Aughra had traveled for many moons. And many suns. At last she could see the Crystal Castle in the distance, gleaming in the sunlight. By the position of the suns, the Great Conjunction would take place at this time tomorrow. By keeping a steady pace, she could arrive before they set for good on this day, and have the night to converse with TekTih, SoSu, and any other urSkeks whom she might happen to encounter.

Unfortunately, her trek had one last obstacle, and this time it would not be from the terrain.

From just over the next hill, a dozen similarly robed figures that Aughra immediately recognized as Sandlings appeared just as swiftly as a sandstorm itself could in a sweltering desert. Sandlings were fairly easy to recognize. Most of them wore tattered robes with their forearms and calves poking out at each end, and a hood over their head. And they were fortunate for that, as none of them had hair. Their skin was course and rugged, just like the rest of their nature. The leader of the group steps forward, and Aughra could not decipher its gender even if she had wanted to through the clothes. Not even when it spoke.

"You are the Seer from the East. Why do you travel to the castle? Is there some great doom which we must know of?"

Aughra snorts.

"Great doom. Yes. Or great birth maybe. Only one Great Conjunction Aughra has seen. Not enough to predict what will happen this time, hmm? Maybe Aughra will lose her other eye!" At this, Aughra proceeds to remove her only remaining eyeball and hold it out so the Sandlings could see. All twelve of them recoil in fear, and then edge forward slowly to get a closer look at what had just happened. It was clear none of them had ever seen anything like that before. "Or maybe Aughra will get her other eye back! Who knows?! Great Conjunction...it can do anything."

The Sandlings appear to think about this for a moment. Back and forth, they talk amongst themselves for several moments. With unsurprising haste, Aughra grows tired of this, and with another dissatisfied snort, she turns and makes her way towards the castle. Only a few steps in, she is beckoned back by the cry of one of the Sandlings.

"Seer!" The creature calls out. "Do not dally too long after the Conjunction."

"Hmph." Is Aughra's only barely audible retort, and with that, she turns continues her trek towards the Crystal Castle, picking up her pace yet again.

***

All was dark inside the cavern. Raven could swear his eyes were open, but he couldn't see anything...so it was hardly worth the effort. All he knew was that an urSkek had been talking to all of them, and just as they were about to leave, a pair of swift hands had wrapped themselves around his mouth and midsection, pulling him into the darkness. Now that he was here...wherever here was...he wasn't sure exactly how to get back to the Crystal Chamber for the rehearsal. Or, worse yet, if whatever had snatched him would even let him.

Off to his left, there is a crackling sound of rocks tumbling and hitting the stony floor. Raven whips around, not knowing what good it would do. For all I know...whatever grabbed me is actually in front of me, he thinks—half-musing, half scared for his life. With that thought now etched in his mind, he whips around the other direction. Nothing. Nothing except...a snicker.

"Who's there?" Raven asks, a lot more calmly than he felt.

"Not a crystal lord, that's for sure." A voice in the darkness replies.

"W-Who are you then?" Raven follows up. His question is not answered with words, but with a touch against his arms. He recoils immediately...but he recognized the coarse dirty feel of the skin. A Sandling. "So...what's a Sandling doing in the depths of the Crystal Castle snatching hapless Gelflings away from their music?"

There is another snicker.

"Foolish Gelfling wants to make music for the crystal lords. And foolish Podlings. But Sandlings not foolish. No, the Sandlings see through all the crystal floors and walls and ceilings. The Sandlings see that the urSkeks live in splendor while the Sandlings live in misery. That's what we see. Well...soon the Sandlings will live in the castle and watch over the crystal. We do not need the urSkeks. And soon we will show the planet that they don't need them either."

Raven was somewhat surprised by this. He wasn't exactly sure what use the urSkeks served either...and his parentkin seemed to like them, which was all the more reason for him not to. But despite all of that, he didn't find anything wrong with anything that they had done. Still...this creature needed to get on with whatever it was going to do.

"So...you've brought me here...what do you want to do? Kill me?" Raven asks.

"Kill you? No...Gelflings kill themselves with their blindness. Just a message I have. Once the Great Conjunction has come...do not stay for long afterwards. No parties. No celebrations. Just leave. Return to your forests. It will not be safe for anyone here for several days after the Three Suns touch." The Sandling replies.

"And who shall I tell everyone gave us this warning?"

"Xet. And do not tell everyone. Only your kin."

"Zhyet huh?" Raven asks, sounding the name out for himself.

"Yes, Xet." The voice replies.

"Alright. So...how exactly am I to find my way back to the Crystal Chamber?"

Again, his question is not answered by word, but by deed. He feels the grip of a coarse hand against his forearm, only this time stronger, pulling him back several steps. Only a small number of steps though, and then he can easily see the corridor that they had all been standing in front of only moments before. He couldn't believe he had been standing so close to the way out all of this time. Not that he was in any serious danger, but he still would have taken the first opportunity to run if he had known the escape route had been so close.

From the darkness, there is a snicker again. "Gelfling blindness. Heheheh." The voice of Xet says condescendingly. It is followed by the sounds of footsteps running off into the distance. Raven was certainly in no mood to follow. In fact, he would be lucky to not have his head torn off by ZokZah for missing some of the rehearsal. With that image now guiding his thoughts, Raven turns and heads back in a mad dash towards the Crystal Chamber.

***

SoSu had been wondering how long it would be before Aughra arrived. He did not expect her to arrive at the castle all that long before the timing of the actual Great Conjunction. And he had been correct. Less than a day before the meeting of the suns, the old Seer in her black dress with flecks of red showing underneath stepped through the entrance that led into the grand gathering hall. Seventeen of the eighteen urSkeks were milling about the room, discussing this and that...ZokZah being the only one not in attendance. But all of the urSkeks feel silent for a moment at Aughra's arrival.

With a grunt, Aughra made her way into the presence of SoSu.

"And so the Seer has come to witness the Great Conjunction firsthand." He says warmly, offering his hands to greet her. "I think it will not be necessary that your body make such a great physical sacrifice this time."

"Hmph, Aughra cares not." She says, but accepting the urSkeks welcome by clasping his hands in return. "Thra will take me back when it sees fit. No sooner, hmph, no later."

TekTih, the urSkek inventor, approaches Aughra next, standing next to the Leader, SoSu.

"No, you will not need to lose eye or flesh this time. This time, the Crystal Chamber will harness the light of the Great Conjunction...focusing it all into the crystal. Power...such purifying power. We will be able to purge all evil with the power. Not only from the land. But from ourselves."

The other urSkeks all offer up words of agreement to that last statement. That was indeed the decided end goal of all of them. It was what they had been preparing for nine hundred ninety-nine and one trine for. To purge themselves of the evil and wicked thoughts they felt in their heart. Only then could they govern Thra with the necessary wisdom and goodness.

Aughra on the other hand, was wary of the urSkeks goals. They seemed to be made out of good intentions. But she could not help but wonder if the crystal could purge evil from the soul. From all she had learned of the crystal—through her own observations as well as that of the urSkeks—she had divined nothing that told her that it could perform such a task.

"We have time yet." TekTih says eagerly. "Would you like to come with me to the laboratory? I have built many things since last you were here, Seer."

Aughra appears to ponder this offer for a moment. But only for a moment. Other than talking to SoSu, her meanderings with TekTih in his lab were the only thing she missed due to her less and less frequent visits to the castle.

"Ahh, the lab. Yes. Aughra has seen much, too. Much that TekTih would like to hear about, I think. We do have time. Let us go."

And with that, Aughra turned and led the way out of the hall, the glimmering urSkek floating at her side.

***

Everyone in the rehearsal chamber looked up as Raven entered, partially out of breath and wiping beads of sweat from his brow. ZokZah turned and kindly motioned for him to take his place on the tri-leveled series of stones that the orchestra was currently seated upon. He reached down and grabbed his firca, exchanging glances with the other Gelflings. Kin, Teah, Brecht, Erecht, and Kaya all had bemused looks on their faces as they met eyes with their Gelfling companion. Sara on the other hand, looked rather concerned. Raven took another moment to wipe his brow and then brought his firca to his lips so that he could blend his tone with the chord that ZokZah had given them.

Other than that small interruption, rehearsal had gone rather well, and the Ritual Master had offered them a few tokens of praise and bid them off to their chambers. The orchestra dispersed quickly once they were given permission. There was so much to see in and around the castle, that every bit of free time they received was used to its fullest.

As the evening came, with only the Rose Sun hanging high in the air, casting its scarlet shadow over everything, the Gelflings had made their way into the bedchamber that had been allotted to all of them. Each of them changed into sleeping togs, giving no undue attention to the process, and proceeded to climb into their respective beds. Raven chose the one on the farthest end of the room, and Sara chose the bed next to his.

"What in the Gelfling elders' names happened to you, Raven?" Sara says in a hushed voice, so as not to disturb the others.

Raven finishes changing into a sleeping tunic and then crawls into his allotted bed. He sighs, blowing a tuft of hair out of his eyes, which falls gently back in front of them, forcing him to move it with his hand.

"A Sandling snatched me..."

"A Sandling, ohhh my...we should tell the Ritual Master in the morning."

"No. It...it wasn't like that. He could've killed me if he wanted to. But he didn't. He just gave me a warning. Gave all of us a warning, actually. We're not supposed to stay around for long in the castle after the Great Conjunction."

"And miss everything that's going to go on?" Sara says, clearly shocked. "Sandling nonsense I'll bet. You know they get their robes in a bunch over just about everything that goes on here...be it good or bad. Good thing you weren't killed."

Raven's brow furrows. Maybe for a brief moment he had felt as if his life was in danger, but once Xet had begun to speak...he didn't feel that way at all. He was actually somewhat appreciative of the warning, whether it had any merit to it or not. Still, he couldn't think of that. He had to have his attention focused for the last rehearsal in the morning. Have to nab that solo for the Conjunction. He thinks.

"Oh, by the way, ZokZah picked the soloist for the Great Conjunction. I get to play it! Aren't you thrilled for me?" Sara says, her whisper barely containing her newfound ecstasy, now that her crush was alright.

"Yeah, you'll do great." Raven says, pulling his covers up underneath his chin to stay warm in the chilly castle. Yeah...just great.