why don’t the Malignancy Mages connect the crystals to the temple, or to other places?”
“Sometimes they do,” Ling answered. “But a temple is much easier to track down than a dagger.”
“This temple has been connected to and severed from at least six times that I know of,” Chimalli added.
“Gabriel and Chimalli, inside with me,” Ohin said. “The rest of you stand guard. Teresa, if you would join us to provide some light, please. Leave any relics or artifacts, besides your talismans, outside with Rajan. They can interfere with the severing process.”
“Sure,” Teresa said, handing Rajan a small statue and the rabbit’s foot from a pocket of her dress as she stepped into the sanctuary. Suddenly a warm glow came through the doorway. Gabriel, Ohin, and Chimalli handed Rajan their relics.
When they stepped into the sanctuary, they saw that Teresa had created four tiny balls of fire which floated in the corners of the small stone chamber. The back of the room held a stone idol of Huitzilopochtli, the walls painted with murals depicting stories of the god’s exploits and the many sacrifices to him. In the center of the room was a small stone hearth for fires to burn sacrificial offerings. Along one wall was a low stone table with various ritual implements laid out across it, such as clay bowls, polished skulls, and five sacrificial daggers. Three of the daggers had long black edges of chipped obsidian that Gabriel knew were sharper than most steel blades, while two were fashioned from flint. The daggers had different handles, each carved from jade in the shape of an animal, such as a jaguar, a snake, or a bird. Gabriel could clearly sense the imprints of the daggers now.
“So the Malignancy Mages connect to the imprints of the dagger with a contaminant crystal?” Gabriel asked. Teresa giggled behind him
“A concatenate crystal,” Ohin corrected him in a gentle tone. “Like this one.” Ohin pulled a miniature crystal globe from his pocket and handed it to Gabriel. The crystal was a small, two inch wide ball of milky white glass. “Concatenate means ‘to link in a chain.’ That is an inactive crystal, waiting to be linked. A time mage can link the imprints of an artifact or a place to the crystal. Crystals can also be linked together.”
“The more links in the chain,” Chimalli added, “the more powerful the magic you can perform.”
“Up to seven,” Ohin said. “No chain of concatenate crystals can have more than seven links.”
“Chrono-quantum entanglement degradation,” Teresa said, almost absentmindedly from the back of the room.
“Can you sense which dagger has been linked to a crystal?” Ohin asked.
As Gabriel reached out with his magic-sense to the daggers, his eyes widened a bit and he looked up to Ohin.
“All of the daggers have been linked to a crystal,” Gabriel said.
“Someone has been very busy,” Chimalli said.
“And someone else will be busy now,” Ohin said. “I’ll sever the first one, the one we came for, and then Gabriel can try his hand at one of the others.” Ohin choose a dagger from those on the table and carried it to the far side of the room, away from the other ritual objects. Gabriel followed him.
“Now watch closely. With your magic-sense, not your eyes.”
Gabriel calmed his mind and focused on the obsidian dagger in Ohin’s hands. He could sense the tendril that connected it to a Malignancy Mage’s concatenate crystal, stretching through time and space, linking the two objects together. He could also sense the magical energy rising in Ohin, focused through the necklace of seashells hanging on his chest. Gabriel felt the magical energy leap out from Ohin and surround the dagger in a tight sphere. He could sense the thread connecting the dagger to the Malignant concatenate crystal flickering around the blade, trying to find a way through the shield of magical energy that Ohin had encased it in. Then Gabriel sensed the thread connected
“Sometimes they do,” Ling answered. “But a temple is much easier to track down than a dagger.”
“This temple has been connected to and severed from at least six times that I know of,” Chimalli added.
“Gabriel and Chimalli, inside with me,” Ohin said. “The rest of you stand guard. Teresa, if you would join us to provide some light, please. Leave any relics or artifacts, besides your talismans, outside with Rajan. They can interfere with the severing process.”
“Sure,” Teresa said, handing Rajan a small statue and the rabbit’s foot from a pocket of her dress as she stepped into the sanctuary. Suddenly a warm glow came through the doorway. Gabriel, Ohin, and Chimalli handed Rajan their relics.
When they stepped into the sanctuary, they saw that Teresa had created four tiny balls of fire which floated in the corners of the small stone chamber. The back of the room held a stone idol of Huitzilopochtli, the walls painted with murals depicting stories of the god’s exploits and the many sacrifices to him. In the center of the room was a small stone hearth for fires to burn sacrificial offerings. Along one wall was a low stone table with various ritual implements laid out across it, such as clay bowls, polished skulls, and five sacrificial daggers. Three of the daggers had long black edges of chipped obsidian that Gabriel knew were sharper than most steel blades, while two were fashioned from flint. The daggers had different handles, each carved from jade in the shape of an animal, such as a jaguar, a snake, or a bird. Gabriel could clearly sense the imprints of the daggers now.
“So the Malignancy Mages connect to the imprints of the dagger with a contaminant crystal?” Gabriel asked. Teresa giggled behind him
“A concatenate crystal,” Ohin corrected him in a gentle tone. “Like this one.” Ohin pulled a miniature crystal globe from his pocket and handed it to Gabriel. The crystal was a small, two inch wide ball of milky white glass. “Concatenate means ‘to link in a chain.’ That is an inactive crystal, waiting to be linked. A time mage can link the imprints of an artifact or a place to the crystal. Crystals can also be linked together.”
“The more links in the chain,” Chimalli added, “the more powerful the magic you can perform.”
“Up to seven,” Ohin said. “No chain of concatenate crystals can have more than seven links.”
“Chrono-quantum entanglement degradation,” Teresa said, almost absentmindedly from the back of the room.
“Can you sense which dagger has been linked to a crystal?” Ohin asked.
As Gabriel reached out with his magic-sense to the daggers, his eyes widened a bit and he looked up to Ohin.
“All of the daggers have been linked to a crystal,” Gabriel said.
“Someone has been very busy,” Chimalli said.
“And someone else will be busy now,” Ohin said. “I’ll sever the first one, the one we came for, and then Gabriel can try his hand at one of the others.” Ohin choose a dagger from those on the table and carried it to the far side of the room, away from the other ritual objects. Gabriel followed him.
“Now watch closely. With your magic-sense, not your eyes.”
Gabriel calmed his mind and focused on the obsidian dagger in Ohin’s hands. He could sense the tendril that connected it to a Malignancy Mage’s concatenate crystal, stretching through time and space, linking the two objects together. He could also sense the magical energy rising in Ohin, focused through the necklace of seashells hanging on his chest. Gabriel felt the magical energy leap out from Ohin and surround the dagger in a tight sphere. He could sense the thread connecting the dagger to the Malignant concatenate crystal flickering around the blade, trying to find a way through the shield of magical energy that Ohin had encased it in. Then Gabriel sensed the thread connected
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