Prologue

Another world, another time. Etheria, a wondrous planet full of magic, and its heart were the runestones. The source of magic all magic. Since the land was young, different kingdoms protected one of the runestones. From the Moonstone. The Heart blossom. The Pearl. The Fractal Flake. And The Black Garnet. But the closest to the planet, was the Crystal of Truth. This crystal was connected to the planet itself. Explorers from beyond the stars explored the planet and protected the crystal of truth. Etheria existed in nearly perfect balance, but then new beings not of the planet, The Skeksis. They bewitched the Etherians and the explorers with stories of the universe. And they in turn entrusted the Crystal of Truth to the Skeksis. Nearly a thousand years have passed since the Skeksis declared themselves lords of the crystal. Now, another day dawns, to steal life from the crystal they swore to protect. So they may replenish themselves, cheat death by harnessing the power of their treasure, their prize, their prisoner, The Dark crystal.

The sun rose over Etheria and over a large castle made of stone. It resembled an emerging skeleton as its shadow loomed over in the meadow lands. In the heart of the castle was a chamber consisting mainly of a single large hall, with numerous overlooking balconies and three entrances equally spaced between each other. Above in the ceiling was a large latch to let sunlight enter. In the center of the room, a large dark purple crystal quartz-like in shape was rhomboidal at its top and base, with a threefold symmetry, and was suspended in midair by its own gravity over a shaft of air and fire.

In the chamber, eight reptilian creatures gathered around the crystal. They all had four arms and a tail, beak-like jaws and prominent eyebrows. They each wore different colored robes that concealed one pair of arms. All but one of them carried a scepter. The one who didn't was SkekZok the Ritual master. He was in charge of performing the ceremony that would happen in a few moments. He wore a gold robe with crescent ornamenting, with a large gold and red filled collar, and a hat with a single cream feather. Six of them had a triangular head piece with a purple jewel in the center. However, one of them possessed a sculpture of the abiranariba serpent swallowing the world. This was the scepter of SkekSo the Emperor. He wore a black robe and a metal headpiece that curved at the top.

The hatch on the ceiling opened as the sunlight hit the crystal. Then eight beams of purple light hit each Skeksis in the eyes. This was all part of their ritual to retain their youth. However, the beams disappeared as half of the Skeksis were shocked it stopped. "The crystal fails us once again," one of the Skeksis said. This was SkekVar the general. He too wore a black robe but also wore armor over it, including a small helmet.

"Well what did you expect?" The Skeksis next to him asked, "nothing yesterday. Nothing the day before." This was SkekLach the collector. She wore a robe with a mix of grey and brown. She wore a necklace of different herbs around her neck. Most of her face was covered in pustules that would often leak fluid.

"Why? Why does this happen?" Another Skeksis fearfully asked. He wore a dark robe of pleated, printed pages resembling a book, and a row of three eyeglasses on his beak. He was SkekOk the scrollkeeper.

"Just look at the crystal! We've taken too much!" One Skeksis exclaimed. He had a jowly, sweaty head with bushy eyebrows. He wore a dark gold robe with a large gold, white-filled collar. This was SkekAyuk the Gourmand. "It's gluttony! Pure gluttony!"

"Pathetic!" SkekSo yelled to his fellow Skeksis as insulated them, "you all sound like frightened Podlings!"

"But emperor, if the crystal will not give, we will die!" SkekZok said in fear. All but SkekSo whispered to each other, wondering what they should do.

SkekSo slammed his scepter on the ground and yelled, "Never!" They all stopped talking and listened to what their emperor had to say. "We have nothing to fear. Already a solution lies within the scientist's very grasp. Isn't that right?" He turned his head to another Skeksis who wore a light, cream-colored robe with a protruding back skeleton hump. He was SkekTek the Scientist.

"Um… our mighty emperor speaks true," he said to the other Skeksis, "I am already hard at work for a solution for this troublesome inconvenience."

"Patience, we are lords of the crystal. We have ruled over this kingdom for an age. And we will rule for all ages yet to come. We are… eternal!" The other Skeksis regained their composure and began to leave the chamber. However, Skektek stayed behind.

"Emperor. Emperor. Emperor!"

"What?"

Unbeknownst to the two, another Skeksis hid behind the wall listening to their conversation. He wore a red robe with a large red hump, and a black lace-filled collar and robe accents. This was SkekSil the chamberlain. "Well, you know I would never dare question your wisdom. But you know I have found no solution. The crystal is one of the sacred runestones of Etheria. The more we take, the less it gives. Our survival is at stake!"

SkekSo grabbed him by the neck and said, "so find a solution!"

"Of course! Forgive me!" He then let SkekTek go.

"I did not build an empire just so I could watch it turn it dust…" he then began to leave the chamber.

"I will find the answer we seek, emperor! You hear me? I will not fail you!" Skeksil, having heard this, began to think of solutions to the problems with the crystal. The crystal was then lowered down the shaft and was next to another chamber of the castle that was a laboratory for SkekTek.

*Author's note. I can't decide who should be the first person that gets drained by the Skeksis. If any of you have any ideas, i'd like to know.*