The Legend of the Crystal Heart

The Heart of Gelmina was as spectacular as Karden promised. They moved through a long stone corridor which suddenly opened up into a wider area. When she'd been told that Gelmina drew its water from artisan wells, Vrasha had imagined them as deep, dark and cramped. This was the very opposite. It was a massive hollow in the earth, big enough to house a small town. The stone walls were rugged and wet, and most of the space was taken up by a vast underground lake. The water shone, crystal clear with the lightest hint of green. There were no torches, the water itself created a comfortable sort of half light.

There were people gathered here. Buildings even. Some of them looked mechanical, and she could see the pumps and tubes which led into the river. Others seemed to be for living, or eating. It seemed that there were people who lived all the way down here!

"Of course," Karden said. "This is the heart of Gelmina. It is guarded at all times. And guards need places to eat and sleep. Kazum and his mages spend time down here too. Actually, I do believe the archmage is responsible for the glow."

"He is?" Vrasha asked. "What did he do, cast some sort of spell?"

"Hah! Nothing so simple, my girl!" Came a boisterous voice and the archmage bounced around the corner. Vrasha noted that he seemed a bit worn out and tired. "What you see is the result of the Heart of Gelmina itself!"

"The lake?"

"No, what's under it." He said. "Look to the centre, do you see where the light is at its brightest?"

She nodded.

"That's where it lies. The Heart of Gelmina. My greatest triumph. You see, it is not much known nowadays but in order to become am archmage, a magician must pass seven great tasks. Each one would take a lifetime for a lesser wizard. Only by completing them all does one earn the title fully. "

"I've never heard of that," Vrasha said. "Not with all of the mages I've fought."

"Yes, I am sure that is the case. No offence, my dear but any mage who could be killed by a sword - even a magic one - is not even close to being an archmage. There are seven grand tasks which one must undertake. Firstly, you must master a form of magic that is beyond any human. Usually, that's time magic but there are a few others. By doing so you prove you are exceptional. Then, once you have done that, you must create an object beyond compare."

"An object beyond compare? What do you mean by that?"

"That's the trick. There's no clear definition. You must use your magic to create an object which your peers agree is beyond any sort of comparison. It could be through power, or skill, or fine art. But you must make something that has no equal anywhere in the world. This is what I created. The crystal heart of Gelmina."

"It's named after the city?"

"The city is named after it."

"I see..." Vrasha said slowly. "So what does it actually do? Why is it beyond compare?"

"The heart of Gelmina enchants the waters." Kazum told her. "Not only does it ensure that the well never runs dry, but it empowers the lake so that it is always clean and pure. Those who drink of it do not get sick, and even ageing is slowed. Those who are already sick will be healed. Even those crippled or who have lost senses can regain them. So long as one is still alive and has time, there is nothing that my water cannot cure though depending on the severity of the damage it may take months or years."

"That is...astounding." Vrasha said. "It can truly do all of that?"

"Yes. There are other items which can make water or purify it, but none can rival my creation. It is beyond compare and marked my completion of the second trial of magic."

"However," Karden said. "Making such a thing is not an easy task, is it Archmage? You said you would probably never be able to do it again."

Kazum frowned, but nodded.

"That is correct. The material to make it does not exist anymore."

"What material did you use?" Vrasha asked, moving closer to the edge of the shore. The crystal like waters lapped against the soft stone. There was a magic and an energy to the air that she could not ignore.

"I used the most powerful thing that I could find," Kazum said. "The soul of an archmage."

"What?" Vrasha looked at him. "You turned someone into crystal?"

"He was an evil man." Kazum said. "He killed many and abused his powers. But his magic was great. I thought I could make better use of it than he could, and I was right. Do not fear. He is dead and gone. I simply used him to create the crystal. In the end, he was powerful but he made one crucial mistake. He lost to me."

Karden clapped, breaking the sudden stillness.

"And that is the founding myth of Gelmina. Archmage Kazum created the crystal heart and placed it here. Over time, his students brought family, and children were born. It became a village, then a town and then a city. All the while Kazum watched over us and in return for giving him more students to teach and train, he allows us to draw the water from this well."

Vrasha nodded. The crystal-clean water washed over her shoes, and she gazed out into the well. The bottom quickly fell away once you were past the shore and the lake became deep. So deep that even with the water being as clear as it was, it was hard to tell where it stopped. A pulsing inner light filled the chamber. It felt warm, almost holy. Was this the power of an evil man? She did not know. She did not want to know.

And yet...