Crystal Shade Episodes 01

would return one day to destroy the peace which ruled for so long, to erase everything the Aserians ever created. But no one knew how and why. Although no one ever turned against their fellow kind, and no human ever wielded a weapon, the Aserians were ready to fight for mankind if need be to keep their souls clean even in the darkest hours. Generation after generation the Guardians prepared and patiently waited for the dreaded Crystal Shade. But it never came.”
    The old man paused as the night delusively gazed at him from outside.
    Please, let me tell her story, he wished. There was so much to tell and his time was so very short.
    “How are Guardians born? How was she born?” asked the girl.
    “Oh, she wasn’t born as a Guardian. She was a human once.” The old man smiled warmly. “Grace Sessa Aredia, ‘the graceful bright guardian’; earning her name by being born when the sapphire sun, Sachylia was the brightest in the sky. A seemingly ordinary little girl who had dreams, the desire of knowledge that loved her family, sister, mom and dad. Just like you, little Princess,” he put a kindly hand on her head. “But in the fragile shell, her sleeping soul was ancient and forever, destined to seek an answer for an eternal question and fight for the sake of all creation when the time comes.”
    Long forgotten voices, and images became vivid memories in his tired mind; voices he had never heard, but knew existed. Words thought by a fragile soul millennia ago, but only memories remained of them that he never experienced, but someone else did who had been born, lived, and fought in that forgotten era of the Crystal Shade.
    “Dreams haunted her from her first breath that no one, not even the wisest of Aserians could decipher. Dreams that many times foretold her future became stranger and more mysterious as time passed. But they enlightened her path and slowly shepherded the mist aside to connect the beginning with the unavoidable end; as for her the end was just the beginning.”

    * * *

    Strange. I have wings, beautiful white guardian wings like I always wanted. But I hate flying. I don’t know why. Mother told me that Guardians are never afraid of anything. But I’m afraid of the height. I was never afraid of it before. Father and Mother always were proud of their little girls, because we’re brave. Because I’m brave. I love to fly in our silver eagle among the clouds, high above the mountains and vast grassy fields. Father promised that he would teach us how to fly our silver birdie. But now, I’m not in our Anshara. And my beloved parents and Aurora are not with me. But why? We’re always together. We help each other. That’s what a family does. Father and Mother never left me alone. But now they’re not here and I’m not a child. It is strange because I feel I am an adult.
    My breath is so cold, but everything is so real. Am I still asleep? Am I dreaming all of this? I’m scared. I want to go home. And I will. But not now.
    Now, I’m flying almost silent in the night. Somehow, I feel safe in this black diamond. It is embracing me. I’m drawn by the Sacred Crystal that lies on the dark horizon; its faultless brilliance is the beacon to us in the darkest night. It’s calling us.
    Us. I’m not alone. I feel someone is with me. But the dreaded deep dark calls me. The endless depth, I fear it. I don’t want to think of it. I don’t want to fall. I want to see who is with me. I feel safe with him. But my soul forces my eyes closed to not see the depth. Strange.
    “Grace,” a feminine voice wove its way into her mind.
    I’m safe, but I hate flying.
    “Grace Sessa Aredia,” whispered a woman’s voice into Grace’s tiny ear. “Wake up. Get out of your bed. The sun is already glowing brighter blue than the aura of a Sapphire Guardian. Wake up, my darling.”
    “Is it morning already, mother?” Grace balked with closed eyes while she pulled her pillow over her sleepy face.
    “And your breakfast is waiting for you,” her mother’s kindness continued. “What have you dreamt about this time, little one?” she asked.
    Grace immediately pulled the pillow off her face and turned a hard look at her mother, who sat on the edge of her bed in a dark yellow saree, and watched her kindly.
    “I’m not little. I’m already seven,” Grace retorted resentfully.
    “Oh, I know, my princess,” smiled her mother while she stroked Grace’s blond hair. “So?”
    “My dreams are my fantasies,