Chapter 5

Zaedra halted suddenly, not knowing why she was walking, where she was walking to, and why she had bothered to stop walking at all. She examined her surroundings. The majestic halls of the monastery were all too familiar and the usual crowd was up to their usual business.

Around her, people were bustling about with armfuls of scrolls or parchment, others juggling spellstones, and the occasional student on their way from the library had their head deep in a book as they passed.

Rubbing both her temples, she tried to recall the events that had lead her here.

"Zaedra!" chirped a familiar voice from behind her.

Zaedra turned to see Neriah stroll up to her, and she greeted the illusionist with a puzzled expression.

"Hello, Neriah," she said, and looked down glumly, still trying to regain her lost sense of time.

Neriah tossed her hair over her shoulder and cocked an eyebrow. "What brings you to the library this fine day?" she said. "I thought I'd find you down at the aquamancy department looking after all your consars."

Zaedra shrugged. "To be honest, I really don't know. I just seem to have lost track of ... well, everything."

Neriah nodded sympathetically and raised a hand to feel the other woman's forehead. "Hmm, you don't look too good. Maybe you should go into the library, sweetie; have a bit of a rest."

A little something sparked within Zaedra's memory. Neriah was renowned for addressing people as sweetie and Zaedra felt sure that she hadn't personally seen the illusionist for a couple of days. So why did she remember being addressed as such very recently? She withdrew from her ponderings when she saw Kaligmar squeezing his way through the moving crowd towards them.

"Zaedra!" he said gleefully. "I'm glad I ran into you. I've been looking for you all day. It's not like you to be outside the aquamancy department."

Zaedra puzzled at the strange look passing over Neriah's face.

Kaligmar smiled as he offloaded half a dozen scrolls into her arms. "Now, these scrolls are to be distributed to the consars under your direction. They contain vital information on their next examination."

Zaedra nodded. "Ok, I'll pass them on as soon as I can."

The old conjuror gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Well that's all from me, my girl. Good luck with it." He acknowledged Neriah with a nod and continued on his way.

Zaedra gave a deep sigh and stared at the scrolls in her arms. "I think I need a quick nap before I do anything," she said. "I'm feeling quite dizzy."

Neriah's cold eyes followed the aquamancer as she disappeared into the library. The memory wipe had not gone as well as planned. Zaedra was having severe after-effects and luckily Kaligmar had failed to notice the symptoms. She had to hope that the charm remained in place or a more serious approach would be necessary.

Deciding that the library was still too noisy for her own tastes, Zaedra left half an hour later to seek refuge in her perivate chamber. Upon arriving, she laid the scrolls on her bed and ran a bath, fiddling with the taps until she had achieved the desired temperature. She then disrobed and stood before the mirror, admiring her figure.

Giving a few twists and turns, she discovered several bruises on her arms and legs, also finding that several strands of copper hair at the back of head looked as though they had been singed by flames.

However, she felt unconcerned. There was always havoc with consar experimentation in the monastery and she usually stood in the line of fire.

Surveying herself one last time, she shrugged and felt satisfied with her appearance. She turned off the taps once the water had reached the brim and sunk up to her neck in the deliciously warm water. She remained there for some time, still trying to put together her recent memories.

Neriah had been unusually kind to her in the hallway earlier. Normally they would be seen hissing at each other whenever they crossed paths. But Neriah had done the unexpected. She had come to her aid when she saw how confused and dazed she was. It was suspiciously out of character.

The other thing that seemed out of place was when Kaligmar had mentioned that she had been missing all day. But for how long exactly? And if so, where?

Finding all these question far too stressful on her brain to continue, she reached over to a table next to the tub and took a small aquastone that was lying there. Dropping it into the water, she eased back in the bath as it turned into a sensuous spa, blissfully removing all thoughts from her troubled mind.

"I can feel it," Talloran said. "It's somewhere past these rocks but there's no way round."

Nampag pulled up his sleeves as he approached the stone wall. "That, my friend, is easily solved." He said, and then told Talloran to take a few steps back.

The geomancer thrust out his hand, hurling an invisible force at the wall. With a deafening crunch, the rock shattered into hundreds of fragments and he stood grinning as he was showered with dust and stone.

"And that, Talloran, is why I love what I do."

"Looks like fun," Talloran replied.

"Geomancy," Nampag sighed. "The wonder of the earth." He kicked some of the rocks out of the way as he stepped into the path he had just created. "Tal, if only you could imagine what it's like — to hold the power of the earth in your hand."

"Man and power don't often mix well," Talloran said. "One usually consumes the other."

"And the Ceruleans are a fine example," Nampag agreed. "If one had in their possession an unlimited source of power, then it is conceivable that the only limitation to its use would be their own imagination. That's what it takes to heighten your rank amongst the Azures or the Indigos. One needs not only to have the ability to channel mass power efficiently, but the imagination to use it."

"So once you have mastered both then anything is possible," assumed Talloran.

Nampag eye's sparkled wildly as he stared ahead. "Indeed it is."

Talloran followed him into the cavern and his jaw dropped open at what he saw. "Is that it?"

An oversized stalagmite rose up like a tower before them. Dozens of bright lights dotted the structure like tiny windows, releasing streams of colored light that danced around the cavern.

"Those are all spellstones!" Talloran exclaimed.

"Impossible!" gasped Nampag with disbelief. "I have never seen or heard of such a thing. How could a single vein contain spellstones from every single element?"

Talloran looked at Nampag excitedly. "So we have actually discovered something?"

"Oh yes!" Nampag said. "This ... this is definitely something! This will form a new chapter in the histories of Dorimear!" He laughed as he circled the vein, stating the arcane elements as he found them.

"Pyromancy, aquamancy, restoration, mysticism, necromancy, geomancy, conjuration, alteration and illusion ... they're all here! This is absolutely astounding!"

Talloran brushed his fingers across the glassy surface of the spellstones embedded in the stone. "But are these stones the actual source of the pulse?" he asked.

The geomancer halted dead in his tracks and said, "No."

A deathly silence followed. Nampag pressed himself up against the vein as though trying to listen for a heartbeat. "There's something more to this," he said. "There's something we've missed. Look for anything out of place."

Talloran's eyes glazed over the exposed stones in the rock. The spiritual energies inside them were exceedingly bright, an indication that they were some truly powerful stones indeed.

He observed the colors: Blue, red, green and brown - all of which were nothing to get excited about. He moved on.

Black, blue, purple, orange and... white?

A million questions immediately erupted into his head as his eyes took in the knowledge. A white spellstone?

The scroll Nampag had shown him earlier had mentioned nothing of white spellstones. Even after having spent months working in the mine, he was sure that he'd seen every single color by now. But this was different. He could clearly see that this stone was like no other.

"Nampag?" He said softly.

"What is it?"

"I think I've found something."

The geomancer's head appeared from around the opposite side of the vein. "Really?"

"You need to see this," Talloran said shakily, and slowly reached out to touch the white spellstone with the tip of his finger.

Hurrying around the oversized stalagmite, Nampag took one look at the white stone before staggering back in terror, his mouth open wide in fear.

"Heaven's curses, Talloran! Don't touch it!"

Talloran instantly withdrew his hand and took a step back, his dreamy gaze still focused upon the stone. "But just look at it," he said in wonder. "It's so beautiful."

The spellstone was unnaturally round, almost like a glass orb the size of an apple. Inside, the mesmerizing swirl of its inner spirit was constantly changing color; each hue resembling one of the arcane elements.