The Gem Lords

The Realms - Part 7

     "The experiments, like all that had gone before, were a failure," said Thomas, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. "The three eggs provided enough essence for another thirty combinations, and all six raks gathered eagerly around the vat every time Alustra's undead rats were removed, and every time they sagged with disappointment when they saw the creatures unchanged, the magics having been ineffective. Each failure brought them one step closer to black despair, and yet none of them knew that their salvation lay close behind them, where Tak had left his Box of Holding. It would be several more weeks before he realised the true significance of the white gorn eggs."

     "What happened?" asked Lapis Lazuli, who already knew the answer but loved to hear the sound of his voice.

     "When they'd used up all the essence provided by the three eggs Lord Sapphire and Lady Jet returned to their own mansions. Tak had heard that Lord Emerald was following an interesting line of research, though, and got in touch with him, arranging a mutually convenient time for him to visit. He took three more blue gorn eggs with him, so he could perform a few more combinations in Emerald's laboratory. The other rak might have some suggestions as to how the experiments could be altered to give them a better chance of success.

     When he arrived, Talpha-Ja first showed Tak what he'd been doing for the past twenty years, and Lord Sapphire commented on the similarity between his experiments and those conducted by Varl the Black in his search for the secret of transmutation, which wasn't, perhaps, as surprising as it might have been because the Gem Lords were also seeking to carry out a transmutation. The turning of the undead into the living.

     "Afterwards, Lord Emerald inquired into Tak's experiments, and the Gem Lord again opened his Box of Holding, looking for the gorn eggs he'd brought with him..."

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     "Remember what happened at the Diamond Castle?" Tak asked his two companions as he removed the metal canister.

     Lord Emerald looked puzzled, and Topaz explained how the blue eggs had been turned white by some freak combination of magics. How astonished they'd all been when Tak had removed the lid of the canister and they'd seen the translucent white shell gleaming in the candlelight. It had been the first truly surprising moment in many years of awful, undead existence. An all too brief reminder of the day to day joy of living they'd once taken for granted and which they now ached for with every fibre of their beings. A brief taste of what they'd once had and might one day have again if their never ending search should one day be successful.

     Talpha-Ja looked enviously at his guests. "I wish I'd been there," he said, and there was such terrible longing in his voice that the others could only stand there, eyes downcast, wondering how long it would be before they shared such a moment again.

     Tak picked up the canister and prepared to open it. "I wonder what colour they'll be this time," he said, evoking a ghost of a smile from Topaz and Lapis Lazuli. There would be no surprise this time, though, they knew. The eggs would still be blue, the same colour as they'd gone in. They would conduct the combinations, which would fail as all the others had failed, and they would return home in failure, as they had so many times before. Might as well save time by going home now. Why bother actually going through with an experiment that they knew would fail? Why allow themselves to hope, when it would only be cruelly dashed? Why put themselves to that torture?

     Tak removed the layers of cotton padding that protected the eggs and levitated the first egg out, and it was white. The four raks just stared at it, and then they stared at each other, each wondering which of the others was responsible for the practical joke.