Shadow Jewel: The Heart of Elovia

The Stoneless One

Just as Lilit began to feel she could relax again, the man turned on his heel in her direction, accompanied this time by the woman with the red diamond. It wasn’t until the woman knelt in front of her that Lilit noticed her pointed ears. The woman was a Fairy!

“What do you think?” the man asked. The woman took hold of Lilit’s hand and pulled it towards her. Almost immediately Lilit sensed the intense power of the woman’s healing gemstone, and a feeling of shame came over her. All she had was a useless Ignorance stone, a rough diamond that hadn’t found its direction. Although Lilit knew there was something unique about being a Half-blood with a gemstone, the knowledge gave her little joy. Her gemstone held her captive between two worlds - she was neither Demon nor Diamondite. The healer’s nimble fingers took Lilit’s hands and before she could prevent her, the woman had wiped away the all the concealing dirt with a damp cloth. Lilit hung her head. Now all was lost.

“She bears the sign! She’s a Rev - a Revolutionary!” the woman whispered, carelessly letting go of Lilit’s hand. The air in the dungeon suddenly seemed more stifling than before; every breath burned her lungs; her thoughts raced. Until now, she had merely been unfree, but now that her sign had been discovered she would be handed over to the Searchers. They would first torture her and then have her killed.

“Let me see!” the man commanded the Fairy and bent his head to inspect Lilit’s hands for himself. He studied the characteristic scar intently. “Who has seen the scar? Not Yan I hope, or one of the other prisoners?”
Lilit was silent.
“Answer me!” he bellowed.

"No one has seen it. It’s just a scar,” she replied weakly. “Is that so? Just a scar you say?” He made no effort to conceal the scepticism in his voice. “What’s your name, girl?”

“Lilit," she whispered, exhausted.

“Lilit,” he said, rolling the word off his tongue as if trying to assess the sound of it. Then he fell silent and didn’t stir again until the woman next to him began nervously clearing her throat. With a determined looked on his face, he dug into his pocket and drew out a velvet pouch.

“Yan, I’ve found something I’d like to buy from you.”

Lilit’s gaze fell on the sheathed sword he wore at his hip; she stared at it transfixed. Her gemstone was making little squeaking noises, but she was unable to take her eyes off the sword.

“What do you want from me?” she asked the man at last. “Are you a Wari, or are you a Searcher who’s going to kill me now?”

The man’s reply came quicker than she expected. “To answer your first question – it’s possible that I’m a Wari. So far, however, I’ve no interest in selling you to the Searchers. To answer your second question - no, I’m not going to kill you, unless you try to escape, or attack me with your gemstone,” He glanced at her diamond as if sizing it up. “I doubt, however, that you would be capable of that. Your diamond looks as pallid as your skin. A picture of health you most certainly are not.”

“My diamond?” Lilit whispered as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes. Suddenly she knew what it was about this man that had disturbed her. He had no diamond! Worse, he didn’t even have an aura. There was nothing, absolutely nothing. He had no diamond, not even an aura. He seemed unnaturally strange, as if he were just half a being, incomplete. It just wasn’t possible. A Diamondite without a gemstone was something no one had ever seen. Lilit swallowed and moved further away from this ‘creature’, or whatever it was.

The summoned slave trader planted himself squarely in front of her, a dark look on his face. “You mean to tell me you want this little rascal?” he asked gruffly. “Well, she’s not for sale.”