Free Flight Into Darkness by Sarah Ash

felt it: a stab of clear energy that pierced his brain like a needle of ice. He stood still, concentrating on identifying the source. The thin light of the moon faded and died, leaving him stranded in the pitch black. The only solution was to stumble on blind through the forest, guided by the crystalline sound.
    The intensity of the vibrations was growing stronger with every step he took until his mind was filled with a jangle of different clear pitches, like the ringing of hundreds of glass bells.
    “Careful, Master!” Ormas's warning cry made him stop dead inhis tracks. He gazed down. The moonlight shone out again as the clouds parted, revealing that he stood on the rim of an abyss. The crystals had been leading him directly toward a crevasse.
    Rieuk hastily stepped back, away from the edge. If he had fallen— He felt himself break out in a chill sweat. He sank to his knees, shaking.
    “Ormas. You saved me. “
    The high, clear ringing was so loud that it lit up his mind with a crystalline shimmer. He forced himself to crawl to the edge and gazed into fathomless darkness. “How am I supposed to get down there?
    Fly?” He sat back on his heels and began to laugh.
    “ Let me go down into the ravine. Let me be your eyes. ”
    Rieuk didn't want to let go of Ormas again, but there was little choice in the matter. With the crystals’ song ringing in his head, he observed through Ormas's one good eye the jagged contours of the side of the ravine as the hawk flew downward, fighting against the sudden gusts of wind.
    “There's an opening not far below, a cleft in the rock. You can let yourself down. There are footholds. I'll guide you.”
    Rieuk had never conceived of such a cavern, where crystals bloomed like flowers, encrusting the walls and floor, each stone vibrating at its own unique pitch, filling his ears with a symphony of bright sound. There must surely be one among them that was kin to the first Lodestar in its perfection and clarity, one that was fit to contain Azilis and reflect the purity of her song. A crystal that could be both star and lotus…
    The song of the aethyr crystals wound itself into Rieuk's brain, enchanting and beguiling him. He touched one after another, delighting as his body resonated in tune with their individual vibrations. Some spread warmth throughout his limbs, others sharpened his thoughts, and others still spread a slow, twilit calm…
    He was in his element at last, in harmony with the source of his powers. He lost all idea of time, obsessively pursuing his search as Ormas slumbered within him, until he found a single crystal that pleased him in a way he did not at first understand. He coaxed it from the cavern wall, cradling it gently in his hands. Its facets were so clear that he could look right through them, yet even as he did, itseemed to him that he could see an evanescent trace of iridescence, like sunlight seen through falling rain.
    “This is the one,” he said aloud. His voice sounded strange to his own ears. He had not spoken aloud, even to Ormas, in a long, long while. He looked at his water bottle and saw that it was empty.
    It was time to go back.
    But a dulled weariness spread through his whole body; he had been so intent on his quest that he had not slept in many hours. His head began to droop. Ormas dozed within him. Surely it couldn't hurt to rest for a little while and regain his strength before he set out again to find the Emerald Tower…
    “Rieuk! Rieuk!” Oranir stood on the top of the Emerald Tower shouting Rieuk's name into the void until his throat ached.
    “Zophas.” He summoned his shadow hawk and sent him out into the Rift. “Go and find Ormas.”
    He stood, his face raised to the lashing of the wind, waiting for Zophas to come winging back.
    The look of betrayal on Rieuk's face still tormented him.
    How could I tell you that I did it to save your life? For my plan to work, you had to hate me, to revile me. Sardion's moods have become so capricious