Crystal Doors #1 (12 page)

Vic found himself strangely drawn toward the aquariums. He pressed his face close to the glass. “How can anyone not like miniature mer-people?”

Gwen prodded, “You were going to tell us about this longstanding conflict with the merlons?”

Rubicas continued tossing bits of food into the tank. The aquits swam to the top and caught a few morsels in the air. Like an amusing trick, they briefly shifted their shapes to resemble the bearded master sage, then switched back to their fish-tailed bodies.

“Long ago the merlons did not care about land-dwellers or this island, but they are a changeable people, malleable in form and mind.” The bearded sage paused and stroked his beard before continuing. “For many centuries, the merlons lived in these oceans, blissfully unaware of our comings and goings through the crystal doors. They had no idea of their world’s unique place in the universe, at the center of all the connected worlds. Nor did they care.”

He closed the lid on the aquarium. “Who created the crystal doors and for what purpose was a mystery, even to those endowed with the ability to open them. Then, about five thousand years ago, evil sailed through one of those doors on a ship known as
The Water Shadow.
It carried a family of dark sages — father, mother, daughter, son. Their knowledge of magic was great and their purposes were sinister. Ulkar, the father, was the most powerful and evil dark sage who had ever lived, and he meant to possess all of the worlds in the network of crystal doors. Or, barring that, to destroy them all.”

“Quite an ambitious guy,” Vic said.

“Through corrupt divinations, Ulkar’s wife, Laetia, had abducted a talented Key. Ulkar, Laetia, and their two power-hungry children needed the Key’s abilities to flee their world, which they had tried unsuccessfully to conquer. Taking along several hundred of their most loyal, most deluded, warriors, they forced the hostage Key to open a crystal door to this world. Then the family of dark sages worked a secret Blood Magic: For if a Key is sacrificed while a crystal door remains open, all those who pass through before it closes again will achieve perfect mastery over their bodies. Every cell, every muscle, every organ.”

“In other words… what?” Gwen asked.

“Hmm. What, indeed? It means they can prevent themselves from aging, alter their appearance, render themselves immune to illnesses, and make their bodies heal quickly from all wounds save one.”

Vic wanted to ask what that particular wound was — maybe a stake through the heart? — but he figured the sage would get around to telling it his own way.

“Those sound like pretty useful skills,” Gwen said.

“Mmm. In a relatively short time, Ulkar’s family and their deathless army conquered the world of Morzul and used it as their base. Azric, the son, and Aennia, the daughter, became great warlords. They expanded their armies, preparing to swarm through the crystal doors and seize other worlds. The first warriors who had accompanied them became powerful and virtually indestructible because of the Blood Magic. They became the new generals, ready to march from Morzul. Hundreds of worlds awaited them.

“Shiploads of dark sages and their evil armies sailed through the crystal door, again with captive Keys — whom they sacrificed, thus making their new expanded armies nearly immortal. The dark invasion seemed unstoppable. After the Blood Magic, the enemy armies could not be killed!

“Seven worlds were crushed and enslaved before a bright sage managed to sound the alarm from world to world. That sage, Qelsyn, was a Master Key — able to open every crystal door. He traveled through one after another in his kingdom’s fastest ship, spreading the word. He managed to gather the strongest bright sages from a hundred different worlds; their
ships arrived through crystal doors and all met here for a great convocation of sages so they could decide how to protect the worlds against Ulkar’s evil family.”

Rubicas climbed back down from the aquarium as his sea creatures snapped up the morsels he had fed them. “With such a large gathering on the surface of their waters, the merlons could not help but notice. Many swam up to investigate what was happening, and Qelsyn invited them to take part in the gathering. He explained that their ocean world had become a gateway for tyrants and murderers, but the merlons were uninterested in the affairs of land-dwellers. Seeing no reason for further participation, they returned to their kingdoms beneath the oceans.”

Gwen nibbled at her lower lip. “I’ve seen people refuse to get involved even when an emergency is plain in front of their faces.”

Rubicas took a seat on a metal stool. “Fortunately for us, the ambitions of the dark sage family proved to be a poison among them. Laetia, fearing the ever-growing power and violence that Ulkar demonstrated, schemed to have her son, Azric, assassinate him and take his place. Laetia lured her husband, made him let down his guard; then Azric, who knew the only weakness of their kind, struck Ulkar down.”

“Ick,” Gwen said.

“He must have been awfully strong to kill a supposedly immortal wizard,” Vic pointed out.

“There is a way,” the sage said. “A difficult and secret way.”

“So, one down. What happened to the rest?” Gwen asked.

Rubicas scratched his white hair. “After Laetia vested all of
Ulkar’s power in her son, Azric turned on her. He had neither love nor respect for his mother. ‘You have already betrayed my father, your own husband. How long before you consider
me
too powerful — before you turn against me, as well?’ So Azric killed his mother, too.”

“Did I already mention
ick
Gwen said with a shudder.

“The daughter, Aennia, was not quite as corrupt as the rest of her family. When she saw the horrors and the bloodshed and realized how their armies were slaughtering the populations on world after world just to make them bow to her brother’s rule, she broke with her own family. Aennia fled through the crystal doors and joined the bright sages.

“She met with Qelsyn and his fellows here on the oceans. At first they suspected this was a trap, that Aennia was a spy. But she had truly changed sides, and in fact she and Qelsyn fell in love. Eventually they wed and had several children, whose descendants are still among us.”

“How romantic,” Vic said.

“But that is not the important part of the story,” Lyssandra said.

Rubicas took a deep breath and continued. “Over the course of weeks, the assembled sages shaped their plan. Because there is but one hub for all crystal doors, Azric’s forces would have to pass through it to reach other vulnerable worlds. To prevent the immortal armies from sweeping from one conquest to another, Qelsyn, Aennia, and their allies resolved to bottle them up. The gathered bright sages used their most potent magic scrolls to lock the doors to the conquered worlds that had already fallen to Azric’s mad ambitions.

“Only then did Qelsyn and Aennia, the two most powerful sages there, undertake a terrible and dangerous magic. In order to trigger the Great Closure and ensure that those tainted places would remain sealed, they unleashed the brightest of bright magic, which their newfound love for each other made all the stronger — and more demanding. The spell nearly got out of their control. It almost drained the very life from Qelsyn, but Aennia sacrificed her immortality to save her beloved. Both she and Qelsyn lived, and the crystal doors to Azric’s conquered worlds were cut off forever — along with those to dozens of other vulnerable worlds. This was unintentional, isolating much of the network, but at least those worlds would be safe.”

“Let me guess,” Vic said. “Earth was one of them?”

“Most likely.” Rubicas smiled. “So, you see, no one should have been able to come or go from your world — which is why I find your arrival so interesting.”

Lyssandra picked up the story, which she had obviously heard many times before. “Just sealing some of the crystal doors was not enough. The place where the bright sages had gathered was the centerpoint. They knew that they could never again leave it unguarded.”

The sage bobbed his head. “So we established a permanent presence. At the time, this world was entirely ocean — and we needed an island.”

“An island?” Vic cried. “You mean you
made
this island? Cool!”

“It took thousands of bright sages five years to create Elantya, with its fresh water and rich soil, its harbors and
fisheries, its Citadel for learning, its seat of government, and its common language. They drew this entire island up from beneath the oceans, creating a foundation of dry land at the center of the circle of crystal doors. The sages brought plants, birds, insects, establishing Elantya as their anchor at the hub of the crystal doors.”

“You mean like a checkpoint?” Gwen asked. “A protective base at the crossroads?”

“Yes. But it has become much more than that,” Lyssandra said.

Rubicas leaned his stool against the aquarium wall. From behind the glass, colorful fish tried to nibble on his wispy strands of white hair. “Certainly, the merlons were alarmed when this island started growing from the sea bottom. Bright sages tried to meet with them, to offer compensation to the undersea dwellers, but the merlons did not wish to trade with us. We offered every treasure or service we could think of, without success. We hoped we could give something of value to their people.”

“Though we fished and sailed on their seas, for the most part humans and merlons did not compete for the same resources,” Lyssandra said. “There was no need for conflict. We did not exactly live in friendship, but we left each other alone.”

Rubicas took up the story again. “Hmm. But a century ago, merlons began making frequent trips to the surface and posted scouts to watch Elantya. Recently, reports of sabotage have become more frequent. We have sent emissaries to speak to them, to invite their leaders to meet with us, but to no avail. Either our emissaries find no merlons, or never return.”

Lyssandra said, “Viccus and Gwenya have already met Sage Polup. They know how the merlons enslaved the anemonites, using the captives to build defenses and create weapons — weapons to be used against us.”

“And there is another problem.” Rubicas stroked his beard with one finger, deep in thought.

“Of course there is,” Vic muttered with irony.

“When Aennia fled to join the convocation of bright sages, Azric was enraged that his own sister would abandon him. While his many immortal generals were expanding their forces on the seven conquered worlds, Azric slipped through a crystal door in search of Aennia. He meant either to kill her or take her with him. Thus, through bad luck, he was caught on this side when the Great Closure occurred. He is here in the free worlds, a seed of evil in our universe — while all of his armies are locked away.”

“Lousy timing,” Vic said.

“Of course it could have been worse,” Gwen pointed out.

Lyssandra looked at the two cousins. “So, Azric has hidden for centuries, moving quietly among the worlds, searching for a way to undo the Great Closure, so that he can unleash his immortal armies and continue his conquest.”

“And now the merlons are getting feisty, causing trouble,” Gwen said. “Do you think there’s a connection?”

Vic snorted. “There’s always a connection.”

“Therefore,” the sage continued, “you see why I can offer little help to you in your troubles right now.”

Vic raised an eyebrow. “You’ve, uh, got bigger fish to fry?” Gwen groaned.

Petite Lyssandra gave him a direct challenge. “In Elantya we encourage learning and discovery. The Citadel has much knowledge to draw from. You are welcome to study the problem yourselves and find your own solution.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Vic said. “As Dad always says, ‘No one cares about solving your problems as much as you do.’”

Discouraged, Gwen sighed. With long strides, she moved past the wall of massive aquariums without so much as a glance at the strange fish. “We’re in a totally illogical world with mirrormills and spells and flying carpets and locked invisible doors. Right. We should have everything worked out in no time.”

Vic looked at his cousin. “Come on, Doc. It might take a while, but we can find a way to get home — or at least send my dad a message to let him know we’re okay. You can bet he’s trying to solve this from his end, too. Trust me, I’ve watched those old MacGyver reruns on TV. We’ll come up with an answer.”

“Sure, but why stop there?” Gwen said with a touch of sarcasm. “Why don’t we defeat the merlons and find Azric while we’re at it?”

Rubicas smiled. “Hmm, you two certainly are ambitious! We would welcome such a victory.”

Gwen flushed. “I was just kidding.”

“Let’s give it our best shot.” Vic nudged her with an elbow, trying to cheer her up. “Try optimism first. There’s always time to be a pessimist later.”

BEFORE ORPHEON COULD RETURN from his errands, Sharif landed on the tower above the laboratory and ran down the spiral steps into the main chamber. Though he looked out-of-breath and windblown, he took special care to line up the edges of his carpet as he rolled it, making sure none of the tassels were crushed. Vic thought he took care of his embroidered rug the way some people polished and pampered their new cars.

Sharif lifted his chin. “During the Pentumvirate meeting, Tiaret suggested it would be a good idea to perform a security check, so I flew over the whole island. For the time being, Elantya is safe.”