Black Jade

Gelstei.

'Your crystals,' he said to us, 'are powerful and rare, but on all of Ea there are no other gelstei like these, for they were not made on earth.'

He went on to say that only the angels, and the Galadin at that, could possibly possess the art of forging the Great Gelstei. Then he held up his clear stone and showed it to Kane. 'The Elijin who were sent here brought these with them, didn't they?'

'So,' Kane growled out. 'Nurijin, Mayin and Baladin were the stones' keepers. And Manjin, Durrikin, Sarojin — Iojin, too. And all of them killed over the years on this cursed world. I had thought the stones lost.'

He drew in a long, pained breath and said to Abrasax, 'It must have been a great work to seek these out and bring them here.' 'The work of ages,' Abrasax told him. 'Many Brothers died in this quest.'

'As you will die if you continue to use them.' 'The Red Dragon, we believe,' Abrasax said, 'does not yet know that we keep them. And use them we must, at least tonight. There are tests still to be made.'

He sat cupping his clear stone in his hand. It shimmered a soft white, even as the crystals of the other Masters radiated colors of crimson and orange, up through a glowing violet.

'We have questions for the girl,' Abrasax said, looking at Estrella. Then he turned to me. 'And for you, Valashu Elahad.'

The room fell quiet, and I nodded at Estrella and then Abrasax. I sat gripping the hilt of my sword as I waited for the seven Masters of the Brotherhood to test me somehow — if not in actual combat, then perhaps in a trial of the soul.

Chapter 9

Abrasax oriented his long, stately body toward Estrella, sitting almost motionlessly on her cushion by her table. For a long time he regarded her in silence. His liquid brown eyes seemed to empty of all thoughts, even questions, even as they filled with a strange and piercing light. The round crystal resting in his open palm gleamed like a little star. Those of the other masters seemed to resonate with it, gathering radiance from it and feeding it back to Abrasax's stone, all at once.

At last, the Grandmaster's eyes regained their normal focus. And in his deep, strong voice, he announced, 'This girl's aura is like none I have ever seen. So pure: as if the flames of her chakras flow toward one color, in one direction. And bright it is — so very bright.'

Abrasax continued gazing at Estrella, who sat peacefully on her big red cushion gazing back at him. Estrella's happy smile seemed to warm Abrasax's heart, and his whole face pulled into a smile, highlighting the deep lines around his eyes.

'Strange,' he murmured as he looked at her. 'There is indeed something strange about this girl.'

'Then is it possible,' Master Storr asked, 'that she is truly a seard?'

Abrasax nodded his head. 'I'm certain that she is. Master Juwain has identified her correctly.'

'But what is a seard?' Daj asked from his place next to Estrella. It was the first time that evening he had dared to speak. 'Master Juwain tried to explain it, but I didn't really understand.'

'I'm not sure that I fully understand, either,' Abrasax said. 'But from the accounts in the Book of Illuminations, it is clear that seards are great and pure souls, gifted with being able to see deeply into all things and all people, and most especially the Maitreya I believe that Estrella might perceive the Shining One where others could not, perhaps not even himself.'

He went on to say that where I might be the fated guardian of the Lightstone, and therefore of the Maitreya, a seard such as Estrella was his herald.

'Then, Grandfather,' Master Matai said, 'you must believe Kasandra's prophecy will prove true, that the girl will show the Maitreya?'

'I believe the prophecy. She would be drawn to him like a fire moth finding its mate across many miles.'

Although I could not behold Estrella's aura just then as Abrasax did, she seemed the brightest being in the room, and her eyes outshone even the silustria of my sword.

'It's a pity,' Master Matai said, 'that she cannot speak to us. I would like to know where she was born, and when. A seard's stars would be close to those of a Maitreya.'

It is a pity that she cannot speak,' Master Okuth said. He was a smallish man who seemed to hold inside his kind green eyes whole rivers of compassion. 'For pity's sake, and her own, I would like a chance to heal her of her affliction.'

Master Juwain held up his varistei and said to him, 'More than once, before the Red Dragon regained the Lightstone, I tried to use this to heal Estrella — in vain. Of course, I am only a Master Healer; you are the Master Healer.'

'I believe you have done as much as any of us can do,' Master Okuth told him. 'At least until the Maitreya is found and comes into his power. My power is now constraint I am entrusted with a green gelstei, as are you, but the Red Dragon knows that we keep this stone, and I do not dare to use it.'

'Then how do you propose to heal Estrella?'

'In truth, I don't. At least not here, and not tonight. But it may be that through the Great Gelstei, she could speak to us in a way that we can understand, for a short while.'

'And the cost to the girl? What if she doesn't want to speak?'

All eyes now turned on Estrella, sitting calmly as she nibbled on a cake crumb and regarded Master Okuth.

'There should be no cost,' Master Okuth said.

'Just the opposite,' Master Matai said. 'Those whose chakras have been opened by the Great Gelstei feel strengthened and enlivened.'

'And you believe that engendering speech,' Master Juwain said to Master Okuth, 'is it merely a matter of opening the girl this way?'

'It is indeed more complicated than that,' Master Okuth told us. 'Much more complicated. But let us just say that the power of the seven Openers projects through sound and resonates with the secret music that inheres in all things.'

Kane scowled at this, and looked at me. I knew that my savage friend hated it when the Brothers spoke so esoterically.

'You have my promise,' Abrasax assured us, 'that this test will leave Estrella unharmed. But will she consent to it?'

Estrella looked at him with complete trust. Then she quickly nodded her head.

'Good,' Abrasax said. 'Then why don't we begin?'

He held his hand, cupping his clear gelstei, out toward Estrella. The other Masters did likewise with their crystals. Estrella sat very straight and still, not knowing what to expect. She seemed at once curious and bemused by the powers of these seven old men and their mysterious crystals.

As we all waited, breathing deeply, the seven Openers began to luminesce. I sensed, rather than saw, the seven wheels of light along Estrella's spine scintillating in response to the gelstei's touch. The red of the First, Master Matai's stone, seemed to give its fire to Estrella's lowest chakra even as something deep inside Estrella called out to it. And this calling we all heard as a single, clear, plangent note. It played back and forth between Estrella and the gelstei. The other Masters with their stones likewise opened Estrella's other chakras, and a beautiful music poured out into the chamber's cool air. I could almost see the colors of this music. Master Storr's gleaming purple stone, I thought, struck deep chords with some secret organ of speech within Estrella's head. Master Yasul's gelstei, the Fifth, as blue as a sapphire, blazed more brightly than did any of the others. It seemed to summon a bright song from within Estrella's throat. Without warning, she began laughing out loud: a delightful sound like the tinkling of bells. And then her mouth opened as perfectly formed words began pouring from her lips like a silver stream:

'I've wanted to talk so badly, to tell you things, Val Maram Atara, everyone, to tell you everything, and now there is all the time in the world, but so little