The Scrolls of Skava

The Ruby Keep - Part 2

     The woman in blue finished her preparations and held the seed above Thomas’s chest, chanting the words of a spell under her breath. The glow of the seed intensified until it shone like a star, and the others had to shade their eyes, even Lord Ruby himself. “Here we go,” she said. “Fifth time lucky.” She touched the seed to the wizard’s skin.

     The seed disappeared, soaking into Thomas’s flesh like a drop of water into a sponge. Nothing happened for a moment, but then the wizard’s body arched upwards in spasm, straining against the straps as he was wracked by a series of convulsions so violent as to almost tear the muscles from his bones. Lapis Lazuli gasped in sympathy, her hands flying to her mouth, but she was comforted by the fact that, being unconscious, he couldn’t feel a thing. When he woke up he might ache a bit all over, but he wouldn’t have suffered any permanent harm. Not if Jasper’s assessment of his physical condition was accurate.

     The spasms continued, each one worse than the one before. The tendons stood out on his neck, wrists and legs, and he fouled himself on the couch. Gradually, however, it passed, and a few moments later he was lying still again, his arms twitching a little and his chest rising and falling as he gasped for breath.

     Garnet passed the gem encrusted artifact across the wizard’s body again, while Jasper unfastened the straps holding him down. “There’s been no immediate rejection,” he said at last. “The seed has opened and settled itself. It’ll go dormant now until he’s ready for the next stage.”

     “And that’ll take years, during which he might still reject it,” said Lord Ruby.

     Garnet nodded in agreement. The Gem Lord’s subordinates then fetched some soap and water to clean up the wizard and the couch while the others moved away to the other side of the room.

     “All this, and he’ll probably die when the Shadowhosts conquer this world,” said Topaz unhappily. “Have you reconsidered your decision not to find another home for him?”

     “I have not,” replied the Gem Lord. “He has to stay in this world, no matter what.”

     “Even though this world is doomed?” cried the man in blue passionately. “If he dies, we die! You know that!”

     “We don’t know that this world is doomed,” replied the Gem Lord, annoyed at having to go over the same old arguments for the thousandth time. “And even if we knew for certain that it was, we still couldn’t take him away from it. Our future depends on the growth of the seed, and it can only grow as its host grows. He can grow best in his own world. Move him elsewhere, and the stress of having to adapt to a new environment would disturb his psyche, leading to a greater chance of rejection. Our future depends on his remaining here.”

     “Then we have no future!” cried Topaz in despair. “You’ve seen the progress of the war. Seen how the Shadowhosts have swept across the land meeting virtually no opposition. If Tharia becomes an undead world, not only will that lad be lost to us but there'll be no more living humans from which to choose a new host. He is our last chance.”

     “There must be something we can do to help save this world,” cried Jade. “I refuse to accept that, with all our power, we can only sit back and watch while this world dies.”

     “If you've thought of something since the last meeting, I would be overjoyed to hear it,” said the Gem Lord, not without compassion. “You know the facts as well as I, though. All our power is back in the Realms. We have virtually no power in the worlds of the natural planes. The ability to alter the outcome of a war is certainly beyond us.”

     “We could send flights of gem steeds. Even without magic, a thousand steeds and riders descending upon the Shadowhosts…”

     “You've seen the size of the armies doing battle in the north,” said Lord Ruby patiently. “All our armies combined would make little difference, and would alert the Agii to our existence. If they discovered that we exist, and what we intend…” Jade nodded in reluctant acceptance. “No,” The Gem Lord continued. “the only thing we can do is give them what they came here for. The Scrolls of Skava. Who knows, maybe the priest is right. Maybe his plan really will end the war.”

     He returned to the wizard on the couch, the others following him, and they looked gravely down at him while Jasper and Garnet finished their work. “Just one more thing to do now,” said Jasper, reaching for another magical instrument. “We want to give him every chance we can.”

     He applied the instrument to the centre of Thomas’s chest, gave a word of command and the wizard’s skin glowed with a pearly light for a moment, rendering him partially transparent. Then he removed the instrument and the wizard returned to normal. “That’s his heart condition dealt with,” he said with a grin. “Would have been pretty ironic if the Shads were defeated and he dropped dead from a common heart attack. And as a free bonus he’s now immune to all known natural diseases.”

     “Pity we couldn’t do anything about the unnatural ones,” said Topaz gravely.

     “As I said, our power in this world is severely limited,” replied Lord Ruby.

     “Yeah,” agreed the man in blue. “It’s just the thought that our last hope is about to go out into a world full of Shads, shologs, vampires, werewolves, the Gods alone know what else. A single arrow from the puniest little buglin could be the end of us all.”

     There was an uncomfortable silence as they contemplated the fact, looking down at the naked wizard and his weak, fragile body. Over the centuries they’d come to take their immortality for granted, but all of a sudden their continued existence was hanging from the very narrowest of threads. “Perhaps it would be a good idea for us to renew our relationships with the Gods,” suggested the Gem Lord at last. “How long has it been since any of us last bowed our heads in prayer?”

     There was a snort of derision from Jade. “If we’re finished with him, shouldn’t we be sending him on his way?”

     “Yes,” agreed the Gem Lord, turning to Jasper and Garnet. “When you’re finished, get him dressed and put him back with the others. Then let them wake up. The rest’s up to you. Don’t mess it up.”

     “You can count on us, Lord,” replied Garnet, bowing his head. “We know what to do.”

     “Good,” replied the Gem Lord, who then turned and left the room, followed by Jade and Topaz. Lapis Lazuli remained for a moment longer, staring down at the wizard with a strangely hopeful expression, before leaving also and leaving the two men to do their work.