The Crystal Sorcerers by William R. Forstchen Read Free Book Online Page B

couldn't ever recall seeing eyes that icy before.
    Christ, I think she's jealous. Oh my God, do I deserve this?
     
    Kochanski sat glumly in the Godchair.
    I don't ever remember being so embarrassed before, he thought. And what am I going to do if Sara is still mad at me? She'll probably be a nightmare at our next work session. He shuddered at the thought.
    Jartan would tell me to look at the positive, he considered. All right, I ended up with a date with a beautiful woman, and I actually learned to create something by using the Essence. Seeing Deena had been a truly remarkable experience, but last evening's pleasure was now in the past, and he stiil had to face what would undoubtedly be a jealously enraged young woman.
    He stopped brooding momentarily to practice his creativity again, focusing on the model of Stonehenge in front of him. With great effort, he focused in his will, concentrating on his memories of the day he had spent exploring the ancient site while stationed in England. He pushed the image onto the model and muttered, "Change, you bastard."
    And the model seemed to come alive. All the distortions disappeared and a perfect little Stonehenge was before him, this time completely intact, with all the lintels and uprights in place as it must have been thousands of years before.
    I can do it. Damn!
    The image almost seemed to be alive as he stared at it, and he thought, I wish I were there.
    Instantly the Godchair reacted, and his spirit was whisked into the evening sky. He grasped the seemingly solid arms of the chair and started to order it to take him back, but then figured that he hadn't been out today; might as well give it a try.
    He was astonished to note that the Godchair wasn't leaving the surface of Haven. It was headed directly east, towards one of the large islands between the continents.
    A moment later the chair slowed before a large lake surrounded by hundreds of square miles of forest. There in the center of the lake was an island, and on that island was a full-sized Stonehenge.
    He began to drift closer.
    The old druid was in the midst of an incantation when he sensed an alien intrusion. Stopping, he turned to survey his surroundings. Nothing was in sight, but he could feel a presence growing stronger and stronger.
    He switched to infrared, and then starlight vision, and still nothing. After several more attempts he tried the spirit world--and there he felt something.
    Leaving his body, he could see a figure floating above, staring down at his temple. Painfully he forced his spirit upward. Very few could travel in the spirit world, and fewer yet could travel too far from their bodies.
    The man in the chair was a sorcerer, and by his uniform he belonged to Jartan. Still, only those who followed the true beliefs were allowed here.
    Rising before Kochanski he spoke.
    "I do not permit unbelievers to watch the sacred rites. Go now before I become angry."
    The sorcerer in the chair became very agitated at even being seen.
    Come a little closer, the old druid thought, and I will give you the sacred wicker death. The time to light the fires under the wicker cages was very near.
    Finally the sorcerer spoke. "How did you ever make such a good copy of Stonehenge?"
    The old druid's heart started racing. The time he had worried about for two thousand years was here at last.
    "You have seen the original?"
    "Yes, yes. You are from Earth too?"
    The druid gathered his strength as he drifted closer and closer.
    He asked cunningly, "Know you of Caius Julius Caesar?"
    "Julius Caesar? Sure I know of him."
    "Assassin! I knew you would come someday," the druid screamed, leaping forward, propelling his strength into the spirit realm of the intruder.
    The speed of the chair was amazing. Even as his fingers were about to close on the assassin's throat, the chair was gone.
    Trembling, the old druid searched the sky but could find nothing.
    Caesar had tracked him down at last. No matter. He had been ready for years beyond