The crystal ball

There’s many reasons for history to be forgotten. There’s many memories history wants to erase. Some, so dark and gruesome that should never be remembered. Some that, even if wrong, should be kept present through generations as they foreshadow that evil that crawls into our future.

This is one of those stories. A little of each as it has been forgotten already but will soon be found again. As it happened a long time ago but will happen again.

Human life is so ephemeral that their future will always be haunted by their pasts.

As it will be once again, the stage for this tale will be a lake. Extending so far the end of it escapes the eye, and so deep the end of it remains unknown. A lake so vast that seas held a grudge, so powerful that even the wind could not prevail.

Deep below that lake, hidden for millenia was a power that once ruled the world and it was time for it to be found again.

It was time for humanity's reign to end.

West of the lake there was a forest, so thick and dark night never left, between the tall and bushy trees the sun was not allowed to pass. The wind sang sad eerie songs about tragedies forgotten and fears awoken. But not even the wind, in all its might, dared visit the obscure depths of this cursed woods.

There was a place, right next to the coast, where the evil and darkness made way to the light. A place where light was allowed to travel an uninterrupted course and hit the soil beneath. A place cut from the outside broad world but also separated from the everlasting gloom.

Like in contrast to all that surrounded this clearing was full with life, trapped by all the death around it had no choice but to grow and prosper there. And, wherever there’s life, there’s humans.

Elders of the village spoke of old legends to scare the younglings. Legends of how death was born there and so even the evil forest would shy away from it. Truth is no one alive even remembers when or how the village started. When life is so hard that reaching adulthood is already a challenge people usually don’t really care about old stories.

And so, history was destined to repeat itself.

Every ten cycles, a procession of merchant carts would visit the village and break the ominous calm. For a couple hours there was noise and movement, sometimes even laughter and song. This was the favorite time for children. Having adults stop their daily tasks and focus on trading and getting as much as they could to try and survive, let them be kids for a day.

Liora was walking among the carts, fascinated by all the colors and smells surrounding him. His mother was the village seamstress and would be worrying about getting the right fabrics and threads all day. He walked until the end of the line, a lone cart, smaller than the rest with the word “Magic” scribbled on the side, called his attention. A kid, around 8 years old, was sitting on the floor in front of it. His clothes were all patched and too small for him. He had a dirty face and was clearly starved. Liora walked to him and pitied the boy, he didn’t even raise his gaze to look at him.

Without thinking, Liora took off his coat and put it around the kid’s shoulders. His mother gave it to him when he turned ten just a couple cycles ago. Still he felt it was the right thing to do, he could say he lost it and take the punishment.

Since he got no reply or nothing from the boy, he turned around to leave and there he was. Standing in front of him, what looked like an older version of the kid sitting by the cart. Taller than him by two heads and as thin and ragged. But, his eyes were not empty, he looked at Liora as if he could see what was inside of him.

“You have a good heart kid” he said in a sad voice, almost as if talking to himself.

He stepped closer to Liora and handed him a little crystal ball.

“You don’t deserve what’s to befall on you” he said with a warm smile and a tear on his face.

Liora looked at the ball resting on his hand. The moment his eyes fixed on it, he got a combination of emotions he could not understand. First, he was scared, not of the ball but he felt the looming fear of what was to come. He was excited, excited he had it, excited it was his, he earned it. And he was in love. He loved that ball, it was the most beautiful thing his eyes had seen and nothing else mattered in the whole world.

He looked behind him and the cart was gone.

Liora felt a chill but it was quickly gone and his attention turned back to the object in his hands.

Both suns went down and rose again, the passing of a cycle.

While running some errands Liora took his time before going back home. He walked through the fields where men were busy reaping their latest harvest. The fields marked the limits of the village, beyond them, there was the lake. But, it was not the lake that Liora seeked but the solitude it provided.

Stealthily he walked until he was far away from the village. He pulled the crystal ball out of his pocket. Made out of millions of small pieces all reflecting light in different colors it never ceased to draw his whole soul with every look. It was like something supernatural, like an unearthly or occult power was hiding inside all the beautiful shining lights.

Liora found a flat enough rock where he could sit and just watch and talk to his treasure. He could still feel as amazed and moved by it as he did the very first time.

So focused he was on the ball that he never heard the steps coming from behind.

She snapped the ball out of his hand in a swift movement and giggling skipped away before turning to face him. Kaitan was two years older than him. Her black curly hair was long, almost reaching her waist. She had big black eyes that usually shined with the evil intent of mischievous kids. She was showing her teeth with a playful grin, while the crystal ball danced around her fingers.

It was no more than a meaningless trinket for her.

For him, it was everything. Liora didn’t even notice her, she had no care for girls, or people in general. All he wanted was to have his treasure back.

“Give it back!” Liora yelled at her, standing up and trying to make himself look taller.

She looked at him disappointed. She wondered why she cared about that useless ball when she was there.

As best as she could she cleaned her dirty face with her sleeves and put on her best smile. Her grandmother always told her she would grow to be a beautiful woman. She was so eager to be a woman, maybe that way, people would pay attention to her.

“You can have it back”, said Kaitan while putting the ball in her pocket.

Liora could not read her intentions but he was desperate. He just walked to her and tried to pick his treasure from her pocket. She pushed him away, upset.

“Why does everyone think they should take everything by force?” she claimed, both to Liora and to the whole world at the same time.

“Just give it back”, Liora said, trying to sound as serious as he could.

“Maybe for a kiss”, she said, and laughed.

Liora couldn’t care less for a kiss. He jumped at her and they both went down. She was taller and stronger so he had to be quick. He managed to pull his treasure out of his pocket while they rolled on the ground. He couldn’t hold it and between all the kicks and punches he lost it.

Kaitan managed to kick him away and quickly stood up. Liora, face in the ground, took a second to recover and at that moment he just looked at her, in the middle of the throw.

“Want it that bad? Go get it”

At that moment he heard the “pluck” sound as his most precious possession broke the surface of the water. His heart sank instantly. The fear he had felt the moment he first laid eyes on that crystal ball became real. He realized then that fear was the fear of losing it.

“No”, he said, to himself.

“No”, he said, to Kaitan.

“No”, he yelled, to the lake.

Quickly he got on both his feet and ran towards the water, he didn’t know how to swim but he would figure it out, he had to. He just kept going forward and forward and soon, it was all darkness. Darkness, filled with fear and desperation. Terror drowned his mind as water flooded his lungs and soon all he had ever felt was lost. All he ever wanted was gone and everything he ever dreamed was forgotten.

Kaitan looked at the lake with terror. Guilt sinking her deeper than the rock she threw to the water. Every second her hope for Liora coming out was growing smaller and her fear growing exponentially.

They were not supposed to go into the lake.

Nothing alive or dead ever came out of the lake. Yet.