Keepers Clan: Sisters 2

“Thank you,” Khaldor said, “This will be a great addition to our libraries.”

The sisters nodded their heads and started to observe the haedians around them. Every Haedian was busy talking to each other, writing something down, or reading. These were the haedians that most appealed to the power-hungry sisters. For all the knowledge they wanted to consume only went into feeding their magic. 

“So there are two things we could use your help with,” Khaldor’s voice broke through their trance, “Either helping with the pups, or I can show you the outer halls.”

“Outer halls,” Cheiro answered instantly.

Her sisters nodded vigorously in agreement and Furor added, “Pups are not for us.”

There was a tone of disgust or fear, Khaldor wasn’t sure, but he didn’t question it further. Khaldor nodded, leading the three empyrians toward the outer halls. On their way, Khaldor explained what they could do; they could talk to some of the haedians or try to read the crystals, it was up to them. 

“Let’s try to decipher the crystals,” Kiamana said when they reached the outer hall. 

Cheiro and Furor didn’t argue as Khadlor guided the three sisters toward a shelf of crystals. 

“You can try with these,” Khaldor said, waving towards the shelves filled with engraved crystals. 

The empyrians thanked him and began picking the crystals off the shelf to get a better look as Khaldor left them to their own devices. Each sister picked up a crystal and examined it. They turned it around in their hands to see what they could figure out without magic at first. They talked amongst themselves about different methods they could try to read the crystals properly. 

“We could try to tranquil’s way to connect with magic,” Furor said. 

“Or we could try the same thing we did with the druid tree,” Kaimana added.

“That didn’t go so well,” Cheiro reminded her. 

Kaimana shrugged, “Wouldn’t hurt to try.”

There was a brief pause as the sisters listened to the quiet chatter around them. 

“We can try both,” Furor decided, breaking the silence between them. 

With the sisters all in agreement, Kaimana tried first. She pulled the runes off her body and let them shift through all the languages she knew. Cheiro and Furor attempted to see if any matched the etchings on the crystal. Kaimana got a little frustrated and forced her magic onto the crystals. Cheir and Furor saw their sister grip her crystal and they worried it would break under the pressure. Finally, when Kaimana’s language knowledge was exhausted, she pulled her magic back to her and sighed. 

“Well that didn’t work,” She stated simply. 

“At least the crystal didn’t break,” Cheiro murmured. 

“Well, let’s try the meditation technique we learned from the tranquil clan,” Furor suggested, ignoring the glares Cheiro and Kaimana were sending each other. 

Furor closed her eyes and focused on being calm. She tried to remember the feeling when she was practicing with Pyrri. She tried to visualize the magic in the crystal, sensing the streams of magic wrapping around the crystal. Furor slowly opened her eyes to see if it worked, but it hadn’t. When she opened her eyes it was just the crystal in her hands. 

“Wow,” Kaimana teased, “You made the look so dramatic.”

Cheiro attempted, and failed, to hide her laughter while Furor just glared at her sisters. 

“What do you suggest then?” Furor asked Cheiro. 

“We could ask for help, or watch how the haedians here do it,” Cheiro suggested. 

“Why don’t you try the tranquil method,” Kaimana spoke up, “With your magical mutation, you might have more magic to access it.”

Cheiro didn’t think it would work but decided to give it a shot. She followed Furor’s example and closed her eyes as she placed all of her four hands on the crystal. When she attempted to be calm she felt her shadow and dark magic creep forward, forcing her to shut it down. She tried again. Cheiro visualized the magic in the crystals coming out like she had seen the runes come off Kaimana. She waited a second before she opened her eyes to see nothing had changed. The crystal was a little warmer, but that could have been from her hands. 

“See,” Cheiro said, “Didn’t work.”

“I think it didn’t work because you didn’t want it to,” Furor squinted her eyes at her eldest sister. 

Cheiro shook her head, but Kaimana and Furor didn’t believe her. They argued back and forth for a few minutes before they all dropped it. There was no use fighting over it. 

“Maybe it’s the crystal,” Kaimana suggested as she shifted the crystal in her hands. 

It was Furor’s turn to chuckle, “You think another crystal would have different results?”

Kiamana rolled her eyes, “It was a suggestion, I was thinking out loud.”

This spurred another argument, but it quickly ended when Khaldor made a reappearance to see how it was going with the three empyrians. 

[827]