Callia's Redemption

The room gasps as I slouch in my seat, trying to keep as many eyes as possible off of me. Marok continues, “He ran away instead of giving the stone to the spell. Callia will not be punished in this attempt for his actions. I trust Callia and will bestow her the stone that is needed. The Water Spirits have already given permission for me to do this. Now leave. I will not have those who do not support our great warrior to be in this room.”

In a great effort he claps his hand, having the room’s door open. Water shoots out from the water in the hallway and grab every single member in the room around the waist, yanking them into the hallway, the door slamming shut once they’re all out. Allie and I glance at each other, completely stiff. I’ve never seen Marok behave this way. He’s usually the hardest to anger. Allie seems less unphased than I am, so maybe he’s changed with time.

I speak carefully, “Marok, I do not require the stone to be filled.”

“Silence.” Marok tells me as he straightens beyond his hump. I widen my eyes, alarmed.

“Marok?” Allie asks as she stands.

“Silence.” Marok shouts, using water created from the air to yank her to her seat. I try to stand but am immediately held down. I nearly gasp at the amount of power used through this magic. It’s beyond my level and feels infinite.

“That’s not Marok,” I breathe a gasp to Allie.

“Then do something.” She hisses back, clearly uncomfortable.

“I believe it’s one of the Water Spirits channeling through him. This magic is infinitely more powerful than mine.” I squeak, the spirit trying to push the air from my lungs. I finally stop trying to talk, receiving its message.

Marok turns to face me. His eyes are glowing bright blue, the color of the Water Spirits orbs. “Callia, you must find the Elemental Stone of the Wind Gods. Gstalt has very evil intentions planned for that stone. Beware of his counterpart, as he has much power and will give aide to Gstalt to achieve his goal of wiping out the Elemental Gods.”

“Arwen is not that strong.” I give a gasped response. The Spirit’s power is deafening, it’s hard to concentrate around it.

He waves me off. “Arwen is just a pawn and soon will be dead. Only you have enough strength to fight him.”

“I’m already aware of Gstalt’s strength.” I choke out.

“Yes, you are, but his magic has gotten darker. It has affected you differently has it not?” I stiffen as Marok gives a knowing grin and snaps his finger, snapping the stone out of my chest. Allie gapes at it.

Marok twirls the stone in front of my face, “I see you’ve retained more of his magic since you died.”

I stare at it blankly. “How-“ How did he do that? The crystal glistens as it is surrounded by the Spirits magic. It’s not small but it’s in no way big.

“If you continue draining Gstalt’s magic at the rate you’ve been doing Callia, you will be dead within a week.” He snaps his finger, crystalizing the crystal and the magic inside. He frowns as the stone returns to normal. “You were so careless with your power Callia. You didn’t seal your spell before you died.” He holds up his hand. “Not that you were able to, but you should have done it by now.”

“If I do that, he stops being drained.” I pant. He’s barely giving me room to breathe. This Spirit is definitely not the docile type.

“You’ll be dead if you don’t.” He holds it closer to me.

“I’ll take that as a promise.” I say through gritted teeth.

“This stone is filled to the brim. It will not grow.” He barks.

I stare at it as I picture water being poured into a bigger vase. It doubles in size. I grin at the Spirit. “It’ll hold more now.”

The Spirit shakes Marok’s head. “You shouldn’t have done that.” I would argue but I start to scream instead, my power being drained as blackness fills the stone. Pain is in every nerve of my body. The only thing that has me sitting upright is the Spirits magic in my body.

“Cut the link. Now!” Marok yells to me. “I can tell you this spell won’t work.”

I’ve never had a Spirit tell me what I cannot do. The stone grows, causing agony to spread deeper than I thought possible, rivaling purgatory levels. The stone eventually fills, causing wet breath to slowly leave me. I’m panting and I’m entirely drenched in sweat. Marok stares at me in shock as I give a small smile at him. “Looks like it held.”

I wish I hadn’t said that. The Spirit through Marok squeezes me tighter with his power as his anger flares. I gasp and try to cry out in pain, but I have no air to do so. “Seal your spell Callia! Now!”

I cry out again as I feel my magic being drained. How am I draining from Gstalt? The Spirit uses his magic to squeeze me tighter as I force the stone to widen out of desperation. I fall to the ground, begging for death in my mind. Please stop draining Gstalt! I beg the stone in my mind.

“Now Callia!” Marok yells once I finish draining Gstalt for the second time. “It’s going to keep happening as long as I have this stone removed from your chest. Seal your spell! By order of the Spirit World. I will strip you of your magic if you do not. Seal your spell Callia!”

I pant as I force myself to my knees. I look at Marok. He looks desperate. I can live without my magic, but I know the Spirit world cannot. The Spirit sees anger in my face, and stubbornness. “Please Callia.” He sighs.

Surprise rages through me. Spirits do not say please, they order. I nod my head, picturing scissors snipping a string, ceasing flow to the stone. I gasp as air returns to my lungs. Quickly, I imagine an impenetrable stone, allowing nothing to break or steal from it. The liquid in the crystal solidifies, causing a cold hard glint to come from the lilac stone. Now nothing can break this stone, even Spirits, except my magic from me directly.

The Spirit in Marok smiles, relief washing over him. “Thank you Callia. It’s quite impressive you were able to do this to begin with. You’re the first being, outside of a Spirit, that’s been able to successfully create their own Elemental Stone.” The Spirit uses his power to place me back in my seat.

“Why-“ I try to speak then catch my breath before trying again. “Why are you doing this? Why are you interfering in mortal affairs?”

The Spirit chuckles. “We’re not interfering with mortal affairs. We’re meddling with your affairs.” He cocks his head as a thought strikes him. “I suppose you want to know why we ordered the Elemental Elders to let you die.”

A spark of anger raises inside of me. “That would be nice.” I nearly snap. I have to remain respectful, but it’s proving to be a challenge to keep my anger in check right now.

“Simple. It was needed. You needed to die in order for your spell to work. Only a Spirit should perform your stone spell. You angered the Spirits when you did this. No mortal should have your power.

“The spell was continuing to grow, draining your body of its endless source. Had you remained alive the Dark Magic would have shattered your stone and infected you. Placing the stone in your body was the only way to stop its flow once the source of the magic had died.

“You were never fully dead Callia. Your magic is too strong in this world, from the people you affected. It remained so your spell continued to work. This is why you were trapped in purgatory instead of crossing. Purgatory is a halfway world you can always come back from. That is the other reason why Gstalt was strong enough to revive you. Had you fully crossed, you would not have been allowed to return.

“Once you were revived your body was destroyed, which removed the safety of that spell Callia. The stone was transported back into your live body. That is why we are here today. To get you to stop your spell that will surely shatter. Your assumption was correct Callia. If that stone were to break, you would be infected by the magic. Another puppet for Gstalt to control.”

“If I hadn’t casted that spell, I wouldn’t have been in purgatory for failing?” I ask as I figure out how to breathe.

“More or less. You remaining in purgatory was essential for you to come back and finish your journey with Gstalt. I’m sorry that Mako failed you when you needed him. He’s been severely punished as a result, as well as his race. We’ve released Mako from purgatory once you were revived. However, we will not accept a Stone Offering from them until they redeem themselves.”

“Why are you so interested in what happens with my life?” I demand, near anger. I’d be angry if it weren’t for the fact he could kill me the second the thought hits him. I also wish not to anger him because I fear he’d send me back to purgatory.

“For now, I’ll just tell you because we just are Callia. Now,” He snaps his fingers, making my stone vanish, “This stone will be placed with the other Elemental Stones in the Spirit world. Now create a new stone.”

I give him a confused look, fearing a trap. “You just told me I shouldn’t.”

“I meant without Spirit permission. Now, do it.” He barks.

I really hate this Spirit. Forcefully I move my hands and touch my heart. I think my desire and breathe through my heart. In my hand a small crystal forms. Blood pulls from my hand and drips on the forming crystal, hardening the stone that is a third of the size of my palm. I kiss it as I close my eyes, picturing a solid basin so the stone will not be allowed to expand.

Once I open my eyes, the Spirit looks at it and then snaps his finger, a blue stone surrounding my stone, giving room for liquid to fill it. Another snap pulls the wind stone from my heart, surrounding the water stone, again, leaving room for it to be filled. “You must retrieve the other stones. Your spell will work, just not in the way you believe. Do you understand what I’m saying Callia?”

I look at the two stones surrounding mine, mine acting like a heart. My stone is the heart, throwing off the energy pulses of the stones, controlling it in a way. In order for the stones to properly be filled my magic must remain intact. In order to stop the spell all Dark Magic must be removed…Or…

I nod. “My stone is the heart. Dark Magic is the only pulse that will not be thrown by the stone, so therefore is the only one that can enter it. I am the only one that can control this stone. As long as my magic holds, so will the stone.”

Marok, controlled by the Spirit, nods. “You must remember your first lesson in magic Callia. In order for life to thrive, and magic to balance, there must be some darkness. That is the lesson in death.”

“And light magic.” I say as I close my eyes, feeling my sentence. “I understand. I will stop Gstalt.”

He nods. “Good. We will be checking in with you Callia.” He snaps his finger, shooting the stone back in my chest. “You are not allowed to talk about what happened in this room, outside of this room; especially to anyone outside of this room.” He mainly looks at Allie for that direction. “Keep Callia safe and away from Gstalt and his men.” With a snap of his finger the Spirits vanish.

Once the Spirits leave, all three of us fall on the floor to our knees. “What just happened?” Allie demands as I put my heart on my chest. I pull out the stone, seeing the layers of hollow stones for the first time up close. If the Spirits intentions for this visit was to remove my Elemental Stone, I wonder how dangerous it was in order for them to intervene. I’m still unclear on why they’re meddling with my role in this fight.

“Callia,” Allie nearly yells as I crawl over to Marok to see if he’s okay.

I touch Marok on the neck. Finding a pulse, I pull back and try to breathe. “Marok is okay, just exhausted from the Spirit’s possession.” I lean back and look at Allie, who seems petrified.

I sigh and sit cross legged on the floor, looking at her. “On the day of my death, due to Mako, I was forced to create a fourth stone or risk death. That’s the stone you saw the Spirits take away. Every time I get near Gstalt’s magic lately; the stone starts absorbing it. Right now, for the first time, it did it without being near Gstalt. I can’t seem to control the stone anymore.” That’s a terrifying thought. That means that the magic gathered is stronger than mine. It’s seeking its identical chemical make-up; but due to my power it’s forced into the stone. The Spirit was right. I was getting close to death. I suppress a shudder at that thought.

“That might explain why they took it then.” Allie says as she straightens. “It was growing too powerful.”

I nod. “That’s highly possible. What has me worried, is the Spirit seemed more nervous than anything about Gstalt’s magic growing darker. I didn’t think it was possible.”

Allie thinks about it. “What did it mean about Gstalt’s counterpart?”

I play through the conversation. “I thought he was referring to Arwen, but he said he’d be dead soon. Does Gstalt have another person he’s working with?” I think back to when I first saw Arwen through my mother. Now that I think about it, she could have been looking at someone other than him. She never stopped looking behind her. Maybe Morta wasn’t looking at Arwen.

“What did the Spirit mean when he asked if you knew what he was saying? What do you have to do?”

I bite my lip before answering. “I have to die.”

“What!” Allie screeches, lunging to her feet. “Why? You weren’t going to die the first time.”

I nod. “Yes but I would have had all four Elemental Stones filled. Due to the Spirits fury with the Wind Gods they have no stones they can use or spare. I cannot complete that spell, so I have to hit it at a different angle. My stone is the heart, the core source of power for these stones. It’s the only thing making these stones compatible with each other. My source has to end in order for Dark Magic to stop being drained into the stone.”

“There has to be another way.” Allie nearly yells as she grabs my shoulders and kneels down, putting her face against mine. “We cannot lose you to the darkness Callia. You’re our only light in these times; and the only light back then. The world was filled with hopelessness the day you died.”

“I’ll try to think of another way Allie, but I’m not sure what more I can do.” We would have continued talking but the hallway door opens.