The Gem Lords

Lord Sapphire - Part 2

     The Gem Lords were delighted by the agreement they’d reached, but warned that Thomas’s ability to cast normal magic spells in the natural world would gradually fade as his soul adapted to the Realms. Within a few decades he would lose the ability to teleport, but they assured him that he would still be able to commute between Haven and the Realms by riding gem steeds, which could cover the distance to the nearest umbilicus, the island of the Emerald Oracle, in just ten hours. Lirenna frowned at that, but nodded, accepting the necessity with as much good grace as she could manage.

     In the meantime, though, the strengthening of Thomas's soul gem had to be performed as quickly as possible, before whoever it was who'd tried to kill the wizard had a chance to strike again, and so the Gem Lords began their preparations immediately. Coal had no opportunity to get alone with the gem, no chance to exert the tiny pressure that would be all that was required to destroy it at this stage, and so he had no choice but to continue the pretence of being Sheena's loyal deputy, assisting with the preparations as well as he was able.

     "We're concocting a spell that will render the jewel invulnerable to all outside influences," the black woman explained as she wove bright magics in the air in front of her with her dark, slender fingers, "but which will still allow it to be destroyed by an act of will by Lord Sapphire. Even then, though, it will require seven separate commands spaced over a hundred years, to ensure he doesn't destroy himself on a whim. He will have to be suffering from suicidal despair for a full century before he can end himself."

     "A century is nothing," said Coal as he held a large clear crystal in his hands, watching a crackling discharge of energies dancing on its pointing tip. He moved the crystal in amongst the energies being summoned and moulded by Lady Jet, and the discharge merged with them, creating a new pattern in the flow that glowed a dull violet, like the barely visible outer band of a rainbow. "I bet Lan's wishing he'd had the same foresight when he strengthened his own gem." And me also, he thought with bitter resentment. Why should this newcomer have the ability to escape from the weariness of life when I can't?

     "The day may well come when we all do," said the woman, examining the new energy pattern with satisfaction. "But just because we can't die is no reason to deny it to our new Lord Sapphire. The true Gods, in Their wisdom, decreed that we should all end one day. It's said that even the souls of the dead don't survive for ever in the next world, that even the most glorious paradise would become a hell if it lasted for ever, and Lan, and Alustra and Enna Mael, are living proof of this. Only souls that can endure eternity, a very tiny proportion of the total, last long enough to become Gods and demons. Those that can't, those that slowly go insane from endless life, are allowed to fade. Not even the souls of the damned are condemned to suffer for the rest of time."

     "Lucky them," said Coal under his breath, too low for Sheena to hear. He stole a glance at the rack of crystals from which he'd taken the one he was holding now. One crystal in particular caught his eye; a small red one that faded to transparency at its very tip. If he could add that to the weave being spun by Sheena, it would alter its energies in a very specific but hard to detect way. The strength spell would appear to work correctly, and every test performed on it would give the correct result, but the apparent indestructibility that would have been conferred on the soul gem would be a sham. It would still be as fragile as any normal crystal but, believing it was now safe, the Gem Lords would allow him to handle it. All he would then have to do was allow it to drop onto the hard, stone floor...

     He stared hungrily at the red crystal, willing Sheena to leave the room long enough for him to use it, but she was finishing now and was gathering up the woven flow of energy, placing it in a storage crystal for easy transport. "That's it," she said, tucking the crystal in a pouch of her robes. "Let's go see how Barl's doing."