Keepers Clan: Sisters 3

The three sisters watched as Khaldor approached them. He asked them how it was going, but they made it very clear that it wasn’t going well. The sisters huffed their complaints as they gestured wildly at the massive collection of crystals around them. Khaldor didn’t take their frustrations to heart, he was used to seeing this reaction with some of the younger haedians just learning their ways. 

“I’ll help,” Khaldor said, suddenly cutting off Furor’s tirade. 

“You’ll what?” Kaimana asked, not hearing him. 

Khaldor laughed, “I’ll help you understand how to view the knowledge in these crystals.”

The three empyrians watched as Khaldor picked up a random crystal and began to pull the magic out of it to reveal a short story. The haedians moved through the crystals glowing light as the three sisters watched the story unfold. All the while, Khaldor was telling them his thought process to get the magic out of the crystal. When the story ended and Khaldor had finished his explanation, he turned to the sisters. 

“Your turn,” Khaldor said as he passed each sister a crystal. 

Cheiro received a deep red crystal, Furor got a light purple, and Kaimana was handed a pale blue, nearly white crystal. Each stone matched some aspect of the empyrians. The three turned the crystals around in their claws to examine the entire piece. Cheiro twisted the rock and found one side had many spikes or crystalline offshoots. She thought there might be a war story held in the crystal. Furor’s crystal was smooth, the outward appearance didn’t give her any clues of what might be inside. While Kaimana held her cone-shaped crystal and compared it to her sisters’ crystals. 

“Do these combine?” Kaimana asked when she spotted an odd hole in Cheiro’s crystal. 

Khaldor smiled, “Yes, and no. Each crystal is part of the same story.”

Kaimana nodded and glanced at Furor’s crystal to see how it might attach to the other crystals, but nothing came to mind. It was Cheiro who thought she might know how Furor’s crystal might combine with the rest. Though, before she could say anything Khaldor spoke again. 

“The story is a long one,” Khaldor explained, “You can view in parts, keeping the crystals separate. Or, you can combine them and view the whole story.”

“Well let’s combine them then,” Furor said, bringing her crystal over to a table nearby. 

Cheiro and Kaimana followed suit, placing their crystals next to Furor’s. Khaldor watched as the sisters moved the crystals around trying to figure out how they connected. The three empyrians figured out that the pointed tip of Kaimana’s crystal went with the hole of Cheiro’s. Several minutes later, the only place they found for Furor’s crystal was to rest on top of the flat side of Kaimana’s. 

“I think that works,” Cheiro said, bringing one of her hands to her chin to ponder. 

“It does,” Khaldor confirmed. 

“Great,” Kaimana chimed in, “What’s next?”

“Next, you’re going to try to bring out the vision in the cluster,” Khaldor stated, “It will take more magic so you’ll need to help each other.”

The sisters had a moment where they realized they were willing to help each other, whereas when they returned to the surface it was guaranteed that they’d be at each other’s throats again. However, they looked at each other, letting the thought pass before they focused back on the cluster of crystals they put together. Khaldor’s curious nature brought him to wonder at the expressions he saw cross the empyrians’ faces, but he knew better than to pry into personal issues. 

The three empyrians closed their eyes as they each touched a portion of the cluster. They listened to Khaldor instruct them through the process, encouraged when he got excited, and told them to keep it up. 

“There it is,” Khaldor breathed and the sisters opened their eyes. 

Before them, flickering through the glowing light, was a massive gathering of Haedians. It looked like they were talking to each other, sharing stories and information. Furor was disappointed there was more action in the vision. Kaimana was curious when the vision took place because the environment was familiar, but too different to know. Cheiro watched the vision unfold, she admittedly became bored when nothing happened other than different haedians coming and going. 

“This is one of our traditions called the Gathering of Echoes,” Khaldor said wistfully without looking away from the vision. 

It was clear this vision meant something to him, but the significance was lost on the three empyrians. The group watched on as different stories were shared between the haedians in the vision. Some of the Haedians even looked familiar and now all wondered when this took place. A few haedians looked like they could be related to Khaldor or even some of the other haedians they had talked to. No one said anything, they just wondered in silence as the vision carried on. 

Nearly an hour later, the vision began to fade. Khaldor thanked them and expressed his hope that they found it helpful and interesting. The three empyrians thanked him as he walked them towards the exit. 

[857]