~~~
Tannis was about to knock on Markus’s door when he heard Noya’s voice on the other side.
“Markus, you’re getting lax in your ways. The inner circle is no longer tightly guarded. Everyone here, and probably outside of the Guardians, knows what you’re after. You want it too badly.”
“Yes, I do, Noya. If it’s the last thing I do, it will have been a worthwhile pursuit. Think of the good we can do with it! Besides, we are the Guardians. We work for the Light. Why shouldn’t everyone know what I’m after? That way, we can all work toward the same goal, as one cohesive unit.”
“Maybe it’s not meant to be found. Have you thought of that? Maybe it isn’t as good a thing as we’ve led ourselves to believe all these years. Half of what we know is only word of mouth, passed down from generation to generation. How accurate can that be?”
“Let’s see what Tannis’s visions show us, shall we? He seems to be a clear channel for the sight.”
Tannis heard Noya sigh and could almost picture her rolling her eyes. He decided this was as good a time as any to interrupt. He tapped on the door.
“Come in,” replied Markus.
Tannis opened the door and saw Markus and Noya facing each other. Markus seemed to have a renewed energy, compared to the weariness Tannis observed several days ago. Noya, on the other hand, was clearly frustrated and stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She looked at Tannis, sighed in exasperation and turned to face the window.
Markus pulled out the chair at the table and motioned for Tannis to sit. “Please. I’m anxious to continue.”
Tannis sat and looked at the text. It appeared to be open where he left it the last time. Carefully, he turned the page, hoping to see reference to the crystal in the faded writing. Not seeing anything, he gently lifted another page and scanned it. He saw reference to something golden and figured it was a good place to start. He lit the candle, picked up the shard, and sprinkled fresh salt in a semicircle around the objects. Then his lips began moving, silently.
He waited until the Empress of Light appeared and the swirling light opened up. He saw the author’s hand, scribbling the words on paper.
...I continued to the next grotto, much smaller than the first. To my amazement, there seemed to be no animals or other creatures that had claimed these caves as their home. I expected to see bats but perhaps there was too much illumination for their liking. As I entered the grotto, immediately I sensed that something was different. There was a sound, a low hum that pulsed and throbbed. It seemed to vibrate throughout the smaller cavern. I looked around the walls and my eyes caught a most splendid sight!
One of the walls had an opening, like a tiny cave within the cave. This enclosure was lined with the same golden crystals that covered all the other walls, with one spectacular exception! In the center was a large, dark, golden-orange crystal, throbbing with life! Never, in all my years, had I ever considered a rock to be anything but an inert object, made of hardened minerals and earth. This one was alive!
Immediately, feeling powerless in its presence, I was compelled to place my hands upon it. As if tied to it with an invisible string, I was pulled into its aura. Nothing else in my life mattered at that moment except to place my hands upon its surface.
I struggle to find the words that will aptly describe the grandeur of what I experienced next. I was filled with unspeakable power of knowing all things and nothing, at once; of being capable of doing anything imaginable by taking this raw power and directing it toward my desires. I knew, in that instant, with my hands pressed upon its smooth surface, feeling its life flow through me, that I could live forever!!
In that very moment, I knew that I could not live without that power. Not yet knowing my way out of the earth, I resolved that I must take that crystal with me! Having no tools with me except my bare hands, I grasped it tightly and attempted to shake it loose. It wouldn’t budge.
I raised my leg, ready to strike it with the heel of my boot, when I heard something. The sound filled the cave and reminded me of thousands of tiny bells. However, it wasn’t a high-pitched sound as one would expect from tiny bells, the sound was deep and foreboding! It made my skin crawl.
I lowered my leg and looked around. A shadow was approaching from the next cave. What happened next, I cannot clearly recall. I must have fainted or fallen and hit my head because consciousness was lost. When I awoke, I was no longer in the earth. I wasn’t even on the mountain! Where I was, I did not recognize. I found myself lying in a meadow of tall grasses. My wrists and ankles were bound by something so frail; it embarrasses me to admit it. They were tied with a golden silk thread. It took little effort to free myself from these shackles.
Feverish and parched, I wandered for two days before I encountered another person. I was taken in by an elderly man who nursed me back to health. Once I regained some awareness, I inquired as to my whereabouts. This part is shocking to me.
When I initially climbed that mountain, above the lake, I was fairly certain that I was in the mountains that lie directly to the east of my home but it is possible I was in the northeastern mountains. What I learned from this man put me much farther south, in the plains. I have no way of explaining this and had my doubts about the information imparted to me by this gentleman, that is, until I traveled a great distance to the northwest to return home. You see, this is why I cannot tell anyone of my experience. There is no logical explanation for much of it, except to wonder whether I have truly lost my senses...or was somehow affected by that power. I remember the feel of it. I have never yearned for anything more in my entire life!
The author stopped writing and sat back in his chair. Tannis felt his sadness over having encountered something so magnificent, in one moment, and then having it suddenly taken from him by circumstances, in the next moment. The author knew he would never be the same again, unless he could find the crystal. He vowed to spend the rest of his days in search.
At that moment, Tannis understood this to be where the search began for the crystal; the search that had involved numerous people, spanning several generations.
Tannis passed his hand through the air, over the journal, to end the vision but kept his eyes lowered. The pages, where the book lay open, were missing over a third of the words that had either faded or the page had been damaged. He felt Markus’s eyes upon him, waiting to learn what he saw. For a moment, Tannis felt his own doubt resurface and wondered whether it was worth it to continue the search. He felt the author’s sense of loss, as if it were his own loss.
He had to be careful what he shared with Markus. He didn’t want to build his expectations further, only to see them shot down later. He wanted to pursue the other idea he had before he said too much.
He looked up and saw Noya guardedly staring at him.
“Well?” asked Markus.
Tannis met Markus’s eyes. “He saw the crystal, in a cave.” He purposely eliminated the description of touching the crystal. “But then something happened. He blacked out and found himself somewhere to the south of where he started, out in the open.”
Markus looked disappointed and Tannis lowered his eyes again.
“Do you know who the author of this journal was? Who did it belong to?” asked Tannis.
Markus waved his hand. “Some distant relative of Germaine, who was the Guardians’ headmaster over a century ago.”
“Do you know where this relative lived?”
“A town on the west coast. Lowenbrough or Levenpro, something like that. It doesn’t exist anymore,” replied Noya. “Why?”
Tannis knew he had to give them something, or Noya would be suspicious. “He thought he started out east or northeast of his town, when he was in the vicinity of the cave. But then he ended up south. Perhaps if we triangulated the possibilities from an old map, it might get us closer. But without knowing where this town was, he could have been in our Northland, whic
h you’ve searched, or he could have been in the Great Mountains south of here. It’s not clear but...”
Markus looked up. “But?”
Tannis hesitated. “I have to tell you, the man was questioning his own sanity.”
Markus looked like he had been slapped. Noya had a smug look on her face, as if she suspected something like this already.
“If you’re up to it, I’ll come back tomorrow.”
Markus waved his fingers, as if to say whatever.
Tannis stood and excused himself.
TWENTY
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