Crystal Throne (Book 1)

by D. W. Jackson

  “You can hear him?” Thad asked, more than a little surprised.

  “Of course,” mother said. “His voice must travel though the ether to reach you.” I could do the same thing, but I thought you might not enjoy the invasion.

  “You are right about that,” Thad said rubbing the side of his head. While Thuraman’s words seemed to slip into his mind, mother’s felt more forced and left his head throbbing. “If you could talk to me like that then why didn’t you do it earlier?”

  “It is harder the farther away you are,” mother replied. “There is also the chance that the usurpers would feel my call. They talk to each other much the same way and might hear my words as they floated through the ether to reach you. They cannot feel my children as they would see one of their own but I…Am different. They will feel my energy the moment I leave the safety of this cave. The ether calls to me, and the crystals shine brightly when I tread upon them and light a beacon to me.”

  “That explains why she picked a place so far down,” Humanius replied and Thad could tell that one of the god’s questions were answered. Thad liked Humanius, but he liked to know every detail about what was happening around him before he acted, making him more than a little hard to deal with. Belaroan, on the other hand, was the opposite; she cared little for details and would shoot toward her goal like an arrow loosed from a bow.

  “I know you are eager for us to be on our way mother, but I think it would be best if we left on first light tomorrow. That will give us a chance to talk and plan what the days ahead may bring,” Thad said, looking around to see both Humanius and Bren nodding along. When Thad’s eyes feel on Belaroan, he noticed a deep scowl set in her face but she held her words back.

  “One day will matter little when we have waited countless others,” mother said. Her words were soft and elegant, but Thad could tell that she wasn’t completely pleased with the delay even a day would bring.

  When the mother of the scions remained silent, Thad and the others took it as a hint that it was time to depart. “Heratio, do you know a place that we all can talk in peace.”

  “You can talk anywhere in peace,” Heratio said, his face scrunched for a few moments. “There is another room, though not as large as this one, which can hold us all with comfort.”

  Heratio led them to a room that was a few levels above and while most of it remained free of the crystals embrace, there were patches of crystal showing through the stone walls. “This was the mother’s home but we were forced to move further down as the ether began to take its hold.”

  “Do we have to have them with us?” Belaroan asked, as she looked at the scions with more than a little contempt in her eyes.

  “Yes we do,” Humanius replied, but Thad could hear a small amount in the god’s voice as well. “They will be helping us and I don’t think we will be able to get around without their help.”

  “Why should we put any trust in betrayers?” Belaroan asked, not trying to hide her anger.

  “We did not stand against your father,” one of the scions said. “We admit that we did not stand with him either, but we never betrayed him nor you majesty.”

  “Doing nothing is the same,” Belaroan said, giving the scion a withering glare.

  “I agree, but right now we have bigger trouble then these four,” Humanius said. “Costigain and his followers are the real problem and we will need the scions help if we have any hope of doing as the mother wished. The doorways have to be closed, otherwise there is no telling what damage will happen; not only our world, but countless others.”

  “I could care little of the other worlds,” Belaroan said, though the fire in her voice had calmed, though not by much.

  Humanius didn’t comment on Belaroan’s statement; wisely letting it slip by so that they could move on to more important topics.

  The scions were a well of information about the world around them as well as the doorways. Not even Belaroan complained as they weaved the tale of what had happened to the world. So they began their story.

  “After Costigain had taken the throne he found the gateway below the palace. Years he spent trying to find a way to break though so he would have access to more power, but nothing worked, but he never gave up. As time passed, Costigain created more gods; ones that were raised to follow him. Though they still were strong in magic, Costigain made sure that none of the new gods were strong enough to ever challenge him. After a number of gods had been created, Costigain found cracks appearing on the gateway and he attacked it with vigor and after a time it broke. At first the flow of magic in the world was a boon, but soon the scions crossed over and Costigain brought his gods to bare and a large war spread across the land. The war raged for more than a thousand years and the world itself began to turn to crystal. Though the scions died by the score the ether seemed to just make more, but we were losing ground; not only were our own people either dying or turning into scions to fight against us. Everything seemed lost when we first noticed that our own bodies were turning to crystal as well. It was then that the few of us left began to hide and even Costigain sought refuge. I don’t know how much time passed, but I remember when I first heard the call of the mother and woke as if from a dream to find that I no longer hungered nor needed sleep. She called to us and we found a world completely changed and Costigain had risen to power again, this time turning the very ether to his desire. The mother had come to set the world right and while we had once been his people she showed us what would happen if he was left to his own devices. The Omniverse was built on balance and it was being destroyed and if left to continue the whole universe was in peril. Not all had heard the call; some had chosen to follow Costigain as they had before and another war spread across the land. We were many in number, but we dwindled fast and soon what you find here is all that is left of the people who once stood against his numbers.”

  After the scions told them the story, Humanius asked many question and Thad found his mind drifting in and out of the conversation. He didn’t know how the story of how everything happened mattered to what was going to happen, but it seemed important to Belaroan and Humanius so he kept his words to himself.

  Finally after the gods had all the answers they needed, they talked about what really mattered, what they would find when they reached the city called Coren, or at one time had been called by that name. It was pretty straight forward, there would be many scions, but little else. The real worry was the scion mage that had once been one of the silver skinned gods that had fought with Costigain. They had large powers and while it was possible to move around them, it would have been foolish to leave it behind to tell of their powers, plans, or worse to join one of the other mages.

  In the end, there was little to plan for as the scions couldn’t tell what they would find. Each mage was different and fought with their own style and none of the scions knew which mages had found homes where. Getting information would be key and doing it without being noticed would be paramount.

  CHAPTER XV

  Just as planned, they left as soon as the sun peaked above the horizon. From what Humanius had said, it would take more than two weeks for them to reach the city and that was if they moved at a slow pace. Most likely, they would be there in eight or nine days though that was only if things went as planned.

  As they exited the mine, Thad had to shield his eyes as the sun assaulted them. Even though he had only spent a few days underground, it reminded his when he had left the Underearth after spending over a year in the darkness.

  As Thad thought about that time in his life, he began to miss Crusher and Avalanche. They had been his only real friends during that time in his life and if not for them he most likely would have lost his mind.

  Oh, you act as if I were not even there. If I remember correctly, I was the only one who you could really talk to.

  “It was because of you that I thought I was losing my mind,” Thad said with a hidden laugh. It was true though, Crusher had been hurt and left without the ability to sp
eak, but just having them around had helped calm his sense of loneliness.

  Everyone seemed to pair off with their scion counterpart as they walked, leaving Thad alone with Heratio. Thad had plenty of questions and problems plaguing him, but none of those were ones that the scion could answer. The largest question in his mind was what was he going to tell Maria next time she pulled him into her dream? She wouldn’t be happy that was for sure. Thad thought about hiding it from her, but that would only make things harder if he ever did make it back home. If he told her now she would be mad, but most likely demand he find some way to change things. Thad knew that there was nothing he could do to save his son; the mother had made the truth known to him and Bren had chosen his own path.

  Knowing that no answer would come to his problem, Thad turned his attention to other matters; ones that were a little more manageable like how to solve all the world’s ills, starting with the scion mages. He knew that magic would aid him little; the only real power he had here that could be of use was his enchanting.

  Deep below the earth, in the mine, there had been plenty of metal ore that had been left untouched by the ether. He had gathered as much as he could the night before they left and placed it in his pack, and now he just had to find ways to use it.

  Thad had thought of numerous ideas that might help them against the other scions, but only one of them really stood out in his mind, though he didn’t know if he could make it work. The idea had come to him when he thought about what Humanius had said about the white swords of the Brotherhood. They didn’t cut through magic the way Bren’s glass sword did, but instead they absorbed it and passed it along to the god. If he could do the same thing then his sword might be able to match the power of the scions and he wouldn’t just be a hindrance to the others when a fight started. There had be more than he could do beside close the doorways. The question was to find a place that could store the massive amount of magical energy that the scions carried within them.

  The first problem answered itself quickly. The only thing that he was sure that could handle that much magical energy was the crystal that surrounded them. He didn’t know if it would react badly with the ring he had made, but as he thought about it, he was sure that it wouldn’t create a disharmony between the two. Only one of them would draw power from the crystal, the other would send power to it. While they were two different enchanted items they worked in different aspects so he wouldn’t have to fear destroying the world beneath their very feet.

  The second problem was how to make a spell that siphoned magic. Thad had asked Humanius how the spell worked, but this was one thing the god didn’t seem to be able to help with. Unlike Thad, Humanius was a god and used his own blood to make a bond between the swords and himself and that was something that was beyond Thad; not to mention if he did that, then he would absorb the magic and that would be a death sentence.

  Thad mulled over the problem while he walked, hardly paying attention to the world around him. It wasn’t until he felt something shaking him that he noticed that Heratio was shaking his shoulder with a look of worry etched on his crystal face. “Mother says that your mind was drifting. She said that is dangerous for you. She fears that the ether might take you.”

  “I thought that the ether wanted my help?” Thad asked, looking at his scion keeper. “Why would it take me when doing so would ruin its plans?”

  Heratio shook his head and a frown formed on his face and Thad could tell that the creature was fighting with how to form his words. “The ether is many voices and not all of them are in harmony, and even less so now that the usurpers have tainted them. Part of it wishes your help, but that part has separated and become mother. The ether is not like you or I. It doesn’t just think of one thing; it thinks of all things and gives form when there is need.”

  “You don’t make much sense,” Thad said with a hint of frustration.

  “You ask hard questions,” Heratio replied, still frowning. “Think of the ether like an ocean and each thought just a drop of water. When enough thoughts feel the same way, a part of the ether breaks off and forms its own entity, but the rest remains behind.”

  Thad still didn’t completely understand what the ether was, but he did understand a few things. The ether was important and dangerous and he couldn’t wait to have it walled off back in its own world, though that would mean the loss of his son.

  Thinking once again about his son’s fate made Thad scowl. He had just been reunited and now time was fading fast and he still didn’t know what to say to him. Knowing that this was their only real time together didn’t make things easier; in fact, in many ways, it made it harder. Before there was just an awkwardness between them, but now there was an added tension that was almost palatable when the two were alone.

  Thad tried to work up his courage to speak to Bren, but as he approached his son, he found doubts entering his mind and soon he was once again falling to the back of the group with only Heratio to keep him company.

  “What can I say to him?” Thad asked more to himself than the scion.

  “I never had children and Mother seems just as lost as you about how best to approach the young master,” Heratio replied.

  “I thought it was dangerous for the mother to talk over distance?” Thad asked, looking at the scion.

  Heratio raised his hand to show only four fingers, the smallest one having been removed. “Even though removed, any part of our body is still part of us and mother can use it to commune with us, no matter how far apart as we were. The usurpers might sense my own magic traveling across the either, but it is unlikely as it would be too weak to draw their attention.”

  “Even after being removed it still remains part of you?” Thad asked as an idea formed in his mind.

  “Yes,” Heratio said. “I can still feel it and if I wished I could reattach it if I had it with me.”

  “Thank you for letting me know,” Thad said, as his mind began to work. If he took a part from the earth and it could be reminded where it came from, then it shouldn’t be that hard for Thad to pass energy from one back to its source. He hadn’t done that with the ring. He had simply created a link between the earth and the ring like he did with many other gems when he enchanted.

  Thad stopped and using the hilt of his sword broke a small piece of crystal from the ground. Enchanting was unlike any other magic. He didn’t so much peer into the stone as it opened itself up to him. There was no strain nor call of the ether as there was when he tried to open himself to the world around him. It was the opposite, as if the crystal heard his call. The more Thad thought about it, the more that sounded right to his ears. Mother had said that enchanters were rare because they must be born with part of the ether. Not just simple magic, but an understanding of the ether inborn within their minds. From what she had said, it was bread through generations, and was unique to bloodlines. Thad didn’t know why that seemed important, but somewhere in his mind he knew that it did, he just didn’t know why.

  It wasn’t hard for him to remind the stone of the link it had with the earth. It didn’t create a link as most connections he had made. There was no line of magic connecting the stone in his hand to that beneath his feet; instead it was like the stone was still resting within the earth’s bosom. “Thuraman, can you send some magical energy into the crystal? More than it can hold.”

  Without asking questions, Thad felt the staff pull in a large amount of energy and push it into the crystal until it pulsed with energy, but after an hour it never felt as if it would rupture.

  I can do no more. If I take in or release any more energy then I fear one of my gems will crack. From what I can tell your test has worked. The energy is being absorbed by the stone, yet it is going elsewhere though I cannot follow where.

  It had worked like Thad had thought it would. He didn’t know how the energy moved from the stone into the earth without a connected line between the two, but it did and that was all that mattered at the moment. He would have plenty of time in the future t
o figure out the why. Now he just had to find a way to make his sword absorb magical energy and that would be hard without being able to play around with his own magic to see what worked and what didn’t. Pulling in magical energy was one thing but breaking down spells and other magical entities was something altogether different.

  Thad picked up another crystal, and using its magic, placed the first crystal into the blade of his sword. His first thought was to put it into the hilt of the weapon, but he was sure if the enchantment were to work, it would have to be touching the metal directly.

  Give me a day or two to recharge, then I might be able to help you. I know you like to forget, but I can still use magic and even if you haven’t imprinted the spell, I can now use spells that you wish for me to use much more readily.

  “I do tend to forget about that,” Thad said, laughing to himself. He didn’t know what had happened to the staff when his son had held it, but there had been changes. The staff was stronger now and could use magic freely without his aid. Before he had to call the staff for it to come to him, either knowingly or unknowingly. The staff could do nothing on its own, but now it had its own…Will. Thad could think of nothing else to call it. He didn’t know why, but the thought of Thuraman acting on its own bothered him. As long as he was around he could hold Thuraman in check, but some day he would be gone and there was no telling what trouble the staff might cause.

  After all these years, you still have no faith in me.

  “I trust you,” Thad said to Thuraman. “I trust you to be you, just as I trust Maria will make my life hell for years when she learns of our son’s fate.”

  CHAPTER XVI

  They made good speed and within six days they were now close to the city that housed the scion mage. Oddly enough, Thad didn’t need to be told that they were close, the change was obvious. The world around them had changed with each mile that they drew closer to the city. At first, it was small things like the crystal grass looking more green, then the multicolored crystal the world was made of, but the closer they drew the more the world mimicked the landscape he was used to until Thad could almost swear that the grass moved with the wind.