Introduction
Of the race of Aughra, there was only one. Formed from the elements of the planet of Thra, to her was given the task of watching over any events of significance on the planet. As such, to be the eyes of the trees, the rocks, the water and all other elements which gave form and life to the planet but could not see the fruits of their labor. Those powers which bestowed such a task are as enigmatic and misunderstood today as they were during this period of Thra's history. How far history went back before the creation of Aughra is uncertain, for none who existed on the planet, until her, were interested in keeping records of such things.
During her first thousand years of life, the one known as Aughra was a beautiful, feminine creature. Her skin was as silky and natural as sand that has sat underneath the waters' edge for all of its existence. Her hair white and shimmering under the glow of the Three Suns. She spent her days learning from all creatures and races on Thra, and in turn, teaching them the ways of the world on which they lived. The sociable Podlings who lived in communion with the plants taught her of community and love. The gentle Gelflings who, in all things, attempted to make merry taught her of harmony and peace. Even the Sandlings, who were as coarse as their name indicated taught her of the value of independence and pride for one's accomplishments. Aughra knew there were many things that those races could teach her yet, as well as to learn of what other races may exist on the planet...for discovering all except the Gelflings had been a most difficult task.
For all the joy she received from learning the ways of life from the creatures around her, there was little that Aughra enjoyed more than to gaze up at the wonderment of the stars and the Three Suns that governed the dispersal of light and darkness over the planet. So impressed was she with the awe of the Three Suns, that she gave each a name according to its nature. The Great Sun shone over all things. The Dying Sun, too, added its darkened light. And the Rose Sun, the least in size, was not the least in beauty for its humble body was flowered in brilliant crimson flames. It was during the first meeting of these suns that another element of the planet revealed itself to Aughra. Though it was not terribly uncommon for two of the three suns to line up...to have all three in conjunction was a truly awe-inspiring event. The first time it had occurred, Aughra had thought the world might come to an end...but rather it was being given a new beginning. And when the radiance of the first Great Conjunction had stretched out over the land of Thra, Aughra felt and saw, in her mind's eye, the existence of the Crystal, and could feel its energy touching every rock and tree. It was the center and the source all energy on the planet. Without it, life could not draw the energy it needed to continue. And without the suns, the crystal could not draw the energy it needed to continue. Such was the concentric codependence of the creatures, Thra itself, and the universe that surrounded it. Of all the lessons Aughra had learned...none was more valuable than this.
Nine hundred ninety-nine and one trine passed before the next Great Conjunction had come. By this time, Aughra had been very in tune with not only the ways of the planet, but also the ways of the universe. So that when the next Conjunction came, she would be there at the mountain that housed the crystal so that all the elements of Thra that cried out for a glimpse of this spectacular event. And when the time came...the Great Conjunction she did see for herself, lying atop the mountain, looking up into the heavens as the Three Suns came together. And the planet itself cried out in awe as it at last saw that which gave it life. For Aughra though, there had been a price. The eye that had looked directly into the Great Conjunction had been darkened, never to be used again. Moreover, the light had burned and gnarled the beautiful maiden's flesh, leaving it as gray and cracked as the mountain itself. Her once radiant hair lay blackened and strewn out from her head in many a haphazard direction. It is not known how long she lay there, unconscious, and on the verge of returning to the dust of the planet that had spawned her. She only knew that, when she had awoken, she was in the presence of a race that could not have possibly existed on Thra before without her knowledge.
As the Suns separated, radiant creatures who appeared almost as if they had descended from the heavens themselves stood looking over Aughra. They helped her to her feet, and healed what wounds they could...though the burns of the light she had felt were irreversible. So too was the loss of the sight of one eye. But such sacrifices had been minimal, in Aughra's mind, for the beauty of the Great Conjunction that she had beheld firsthand. That was when she realized, mistakenly, that the Great Conjunction must have brought about these creatures as well. Thus ended the Golden Age of Thra.
The creatures, who were eighteen in number, were from another planet altogether. Their countenance and raiments were evidence enough of that, but their explanation was equally resounding of truth. The Age of Harmony came into being because of the urSkeks. With them, they brought much understanding of technology and science and practical matters. On their own planet they had been outcast as radicals, so they sought out another world that had a crystal similar to their own which they could use for purposes all their own...but which would benefit others as well. They went with Aughra deep into the mountain where the crystal lived and, once they had found it, carved a shimmering castle out of the mountain all around it. Many trine this had taken, and when it was complete, many creatures great and small came to the castle to look upon the crystal that had given so much life to the planet. The urSkeks welcomed the chance to learn from many different creatures. The most frequent of all the visitors were the Gelflings. They were enthralled by the opportunity to interact with other creatures who sought the same enlightenment as they and desired to learn of new paths towards it. The urSkeks, in turn, enjoyed the company of the Gelflings second only to that of Aughra herself. For while they saw kindred spirits in the race known as Gelflings, it was only Aughra who could teach them about the innermost workings and thinkings and doings of Thra itself. And for that, they were most grateful.
So grateful, in fact, that when they learned of Aughra's interest in the Suns and Moons and Stars overhead, they decided to build her an observatory. Many a trine this had taken as well, though not as long as it had taken to carve the Crystal Castle. Far in the east, upon the highest mountaintops it stood. And Aughra was forced to make many an enjoyably difficult decision about how to divide her time between interacting with the urSkeks in the Castle and studying the stars from her great Dome. Eventually that decision grew less and less difficult, and Aughra spent most of her time in her observatory, watching the suns and stars and learning from any urSkeks who came to visit with her.
Thus proceeded the Age of Harmony. A time of learning and growth. For nine hundred ninety-nine and one trine, this was how life on Thra existed. The urSkeks, bent on understanding the knowledge of the great crystal of Thra and the power it could bestow, built a great chamber in the castle, filled with layers of walls filled with lesser crystals and mirrors and patterns etched on the floor. All designed to capture and harness the power of the Great Conjunction when next it came. And now the next Great Conjunction draws near. The end of the Age of Harmony. A new age quickly approaching.
Chapter One
The forest of Tren was a myriad of contradictions. In places, it appeared to be dark and foreboding, completely inhospitable to any life at all. To get past that illusion, however, all one needed to do was simply begin to trek into the forest. There they would be introduced to the sunkissed grass and moss patches that grew wildly thanks to the canopies overhead that allowed a generous amount of sunlight in. Within this deep forest, along with all the other creatures that called this part of Thra home, so too did a tribe of Gelflings known as the Mokin. All of Gelfling society was split up into different tribes. But most of them lived in the same geographical areas of Thra as did the rest of their kin. They held many of the same ideals and practices. If it were not for the little squabbles over minor issues, they would perhaps be one giant tribe. But for the time being, it was not to be. And perhaps it never would be.
Of all the tribes, it was the Mokin who were the least satisfied with having such division. Their sister tribe, the Rakin were, conversely enough, the ones who were the most satisfied with the current state of things, and made every effort to keep them the way they were. The Elder of the Mokin was a wise, old Gelfling by the name of Ooro. With the council of his sister Oora, they watched over the Mokin Gelflings much like a mother and father would. Neither had ever been paired with another Gelfling, as they had been betrothed since birth into the service of and communion with Thra itself. It was a ceremonial life, and one that few Gelflings had the fortitude to live out. Most preferred to run, make music, or at the most serious of tasks...tend to their own gardens.
That was until the magical ones came.
Many, many generations ago...almost a thousand trine to be exact, creatures from another world had come to Thra. The Gelflings passed on stories of the event. And even though all Gelflings from that time and many since had returned to the earth...the kindred of today could trek to the castle—a considerable trek at that—and see for themselves the very creatures who had come all those years ago.
Among all of his kin, it was Ooro who saw the most potential out of these new creatures...the urSkeks. Not potential for personal gain...but potential for unity once again between all of the Gelfling tribes. Perhaps it was because all of the generations before him had only seen the potential for knowledge. And while that was valuable, for Ooro at least, it was not enough. As a young boy, he had hoped to live long enough to see the next Great Conjunction. It would be a slightly unnatural stretch of a Gelfling life span to be able to do so...but he knew if he remained dedicated to the planet and his people and took care of himself how could the powers possibly refuse him the right to look upon an event in person that he had only heard about in legend all of his life. And thanks to the careful recordings of the one known as Aughra, the next Great Conjunction had been mapped out not only to the day...but the hour. Three and three quarters of a day from now, the next Great Conjunction would occur, and all of Thra was ready for it.
***
Inside the Castle of the Crystal, the eighteen urSkeks stood gathered in a great hall. Not so great as to outshine the splendor of the Crystal Chamber...but sufficient for the purposes of their convening and relaxing. For many, many, many trine...each of them had contributed in their own unique way to prepare for this planet's next Great Conjunction. Each of them knew, in the very deepest fibers of their beings, that there was power in the crystal. Power provided by the suns. Power that could be harnessed for all sorts of beneficial gains. On their own home world, they had attempted to convince the leadership that they could do so much more if they only would harness the energy of their planet's crystal. The leadership had called it folly, and the eighteen of them fools. Rather than stay and debate, argue or fight over the matter, the eighteen had simply left and went in search of another planet which had a crystal that housed similar energies. Nothing could quite describe their excitement when they had found the planet. That they had encountered sentient life at that same time was also a most pleasant surprise for them. Watching that Great Conjunction from afar had only confirmed their hopes and desires, and so for the next one thousand trine, they had labored furiously to create a structure that would harness the energy of the next Great Conjunction. Even more fortunately, the sentient life they had discovered...the one known as Aughra...had proved invaluable beyond measure for her ability to calculate the movements of the suns and stars with the tools of triangles, circles and numerology that they had given her.
"She has been in her observatory for several trine, SoSu. Do you expect that she will emerge for the coming Conjunction? She has seen one already. Perhaps she is satisfied." SilSol says, his hands clasped together as he addresses their collective leader.
SoSu was the wisest of the urSkeks who had left their homeworld, and the one who had originally seen the potential of their planet's crystal. His opinion was valued by all and questioned by none once it was given.
"Perhaps. But of all of us, save TekTih, I have conversed with Aughra the Seer the most. I have seen her heart. While she may be content to watch the lesser conjunctions from afar, she will not let the next Great Conjunction pass over us without being present to witness it." SoSu says, his regal, voice echoing throughout the great hall. The other seventeen urSkeks offer a soft, reverberative chant of acknowledgement at what the leader had said.
***
And SoSu, as he most often was, had been correct. Even as the time until the Great Conjunction grew ever shorter, so too had the traveling distance between Aughra's Dome and the Crystal Castle grown shorter.
No thanks, of course, to the path itself. Thanks to my feet for that.
Aughra grumbles in her mind as she ambles up on to the top of a hill with the aide of her walking stick. The hems of her dress had got caught on more rocks and sticks than she could count during this journey from her home to the home of the crystal. But it was worth it. And only for a Great Conjunction was it worth it. Aughra had enjoyed her time of learning from the Gelflings, and Sandlings and most especially the urSkeks. But, she had learned practically everything one could possibly want to know about Thra and its creatures. The last great, untapped source of knowledge was the universe itself. In fact, it was the only area of study that held any interest for her now.Of course, getting from the observatory to the castle was not as easy as it had used to be. Time had caused her figure to become more robust. And robust figures were not made for long journeys over mountains, through swamps, into deserts and over plains. But fortunately, time was her ally. She had long ago come to the realization that she would not return to the earth as all other creatures did. That which had formed her, apparently, had not grown tired of seeing all that it could see through her. And so she lived on, content to take her time in all things.
For many weeks, perhaps even months, she had trekked across Thra. She had lost count of the time, which she often kept track of simply for the amusement of it. Each day overhead, as the Three Suns shone, she paid careful attention to how close each of them got to the other. That was the only thing on Thra that spurned her to go any faster than she was going. For while she was in no danger of dying, the Great Conjunction would happen with or without her being at the castle to witness it for herself. That, and that alone, made her pick up her pace.
***
Several Gelflings stood in one of the great corridors of the castle. Each were similar because of their race, but also distinctly different from each other. Kin, of the Mokin tribe, was a tall, slender Gelfling male whose hair was a ruddy, mud-like color. He was sought after for a pairing more feverishly than most males and, as such, had grown used to any fawning that went on in his presence. Teah, of the Dah tribe, was the feminine equivalent of Kin, and like him, was a descendant of one of the original founders of their tribe. Raven, of the Rakin tribe, was the most slender and lithe of all the Gelflings present, even the females. Uncertain of anything in life...he knew he could play the firca...and so he had done that with every fiber of his being at any early age. His shyness kept him from doing much else. Sara, of the Saha tribe, was a vibrant—although almost entirely naive—young Gelfling female. Kaya, of the Yebin tribe, was an unusually sharp Gelfling female...for her age at least. Her and Sara had taken to each other almost as soon as they met. And Brecht and Erecht of the T'Keb tribe were perhaps the most imposing of the bunch. One would think they were hunters...though such things were forbidden in polite Gelfling society. Instead the twins achieved their size from their years of wrestling and rock-lifting contests. That they each played the massive, horn-shaped oba came as a surprise to noone, not even ZokZah. The last two were the only two in the group who were direct, blood relatives. But besides being Gelflings, they all shared one other distinction...they were each the finest musicians from each of the major tribes. There were other tribes of course, but most of the others were far too concerned with survival and independence than to even give a second thought to appreciating the joy of music. Music, however, was the most prized of all the art forms on Thra...as the crystal itself was known to make music during the lesser conjunctions.
In preparation for the Great Conjunction, the urSkeks had sent out a request for all races on Thra to send their most gifted music makers to the castle. There, on the day of the Great Conjunction, they would play in harmony with the crystal itself, beginning the next age of enlightenment. Not a one of them had yet come of age into adulthood, though a couple of them -Kin and Teah- were perilously close. But it was not their age that had earned them the distinction of being able to harmonize with the Great Conjunction, only their unsurpassed talent.
For much of that morning, they had been in rehearsal with the urSkek known as ZokZah who oversaw anything of a ritualistic nature within the castle. They had not been alone of course. There were several musically talented Podlings, Sandlings, and even other races which none of the Gelflings had ever before seen. They all formed a great orchestra, and when they played, they received much praise and instruction from ZokZah. He had needed to leave for a convening with the other urSkeks, and that left the Gelflings and the other members of the orchestra with some much appreciated free time.
"So who do you think will get the solo?" Teah asks, looking over to Sara and Kaya. "You know...right when the Three Suns touch? Can you imagine what an honor that'll be?"
"Yeah..." Sara nodded, "my mother and father knew that the Enlightened Ones would do something like this for the Great Conjunction. They've had a firca in my hand as soon as I could crawl out of my hampet."
The three Gelfling females laughed, realizing that they had all been trained—almost to death—to get to this point in their skills. Their collective giggling had now caught the attention of the other four Gelflings in the group who, until now, had been content to stand in their own little circle and discuss male things like woodcarving and running. Girls, of course, couldn't appreciate the fine art of running since they had wings and hardly ever did it. If they ever needed to be somewhere fast...they flew.
"What are you all laughin' at?" Kin says as he makes his way over, a smile firmly plastered on his face.
"Nothing important." Teah says with a grin. "Just wondering who's gonna get that solo."
Kin smiles at this. "Well, I play a mean firca myself, I guess we'll just have to see."
The females again burst in slight laughter at this, and Raven rolls his eyes very subtly. Giggling female Gelflings truly had to be one of the most annoying sounds on the planet. Thra help them if they ever created an instrument that captured that sound. Fortunately, Kin interrupted it before it could spread.
"So, have you guys wandered through the castle yet? I can't believe my kinfather has not brought me here before."
"I know" Sara and Kaya chime in simultaneously, then Sara follows up. "This is the most beautiful place I've ever been to...I want to live here. Tomorrow."
The Gelflings get a good laugh at this and proceed to make their way down one of the connecting corridors. None of them knew exactly where they were going...but all of them pretended that they did, so the rest followed Kin and Teah as they talked about this and that. It would have looked like a flock of migrating Skyraptors to anyone passing by. Eventually, the troupe arrives at the end of the corridor, and what they found when they got there was not exactly what they were looking for. Sitting in front of them, was an almost cave like hole. The rest of the castle crystalline and perfectly well lit by the light of the Three Suns. Wherever this cave went...it went into pure darkness.
"We have to go in there." Kin says with a grin, trying to get a better angle from which to look into the cavern and finding none. "It could lead anywhere." Teah tugged on his arm, somewhat frightened, but even more curious as to what could possibly be inside a cavern that was connected to this castle.
"I'll go if you go." She says.
"I do not think that would be an especially wise choice." A voice from behind them says. Kin spins around to see which of the Gelflings who were with them did not have the bravery it took to go with them...only to find himself staring into the midsection of an especially large urSkek.
"Ohhh...oh...w-we were just going to go sightseeing through the castle...we've been almost everywhere else." Kin says, taking a step back and looking up at the impressive creature. The urSkek in question was their music master, ZokZah. His tone was neither stern nor reproving, simply statements of fact.
"Nevertheless, there are preparations that must yet be made for the Great Conjunction, and I have not allotted the rest time necessary for you to explore those caverns. Come, I have need of you in the Crystal Chamber."
The assembled Gelflings nod, almost in unison, and proceed to make their way back to the Crystal Chamber, following the urSkek.
Little did they realize, at that time, that one from their number was missing.