By the look on Asher’s face, his memories had just caught up with him. “It kills magic.”
“That’s something of a ranger’s description, but you’re close. Crissalith was designed by Atilan to deflect the currents of magic. He was looking for a way to bring dragons down but, from what records there are, he mostly enjoyed the power it gave him over his subjects. Like Krayt, his staff was lined with the crystals. Any room he entered rendered the occupants blind and deaf to the realm of magic. It made him powerful among the powerful.”
“But he couldn’t use magic either,” Asher reasoned from Gideon’s description.
Revelation illuminated Reyna’s face. “The blue crystal…” Her words trailed off, much like her sight, as she tried to follow her understanding through to a logical conclusion.
“There’s a blue crystal?” Asher’s frustration formed his every word.
“The one you brought back from Mount Garganafan,” Reyna continued. “You said you had taken it from Lord Krayt.”
“Yes,” Gideon confirmed. “It was the only way I could beat him.” He recalled yanking the ring from Lord Krayt’s bony finger, reducing him to naught but an old man, feeble when compared to Gideon’s youth.
Asher shook his head. “Besides the fact that I didn’t have any eyes at the time, I’ve taken a few blows to the head since then - some quite recently. I don’t remember any blue crystal after the battle of Velia.”
“They’re called Hastion gems,” Gideon explained.
One of Reyna’s eyebrows lifted in curiosity. “I thought they had no name.”
“At the time we didn’t know of one,” Gideon explained. “Atilan’s grimoire - the one Galanör and your mother found in the mine - made no mention of it by name, but I found a single reference to it in the Dragorn library, on The Lifeless Isles. Elandril himself investigated a few ancient sites, during The First Age. He collated what he could—”
“I’m appreciating the history lesson,” Asher interjected, “but what does a Hastion gem do?”
Gideon tried to think of the simplest way he could put it. “Like Crissalith, Atilan designed it with a single purpose. Whoever wields a Hastion gem retains their connection to the realm of magic - Crissalith cannot affect them. Atilan wore such a gem on his finger. He also gifted them to his most trusted and loyal servants, like Krayt.”
Reyna leaned forward on the table, her gaze almost predatory. “Do you still have it?”
Gideon nodded. “Locked away in the Dragorn library.”
Asher released something close to a groan from his throat. “Why do I feel like I’ve missed a step?”
Reyna turned to the ranger. “With a Hastion gem in his possession, Gideon can retrieve a piece of Crissalith from the mine and safely bring it back to Illian without Ilargo falling ill to its effects.”
Gideon added, “It also means we could get close enough to use it against Alijah without losing what’s left of our own magic. At least one individual could,” he added.
Asher didn’t look convinced. “For the last two years, Alijah has proven to be one step ahead of us at every turn. If you’ve considered this, won’t he have?”
“He won’t even know it exists,” Gideon replied with the hint of a smile. “I locked the Hastion gem away in the library years before he was born. And Malliath was there for the mine’s destruction. As far as he will be concerned, Crissalith is no longer a threat.”
Asher looked away as he came to his own conclusion. “They would be blind to it.”
“Yes,” Gideon said with some satisfaction. “This could be our best chance at really stopping them. The Crissalith will cut right through their bond. Alijah will be able to think for himself for the first time in years. Malliath will be put off balance, perhaps enough to subdue him until Alijah can alter their bond. After that we can slay Malliath and spare Alijah.”
The ranger shook his head again. “This Hastion gem you possess - it’s a ring?”
Gideon looked from Asher to Reyna and back. “Yes,” he answered hesitantly.
“So you could retrieve a piece of Crissalith without it blocking your magic,” Asher went on, “but how will Ilargo fly back to Illian if it only protects the one wearing it?”
“Ilargo has already considered that,” Gideon reassured. “We have a plan.”
“And does this same plan also help you to enter a mine destroyed by a dragon?” the ranger hounded.
“No.” The answer turned every head to the tent’s entrance, where Galanör was standing with Aenwyn. “I believe that’s where I come in.”
Gideon pointed his finger at the elven ranger. “Galanör has been inside Atilan’s lab. He’s seen it.”
Again, Reyna put it all together before Asher. “You could open a portal inside the mine,” she voiced.
Galanör nodded. “It’s been several years since I opened any portal, but I recall the method. And I recall Atilan’s lab with enough clarity.”
“You don’t look like you have the strength to open a door,” Asher said bluntly, “never mind a portal.”
“He will have time to recover,” Gideon assured. “We must fly to The Lifeless Isles to recover the Hastion gem first.”
“What about crystals to open a portal?” Reyna questioned. “I doubt there are any among us who can create one now.”
“Before departing Illian at the end of The Ash War,” Gideon told them, “I concealed three crystals in my private chamber.”
“One to get in,” Galanör said with a finger in the air. “And one to get out,” he added with a second finger.
“And one for luck,” Gideon commented.
Asher gave a false laugh. “You’re going to need it. Hell, we all are.”
Reyna acknowledged his comment without a direct response. “The magic in those crystals will be degrading along with the tree,” she said instead.
“All the more reason for haste,” Gideon reminded them.
Asher, clearly the one burdened by the most doubt, leaned over the table and hung his head. Reyna mimicked him to
