Read The Crystal Warriors for Free Online

Danuth was torn apart, his body bleeding from a score of wounds.
    "Jesus, Captain," Goldberg asked, "what the hell was that?"
    Mark shook his head. He struggled for control, trying to decide what his next action should be. Were they dead? Was this Hell or a nightmare that he would awake from, screaming? Hell or not, they had just offed some of the residents, and he was certain that someone would be around to check up on the mess.
    He could hear his men, some crying, others shouting, their voices trembling with panic. The years of training took over like an instinct, restoring his control.
    "Damn it, let's have some discipline here. Everybody shut the fuck up."
    Even as he barked out his command he heard Ikawa's voice rise up in a sharp volley of Japanese, and Mark knew that his counterpart was echoing his own actions.
    * * * *
    Torn from his dreams by an inner sense of warning, Allic, Lord of Landra, sat up in his bed and turned his thoughts outward, probing for the source of the disturbance. He could feel an imbalance, as though the proper order of things had suddenly been shifted.
    Kicking the cover aside, Allic rose, pulled on a long burgundy-colored robe, and pushed open the door to his meditation suite.
    With his approach, a gentle wash of blue light welled from a fist-sized crystal mounted on a pedestal of gold.
    Reaching out with his right hand, Allic touched the crystal of farseeing. Instantly the chamber was bathed in a brilliant glow that caused him to close his eyes. He knew where to direct his thoughts, and turning to the south wall of the room, he bent the flow of energy and directed it outward. Opening his eyes again, Allic watched as the power of the crystal was directed into an intense beam which revealed a map inlaid with gems and gold. The map was highlighted in stark, glowing colors as the power of Allic combined with his crystal to direct the map for a search.
    Emblazoned on the wall was a representation of the realm under his control. Such was its power that only Allic's father, the god Jartan, could have created it.
    The minutes passed. In the distance he could hear his guards changing their watch.
    Slowly his attention was pulled toward one point on the southern border of his realm.
    What was this? Now that he started to focus, the hazy sense of an outside power was confirmed. Someone was tampering with the Essence. It had to be an outsider, since none of his own sorcerers would be there.
    Could it be Prince Macha's people? Whoever they were, they were trying to block his probing, and so he knew their Actions were hostile.
    He bent all his will to the task. Soon he was drenched in sweat; his entire body ached with the effort as he battled through the barrier of wills. He could feel them breaking, their shielding crumbling.
    Suddenly there was a presence, a presence which he had never experienced before. At that same moment he broke through, and for one brief second there was a flash of an image; then nothing.
    Exhausted, he stepped back from the crystal, and the room went dark. Concentrating on his communications crystal, he turned his thoughts to the castle command center.
    "Who's on duty?" Allic asked.
    "It is I, Ulnarn, commander of the third watch."
    "Awaken Pina, tell him he has a little journey ahead of him, and bring him here at once."
    "Acknowledged, my lord."
    If there was anyone he could trust with this, it would be Pina. A quick flight with his triad and Pina would find out who these sorcerers and intruders were, and if necessary kill them without further ado.
    * * * *
    Far from where Mornan and her sorcerers had opened the portal was a land of mountains, the princedom that Sarnak had made for himself in the desolation that followed the Great War 3000 years ago. Towering battlements and massive fortresses covered every entrance and blocked every exit.
    Each mountainside was terraced with small farms and vineyards, and the river valleys were dotted with small villages and farmlands. Only in the