The Chronicles of the Black Crystal. Vol: 1: Andrew River

The next morning the woman and children had disappeared from the campsite. I did not know if they were spies, or they wondered off in the early morning hours and Dylan had captured them. There was no trail to follow. One thing was for certain; Dylan was on a rampage reaching havoc on everything. I could not let this happen anymore. I packed up my stuff, doused the fire and headed back off. I did not run this time; I didn’t want to make a scene.

Close to my campsite was a main road; I took it all the way down. A man walking in the wood is more suspicious than a man traveling on the road. Passing buyers came and went, but I never felt alone. We both kept each other company, even if no one saw our connection. Which never severed away. The Crystal told stories of times long lost forgotten; I enjoyed mostly. I expressed jokes that I knew. But my Master never understood them. I told my Master that we would work on this humor. However, most of our journey the Crystal gave me advice on steps I could use to defeat that Monster.

"Andrew, listen to me. Dylan is a strong creature. To conquer him you must bring him to his knees, weakening him from the inside out. For that is where all our powers reside, within us. It is what keeps us to have strength against the forces of Mother Earth.”

" Master, how do I do such acts?”

“One countermove many young sorcerers inchant is to attack the center of balance which resides in the conscience. This is where you and many others like yourself control their powers. They can hide it away when need be. “There was a pause at the end of this sentence, where my Master wanted to say more but did not.

“Is there other sources to counter attack, Master?”

There was a pause then It answered, ” There is one more,” It sighed, ” it is when you control your opponent’s mind from the inside. But no one should never perform such wickedness. The darkness has to be your teacher to conjure such a horrid craft. You cannot have two masters. You must pick which side you are on; to be under the wing of the Darkness or the Light. Once you perform an incantation of this magnitude, you can never go back. Do you understand this Andrew?”

" Yes, I do. Is that what Dylan accomplished on me a few nights ago?”

" Yes. But you have to promise me that you will not use such power on anyone you come across with.”

" I promise, Master.”

Our talk lasted for quite some time. But the mood changed around noon when a fork in the road appeared. One path had been going to the Ageless Forest. This route was ill-kept; weeds had grown all over. The next drive went to a pleasant, tranquil forever trail.

"Well, it’s now or never.”

“Let us proceed.”

I stepped onto the path that led to the Ageless Forest. You could start to see the beginnings of the forest. From here it only looked like a green mountain range far off in the horizon. It took us about two hours to get to the entrance of the forest. The appearance was complete opposite what the name makes it out to be. It was an ancient, unkept forest. Vines were growing everywhere. Tall trees went straight up to the sky, with no end in sight. The floor littered with moss and dead leaves. No insects were singing. A howling wind here and there stopped the grim silence.

The more you traveled into the Forest, the more you could have felt the evil that resided there. Dylan’s lair pinpointed in the center of the Forest. Where I could have felt all the malevolent energy had been seeping into the forest. Every step was a surprise waiting to happen.

We walked so many miles that I lost track of time. At a point, I did not know if it was morning, afternoon or evening. I decided that I should rest, for I was drained. I leaned Defender down on a tree; fingers length away from me. I left the satchel on my side, and I slid down on one of the never-ending trees. Unconsciously, I used the magic that resided in me.

I took to noticed that I was using my powers more and more. Without myself even knowing. I compared my magic to breathing; sometimes you are not aware that you are breathing. But you are. And this was my connection with my powers and myself. A lot of times I did not know I was using magic until I finished performing it. And once again I had to be careful. For when people see that you have a magical power inside you, they fear you. For they have only seen the evil that it can produce. From Dylan’s unending torment. Or if one of Dylan’s minions notice that you have the talent, then they will recruit you. And I did not want Dylan’s minions to know that I am coming.

Laying by my side was a family of small pebbles and large rocks. I picked up a decent rock and held it in my palm. The rock was rough and ridged. Sharp points stabbed into my hand. “Come forth, flame!” I said inside my mind. The rock heated up, then the piece of Earth became a ball of flame, which hovered above where it had been.

"Exquisite, Andrew.”, Said my master,” If you say Flacără A zbura instead. That creation of yours will shoot toward your enemy compared to hovering just there on your hand doing absolutely nothing.”

" Flacără A zbura" A portion in my mind open to a new place. There had been so much more to learn. The ball of fire rushed toward the nearest tree across from me, thinking that was my enemy. It did no harm toward the tree’s protective bark. Although, the spell did scar a singe mark on it. None the less, if you performed such a spell it will bring much harm to anyone.

“What happened?”

“You opened another part of your mind by saying that incatation. ”

“The Book has spells, and I practiced with them and they had no effect of this to me. Why did I have it with this?”

" Compared with that language in your book. Nature spoke it. But this form of speaking has been in existence for much longer. The language that produced such magic has been used mostly by beings that follow the darkness. But each side can learn this language. It is the only thing that we both have in common. This language is in an ancient dialect that came out of a land that had monsters battling each other. But also, a beauty. And that is why we can both conjure it. But be warned, because most of the enchanters that use this, follow the Darkness, they have polluted this language. And because they have polluted the language anybody who speaks can also be polluted. ”

“Will I?”

“You are going down a path that no one has ever followed before. You must learn the Darkness and Light. The world needs both, as your book has mentioned. And you hold both sides in you. You command both sides, and you can balance both sides. At times, you will feel the darkness more prominent than the light, and others you will feel the light more prominent than the Darkness.”

“So, the weight of the world will be on my shoulders?”

“Yes, it will. It must lean on someone. At this moment that person is Dylan. And this world is filled with evil and wickedness.”

“What if I will lean on the Darkness more than the Light, than I to will become like Dylan!”

“Andrew if you will keep your heart pure you will never become like Dylan. Dylan envied and lusted for power, and that was his downfall. I have picked you, because I saw that you have what Dylan and Jim had, but even more. And the extra bit, that neither of them had, was light. Jim could have gone down the same path that Dylan went down. Most likely he would have, but Dylan got their first. And swore never to be like Dylan. How much is Jim to Dylan and Dylan is to Jim does not matter. You matter and the future that will bring matters. You understand, Andrew?”

“Unfortunately, I do. Why have you not talked with me about this before? I do believe I should have known, and the risks that I could make to destroy all that we have done thus far.”

“I did not tell you this before, because you did not need to know. I needed you to vanquish Dylan, first before I told you this. I did not what you to worry about anything. But I have realized that I believe that you need to know to help you to conquer Dylan. And what is at play. I know you can handle this information, because I know what passes through your mind. You are stronger than you ever imagine. And I have realized that now. Please forgive me, Andrew. I have doubted you.”

“Master, I do not believe that you are right. This might be the nail in the coffin for Darkness to consume the entire Earth. You have put a heavy burden on me. And I do not want the darkness to fed from that.”

“I understand your concerns. Let me reinsure you, I would not put obstacles in your way, if I do not believe you can conquer them. And you can conquer this.”

“Thank you Master, I forgive you for your doubts. For I think I would have done the same thing. Teach me something now from this language I am ready.”

" Take your staff.“, I gripped it,” stand up and say the same thing.”

" Flacără A zbura" Defender’s blue jewel become a fiery auburn color.

“Now, I am going to show you this, then you repeat it.”

My body had been moving on its own. I still had the sensation to it. But I wasn’t controlling my movements. My Master took hold of my body without me even knowing. My arms danced in a direction solely compared to an ancient art form. But with each motion, a red, auburn hue emerged from thin air. Inside the hue had a static electricity. A little lightning storm had been forming in front of my eyes. The color of the red jewel had been decreasing with each second. And the hue became stronger. The final move had been to push this piece of magic. And as I did, it released an electric energy to everything. Scorching the ground and trees. The clouds were darker, like smoke. This power affected everything at hand.

“It killed everything in its wake. I cannot repeat such an act. ” I felt the lives of all the living things dying in front of my eyes, as they shivered up to ash. I was reconsidering my side of the argument. I do not want to feel this way, the entire time I conjure this language.

“Repeat it; you will never learn. There will be times to be merciful. But other times you should do what is right. Now repeat these motions, Andrew.”

“Master we have killed so much already; I do not do...”

“Andrew do it! If you cannot man up to perform this, you will not be able to defeat Dylan.”

“As you wish Master.” And I submitted to It. He is my teacher after all. He does know what is best for me and the world which we live. He has the experience, and I must trust in him. Even if my conscience and my emotions tell me differently.

As I perform this act, sadness crept inside me. Just knowing the outcome brought anguish upon me. As I finished the movements, I aimed at a spot of the forest that already had dying trees and plants. I did not want to destroy unimpaired beings if I could help it.

After the spell, I reached into my bag to fetch some morsels to revive my happiness inside my soul.