Chapter Five

A few hours later they arrived at the crest of a hill where they could see the castle of the Great Crystal. Mark looked in awe as his eyes beheld the dazzling whiteness of the castle, the graceful symmetry it held, and the sheer enormity of its size. They moved on and soon entered the castle through the tubular entrance used by the urRu in their triumphant return to the place of their origin.

They moved through elaborate corridors until they finally stood in the chamber of the Great Crystal. Mark looked around him, trying to take in every detail, but finding the task impossible. He examined the floor around the circular pit, looked at the various symbols inscribed in precise locations a1ong spiral and circular paths, and finally he looked at the Crystal of Truth itself.

It hung majestically above the pit, its brilliance filling the room with a bright glow. Mark looked but was unable to find anything supporting the crystal as it seemingly hung in its defiance of gravity.

''Stand there.," Aughra said to Mark, pointing to a particular spot on the floor. She indicated to Jen and Kira where they ware to stand, then she moved to another symbol engraved on the floor.

"Now think," Aughra said. "Think of Thra and the evil that has entered here. Think of Mark and his place in Thra. Concentrate. Open yourself to the Crystal."

The four of them stared intently into the Crystal, each trying to open their awareness to it so that it could, somehow, sense their presence and their need. Within a few moments the interior of the Crystal grew cloudy. Soon an image formed of their world, showing where Mark had first appeared in the swamp. They saw a shimmer form in the air and saw Mark fall into their world. They watched as he awoke and began to explore.

They saw the look of wonder on his face as he saw the life of Thra around him. They saw him relax, meet the poling child and visit their village. They saw his visit to Aughra.

As they watched the Crystal began to emit a low, ominous hum and they saw a second shimmer in the image and the blackness as it entered Thra. They saw the evil take the form of an energy cloud, hovering low above the ground, waiting, gathering its strength while Mark lay by t the river.

"What is it?'' Kira asked.

Almost as if in answer to her question the image changed to show the Earth. Scenes of violence and destruction appeared, scenes showing the worst that humankind could be. Military parades, pollution, bombs exploding, riots in the streets all flashed quickly before their eyes. Drug users, killers, violent lunatics all paraded before their eyes.

"That is the world I came from," _Mark said. "There was some good there, but there was also much that was evil. And that evil seemed to be constantly growing in strength as humans found ever new ways to hate other humans.

The image changed and the watchers saw Mark's life pass quickly before them. They saw his attempts at friendship rebuffed, his life becoming more lonely as the years passed.

"I never fit in," Mark said, his voice quavering slightly. "I spent my time reading and dreaming, and I tended to question everything. I saw what I thought the world should be like and what it really was and that made me so sad, so very sad."

They saw his attempt at suicide and his talk with the psychiatrist. They could sense his hopelessness and his ever growing despair.

They saw the approach of the storm, the arrival of the meteor and Mark's passage from earth. The images flashed quickly to the present as they saw themselves in the Crystal Chamber. They sensed Mark's love for Thra, for Kira, his envy of Jen and the growing love he developed for all of them. They could even sense his love and respect for Aughra.

The Crystal image suddenly darkened, then once again showed the energy cloud from earth. They learned that the cloud was composed of the negative psychic energy so prevelant on Earth, energy that had come to Thra to prey on an innocent world. As they watched they learned that it moved only at night, and that it took power from the killing of innocent beings. They saw it destroy plants and some small animals, and they saw it increase in size as it did so. They knew that, for the moment, they were safe but that, unstopped, the cloud would eventually become powerful enough to move at any time during the day or night, free to kill at will and live on the death agonies of its prey.

The image faded and the Crystal returned to its translucent form. Of what their own future actually held, they saw nor felt anything.

Mark stood, head bowed. Aughra looked at him, her eyebrows raised slightly. Kira watched, her eyes expressing her sadness. Jen watched Mark also, now fully realizing that another loved Kira as deeply as he did and would, if necessary, die to protect her.

Mark finally raised his head, tears slowly moving down his face. "What can I do?" he asked, the anguish in his voice evident to all. "I've brought the evil here but I still don't know how to stop it."

"It is not your fault," Aughra said. "Evil; always preys on the innocent. Thra is now your world. Do you want you do to help her?"

Mark looked at her, then at the Crystal. using every bit of self control he could. He calmed his mind, forcing it to concentrate on the actual problem of what could be done. As he concentrated another image began to form in the Crystal, an image of the valley of the urRu. A feeling came with the image, a feeling that there was, somewhere in the valley, something that was essential in the fight against the evil from Earth, an undefined something that must be found, and soon.

The image faded as quickly as it arose, and the Crystal became silent.

"That is the valley of my Masters," Jen said.

Mark turned towards the other three. "What is needed will be found there. I'll leave immediately."

"We will go together," Jen spoke."

"I'm not going to place you in greater danger than you already area. That thing that's out there might be able to sense my presence, for all I know. If I head towards the valley then it might, too. " "It soon be night outside. You go now, evil cloud maybe find you before you get to valley. End of Mark. Sleep, here tonight, go to valley in morning."

Mark thought for a moment, then replied."You're right, of course," Mark replied. "I'll sleep for now, then start for the valley at the first sign of daylight.

Jen walked up to Mark. "You will not go alone, "he said. "My masters lived there. I lived there for most of my life. I know the valley and where to look for things. You will not walk alone on Thra."

Kira joined them and looked at Mark. "I'm going too," she said.

"You take Gelfling with you," Aughra said. "They help you look. Aughra go back home, maybe learn more there."

Jan, Kira and Mark followed Aughra out of the Crystal Chamber. They walked through various corridors until they finally arrived at the sleeping rooms of the Skeksis, now cleaned of all presence of the Skeksis and restored to its original beauty.

"We sleep now," Aughra said, "then leave early." With that she turned and left, entering another of the sleeping rooms. Jen and Kira walked into one of the other rooms. Mark began to move off to find a room for himself when Jen spoke up.

"You should not sleep alone," he began. You can sleep in the same room with us. Most of these rooms have more than one bed.

"I'd like to,"Mark said. "It's actually kind of frightening sleeping alone all the time," he said, more to himself than to the Gelfling.

In a short time the two Gelfling were in one bed and Mark in another, although with his height his feet did tend to hang over the end of the bed somewhat. Jen and Kira saw that and laughed. They all talked some more and then, one by one, drifted into slumber.

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