above.
Valterius landed first and Gerhonda floated down beside him. The landing was remarkably soft. This time no one hesitated in climbing down and exploring what they had found. It was impossible not to be drawn to the crystals. With flat, glossy faces, they formed geometric shapes with no names. White striations broke up the green. They were beautiful beyond description. Each stone was unique, and the deeper you stared into them, the more texture you found. Strom backed up when he realized all of them were staring directly into the crystals.
"Do not get lost," Strom said. His words echoed.
It took a moment before the others responded, as if they had to cover a great distance to return.
"Wow," was all Osbourne managed to say.
"Beautiful," Kendra said, running her hand along a sheer face.
Strom walked to the center of the vale, to the very heart of the bare stone. Never had he known power like Catrin's, save maybe when her dragon had spoken in his mind or when he was at the forge and swinging a hammer. The world shimmered around him, the updraft warm, almost gentle in its caress. Perhaps it was just his mind playing tricks, but Strom would swear he felt something. This place had such power even he could feel it. For once, he was glad Catrin was not by his side; what might happen if she tapped into this power? He tried not to think about it.
Sinjin stared into the crystals until Kendra went to pull him away. Osbourne joined them. "It's creepy," he said.
Strom knew exactly what he meant. This was so much like the event in the Grove of the Elders all those years ago, yet it was so very different. It smelled the same, as if the air were charged, like right before a storm.
Kendra led Sinjin away from the crystals, but rather than coming to where Strom and Osbourne stood, she took him toward a shaded entrance. Strom moved in that direction, and Osbourne followed, still in an apparent haze. The air was cooler there, and there was less of an updraft. The openings themselves, five of them, were large enough to admit regent dragons, which meant no problems admitting the smaller regal dragons--except all of the orifices were blocked.
Strom whistled when he saw the stones used to block the entryways. The blocks were well cut and would weigh as much as a warship. "They really didn't want anyone getting in there," he said.
Kendra had her arms crossed over her chest, her thoughts clearly intense.
"What would it take to move these stone blocks?" Sinjin asked.
"Dragons--" Osbourne said.
"And Martik," Strom finished for him.
* * *
Martik had never been more frustrated. Trinda had forbidden him to work any more on the great wheel, which continued to turn a little faster every day. He suspected there was a limit to how fast such a colossal stone could turn and not have disastrous consequences. Yet he was denied access to the vast new stores of ancient knowledge found within the hold. Surely there had to be clues if not the answers themselves, and they were just out of reach.
The only thing he was allowed to concentrate on now was the viewing chamber. He knew what had happened to Catrin and Prios when they had used the chamber without the metal-streaked stone throne, like the one present within Ohmahold's viewing chamber.
A stack of books with descriptions of the stone chairs and their composition were brought to him, but he was no miner or prospector. He was trained to build things made of stone, not figure out where to dig for rare and specific types of stone. He didn't know how much metal there had to be within the rock for the chairs to serve their purpose, or even exactly what types of metal were needed. All he had were dimensions and a vague idea of the required material.
He could deduce from what he knew of Catrin's work that she had commissioned stone thrones from the Greatland. This led him to believe the required stone was not known to exist here on the Godfist and that it was known to exist somewhere in the
Valterius landed first and Gerhonda floated down beside him. The landing was remarkably soft. This time no one hesitated in climbing down and exploring what they had found. It was impossible not to be drawn to the crystals. With flat, glossy faces, they formed geometric shapes with no names. White striations broke up the green. They were beautiful beyond description. Each stone was unique, and the deeper you stared into them, the more texture you found. Strom backed up when he realized all of them were staring directly into the crystals.
"Do not get lost," Strom said. His words echoed.
It took a moment before the others responded, as if they had to cover a great distance to return.
"Wow," was all Osbourne managed to say.
"Beautiful," Kendra said, running her hand along a sheer face.
Strom walked to the center of the vale, to the very heart of the bare stone. Never had he known power like Catrin's, save maybe when her dragon had spoken in his mind or when he was at the forge and swinging a hammer. The world shimmered around him, the updraft warm, almost gentle in its caress. Perhaps it was just his mind playing tricks, but Strom would swear he felt something. This place had such power even he could feel it. For once, he was glad Catrin was not by his side; what might happen if she tapped into this power? He tried not to think about it.
Sinjin stared into the crystals until Kendra went to pull him away. Osbourne joined them. "It's creepy," he said.
Strom knew exactly what he meant. This was so much like the event in the Grove of the Elders all those years ago, yet it was so very different. It smelled the same, as if the air were charged, like right before a storm.
Kendra led Sinjin away from the crystals, but rather than coming to where Strom and Osbourne stood, she took him toward a shaded entrance. Strom moved in that direction, and Osbourne followed, still in an apparent haze. The air was cooler there, and there was less of an updraft. The openings themselves, five of them, were large enough to admit regent dragons, which meant no problems admitting the smaller regal dragons--except all of the orifices were blocked.
Strom whistled when he saw the stones used to block the entryways. The blocks were well cut and would weigh as much as a warship. "They really didn't want anyone getting in there," he said.
Kendra had her arms crossed over her chest, her thoughts clearly intense.
"What would it take to move these stone blocks?" Sinjin asked.
"Dragons--" Osbourne said.
"And Martik," Strom finished for him.
* * *
Martik had never been more frustrated. Trinda had forbidden him to work any more on the great wheel, which continued to turn a little faster every day. He suspected there was a limit to how fast such a colossal stone could turn and not have disastrous consequences. Yet he was denied access to the vast new stores of ancient knowledge found within the hold. Surely there had to be clues if not the answers themselves, and they were just out of reach.
The only thing he was allowed to concentrate on now was the viewing chamber. He knew what had happened to Catrin and Prios when they had used the chamber without the metal-streaked stone throne, like the one present within Ohmahold's viewing chamber.
A stack of books with descriptions of the stone chairs and their composition were brought to him, but he was no miner or prospector. He was trained to build things made of stone, not figure out where to dig for rare and specific types of stone. He didn't know how much metal there had to be within the rock for the chairs to serve their purpose, or even exactly what types of metal were needed. All he had were dimensions and a vague idea of the required material.
He could deduce from what he knew of Catrin's work that she had commissioned stone thrones from the Greatland. This led him to believe the required stone was not known to exist here on the Godfist and that it was known to exist somewhere in the
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