The Crimson Prince： Awakening

"Then we can come back here for my father"s feast, then depart for New York." Will said with a smile, then put his arm around Maya as they walked a path around the castle to the stables.

The path was lined with trees on either side. Most of them seemed to have grown over hundreds of years, while some may have been planted less than thirty years. "I remember my father telling me when these trees were planted." Maya said with a half smile. "He said for every king that is born, a new set of trees are planted." She walked over to one of the younger trees. As Will got closer, he noticed scorch marks at the base of the tree. His heart sank as he noticed it was writing.

"King William Ragnos

Queen Isabelle Davereaux

Prince William Ragnos the Second."

As Will looked on, at least ten trees on either side held the same inscription. "So this could be considered as the records of kings." He said to himself. He noticed at the end of the line of new trees, the path continued for miles without any others planted.

The inscriptions on the trees made Will think of his mother. He could tell from the fine writing on the trees that she had been the one to burn the names. "More than two years in this world and I haven"t had any clues as to where she went." He placed his hand on the last tree in the line.

"Wherever she is, I know she would be proud of the man I see before me." Maya grabbed his hand in hers. "We should get going." She began to softly pull Will alongside her as they continued down the path towards the stables.

"They will have to find a new king to take up this s.p.a.ce." Will said as they walked through the open areas not yet occupied by trees. "I don"t have such a destiny."

Reaching the end of the trail, Will noticed a large building coming up in the distance. The smell of wild horses was carried to him with the breeze. For a moment, he was transported back to his world. He remembered the many fields in which he and Jonathan had driven through to get to their new homes. He remembered the many cattle farms that occupied half of those fields.

As they neared the stable, Will could hear the restless horses within their stalls, waiting for their chance to get out and stretch their legs. "Sorry guys," Will thought. "We aren"t here for you this time." He and Maya made their way through the plain wood door entrance and looked at the various stalls.

"Um, h.e.l.lo there!" Will heard an awkward voice sound from behind them. "Can I help you?

Will turned around to see a young girl by the age of thirteen if he guessed. She had nearly pale skin except the red burns which rested on her shoulders from the many days out in the sun. Her blonde hair hung in curls which were pushed to her back, which helped her deep blue eyes shine in the light filled cracks from the sun shining through stable ceiling

"I think maybe you might." His warm and gentle smile made the girl"s pale face turn as red as her shoulders. "My friend Leo may have left something in your care?"

"Yes Majesty!" The young girl quickly guessed Will"s ident.i.ty and promptly lowered her head. "If his Majesty wishes, I can bring you to the device now!" She turned in a hurry to lead them to the stall that Leo"s present was located.

"Please, wait a moment." Will called out the the girl that seemed to be on a mission. The girl stopped in her tracks and looked towards him, a questioning look in her eyes. "Is he that kind of man?" She asked herself as she slowly walked back.

Will ignored her for a moment and whispered in Maya"s ear. Her eyes went wide for a moment before a smile replaced her surprise. She then took her coin purse out and handed a coin to Will.

The girl stopped a few feet from Will and Maya with her head still lowered. "Is there something my lady and lord request?" her voice quivered as she tried to keep her composure. Her father had warned her about getting a job at the castle, though she believed since the prince had returned, maybe things would be different.

"What is your name?" Will asked in a gentle tone. The young girl looked up to see her prince with a look of genuine curiosity. His lips curved up into a smile as he waited for her response.

"M-my name is Sadie, my prince." She stuttered as she lowered her head once more. She had never been noticed before even by common folk, so it was strange to see someone as important as royalty take an interest in her.

Sadie watched as Will went back to Maya, whispering in her ear. She hadn"t known many totals within her lifetime, but if she had to guess, he would have been the most weird.

Maya gave a little chuckle and put something within Will"s hand. Sadie"s face turned pink as she noticed the prince had turned toward her again. "Is there something you need, my prince?" She asked as she lowered her eyes.

"Yes," Will smiled once more as he walked towards the young girl again. "My friend Leo left a present for me in one of your stalls, I was wondering if you might be able to help me find it."

Sadie"s eyes lit up momentarily. "Of course!" she ran back into the stalls and returned with a cupped hand. "He left this rock here." She uncovered her hand to show him a shiny crystal which fit in the palm of her hand. "I don"t understand why this would be so important, but he made me promise to put it somewhere safe until you came for it."

Will looked at the small stone within the girl"s hand skeptically. "How exactly is this supposed to be better than five carriages?" He thought to himself as he lightly took the stone from her hand. "Are you sure this is all he left you?" The stone itself could have been a key of some sort for the transportation he had thought would be there, yet the jagged edges seemed to have no pattern.

"That is all my Prince, I promise." Sadie gave Will a questioning glance. She didn"t like the thought of royalty questioning her loyalty. "He came to me one day and told me to give you this stone." Will could tell that she was trying very hard to recall the whole event of that. "Wait!" She yelled to herself and pointed to her head. "He told me to tell you to hold the stone here," She said as her finger hovered an inch above her temple. "He said that the thing you were looking for was in the shiny stone."

Will did as she said and held the stone to his temple. He also inserted a wisp of his aura into the stone to search for any clues. As his power poured into the stone, he could sense that there were many items stuffed within.

Will stared wide eyed at the stone for a moment with a thought forming slowly. "s.p.a.cial magic?" He hadn"t seen such magic since the bag that Jonathan had given him a few years ago during his departure to Crystallia. "He figured out s.p.a.cial magic?"

After a few moments of looking through the items within the stone, Will glanced away for a moment and saw Maya impatiently waiting for him to say something. She glanced at a nervous young Sadie who seemed to be waiting judgement.

"Sadie," Will said with a kind voice. The girl looked up to notice that he was pushing something into her hand. "Thank you very much for looking after my gift." Will took his hand away and a little wisp of fire was absorbed into the girl"s hand. She let out a small yelp and opened her hand to see that not only was she not burned, but she was holding a gold coin. "Take care of yourself." Will said as he and Maya walked to the stable.

Sadie"s eyes watered slightly as she watched the prince leave. By that one gesture, he had given her more money than she had expected to see in her lifetime. She bowed silently and left with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

Will watched the young girl leave the stables with a smile on his face.

"You know you probably made her life more complicated with that second gift, right?" Maya shook her head. "You don"t have to give that gift to everyone."

"That was the second part of my gift." The smile dimmed somewhat, yet his eyes still lit up tenderly. "If one acc.u.mulates wealth, one has to have strength to protect it."

Will looked back down to the small crystal in his palm. "Since when can we make s.p.a.cial magic?"

"I don"t know the specifics, but Leo has been hard at work researching a great many things while you were gone."

Will inserted his aura into the stone once more. He formed the wisp of energy into a small hand which rummaged through the small stone. With a mental tug, he pulled out all the contents within the stone.

The items which came out flew above his head as he held the connection. He held them there as he inspected them.

What floated above his head were ten items. One was bike sized. He recognized the design of handlebars on the front. The image that popped in his mind reminded him of a jet ski. It was just large enough to fit two people on the seat. He lowered it to get a better look.

The vehicle was of a black metal that he recognized as the same material as the black doors he hand entered and exited Crystallia through. "This is celestial steel!" He drew a deep breath. It was gilded with gold along the sides of it as well as around the ruby seat. In the center of the handlebar there rested a small gem much like the one he held in his palm.

The other items consisted seven crystals, a large bloated sack and a small book.

Will took a look at the crystals. They all looked the same, dull and lifeless except one. Keeping the rest above him, he moved the different one into his hand. Looking at it carefully, he noticed a small twister within the center. "This is..." He drew a shallow breath. "Wind element!"

"Maybe you should read the instructions he left you." Maya grabbed the book from above Will"s head and lightly tapped it on his forehead.

"Good advice." He said with a smile.

Maya rolled her eyes at him. "It"s like he"s opening a birthday present."

Will turned the cover over and looked at the front.

"Ryder Manual."

"If you are reading this, before continuing be sure to thank Maya for making you look at the manual. If you were to try to operate without first reading, you might blow up my baby."

Will rolled his eyes and smiled at the open page. "That"s cla.s.sic Leo." He thought as he continued to the second page.

"The Ryder operates off of the elements the weilder can utilize. If you use the Wind aura, the celestial steel will morph into a suitable air craft.

If the weilder utilizes the Earth Aura, the celestial steel will morph into a suitable ground moving vehicle.

All other auras can be used to morph the Ryder to a suitable style craft. As long as you have the aura, it will be able to function."

The book described the many uses of each aura and what uses it would have.

Will was still intrigued by the small crystals, so he flipped through the different auras until he came across the power source.

"Elemental Crystals."

"If you still haven"t guessed the origin of my little crystals, I suppose I"ll let you in on the secret. Do you remember Crystal Cove?"

Will wouldn"t be able to forget Crystal cove if he tried. He and Maya had gone on a ma.s.s kill and recruit before he had broken her bonds.

The Cove was not populated by many people, but he did remember the small population that set up their dwellings a mile out of the formations.

He remembered that the crystals were impossible to cut off even by using his aura. They seemed to be impervious even to his lineage blade.

"The crystals can be harvested by using the Earth Aura. Your dad is able to chip off small bits of the large crystal formations.

When he chipped off a few pieces, I had originally intended to make a supply of jewelry for the population, but he happened across another use by chance.

The crystals can absorb the elemental affinity of any wielder if they channel their energy through them. The storage s.p.a.ce is near limitless which makes them an outstanding power source.

The crystals can also store items to a near limitless amount. Moving belongings has now become effortless. All one has to do is imagine all items in front of them being moved to the stone and their aura will do the rest.

Upon digging even further, Jonathan noticed a mineral deposit under Crystal Cove. While inspecting the metal, we were able to discover that it has the same qualities as the lineage weapons we use and is able to morph depending on the elemental affinity that is transferred."

Will chuckled at the last part. He was probably the only one who knew the real potential of the metal.

"Other uses of the Crystals."

Will was drawn to the next page. As he skimmed it over, his eyes went wide.

"Upon testing the storage uses of the Crystals, I had filled one with the wind aura and gave it to a non-aura user. He was able to utilize the crystal to its fullest extent. He was able to unleash a lineage weapon so long as he was in possession of the Crystal.

This is both a unique tool that can be used by farmers or traders as defense or to operate the Ryder.

You can test whether you can take the element from the stone or not for yourself. Since you are the only one who can give the aura to others, maybe you are the only one who can negate the effects."

"Of course he would allow such a weapon out into the public without testing the kill switch." Will could already smell the disaster such a battery could unleash if he couldn"t control it.

He focused on the swirling energy within the stone. He formed his aura into a hand once again and plunged within it. His brow twitched as he hit slight resistance. The more he pushed, the more he was forced back.

"Dammit Leo!" He could tell after only moments of trying to purge the aura that it was no use.