Spring of Discovery (Celestia Chronicles Book 1/Seasons Arc: Book 1)

Chapter 18: The Crystals of Hegasha

When Jade left her room she saw Saje waiting for her.

"Xaug is launching an attack on the Desert Temple," he said. "We need to go immediately to meet up with the Elven forces."

Jade ran inside for her sword and found a package on the table. She tore it open it to find an amulet with a note attached.

I have infused this amulet with a portion of my energy. It should help with using your powers. It has a limit, however, and once reached you will be limited to your own energy. 

Do not be careless.

Love,

Mom

Jade secured the amulet around her neck and walked outside. She and Saje headed towards the edge of the forest leading to the nearby desert.

"I've been thinking that you should be my mentor," said Jade.

Saje looked at her with a puzzled expression. "But your mom—"

"Doesn't have the history you do with Xaug," Jade finished. "I need more than magical training, I need to know my enemy inside and out. Any advice you could give me about his fighting style or personality before this fight would be invaluable."

Saje considered this for a moment and nodded slightly. "He seems overconfident in his ability, feels like he's untouchable."

"A prophecy saying you'd win is a big confidence booster," Jade said bitterly.

Saje stopped walking and Jade turned to see the shock on his face.

"Look I'm sor—"

"Save it. This is not the time, but trust me, we will talk at length about this later. All of us."

Saje nodded and continued walking.

"Why is he attacking this Temple anyway?" Jade wondered aloud.

"Like I said, Hegasha was built on the point of four elements. At each of these places is one of four crystals that store massive amounts of elemental energy. Removing a crystal from its location causes that place to be destroyed, a trap to safeguard them."

Jade heard Talon's words in her head. "I gave him an artifact of my race that destroyed my entire home; a crystal that kept our city floating in the sky."

"The dragon city housed one of these crystals, didn't it?"

"So you know about Talon's past then," replied Saje. "Yes, that means Xaug is in possession of one of these crystals already, no doubt he wants them all."

"What happens if he gets them all?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that in the war one thousand years ago, Lucifer and the Dark One were trying to get them all as well. I think Lucifer is the only one today who actually knows."

"Can we ask him?" inquired Jade.

"It's not that easy," Saje sighed. "He is notorious for his magical contracts, he has tried to get your mom to repeal his sentence for years with all sorts of informational bribes. She says she will never trust him again."

"So she did trust him once, then" concluded Jade. The notion her mom had a personal history with one of the worst magical criminals in history certainly piqued her curiosity.

"Your mom and Lucifer grew up as friends but when the war started he stabbed her in the back. The only reason Lucifer is not dead is because there was a larger threat to contain. Lucifer had no problem stabbing his new mentor in the back just as easily as your mom. My guess is that Lucifer feared the amount of power the Dark One would have with the power of the crystals. One thing I can say for sure is any amount of power to make Lucifer afraid is an amount of power that is not to be trifled with."

Jade considered this as they reached the edge of the forest to see the Elves locked in combat with an army of shadow soldiers. She then looked to the side of the conflict to see Xaug. He watched calmly, a smile on his face, as if he already knew the outcome.