Cornered by the Dragon Circle
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 87658
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Moreau hesitated, torn between keeping the power of her secret for
herself on the one hand and keeping the Dragon Circle from tearing her
apart on the other. In the end, self-preservation won over self-
empowerment. But that did not mean that she would tell all she knew, not
if she could help it. "Minestus had a magical artifact," she
began. "One that he used for his... private entertainment. And for
mine. He called it the Crystallic and he often came with it to my island
and aided me in my work. As you know, my work is very important to me,
and the Crystallic is therefore more precious than a few pounds of gold.
There really isn't anything more mysterious to it than that."
Moreau hoped that her curt explanation would satisfy the others. She hoped they would accept her story that the Crystallic was something important, but only to her. Moreau was wrong. Her fellow dragons eyed her closely and she did not like what she saw in their eyes. Contempt, impatience, distrust, she saw all these things and more. They were not fooled by her attempt to dismiss the Crystallic as something beneath their notice. They knew that she was not telling them the truth. And they did not like it. While Sylena, who looked liked an amused cat, was more than willing to play with her for a while to get at the truth, the others, especially Sythabus, were in no mood for playing games. And it was with a faint taste of bitterness that Moreau realized that her hopes of hiding the truth behind a veil of half-truths had been dashed all because she just wasn't very good at lying. But then, she'd never practiced at it very much. She'd never had to, for the truth had always served her surprisingly well. There certainly had never been a reason to lie to her minions and her slaves. In fact, she enjoyed telling them exactly what she was going to do to them. As for her dealings with other dragons, they were few and far between, and then were mostly with just Minestus. And she had never lied to him. Oh, she was crafty and she was wiley, but she just wasn't much of a liar. Moreau gazed longingly down at the burnt husk of Minestus. He would have kept them at bay, kept them from sticking their noses in where they didn't belong. He wouldn't have needed to lie, although, if he did, they would have eaten it up like honey. But now Minestus was gone. Now Moreau was on her own. Well, she thought, there was no use putting off the inevitable. She would tell them the truth. She only hoped that they would all choke on it. "You want to know what it is that I'm searching for?" Moreau asked with a sullen sneer. "Well then, let me tell you. But know this -- if you want it for yourselves you had best tread carefully. Minestus could control it, and he taught me many of its secrets, but for the unitiated it could prove most perilous. And I would not wish to see any of you... hurt." Her eyes rested upon Sylena extra long as she said this. "As I said, I am searching for the Crystallic, but it is no mere magical bauble. It is in fact an ancient artifact of vast power. Even Minestus did not at first know just how powerful it was. Or what it truly was. But in time the truth was revealed. It was made in Atlantis, at the pinnacle of that empire's might and majesty. But in that Age it was not called the Crystallic but rather it was known as... the Staff of Tessela."
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WolfRun
8/11/2009 6:25:23 PM
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