Authors: Kate Douglas
Crystalfire (24 page)
Crystals flashed and the soft sound of beautiful feminine laughter flowed across the cavern. “Rise, Artigos, my old friend. It is good to see you free at last, leading your people as you should have been doing all those long years.”
“Thank you.” He dipped his head. “Your servant, always.”
Would wonders never cease? Alton held out his hand to his grandfather. Artigos grasped it firmly and stood, sheathing DemonsBane as he rose. Then he turned and flashed a brilliant smile at his grandson.
“If Mother Crystal were flesh and blood, I would take her as my consort and share with her the leadership of our world. And if she were willing, I would take her to my bed and keep her there, sated and content for as long as I could hold her.”
Alton’s mouth dropped open. He had no words. None at all.
His grandfather laughed and slapped him on the back. “Shut your mouth, grandson, and don’t look so shocked. Though I’ve never seen her, I have loved the woman I imagine behind that glorious voice for all these long years. She has been my friend, a constant presence speaking words of wisdom in my mind, and she will always remain the anchor holding my heart. She’s starred in my fantasies through the long, dark nights, and offered me counsel throughout all the days of my captivity. Should you have any doubt that I have loved her all these many years?”
“Grandfather, I will admit that there are very few things you ever say that don’t leave me amazed, but that probably tops the list. Until HellFire spoke, I never knew Mother Crystal existed.”
Artigos shook his head slowly, as if the thought of that unrequited love were one more burden he would have to bear. “It’s true, Alton. She is as real as you and I, and I have loved her for millennia. I will always love and honor her.” He winked at Alton. “And I will forever want the lady in my bed.”
Soft laughter rippled about the huge room. “Be careful what you wish for, Artigos the Just. One day I might surprise you.”
Artigos glanced at Alton with raised brows. Alton just shook his head and tried not to laugh. His grandmother had died long before Lemuria sank beneath the sea, and his grandfather had been alone for much of his life. Still, he assumed Mother Crystal, a demigoddess, after all, was merely joking.
Wasn’t she?
Artigos had to think the same. “You have done much for us, Mother Crystal,” his grandfather said. “Thank you for giving an old man hope.” Then he straightened and was once again the leader, the ruler of an entire people. “My grandson tells me now that we have an even greater favor to ask.”
“Aye, ’tis true, but this is a favor I was not certain I could grant. My power is great, though I am not omnipotent. However, Eddy Marks is a powerful warrior, willing to give everything in the fight against the demon scourge, and demonkind must be stopped. She has been favored as are few humans with the gift of immortality, and even more important, she carries crystal, which eternally links her to me. We can’t afford to lose either Eddy Marks or DemonSlayer. The Dark Lord has grown overly confident of late, which might be the key to his downfall. He is beginning to believe himself above the need for balance and he works his evil ways through one who is a traitor to his own blood, the one you call the demon king. Even now, that one has taken over the body of Eddy Marks’s father. Ed Marks is possessed by evil, but he fights the demon bravely.”
Dax had been standing quietly to one side, but he spun about and stared at Alton. “Ed? Ed’s been taken? We have to help him. We ...”
“No.” Crystal shimmered and glowed brightly. “You are needed here. All of you are needed here. As I said, we must do everything we can to bring Eddy Marks back. I am not entirely positive we will succeed, but if you are willing, I say we attempt the impossible this day.”
Dax nodded his head. “Anything, my lady. I will do whatever is needed, whatever is in my power to bring Eddy back.” The way he stood, with his arms folded across his chest, his chin thrust forward and determination in his eyes told Alton more than his words. Dax wasn’t speaking lightly. He would gladly give his own life if he could trade it for Eddy’s safety. But what of her father?
“What about Ed?” Alton glanced at Dax, but he spoke to the entity. “Is it too late for us to help him?”
Crystal glowed and Mother Crystal’s voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. “Taron of Libernus is in Evergreen. He and Willow will meet the demon in battle. Much depends on their success.”
Dawson shot a questioning glance at Alton. “But Willow’s inside a dog. How can she fight demons?”
Once again, soft laughter rippled across the huge cavern. “Don’t underestimate Willow. She is a most amazing creature and proof to me that all things are possible. Important proof to have when one is prepared to attempt something that’s not only impossible, but could be quite dangerous. Dax?”
Dax snapped to attention, looking every part the soldier. Still bare-chested with his scabbard strapped to his back, he folded his arms across his chest, covering much of the colorful phoenix tattoo. “Yes, my lady?”
“Are you willing to risk all for the life of your lady love?”
He nodded. “Yes, my lady. There is no sacrifice too great. Eddy is my life. Without her, my life has no value and there is no reason to continue.”
“Actually, my brave warrior, there is every reason, but I will take your words as your pledge made before these witnesses, and I honor your bravery. Remove your sword and sheath, as well as the heavy trousers you wear. Lie upon the ruby altar.”
He nodded his compliance without question, unbuckled his scabbard with the crystal sword inside, and handed it to Alton. As he took the weapon, Alton caught Dax’s gaze and held it for a long moment.
Dax was his brother, as close to him as Taron, a man he’d known all of his life. He’d known Dax for merely one month, but during these past few weeks, fighting side by side, facing demonkind as brothers in arms, they’d forged an unbreakable bond. Alton loved Eddy, but he loved Dax every bit as much. He wasn’t willing to lose either of them. “You’re sure?”
Dax slowly shook his head. “It’s all right, my friend. I choose this freely, no matter what happens. If it goes wrong for me, tell Eddy how much I love her. That I will always love her.”
“You know I will. Be safe.”
Dax nodded. “I’ll do my best. Alton ...” He sighed and shrugged one shoulder. “I have no other choice.”
“I know.” Alton felt the connection between them, a powerful link through the weight of the scabbard and the living crystal blade tucked within. “I would make the same decision if I were in your sandals. The gods be with you. Both you and Eddy. Come back safely.”
“We’ll do our best.” He flashed a cocky grin at Alton and then, following the entity’s instructions, slipped off his boots and socks, and peeled his jeans down his legs. Wearing nothing but the black knit boxers Eddy had bought for him, Dax walked to the ruby altar and stretched out on the blood-red, crystalline surface.
It hurt Alton to see him lying there. Dax looked too much like a living sacrifice.
“Ginny Jones, draw DarkFire. Artigos the Just, draw DemonsBane.”
Each did as instructed. Alton, Selyn, and Dawson stood to one side. Alton wondered if the others felt the sense of power within the cave the way he did. The walls seemed to vibrate as if they pulsed with life. Mother Crystal’s voice came from everywhere and from nowhere. It filled the room, echoed from each crystal and raised gooseflesh over Alton’s arms and along his spine.
“Selyn of Elda’s line, Dawson Buck, and Alton of Artigos, remove StarFire, DemonsDeath, HellFire, and DemonFire from their scabbards. Place each sword on the ground at the head of the altar. Then stand beside Dax; touch him, share your life force with him. Ginny Jones and Artigos the Just, give the light from your blades to the phoenix. Share the power, even as the phoenix flies. If all goes as planned, as the phoenix rises from the ashes of its own destruction, so shall Eddy Marks rise from the void.”
Without question, Alton, Selyn, and Dawson placed their crystal swords along with Dax’s DemonFire on the ground below the end of the altar where Dax rested his head. Then they each lined up along his left side. Dawson wrapped his hands around Dax’s ankle and calf; Selyn placed her hands on his thigh and waist. Alton clasped Dax’s shoulder and arm, so that each of them held on, skin to skin.
Alton glanced down and looked directly into Dax’s dark brown eyes. He was entirely calm and there was absolutely no sign of fear on his face. It came to Alton then, between one heartbeat and the next, that Dax truly was willing to give his life to bring Eddy back. He had no fear because he didn’t care what he had to go through or whether or not he survived. Not as long as Eddy lived.
Alton gave Dax’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze, and concentrated on sharing whatever he could with his friend. Ginny and his grandfather stood on the other side of the altar and aimed their swords at the tattoo on Dax’s chest. Dark purple light shot forth from Ginny’s blade while a blood-red beam blasted from Artigos’s DemonsBane.
The beams of light met in the very center of the phoenix. The moment the brilliant glow touched the tattoo, Dax jerked and his back spasmed into a full arc. His lips tightened in a grimace, but no sound escaped.
Alton held on. He tried to hold Dax down to the table, but whatever force had caught him was stronger than Alton’s Lemurian strength. The sense of power grew until the entire cavern hummed with it. The hum grew louder, pulsing and gaining a rhythm until it sounded as if a heart beat within the crystal walls. The light inside the crystals covering the walls and ceiling dimmed even as they pulsed with life, and Alton felt his energy being drawn through his fingers, pulled from every part of his body into Dax.
No ... not Dax. It went to the phoenix tattoo.
The phoenix glowed beneath DarkFire’s light. The brilliant colors took on an unnatural fluorescence, so bright they hurt his eyes, but he couldn’t look away. The red light from his grandfather’s blade covered Dax’s entire torso, spreading out from the point where it met the glow of Ginny’s sword, covering and containing the light from DarkFire.
Dax stayed locked in a powerful spasm, his back bowed, the muscles in his body rigid. Tendons stretched taut from his shoulders to his neck and his hands tightened convulsively over the edges of the ruby altar. Veins bulged along his arms and across his forehead. A dark flush covered his body from head to foot.
He made no sound. His eyes were closed, his lips remained twisted in a painful rictus. Whatever locked him so tightly held the others as well. Alton knew that even had he wanted, he could not have lifted his hands from Dax’s shoulder or arm.
Even as his body was locked in stasis, his mind was clear, his brain cataloging everything that happened, every nuance, every sound, every sensation. They were locked together, the four of them, while Ginny and Artigos stood as if transfixed, holding their weapons on Dax, bathing him in what felt like the same power they used to seal a portal or kill a demon.
The only thing that moved was the phoenix. The feathers rippled with life and inked flames licked across Dax’s belly. Alton was reminded of the cursed snake, the way it had writhed over Dax’s torso as it tried to turn the ex-demon’s powers against him. That had been a foul and loathsome thing. Poisonous, striking against Dax with its ivory fangs, it had truly been a cursed creature intent on killing.
Now though, there was no sense of evil, no fear that the phoenix intended to harm Dax. The brightly colored bird was bursting with purpose and filled with life.
One wing lifted a tiny bit, and then the other, slight, gentle tugs as colorful art pulled away from warm, living flesh. The skin beneath the ink was clear and healthy, not the bloody wound the snake had left when it tried to separate itself from Dax’s skin. No, the phoenix was lifting itself free, feather by feather, carefully releasing one at a time. Gently, ever so gently with the greatest care.
The sound in the cavern grew, and the thrumming of a beating heart was joined by an angelic choir, a beautiful blend of men’s and women’s voices singing in perfect harmony. Moving up and down the scale without words, it grew in volume from the faintest musical hum until it became a powerful song, a rhythmic chant in a language Alton had never heard before.
Even though the words were unfamiliar, he was almost certain he understood their meaning. This was a song of power, of life, and he was positive the intent was to share and give strength.
The light in the crystals caught and held the beat with the chanting voices until the entire cavern was alive with song, with the sense of all the warriors who had passed, those whose souls resided here within these crystal walls.
Time lost meaning but the song continued, growing in strength, in power, in life. After a while, Dax’s body relaxed a bit and he lay back upon the altar, but still the phoenix struggled to free itself. Finally, the long neck began to undulate, until, twisting and turning, the bird pulled its head free from Dax’s shoulder.
It lifted its beak and the eyes were bright with intelligence as it stared at the faces surrounding Dax. Alton heard Selyn’s soft gasp and Dawson’s whispered curse. Transfixed, Alton stared at the bird as it studied each one of them before returning to its business of pulling free.
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