Crystal Throne (Book 1) (13 page)

Thad matched his pace with Humanius and walked beside the god. “What do you make of our guest?” Thad asked, his eyes still lingering on the scion.

“He is an answer to a question,” Humanius said.

“What question would that be?” Thad asked, looking at the scion even harder.

“What happened while we were away and what is happening now. I know only that the scions were the guardians of the center, nothing more than that. I wish to know why they are hunting us and if there is a way we might work together. It would make things much easier if we didn’t have to fight once we reach the palace.”

“True enough, but do you think it will really be that easy?” Thad asked nervously.

“No, I do not,” Humanius replied. “I am sorry Thad, I know you have a lot of questions, but I need to think and figure out what I can before we reach our destination.”

Thad dropped back and continued to walk, watching the scion as the fears began to mount in his mind.

CHAPTER XIII

Five days on the road and they still followed behind the scion. Thad had tried many times to get the scion to talk about his mistress, but he never got more than he had the first night. At first Thad had thought the scion had the intelligence of a man, but he had found that he had been wrong, very wrong. What he learned scared him more than anything, not of the scion, but what his own fate would be should the crystal take him. It was already spreading and faster than he would like. His toes were now gone as were his fingers and most of the soles of his foot and the palms of his hands. It might not sound like much, but to Thad it was all the mattered.

“Would he end up like the scion, nothing but a scattered collection of memories and driven only by something more powerful than himself?” Thad asked himself as he followed behind the others.

Thad kept the gloves on all the time now for fear that his son might see what was happening and demand that his father return to their own world, though it was not like he could find the doorway or reach it alone. A part of Thad urged him to show his son and ask for him to take him to the door, but he knew that if he did that then they would never find the secrets they desired.

Everything would be easy to deal with if he only knew how much longer he must wait before they reached their destination. He had asked Wardwell how far until they reached the mistress, but like many other things, he had no knowledge of distance or time. All the scion would tell him was that she was not far. The first day he took that to mean that they would reach her by nightfall, but now he knew that could mean a year for the scion.

As the sun reached it midway point in the sky, Thad noticed a large hill in the distance. Thad couldn’t help but feel something when he looked at the mound of crystal. It was almost as if it was calling to him. When Thad noticed that the scion was walking in a straight line to the hill, Thad let his hope rise that they were near their goal.

As they neared the hill Thad noticed an opening in the face of the hill that might have once been a mine. Outside the mouth of the opening were two other scions that stood like statues. As they approached neither scion moved, but Thad knew they were aware of their presence.

The inside of the hill proved to be much larger than one would imagine from looking from the outside. The mine shaft led down and spread out and inside were numerous scions, most of them standing in long rows blocking most of the tunnels and none of them moving or showing any sign of intelligence.

The deeper they moved the more things changed. The ground around them slowly started to show small signs of dirt, and stone with only smatterings of crystal showing through. The scions also seemed different; the farther they moved, the more active the creatures were. When they passed a scion and he begged their pardon for being in the way, Thad nearly jumped in surprise.

The mine shaft soon opened up into a large room that would have put many palaces throne room to shame. Inside the room were five scions who stood around talking. For the first time, Thad noticed that he could tell which ones had once been male and which ones had been female, but one among the five stood out above the others. The scion was smaller than the others, but it was her color that shocked him the most. Unlike the rest of the world and the other scions, she was a multicolored crystal, but each part of her body was a solid color. Her hair was a dark black and Thad could have sworn that it moved, her skin was a light pink though it still sparked in the light that shone from what Thad believed were enchanted lights that were placed throughout the room. Though she was amazing, it was her eyes that caught him, they were made of emeralds and shone like stares in the sky.

“Thad, I see you enjoy my form,” the scion said flashing him a smile flashing teeth made of white pearl. “I made this body just for you.”

“Why?” Thad asked his voice stammering as the rest of the group turned to look at him, even Humanius looking as if he had been taken by surprise.

“Why,” the scion echoed with a small frown on her face. “I thought you would have known. I have been leading you to this place ever since you were born. I know you are smart enough to have figured that out.”

“What?” Thad said shocked. “How did you lead me here? I don’t understand, nothing you are saying makes any sense.”

“Oh dear, it seems that I might not have been as clear as I thought,” she said with a laughing musical voice. “Shall we sit and talk. I fear we have much to talk about.”

“Are you the one called mistress?” Humanius asked stepping in front of Thad and holding him back from moving toward the scion.

“Humanius, son of Trelan, I am glad that you are here and I wish for you to listen, but it is Thaddeus that I will talk to, as he is mine. You, I know, are your own and will always be such, just as your sister is her own and Bren is too confused at the moment to know where he might stand.”

Thad could tell that Humanius wished to say more, in fact Thad could see his lips moving, but nothing issued from his mouth. After a few moments of trying to speak, Humanius stepped back to his sister’s laughter and Thad moved forward and took a seat on the ground in front of the scion.

“Do you have any questions before I start?” the scion asked as she sat down across from Thad. “I find things are much easier if questions are answered first.”

“What do you mean that I am yours?” Thad asked, his voice low yet still held a great deal of strength.

“That is a long story and I think all of it must be told if you wish to understand the truth of those words,” the scion said with a small smile on her ruby lips. “I remember the day you were born, I instilled in you then the spark that would make you the mage you are today. I watched as you grew and was angered at how you were treated. When you were sold, I led you to the books; the ones I had kept safe over the years until a child was born that was of use. I watched and guided you when I could and in the end you became everything I wished for, though many times I wished I could have protected you when you faced the wrath of others, but I was limited in what my powers could do in your world. In many ways you could say that I am your mother. I can see why you might resent me for what I have done in your life, but I needed something I could only find in your world.”

“And what is it you needed?” Thad asked his eyes looking coldly on the woman in front of him.

“Someone to fix the balance…I need a strong enchanter. I started with your grandfather, and worked on your family’s blood until you were born, but I might have done so too well,” her last words slipped out of her mouth as her eyes focused on his son. “If your blood had not been so well suited for magic, your son might have not had to go through so much pain. As it is, I fear what shall happen in the end.”

Thad didn’t feel like pressing the scion on what she meant about Bren. He knew that it had to do with his turning into a god, but in the end he knew that was not her fault; at least he hoped that it was not. In the end, Thad knew it mattered little; it was done and looking on the past did nothing for the future.

“Any other questions?” She asked and Thad could almost see a trace of fear on her face.

“No,” Thad said watching her closely. “I am satisfied for now.”

“Then I will begin,” the scion said then looked to the other three who stood behind Thad, her eyes falling on each one. “I think it will be best if you joined us. This will involve you too, though not in the same degree.”

“So nice of you to include us,” Belaroan said with a hint of ire in her voice.

“What I need and what you need are much the same thing,” the scion said, her voice slipping into a colder tone. “I am the voice of the ether, or a being made of it to solve a problem that has plagued it. Long ago, the veil between this world and the center of the ether was opened, but it was quickly closed. We knew that it could never be completely repaired, but we were happy to know that it had been closed. Then it was reopened.”

“When did this happen?” Belaroan asked, but before she could continue her voice was silenced like her brother’s.

“I do not have the same grasp of time as you do, so I cannot answer that question other than to say that it happen before Thad grandfather was born. The ether spread through the tear and enveloped this world and its people. The scions, with no way to close the tear, moved to make sure that it could not be harmed, but those on this side had learned to use the power of the ether and fought back and beat back the forces sent against them. Over time the world became a home of the ether and those that were fit became scions, though not ones that were meant to be. Those of strong power kept who they were and moved to take control of the ether and its power. They used its power and knowledge to open more tears in the veil between worlds and conquered them. This was when the ether created me, but I if I move to close the veil, they will take control of my form and my purpose is lost; that is why we needed you. We will show you how to close the veil and restore the balance, but there will be sacrifices. Only Thad will be allowed to go back to his own world.”

“Why?” Thad asked, his voice nearly a shout as the shock of the statement ran though him. He cared little for the two gods, but he had promised his wife that he would bring his son home.

“Because he is no longer human and the veil can never truly be closed while he is on the other side. He must return with me to the ether and protect it as the scions who came before him did. That is the will of the ether. If you refuse, then I must do all in my power to see that he never leaves this land. He knows the truth of my words.”

“She is right father,” Bren said, his voice edged in sadness. “I cannot go back home. I knew it from the moment I stepped through the doorway. The others know it as well, though they fight against that truth.”

Thad looked to Humanius and Belaroan and the looks on their silent faces told him the truth. “My wife will kill me for this,” Thad said with a groan.

“She will be mad, but she will forgive you over time,” the scion said. “This is my fear. Your son was never meant to be what he is. I feared that should you learn the truth then you would refuse my offer.”

“How many veils are torn?” Thad asked, trying to work through everything in his mind.

“Five, and each one is guarded by a usurper. They must each be closed before the veil to the ether is closed, otherwise it will tear back open. The doorway to your own world is still weak, so it can wait until you have finished, but you must return to it on your own Thaddeus.”

“So we must fight five scion mages and close these gateways,” Thad said more than asked. “How are we supposed to close the veils?”

“Blocks of glass must be made with crystal inside absorbing the energy that slips past and pushing back the rest,” she replied. “There is a place full of glass and my children will gather it for you, but Thad is the only one who can enchant them. That was the reason he was born.”

“There are plenty of enchanters back home, any of those could have done this,” Thad said, anger touching his voice.

“That is not true,” the scion said, reaching her hand out and touching his cheek lovingly. “Only those with a strong affinity for energy can do this and that is rare among any of your people. For a time, I thought that one of Belaroan’s energy children could do the task, but none of them had the mind for enchanting.”

“Just why is enchanting so rare?” Bren asked. “Even now, less than a few dozen have been found.”

“To be a true enchanter, one must be able to commune with the ether. They must form it and shape it. It is a trait that is decided upon birth and even with the power granted to me by the ether, it took me a long time before I was able to make one that served my purpose.”

“I still don’t see how we are going to fight five scion mages and reach the veils when you are powerless against them,” Thad said skeptically.

“There are ways to fight them that I know, but I will only tell you when you and the others have agreed to my conditions. They must agree to stay with me and return to the ether when it is time,” the scion said, her face taking on a stern feature and Thad nearly laughed when he thought that it looked as if her face had been carved out of stone, because in many ways, it had been.

“I agree,” Bren said without hesitation.

Belaroan looked to her brother and nodded her head reluctantly and surprising Thad. Humanius was the last to nod his approval.

“Then after all of you rest, I shall revel everything that I know that could be of use. ‘Levinia please show them to a place that they can rest,’” the scion said.

A female scion stepped forward and bowed to the other scion. “It would be my pleasure mother,” Levinia said, as she started walking down one of the side tunnels.

“Not you Thaddeus,” the scion said, as she gestured for Thad to stay seated.

Thad noticed that Bren was looking at him, but he signaled for him to follow the other scion. “Do you need something?” Thad asked, turning his attention back to the scion in front of him.

“Yes,” she said, giving him a warm look. “First, I wish you would think of me as mother, or if that doesn’t suit you, another name of your choosing, but not just scion. It feels odd to me, but I have watched you your whole life and I wish you to think well of me.”

Thad looked at the scion and frowned. He had a mother, or a woman who had given him life, though she had never lived up to the name as far as he was concerned. In the broad sense of the term, the scion was a mother to him. “Mother will work, though I must admit, that name holds little meaning for me.”