Adamagika: The Spirit Within - 28. Ch 28: The Crystal Prison

CHAPTER 28: The Crystal Prison

“As I told you, Adam, we have to be careful on whom we trust,” Magister Aenhol hastened to say as we were walking. Jacob and I saw him leaving from the Mage Academy and caught up with him to confirm the news we had heard. We were making our way towards the Mage Council chambers where he was expected, immediately it seemed. “It hasn’t even been a day yet and the city’s in an undesirable state of panic. People should not have known about this for at least a few days. We’ll be lucky if we don’t destroy ourselves before our enemies get here.”

“So it’s true?” I asked. “There is an army heading for Arantiva?”

“Well, it’s not quite headed here yet. But yes, there are plans underway for an attack against us. I think you of all people would know that such a thing was inevitable.”

A sense of dread filled me as I remembered my conversation with him in the Seer’s cave. “Yeah, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.”

“We still have some time,” he said heavily. “But I daresay if what we learned is true, we have two weeks to prepare, perhaps less.”

“Two weeks?” Jacob asked in disbelief. “That’s hardly enough time.”

“Yes,” he said as we swung our way through the bustling group of administrative officials moving back and forth across the halls. “I’m afraid they’ve been preparing for this attack much longer than we have been preparing to defend against it. We are not entirely defenseless of course but I fear there are some things we are not ready for.”

“What’s that, sir?” I asked.

He looked over at me and I knew he was contemplating if he should tell me. I looked into his eyes and an image came to mind, a black jagged shard reaching up to the sky.

“The obelisk?” I asked.

He stopped and looked closely at me. He raised an eyebrow as though asking me how. “Yes, Adam,” he whispered indicating I should do the same, “I’m afraid they will use that.”

“I remember those things,” Jacob said as something clicked in his head. “The Derviks made us build them in the village.” He looked uncertainly at Magister Aenhol for a moment. “We used them as a trap for mages. Somehow when those things get powered they nullify magic in the area.”

“Not quite nullify but rather absorb,” Magister Aenhol said. “That makes them even more dangerous than the energy fields created by technology. Instead of fighting force with force, they use magical energy to amplify its own field.”

“How bad is it, sir?” I whispered.

He bent down and looked intently at me. His eyes were a mixture of worry and concern. “Unless we find something to use against those things, this could very well be the end of this city.”

“You can’t be serious,” Jacob shouted. Several of the people walking around us were now watching us and perhaps listening for anything interesting to pick up.

Magister Aenhol looked over at Jacob. “I’m afraid so. We are not immortals, Jacob. As many as we are in this city, our numbers are nothing compared to the number of people out there who would rather see us dead. Now it seems they have found a way to accomplish just that.”

“What can we do, sir?” I asked.

“I daresay that Brian has something to show you. I think you should go find him,” he said completely throwing me off the loop.

It took me a few seconds to comprehend what he was saying. “Oh, he’s already shown me the gryphons, sir.”

“That’s not quite what I meant. Unless I’m mistaken, which I doubt I am, there is something he’s been meaning to show you. Don’t tell him I told you though. Technically, I’m not supposed to know.” He gave me a wink and then turned around. He placed his hand on a door handle and it was only then that I realized that we were already standing outside the Gathering Hall. Sometimes, when I walked and talked with Magister Aenhol, time just seemed to… speed up. “If there’s nothing else you need, I am expected inside.”

We said our goodbyes and he disappeared into the room. Jacob and I made our way out of the castle. I watched as people rushed by. I could see several adults escorting children out of the Mage Academy no doubt to keep them safe at home or maybe even evacuate them from the city. Magister Aenhol was right. Whoever spread this news did more harm than good.

I looked over at Jacob. He has been awfully quiet. He seemed to be in deep thought. Deep worry lines were etched across his forehead and his mouth was set in a frown. I extended my hand to his but as soon as I made contact, he pulled away as though he was burned. He looked over at me and must have realized what he did. His face softened.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he took my hand into his, our fingers intertwined.

“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to pull through this.”

Jacob sighed. “You heard what Magister Aenhol said. This may be more than we can handle.”

“Well, I don’t believe him,” I declared.

Jacob looked over curiously. “You don’t?”

“We have magic on our side – magic that has gotten us through centuries of conflicts. Our kind has survived through many wars. Even during the Demon Wars where things were at their darkest point, we endured. This is just another hurdle we’re going to have to pass.”

Jacob looked out into the city. “How much would you give to save the city?” he asked.

I looked over at him wondering what he was thinking but I couldn’t see his eyes. “I wouldn’t save the city as much as I would save the people I love who live in it: you, Magister Aenhol, Phillip, Marcus, Javier, Brian, and even stubborn old Jorik. I’d give anything to save all of you.”

Jacob turned towards me. His expression against the morning light was dark. Shadows seemed to fall across his face despite the cloudless sky. “You’re going to die here, Adam. If you stay here, you will die.”

I was surprised to say the least. Shocked might have been a better word. “What are you talking about?”

“Come away with me,” he said. “Please. Leave this city with me. We’ll find somewhere else to live.” He wrapped me in his arms tightly. “Please, Adam. You have to come with me. It’s the only way.”

“Jacob, you’re not making sense,” I said as I tried to pull away but if anything he just held on tighter.

“The Seer,” he whispered. “She told me.” I stiffened in his arms. He must have sensed it because he continued. “You know it too don’t you? She said something to you too.”

“What exactly did the Seer tell you?” I asked, ignoring his own question to me.

Jacob furrowed his forehead in concentration, as though the memories he was recalling were things he would much rather forget. “In Arantiva, Adam will find death. His fate lies in your willingness to save him.”

“Jacob, that can mean anything. That doesn’t mean I’ll die.”

“What else can finding death mean?” he protested in a voice that said it should have been obvious.

“It could mean I’m in danger but it doesn’t mean I have to leave.” As soon as I said it, Magister Aenhol’s words flooded into my mind and echoed into my ears: What if I decide to flee the city and I forced you to come with me because I do not want anything terrible to happen to you? And what if you were supposed to do something that could ultimately make the difference between victory and defeat but then you weren’t there to do it because I brought you away against your will? Was that what Jacob thinking about? Did he want me to abandon everything to save my own life? Worse, was he thinking of forcing me to leave with him?

And another thing, was it possible that Magister Aenhol had somehow foreseen that moment, that conversation I was having with Jacob?

I pulled away from Jacob until we were both looking at each other, his eyes a torrent of emotion, none of which gave me comfort. “Jacob, I’m meant to be here,” I said as calmly as my voice would allow me. “I have no doubt about that. I was brought here for a reason and whether you like it or not, I will stay here and fight until there is nothing left to fight for. As long as there is a chance for us to save the city and its people, I will not run. I will not leave others to fend for themselves when I know I can do something.”

“I’m supposed to be the stubborn one here,” Jacob said, his voice cracking.

I leaned forward until our foreheads touched. “I promise you Jacob. I won’t die in this war.”

Finally, Jacob couldn’t hold it back. His shoulder shook as he sobbed. His tears were infectious. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” His eyes, despite being so red, looked distant and unfocused. I had a feeling that I wasn’t the first one to make a promise as important as this to him.

“I will keep this one,” I whispered. I took his hand and placed it over my heart. “I will keep this one.”

Jacob gave me a weak smile and said, barely above a whisper, “I’m gonna kick your ass if you don’t.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. I must have looked crazy because there we were, two boys with tear streaked faces, laughing.

“Adam!” I heard a voice yell from somewhere behind me. “Hey, Adam!” It was Brian.

“Hey,” I said as I rapidly began wiping my tears away. I saw Jacob do the same thing.

“Hey…” Brian said uncertainly as he came closer. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I? I can come back later if so.”

I looked over at Jacob. He held my eyes for a moment before finally nodding. “No, I think we’re about done. What can we do for you?”

“Oh,” he glanced at Jacob for a second before turning back to me. “There’s something I need to show you, Adam, but it’s only for Aerophalanx recruits.”

“Oh,” I said as I looked towards Jacob.

“That’s ok,” Jacob said. “I think I’m going to get us some sandwiches for dinner from that place we ate at on our birthday. I missed eating the food there.”

“I can go with you there later, if you want,” I offered.

“No, it’s ok. It might be late by the time you and Brian finish… whatever. I’ll just wait for you in the room, okay?”

“Sounds good,” I said with the warmest smile I could make considering the circumstances. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yeah, see you later,” he said as he turned. I could almost see his mind working furiously as he walked away.

I turned my attention back to Brian. “What do you need to show me?”

He gave me a mischievous smile as though things were going as expected for him, “come on, I can’t discuss it here. It has something to do with the defense of the city.”

“Oh god, you’re not going to make me carry something heavy, are you?”

“Huh?” he asked, clearly confused.

“Nevermind.”

We made our way into the Administrative Building but he led me down unfamiliar corridors that seemed to get lower and lower. I kept asking him what it was about but he just kept saying that it was something that I needed to see. Eventually we reached a hallway lit by floating balls of light much like what Magister Aenhol used in the Hallean Mountains. There weren’t any windows and the somewhat chilly feel of the walls made me think we were underground, very deep underground.

“What are we doing here, Brian?” I asked starting to get bothered by his behavior.

“Shh. Watch,” he said. He stood against a barren grey stone wall. He pressed his fingers one after another on four different spots on the wall and then stood back. For the briefest moment, nothing happened until small lines started to appear between the points he touched. More lines appeared around the lines and they all started glowing a fiery red until they formed an elaborate looking “Z” on top of what appeared to be a ringed circle. An odd icon that looked like a human cog was in the very middle of the “Z”.

“What…?” I managed to whisper out.

Brian stepped forward and pushed the cog in the middle which seemed to sink against the pressure of his hand. Once it had sunk into the wall, a sound came from the other side which sounded like a lever being pulled. Slowly, the wall started to split itself in half along the lines of the “Z” as more parts melted into the stone. Soon, we were looking down a very dark hallway. One by one, balls of blue flame came to life along the walls on torches they never seemed to touch.

Brian turned to me with a smile. “Come on,” he said as he made to move inside.

I grabbed onto his arm, “Brian, wait.”

He stopped and looked back at me, a puzzled expression on his face.

“Why are you showing this to me?”

He studied me for a moment as though thinking of his answer and I watched his eyes carefully. “Because I have to.”

His eyes were reflecting worry and uncertainty, something I was beginning to notice was a trend among people in this city.

“Can I trust you?” I asked.

He looked at me as though he got hurt by my question and his eyes seemed slightly sadder. I suddenly realized that what I asked may have been offensive.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “You’re about to lead me down a dark corridor to who knows where. I just needed to ask.”

Brian smiled and a little more of the twinkle returned to his eyes. “Yes, Adam, you can trust me. I’ll keep you safe against the monsters in the dark.”

As I looked into his eyes I could see nothing but honesty and understanding.

“Okay,” I said with a smile. “Let’s go.”

We walked down the narrow hall dimly lit by the blue lights. It strangely felt like I was walking towards the Seer again and I began to worry about what awaited us at the end of the tunnel. After all, that encounter didn’t quite end well with good news. I knew that I could trust Brian though so I wasn’t too nervous. As we got closer to the end of the hallway, I saw a bright yellow light mixed with blue emanating from another room. “Say nothing,” Brian told me as we got closer to the room.

Eventually we reached the end of the hallway which was a large circular room. It was empty on all sides except for a set of stairs on the right that led up to a balcony and a door across us that was closed. As I looked up into the balcony, I saw four stone-grey, robed and hooded mages looking down at us on four different sides.

“Brian Knightly and Adam Lowry, what brings you here?” asked an elderly sounding mage who was peering down towards us. His eyes and nose weren’t visible underneath his hood and only his mouth gave away an indication that he was even alive. As I looked closer, I noticed that a blue nearly invisible shield shimmered between the two floors.

“We are here under orders to check the status and integrity of the Crystals.” Brian said.

“Under whose orders?” asked the elderly man.

“Lady Helena Knightly.”

“Yes, I have received orders for you to be here, Brian Knightly, but not for young Adam Lowry,” the elderly man said as though he was getting bored. “He cannot enter without the appropriate clearance.”

“Apologies Master Clark,” said a younger sounding mage who was standing on the balcony. His face like the elderly man was shrouded and only his moving mouth could be seen. “Lady Helena Knightly informed me earlier to extend the authorization to both Brian Knightly and Adam Lowry. She was quite preoccupied and was unable to draft the change in the form.”

The elderly man who must have been Master Clark huffed. “You’d think we were guarding vegetables here the way that woman hands out authorizations. I need to have a word with her. She needs to take our duty more seriously.” The emphasis he gave to duty made me think he was explicitly trying to avoid the word job.

“I have no doubt that she considers your duty here of the utmost importance,” Brian said. “But given the circumstances regarding the threat to the city, you can understand how she might be a bit busy.”

Master Clark looked mollified as though he was just handed a compliment. “Fine,” he said. “Since this is his first time inside, he is your responsibility, Brian Knightly. If he dies, it will be your responsibility to clean up the mess and write up the paper work.”

I wasn’t sure if he was only kidding. Nothing about the sour expression of his lips said he was kidding.

“Of course,” Brian said with a nod.

Master Clarke waved his hand in front of him and suddenly the walls started moving. Either that or the balcony started rotating because all of the sudden the door frame and the four mages overhead where going round and round. Faster and faster they went until the robed figures overhead were just blurs. I was surprised they weren’t being thrown off the balcony.

Or throwing up for that matter because that was exactly what I felt liked doing.

When I thought I couldn’t take anymore, the walls stopped moving as quickly as they had accelerated. The door was still in the exact same spot I had seen it. At least I think it was.

Clicking sounds started coming from behind the door and it slowly pulled backwards until it opened to another dark corridor that was slowly being lit by blue torches.

“Thank you, Master Clark,” Brian said with a bow. His form was a bit lopsided though so I had a feeling that he was just as dizzy as I was. We ambled towards the door somewhat slowly. Before Brian crossed the threshold though, he turned back and looked up to one of the hooded mages and winked. I could see a small smile appear under the mage’s hood.

As soon as we were through the door, it closed behind us as a thick blue shield shimmered before it.

“I’m not supposed to be here, am I?” I asked Brian, trying to swallow down my nerves and perhaps my last meal with it.

“Nope,” he said as we once again started leading me down a dimly lit hallway that looked exactly like the last one. “Neither am I really,” he said with a crude smile.

“That other mage got us through?”

“Yeah. He’s a good friend and with a little of his help and a little bit of magic, he got us through.”

“Brian, if we’re not supposed to be here, why are we here?”

“I told you. I need to show you something.”

I had another question in mind but I completely forgot what it was because Brian abruptly stopped. “We’re here,” he said.

I looked around. We were still in the middle of the long hallway that seemed to have no end. “Where exactly is here?” I asked him. When I looked back towards him, he was gone. “Brian?” I yelled and my voice echoed in the long hallway.

I was just starting to panic when Brian’s head shot through the wall to my right. He looked like he was decapitated and displayed like a trophy except of course that he was smiling mischievously, probably thoroughly enjoying the annoyed look on my face. Besides, no decapitated trophy head could look that handsome. “Come on. Just walk through the wall.” His head then vanished into the stone wall again.

I placed a hand tentatively into the wall and my hand slipped right through. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and walked forward. A few steps later, a dazzling blue light assaulted my sight, even through my closed eyelids. I slowly opened them and let my eyes adjust to the new brightness. I felt my jaws drop as the room came into focus.

We were standing in a huge cavern easily as wide as the whole castle above. It looked like it was carved into the earth. But instead of soil, the walls were carved from a light blue rock that surrounded the whole room. Jagged crystals that glowed a bright white light protruded through different parts of the cavern. In the very center of the cavern, steps led up to what looked like a huge shard-like crystal pylon that was about twenty meters high and ten meters thick. The pylon was floating inside three huge metal rings that looked a lot like crowns, back when there were still kings. The rings rotated in different directions. The two outer ones were rotating in the same direction and the center the opposite way.

Hugh waves of transparent energy were pouring down into the pylon from the ceiling. It looked like it was seeping through the rock itself like sunlight in slow motion. They cascaded into the pylon as though powering it up. Every few seconds, little bolts of electricity would shoot out of the pylon and hit a crystal along the cavern wall.

On the sides and going around the whole cavern were multi-level observation decks with balconies. A white shield shimmered separating the balconies from the room with the crystals probably to prevent the lightning from toasting anyone standing there.

The whole room reminded me of the Seer’s cave except of course that energy could be clearly seen flowing here through the crystals.

“Brian… this is amazing.”

“It is, isn’t it?” he said as he leaned over the balcony and looked towards the crystal pylon.

“What is it?” I asked as I took a spot next to him.

It took him a moment to respond but when he finally did, his voice sounded almost guarded. “A prison.”

I looked over at him. He was still studying the pylon. “A prison for what?” I asked although I was almost certain that I already knew the answer.

Brian shrugged. “I don’t know. It must be something important though for such an elaborate prison. You see those waves of energy seeping through the ceiling? Those are coming from the city’s shields, the ones that surround the whole city. They’re the most powerful shields in Arantiva, possibly in all the seven cities. They’re powered by the magic yielded by generations of mages and thousands of arcane crystals pouring magic into this one room you see here and other strategic spots of the city. In order to break into whatever was inside, you’d have to find a way to shut down the shields of the whole city.”

“Wow,” I said as I looked into the crystal pylon. As I watched, I realized that the crystal in the middle wasn’t actually solid but was in fact layers upon layers of blue and white shields that were so thick that they gained a crystal-like appearance.

“Yeah, wow,” Brian said. I looked over to him but he was no longer looking at the pylon but was instead looking at me. Our eyes met and I quickly recognized that look. I looked away.

“Why are you showing me this, Brian?” I asked nervously.

“How many times do you have to ask me that?” he smirked. “Because I have to. I can’t explain why though. It’s kinda not allowed.”

I looked over at him and he seemed to be avoiding my eyes. I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew why.

“What else did she tell you to do?” I asked stabbing at the dark. I hit the bull’s eye. I watched as Brian turned to me with surprise. “Not to sound conceited, but you’re not the first one who’s had a prophecy that involves me.”

Brian smiled and his shoulders loosened as though a great tension was taken away from him. “You must be really important for the Seer to speak about you to so many people,” he said cheekily.

I offered a smile. “It’s quite tiring actually.” We watched for a few minutes as the lights danced around the room. “Do you think she’s ever wrong?”

He shrugged. “She’s been right about all the things she’s told me so far. And don’t you start asking me about those.” He laughed as though trying to taunt me to ask. “If I had to take a guess though, I’d say she’s always right.”

I sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“She didn’t have very good news, huh?”

“I don’t know. I guess the things she says are still open to interpretation right?” Like the part about me or someone I love dying, I added privately to myself.

Brian nodded. “Usually things don’t become clear until you’re there in the moment or until the moment has passed. That’s the trouble with predicting the future. Divination is half guesswork, half interpretation, all uncertain.”

We spent a few minutes in silence just watching the lightning streak across the cavern. It was beautiful in a way and I probably would have appreciated it more if I didn’t know what was likely hidden within that crystal pylon. I didn’t think it was so much a prison as it was a very secure vault.

“Adam,” Brian said after the long silence, “what’s going on between you and Jacob?”

I looked over at him and I saw again the look in his eyes. I wasn’t really afraid of this question. But, this question coming from Brian with that look was a bit discomforting. “We love each other, Brian, we’re bonded together in a way I could never be with anyone else. I can imagine spending the rest of my life with him.”

Brian frowned a little and his eyes became a little darker, a little bit of the life in them seemed to slip away. “I thought so,” he said softly.

We returned to watching the lights as we both leaned over the balcony. I wouldn’t say that the silence was awkward but it was almost like a calm serenity had fallen over us, as though the lights and sounds of this place could lull you into a deep sleep that would last forever.

It was Brian who broke the silence.

“Do you think you could ever feel that way for me?” he whispered.

I moved closer to him and used a finger to make him look at me. A sense of certainty came over me as I spoke. “I love you Brian but not in the same way that I love Jacob. I’ve come to look at you like a big brother and not as a lover. I’m sorry but I can’t return the kind of love that you want from me.”

Brian smiled a sad smile as a tear suddenly made its way down his right cheek. It didn’t seem like him. I was used to seeing Brian so happy, cheeky, and confident, always winking as though he was sharing a dirty secret with you. Seeing him sad like that made me sad.

He looked away from me and out towards the massive crystal pylon. The tear fell from his face onto the space below us and I heard it fizzle against the shield that undoubtedly was hovering there. He just stood there as a second tear made its way down and a third. He looked so unhappy and for the tiniest moment I wanted to take back what I said.

“Could you kiss me?” he whispered. “Just once.”

He looked so terribly sad that it felt wrong for me to deny that to him. I turned him towards me and took his face in my hands. His cheeks were still moist from his tears and his eyes undeniably red. Electricity sparked around us towards the pylon as though reacting to what was about to happen. I bent his head down towards me and melted my body into his embrace. I moved my lips over his and planted the gentlest kiss in all of Arantiva.