Footsteps sounded and the door to Rune’s practice burst open. Anders bolted from the chair, his hand reflexively going to the hilt of his sword.
“Calm down, it’s only me,” Kirsten said, seeing his reaction.
Relaxing, he asked, “Didn't anybody teach you how to knock?”
“We grew up in the same house; you know I never knock.”
“What’s going on? Is it about the last night?” he asked.
Kirsten shook her head, “No, but we need your help recharging the crystal. Evans and I burned through it pretty quickly.”
“Are you serious? It was supposed to last all of you through the end of the day.”
Kirsten shrugged, “Well, Thomas is the only one who still can’t use his, but the rest of us are getting pretty good.”
“You should be practicing using only what you need,” Anders said.
“We need a teacher for that,” Kirsten said, folding her arms.
“Alright,” he said, grabbing the wooden box off the table. I guess I should’ve gone back once I saw the ships weren’t docking, he thought.
“Do you need to take that thing with you everywhere?” Kirsten asked, pointing to the box.
Anders looked down at it, “I don’t want it falling into the wrong hands.”
“What’s in it, gold?” she asked.
Anders shook his head, knowing he didn’t want to get into the details of why he was carrying around a box that held his father’s trapped consciousness. “When I figure out how to open it, I’ll let you know.”
“Does it have something to do with you being King?” she asked, walking out of the office.
Anders stopped halfway through the door, asking forcefully, “He told you?”
“I'm a little hurt you didn’t confide in me, too,” she said sarcastically.
“Kirsten,” Anders started.
“Don’t worry. Unlike Thomas, I won’t tell anyone unless you give the okay,” she said with confidence.
I’m going to start a war between the three human nations before this is all over, he thought imagining how fast the rumor could spread if it got out now that the Lumbapi and Rollo Islanders were nearly on their shores.
Anders walked into the small opening among the trees. Max, Evans, Thomas and Sanka waited for them. Kirsten joined the others to form a half circle facing Anders. Evans held out the tapped crystal and said, “Is recharging something we could do ourselves?”
Anders thought for a moment, then shrugged, “If you can burn through a crystal this fast, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try and show you how.”
“I saw you after the battle,” Max said. “Does it require taking the energy from a life form to do this?”
Shaking his head, Anders said, “No, that’s not the only way, but it is the fastest way to do it.”
Thomas cringed, but the others seemed more accepting of that reality.
“Zorna, the rider from the elven prison who helped us capture Merglan, showed me how to access the crystal’s inhabitance attributes. When I teleported from Southland, I used all of the energy inside Lazuran. In addition to the largest sapphire at its pommel, the sword has smaller crystals along its handle,” he motioned to his hip. “Each crystal is different. There is a way to access multiple crystals at once, but I haven’t learned that skill. Zorna knew, but she is dead now along with the rest of those who Merglan killed when taking over Cedarbridge. Here is the tricky part about the crystals, you need to use magic to access in the way I’m going to show you. These crystals have a certain phrase or essence that they respond to. If you can find and touch on the right essence, you can use the ancient language of the dragons to open the inhabitance crystal’s powers.”
“How can we do that if we need magic to access it?” Evans asked.
“You might be able to use the magic from the crystal to fuel the magic needed to access another.”
“And if it doesn’t work?” Max asked.
“Then you’ll be in the same position you’re in now,” Anders said.
“It’s worth a try,” Max shrugged. “I’m ready.”
Using a stream of magic, Anders spoke the words and opened the crystal. He passed the tendril of energy he was using from Lazuran’s hilt into the only crystal they had left for practice. “Did you all catch that?” he asked, referring to the phrase he’d spoken before recharging the crystal.
They all nodded.
“Now, try to use the energy inside to see if you can access the crystal in this way. You’ve only used the energy as a weapon, but they were actually designed to be used as tools,” Anders said.
“And how would we use it to take the energy from a dying orc and turn it into the crystal’s energy?” Evans asked.
“If you can open the inhabitance crystal, then I’ll show you how to do that. I expect you’ll have a difficult enough time managing this.” Anders turned to leave the grove. He was sure this time he’d given them enough to keep them busy through the remainder of the day. Footsteps sounded from behind and he glanced to see Max.
“Hey, Britt told me about what happened last night,” Max said.
Anders shook his head, “It’s hard to believe, but what I saw was real.”
Max rubbed at his shoulder and said, “Demons, monster hounds, a wraith and now two dozen more dragonriders. I remember when the idea of facing down orcs was terrifying.”
“We’ve come a long way since that night you and Ivan saved me from capture.”
“It will be strange when it’s over. If we live to see the end of this war that is,” Max said.
“With the crystals onboard Natalia’s ships, we at least have a fighting chance. Come tomorrow morning, we’ll be heading out for Aquina,” Anders said with a nod toward the east.
“One last adventure,” Max said.
“Are you still up for it?” Anders asked.
Max straightened and nodded, “I always said I wouldn’t turn down a good adventure. When this is over, I might say no to the next one you offer.”
“So there actually is a limit to what you’ll endure,” Anders said. “Or, is the idea to spend more time with a certain Captain after this?”
“The future will tell,” Max said with a smile.
Anders nodded, “It will indeed. Hey, make sure Kirsten and Evans don’t burn through all the energy in that crystal before day’s end.”
“Will do, Anders,” Max said, spinning on his heels and jogging back toward the others.
