They drew closer to what was, indeed, an entire wood made up of crystal trees. It was the leaves that sparkled, each one razor-thin and transparent as glass. As they caught the sun, they sent patterns of light dancing down onto the pure white bark of the trunks, rippling the wood with all the colours of the spectrum. The path through was raised higher than the ground, above a network of smooth white roots which were peppered by deposits of papery bark and shining crystal shards.
‘Is it safe in there?’ asked Hiza.
‘As long as the wind doesn’t blow,’ said Fazel.
‘Come on,’ said Bel. ‘I see no shards on the path – there must be some kind of enchantment that keeps it clear.’ He sent a questioning glance at Losara, who in turn sensed, to his surprise, that Bel was right.
‘Some kind of displacement spell,’ Losara said. ‘When the shards fall, they are steered away from the path.’
Bel led the way in, and soon they were surrounded by the strange trees. Leaves dropped now and then to spin overhead, slow and easy. They never landed on the path, but frequently the travellers heard a brief shattering as a leaf hit ground or branch.
Losara let his senses quest and was worried to discover that they were surrounded by tiny, magical beings of light. He could not see what they were exactly, for they made bright blotches in his perception. He glanced about, trying to locate one with true sight alone. A powdery white moth took off from a tree trunk against which it had appeared perfectly camouflaged, but that wasn’t what he searched for.
‘Look,’ said M’Meska, extending a claw. By the side of the path, between two trees, hung a spider web. It shone crystal, as spider webs do …the difference being, Losara realised, that it was crystal. When the web’s owner appeared, Losara had the answer to what he’d been sensing.
Although the creature, about the size of a fist, had the appearance of a large spider, it was entirely transparent. It paused, seeming to watch them with a face full of gleaming eyes, then clicked its mandibles and walked onto its web with a tic tic tic.
‘Fahren never told me of such a creature,’ said Bel.
‘Perhaps he did not foresee the need,’ said Fazel. ‘The crystal spiders live only here.’
‘They’re actually made from crystal?’ said Jaya, watching the spider with avid interest.
‘Yes,’ said Fazel. ‘Living crystal.’ Even his usual dry tone seemed to possess a touch of wonder.
Could it be , Losara sent him, that despite your years, there are still things in the world you have not yet seen?
It seems there are , said Fazel.
‘I wonder,’ said Jaya, easing forward, ‘how much one of those is worth. ’
‘Jaya,’ chuckled Bel. ‘You are not going to fill your pack with crawling insects, even if they are made of crystal.’
‘Just imagine what a noble might pay to possess such an exotic thing!’
‘They would not survive outside the wood, miss,’ said Fazel, his even tone returned. ‘They are magic, and the magic that animates them is here.’
‘Bah,’ said Jaya.
One of the white moths fluttered overhead, swerving and circling. It hit the web with a soft impact and stuck, beating its powdery wings haplessly. The spider lowered itself on a fine crystal thread to sink fangs into its prize. They could see the blood travelling up inside them to fill its transparent belly.
Hiza shivered. ‘Tell me those things can’t come onto the path?’
‘I see no webs overhanging,’ said Fazel. ‘It is a safe assumption.’
As they travelled on, they saw more spiders in the trees around them, scurrying along branches or hanging from webs. It began to rain, a light sun shower. Droplets hit the webs and fractured into mist, sending up more tiny focal points for the sun’s rays to shine through. Rainbows of different sizes danced over every surface. Losara found the multifaceted display of lights a little unsettling, but knew he was witnessing something extraordinary.
‘My goodness,’ Jaya said, with uncharacteristic awe.
‘What?’ said Bel.
‘Well …don’t you think it’s beautiful?’
Bel glanced around. ‘I guess,’ he said. ‘It certainly is …interesting.’
‘Interesting?’ said Jaya in disbelief.
Losara heard in Bel a tone he was sure he recognised in himself. It came when he did not know how he felt about something. He decided to wonder openly.
‘Does this not,’ he said, ‘give you all the more resolve to fight for our cause?’ He tried to inject enthusiasm into his tone, drawing on his memories of how his pilgrimage had made him appreciate his own land.
‘What do you mean?’ said Bel.
‘Well,’ said Losara, ‘only that to witness such a spectacle …it must fuel your desire to protect it, must give you strength.’
Bel stared around, frowning. After a time his expression went blank, and he seemed to forget what they had even been talking about. Jaya, who had been listening to the exchange with an arched brow, shook her head and turned away.
‘Thought you were supposed to be part Sprite,’ she muttered.
Not even that roused Bel from his stupor.
‘It is something special, to be sure,’ said Hiza, filling in the uncomfortable silence. ‘As long as those spiders stay where they are, of course.’
‘I wonder,’ said Losara, ‘what would happen to this place if the light failed.’ He recalled his dream of his own land crumbling under the onslaught of the enemy. ‘The spiders would surely not survive, for they rely on light magic to live.’
He watched his other closely for a reaction, yet still none came. His own reaction was what Bel must be missing – appreciation of the splendour on display. For even though these were enemy lands, Losara knew the world would be poorer without them.
‘Perhaps the trees would live,’ Losara went on. ‘Perhaps not all would be lost if the world fell to the shadow.’
Did he hope that was the case?
‘No,’ said Fazel flatly. ‘Crystal is made for light to shine through. In shadow it is nothing but rock. If the shadow triumphs, the wood will be one of the many things that fail. The trees will die along with everything else.’
With sadness Losara accepted his words, knowing them to be true. If he ever won this war, the cost would be very great indeed.
‘No point to such conjecture,’ said Bel.
‘Why is that?’ asked Losara with genuine interest.
‘Because,’ Bel stared from Losara to Fazel and back, ‘the shadow is never going to triumph. Now, stop dawdling, everyone, and hurry up – I want to be through this place before nightfall.’
Jaya watched Bel stalk ahead, their footsteps out of sync. Let him go – she wasn’t going to allow him to spoil this moment for her.
‘Really quite extraordinary,’ came a voice beside her. Without realising it, she had fallen into step with Gellan, who was gazing off at their strange surrounds. She had grown to quite like the mage – she hadn’t been sure if she would at first, for he’d seemed quite cocky and, being cocky herself, that sometimes created friction. But somewhere along the way all cockiness seemed to have gone from him, and though she found him a bit strange, he possessed a calmness that made him easy to talk to.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Not usual of me to be sentimental, but I have to agree.’
‘A shame not all of us are able to appreciate it,’ said Gellan.
A moment of defensiveness passed by quickly, for Jaya had to admit the mage was right. She was a little sorry that Bel had not, for whatever reason, been awed by this place, as everyone else was.
‘I expect he’s simply focused on the task ahead,’ she said. ‘It sits heavily on his shoulders.’
‘I can imagine,’ said Gellan. ‘But it would be good to know he goes forth to conquer for a reason …not just because he’s been told to.’