Delminor's Trials

by Stephen J Wolf

  But he wasn’t out of the hazard yet, for the quicksand encircled the broken fountain and he needed to cross over to escape it completely. He judged the distance and shook his head. He didn’t have another option. Crouching and aiming the best he could, Delminor pushed off from the stone and leaped for the edge of the sandy pool. He fell splat near the edge and he scrambled for purchase, his fingers digging into the sand, the friction pulling him forward ever so slightly.

  Little by little he clutched his way out of the quicksand, and he kept moving until he was far from the hazard. There he collapsed, his body aching from head to toe.

  Chapter 34

  The Unknown Jade

  As Delminor recovered from his ordeal, his body grew tense and sore. He had scrapes and bruises all over. Once again.

  He held the new jade tightly, wondering what its power would be. Its surface was gritty and the jade itself was almost transparent, a faint light tan color emanating from within. He looked around at the sand and glass everywhere and he understood what he held. The glass jade.

  Delminor closed his eyes and shook his head. What good was a glass jade? He needed a way to protect Donya. Would he place her inside a glass bubble? His frustration got the better of him and he threw the jade to the sandy ground. Upon impact, the sand crystallized into a plate of glass, keeping the shard from sinking under the surface.

  His fingers aching, he struggled to write the events in his journal, but he was determined to keep his records complete. He named the town Sandonia and wondered what kind of people had lived there. He remembered then that he had taken the ring from the corpse below the surface. He pulled it out of his pocket and examined it.

  The ring has seen better days. Its surface was faded from contact with the quicksand for however many years it had been since the tragedy that befell the village. Whatever gems had been attached to the ring were gone now. But he was able to make out a faint carving along the band. He sketched a replica in his journal, deciding he would spend time in the library trying to uncover its source. It didn’t look like a haphazard design, and it clued him in that the ring must have belonged to some sort of leader, maybe royalty. He pocketed the ring and picked up the glass jade again.

  “Air, fire, nature, beast, water, earth, and now glass.” He shook his head. “I don’t see the connection. They’re all part of the world, yes, but still. Why glass in particular?” He wondered what other uses it would have, but he didn’t ponder it for long. He sliced his finger and connected himself to the jade, seeking inspiration.

  “If I arrange the jades now…” Rather than place the jades on the sand, he drew representations, still along a large circle. He set the glass jade next to air, reasoning that both clean air and well-crafted glass were clear. He wasn’t sure if water or earth would be next, but he felt that earth and nature should be adjacent, with the beast next in line. Then he decided that nature and glass would likely be opposites and so he moved the glass jade to the other side of the circle.

  On one side he set glass, then air, then fire, placing their counterparts across from them along the opposite edge of the circle. The seven elements were reasonably balanced, but it still didn’t help him account for a healing jade. He feared there wasn’t one after all.

  Delminor wrote the configuration in his journal, his body too pained to do much else. He nibbled on some rations and then flipped through the pages once again. As he counted the days, a chill ran down his spine.

  He had needed two months to reach this place since his time in the forest, and that had taken him a good six weeks. He had no idea how long Donya had been with child before she told him. He would need to hurry if he was going to return in time for the birthing.

  Chapter 35

  The Castle

  Revisited

  Delminor reached Castle Hathreneir three months later, his arm broken and his ankle twisted, his body beaten. He’d had a bad run-in with a pair of eaglons who nearly struck him with their poisoned talons, which would have ended him. He’d thrown himself against some rocks to dodge them and got in a lucky strike with his sword. He’d hobbled his way home since.

  Delminor hurried to his chambers, hoping to find a very pregnant Donya inside. Instead, the entire suite was silent. All their belongings were there, so he knew she hadn’t left. But he’d been gone for half a year and realized some things would be different.

  He knew a few places where Donya could be, but he didn’t have the strength to seek them out. Instead, he made his way to the healers, where he found Essalia.

  “Del!” she ran to him and hugged him tightly, making him wince in pain. “Where have you been? What—” She stepped back and saw his wounds and guided him to a nearby bench. “Let’s get you patched up first.”

  Essalia was an efficient healer. She understood aspects of the body that few did. She used her nature skills to fit a cast for Delminor’s broken arm, setting it into best position possible so it would heal without extended damage. She wrapped aloe-soaked bandages around his cuts and scrapes and tightly wrapped his ankle to give him support when he walked.

  “You’re a mess,” she said. “It must have been some journey. Was it… worth it?” She sounded skeptical considering his wounds.

  “I claimed the nature jade and I did find a new shard.” He blew out a sigh. “As you can see from all the damage I’ve sustained, it’s not the healing jade I was looking for. I haven’t been able to learn much about it. I was trying to just get home.”

  Essalia nodded. “Donya will be happy to see you. You… haven’t seen her yet, have you?”

  “No… Did she have the baby while I was gone?”

  Essalia paled. “Del…”

  He felt a sinking feeling deep within. “Don’t say it.”

  But it was true. He found Donya, her belly flat with no sign of a child within her. She greeted him like nothing was wrong and he didn’t know what to say.

  “Welcome home.”

  “I—I’m sorry I was gone so long. Donya… Donya, how are you?”

  “I’m all right. I’m not as upset this time.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, though he already knew what she meant.

  “It happened only a about a week or two after you were gone. My body just… got rid of it. I can’t explain it, but that was it. I awoke one day, my bed was a mess, and the baby was gone.”

  Delminor crushed her to his chest. “My beloved, I am so sorry.”

  “It’s months ago now. I’ve already taken my time to mourn and I’m doing all right. I will need you to be strong so I don’t feel the pain again.” She paused. “But Del… I think it’s pretty clear that I’m not meant to have children.”

  “Don’t say that. We’ll find a way. Maybe Essalia…”

  Donya shook her head. “No. Losing two, I don’t think I could stand a third. All these lives that want to exist, but I’m not strong enough to carry them.”

  “It’s not—”

  Het tone sharpened. “It’s what I feel, Delminor, and your words won’t change that. But enough of this. I can’t discuss it anymore. How was your quest?”

  “Partly successful.” He gave a quick explanation and then left her to continue her work.

  His mind reeled and his heart was sick. She had lost another child. Poor Duria, joining Doshnard in the great beyond before getting to see the light of the world. He never told Donya the name he gave the baby, knowing it would only cause her more grief.

  The following days were strange as Delminor tried to return to his routine despite the odd wall between him and Donya. Essalia was more gracious of his return and he was grateful for it.

  At last he met with the king to resume his studies with the fire jade.

  “Your adventure sounds fruitful.”

  “It was, my liege.” He withheld his disappointment. “I found something else that perhaps you can help me with. I would spend time in the library, but perhaps your wisdom can guide me better.” He showed the signet ring to Pennithor.
<
br />   The king eyed the carving along the band. “You say you found this to the west? It is interesting. It has royal markings along this edge here. But not those of a king, if I’m one to judge. Perhaps this was a prince, then. But it has been a hundred years, perhaps, since any word has come from the west. It may be the old kingdom of Crannos beyond the original reaches of Hathreneir.”

  He took back the ring. “Then perhaps the prince was the last of the line. It looked like the entire place had been wiped out by sandstorms, though he apparently died in quicksand.”

  “Quicksand? A terrible way to go, I hear. Is there any more I can do for you?”

  Delminor pondered for a moment. “You know I request full access to the fire jade. It is difficult for me to work with it under the current circumstances. Your guards are perfectly calm at their posts, but it interferes with my work. When you are ready, sire, I would request once more to bring the fire jade to my quarters where I can study it without hindrance. At your leisure, my liege.”

  The king squinted. “This is an odd time for this request, as you already have two new shards to explore.”

  “Yes, sire, I understand. But I feel the more access I have to all the shards, the better I will come to understand their interconnectedness and their powers.”

  “I see. I will consider your request.”

  Delminor bowed. “Thank you, your majesty.” He hesitated for a moment. “Sire… When I met with the forest leader, he said that another shard had been recovered by the scouting party. I didn’t know another shard was here. I desire to explore it as well.”

  Pennithor leaned forward in his throne, his eyes narrowing. “Did I not just say you already have enough to explore? Yet again you ask for more. What is your goal, Delminor? To gather all the shards and run off?”

  “No, your majesty!”

  The king eyed the mage critically. “No. I will not grant you access to my other shards. You must first produce results with the new jades in your possession.”

  Delminor was outraged. “How can I learn anything if you keep the shards from me?”

  But Pennithor would not bend. Defeated, Delminor focused himself as the king required, though he hated the glass jade, for it felt like it had cost him too much. He hadn’t even been with Donya through the grief of her second loss because of his pursuit of it.

  The jade seemed to sense his anger and it refused to work well with him. He wondered again about the odd sentience of the jades and how it was possible.

  The thought reminded him of how the water and air jades had come to his rescue, protecting his life in Sandonia. They had acted of their own volition to keep him alive. But why hadn’t the glass jade saved the prince?

  Chapter 36

  Gemstones

  “Jades, jades, jades,” Delminor complained. “It’s all the king ever asks about.” He sat in the council chamber with Gallena and Arenda, having just finished a long meeting regarding the shards.

  “It’s what you promised,” Arenda reminded him.

  “Besides,” Gallena added, “you’ve been obsessed with them all on your own.”

  “I need a break. I’m tired of sitting and concentrating on them. There has to be something else I can do.”

  Gallena shrugged. “Why not return to some of your previous work? You used to spend a lot of time poring through spellbooks and such.”

  “It’s an idea, but once I showed you two what to look for, you’ve been mastering that domain.”

  Arenda smiled. “Why, thank you. We do take pride in our work, as your lowly apprentices.”

  Delminor laughed, which was her intent. “Apprentices, indeed. You two are nothing of the sort. You’re both masters in your own right.”

  “Good,” said Gallena. “Then you know we’re right. Take a break from the shards if you have to and find something else worthy of reporting.”

  “I just don’t know what.”

  Arenda tapped her lip. “I’ve always wondered about that barrier around Magehaven. How does it work?”

  “It’s not unlike a protection spell,” Gallena answered. “It’s on a much larger scale, obviously, but the principle is the same.”

  “Yes, but how do they maintain something so immense?”

  Delminor’s eyes lit up. “The focusing crystal.” He scratched his chin. “I only saw it briefly when I was up there, but the mages channel the energies through it.”

  “And how does that work?” Arenda persisted.

  He smiled. “You’ve just given me my diversion.”

  * * *

  Crystals were scattered all across Delminor’s table, from pink rose quartz to verdant malachite. He had devoted himself wholly into the research of gemstones, foregoing the jades for the time being. He felt maybe they needed a rest anyway.

  The king hadn’t been happy with the shift of focus, but Delminor always produced results. The structure of the gemstones allowed them to act as conduits for energy and his early findings were enough to satisfy Pennithor.

  Delminor checked his scribbled notes and then turned his attention to the obsidian sphere. He summoned the energies of an earth spell and wrapped them around the obsidian. The black orb drew in the power and held it firmly.

  Turning to the malachite, he performed a similar spell, but the malachite didn’t respond well to the energy, as if it wanted some other form of magic. He tried all the forces he knew, but nothing worked.

  “It must be an undiscovered source of magic,” he conjectured. “Or perhaps it has the ability to turn away the energies completely.” He made notes of his thoughts, determined to experiment further.

  The rose quartz responded well to nature magic, but not as strongly as the obsidian, which held the earth power far longer. Yet there was a difference in how the rose quartz felt. Once it was enwrapped with the energy, it emanated a soft, flowing sense of peace. When he tested amethyst, it did the same.

  “Perhaps these could be used to facilitate nature spells.”

  As he explored the various gemstones, he discerned that shapes also mattered. Spheres tended to keep the energies swirling within them, whereas longer wands released the energy at their ends. Pyramids served to transform the energy either into a narrow channel or to a wide focus.

  He looked up from his work and saw that the pale green citrine was doing its usual trick; as he worked the energies in the room, it took on a dim glow that lasted for some time but did nothing else. He couldn’t feel the energy glowing inside, but it was visible enough. He realized it would be a good indicator of magic being used nearby, though it needed to be employed rather close to the stone.

  The citrine reminded him of the fake jade in the forest. Then, it had also acted as a conduit for the nature jade, though he had been able to tap into its power. He wondered at the difference. Was it because he was empowering the citrine indirectly? If he had a way of pouring energy into it while simultaneously drawing from it… No, it was too complicated to do on his own. He asked for assistance from the other mages in the room, but they insisted they would only help when he had exhausted all other possibilities.

  Why was the king being so obtrusive to his work? Withholding the fire and beast jades and commanding his mages not to assist in any form only made the process more difficult. What did the king expect of him? Miracles?

  Anger swelled within him and he grabbed the citrine and smashed it to the floor, shattering it to countless pieces. The tiny shards each took on their own glow, but soon dimmed, his inspiration fading with it.

  He strode from the room, unable to do any more work, but his mind kept tumbling. There had to be a balance somewhere. Astrith had insisted on balance in all things. The energy entering the citrine manifested itself with a glow, but little else. The other gemstones resonated with different powers, echoing their own balances. There had to be something he could do with it all.

  After many exploration sessions, Delminor set up a grid of stones, mixing and matching the types. He cast a weak fireball toward the arrangem
ent and noted how the energy dissipated swiftly. The malachite pyramids drew the energies into their peaks and diffused the spell, supported by the neighboring citrines.

  He tried other spells, finding that the configuration of gems allowed a good portion of magic to be deflected, though he realized that after several repetitions, the gemstones themselves started to decay. For it to be effective, he noted, he needed a good dozen gems at a minimum.

  His next task was to secure the gemstones into a leather jerkin, thinking he could make a form of antimagic armor to protect the king. He used thin wire to enwrap each stone and sewed it through the fabric. When he tried the spells again, he noticed that the metal itself helped to draw the energies away, but it left a sharp tingling sensation when he touched it.

  Undaunted, Delminor tried again and again, seeking a means of protecting the king from errant spells, so he wouldn’t need a host of mages in attendance at all times, watching for subterfuge by visitors to the castle.

  His progress plateaued and he grew frustrated, unable to stop the metal from holding the energy and stinging the wearer. He pushed the roll of metallic thread across the table and it fell to the floor. Annoyed, he blasted it with a pellet spell and then grumbled as he reached for it, expecting the sharp sensation, but there was none. After repeated experiments, he noted that the earthen floor drew the energy from the metal, restoring his enthusiasm.

  After some time, he crafted a leather jerkin that was able to deflect minor energies. The gems held the power within them for a time, often generating heat, which made the wearer—himself—uncomfortable in the process, but it was a huge leap in defensive measures. The jerkin was only so useful, especially as the gems themselves deteriorated with use, but the was a minor problem to explore another time.

  Eventually, his thoughts turned back to the jades. They, too, were crystals in their own right. They held energies inside and could also release them. It wasn’t much different than what he found with the gemstones, except the jades apparently had their own way of recharging and maintaining their strength, without deteriorating.