A Heart of Crystal

A New Aquantaince

Zeada strolled down the street, the smell of saltwater thickly coated the air. She could easily sense the north shore of the island that she called home. The rocky beach housed the small docks used by tourists and residents while the softer sands of the western shore summoned several individuals especially on a sunny day like this. Zeada didn’t have time for such luxuries as sunbathing or swimming, and she wouldn’t go even if she did. Being basically blind deterred her from such activities. Her family was also charged with maintaining and protecting the lighthouse which was home to the most expensive crystal in the world: the Heart of Crystals. The rock itself was not that big; in fact Zeada could easily hold it in the palm of her hand. The crystal was valuable due to the fact that the Heart increased the growth rate of crystals within close proximity. It also glowed so fiercely that the island used it as the guiding light of the lighthouse. Which was also the reason that the lighthouse needed to be protected. Currently that task fell to Zeada and her brothers. Their parents had been the previous protectors of the lighthouse and, upon their deaths,  the island council found her brothers powerful enough to effectively continue guarding the Heart. At the current moment though, she was walking down the street from the small market. Raul, her animal guide, padded along slowly beside her. One of her hands rested lightly on his back while the other carried her groceries. As she walked past the island doctor’s two story home, her limited vision suddenly went black.

    “Drake,” she sighed as she stopped, Raul stopping next to her like a good guide dog would. “Give them back.”

    “How did you know it was me?” he asked as he took her groceries from her hand and replaced them with her sunglasses.

    “Because the only other people who would take my glasses are currently at my home,” she told him frankly as she slipped on her shades. She turned towards her best friend and smiled. “Also, you applied a little too much cologne this morning.” She watched him shrug through the lenses, literally. Just like a majority of people in the world, she had a power that she used to amplify her life. Her specific ability allowed her to connect with inanimate objects through physical contact, and she used that to her advantage. She looked at the world with a perspective unique to herself. Transparent items allowed her to see in whatever color that object was. Cameras, and technology similar to it, allowed her to see in color. Typically though, Zeada just wore a simple pair of shades, both to help her see and to conceal her misted blue eyes. And while her world was fairly dark and devoid of color with the sunglasses, a pair of shades was easy to replace and made a lot more sense for a blind person to have.

    “So where are you off to now?” he asked curiously, her bags still in his hand. Before she could answer, Raul whined and nudged Drake’s free hand. Both Zeada and Drake laughed. “Don’t worry, I noticed you were there Raul,” he told the large, grey wolf as he crouched down to his level. Years earlier, Zeada had found and released him from the iron jaws of a hunter’s trap. She then brought him to the best and only profesional healer on the island: Drake Jensen. Raul had grown a fondness for both humans during his time with Drake. They had saved the wolf’s life after all. However, once he had completely healed, Raul had decided to not go back to his small pack but remained with Zeada. He even ended up helping Zeada out by actually being her guide  during those occasions that it was too dark outside for her to see properly. Zeada smiled down at the two as Drake cooed at the wolf.

    “Raul,” she finally interrupted, “Are you ready to continue down to the docks?” The wolf just huffed and retreated back to her side.

“Why are you going down there?” Drake asked, towering over her. “You hate fish.” She didn't answer immediately, instead she continued walking. Drake tagged along by her side and Raul padded about a meter ahead of the two.

“Yes but, unfortunately, neither of my brothers share my taste buds.”

“Well, at least one of you has prop-” Drake was interrupted by a man walking out from the diner and straight into the pair, knocking Zeada into Drake. Zeada felt her glasses slide off her face, leaving her in darkness once again. Drake steadied her before crouching down to retrieve her shades.

“Oh no,” a refined masculine voice started as Drake pressed her glasses into her hand, “I am so sorry. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going. Are you alrig...” The question dies in the man’s throat as Raul began to growl at him lightly. “Y-you have a w-wolf?”

“You must be new here,” Drake said, standing next to Zeada. Raul crouched defensively between her and the man. “Don’t worry, he’s fairly friendly.” Zeada took the opportunity to study the man. He was slightly taller than Drake, which was not an easy feat seeing as how Drake stood well over six feet. His hair was a little on the long side and, Zeada guessed, was a light brown. “Are you alright?” Drake asked her. She just nodded her head.

“Raul,” she called to the overprotective canine. He just bared his teeth once more before slowly returning to her side. She smiled warmly. “I’m Zeada, who are you?” She saw the man tilt his head curiously.

“I’m Ray Garner,” he told her cockily, “You might’ve heard about me.”

“You’re that world famous detective right?” Drake asked, seeming genuinely interested in someone off island for once. Ray grinned and gave a half bow.

“The one and only And would you two mind if I asked who you two are?”

“Drake Jensen,” her friend shook hands with Ray, “I’m the island healer. And this is Zeada Mora. She and her brothers are our resident lighthouse keepers.”