© Syrobe
The Crystals
Table of Content
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© Syrobe
The Crystals
Guarding the Elements
Guarding the Elements of Fire, Water, Earth, Wood and Metal is what the Dracita's older original dragons do. Newer dragons guard the Elements of Air and Spirit. Earthana, one of the old dragons, watched the earth in her full glory, somewhere in the springtime of the year 1201 DY. She felt at peace while listening to the earth of the Land with Woods. It sparkled with joy as if all the creatures living there knew they were safe and sound.
"How I love this life, feeling the sun glowing on my head while seeing the trees dancing their secret wood dance." Earthana smiled while thinking. "The trees and the purple bushes all trust me to take care of them. Even the clouds want to be part of this secret gardening party."
The sound
While Earthana slumbered a bit, the hours passed by while the earth still was celebrating. Just after the sun had reached his highest spot, she awoke. Stretching her wings and blinking her eyes to avoid the sharp light of the sun, Earthana smiled of sheer joy. At that moment, a strange sound was heard from within the deep forest.
"I wonder what this noise in the forest is, it is not a sound any living creature could produce. What is happening?" Earthana felt disturbed and somehow angry because something stole that magical moment of peace. "I fear I have to leave this post to have a look, because I can only imagine this is magic, the sound seems to be calling me."
Earthana closed her eyes and materialized her spirit into the form of a hawk, leaving her dragon body behind, as if it was still guarding the earth. She hoped she would not be attacked in the next minutes, because she would have a hard time, defending her dragon body after being materialized into an other form.
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The crystal
Smiling about her tiny hawk body, Earthana spreaded her tiny hawk wings, sharpened her sight and flew into the forest, leaving behind her dragon body. She flew straight at the strange sound and suddenly saw a dark shadow.
"That shadow does not belong in the forest, it is no creature from this earth", Earthana wondered while staring at the shadow.
The dark shadow stood right next to the old oak tree in the heart of the forest.
"Stop with whatever you are doing and answer my question", Earthana thought to the dark shadow in anger. "Tell me who are you."
The dark shadow didn't blink or shiver, nor did it answer. It simply dissolved into nothing, leaving behind a small black crystal near the oak tree. Earthana carefully picked up the crystal. It then began to glow at the touch of her wings and suddenly a dark voice spoke these words:
"Ye who takes this crystal"
"Must find the one it truly belongs to"
"Before the beginning of the next time"
"Or Thou will not endure"
"The magic it contains"
After the voice was nowhere to be heard anymore, the dark shadow appeared again, trying to grab the crystal.
The shadow failed and while howling an evil laugh, it dissolved into the air. Earthana wanted to drop the crystal on the ground but the crystal started to glow again, it even pulsed and it seemed to Earthana that it didn't want to be dropped.
After staring at the crystal for some moments, Earthana flew back to her post, keeping the crystal close to her hearth with mixed feelings because the crystal itself seemed to ask for help but what good could it be if it was owned by some dark and evil shadow.
"What does this thing want from me, to whom does it belong", Earthana thought while she arrived at her guarding post.
Then she started to scream.
The horror
The srceam did not end until Earthana landed at her guarding spot.
"What horror is this?", she cried in fear, "How can my body be gone, what do I do, I have never lost it after any materialization before". Earthana knew she could not survive long without her true dragon body. As fast as her little hawk birds could move her, she flew to Dracita, the ancient Dragon City deep in the mountain caves near the Grand Lake of Spring Water.
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Dracita
Dracita was build many years ago and could only be found by beings with white magical powers, it was the only place she would be safe for some time.
Earthana spoke the magical words to enter the cave but the only effect was an echo. The cave did not open. She tried again, but could not enter.
"It must be this crystal I am carrying that is preventing the cave to open for me", Earthana thought, "it must have black magical powers". She looked at the crystal but could not find any proof for her conclusions. How was she going to get any help now? Earthana suddenly bowed her head and started to send out thoughts to the one being that loved her truly, hoping it would be Tonicar, the Water Dragon.
The Wizard
After a while she felt thoughts from a human.
"Is it really you, Astraia", she asked, assuming him to be dead after having defeated Orinotha, the evil wizard from the Land without Earth, and she realized, feeling stumbled, that Astraia must be the being that loves her truly.
She felt confused about that sincere wizard and the bond of thoughts they had at this moment. She started to think about that when Astraia sent his thought to her.
"No, do not think about such matters now, Earthana, I will try to reach your friends and family to ask for help because I feel you are in trouble. I have been living in the Land without Earth ever since we have destroyed Orinotha, because I could not return to my home land and I still do not know how to return, but I believe the boundaries are falling. How else could I have made contact with you."
"But I saw your dead body", Earthana thought to Astraia, "white and broken, just before the storm blew you away, are you a spirit now without a body?"
"No, no, I am as real as you can imagine", Astraia replied, "and I have tried many times to contact you and the others but it never worked. It is so strange, but suddenly I heard your thoughts for help and I knew you could hear me too".
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Earthana cried tears of joy. She wanted to warn Astraia for the crystal and the Dark Shadow but she felt the bond of thoughts was suddenly broken.
She lifted her head up to and thanked the Great Dragon Mother, she now knew she was no longer alone fighting this evil unknown shadow.
She flew back to her guarding spot, felt stupid in the hawk's body but was grateful for it and waited, holding the crystal close to her hearth.
Unexpected aid
Tonicar, feeling lonely and bored, felt a shiver, even though the day was beautiful and the water he was guarding was calm. The shivering did not stop and suddenly he saw all kinds of little water creatures doing there very best to draw his attention.
"Well, what is this, what are you little water beings doing, go tease an other dragon, leave me alone".
A tiny blue four-armed water fairy without a face jumped out of the water and landed on Tonicar's nose.
"Please, please, listen to us, we know you love Dracita's beautiful Earth Dragon and she is in great danger", the little fairy whispered.
Tonicar felt the shiver again and knew at once it was an important sign. How stupid of him to ignore it.
"A wizard from the Land without Earth contacted us, we thought he was dead but he is not and he told us Earthana's body has been stolen, you must help her find her body or else she will die", the fairy continued while she jumped up and down on with her two strong legs and waved her four arms in all directions as if she wanted to give more power to her soft voice.
"Please follow me, I know where she is and she will be lost in the World Between Worlds if no one helps her".
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Conflict of duties
Tonicar felt unreal. A fairy was sitting on his head with four arms and a voice but no mouth. However, he was able to hear the message. Suddenly he realized that the fairy was begging him to help Earthana. That explained the shiver he felt, it was of no importance if the fairy was real or not, he had to act. This was a bad situation because he knew he could not leave the pool without possible danger to the water but he also could no longer live if anything happened to Earthana.
While the fairy started to scream impatiently, Tonicar made up his mind and thought to the Great Mother Dragon the following words.
"Great Mother Dragon, I can never guard the water again if I have no earthly reason for living. Earthana is my reason, eventhough she may not know so yet, so I hope you forgive me for leaving the pool for the first time ever. No matter what punishment you will give me, I have to try and save her from the danger she is in".
Tonicar left the water pool without hesitation. He hoped the Great Mother Dragon would guard the water just for this one time only.
Meanwhile the Great Mother smiled tenderly, thinking that for this one time, Tonicar made the right choice. He was such a good water guard and he was going to be one for a long time after his personal mission, she had plans for him and hoped he would not fail.
The Land without Earth
The beings in the Land without Earth struggled to survive after the horrible war in which Orinotha was defeated. Before Orinotha died, he cursed the Land without Earth and closed all the portals to the other lands as last act of revenge.
Living without earth never was a problem for the snakes, the water dragons, and the elvens, who used to live in that land of water and air together and in peace with all the other water creatures, because they where all able to import the products they needed besides water and air from the other lands and they were satisfied with their ways of living. They learned how to build areas above the water and the elvens build the most spectacular transparent cities that floated above the water, using the air as a platform.
Now they had to live on water and air. Without raw materials like wood the cities was fallen into decay. To keep the cities in repair was impossible. Because of the lack of earth materials, most of the beings where transformed into water creatures during that struggle to survive, others just disappeared into nothing or where killed in the war to survive and some were able to survive in their original form.
One of those beings was the wizard Astraia, who was trapped after the boundaries had been closed by the curse. Because he was not able to transform he had to find other ways to survive and he learned to transform water and air into earth by magic. But there were only few beings like Astraia in the Land of Earth so the magic they were able to use was not enough to keep it all growing.
Sorrow was the most important feeling of the beings of the Land without Earth.
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Unrest near the altar
Recently fear was added to sorrow.
"Have you seen those dark shadows wandering around our secret altar in the air, they seemed to walk on the water or at least they were floating, all three of them", Degado asked.
"Yes, I have seen them, those shadows and I am very sorry to know that there was something like a humanoid form in them", Astraia replied.
"So the shadows are like you, they are humans?"
"I am certain about the tall dark shadow, that being looked like a human to me, but I doubt his two companions where humans, they are too small, they looked liked dwarves to me", Astraia answered.
"But what were they doing at our altar, why does it look as if the altar is crying?", Degado continued.
Astraia did not answer because he noticed the unrest at the altar after the shadows where gone but he was ashamed. He wanted to interfere but it was as if the dark shadows paralysed him. He couldn't use any magic at all.
"Well, what were they doing there?", Degado asked again, getting impatient.
"Astraia, I know you can hear me, I am going to gather dragon fighters to find Earthana's body, do not worry, we will help her, do all you can from where ever you are, she has got the crystal and it won't leave her."
Astraia jumped up into the air and almost fell into the water after hearing those words.
"Tonicar, is that you, thinking to me", Astraia shouted.
"He, what are you talking about?", Degado asked, "don't you understand my question?".
Astraia realized that is was indeed Tonicar thinking to him. Before he was able to think back to Tonicar, he felt that the bond was broken.
"Degado, my friend, we are having contact with the other worlds. I do not know what the dark shadows did at the altar but I do know things are going to change here.
While Degado nodded his head in non-understanding, Astraia smiled and felt hope for the first time in years.
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Dark Shadows
"What stupid thoughts crossed your mind while you dropped the crystal, you idiot. Did I not give you specific and clear orders to bring the crystal to me no matter what happened? How dare you to show up here empty handed".
Dasvanio raised his hand and hit Scampha's face with a bolt of light. Scampha, blinded by the light bolt and screaming with terror, fell on the floor of Dasvanios study. He was wondering how long it would take for the dragons to discover their secret hiding place in the castle in the air. The disaster with the crystal made him fear that moment would not be far away now. Orinotha created the castle many years ago, telling all his followers that it would be the perfect spot to rule the Universe and they all believed him. But that was in the past, things where not as hopeful now.
"Please, do not hurt me any more, I could not help it, the crystal seemed to be attracted by the old oak tree so much, I could not stop it from falling out of my hands the moment the hawk laid her eyes on the crystal. I tried to scare the hawk away and while I looked into her eyes I recognized Earthana, the Earth Dragon. I knew then the crystal was lost for us, her powers are too strong for me, even though the stupid dragon didn't know that herself."
"You caused serious problems by loosing the crystal, you know how hard it was to steal the spirit of the Land Without Earth. We almost got caught when we took it of the altar. I almost lost all my magical powers while I was trying to stop that wizard Astraia from protecting the altar. He did not know we stole the spirit but he will find out soon enough".
Dasvanio laughed secretly, thinking the Land without Earth soon would be gone forever without the spirit. He looked at the other crystals in which the spirits of the other lands where captured.
"Stealing those spirits was so easy, what is the matter with the spirit of the Land without Earth?", Dasvanio thought.
"Orinotha's wish is our command, we will rule the Universe the way he wanted us to rule it just before he was killed by Astraia and we will destroy all good souls until only us dark souls remain. Now go and find that crystal", Dasvanio spoke to Scampha, "and do not even dare to return to me without it".
Revenge
Scampha crouched away, hoping that Dasvanio was too angry to read his mind this time. He did not drop the crystal, the crystal itself took him to the oak in the Land of the Dragons, it screamed for help as if it knew that Earthana was close to the oak. Scampha never told Dasvanio that it was not Astraia alone who defeated Orinotho. The dragon Earthana caused him to loose his last life breath. The spirit of the Land without Earth knew she was more powerful then Orinotho and his followers, the dark shadows. Dasvanio would never be able to defeat her.
"Our plans are doomed to fail", Scampha cried, being desperate because of the mission he would never accomplish.
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"I did get your body, though, you mighty Earthana. How could you be so stupid to leave it on your guarding spot. My revenge will be evil, I will destroy your body so you can never return to your original form".
Figuring out how he could destroy Earthanas body, Scampha flew away, knowing that it would be his last act in this life.
Crystal of Life
Meanwhile, Earthana felt the World between Worlds reaching out to her. She pulled away, knowing she could not resist long because her little hawk body was getting weaker and weaker.
"I will not go without my dragon body and I shall return the crystal to its rightful owner, whoever that may be", Earthana spoke out loud with a strong voice.
"Earthana, I am so glad you know why I came to you", a soft voice spoke.
Earthana opened her eyes widely and stared at the crystal, knowing it was the crystal who spoke those words.
"Yes, I know why you came to me, your owner is in trouble and you want me to help you but I cannot do that without your help," Earthana answered without even being surprised talking to the crystal, as if she indeed knew the reason, as if she had always known why the crystal was drawn to her. She felt very certain and was convinced of her words although she did not understand what she was saying or why.
Crystal clear
Earthanas confusion must have shown itself to the crystal, in spite of her convincing attitude, because the crystal spoke again.
"I see you are still a bit confused about what is happening, so please allow me to give you an explanation", the crystal spoke while it started to glow.
Earthana nodded her head and started to listen while the crystal told her about the Land without Earth, about Astraia and Degado and their struggle for life, about Orinothas followers and about Dasvanio and Scampha stealing the crystals in order to control the Universe.
"I understand you need my spirit to bring you back to the altar of the Land without Earth", Earthana spoke to the crystal.
"Is that why the World between Worlds is reaching out to me?", Earthana asked.
"Yes, but only for a short time. You will return to your life in the Land of the Dragons after Tonicar helps Astraia in defeating Dasvanio and all the other dark shadows".
Earthana starting to think about the request and knew it was the only way to save the Land without Earth and her friends. She knew there was a change she would not be able to return. If Tonicar failed all would be lost.
"Tell me how to give my spirit to you", Earthana asked suddenly, "I will do as you ask, I fear it is the only way".
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The turning point
"Don't even think about it, you will not return and you will not help the crystal, I shall prevent you from doing all that", a voice cried out loud.
Earthana turned around and saw the dark shadow that had dropped the crystal in the woods.
A cold wind started to blow and Earthana felt her feathers starting to freeze.
"Now!", shouted, the crystal, "materialize yourself into my hearth, before the wind freezes you completely".
Earthana, who never ever had materialized herself into an object before, concentrated on the crystal and felt that her hawk body was gone.
Scampha started to laugh hysterically, thinking he was the one to defeat Earthana by freezing her. He bowed his knees and picked up the crystal.
The moment he touched the crystal, he felt his body exploding. The crystal disappeared without a trace.
Dasvanio walked in the Garden of his castle in the air. He had to find a way to get his hands on the crystal again.
"Scamphas explanation about loosing the crystal does not feel right, he is too powerful to just loose it, there must be another reason, I did not learn him to be so inattentive".
Dasvanio kept on walking and thinking for hours when he suddenly felt a shiver. After Scampha left the castle, he stayed in touch with him and now he saw what happened after Earthana gave her spirit to the crystal.
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"I do not know how she did that, it is impossible, but I have to act quickly now, before all is lost. I must stop Earthana myself", Dasvanio thought while he turned around to return to his castle.
In the distance, he saw the silhouette of an enormous dark blue dragon rising over the castle walls, heading in his direction, with blood dripping out of his mouth.
The odds where changing.
The odds are changing
In the Land without Earth, Astraia too felt the odds where changing. He looked at the altar and saw it glowing and trembling as if it was happy. Suddenly a big cloud fell from the sky right on the altar, leaving a crystal behind.
"Look, look, I do not know what this is but it fell here on purpose", Degado yelled.
"I think you are very correct to think that this crystal belongs here. It rarely shows its true form because it is a spirit, the spirit of our land. I wonder why is it showing itself to us", Astraia replied.
Degado wanted to pick up the crystal but Astraia warned him not to touch it.
"It does not belong to you, it belongs to the altar and it must remain there. If a being disturbs the crystal, it might turn into great anger and causes destruction. Lets just look at it, perhaps it wants to say something to us, I have only seen this crystal once before in my life and that was when Orinotha cursed this land".
Astraia and Degado looked at the crystal and it started to glow.
"This can not be true, I see the eyes of Earthana shining so bright in the crystal. Could it be, could it really be that she is in there? How am I going to get her out of the crystal? She it not ment to be the spirit of this land, she must live among the dragons to guard the earth", Astraia screamed, not being able to think clear anymore.
Deagado grabbed Astraia's arm and looked him in the eyes.
"Those shadows at the altar some time ago took the spirit of our land and Earthana is bringing it back to us. The dragons must have found a way to reach those shadows".
"You are right, why did I not think of that, you are a good student, you will become an even better teacher some time. The dragons are fighting the shadows".
Red air
The azure air of the Land of Air was slowly turning red. Dasvanio had used all his magic to find his way back to the castle. After seeing that huge dragon rising above the castle, his laughings could be heard miles away, though he did not understand how that dragon was able to find his castle. He teleported himself to the castle, after casting a protection spell. His laughter turned into fear as he saw that the dragon was not alone. There was an army of dragons fighting his shadow brothers. The dark shadows where unable to defeat a single dragon and most of his brothers where killed. The few that where still alive where unable to cast any spells against the breath of the dragons. A pentacle was glowing high in the sky.
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The rescue of the Land without Earth
The crystal on the altar of the Land without Earth was still glowing as the pentagram of the Great Mother Dragon showed itself above the altar. The water creatures, the humans and all the other inhabitants who tried for so long to survive in that land, felt her warmth and strength while they looked up to the sky. Some of the creatures feared that the end of the land was near but Astraia kneeled at the altar, waiting for the crystal to respond. In the far distance howling dragons could be heard.
The pentagram dropped a bright spark on top of the crystal and while the howling dragons seemed to come closer, the crystal opened itself to free Earthana's spirit. The next moment, the pentagram disappeared and the altar swelled the crystal.
Mighty dragons approached the altar and Astraia started to ran to them as fast as he could, crying and laughing and waving with his arms wide open as if he wanted to embrace the dragons. The water creatures started to mumble and move and thought Astraia was loosing his mind. Degado and his friends started to run too while Astraia started to scream.
"The portals are open, the portals to the other Lands are open, we are free to travel again", and suddenly an explosion of pleasure could be felt among all of the beings living in the Land without Earth. Everybody realized that if the dragons were able to enter the land again, they could go in and out again too.
Earthana and Tonicar united
One blue water dragon did not enter the Land without Earth after rescueing the crystals and defeating Dasvanio and his shadow brothers. That dragon found Earthana's body lying on the ground in a cellar of the castle in the air. He knew he had to return it to the Land of the Dragons before it would disappear after the castle was destroyed. He carefully placed the body where he expected the owner to collect it and waited.
It was only a few moments later when a single hawk flew to her guarding post. She looked at the liveless dragon body and materialized into it after which she almost fell asleep.
"At last I found my body, I was afraid I would loose my life too", Earthana cried. "I wonder what happened after the crystal used my spirit."
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"Your courage freed that land, Earthana", a soft dragon voice spoke.
Earthana looked up and saw Tonicar standing in front of her. Overwhelmed Earthana felt tears on her dragon cheeks.
"But only because I knew you would do everything to save us too", she smiled. "How many of us died while defeating those shadows?".
"Not one single dragon died, it was as if we received an unnatural strength, we where invicible", Tonicar replied.
They sat together for a while without speaking and both felt a strong bond.
"We now should go to Astraia and his friends, to celebrate the rescue of the land", Tonicar smiled.
"I agree, it must be such a pleasure to see him again and perhaps some of our old friends. Let us go there, let us celebrate life".
Epilog
Well, that was the story Tonicar once told me while I was still a young dragon and I think it is such a special story that you should all know. It is a story that did and still does take my breath away and Earthana is the most brave dragon. Do you understand now why I can forgive her having such a big attitude? She is worth every elegant move she makes. She too saved the Land without Earth.
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I have been told that land is prosperous now, importing and exporting products from and to the other lands. Astraia did not want to leave the Land without Earth, because he felt that land was his new home. He visited the dragons from time to time and Earthana and Tonicar saw him many times before he died. Yes, he was a human and though he lived long, his life ended many years ago. Degado past away too but his grandson is studying to become a wizard now and he seems to be very talented.
Perhaps you wonder why it was Astraia who responded to Earthana's thoughts for help. I've wondered about that myself so I asked her why Astraia, a human, instead of Tonicar, the dragon, seemed to be the being that truly loved her. She avoided looking into my eyes while she explained that dragons do not truly love other dragons, us dragons being jalous creatures, more occupied with our hoards and treasures instead of with other dragons.
I must say I was shocked hearing her speaking those words and she could see that emotion in my eyes. Astraia, she told me, disregarding her emotions, however being a human wizard, was able to go above such material desires and had always seen the true heart of the dragon Earthana. But, she reasured me, Tonicar did feel a shiver while she was sending out her thoughts for help. That was a beginning to overcome the selfish jalousie. Perhaps she is right, perhaps we dragons can grow above our love for gems and treasures. At least, Tonicar was able to do so, I still love my gems very much.
I have heard that the other stolen crystals mysteriously returned to their altars. Sometimes dark shadows can be seen near them but they seem to have no strength or power and they sometimes look as if they are grey shadows instead of dark shadows. It is strange, but it seems as if they take care of the altars. Perhaps the dark color will be gone some day and even those shadows will find their peace.
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