The Crystal Cage Part Four

THE CRYSTAL CAGE

An Aurivyn Tale

First published in Abandoned Towers Magazine Issue 3, 2009

Part Four

“Yes,” said I, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps the magician is an Elementalist. Perhaps he specializes in Water-Magic, and thus encased her in this ice.”

“An Ice-Mage, eh?” the barbarian said as he drew his sword. He looked at the girl in her scant outfit. “We’d best save her before she dies of cold, then!”

Before I could reason with him, Rolglor drew back his sword and swung. He swung so strong that had his blade managed to shatter the magical cage, it would also have cut into the girl’s waist. Actually, we all are lucky that the sword didn’t break the spell.

I rushed to join him and he was still vibrating from the impact when I reached the cage. I examined the spot where Rolglor’s sword struck and saw nary a mark. With a frown, I cautiously prodded the spot with one finger, and made a startling discovery:

“It’s not cold! It’s not ice!”

“Oh,” said the barbarian, scratching his head. “Not an Ice-Mage, then?”

I examined the cage, sliding my hands over the faceted surface as the girl within watched us anxiously. “I think this is some sort of crystal,” I sagely said.

The barbarian frowned. “What then? A Crystal-Wizard?”

You know, I glared at him in much the same way you are glaring at me now, Hazerium. I was dumb-founded by it, but I’m sure he didn’t even realize what he’d said.  After all, how could an ignorant barbarian know of the great crystal statue in Sadurnius Square?

“How are we supposed to get her out of the wizard’s crystal cage?” he wondered aloud.

“I don’t know.” I looked up at her, pounding against the walls and screaming soundlessly for help. She was beautiful in that cocoon, and I felt a great swell of pity for her. “Poor girl. To be able to see people who can help her and not be able to touch them, to speak to them. No wonder she screams out at us, desperate and frustrated.”

“I know why the caged girl screams!” Rolglor barked indignantly. Then his face softened. “I just don’t know how.”

“What?”

“How can she breathe in there?” he commented, gesturing toward the crystal.  “There can be no air-holes, or we’d hear her.”

Suddenly I was impressed with him. “Very astute of you!”

“I did not!” he barked in reply, fixing me with an accusatory glare. “Don’t blame me for your wind!”

With a quiet groan, I rolled my eyes and saw the princess in her cage screaming franticly and pointing past us. I turned and screamed out in alarm, but it was too late.  The goblins were upon us.

The goblins screamed out in anger when they saw us with the princess. They raised their wickedly curved scimitars and charged. Rolglor pushed me aside and swung his long sword with fervor. He fought well against the small horde, though hopelessly outnumbered. Goblins fell, some dead, most merely wounded, but finally they wrested his mighty blade away from him.

Undaunted, the barbarian fought on. His meaty fists lashed out, and cracked goblin jaws. But that was not how he won that battle, if ‘won’ is the correct word. No, he won by missing.

He swung, you see, and the goblin dodged. So instead, Rolglor’s hard fist, the one wearing that ring, slammed against the crystal. And the crystal cracked.

The battle ceased instantly, all eyes turned to the caged princess with wide wonder. The cracks raced up and around that crystal cocoon. The barbarian and the goblins alike forgot their skirmish and backed away. None too soon, either, for the crystal shattered, littering the room. I pulled my arm from my face, Hazerium, and saw the princess.

She had somehow landed on her feet, and collapsed into an almost-fetal ball, her long scraggly hair hiding her face like a curtain. She pressed her rough red hands against the flagstones and pushed herself to a squat standing position.

I’m a big man, Hazerium, I’ll admit it: I was shocked speechless to see that the princess…was a goblin! Her costume was the same, though her body was a cruel parody of the image in the crystal. She was short and pudgy, with unkempt wiry hair and red, rubbery skin.

The goblin princess, Hargrah by name, had been kidnapped by a wizard, to ensure the servitude of her tribe down in the desert. They were his slaves for fear of her wellbeing, as she was guarded by Zowtholt mercenaries. She was encased in a magical crystal, as I’ve said, and it was the crystal that made her appear human to us. But, to complicate things, she too saw goblins as humans and humans as goblins! So Hargrah was quite puzzled when she found Rolglor wearing the ring that freed her!

What a ticklish situation that was! You see, the goblins had been sent by the goblin king, to rescue the princess, of course. We quickly learned that the one to free her from the wizard’s spell was to marry her! So, the story does have a happy ending…from the right point of view. I mean, our simple hunter did go back to Yzaruam to marry the princess (and free the tribe from the wizard’s tyranny)… And I did tell the soldiers that Rolglor drove those goblins out of Holgonn single-handed. He had become a sort of local folk-hero in Vesterholt by the time I returned to Trycadia.

I suppose it also has a moral: to get all the facts before embarking on such quests!  By the Seven Sacred Spells! When did the sun sink so low in the afternoon sky?  I’m sorry, Hazerium, but I’m expected elsewhere! We should get together for lunch, sometime, perhaps in the Square, beneath the statue, eh? But for now, farewell my friend!

The End

Tune in next time for a NEW adventure!