The Diamond Bearers' Rising Read online

  I look toward the kitchen and find Chris in the doorway, leaning against the frame, arms folded across his chest. One hand holds my glass of water. He has a soft smile and caring eyes, handsome as ever. He pushes off the frame and walks over. “I felt your diamond go dark with obsidian. I came to see what happened but figured you needed some time.”

  I reach out for the glass of water, feeling suddenly thirsty.

  He motions to the box. “So, it’s in there?”

  I set my glass down. “Yes.”

  “Wow. It’s a bit mind-blowing.”

  “I know.” I get up from my seat and grab the cardboard box containing the prisms and charged quartz from the compound. Files and documents are slid in against the side of the containers. The outermost file reads: schematics. I put the box on the floor beside my chair and sit down.

  Crimson and Maetha come in and stand behind me near the wall. Beth, and Brand come in from the kitchen and sit down, Brand on my right, and Beth next to Brand. Chris sits on my left.

  The bi-located forms of Jonas, Mary, Amenemhet, Ruth, and Amalgada arrive before the others and sit their forms in the remaining chairs at the table. Jonas sits at the opposite end of the table from me. Yeok Choo, Kookju, Jie Wen, Alena, and Chuang materialize and stand along the opposite wall, almost symbolically. Avani, Merlin, Aernoud, Fabian, and Duncan arrive and stand behind the occupied chairs.

  With eighteen Diamond Bearers in one room, plus Crimson, I can’t help but feel intimidated.

  I clear my throat. “Thank you for attending this gathering,” I say, glancing around the room, making eye contact with everyone in the room except Maetha and Crimson. “Crimson has asked me to lead this gathering. As you know, we’ve—”

  “Wait,” Yeok Choo interrupts. “We can’t start yet. Marketa’s not here.”

  I don’t know how to respond to her disrespect for my leadership, and I definitely don’t want to begin the meeting by disclosing Marketa’s betrayal. Some of the other Bearers look around the room, others seem perturbed. Clearly, Marketa didn’t share everything she knew about the Blue Diamond’s powers because I hear a couple Bearers speak telepathically to each other. However, again, I can’t tell who is talking.

  Maybe she knew ahead of time the gathering would be led by Calli. I can’t blame her for not wanting to attend.

  Why are you still here then?

  Crimson is here.

  I really wish I could tell who’s saying these words, but everyone has a blank expression except for Yeok Choo.

  Duncan says to Yeok Choo, “You can catch Marketa up when she gets here. Some of us have prior engagements we need to get back to. Let’s begin.”

  I clear my throat again and continue. “We’ve been tracking Max Corvus as the prime blogger suspect. We recently learned the blogger planned on revealing me and Jonas as Diamond Bearers yesterday, on New Year’s Eve. Coincidently, yesterday, Chris learned Max was headed to Denver. Chris and Maetha came as quickly as they could. Marketa and I waited for Max and followed him to a bookstore where he attempted to upload critical information to the blog, thus confirming he is the blogger. Marketa and I confronted him at which point he shot me in the shoulder.”

  Gasps and guffaws are heard around the room. I hear additional rude telepathic conversations between Bearers.

  I say, “Max used an obsidian bullet that shattered during the firing process and pelted me with many tiny shards. My diamond powers were canceled, but my wound wasn’t life-threatening. Max fled the bookstore after he shot me, leaving behind his laptop. He hadn’t finished the post yet, and because he was still logged in, I was able to change his password to block him temporarily. I deleted the post. I also took the flash drive he was using. Marketa brought me back here and began to remove the obsidian pieces from my flesh. She told me she was unhappy with Crimson bringing in the younger generation into the Bearers group.”

  She’s not the only one.

  Mmm hmm.

  I speak a little slower and with careful deliberation. “When she removed one particular piece of obsidian, she intentionally cut open a vein and began letting out my blood.”

  Yeok Choo flails an arm pointed at me. “How dare you accuse her of harming you.”

  I decide not to address Yeok Choo yet. I continue. “Marketa also admitted to giving Max Corvus information about the clans and Bearers in an effort to frighten the ‘kids.’ The information was what Max posted to the blog.”

  Jie Wen stands a little taller and says, “I for one am not going to stay here and listen to these lies.”

  I’m feeling quite upset that Jie Wen would automatically assume I’m lying. And after the daggers he threw my way earlier when he spoke with Crimson, my confidence is strengthened. I fire back with, “Why would you think I’d lie when you have the power to view the memory in my mind?”

  “Because you could be selective in what you allow me to see and paint any picture you want.”

  “Jie Wen, I’ll let you extract my memories, so you can get the whole picture, but you have to let me extract yours to see if you were Marketa’s partner.”

  Yeok Choo cries out, “Where is Marketa? She should be here to defend herself.”

  Crimson steps forward and says with cold finality, “Marketa is dead.”

  “Whaaat?” Yeok Choo’s eyes widen and her skin pales further.

  Everyone else, except for Chris, Maetha and Crimson, shift around in their seats, heads looking side to side, murmurs and whispers fill the air.

  Crimson picks up the First Aid box and opens it. My powers rush out again and all of the bi-located Bearers disappear. Crimson pulls out Marketa’s heart and closes the lid, separating the diamond and obsidian for the first time. My powers re-infuse my body and I experience the strumming sensation of a diamond without an owner.

  Brand and Beth’s mouths hang open in shock. One by one the other Bearers reappear once they can connect with my diamond.

  Yeok Choo falls to her knees and wails. “Marketa!”

  Aernoud asks, visibly shaken by the revelation, “How did this happen? How was her heart removed?”

  Crimson answers him. “I will not be telling you how, but I will say why, Aernoud. Marketa dissented from her position as a Bearer even after Calli gave her the chance to renew her allegiance. A chance offered by Calli while Marketa was trying to kill her, mind you. If anyone in this room sympathized with Marketa and worked together to thwart my plans, then you need to rethink where your loyalties lie, or hand over your diamond. I will not tolerate any Bearer to be against me.” The room is completely silent. No one even thinks aloud. “There is no room for dissention now, all Bearers must unite, or you’ll be wiped out in the future. Failure to work together will result in Marketa’s fate, and your diamond will be the next one in a box.”

  Merlin asks, “May I ask how exactly Marketa dissented?”

  Crimson says, “As Calli already said, Marketa believed I’d gone mad by bringing in youngsters. She fed vital information about the Diamond Bearers to Max Corvus and orchestrated the meet up yesterday with the intention of having Calli mortally wounded with obsidian. She’d look like she did everything she could to save young, inexperienced Calli. Know this: the younger generation already knows more about this world than any of you could ever hope, and in this age, it is their word that holds power.”

  She steps closer to my side and places a hand on my shoulder. “Calli has more to report. Continue.” She moves back beside Maetha.

  I take a breath, trying to consider what I should say next. “Having been brought down by an obsidian bullet, I worry about all the Bearers being targeted. We will need to investigate these obsidian bullets further.”

  Kookju cuts in, “Why didn’t you two run when you detected obsidian?”

  “Marketa didn’t worry about it and I trusted her judgment. She said we had our running topaz, so we’d be able to flee if we needed to. I believed her, not realizing she knew I’d be shot.”

  Jonas raises a hand. I n
od at him to speak. “I tracked Max through the airlines. He boarded a flight bound for London. I called the authorities over there to alert them to his presence on an inbound flight, but because he doesn’t have a criminal record, they said they couldn’t detain him. Mary has some contacts in London, so we sent them there to meet him. Unfortunately, Max was able to slip past.”

  “He’s there already?” I ask.

  “Yeah. He caught a sixteen-hour flight out of Denver. He arrived a couple hours ago. We’ll just have to wait till he resurfaces again. Hopefully it won’t be through another blog.”

  “Thanks, Jonas. I’ll have Max’s flash drive delivered to you. Maybe you can find something identifying where he might be.” I pause, then say to the group, “Something else we need to discuss is an upcoming threat. As some of you already know, coming in twenty months is a cosmic blast that will hit the city of Portland, Oregon. Crimson has foreseen the blast and the power it will bring.”

  Duncan says, “Which power?”

  “A new one that gives the affected control over the elements of nature, to some extent. I’ve been assigned to lead the efforts to reduce casualties through prior preparation. I believe it’s imperative the city is evacuated before the radiation hits. Special attention needs to be focused on pregnant women. They need to be relocated far away from the blast. To accomplish this, I need help from all of you. I will also need to call upon the clans to help teach those affected how to follow nature’s will.”

  Jie Wen arrogantly states the obvious. “How do you expect to evacuate an entire city?”

  “I don’t know yet, but there must be a way.”

  Amenemhet says, “Diamond Bearers haven’t ever successfully evacuated an entire city before. Most of us remember how disastrous our attempts were with Pompeii. No one would listen to us, and people back then were more accepting of cosmic powers and magical gifts.”

  Jie Wen nods his head. “Evacuating a city is a fool’s idea.”

  She’s so naïve

  I don’t think I want to be a Bearer anymore, not if she’s going to lead us into ridiculous situations.

  Let the blast hit and clean up later.

  The three dissidents speak to each other’s minds. I try not to stare or lead them to believe I can hear them, so I move my eyes methodically from one Bearer to another.

  Avani says, “You say we have roughly a year and a half? That’s plenty of time to figure out a way to evacuate.”

  Fabian joins in. “How do you expect to convince citizens to walk away from their jobs? And for how long?” His tone is inquisitive not skeptical.

  Alena jumps in, “I can’t see any future containing this information.”

  “What about medical workers, patients, and law enforcement? Are they to evacuate as well?” Fabian adds.

  “You don’t have enough experience to lead an endeavor such as this,” Chuang points out.

  I focus on Chuang. “Are you wondering why Crimson would choose me over you?”

  “Is this a test, Crimson?” Chuang directs his words to her. “Is there really going to be a blast?”

  I pause for Crimson to answer. She doesn’t, at least not to my knowledge.

  A few other Bearers argue across the table, leaving me feeling like I’ve lost control over the meeting.

  Beth slaps her palms on the table, startling everyone, getting their attention. “I can’t believe any of you would doubt Calli’s ability to do this. Have you forgotten everything she has accomplished in her short time as a Diamond Bearer? Crimson chose her for a reason. Are you seriously going to doubt Crimson?”

  Alena says, “Why can’t I view the future of this blast?”

  Ruth asks, “Is it hidden from us?”

  Crimson responds, “You can’t see cosmic blasts; therefore you can’t foresee the event happening. And, until you decide to support Calli and help with this project, your future sight on the matter will be limited.”

  “How so?” Chuang asks. “We were able to foresee Pompeii’s destruction.”

  “That was literal destruction. Portland won’t be buried under ash and pumice. If you’re looking for the future of Portland, all you’ll find is a city intact. The blast won’t hurt the environment, which is the future sight you’d be able to detect.”

  “How are you able to foresee it?”

  “The Primal Stone grants me the ability to see cosmic energy. Unless you know someone personally from Portland and look into their future, you’d have to travel there and read random people’s future to see if they’ll be affected.”

  The tension in the room calms down, but it does nothing to soothe the adrenaline flowing through my veins. I continue. “We need to unite the U.S. clans.”

  Duncan asks, “How?”

  I reach down to the box and pull out two containers, one of quartz crystals and one of prisms. “With these quartz crystals and prisms.”

  Most of the Bearers move in for a closer inspection of the quartz. Yeok Choo, Jie Wen, and Chuang remain distanced.

  Avani asks, “Is there a difference between the rock crystals and the prisms?”

  “Yes,” I say. “Both types of quartz were used in General Harding’s government compound in conjunction with the power-removing machine. The rock crystals hold a single power. The prisms hold multiple powers.” I stop and think about revealing the fact that each prism contains Repeating power. Then I check my own future for obvious consequences of divulging the sensitive information. I see a conversation with Crimson where she’s furious because the prisms have been stolen. I return my attention to the gathering and say, “The multiple powers are weak, on the level of regular cosmic powers. However, to a clan member, these prisms would be similar to the diamond amulet without the deadly aspect.”

  Amalgada points to the quartz. “Why is there a difference between the two? And how were they infused with power?”

  Kookju waves an arm wildly, cutting in before anyone can answer Amalgada. “Maetha, why was the fact that these stones have powers kept quiet? What else are you keeping from us?”

  I look over my shoulder at Maetha to see if she’s going to speak. She only nods her head in my direction. My stomach feels like a bag of rocks. My feet tangle at the ankles under the table.

  Chris’s voice enters my mind. You can do this, Calli.

  I swallow hard and look at Kookju and then to Amalgada. “The stones were being studied to determine their power levels before sharing the results.” My statement is kind of true. I sit a little taller and wrap my ankles around the legs of the chair to stop them from fidgeting. “The machine that harvested the powers and deposited them into these crystals has been dismantled. Here are the schematics we were able to get.” I pull the paper schematics for Freedom’s power-removing machine out of the box and lay them on the table. “Freedom’s knowledge gave General Harding the ability to not only strip away power, but to also infuse it into a quartz crystal. These prisms were recovered from the machine. They seemed to be a power source, and due to the,” —I hope I pronounce this right— “piezoelectric properties of quartz, that’s probably true. The question is where did Freedom learn this type of technology?”

  I pause and look directly at Kookju. “To answer your question about the secrecy of these stones, until it is determined Marketa worked alone, everyone can expect sensitive information being kept secret.”

  An awkward silence settles around the room. I say, “I think we’ve covered the topics of this gathering. If anyone has any thoughts to help with the upcoming evacuation or have any other questions, feel free to contact me. As we near the date of the cosmic blast, I’ll give assignments to everyone. All right, I believe we’re finished.”

  Jie Wen, Kookju, and Chuang disappear at once. Some of the other Bearers end their connections soon after. Yeok Choo remains, still distraught over Marketa’s death. Maetha approaches Yeok Choo and talks quietly with her.

  I glance at Chris who has a satisfied smile on his face. You did great, Calli. He stands and
walks over to Crimson. Warmth radiates throughout my body from his approval. His reassurance during the gathering was much appreciated and gave me the courage to be strong.

  Yeok Choo sobs. “She was my friend. I didn’t know she was planning to betray Calli. I didn’t get to say goodbye . . . and she didn’t get to have a Surrendering.”

  A Surrendering?

  I make myself look busy by scooping up the schematics from the table. I’m about to put them back in the box when I see something on the drawings I never noticed before. On the diagram, the location where the prisms were found shows two rows of seven slots. I count again, thinking I’ve made a mistake. Chris and I collected twelve prisms, yet according to the paper, there should have been fourteen. Two prisms might be missing. Who would have them? One of the guards? Max?

  Brand and Beth are still sitting at the table and talk in low voices to each other. Without looking up from the paper, I listen to their conversation.

  Beth says, “My brother is in good hands with Clara. She’s a Spellcaster.”

  “You mean a witch, don’t you?”

  “No. Clara follows nature’s will. Witches don’t.”

  Brand laughs. “What’s the difference?”

  Beth’s ire elevates. “There’s a big difference, Brand.”

  “I’m sorry, Beth,” Brand says with a completely different tone. “I want to learn more. Will you teach me?”

  I look at Beth, thinking I’ll see anger in her eyes. Instead, I find a soft expression. Brand’s charm has won out again. He must have repeated to get . . . wait a second, he repeated!

  My eyes instantly seek out Chris. He and Crimson are holding a telepathic conversation. I can’t even read their lips to see what they’re talking about. I can only assume they are talking about me. Why else would they communicate in this manner? I try to scan Chris’s body for the prism but find nothing.

  Chris walks from Crimson into the kitchen. Crimson makes eye contact with me and speaks to my mind. We still have dissenters, Calli.

  I bring my focus away from Chris and back to the situation. Do you know who they are and are they a threat like Marketa?