‘Give us sometime to discuss this proposal.’ replied the master and by thenumber of crystals flashing there was considerable discussion.
‘You’ve done itnow. Too much detail.’ said Glammer. ‘They will take a week or twonow to consider what you said.’
‘You have toremember that they’re dead.’ she whispered. ‘They have plenty oftime and don’t think very well.’
‘We’ll see.’said Aquitain as he went into autohypnosis to unlock some memory tofind out how to create convincing illusions. To his surprise therewasn’t much locked away.
‘This could beembarrassing.’ he suddenly thought.
Five minuteslater.
‘Okay.’ saidthe master ‘All in favour of the Warden’s proposal go to his rightand indicate their agreement and all against go to his left.
Two minuteslater there was a strong glow of light coming from the crystals tohis right and almost none from the left. Glammer was lost forwords.
‘It seems weare in agreement with the proposal. You may proceed with the planwarden.’ said the master.
‘I am bothpleased and excited that the Collective approves my proposal. Iwould be most honoured if the masters would assist in creation ofour frightful image. I will freely admit I am a novice in design ofillusions compared to those such as yourselves.’
Glammer frownedat him and whispered. ‘That is not fair. You are manipulatingthem.’ She sounded quite annoyed.
‘I am a mindwizard what do you expect?’ he whispered back. ‘Besides they weregreat magic users. They deserve respect.’
‘The imageshould be as realistic as possible.’ said one.
‘It should movein a realistic manner.’ added another.
‘It should besubstantial so that it is hard to discern from reality.’ saidanother.
‘It should adistinctive sound and odour.’ Said yet another.
‘Thank youall.’ replied Aquitain. ‘Perhaps I will create a small image andyou can advise me on the details then he created an image ofhimself as he used to be a few days ago.
‘That’s quite areasonable start.’ said someone. ‘However if you do this, it addsrealism.’
The creation ofthe final image took over two hours but in that time he gained alifetime of knowledge and wisdom on illusions from several powerfuldeceased wizards, all eager to impress with their skill.
The finalproduct was extraordinary. It was moving giant sized Llanllean thathad a complex sequence of movements accompanied by suitable soundsand a distinctive smell that was very Llanllean.
At the end hedisplayed the illusion to a packed audience of spirits and theyapplauded.
‘GROWWWL.Thereis nothing I don’t know about FEAR!’ said a voice and Aquitain wasterrified. He quickly created a pure heart and Glammervanished.
‘Ha ha. Wardenyou flatter me!’ said the voice.
‘It’s notflattery I can assure you.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Ah. It is fineto know I still have it.’
‘I wasIllmarin, the High Shaman and Right Claw of K’wala, the Spirit Bearbefore he was destroyed. He promised me a place at his side. I havenowhere to go. I am trapped here amongst these … spirits. I know offear. K’wala was a great teacher. No one could put fear into peoplelike K’wala. When K’wala growled even the Gods took notice. If youwant a zone of fear then I will help.’ He stated.
‘I willgratefully accept your help, Illmarin. Teach me to growl likeK’wala and you will have a zone of fear like no other.’
Aquitain spentthe next hour learning what fear was and how to use it. In the endhe was terrified hearing his own voice and had to do it in a pureheart. He had no doubt only the most courageous or fool hardlywould ever pass their zone of fear.
Near the end heasked how K’wala had died.
‘It wasdisgusting. It took a minor god to overcome him such was hisstrength and courage. I tried to help but was overcome and made towatch then I was sent here to this dead world to rot amongst theseother has-beens.’
‘Keep quiet!’said someone.
‘Keep quietyourself! I am Illmarin, Right Claw of K’wala. I feared no oneexcept K’wala himself. I fear no one here’
Glammerreturned.
‘Are youfinished?’ she asked quite rudely.
‘Yes I amready. Let’s do it.’ he replied.
They spentabout 4 hours finding the right location in the cave about 800paces away and another 3 hours perfecting the effects. In the endit was a minor masterpiece. A giant scarred vile Llanllean withderanged red glowing eyes that periodically roamed around the area.A zone of fear so horrific that Glammer wouldn’t go near it and itchilled Aquitain to the bone and he had created it. Anyone gameenough to enter that area was a true hero of outstandingcourage.
He also createdtwo illusionary walls at suitable places so that there was apassive protected buffer between the illusion and the collective.Both Illusory walls send silent signals to the collective to warnthem of impending discovery.
It felt like aproductive day’s work when he finally fronted up to the Collectivefor the information about the location of Miranda that was part ofthe deal.
‘Um … theperson that you are seeking did arrive on Moonmist more than a weekago and then … er … vanished. We are unsure about her currentwhereabouts but we are sure she isn’t dead.’
‘What!’ yelledAquitain. ‘You have deceived me!’
Glammervanished.
‘Where then aremy memcrystal Alpha and my cousin Zephira?’ shouted Aquitain hopingto get some useful leads.
‘Um … they werein this world but within the last few hours they have passedthrough a gateway to some unknown destination.’
‘What! So whileI was helping you they were being moved. His anger rose like astorm. Why shouldn’t I destroy all your precious crystal homes.’ heroared emitting a K’wala-like growl of intense ferocity.
‘That’s it!’exclaimed Illmarin. ‘You have mastered it! That IS the sound ofK’wala!’
Aquitain begansinging a mantra of calming. How could a crystal statue get soemotional? How can I get such intense feelings while in a crystalbody? It shocked him. It was irrational. He didn’t like the thoughtof it. It recalled something in the back of his mind. He had feltfeelings as a Logicon, which were supposed to feel nothing. Hisemotions were transcending the limitation of the body.
