| "The Adventures of Kat and Clara" Part XXII: Prelude to Chaos The following day began not just with a light breakfast, but also with Faolin's great desire to remove the gemstones from Ophelia's bracelets. Kat, Clara, Salem, and Hermione awoke from their slumber that morning and headed to the living room with the bracelets. Clara still remained horribly uneasy. What have I done? she thought, her stomach hurting. He will surely kill me if he finds out I killed his lady. The four adventurers sat down in the living room; Kat held the bracelets close. "We are ready," she said, holding up the bracelets. "Will you do the honors, Lord Faolin?" "Yes, Kat," Faolin said, seating himself, again dressed in his crystalline armor, his topaz kite shield strapped to his back. He then put on the wooden table a strange lens. It was only about the diameter of a plum, and was constructed from a nearly invisible colorless crystal. The thin lens was bordered with sterling silver and mounted on a pedistal of diamond. "This is my distorting lens," Faolin said. "It is one of my most treasured possessions, and together with my magic, it will remove the gems from the bracelets." "How does it work?" Salem asked. "It is very simple," Faolin explained. "I simply drive magical energy through the lens, which, by my concentration, will distort a material selectively. For this, I will stare into the lens and bend the metal surrounding the gems until they fall out." "It would appear easy," Clara said, still feeling a bit nervous. "Watch closely, all of you," Faolin said. "I will have these gems free." Lord Faolin then positioned both bracelets a few inches in front of the lens and lowered his face to the level of the table. He raised a red eye close to the lens and stared through it, focusing on the bracelets. He then concentrated hard; the adventurers looked on as a yellowish-green beam drifted slowly to the lens from Faolin's eye. It then splashed onto the lens and diffused through the crystal, until it finally reached the other side. At that moment, the beam refocused into a concentrated stream, which fired upon the bracelets, illuminating them. Kat, Clara, Salem, and Hermione watched in awe as the magical energy began to warp the metals of the bracelets into a twisted mess. The magical energy slowly began to claw at the sockets and disturb the gemstones; soon the socketed gems began to slip and tumble in their resting places. Finally, the small ruby slipped free, tumbling onto the table and bouncing about like a pebble. Soon followed the diamond, then the topaz, then the emerald and amethyst. A few seconds later, the last gem -- the sapphire -- fell free from its bracelet. Faolin relaxed himself, allowing the light to dissipate, leaving the six gems on the table next to two irreparably twisted bracelets. "Queen Ophelia is going to have our heads," Hermione said, picking up the bracelets. "Thank you so much," Kat said, looking at the gems. "You have done us a great service." "It is my pleasure," Faolin said. "I unfortunately cannot repair the bracelets; the magic is so strong that it twists objects almost beyond repair. It will take a great deal of time to fix those; unfortunately, I am not the person to ask." "You need not worry," Salem said. "Once Queen Ophelia sees the outcome of completing the sword, she will probably not pay any mind." Faolin smiled. "Well, don't just let the gems sit there," he laughed. "Put them in your sword. Assemble your treasures." Kat smiled and withdrew all of the sword components. She laid out the hilt, the green orb, the six gems, and the second half of the sword. She then withdrew the parchment that contained the rough diagram of the sword and examined it carefully. "It would appear that we have all but the sharp end of the blade," Kat said. "The gems may be oriented any which way. This should be simple." Kat and Clara sat beside each other and began to assemble the sword. Salem and Hermione watched carefully as they united the Green Orb of S'Allumer with the bottom of the precious crystal hilt, fusing both. Then they each took two gems, then gave one each to Salem and Hermione. Together, the four of them socketed the hilt, each of the gems carefully locked in place, tightly joined. Finally, Clara lifted the bottom of the blade and slid it into the top of the hilt. It slid loosely, but once in place, it did not budge a bit. The sword was a wonder to behold, even if not yet completed. It was four feet long in its current incomplete state, and shone brightly in the crystal-diffracted light. Next page >> |