The Crystal Mines

6 Nik

Trife returned to our solitary room, moments after a good amount of quartz popped into the middle a few at a time. He hovered in front of me proudly. I could feel down our strange bond that he had found Faolan and that he was well. I had gotten a vague impression of another person standing with my friend, but it wasn't clear.

"You found him," I smiled at the sprite.

"I did my Nissa! He said that he has someone he wants to bring, to keep these crystals safe, and that he will help form a plan."

That must have been who I had gotten a small glimpse of standing next to him. Trife would go back tonight when their mining day was over. We had four days remaining in solitary, which meant four days of planning. It wasn't much time, but we would have to make it work. I grabbed one of the many quartz chunks and tossed it gently in the air.

"Why did he send these to us, Trife?"

He spun in the air and shrugged happily, tail wrapping around his body. I shook my head, amused. Without warning, he disappeared. What a strange little creature. The quartz we mined in the prison, was pure. I had never held any long enough to try to connect to it magically, not to mention the iron greatly suppressing it. Impulsively, I reached out to it. The clear rock responded immediately and lit the room up. Having an idea, I tried pushing a small amount of raw power into it to test its ability to hold magic. The only crystals I had used had come from master Jorah. I was curious to learn if it responded differently straight from the source. Callion came to sit by me, quietly watching and I ignored the brooding male.

The crystal held the magic well and I could see the drop of power I had placed inside of it. Uncut, the crystal was chaotic, but in a natural sense. Placing the magic in there was easy and smooth. Within, it swirled with life, almost enjoying the space. I held the chunk in my lap and searched around in the pile of others from Faolan. Most of them were clear, others had stripes of white or rose. I found a particularly rosy one, a pink so pale, I had only noticed it the shade because it sat against the others. It called to me the way certain crystals in Jorah's tower had called to me. I brought it to me, the size fitting in my palm comfortably, and searched the magical vein within. Inside, was a complicated system, seeming to have its own magical source. I lifted my head to Callion before continuing.

He was leaning back on his hand looking right at me intensely. I scowled at him, and he responded with his own. Ass. He grabbed a clear rock striped with the rose color. The light coming from it, told me he had begun storing his power as well. In silent agreement, we got to work. A plan coming together in my mind. A weak one, but it was a plan, nonetheless.