When Good and Evil Collide: Part 4

A crystal, which has survived for centuries, now lies in the hands of a group of adventurers whom we have found out in Part 3 have slightly different agendas. What will happen when the two halves are combined and the books are brought together? Queyna, who was a part of the very first short story in Legends & Lore, has been obscessed with finding the crystals. In part 3 we found out she had gone alone on an attempt to locate the other crystal, and had come back with nothing. Will Denib eventually destroy the creature? Will the group recover the crystals and the other book? Find out as we conclude this expansive journey in Part 4 of, "When Good and Evil Collide".

Denib tried standing up as did the others, but none of them seemed to be able to. The creature was somehow holding them to their chairs. Thinking furiously, Denib came up with nothing, no way of escape and no idea as to how the creature had even known they were inside the cabin. It must have been watching them since they entered the area, from the time they freed Queyna to their entering the cabin. His bow was sitting near the door, just out of reach. He seemed to be able to move his hands about and turn his head, but that was about all. This was infuriating!

"Your time has come to an end. I warned you to stay away, to not follow me and to relinquish the book, but you did not listen." The creature turned towards Queyna. "None of that really matters now. I've discovered that you are in fact holding the second book, the last piece of the puzzle from which to finally unlock the true powers of the crystal." The creature pulled out both crystal halves from somewhere inside its cloak. Queyna recognized the significance of what the creature was carrying. The two halves, now completed, were in the hands of a creature of unspeakable evil. Why hadn't it finished them off by now? Surely with the power of the crystal, now that it was complete, the creature had enough power to do away with them in the blink of an eye.

The creature took one of the crystals and held it up close to Queyna's nose. "I'll ask you this one more time. If you do not answer me truthfully, I'll turn you back into a tree this time, with no hope from your friends coming to the rescue. Where is the second book?"

Denib was beginning to understand what was happening. The two halves of the crystal were significant in their own rights, and together they were even more powerful than one could imagine. Something was missing from the power though before its true potential could be realized. The books wove a rich history of the crystal dating back hundreds of years, and the power possibly came directly from the books, and with one of the books hidden away that power could not be realized. They had to keep that one book hidden at all costs. Denib turned towards his newfound friends, and at that moment realized how much a price they may have to pay to keep that book a secret. Denib watched Queyna as the creature studied her intensely. She said nothing in response to the creature's demands.

"Jeryaldar, it's starting again!" Queyna screamed, painfully attempting to release herself from the invisible grip of the creature.

They all turned towards Queyna, watching as she continued to struggle in her chair. Denib didn't notice anything wrong at first, but then slowly her legs and arms began to turn a darker brown and almost appeared to be growing tree limbs. She was turning back into the tree from which they had originally freed her!

Queyna was in mid-transformation when a large explosion occurred outside the cabin. Debris rained down and through the broken windows, stirring up dust and ash in a cloud that temporarily blinded everyone. The creature must have been distracted as Denib was able to move his body again. As the dust cleared he watched the creature turn and head out of the cabin. Without warning a bright blue fireball flew out from near the mining camp's entrance towards the creature, impacting directly at its back, throwing the creature several dozen feet into the air and down again on top of another cabin, causing the roof to collapse and the creature to fall with it.

They all took cover except for Queyna, who headed out into the middle of the camp. Denib readied his bow in anticipation for another strike. He was going to call Queyna back when he noticed what she was after. When the creature was thrown into the air, he accidentally dropped both of the crystals. Dust had been stirred up again, but the way the light of the sun bounced off the crystals gave them away. Queyna picked them up, putting them into her pocket and walked slowly back towards the cabin they were all hiding in, heedless of the immediate danger before them. Both Jeryaldar and Cartein ran and grabbed a hold of her, urging her to take cover.

Denib continued to watch the cabin the creature had been thrown into. The dust was so thick around the destroyed cabin it obscured everything but what was left of the front door. After most of the dust cleared, Denib noticed some of the debris had begun to move. Suddenly the creature lifted out from the debris and headed towards their position. There was no mistaking the hatred that was portrayed on its face. Denib readied his bow, taking careful aim as the others were still partially in the way. As soon as they had cleared, two things happened at once. The creature flung himself towards the group in a desperate act to catch them before they were able to run off with the crystals, at the same time Denib released his hold on the bow. The arrow flew out in a near perfect line right towards the creature's lower chest. It had struck the book, passing through it and penetrating the creature, causing it to drop to the ground in a lifeless pose. Denib also noticed the translucent nature of the creature had completed disappeared, with the body assuming an almost perfect human appearance. As they watched the lifeless body had begun to grow smaller and the features of the face almost to appear younger.

Denib turned around as he heard someone coming up from behind them. From the entrance to the mining camp approached a familiar face. Denib watched as Martel walked up to them, along with two of the outposts guards and a strange looking warlock. The warlock was dressed in a highly decorated robe, with a small hat on his head and a long staff in the crook of his arm. The staff emanated a dull yellow glow at its head.

"I knew you were trouble from the moment that I saw you. Walking into an abandoned mining camp is not something one does on a regular basis." Martel scolded them as she stopped just inches from Denib, staring him in the face as a mother would scold a child for wandering off when told to stay put.

Denib was actually relieved to see her, and not from the fact that she had just saved their lives. It was good to know he had another friend in these parts. "What are we to do with him?" Denib turned to point at the creature that he had slain, or so he thought. As they walked over to where the creature was lying on the ground, Denib noticed it had begun to move its arms, and then slowly push itself to its feet. The arrow that he had shot the creature with was nowhere to be seen. What now stood before them was not a creature that looked threatening, but a rather young human male that looked rather confused and shocked at finding himself in such a setting.

Jeryaldar cautiously walked over to where the young human male stood, slowly reaching down to pick up the book at the boys feet. He rapidly flipped through the many pages. "I must have missed this part." Jeryaldar mumbled to himself as he looked for any reference that might explain what was happening. He recalled reading in the book as to how the crystal would have a tendency to find a new owner when the previous one was no longer suitable, and to place its power upon such an individual that was worthy of its attention. The only conclusion he could come to was the fact that the crystal had been in the grip of the creature for so long that once it was released, the creature's form and all its power vanished instantly.

Denib frowned. He was not pleased with the current situation. Aware of the current danger he readied his bow, pointing it towards the boy. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The boy looked about for a common ground. "My name is Adam. I'm afraid I don't know who any of you are. The last thing I remember was being carried away from my home and sent to a mining camp in a faraway city, and then I found myself here standing amongst all of you." Adam slowly sat down, resting his chin against his hands. "You, you aren't going to hurt me, are you Mr.?"

They talked to Adam for almost an hour, discovering his true origins were from Qeynos. He grew up working for his father in an armor shop in Nettleville Hovel, when just after his fifteenth birthday a band of thieves came for them when they were out foraging in the hills. Denib watched as the others were entranced by the boys story, when he suddenly realized something was wrong. Queyna was nowhere in site. Informing the others, they searched the entire perimeter of the mining camp, eventually giving up hope of locating her at the camp.

Realizing she had the crystals in her possession, they rushed back to the outpost. He watched Adam closely as they approached the outpost. Denib felt uncomfortable around him even though it was clear the boy didn't remember what had happened to himself. To think that for who knows how many years the boy had been caught in that horrible nightmare, gripped by the power of the crystal shards it had carried. The boy looked no older than fifteen, but Denib suspected he was a lot older than that. He was worried about Queyna and what the crystal might do to her, especially now that it was complete. How long would it be before she was completely controlled by it? And what would she turn into now that both halves were together?

They found Queyna sitting in her room, clutching both of the crystals, and one of the books. Cartein walked up and sat next to her on the bed. She barely noticed him approach. "Queyna, we must destroy the crystals. Let's go outside and find a good place to bury their fragments."

"No! We can't just destroy them." Queyna shoved Cartein off the bed. "Don't you see? They are so much more, with so much potential, that I can't just let them be destroyed. I see now that the crystals were here to provide power to someone strong enough to focus that power." Queyna clutched the crystals as if they would disappear the moment she let go. "They belong to me now."

As Jeryaldar helped Cartein get up from the floor, Queyna noticed the last book partially sticking out of a pocket in Jeryaldar's robes. "With the second book the crystal's true power will be complete and you'll see that I was telling the truth." She lunged for the book.

Cartein was able to hold her back while Jeryaldar stood at a distance. After calming her down some, they managed to wrestle loose the crystal halves and the other book she carried. As they sat there a moment and watched Queyna, they noticed she was growing noticeably weaker. It was as if the power of the crystal she had carried had somehow sustained her, or worse, drew the power directly from her. The shards she had carried previously must have begun to affect her, like they had with the boy.

Cartein stared down at the now frail body that he once remembered as his savor from Freeport . Was she always like this before obtaining the crystal shards and capturing its power? It wasn't really that long ago that she rescued him from his hopeless situation in Freeport , yet they had done so much in that time that he couldn't imagine her changing so quickly. There were more times than he could count that she had rescued him from dangerous peril, as well as once rescuing Jeryaldar too. They all owed her a debt of gratitude. The least they could do was to take away the one element that was destroying her. He stared down at the crystals that he now carried. Even for a few seconds he held the crystals, he could feel power flow through his fingertips. Each of the halves felt like they were pulling him in different directions, intent on controlling his good and evil impulses. As positive as Queyna's intentions might have been while in possession of the crystal shards she had carried, they still were a power not fit for mere mortals. Even during Cartein's high point in Freeport before his down fall, he could never have hoped to achieve the strength that Queyna possessed, and never would care to if it had cost him as dearly as it had with Queyna.

"This if for you Queyna." Cartein walked over to the window with a crystal in each hand. His arms outstretched, he starred at the crystals for a moment longer before letting them go. Less than two seconds later they heard the crystals shatter on the street below. Jeryaldar walked over and starred out the window at the scattering of shards below. There had to be over a thousand pieces, far more than anyone could ever put together.

They left the inn after burying the pieces, and then escorted Martel back to her home. Just from the short walk Queyna was already looking more like herself. They settled in and had quite a feast from the food Martel had stockpiled in preparation for the coming winter. Martel even offered to watch over Adam. He declined though, stating that he wanted to head back to his home in Qeynos and attempt to locate any descendants of his family. After describing his previous life, it was clear that Adam had come from a time period long before any of them were born. Would he ever remember the life that they all remembered him by? Would he even dare to seek out that past existence? Denib thought it best that they never speak of it. Leaving Martel's home, they walked east towards a fishing village where they could take a ship to Qeynos.

Denib watched as Adam wiped a tear from his eye.