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Dusk didn’t know how to reply to what he’d just heard.
“This changes everything,” Lyra muttered, turning away from him. “All the plans I had for your teaching are worthless. You have no need for spells and symbols.” She began to pace back and forth across the top of the mountain, talking to herself and to him at the same time. “No, what you’ll need to learn is control, failsafes, and your limitations. There are so many things you could stumble across by accident and do incredible damage without the slightest ill intention. You’re a dangerous weapon if you fall into the hands of the wrong people. Tiernan has already proven he can bring people back to life. All he would need is a shard of your body to do it should you die.”
Dusk was growing more and more nervous as she continued to talk. He could feel the anxiety welling up in his chest. The last thing he’d expected was to surprise Lyra. He’d come to her for answers and guidance, not to throw her entire world upside down or his own.
“Can we stop?” he finally asked, needing her to quit talking. “I don’t know if I can handle this...”
“I’m sorry little one,” she replied. “But you don’t have a choice.”
Dusk suddenly grew angry. “I’ve never had a choice in any of this! Why didn’t Tephyss tell me?” he yelled. “He just said the eye was some sort of focus! Can’t you just take it away from me?” Dusk pulled his shirt open and wrapped his fingers around the gem. “I don’t want this anymore!”
He pulled until pain shot through his chest, a few drops of blood forming at the edges of the crystal. But the pain became too unbearable and his fingers slipped across it’s now wet surface.
“I hate this!” he cried. “I went from being a slave to the nobles to being a slave to this so-called destiny... when do I get to choose my own path?” He looked up to Lyra expectantly. “I told my friends that we came here for answers, but what I really came here for was a way to get out. I don’t want this!”
Lyra stared at him silently. On her face was an expression of pity, which didn’t help the way Dusk was feeling. He didn’t want to be pitied, he wanted to be free, just like he’d always wanted. Walking away from Lyra, he went to the obsidian wall and put his back against it, sinking down to the ground, the dirt grinding into his clothing. He hugged his knees to his chest, letting his head fall forward to rest on his forearms. The anger inside him was threatening to let itself out in the form of tears, but he was determined not to let that happen. He was tired of everything always being beyond his control.
After a few quiet minutes, he heard Lyra take a handful of steps in his direction and settle in front of him. To her credit, she didn’t say a word. Instead, she let him sit and feel what he needed to for a long while. Dusk was so lost in his own thoughts that he forgot where he was. He slipped into the space in his mind where he’d lived those long ten years in the mines. It was quiet and safe there, a place where he was in control and free of the world around him. However, something about it felt odd. After so many months traveling and seeing so many amazing and terrible things, it wasn’t enough anymore. When he’d been trapped as a slave, his mind was the only free place he had. Now when he closed his eyes all he could think of were all the things he’d seen, the memories filled the space instead of the empty safe void he was used to. His brain almost seemed too full and no longer calming.
Dusk lifted his face and looked at Lyra who was only a few feet away, her massive head resting on the ground in front of him. She was staring at him as if trying to figure out what was going on inside him. He had a feeling she’d stopped herself from reading his thoughts, not that she needed to by the way he was acting. There was a feeling inside him that she understood nonetheless.
“You know,” he muttered, resting his chin on his forearms. “When I first escaped all I could dream about was getting deep into the wilderness. I didn’t know how to take care of myself or if I would survive, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was freedom.” He glanced up at her, scales sparkling in the sunlight. “But then I met these people on my journey and found out there are a few good people in the world. My dreams shifted to spending time with them, maybe having a small place for us all to live.
“I’ve been betrayed by people I trusted and fell in love... my head is so full of memories and dreams now that I can barely think.” Dusk shifted one of his legs down, leaning back against the glass wall. “We’ve spent so long getting here and I thought this was going to be the end of my problems. I ignored everything I was told, hoping against hope that I would finally be free of all this.” He gestured out to the landscape in front of him. “But I’m just a tool aren’t I?” he asked Lyra, staring deep into her violet eyes. “Just another piece furthering the chaos.”
“Yes, and no,” she replied softly, tilting her head. “I’ll tell you something that nobody in this world knows.” She took a deep breath, her chest expanding so that the dark skin between her scales showed. “When Tephyss took the crystal from the world, he took the gods with him.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m sure you know of the six gods that rule all the world,” she said, to which Dusk nodded. “The crystal was the only connection the gods had to this world. Their only way of influencing what happened. Without that connection they are trapped in a realm beyond our reach and us beyond theirs.” She absentmindedly reached a claw up to scratch near her horn. “The gods used to control the flow of time and destiny, causing mischief or trying to correct it, but always striking a divine balance among everything. That was their goal. Even Nozzera and the fall of the dragons was part of their doing in some small way or maybe they tried to stop it. Now that the moon is gone, we’ll never really know.
“What you’re feeling, this overwhelming lack of control, is the weight of free will.” She turned her head back towards the sun that had crawled further into the sky. “For the past thousand years the world has been able to make all its own choices without any influence from divine beings, the dragons, or magic. And what’s surprising is that in all that chaos, a new order has been established, which I call destiny.
“Not everyone has one and even those who do, sometimes fail. But you are proof that the world, without outside help, will find a way to right itself in the end.” Lyra reached out a hand, letting one of her giant claws rest on Dusk’s foot. “You are a descendent of the Alamondian kings, the wielder of the Crystal Eye, and a Weaver. No one in the past millennia has been better equipped than you to face the dangers threatening the world.
“But, what is being asked of you is a great burden. More than any one person should be asked to do.” She paused, turning back to look at him. “And that is why, if you ask me, I will take the crystal from you and release you from this bond.”
Dusk suddenly looked up, his mouth open as he stared. “You... you would really do that?”
“Yes,” she replied, pulling her hand back. “Another will eventually come to carry out this task. It’s my destiny to protect the crystal heart until that person comes along. Your destiny could have been to deliver the eye to me for safekeeping. Your story might be finished.”
Dusk looked down at the crystal on his chest, dried blood caked on his skin surrounding it. His heart was pounding. The idea of giving up the crystal was almost too tantalizing to resist. He could be free at last to live his own life. It was everything he’d ever wanted. Thoughts of Lex and Tara filled his mind. They could travel back to the wilds in Inahan and find a place to settle down. Maybe Nedarya could come too. Images flooded his mind of days spent fishing, and a small house near the sea. Spending every night with Lex at his side without a care in the world. They could live happily for the rest of their lives without a thought of adventure, war, or magic ever again. It took everything he had not to cry out for Lyra to free him right there.
“Take a few days,” she said softly, pushing herself to her feet, clearly seeing the turmoil on his face. “You are welcome to stay as long as you like without worry. Rest, relax, talk with your friends. Whatever you decide to do, I will be here to help you make it a reality.” Before she turned away, she stopped. “You’ve had a tough life already Dusk and paid your fair share in suffering. The world can’t ask you for any more than that and neither can I.”
With that, she turned away and stepped through a glass arch before slipping over the edge and into the volcano below.
Dusk sat there for a long time thinking to himself. A cool breeze came up over the mountain, bringing the smell of the sea with it. The air was colder at the top of the mountain and the smell of the ocean rarely made it that high up, but he welcomed it. After spending so long traveling near the shore, it was a familiarity that gave him a sense of comfort. It was an odd thought that being on the road had become his new sense of normal, but he figured it was better than missing the hard wooden floor of the slave’s quarters back at the mine. His mind drifted back to those dark days trapped underground. A small part of him wished life was still that simple. Every day was the same as the one before and he always knew what to do and what was expected of him. But this newfound freedom was overwhelming and pressing in on him from all angles. Making the right choice seemed impossible with so many options. How could he ever hope to get anywhere when there were an infinite number of ways to get there? He felt as if he’d been running around in circles for months until he finally found his way to the mountain. And even that ended up being less of a destination and more of a crossroads.
He looked out across the mountain to the north, past the golden colored lilies that grew at the edges of the plateau. Far below the sea stretched out until it met the continent covered in deep green pine forest. It seemed to go on for miles, filled with endless wilderness. On the horizon, he could just make out the dark shadows of snow-capped mountains. He wondered if they were safe and uninhabited by people. Already they were at the extreme edge of the Inahandrian boundaries, maybe if they went just a little bit further he would be beyond the reach of anyone who wanted to come after him. There he and Lex could make a life for themselves in the cold north, surrounded by neverending forest. It seemed like such a peaceful existence.
But what would the world do while he was off living the rest of his life in peace? Would the crystal stay in Lyra’s care for a few weeks, months, or possibly years? How long would it take for another person to show up that could carry out the task Dusk had been given? And in that time, what sort of terror would Tiernan wreak upon the world? The Circle was already equipped with more dust than they could use, Tiernan had made that clear when he’d knowingly sacrificed members. After countless people and beasts had been slain by Dusk and his friends, Tiernan would have known his latest entourage wouldn’t have stood a chance, but then again, they’d only been after Nedarya. If Tiernan ever came after him again, chances are it would be with a small army.
After the discovery of three dragon skeletons, Tiernan and his men were sure to have more than they needed. Not to mention, if Tiernan had made good on his warning that he was coming to Calendia, they would have a fourth skeleton in their possession as well. Tiernan also had control of his half of the crystal heart, making the dust no longer important to him. If the dust came with repercussions, he was sure to only give it to his minions, while keeping the heart for himself, making him that much more dangerous. Tiernan was sacrificing people and resources at a faster rate. Something was about to happen or already in progress. Now that he’d successfully experimented on Nedarya, the next attack was sure to be a fight to the death. Dusk was sure that's what would happen if he kept the eye. But even with the ticking clock in the back of his mind, did he really want to sacrifice his life to stop Tiernan? Didn’t he deserve a chance at life before he was forced to possibly give it up saving the world?
He let out a deep sigh, leaning his head back against the glass that was growing hot in the sun. There was no sense in running in circles in his own mind anymore. He needed to take a bath, then find Lex and Tara. They had a lot to speak about before any decisions were made. Especially since they’d sacrificed so much to get him to the mountain in the first place.