, I don’t know. Instead, I say, “Then let’s make sure she doesn’t find out.”

  Jonas moves back a step, breaking our contact. “You know that’s not possible. I’m going to level with her the first chance I get, mainly because I want answers. I probably won’t get them, but I’m still going to ask. I’m technically already dead. So, if she decides to reclaim my diamond—which by the way they didn’t foresee me getting—then so be it.”

  Chris says, “I hope she’ll decide she still needs you and your computer wizardry.”

  “She has Sarangerel now. I’m an old, clunky DOS computer next to her. I don’t have much to offer anymore.”

  “That’s not true, Jonas,” Chris says. “You and Sarangerel make a great team. You both have strengths.” Jonas’s chin drops to his chest. Chris continues in a more serious tone. “I don’t have any magic words to make you feel better other than I’m not mad at you for keeping the secret about my death. You probably kept quiet more for Calli’s sake than mine, which only makes me respect you more. We’ve all kept secrets in the past. Secrets will continue to be kept. Hopefully our friendships can remain intact.”

  Jonas’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down, then he launches himself at Chris for a big brotherly hug. “Thank you, Chris!”

  I let the two of them hug it out for a bit. Once they separate, I ask Chris, “So where exactly do we stand? We changed the future, first with you slamming your own diamond, and second with me shocking you back to life. Should we put the obsidian away to see what the outcome will be?” I stop short of revealing our plans in front of Jonas of going to the government. More secrets.

  “Not yet.” Chris shakes his head. “I don’t have my thoughts under control.”

  “Here,” Jonas digs in his pocket, then extends his hand to me. “Take these topazes. They’re charged with Seer power.”

  I take the three stones and focus on one of them and look to the future of the Portland Elemental blast, hoping to see the images from my dream. Shapes and dull forms fly through my mind, but nothing discernible. The topaz drains after only a few minutes. I hand it back to Jonas. “That one was pretty weak.”

  “What? It’s Imperial Topaz.”

  “Who charged it?”

  “I did. What were you trying to look for?”

  “The Portland blast.”

  “Sheez, I can’t even see that with the full diamond’s power. Try looking for something easier, like will you be alive tomorrow?”

  I close my eyes, focus on the second topaz, and think about my future for the morning. I see myself eating breakfast with Chris, Maetha stands across the room. Yes, I’ll be alive. I focus on my future for tomorrow evening. A scene opens where I’m in Chris’s apartment in D.C. He’s smiling at me, so I guess we’ll both be alive tomorrow night. I open my eyes and sense the topaz in my hand is depleted.

  “Here, this one is drained.”

  “Well, what’s the verdict?”

  “Chris and I will be alive tomorrow night and in D.C.”

  Jonas lets out a heavy sigh. “You’re going back already? I thought you two were going to stay a couple days. You just got engaged. You should be celebrating.”

  Chris shrugs one shoulder. “Yeah, we should.”

  Jonas kicks the sand and tilts his head to the side. “Happy Birthday, Calli.”

  I reply, “Thanks, but I can’t tell if you’re being genuine or sarcastic.”

  “You should know by now I’m always genuinely sarcastic.” Jonas grins and wiggles his dark brows.

  I open my arms and give him a hug to which he hugs me back, sort of. I step away, noting his hesitation toward me. Maybe he worries what Chris will think of him being too affectionate. I stop short of overanalyzing his behavior. “Jonas, thank you for telling us what you know. I hope everything works out for the best when you talk to Maetha and Crimson, but can you wait till we leave tomorrow? Actually, can you wait till later on tomorrow?”

  “I’ll do my best. I’m going to go and let you two enjoy what’s left of the night.”

  We say our goodbyes and he walks away. I can’t imag
ine Crimson taking his diamond for being honest. Marketa tried to kill me. That was different. Jonas is trying to help. But part of me doesn’t know anymore. If Crimson and Maetha were willing to let Chris die, who knows what they might do to preserve their perception of nature’s will.

  Chris takes me by the hand. “Come on.”

  We walk back to my bungalow and go inside. I sit on the couch and lay my head back, closing my eyes. Images flash behind my eyelids of events that happened tonight. I don’t want to think about what almost came to be. Then I remember the intense heat and bright blue-green light emanating from my hands. I lift my head and look at my engagement ring.

  Chris strikes a match and lights the candles on the kitchen table, then he comes and sits next to me. “What are you thinking about?”

  I twist the ring with my other hand and experience a twinge of pain on my finger. I wince and examine my finger a little closer. Sliding the ring over my knuckle, I see a red burn circling where the band was. Images of the vision I had invade my mind of not being able to remove the ring after the upcoming blast.

  “What’s the matter?” Chris asks, sitting down next to me.

  My eyes meet Chris’s. “When I healed you, my hands heated up and I guess the ring did as well.”

  “Are you burned?”

  “I think so. It doesn’t hurt that much. Once we put the obsidian away I’ll heal it.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I’m glad you were able to bring me back.”

  “I wonder how long they’ve known or at least believed you would die when you inserted your diamond?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps it was right after I held onto the two prisms.”

  “I think the more likely answer is the time she spoke with us in the hotel before Anika’s parents’ funeral. Crimson said something that seemed odd, something about you possibly choosing to never have your diamond inserted. I wondered what she meant. Maybe she was worried I wouldn’t be interested enough in Jonas.”

  “But why wouldn’t they tell me I was going to die from the diamond insertion? What purpose did that serve?”

  I think for a second and am hit with a sickening thought. “I bet they knew I wasn’t interested in Jonas. If I inserted your diamond and you died, I might be so distraught that I’d find comfort with Jonas as a friend. They probably hoped that over time I’d warm up to him.” I slide my ring back into position, “One thing’s for sure, I won’t ever figure one of them is going to come bail me or you out again. We’re on our own.”

  “I don’t think that’s entirely accurate, Calli. Crimson would bail you out of a dangerous situation. Me, not so much.”

  I hear the dejection in his voice and can’t help but feel angry at Crimson. How could she nurture him all these years, then turn her back on him? I say, “Those two got this train rolling and now they’re going to have to hang on for the ride.”

  Chris makes a strange face and rubs his chest.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know. My heart kind of... hurts.”

  I immediately try to heal him, but remember the obsidian is blocking me.

  I take his hand and we head inside. I tuck the obsidian back into its case. Immediately my powers rush back into me. I hear Chris sigh, knowing that he felt the same thing.

  “I’m okay,” he says, taking some deep breaths. “I can heal myself. This is so incredible.” He pauses and looks at the small box. “So much for our privacy.”

  “We can have it again, just in small batches until your heart heals.” My eyes tear up and I walk over to him, putting my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight. Tears spill down my cheeks.

  He pulls me away and brushes them from my face. “We will figure this out. I promise.” He rubs the top of my engagement ring. “We’re in this together from now on.”

  The flickering flames of the candles glimmer on the facets of the center stone on my ring. I move my finger back and forth, up and down, to admire the beauty of the diamond. “You said the diamond is an heirloom. What is its history?”

  “It belonged to royalty from India centuries ago. One of my ancestors was paid for their services with this diamond. Back then the diamond was bigger. When technology improved, the stone was cut with more facets to display its beauty. Several women have worn the diamond either in a necklace or ring through the centuries, including my grandmother who wore it in a broach. Before she died, she gave it to my mother who gave it to me. My mother said it’s a lucky diamond—this coming from a woman who struggled to accept I had been altered by cosmic energy.”

  “What do you mean lucky?”

  “I don’t know. I checked it out and found it doesn’t hold powers like the Sanguine Diamond, so I don’t think it has anything of significance.”

  “Well, I was wearing it when I saved your life, so I guess it is a lucky diamond.” I smile.

  * * *

  Sunlight streams through the curtains, shining on Chris’s profile as he lies beside me on the bed. I barely remember falling asleep. As soon as we laid down, I wanted to stay awake forever and stare at him, but the day’s stress and emotional toll won out. The only thing I remember is the steady sound of his beating heart, alive, and containing a diamond.

  I study his features, admiring his perfect proportions and bone structure. My hand rests on his chest, the lucky diamond glimmering in the morning light.

  “Good morning, handsome,” I say in Chris’s ear.

  His eyes crack open a bit and he turns his head to look at me. A satisfied smile spreads on his face. “Morning.”

  “How do you feel?”

  ”Hungry.”

  “After everything you’ve been through you are only concerned with your empty stomach?” I tease.

  “What can I say? In all seriousness, though, my heart is developing scar tissue. That’s what I sensed last night when I healed it. Did yours do that?”

  “No. But our situations are different.”

  “True. Well, let’s get this day underway.”

  “Should we keep the obsidian open to prevent mind reads? I don’t know if I can block my thoughts well enough yet.”

  “I think so. Once we’re on the airplane, we can close it. If I need to heal my heart, I’ll leave its presence. Let’s go to the main house and find out when the boat is leaving . . . and get something to eat.”

  I get up and change into some fresh clothing and we leave the bungalow. I bring my bags with me so we can leave the island without delay.

  Once inside the dining room of the main house, Jonas approaches us. “Are you guys all right?”

  “Yes. Are you?”

  “Still breathing.” Jonas tries to sound optimistic though his smile seems forced. “Let me have a look at that ring in the daylight.” He points to my hand and I raise it up. He doesn’t touch me, but peers closely.

  My eyes move between Jonas and Chris. As Jonas admires my ring, Chris watches Jonas, but not with jealousy this time. If I had to label the expression on Chris’s face it would be appreciation.

  Jonas says, “That’s the prettiest color of green I’ve seen. It matches your eyes.”

  “Green?” I ask, angling my hand to get a better look at my ring. “It doesn’t look green to me.”

  Chris reaches over and takes my hand. He leans in to look at the ring. While he does this, I look up at Jonas and find him staring at me. He smiles ever so slightly, then says, “I hope to see you again someday.”

  I don’t know how to react. I’m remembering a time when Crimson told me neither Chris nor Jonas are good Diamond Bearer candidates. They were never pre-approved to become Bearers. I’m genuinely worried for Jonas.

  Chris says, letting go of my hand, “Jonas, they’re not going to punish you.”

  “I know. I’m not going to give them the chance.”

  Sarangerel enters the room and comes over and we quickly change the subject. After she offers up con-gratulations
and well wishes, we dish up some breakfast.

  Maetha remains at a distance due to the exposed obsidian. “How are you two today?” she asks.

  “Good,” I answer.

  “I see you are wearing a beautiful ring. I assume you celebrated the evening’s successful diamond insertion by becoming engaged to marry.”

  Chris says with a heavy sting in his tone, “I proposed to her before the insertion. We never had the opportunity to share our news with you last night.”

  Maetha takes a step closer, then steps backs. “You were wearing the ring when you healed Chris? May I see it?”

  “Why?” I ask.

  “I’m curious.”

  I’m not sure if I want to leave the obsidian’s blocking power. She might detect our plans. I say, “Come take a look.” I slide the ring off my finger and hold it out to her. She doesn’t move, instead her eyes narrow as she looks at the ring.

  She says, “Your finger is injured.”

  “Yes, just a mild burn from when my hands heated up during the healing.” It’s obvious she’s not going to come see the ring, so I put it back on my finger.

  “Chris and I are going back to D.C. today.”

  “Well, I hope you have an enjoyable time together. Please be cautious. You have obsidian in your future.”

  “Obviously,” Chris picks up the chunk from the table and sets it down.

  I ask her, “Are you searching my future with a topaz?”

  “Yes.”

  Chris takes my hand. “We’ll keep an eye on our own futures.”

  “I’ll let the boat captain know you’ll be departing today. The boat will leave in one hour to head to Bermuda to pick up the Bearers we talked about yesterday.”

  “We’ll be ready,” Chris says.

  We finish our breakfast and stop by my parents’ bungalow on our way to the boat dock.

  My father asks, “Calli, how much longer do you think we’ll need to stay in hiding?”

  “I’m not sure, Dad. That’s not something I can see right now.”

  “She’ll let us know as soon as she knows, Allan.”

  We give hugs and love you’s, then Chris and I leave Maetha’s island.

  * * *

  Once we’re on the plane and in the air, Chris says, “I think you can put that away now.” He points to the obsidian.