Crystallized

Chapter 14

The next day the Guard of Four met back at the greenhouse to continue their training. Verunt waited nervously. Yesterday's lesson had left him dizzy and he wasn't sure he could handle another dose like it so soon.

"I am deeply impressed by your performance yesterday," Antheia praised them once they were gathered around the garden table. "You are now ready to move on with your training. But to do that you need another crystal. The purple can only connect you. You will need another crystal for protection. To form the necessary bond with that crystal, I can not simply give them to you." She gave them a crooked smile. "You have to get them completely by yourselves."

Will I be able to use any of the crystals I have? Amber asked, referring to her blue crystal for healing and her yellow for visual communication.

Yes, Antheia answered warmly, the yellow should work perfectly.

Antheia was on her way to continue when Virid held up a small, green crystal.

"What about this one? I use it when I work in my family's greenhouse. But it doesn't work that well." He held it up for her to take. "Maybe you could fix it?"

She gently waved it away with a wrinkled hand. "There is nothing wrong with the crystal. And neither with you, Virid," she added when she guessed where his thoughts were going. "You can not perform the magic you do not want to do."

<<>>

"Where do people normally get their crystals?" Verunt asked as they stood on the street outside the infirmary. The warm sunlight only thawed the slightest of the permanent frost in his bones. Antheia had been serious when she had said they would need to get the crystals on their own. She hadn't even given them a hint to where they should go. 

Most people buy their crystals in stores, Amber answered. And unless the crystals are recycled they come from the mine.

Thelia hadn't understood Amber's answer and provided her own. "My dad works with crystals, maybe he knows a way for us to get inside the mine, that's where the new crystals come from." Amber threw her a mildly irritated glare before following them.

The city's streets was once again filled with merchants, musicians and workers. Although most of them were worried about what had happened to Nora Marsh, most were apparently not worried enough to let their businesses suffer. 

Once they turned in on a darker street, Thelia nudged Amber in the side with her elbow. "You might wanna hold your purse close, Princess. Unless you want someone to take it."

Amber met Thelia's mocking smile with a fierce glare. Knowing Thelia wouldn't understand her way of speech, she signed a few words she hadn't taught Verunt. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

They went on in silence until Thelia stopped under a torn sign with the Crystal Cave written on it in curved rainbowed letters. "Oh, and don't mention his leg," Thelia told them before opening the door.

As Verunt stepped inside, his jaw dropped. The windowless shop was lit with thousands of crystals, each a part of the rainbow spectrum. Most stood on clean shelves or in neat counters, while a few hung from the low ceiling. Some of them were merely the size of peas, while a few were big as mangoes.

A middle aged man looked up from his work at the counter when he saw them enter. As he stood up to greet his daughter, they caught sight of his metal leg. Inlaid in its knee sat an orange crystal, glowing with the rhythm of his steps.

Thelia wasted no time and went straight to business. "Hey dad, do you know how we could get our own crystals in the mine?"

"Hm..." He said, scratching his short, brown hair. "My best guess is that the Mole could help you, you know the old fellow who lives deep in the mine. He's quite tricky, but you might be able to persuade him to help you. Just be sure to call him Klaus." He paused for a second. "Is there any idea to ask why you need them?"