[Cover artwork by me @Magic_Is_Existing]
This is a sequel to the first book Beneath the Dark Crystal. So far [December 8, 2019] I've written 14 chapters. Here's the summary of the book:
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Once again, Thra turns into another time and another place—and this time, it's beyond the Age of Harmony. Thra's closest creatures—the gelfling and fireling—are forgetting who they are and what they stand for. They break bonds and split ways, not realizing that both are one. Ignus—Ember Queen Thurma's only son—has been destined to fix the bonds between his people and the All-Maudra's, but will his actions all come down to nothing?
~
So far, I'm not sure when I will finish, but hopefully sometime next year [2020] (maybe in the fall). If you're interested, don't worry! I'll keep you posted until then.
~
Sneak Peak:
Chapter One: The Wisdom Tree
Another World. Another Time. Near the end of the Age of Harmony.
The Glass Castle; home to the Ember Queens and Kings of Mithra—the world of flame. Today, a prince of the Ember King and Queen—Thurma and Asheka—has to attend his daily lessons in the galleries. "Ignus, pay attention," Fiola—one of the Ember Queens and Ignus's teacher—states.
Ignus abruptly stops playing around with the flames in the palm of his hand, staring up at Fiola in complete and utter boredom. "What?"
Fiola gives him a stern look, continuing to walk down the galleries with him, pointing towards the carvings and pictures on the rocky walls. "What do you see here?" She asks, tracing her hand over a carving of the bright crystal. Mavra—the All-Maudra—and Thurma are holding hands. A bright ball of white is carved around the intertwined hands.
"Uh ... I see Mother," Ignus says, arms crossed.
"And?" Fiola asks.
"And ... the All-Madura."
"Right. What are they doing, exactly?"
Ignus glances back at the carving and stares at their intertwined hands. "Sharing energy."
Fiola smiles and shakes her head. "Not just any energy; the pure Crystal and the bright Mother Sun's light." She walks ahead of him and gestures for him to follow. "It is imperative to learn about your past. It is what shaped your present, which will soon bring forth your future. Do you understand why I have to teach such 'boring' lessons–"
Fiola turns around and deadpans when she sees Ignus laying down on a stone bench, trying to sleep. "Ignus!"
Ignus yelps and falls off the bench. He quickly stands up and composes himself, clearing his throat. "My apologizes. I-I'm listening," He lies, smiling wide.
Fiola narrows her eyes before sighing in defeat. "I give up. We'll start lessons again tomorrow. Please, be more prepared and awake."
Ignus nods and grins slyly, feeling very happy he got himself out of lessons for the day. Fiola walked Ignus back to his room—to his disappointment. "Lady Fiola, do I have to stay in my room today?" He asks her with a pouted lip.
Fiola's long eyebrows knit together and her ears twist back. "You know the rules, Ignus. Your mother doesn't want you exploring while the Mother Sun's dim."
Ignus groans and lays flat on his bed. "Fiiine ..."
Fiola smiles and comments, "Good boy." She leaves Ignus to his own merits.
He sits back up and listens with his webbed ears to make sure Fiola is far away. He smirks deviously before searching under his pillow and finding a key. His mother had locked his balcony, knowing all too well that that was his escape root out of his room. Lucky for him, his father gave him a spare key for "emergencies."
'I'd certainly call this an emergency. Trying to find entertainment and distract my mind seems pretty dire to me,' he thinks, tip-toeing over to the glass doors and unlocking them.
He walks outside of the balacony and stares down at the dirt ground many feet below him. He hums smugly while backing up. "No problem for me."
He makes a running start towards the railing, grasping it tightly, and flipping his body up in the air before letting go. He hollers in excitement, creating flames all around his body while flying away from the castle in a large heap of fire. He turns back around to stare at his home while crossing the bridge that connected the Glass Castle and the shared village. "Haha! Easy, peasy–Oof!" He yelps, ramming into someone crossing over the main bridge.
The two fireling flip over and roll until they come to a halt at the end of the bridge. Ignus groans loudly, slowly lifting himself off the person and smiling happily when he saw his friend.
"Kala!"
Kala smiles back at him. "Ignus! I was just coming to get you," She states, standing up with him and brushing off her skirt.
Ignus arches a brow and folds his arms over his chest proudly. "Were you?"
Kala glances at him and narrows her eyes. "What's with that smug look?"
"Oh, well, it's nothing really, except for the fact that I escaped myself! I did this large flip and just ... whoosh! Straight out of the Castle!" He exclaims happily.
"So? What does this prove?" Kala questions.
"That ... I'm ready. For more adventure. I'm ready to ... to cross the Great Divide, travel up to the surface, and have an adventure outside of my castle walls!"
Kala laughs a little teasingly, walking down the path of geysers. "Ignus, you know there's nothing Thra will offer you when you get up there. Fireling aren't anything special to the gelfling anymore," She says, hands clasped together behind her.
Ignus frowns while trying to catch up with her pace. "What do you mean?"
Kala scoffs and glances at Ignus. "What? You don't know of the harshness us fireling face from the gelfling? Aren't they your people?"
Ignus blushes a little in embarrassment from his lack of knowledge about the politics of his home and Thra. "I-I'm just getting started with my history lessons."
Kala rolls her dark eyes. "Still, you should start learning more about your kingdom now. The past is in the past. What's the point of learning it all over again?"
"Lady Fiola says that we do it to not repeat the mistakes we made before," He says.
Kala grunts, feeling a little annoyed by how smart Ignus was starting to become now. "Yeah, Well ... you can rely on your carvings and books to teach you. I've learned from my experiences," She states, grinning from ear to ear.
Ignus pouts in protest. "I do have experience! I just ... don't get involved with the politics. That's my mother and father's job. They can handle those sorts of things for now."
Kala stares at Ignus a little doubtfully before looking ahead. "Some day, you'll understand."
Ignus frowns and looks up at Kala. "Why can't that be today?"
"You're still ... too young. Too naïve to understand the matter."
"You're not that much older than me ..." Ignus mumbles.
"Whatever! Just ... forget about it, okay? Maybe we can go exploring another time. Mama needs some help with the Wisps. They've been trying to steal all of our fruits from the surface. Mind helping?" She asks.
Ignus sighs in disappointment before shaking his head. "No ... I guess not."
Kala smiles and takes his hand, pulling him by the arm. "Then there's not a moment to lose!" Ignus gasps when she starts to run and drag him behind her.
"Wait! Slow down! You're too tall for me!" He exclaims, making Kala laugh and continue to skip away with him.
~
Mavra kneels down in front of the Crystal, staring up at it with a small smile. She fixes the large crown perched on her head. Even after a couple hundred unums, the crown still didn't quite fit her small head. She sighs before closing her eyes and remaining quiet in the chamber of the Crystal. Her wings were relaxed and her pointed ears were up high, trying to get a listen of Thra all around her. She heard many of the creatures of Thra: the shrookil singing a sad tune, the tumbeloth squicking, the fizzgigs barking, the hoofs of the landstriders. She also heard Thra's waves crash, its land rumble, its trees dance. She felt her heart swell with pride and joy, knowing that ever since the Crystal was reborn, Thra has been a better place.
She finds herself opening her mouth and singing her mother's old tune. The tune that truly did mesh well with Thra's song. She started to sing louder and louder to the Crystal Light, keeping her eyes closed. She lifts her hand up slowly and feels her fingertips grace over the light of the Crystal. A tingling sensation ran throughout her body as she stuck her whole hand inside of the Light, letting her soul be taken by it and explored. She opens her eyes and smiles sweetly when she finds herself in a completely white space, filled to the brim with white diamonds and crystals alike. Those didn't intrigue her though. The large and flourish tree in the middle of the crystals and shards did.
"The Wisdom tree? But ... why would the Crystal show me this?" Mavra questions.
"Lady Mavra ...." Came a deep voice that echoed all around her.
Mavra's ears raised up high in suspense. "Hello?" She calls out in confusion, looking around for a gelfling or another creature of some sort.
"Lady Mavra, you must listen to me. Come close," The voice spoke again.
Mavra turns around and stares deeply at the tree in the middle of the crystals. She takes a hesitant step forward towards the tree. "Is it ... you speaking to me?"
"Yes," The Wisdom tree answers. "The World of Thra and Mithra are at stake. You must see for yourself. Listen for yourself. Know for yorself."
Mavra swallows a dry lump in her throat, picking up her pace and standing stiff in front of the Wisdom Tree and its blue flower dangling in front of her face. She finally stared deep into it, noticing the flower's golden glow from the inside, its white light brimming the blue petals.
"I ... I don't understand."
"You will understand, All-Madura. You always do," The tree retorted, the flower twirling in a graceful circle. "Take hold of the flower. Learn of the dangers that will plague our world before it's too late."
Mavra frowns deeply and becomes very cagey to grasp the flower. Immediately, the flower brings her within a dreamfast. Flashes of the future play through her mind like film. A terrifying one.
~
"Fireling are dangerous!"
"They shouldn't be trusted!"
"They're monsters!"
A rather tall firling and her shorter friend are shown running away from a gelfling, readying his bola.
The fireling girl and gelfling boy both tumble off the cliff side, pulling at each other and crashing to the floor; dead.
Thurma is shown comforting her son while also arguing with him.
A fleet of fireling are burning all of Thra and spreading its fires, killing off any and all of the living creatures.
"We will prove to those gelfling that we are not their pets! We belong with Thra as much as them!" The son shouts confidently to his soldiers.
Kensho is holding the ancient of sword of Stonewood. The sword that the great Rian and Ordon bared. Kensho raises it up high, standing tall in front of a large gelfling army.
The prince forces Mavra to dreamfast with the Crystal while also holding a shard made of fire in his hand.
~
Mavra gasps and pulls away from the flower, bringing her soul out of the Crystal and back to her body. She scrambles away from the Pure Light fretfully, panting in fear from what she just bared witness to. A soldier walking by sees his Elder looking panicked and trots over to her quickly. "Your grace, are you all right? What happened?"
Mavra turns her head up to the soldier, stuttering out, "F-Fetch Mother Aughra."