Chapter 31
The Nature Jade
Dejected, Delminor dragged himself back to the edge of the forest and collapsed inside. They had expected his actions after all. They would certainly find him here and tender their punishment. He knew he deserved it.
He examined the false jade, turning it over and seeing slivers of green citrine peeking out of imperfections in the wood. Like the focusing crystal of Magehaven, he surmised the nature jade had been channeled through the gemstones, giving him the sensations of capturing the shard. Astrith clearly understood the nature jade’s power.
Delminor passed out and didn’t notice being carried back to the village, or his wounds being cleansed in the pool and then dressed. His exhaustion kept him under for most of the day and when he awoke, his head still pounded.
He dragged himself from the bed and made his way to the tree stump, where he dropped to the ground, head low, heart heavy. He remained there, unmoving, until Astrith at last came to him.
The old man sat before him but did not speak. The silence was torture for Delminor, who wanted to be reprimanded for his actions. He wanted to fight and defend himself against the words of the elder. But no accusations came. The man waited in silence.
“I need to save Donya,” he croaked. “Not… not directly. But I need to be able to save her, if… if…” He couldn’t say it. “I need the healing jade and to get it, I need the power of nature, too. Surely this forest can survive for a time without the jade.”
“It can,” Astrith said softly. “That does not mean that it should.”
“But—”
“Your intentions may be pure, but your actions are not. How did you come by the other jades? Were you as driven as now? Did you endure great pain to come by them? Would you endure eternal pain to find them all?”
“I must.”
Astrith set the nature jade in front of him. “The power of the jades is vast and they can do wonders. But they can also cause immense peril. You know what is needed.”
“Balance,” Delminor breathed. He looked up slowly, seeing the jade for the first time and not knowing what to do. Astrith stared at him, his face unreadable. “I will restore the balance. I will find a way.”
“This jade is connected to every leaf and twig within this forest. It bears a heavy burden. Lifting it is lifting the forest itself, this one haven that can withstand the growing sands. It is a burden no man is meant to bear.”
“I will find a way.”
Astrith closed his eyes, then stood. He looked down at the stricken mage and then turned and walked away. He vanished into the trees and Delminor never saw him again.
But he had left the jade behind. Delminor knew he was being given a choice and that it held deep consequences. But if he’d had healing magic, perhaps he could have saved Doshnard. With it, he could ensure his new child could be brought safely into the world. The cost would be great, but he would pay it. If only for the life of his child. His legacy.
With a trembling hand, Delminor reached out and took the nature jade, its vibrations making his shakiness all the more pronounced. He connected himself to the jade and felt a rush of energy weave itself through him.
It wasn’t the same sensation as the false shard. This felt worse because it was calm. Because there was no sense of punishment except that which he brought upon himself.
And perhaps that was the worst punishment of all.
Chapter 32
Communing with
Nature
Delminor distanced himself from the forest before he sat down with the nature jade. Its vibrations remained calm and subtle, its essence releasing a flowery fragrance. He pushed his internal reprimands aside and focused on the power within.
He needed to find healing energy. Something similar to what the nature jade possessed, but one that could work on people, too. He closed his eyes, holding the thoughts in his mind, focusing within the jade, as he had done with the others in their time.
The jade did not quickly give an answer, but he felt a push. He allowed his mind to be drawn by the force, leading him onward, his head turning to the left. He was soon twisted around, his face turned over his shoulder, and there the jade pushed the hardest.
Delminor opened his eyes, confused. The other jades had resonated when they were directed toward a distant shard; he hadn’t felt a push like this from them, except when they nudged each other.
Perhaps the antithesis of the nature jade lay in that direction. He tilted his sword aside so he could see in the distance, but whatever the jade saw was far off. He doubted the shard was reaching for the healing energy like he needed, but perhaps he should consider heading that way after all.
Delminor pulled a bowl out of his pack and he used his connection to the water jade to fill it by drawing the air’s humidity. He then set the four jades within and watched as they pushed and pulled each other apart, the air jade jostling around the most.
He chanted Donya’s divination spell and waited for the energies to settle and then rotate slowly toward a shard. But with the waggling of the air jade, it was hard to tell if it was the pointer or the tail. Delminor decided to trust in the three shards he believed were closest to the healing and he marked the direction in the dirt.
It was different than where the nature jade had directed him and he wondered what it meant. He turned the bowl and let the jades settle again, and they returned to the direction he had marked in the ground. He needed to head that way.
Looking up at the morning sun, he realized the jades would lead him further away from Donya, delaying their reunion. He took his journal out of his pack and noted the time, surprised to find that he had been on the road for six weeks.
How long had he spent in the desert trying to utilize the sand? He flipped through his notes and he had made many brief comments, sometimes a single phrase each day, but indeed he had tarried longer than he thought.
He still had time if he hurried, knowing that the further he went meant twice the travel time to return home. Perhaps the healing jade wasn’t as far as he thought. Perhaps it would only be a town or two away. He packed his things and started his trek.
Each day of his journey, he conferred with the jades, ensuring his path had not altered. He also tried listening to each shard, feeling the nuances of each energy form and sensing a sort of personality from each. He tried to categorize them, but could never find the words, as if the jades were playing with him.
The more time he spent with them, the more he wondered if they were alive somehow. Why did sometimes they inspire him and other times remain silent? How could they sense each other at all, calling out like a mother looking for her lost child at market?
The comparison stopped him in his tracks and he took in his surroundings. He was far from any place he knew, miles west of the Magitorium if the days of travel were an indication. He wondered how far the land went before it ended. Or did it go all the way around and end up in eastern Kallisor? The thought made him laugh.
He pressed on, tending to the feral creatures like annoyances. There seemed to be more of them this far west and as their interruptions grew in frequency, his patience for them lessened. One morning a pair of swallomers were floating by, oblivious to the traveler below them, but Delminor brought them down with a heavy rush of air, smiting them on the ground.
His anger took him by surprise and he stopped his travels for the day, taking time to bury the unfortunate birds. He knew he was tired and the journey had been long. He pulled out his journal and found a shady tree under which to read.
He flipped page after page, remarking to himself about the notes he had taken, proud of himself for tracking everything so thoroughly. He reached the end of the entries and commented about his rage and the defeat of the innocent swallomers, whom he dubbed Aero and Winda.
He wasn’t sure why he needed to name things. Perhaps it was because he was surrounded by so many unknowns. Giving names helped to cement them and make them known. Perhaps it was as simple as t
hat.
He made camp and ate some rations. He had mostly eaten remnants of the creatures he had defeated and hadn’t needed to pick at his supplies, but he wasn’t planning on hunting today and he hoped the other creatures in the area would leave him be if he remained still.
Delminor tested his direction again and it continued along the path he had been following, but there was still no indication of how much further he had to go.
Communing with the nature jade again, he felt the pushing sensation once more. Again, it pulled his attention toward his left until he was nearly turned around. He nudged his sword aside to see beyond—
His sword! He unsheathed the blade and held the nature jade nearby. Sure enough, the nature jade tugged away from the blade. Opposite forces vying with each other.
He dragged the metal bowl out of his pack and set the nature jade inside, this time without any water to float in. The shard vibrated, unhappy with its surroundings. He took it out, as if leaving it inside would upset it. He didn’t know why he felt it would, but he wouldn’t risk it.
Perhaps some kind of metal was the opposite force of nature. He had suspected it would have to be something that wasn’t alive, and metal was a much better alternative than his original thought of death. He made notes in his journal immediately, then set his book aside and rested.
Chapter 33
Sandonia
Delminor’s travels took him beyond the reaches of any map he had seen. Where some would be terrified, he simply opened his journal and made note of the landscape so he could add to the atlases in Castle Hathreneir. There were distant mountains to the north and south and they seemed to be drawing together ahead of him. The grass was thinning, leaving a sort of clay underfoot, which eventually faded to sand.
Unlike the sand surrounding the castle, this was a natural desert and as he moved deeper inside, he noticed the air was hotter than any he had endured before.
He hadn’t come across a village in a long time, and so, when he saw houses on the horizon, his pace quickened. Heat wavered up from the sand, distorting his vision, and he clutched for the water bottles at his waist, sipping them though he wanted to down them one after another.
When he entered the town, he saw all the structures were made of sand packed into dense bricks. The entire place was a blur of beige and it was hard to distinguish one building from another.
The air was cloying, and his nose wrinkled in disgust. He kept his arm tucked around his face, trying to mask the horrid smell.
The town was silent, save the scratching of sand that scattered in a mild breeze. There were no people that he could see. No creatures. The place was completely deserted.
As he started poking his head into various structures, he understood quickly where the cloying scent came from. Mounds of sand were piled up in most of the buildings and he could see the limbs of dead villagers reaching out. He surmised a raging sandstorm had passed through and taken the lives of the people.
As he made his way through the barren village, he felt the jades vibrating in his pocket. He was both relieved and disappointed. Looking around at all the death, he doubted the jade he would find had anything to do with healing.
Delminor followed the guidance of the jades toward the center of the town, noticing a curiosity. The landscape was changing. The sand looked shinier, reflective. He reached his hand along the side of a building and it felt like glass. And as he continued, the homes themselves were collapsing in on themselves, their facades completely transparent and cracking.
The center of the town had a large fountain made of stone. It was the only thing he had seen that wasn’t sand or a byproduct of it. The jades led him to the stone, persistent in their vibrations. As he neared the fountain, he heard a slurping sound and when he tried to lift his foot, he couldn’t.
He was caught in quicksand.
He had only read about the phenomenon, where water was mixed and trapped with the sand. It was possible to get himself out of it, but he would have to move slowly so as not to get caught by the suction underneath the surface. He turned around and slowly dragged his foot forward, but when he placed it down, it landed on a sheet of glass and he lost his footing completely.
Delminor splattered into the quicksand, trying to keep his head above the surface. His pack floated and he clutched it for support. He felt the jades practically screaming and he couldn’t tell if they were trying to help or laughing at him.
But thinking of the jades reminded him that he was a mage, not some lowly adventurer. He focused his thoughts as he felt himself being pulled under. He needed to do something fast; otherwise he would never be able to return to Donya.
Donya. Her name inspired him and he thought also of Pyron. Pyron had devised the condensation spell that increased the density of a material, a key component of his Shield of Delminor. Donya had been working with the same spell, adapting it to water, and now Delminor intended to use that. If he could condense the water, he could probably climb out.
He was surrounded by water, so all he needed were the words and the gestures. It wasn’t a spell he had used at all—not for water anyway—so he had to improvise.
“Gravila sassratha suocillious martel shaie.” His head bobbing above the water line, he grabbed his pack between his elbows so he could draw his hands together slowly, mimicking the closing of the water particles. They drew together and solidified into a massive block of ice.
Delminor screamed against the sudden rush of cold and the sharp angles of the water around him. He was effectively trapped and he started shivering. He could barely speak and his arms were locked in place by the ice.
The spell hadn’t completely worked, for he sought a more condensed version of the ice around him. If it had been compacted smaller than it was, he wouldn’t be trapped.
He felt one of the jades in his pocket vibrate more and more, heating itself in its urgency. The ice around him softened and melted away, allowing him to move slightly. He was careful to keep a grip on the surface of the ice and not fall deeper inside, but the sun overhead was already turning the surface to a sandy slush.
He scrabbled to get out, clutching the loose sand and drawing it inside. Soon he slipped and sank into the icy cocoon, barely able to move.
He panicked, crying out, tears streaming from his eyes. He had never been so terrified. He looked up, no idea how to escape the slippery trap, and he kept sliding further and further down.
Eventually there was a bottom, but the ice still surrounded him, except where the sun beat down overhead, sending bits of slush and sand onto him. Delminor carefully bent his left arm down his body and reached into his pocket for the jade that was vibrating so intensely. It was the water jade.
He closed his eyes and tried to listen to what it had to say, but he felt no inspiration for spell words. His teeth chattered anyway and he doubted he could pronounce anything. He brought his hand up and where the jade touched the ice, it melted away to water, its vibrations restoring the water’s original form.
He didn’t want that. He would be drowned swiftly and caught by the sand trapped within the ice. But the jade kept pulsating and freeing the water around it.
Delminor tried to climb up the slope, but it was too slick. He made it up about two feet before he slid back down, falling to a crouch. The water jade throbbed more the lower it went and Delminor’s curiosity got the better of him. He allowed himself to be guided by the jade, touching it to the ice around him and increasing the water level at his feet.
He made his way through a massive chunk of the ice closer to the fountain stones. There he found another skeleton; an unfortunate soul, trapped and killed by the quicksand. The water jade practically screamed, it vibrated so fiercely. Delminor grimly reached out for the skeleton and pulled a signet ring off its finger. The water jade was not satisfied, so Delminor pocketed the ring and reached again. He felt another object vibrating among the remains and when he took it in hand, the water jade calmed.
He had found another shard.
But he was trapped underneath the ice, which was quickly melting.
A large chunk broke away from above and came crashing down, trapping Delminor on all sides. What good was finding a jade just to die?
He was crouched low and could barely move, his mind reeling and moments of his life—his regrets—flashing in his mind. The air around him grew stale with every breath he took, while the sun overhead restored the quicksand around him.
But the jades were not ready for his quest to end. The water jade and the air jade both vibrated. Air swept around him, allowing him to breathe again for a moment, and the water jade compelled the liquid to spiral.
Soon the slushy ice was gone and Delminor was completely immersed in the quicksand, his breath running out again. He could feel the water jade trying to maintain the flow, so he swept his arms around to mimic the motion. He felt words pressed into his mind and though he couldn’t speak them aloud, he repeated them in his mind as sharply as he could.
A bubble of air escaped the air jade and surrounded him as the water shard created a whirlpool, separating the sand-sated water from where he stood. Delminor acted quickly. He called to the power of the earth jade and cracked the foundation of the fountain. The pieces of stone fell into the quicksand and clattered around him, some smaller debris banging him on the head.
He didn’t care about the pain. He continued chanting while the water spread away from him, hoisting himself up one layer at a time.
He could feel the water jade losing its strength and the whirlpool slowed, the water sinking back to the bottom, intermingling again with the sand and generating the muck that could trap him. He was too close now to stop. He strained and climbed the stones, wishing he was more athletic, and vowing to work on that once he was free. Up he went as the water spell failed; he was above the surface of the quicksand, clutching the remnants of the fountain.
His lungs heaved; his arms ached. He needed to pull himself the rest of the way out of the muck and then escape the area entirely. Delminor pulled one leg higher, then the other, kicking them over the lip of the fountain where he finally freed himself from the quicksand.
Delminor's Trials Page 17