The Gem Lords

Lord Sapphire - Part 3

Thomas and Lord Ruby saw what Coal was doing at the exact same moment, and they both started forward.

Thomas was on the wrong side of the table, there was nothing he could do, but Barl was standing closer and even after three thousand years his body reacted faster than his brain, choosing to reach out with his hands rather than cast a spell, something he could have done much faster with a single thought. He grabbed Coal by the shoulders, trying to pull him back, but all he achieved was that Coal's fingers brushed the candlestick instead of the gem, knocking it over and sending the jewel skidding and bouncing across the table.

Coal jabbed an elbow in Barl's face, knocking him back, then swung his fist at the Gem Lord's jaw, which bought him enough time to climb up onto the table. Sheena and Topaz were both casting spells by this time, spells that would have vaporised him in an instant if they'd hit him, but the renegade gem rak was now inside the defensive sphere that had been protecting the sapphire. Now it was protecting him, and the two spells fizzled harmlessly as they hit its perimeter. Garnet ran forward, grabbing for his leg to pull him back down, but Coal gave a vicious kick that hit him full in the face, smashing his nose with a spray of crimson blood.

The sapphire was lying close to the edge of the table and Thomas snatched it up, backing away as Coal jumped off the table and advanced towards him. Barl prepared to cast a spell, but Thomas was standing directly behind the renegade and any spell that destroyed Coal might harm him as well. If he dropped the gem as a consequence, and it fell onto the hard stone floor... The tiniest chip was all it would take...

Before he could decide upon a course of action, Coal cast a spell. The most powerful spell he knew. A spell that should have destroyed not only Thomas and his jewel, but half the palace as well. The vicious bolt of magic lashed out, but Thomas was faster and it was absorbed harmlessly by the magical shield he'd erected around himself. In the sudden confusion, Tak's memories had come to the fore and taken full possession of Thomas's body, and Tak had been a full Gem Lord. More than a match for poor Coal. Thomas reacted automatically, therefore, thinking the spell before he was fully aware of what he was doing, and an even more powerful bolt of power shot from his body, striking Coal full in the chest.

The magical shields the gem rak had cast around himself were blasted apart and his body was utterly destroyed. There was nothing left of him, not even a single flake of ash.

The gem raks stared in astonishment as they assimilated what had just happened. "Coal!" said Sheena in guilt and horror. "I had no idea! I swear it!"

"He was helping with the strengthening spell," said Topaz. "Could he have sabotaged it?"

"He had no opportunity," Sheena replied.

"You did," Topaz replied, watching her suspiciously. "If you and he were working together..."

"We weren't!" the Gem Lord insisted. "You saw me try to stop him."

"You knew the anti-magic spell on the table would stop your spell..."

"All right!" said Lord Ruby, silencing them with a glance from his fierce, red eyes. "We will check the strengthening spell, but only because Coal might have had an opportunity to tamper with it without Sheena's knowledge. Not because we suspect her in the slightest." He gave her a supportive nod and she nodded back gratefully..

"Was he working alone, do you think?" asked Garnet.

"I'd be willing to bet he was working for Lan," Jasper replied. "He's made no secret of his opposition to what we're doing here, which means we were on our guard against him. He's probably been trying to turn one of us for centuries. Coal was just the weakest."