# Chapter 26 (Crystals)

  Early the next morning, the camp had already come alive. I sat up from my bedroll, awakened by the noise, pleasantly pleased to find my body had recovered even more. I attributed my improved condition to the fact that Sorina made sure I ate my fill throughout the day. Looking down at myself, it was clear I needed a lot more time to actually get back to full health. I just prayed to whatever god was out there that I didn't receive any lifelong damage after my primal stint.

  Seeing as how it was the sounds of bickering that woke me, I stretched my thin and small frame before making my way out of the tent. Standing just beside it, Ruslan and the young man—I believed him to be Zamir—were arguing.

  "And we would have to get more wires too," the young man finished, his voice more exasperated than aggravated.

  "Yes, yes, I know… We might just have to employ a sector search until we find them then." The old man answered, his hand stroking his chin in absent thought.

  "You know Wuying won't go for that," Zamir chuckled.

  "Well, she'll have to. That's the agreement we made."

  The crystals were important to this guy—I'd known that from the conversation I overheard yesterday. And I felt pretty indebted to their whole party. They saved my life just as much as I saved theirs.

  "I… I know where ze crystalz zar," I said quietly.

  The two grown men jumped straight out of their frames like scared cats. Note to self: find out if cats exist in this world.

  "Zahd!" Zamir shouted.

  Naturally, I laughed at their fright and then asked in my full innocence, "What doez Zahd mean?"

  Ruslan slapped Zamir upside the head. I couldn't tell if it was because of the shout earlier or because of the following snap that brought Wuying and Sorina rushing towards us.

  "What, what's going on?" Wuying asked, her hand hovering over her Cell as she scanned the area with fierce focus in her eyes.

  "It's nothing… The young miss surprised us is all, and Zamir reacted by using coarse language in front of the young lady." Wuying looked to me and then to Zamir before slapping him upside the head too.

  "Ah… hey! I'm sorry," Zamir groaned in jest, making me giggle more. "Is it true what you've said, though? Do you really know where to find them?"

  He turned back to me, his voice more gentle than it was moments ago. Rather than answering, I shrank back from their attention and nodded quietly.

  "Girl, we get you want to help, but…"

  "My name iz Kaliah, and I know what I'm talking about," I said firmly before he was able to get out what he was about to say.

  The small group fell silent before Ruslan looked up to Wuying, who sighed. She shook her head as if she were at odds between what she felt and what she wanted to say. "Alright, we can follow the girl. It's better than leaving her on her own anyway."

  Ruslan asked about where Sorina and Milos were, and Wuying said they were having their morning prayers. After the two finished, we packed our things. I didn't have anything, but I was given an extra pack.

  ---

  Walking through the forest with others was a strange shift from how I lived… before. Before, every foreign twig snap and shift of the forest alerted my attention and caused me to snap my focus over to that area. So when guiding the explorers as they walked close by me, I found myself straining not to acknowledge each step they took. The only thing that likely helped me hold my focus was the resonant energy signal I could feel washing over me with its warming vibrations.

  I found myself better conscious—more aware—of the energy around me, everywhere. I could see and feel it better, like my eyes had grown sharper. A creature with a semi-circle handle-like tail hung upside down on a branch, its tail practically anchoring it safely to the limb. Looking around it, I couldn't tell the level of its Core, but I could see and feel its density and how it moved within the creature. And when I focused on this specific pattern or texture, I could then easily see dozens of other handle guys hanging from trees all over. It was as if they had their own form of camouflage. When not paying attention to them specifically, they looked much like the green, white, and pink blooms and fruits that hung from the same tree.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "What are you looking at, Kaliah?" A gentle voice spoke up behind me as we started back in the direction I pointed out. I turned to see the woman in the dirty hijab. I couldn't help but wonder if Islam was somehow a religion in this world, but I quickly thought that even if it were, it wouldn't be the same word seeing as how the languages were all different so far.

  "Uh… do you know what zhey zar called?" Sorina's eyes followed my point before fixating on the hanging creatures. Her eyes then widened before looking back to me.

  "Oh—uh. Those are called Quiawl." Sorina said hesitantly before asking her next question. "How could you see them?"

  I thought that was a weird question. To me, I just could—and pretty clearly too. It was much like fluid or gas flowing through and around them, which gave away their position and their shape. "I can see their energy," I said simply, and as I said that, it dawned on me what I was actually doing.

  As if unfocusing my eyes, the quiawls disappeared and the world returned to its full-color state. Even that fact, as I realized it, threw me off. The flow of energy was so unique I didn't even realize that the world became colorless. Looking up to Sorina, I could see her eyes widening before a smile stretched across her face as if she were about to cry.

  "Oh, sweet child," she said gently, bringing her hands up to cup my face. Her hands were soft and slightly cold, but strangely refreshing in the thick of the jungle. "You are too blessed of Ashiram."

  Alarm bells immediately started to go off in my head. I did not want to get sucked into some weird kind of religious role. I had enough on my plate as is. "Ah… I don't underzand?"

  "It's okay, it's always a little confusing to start with, but when you meet with the council, you'll understand." Her pride in me, despite not even knowing me, was infectious though. I felt good, as if I'd accomplished something, and yet I had no idea what she was so excited about.

  "I am so sorry, oh holy one, for how I acted toward you until now," the big guy said. I turned to see him bowing at my feet in reverence, and seeing this freaked me all the way out. He reached for my hand and I instantly pulled away, reaching for my Cell but realizing it wasn't there. And suddenly I felt naked again, defenseless again, sending a wave of panic through me. My breath hitched in my throat. The world spun for a moment before a steadying hand held me firm. I looked up to see Wuying now shielding me between the two.

  "You're scaring the poor girl. Whatever plans you have, you can talk them through if she wants after we get out of the valley." Her voice was sharper than any blade I could've imagined, and the two Mahloans visibly deflated.

  "Please, enough of this ridiculousness," Ruslan groaned, waving his hand impatiently. "Let's get going already."

  The group exchanged stares among each other before moving on, leaving me to wonder just how special my gift truly was to these people. Perhaps it's for this kind of reason why we keep our gifts hidden in Osmira.

  Now conscious of how my gift of understanding was changing, I could better understand why I was able to navigate so easily to the crystals. I had seen and felt the energy flow already. I knew its texture, and just like how I could now easily point out the Quiawls, I could identify the site of the crystals.

  As much as I could see the energy in the distance thrumming with its characteristic warble, I could also feel the waves of its energy thrumming through me like sound waves in their crests and troughs. Or maybe more like a radio? Everything outside of my tuning was static and blurry—no feelings, no depth, just blurry formless and colorless space. And yet as I got closer to things, like a bloom of green fork-shaped flowers, I could then see its texture in clarity. It was mesmerizing to look at, although I also could feel a significant strain on my Core when I tried to hold this special vision for too long.

  Curiously though, the closer we got to the crystals, the more confused I got. I watched the faces of the explorers grow more weary and strained as they began to struggle. The barriers flared fiercely as they fought back the high density of the region. And yet, while I could feel the tremendous pressure against my barrier, I in no way felt laden by it. Despite that, not wanting a repeat of reverential awe from the zealots, I played as though I were nearly crippled under the pressure.

  "Ruslan, we have to go. It's too much for her," the big guy called out, his newfound concern for me more disturbing than anything else.

  "I'M… fine… we're almost there." Rather than looking at their expressions, I continued on, annoyed by having to feign such weakness in the first place. The act was more exhausting than the density itself. After pretending for about a few hours, I genuinely had become tired.

  We continued on anyway and finally came into a clearing that was completely enshrouded by a thick canopy of trees that seemed to tower unnaturally over our heads. Despite the new height of the forest ceiling, the lack of sun didn't leave us in darkness. Rather, the crystals we began to pass illuminated our path well enough. Jagged croppings of white crystals were what we found first, and they slowly began increasing in size before they began to turn red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and of course purple as we neared the center.

  The larger the crystal, generally the lower its purity seemed to be. And yet the higher its purity, the smaller the crystal. Despite this being a general rule, there were still some massive purple crystal croppings that we could never hope to bring back with us. Zamir, Ruslan, and the big zealot immediately started collecting their samples in excitement. I too was excited. I'd myself been trying to reach this spot ever since I saw it in the Shadow Jag's memories. To think I'd stood right here and not had the mental capacity to appreciate what I was seeing. And with my skill active, I could see an incredibly symphony playing out for me in all different kinds of resonances as energy flowed perfectly into, through, and around everything around us. A particular stream caught my attention and I followed it. There on the ground was a crystal so small, about the size of a AA battery. I reached down and picked it up, feeling its warmth pulse against my palm before slipping it into a pouch on my tunic.

  "Kaliah?" I turned and Wuying was looking me over with worried eyes before examining me more carefully with curiosity. "I don't mean to pry, but… you know how to work a Cell, don't you?"

  "Why do you azk?"

  "It's just… when Milos was about to touch you, I saw you reach like you expected to have one," she said, not accusingly but questioningly, as if she were thinking out loud and was looking for my confirmation.

  "I… do know how to uze it."

  Wuying nodded. "Good to know."

  "Hey, you two, we got what we needed. Let's go!" Zamir's voice stretched across to us.

  "And just so you know, I won't ever forget how you saved me when we first met. Okay?" Wuying said lastly. I nodded in response, understanding her respect was much more familiar than the respect the other two showed. I followed after her as we started heading back the way we came.

  And that's when we heard it… or felt it even.

  "Hmmmmmmmmm."

  A vibration tore through the jungle in a resonant wave, illuminating every crystal around us into bright glowing lanterns.

  "What was that?" Sorina asked, looking around us. I wondered what she was looking at because her eyes weren't unfocused. In fact, they were very focused, as if she were analyzing something. I changed my focus and realized it was the energy. Before, where it was flowing slow and calmly, it now rushed like the movement of a river after a storm—like a large amount of energy was moved. Was this what she was looking at? Could she see what I saw too? That's when it hit me. That's how she knew.

  I shook my head as I finally heard Wuying's voice.

  "RUN."

  She grabbed my hand and pulled me along as the rest started running without needing her assistance. I felt like a burden and yet I didn't mind at the same time. It was better to let her help me. I needed it.

  After leaving the crystal zone, we headed back to the camp. It was just as exhausting a trek back as it was leaving. We all had ideas of sleeping and restoring ourselves for the night, only to find a beast laying in the middle of the camp. Its stomach looked as though it had exploded outwards, and small tendrils had grown over everything.

  "There goes our stuff," Zamir said glumly, while Milos looked just as confused as me and asked what it was.

  "It's a type of parasite that uses its host's digestive system to spread itself. It gets onto anything that something would eat and then explodes its way out to spread even more."

  "Disgusting…" I said.

  We ended up having to leave the camp as is, and that left us with nothing but what we brought with us.