Day 247

[from Aura of Chaos]

“Hey, Tara. Come and have a look at this.”

It had been a few days since Xeron and Tara had arrived in Clauston, and they had not yet received word of another Shoukan attack. To pass the time, and to earn some extra money while they were there, they had started performing quests for the local townspeople. Today they were in a swamp to the east, gathering medicinal herbs for an old woman, but Xeron appeared to have found something rather more interesting. It was a fragment of some kind of crystal, as blue as the midday sky. It had been lying there amongst the moss and tree roots, seemingly untouched for years, but as Xeron wiped the grime from it it seemed to sparkle and gleam as though it had been cut just yesterday.

Tara promptly headed over and joined him in gazing at the object in curiosity. “What is it?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” said Xeron. “It looks like it's been broken off from a larger crystal, but… how it got here, I have no idea.”

“Do you think it might be valuable?” asked Tara.

“I think it might be priceless,” said Xeron. “Look how clear and bright it is.”

Xeron handed the crystal to Tara, and the moment it touched her fingers, she felt a sudden rush of mana pulse through her body, energizing her. She'd heard of items and artefacts that could increase a Witch's power, but this was beyond anything she had ever experienced. She let out a gasp of surprise.

“What is it?” asked Xeron.

“There's a huge amount of magic in that crystal,” she said. “It's like nothing I've ever felt before.”

Xeron took back the crystal, examining it with interest. “There's mana in this crystal?” he repeated.

Tara nodded. “Lots of it,” she said. “And if this is only one piece, then...”

“...then somewhere out there are more crystals just like this one, all loaded to the brim with mana,” said Xeron. “I wonder what would happen if we put them all together...”

“-we'd have one incredibly powerful magic source,” said Tara.

Xeron nodded. “I think we should take this to Corwyn, at the Great Library,” he said. “He'll know what this is. We should also take a look around, in case there are any more of them nearby.”

“Good idea,” said Tara. “But shouldn't we be gathering those herbs?”

“We can look for both at the same time,” suggested Xeron.

“I guess so,” said Tara.

The pair duly set off once more, gathering the herbs they'd been sent to find while scouring the area for any more crystals similar to the one Xeron had found. They could not find any others, and so once they had gathered enough herbs, they headed back to Clauston to complete their quest and consult with Corwyn.

The quest paid out a fair amount of gold, and it suddenly occurred to Tara that the two of them now had more money than she had ever had before. “What should we buy with all this?” she asked.

“Well, we'll need supplies, of course, and some new weapons and armour wouldn't go amiss,” said Xeron. “Did you get everything you needed from the Reservoir?”

Tara nodded. The supplies in the underground Witches' market had been second-to-none, and she had obtained several spellbooks and mana-restoring potions. Of course, with the power that the crystal fragment contained, it was possible that she wouldn't be needing them.

“Then for now, let's head over to the Great Library and find out more about this crystal,” said Xeron.

The duo proceeded to the Great Library, and upon entry they quickly located Corwyn stood upon a high ladder, perusing a book from one of the shelves. “Excuse me?” Xeron called out. “Corwyn?”

Corwyn slid nimbly down the ladder and turned to face the arrivals. “Ah, Xeron and Tara,” he said, adjusting his half-moon spectacles. “I wasn't expecting you to return so soon. Any luck tracking down that sorcerer and the Orb of Chaos?”

“Not yet,” said Xeron. “We're actually here about something else.” Xeron took out the crystal fragment and held it out for Corwyn to see. “We found this in the swamp to the east. We don't know what it is, but apparently it has an immense amount of magical power. We figured that you'd know what it is.”

Corwyn snapped his book shut and approached the crystal, intrigued. “Hmm… how very interesting...” He held out a hand. “May I…?”

Xeron handed the crystal over, and Corwyn held it up to his glasses, turning it over and examining every detail. “I'm no Witch,” he said finally, “but even I can feel the power emanating from this crystal. Hmm… this just might be...”

“Just might be what?” asked Xeron.

“I'll need to consult a book,” said Corwyn. He set off through the library, with Xeron and Tara quickly following behind him. Arriving at one of the many tall shelves, he set down his book and the crystal at a nearby table and rifled through the shelf in search of another book. Eventually he pulled a large, dusty volume off of the shelf and set it down on the table with a loud thump. “Let's see here...”

Flicking through it, he soon found the page he was after. It was an illustration of an elaborate wooden staff with a massive sky-blue crystal set into the end. Corwyn picked up the crystal once more, examining it to see if it matched the one in the book. “Why, yes,” he said finally. “I do believe the two of you have discovered a Beren Shard.”

“A Beren Shard?” asked Xeron. “What's that?”

“I assume the two of you have heard of the ancient Silver Witch Beren?” asked Corwyn.

“I have,” said Tara. “He's the greatest sorcerer who ever lived.”

“He was certainly the greatest Witch ever to have graced these lands,” said Corwyn. “During the Akedan Wars, he single-handedly wiped out an entire battalion of five thousand troops with a single spell. It it said that much of his power was stored within the crystal atop his staff, and it is thought that a part of his soul was stored within it, so that he could remain living even after death. However, in his final battle, the Silver Witch was cut down, and the crystal removed from the staff and smashed into sixteen pieces. Legend has it that should the pieces be reunited again, Beren's soul will return from the underworld.”

“So… this is one of the pieces of Beren's crystal?” said Xeron.

“I believe so,” said Corwyn. “The power you can feel within it is that of Beren himself.”

Tara's mouth fell open, as she tried to comprehend that before her lay a fragment of the soul of the greatest Witch to have ever lived. “Wow,” she said. “That's amazing!”

“It most certainly is,” said Corwyn. “For centuries, the locations of the Beren Shards have been unknown to the world – all except one, that is. By good fortune, that Shard happens to be located here, at the Great Library. That leaves fourteen Beren Shards still out there, waiting to be collected. Assemble them, and the legendary hero of Albion will walk the earth once more.”