Shadows on the Stars (16 page)

Lleu and Brionna both started to speak, but the Lady raised her hand to silence them. “I know, dear ones, that you would go in my place. But you are much more needed by Elli’s side. If, that is, she takes the quest.”

Elli straightened her back. “I’ll take it, if you’ll promise to save Coerria.”

“I promise to try. In this time, that is all anyone can do.” She pursed her lips. “If only my brother were still here! He’d be as old and frail as I am now, but at least he’d have some ideas.”

“Stupid ones, most likely,” said Nuic.

The Lady smiled at him. “Most likely. Even so, I do miss him, gone from Avalon all these years.”

She turned back to Elli, her expression again grim. “Your quest, my child, involves the crystal of pure élano that Kulwych made from the magical waters of Crystillia.”

Brionna started, feeling the sting of the whip across her back. And the greater sting of the memory of her days as the sorcerer’s slave.

“So he still has the crystal?” pressed Elli.

“Yes. But that is not all.” The Elder drew a ragged breath. “With the help of the wicked spirit lord, no doubt, he has changed it somehow—corrupted its power. I can feel it. The crystal has gone from a source of great good to a thing of great evil.”

“Exactly what sort of evil?” asked Elli.

“That isn’t clear to me. But I suspect that it could be just as destructive as pure élano is creative. Instead of spawning new life, it could destroy whatever it touches.”

Elli gasped. “Like that flower! The one that killed the unicorn, and almost Scree, as well.”

The eyes of the Lady filled with mist of their own. “The Sapphire Unicorn, the only one of her kind. What a loss! To Avalon . . . and to her unborn filly.”

“Filly?” repeated Elli. “She was going to have a child?”

“A magical child. There is never more than one Sapphire Unicorn in Avalon, with this exception: Near the end of that unicorn’s days, she always gives birth. And I knew my friend well enough to know that her time was approaching.” She pinched her lips. “I just didn’t think that her death would happen so soon.”

“Nor did she,” said Elli bitterly. “That evil flower. I’m sure it must have come from the crystal.” She tapped the side of her water gourd. “Even these healing waters couldn’t stop it.”

Nuic’s color darkened still further. “Where is this corrupted crystal now?”

“I don’t know. I cannot see it, no matter how hard I try. Yet I feel it, most definitely. Somewhere in the Seven Realms.” She squeezed Elli’s shoulder. “You must find it, wherever it is. And then destroy it.”

“But how?”

“With this.” The Lady set Nuic down in the meadow of mist, then reached under her shawl to remove her amulet of oak, ash, and hawthorn. As she peeled back some leaves, there was a sudden flash, dazzlingly bright.

Shim, who was leaning close to the Lady, fell back in surprise, scattering mist in all directions as he landed.

“Élano!” exclaimed Lleu. “So you, too, made a crystal.”

“No,” replied the Lady. “Someone else made this, long ago.”

“Wait,” said Brionna. She gazed in wonder, remembering the tales she’d learned from her grandfather. “I’ll wager this is the crystal that saved Woodroot from a terrible blight centuries ago. Why, that crystal was made by Merlin himself.”

Lleu’s eyes widened. “Of course! And on that journey, he was joined by just two people. One was his beloved sister, Rhia.”

Only Elli caught the glint that appeared in the Lady’s eye.

“And the other,” the priest went on, “was my great-grandfather, Lleu of the One Ear.” At this, Catha strutted proudly across his shoulder.

The Lady nodded at them. “Right you are, my dears. This is that very crystal. Merlin later gave it to me.” She touched the radiant crystal, scattering its rays—white, blue, and green—across the rolling clouds at their feet. Tufts of mist caught the light, shimmering like vaporous prisms.

“Now, though, I give it to you.” She pulled the amulet’s cord over her head, drawing it through her silver curls, before placing it around Elli’s neck. With the tip of her finger, she touched the crystal one last time, feeling its facets, then covered it again with the leaves.

Elli herself patted the leaves, and the crystal beneath them. Was she really wearing it? Did she deserve that power, that responsibility? Then her gaze met the Lady’s, and for a long moment they shared something even more precious than the amulet.

Yet still some doubts remained. She tapped the amulet and asked, “How can this crystal ever destroy the other one? I thought élano can only heal things, or create new ones.”

Sadly, the Lady shook her head. “I don’t really know, my dear. It’s only a guess. Yet I feel sure that the crystal you are wearing is the only power in all of Avalon that could possibly defeat the corrupted one. They are opposites, after all, so perhaps you can find the way. Before it’s too late.”

She studied the amulet a moment longer, as if she could still see what lay hidden under the leaves. “I shall miss that crystal—its beauty, as well as its power. More than I can say. But if it can somehow save Avalon from this threat, then it will have achieved its highest purpose. Nothing it has ever done, in all the years I have worn it around my neck, is nearly as important.”

Suddenly Elli blanched. “The crystal . . . it has given you strength, hasn’t it? And power?”

The Lady didn’t respond.

“And more,” pressed Elli, following her intuition. “It’s given you
life.
Without it, you will—”

“Die,” finished the enchantress. “You are right, my dear. But my life has been long already, perhaps too long. And always remember this: The crystal itself came from Avalon, which sustains us all. When at last it is my time to die, my body and blood will return to its soil, my breath to its breath, my life to its life. So who can say that I have gone anywhere but home?”

She almost smiled, as shreds of mist rose up and touched her face, caressing her cheeks. “When I join with Avalon, you see, I shall join the world I have loved. And all the people I have loved, as well. Such as my mother, Elen.”

Everyone but Elli and Nuic gasped in surprise.

“It is time,” declared the Lady, “to end all secrets. Know me now for who I truly am.”

In one swift motion, she tore off her shawl and tossed it into the rolling mist. Up from her back rose wings—as luminous as the loveliest star. They glistened in the moist air, spreading with grace and beauty.

“Rhia,” said Brionna, thoroughly amazed. “With your wings from Lost Fincayra.”

“It’s you,” said Lleu, blinking in disbelief. Catha, on his shoulder, whistled in admiration.

Shim slapped the side of his head. “I didly suspect it was you! But neverly, everly could I believe it.”

“Hmmmpff,” grumbled Nuic. “You always were a show-off.”

For the first time since they’d all met, the Lady of the Lake—Rhia—burst out laughing. The bright, bell-like sound flowed across the field of mist, making the vapors rise and dance in merriment. Silvery tufts cavorted in the air, leaping and twirling. And as she laughed, her wings opened wide, flashing with light of their own.

At last, she reached into the pocket of her gown, which was made entirely of woven vines. “I have one more gift,” she announced. “For you, Nuic, my faithful maryth.”

Even the crusty old sprite could find no words. His color shifted to deep purple, much like his eyes.

From her pocket Rhia drew a jeweled pendant with a deep green stone in its center. A rich, mysterious light shone within the stone, which was wrapped with a tracery of gold and attached to a simple leather cord. Rhia doubled the cord to make it smaller, then bent down and placed it on Nuic. Since he was so small and round, with no discernable neck, it slid down to his middle and hung there like a belt.

With his tiny hands, Nuic touched the gleaming stone, feeling its contours. Then, without a trace of mockery in his voice, he looked at her and said, “You will always be my Lady.” And he bowed, so low that the mist completely covered him for a moment.

When he stood again, he looked at Rhia and asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, my friend. The Galator is now yours.”

As one, the others gasped—including Shim, who had recognized not just the word, but the stone itself.

The Galator! Here it was, the magical green stone that Elen of the Sapphire Eyes had given to Merlin long ago—something he’d fought hard to protect, since it was even more valuable than the Treasures of Lost Fincayra. Elli stooped down to look more closely, and saw lines of red, violet, and blue flowing like blood vessels under the surface of the stone. That was when she remembered the phrase that Merlin had, in legend, used to describe it:
a living eye.

She stood up, her gaze still fixed on the stone.
But what, I wonder, can it see?

As if in answer, Rhia mused aloud, “It has the power to look across time and space—to see someone you love. So in the centuries after Merlin gave it to me, I used it often to watch him, even after he’d left our world for mortal Earth.”

“And so I will use it,” Nuic declared, “to watch you.” He added gruffly, “To see what new trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.”

Rhia grinned at him. “No doubt. Too bad for you that you can only use it to see me, not talk to me. You’d be giving me an earful a day, if you could!”

“Twice a day,” he retorted. “And who knows? Maybe I’ll find a way to make this stone talk after all.”

“If you can, my dear pinnacle sprite, you have more skill than I. Or more passion in your heart. For in all the years that I’ve used it, I’ve only been able to watch those I care for in silence. Something that you will find difficult, indeed.”

“Hmmmpff. Indeed.”

Elli’s hand brushed against her amulet of leaves. Reminded of the new weight she bore, around her neck and elsewhere, her doubts resurfaced. “But Lady, how are we supposed to find the other crystal?” she demanded. “We don’t have any idea where to start.”

Rhia took her hand and said, “No, but I do.”

“Where?”

“At the home of an acquaintance of mine. Not a friend, I must warn you—but not an enemy, either. He lives far from here, across the Rainbow Seas in lower Brynchilla. You see, he has a special ability with crystals of all kinds. He can sense where they are, even if they are thousands of leagues away. And he can also feel their particular powers.”

Nuic’s color darkened to purplish gray. “You don’t mean—”

“Yes. I speak of Hargol, highlord of the water dragons.”

“Dragons!” exclaimed Elli.

“Er, my lady Rhiannon,” protested Lleu, clasping his hands together. “Haven’t we seen enough of dragons already?”

Catha ruffled her silver wings approvingly.

“And
that
was just an illusory dragon,” added Brionna. “Not a real one.”

Rhia looked at them, each in turn, with a probing expression. “You decide. First, though, you should know this: Hargol is a dragon, so by his very nature he is easily angered and highly dangerous. And, like all dragons, he craves treasure—crystals and jewelry most of all. But in Hargol’s case, his ability to tell where crystals are hidden, and to read their powers, makes him even more hungry to possess them. For him, they are a kind of food that he cannot live without.”

Elli swallowed, wondering why they would even consider seeking out such a terrible beast.

“But there is more. Hargol is also deeply learned, a master of many languages. He is uncommonly reasonable for a dragon—as you might expect from a direct descendant of Bendegeit, the brave highlord who rallied the water dragons for peace at the worst point in the War of Storms. Bendegeit nearly succeeded, by the way, but was murdered in a revolt. So despite Hargol’s incessant hunger, you will find he can be honest, thoughtful, and at times, even admirable.”

She leaned closer to Elli. “And one more thing. He is by far your best chance to find Kulwych’s crystal. And given what we learned from your vision, you have less than three weeks left to do that.”

“Not much time,” said Elli grimly. She glanced around at the others. Every one of them, even Shim, seemed to understand the risk they’d be taking. And every one of them looked willing to take it.

She nodded. “How do we get there, though? The Rainbow Seas are a long way from here. Is there a portal near the water dragons’ lair?”

“No,” answered Rhia, running her hands down her gown of woven vines. “But there is something better. While my former strength still lingers, I think I have just enough power left to send you there by Leaping.”

“Really?” asked Elli, having heard about the power of Leaping only through the stories her father had told when she was a child. “You can do that?”

Nuic sniffed. “In her dreams, perhaps.”

Eyes narrowed, Rhia scrutinized him. “So you’re saying that only Merlin could do it?”

“No,” he said teasingly. “I’m just saying that maybe you’re not the enchantress you once were.”

He gave Elli a wink. “Somebody’s got to keep her honest, you know.”

“Your specialty,” the young woman replied. “I know from experience.”

“Just watch, you old skeptic,” declared Rhia. Concentrating her thoughts, she began to draw some lines in the air. Swiftly, they turned into mist. Soon a glowing white shape hung before her face—the shape of a star within a circle, the ancient symbol for the power of Leaping.

Then she started to chant:

From the all-embracing seas
To the stars of dawning,
By the ever-swirling mist
And my deepest longing:

Find the trails of hidden truth,
Lead me down those walkways,
Take me over landscapes vast—
Seeking ever, Leaping always.

Instantly, tendrils of mist rose higher, reaching from the companions’ feet into the air above their heads. The tendrils swiftly intertwined, weaving vaporous threads into glistening patterns of mountains and valleys, shorelines and skies. Soon the weave grew so rich and complex that nothing could be seen but the mist itself.

Yet despite the thick clouds all around, Elli could sense Rhia’s presence in her mind.
Good luck to you, my dear! May you find your way to the crystal
—
before it’s too late.