Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Author Quest (9 page)

When Zale came out, Eily said breathlessly, “Luck?”

Zale glanced at his necklace with a bewildered expression on his face. The bone carving of Thra had a thin crack down the center. The precious stones along the sides that represented her suns and moons were also starting to fracture on the inside. His charm was so familiar and sometimes he even resented it, but yet again he couldn't help but be mystified by its power. He pulled out the journal, the armor, and—even though he hated to even touch such a dangerous weapon—the sword, as well. The blade was heavily nicked, as though it had been used often. He pushed the sword to the side, disgusted by the smell of death on it, and instead focused on the armored suit.

Zale whispered, “He was a soldier from the Castle of the Crystal. Only they get to wear this kind of armor. Look, that's the symbol of the crystal carved into the front of the breastplate. He must've left it behind so the weight of it wouldn't slow him down. Plus, I doubt the Skeksis can tell one Gelfling from another very easily—but they would know this armor.”

Zale marveled at the thick, blackish-blue shell, rubbing his hand along the smooth surface of it wistfully. He had never seen such beautiful craftsmanship. Even if Hagan had abandoned his post as a guard for the Skeksis, he clearly polished the armor to a shine even before he hid it, a habit probably created by his training.

Eily stared in amazement, rubbing her hand along the carving of the crystal, whispering in an almost reverent voice, “Maybe that was what they were looking for.”

“I doubt it. It was clever of him to hide it in that tunnel. Even if the Skeksis had figured out how to open it, they would be too big to get through. I don't think they found the tunnel at all, though. I think he ducked into it before they could break down the door.”

Eily frowned. “How do you know?”

Zale quickly glanced away from Eily and started trying to relight the fire. “Well, I felt relieved when I crawled in, and it made me feel like he must've escaped.”

Eily glanced around the room. “I just don't understand why they would bother breaking all of the furniture rather than searching for him.”

“My guess is they were after something in the journal. That's why they destroyed the writing desk.”

Eily looked suspiciously at the journal then moved slightly away from it as though to inspect the ornate breastplate. “This armor is worth a lot in trade. Coming here might have been worth it, if nothing more than for the river beetle shell. We can't just trade it back to the Skeksis, though. They would know we found the journal.”

“But we can disassemble it and barter with the pieces. If it were patched together in a different way, it could be used on a boat. It could even be temporarily used to patch up our ship and get us on our way.”

Eily nodded. “That's true. There are some nails that attached the chairs together. We could probably reuse them to patch up the damage. But it's going to take a few days, if nothing more than to drill holes in that armor to put the nails through. I really don't like staying here any longer than we have to.”

Zale flipped through the journal. “Well, it'll give us some reading time.”

“No, thank you. I'd rather concentrate on repairing the boat.”

Zale shrugged. “Suit yourself. Knowledge is pretty valuable too, you know.”

Eily whispered under her breath, “And dangerous.”

Isla Hagan

For two days they gathered materials for fixing the ship and searched for anything to eat other than more turblaroots. Zale tried to help Eily with the ship repairs, but all he could think about were the contents of the journal. Every night while Eily slept, Zale read more and more of the book. The story was becoming very disturbing. Through Hagan's words, Zale now knew that everything the Skeksis told them was a lie. He knew how skekTek, the Skeksis scientist, was experimenting on live Gelfling. Somehow, skekTek drained them of their vitality, almost their very souls, and from it created a shining blue liquid for the emperor to drink to keep him young and strong.

Zale read the last entry, unable to stop:

The darkened crystal hangs above a shaft of air and fire in the center of the castle. I never knew why the scientist made an opening into the crystal chasm in the wall of his lab or why he affixed a reflector to the opposite side of the shaft. Now, I know that the reason was to beam the reflection of the crystal above into the eyes of a test subject. Seeing the reflection of the Dark Crystal's light drains the victim's essence away. It was how they made the Podlings into mindless slaves.

Even though I tried to hide what I knew from the Skeksis, the scientist suspected me. I think it was because I tried to avoid eye contact with him whenever I saw him coming. I couldn't get the image of that poor Gelfling girl out of my mind, and I still can't. She was so young and innocent, pleading with the scientist, and he just stared at her with that cold, lifeless eye. She couldn't have been a rebel. The worst that she could be accused of would be forgetting to do one of her chores.

She was one of my own clan, and I didn't even try to stop him. I was there and I just sat there frozen, watching. I'm a disgrace and don't deserve to be called Gelfling. The Podlings suffered for so long, and I ignored their plight, too, thinking of them as lesser beings. How did I let the Skeksis change my very way of thinking? Why did I let them teach me how to be cruel and violent like them?

If the Skeksis do the same thing to me before I can escape, I'll deserve every bit of it, but I have to somehow tell the others. I can't risk waiting one more day. I'm going to attempt to run away tonight. If I get caught before I can get this journal to one of the elders, it's up to whoever reads it to tell them the truth. It's a burden that no one should have to bear but me, since I was the fool who turned a blind eye to what the Skeksis were doing, and the implications of it in the first place.

The next day, even though he was trying to assist Eily, Zale just couldn't concentrate. The burden of the journal was on him now, and it weighed heavily on his thoughts. All he could think of was Hagan and the journal.
Where are you now, Hagan? You escaped the Skeksis. I'd gladly give the journal back to you, if I could just figure out how to find you . . .

Eily secured another piece of wood and part of the beetle shell to
The Seastrider
and said, “I'm sure this will be our last day on the island. There won't be a better day than this one.”

Zale grumbled something that he hoped sounded like agreement, trying to match Eily's excited tone. Even though sailing was one of the things that he enjoyed the most in life, he couldn't even think about sailing in his ship again. It felt so unimportant in comparison to what he knew now. Eily's voice suddenly seemed very far away.

If the emperor was eating Gelfling it would be less disgusting than this
, Zale thought.
He isn't just stealing their lives. He's stealing their thoughts and memories, and leaving them nothing but empty husks, slaves.

Zale wanted desperately to take the journal out of his pack and throw it into the sea to forget what he read, but he knew that he couldn't. If he destroyed the journal, the truth would be lost with it.

He sighed miserably.
Eily was right. I should've never read it. It was dangerous to find this, but I can't just ignore it now. But, what chance do I have against the Skeksis? None. Well, at least none alone. Hagan ran from place to place, and they finally found where he was hiding. But then, he never made any allies.

Eily threw a small pebble at him. “Zale, can you please pay attention for one moment and hand me some of the nails?”

“I'm sorry. It's just that I understand why the Skeksis are looking for the journal
now
. It's horrible. Their scientist is experimenting on live Gelfling—”

“I don't have time to read it right now. One of us has to concentrate on getting off of this island. Our families have probably given up on us coming back, and they could be preparing stone gardens in our memory as we speak.”

Zale took out the journal, stood up, and offered it to Eily. “Then let me take over on the repairs for a little while. You need to read this. It concerns you, too. It concerns all of us.”

Eily flinched away from it, as though Zale was offering her something unpleasant to eat. “Don't you think we're in this over our heads? No one is going to listen to you and me anyway, but the Skeksis don't know that. If they found out that we read the journal, and if what you're saying is true, then we'll be the next experiments. Think about
that
.”

Zale reluctantly put the journal down and handed some nails to Eily, helping her shove them through the holes in the armor to make sure they fit securely. It would have been helpful if they had some sort of tar, but the sap of the banding tree that they'd collected earlier in the day would have to work. The trees were very pliable and could whip around during harsh storms instead of snapping in half, and their sap was thick and sticky. The trip home would take only one day, but no one had ever tried to use thick sap in place of tar on a ship before. Zale glanced at his good-luck charm and frowned. They would surely have to rely on it again to get them home.

Eily smeared some sap on the side of the ship and turned to face Zale. “I hate to encourage you, but my father said that the elders are in a council at Claw Mountain right now. You could give the journal to your father so that he could take it to them. He's respected in the village, so he could get them to listen.”

“You're right. They won't take my word, but they may take his. Do you think that they might be having a council because of”—Zale motioned at the journal—“rumors about this?”

Eily shook her head. “I doubt it. I wouldn't get too excited about the outcome, either. The tribes are so diverse it's hard to even get them to even make a simple decision, much less an important one like what to do about that journal.”

“Either way, I feel better already. We can get rid of this journal and everything goes back to normal.” Eily looked up from the stubborn piece of armor that she was nailing into the side of the ship and muttered, “You could get rid of it now. I still think that we would be better off if you had tossed that book into the fire the night that you found it.”

• • •

They worked for the rest of the day in silence. At least it got Zale's mind off of the horrible things written within the journal, and with the two of them working together they were able to finish before the sun set. Zale stared at the sky. It was cloudless. All the moons were visible, and the constellations were beginning to sparkle above the setting triple suns, a map in the sky that would lead them home.

Eily pointed to the most prominent constellation and said, “Judging from Aughra's position, I'd say that if we sail northeast for the rest of the night, we should arrive at the port just before sunrise. Hopefully, your father will light the way.”

“Doesn't he always?”

“Yes, but that won't help us with the reef around this island.”

Zale peered toward the reef. “The water is pretty clear here. The dark clouds that night made it hard to see. Those moons should provide enough light that we shouldn't get hung up again.”

“That's true, and even if we do get hung up, we'll be close enough to paddle back. Are you ready to go now? I think we have plenty of supplies, and the weather couldn't be better.”

Zale began to rummage through his belongings until he found the watertight map case. “Almost. Now that we can see the sky, I think we need to name the island we discovered.”

“I hate to say it, but we didn't exactly discover it. Didn't Hagan discover it first?”

“I guess you're right. I would say that his opinion doesn't matter since he's a
dangerous criminal
, but now that I've read the journal, I'm one as well. Say good-bye to Isla Hagan.”

Zale took out the piece of writing charcoal and drew a rough sketch of an island on the map at their location, careful to take note of the position of the stars to figure out the approximate distance from the Sifa coastal village.

Eily chuckled. “Typically, it's wise to travel the entire length of an island before you mark it.”

Zale shrugged. “Well, we'll come back and explore the rest of the island later. I think getting home is more important for now.”

“For once I can't agree with you more. Good riddance to Isla Hagan. Let's go.”

Homecoming

Zale jostled the boat until he was sure that it was watertight. Then, after using the oar to dislodge it from the shallows, he waved at the island as though he was saying good-bye to a long-lost friend. Even Eily chuckled and pretended to wave as it began to sink into the distance. The calm and peaceful night made the ordeal of a few days ago seem as though it never happened at all. The still water glinted silver in the light of the moons, their reflections creating pools of blue, white, and purple light in the water. They could easily see the dark shadow of the reef around the island and were able to avoid it.

They sailed in silence, taking turns resting and steering. Zale couldn't sleep. His mind kept wandering back to the journal. Exhausted from working so hard, he wouldn't let himself relax. Whenever his eyes closed, he imagined the Skeksis scientist described in the journal, draining the life out of a Gelfling the way someone might drain juice from a sifang orange.

Eily sighed. “Zale, you need to get some sleep. You didn't sleep well on the island, and I don't want you drifting off when it's your turn to steer. The last thing we need is to sail off course.”

“I know. I just haven't had this much trouble resting since I was a child and thought the Mystics were going to steal me out of my bed to eat me.”

Eily didn't say anything. Zale knew she was fighting the urge to tell him that she told him not to read the journal in the first place.

He was grateful for her restraint. “I'll try to rest, but it shouldn't be long now anyway. I think in a few more hours we'll have reached the shore.”

Zale closed his eyes and faded off.

• • •

When he opened his eyes again he found himself strapped into a cold, metal chair and staring into the face of his worst nightmare.

The Skeksis glared at him with a strange contraption magnifying its one red, lizardlike eye. Its stare was cold, emotionless, and empty. Zale was nothing to that detached eye but a test subject. The Skeksis's other eye was pure white like a glass marble, and Zale shivered when he saw it. Even though the eye was clearly blind, it seemed to penetrate into his very soul. He stared in awe at the creature's face. He thought it was smiling in interest at him, but the long teeth within its beaked mouth made the expression look more like a sneer.

The Skeksis was covered from head to foot in layer upon layer of off-white clothing with the spine of some sort of poor creature as an ornament on its hunched back. Its long arms seemed almost too long, and they sported gnarled claws, looking like the branches of a dead tree. High up on its shoulders, Zale could see another set of arms that were small, almost infantile, withered from lack of use.

Zale's arms were tied down so firmly that no matter how hard he struggled, the restraints seemed to get tighter and he felt his joints groaning under the pressure he put on them. There was an opening in the stone wall in front of him, revealing the crystal chasm and the reflector, just as Hagan had described. Pinkish violet light spilled out in his direction.

The Skeksis noticed the talisman around his neck and paused for a moment. “Interesting. It's one of those charms that your clan is known for possessing. I've always been curious about them, though this one seems to be broken.”

Zale looked down at the mangled charm.
Gone forever. My luck has finally run out, and for what? I failed.

He glanced around the room. Then he saw Eily. Her skin looked pale and lifeless. Her eyes were a dull shade of gray, but the pupils reflected a strange purple light. She looked shriveled, like an empty husk left by a dead insect, a mindless husk that would do the bidding of the Skeksis without question.

“What have you done to her? Eily, wake up!”

“Not to worry, you're going to see firsthand. Look into the reflection of the Dark Crystal. Stare into its void and let it claim your mind.”

Zale tried his best to look away as the Skeksis pulled a lever on the wall, adjusting the reflective surface to beam the light of the crystal into his eyes. As the purple light hit his eyelids he found that he couldn't resist the urge to open them. He tried to remember why he was even bothering to fight it. Why was he here? He needed to do something and it was very important, but all he could think of was the warmth of that light and the power coursing through his body, taking his problems away along with every thought he possessed. But then, everything was going black and terrifying darkness was replacing his very soul. He tried to scream, but no sound would come out. . . .

• • •

Eily shook Zale out of his dream. “
Zale!
Thank goodness. You were screaming and I couldn't wake you up. I thought . . . well, I thought something was really wrong.”

Zale glanced around the boat and saw the journal at Eily's feet, upside down with a lit oil lamp next to it. He stared at Eily in disbelief for a moment, realizing she must've been reading it, but he could tell from the feeling of tension in the air that something else was wrong. Zale shielded his eyes from the light of her lamp and thought that he could just see land in the distance. The shoreline was dangerously dark.

Zale shivered, pulling the woolen blanket around his arms. “What's wrong?”

Eily took a deep breath. Her expression was as though she was attending a stone garden ceremony. “We're getting close to the port, but I don't see any light from the lighthouse.”

Zale stood up and the boat rocked dangerously. “What? That's not possible. Father would never abandon the lighthouse. Why didn't you wake me sooner?”

“I didn't realize how close I was.” Eily glanced at the book with a nauseous look on her face. “I was distracted and thought I might've veered off course.”

Zale rushed to the front of the ship and peered through the sight crystal. In the light of the moons he could see the outline of the lighthouse, but he had never seen it look so dark. It was always a bright beacon of hope in the night, like a torch in a pitch-black cave, but now it looked more like a long-forgotten monument. It was as gray as the rocks it was meant to protect against. Zale didn't even realize that he was shaking until the seeing crystal tumbled from his hand onto the deck.

Eily put a hand on his shoulder and steadied him. “Well, there's nothing we can do from here. I need your help. I'm having trouble seeing the reef, but you know this shoreline better than most sailors I know.”

“I can get us through it.”

Glancing over the side of the boat, he began guiding Eily. Even though it was very hard, he could see the dim outline of rocks in the water. He knew from experience how to line up the rocks and corals with landmarks on the beach. Zale called out to Eily, telling her which way to steer, and pointing out the houses to use as a reference point. The largest of the domed houses were crafted from marble and belonged to the wealthiest fishing Gelfling of the village. They liked to see the coral glistening beneath the water on bright, clear days. It was where the fish lived. They told him it was like watching their own prosperity shimmering and shining.

Once someone spent enough time in the village they knew which spots were the most dangerous, but the lighthouse was crucial to sailors without that knowledge. Even though Zale knew which spots to avoid, it was still difficult to see and even more difficult to concentrate. Every so often he would feel the hull scratching something sharp, and he would hold his breath. They were close to shore, but not close enough to swim for it.

He thought,
If I have any luck left at all, just let me get there in time. Please, Mother Thra, guide me home in time to help.

Eily seemed to guess his thoughts. “We don't know for sure that anything is wrong.”

“If Father let the light die, then something is very wrong.”

The moment the ship touched the dock, Zale raced in the direction of the lighthouse. Eily called out to him, but Zale couldn't hear what she was saying over the pounding of his heart. He ran so recklessly that he stumbled and slipped twice on the smooth seashells that acted as cobblestones on the road. A few people were still awake and some even called out to him as he passed, but their features were blurry like the phantoms of a dream. He didn't even realize he was crying, but he felt the tears sliding down his face. The lighthouse was up ahead, becoming more prominent in the light of the moons the closer he got. He felt as if at any moment his legs would turn to lead and he wouldn't be able to reach it, that he would wake up on the boat, startled and relieved. However, when he reached the door to the attached house, the fear became all too real.

The door hung from its hinges like the door of Hagan's cabin. Stuck into the wooden frame of the door by a kitchen knife was a note written in the ornate script of the Skeksis.

“The Gelfling Aarek is accused of association with a dangerous anarchistic criminal and has been taken to the Castle of the Crystal for questioning. Those who know the whereabouts of his son, the Gelfling Zale, will be rewarded for bringing this information forward. If Zale comes to the Castle of the Crystal before Aarek's trial and returns all Skeksis property, the Gelfling Aarek shall be released. If not, he shall await his sentence with the rest of those associated with this criminal.”

Once again, the note was signed by skekSil the Chamberlain. Zale rushed into the house and called for his father, but he knew he was too late. There were signs of a struggle. The writing desk was turned inside out and several pieces of furniture were broken and scattered around the room. Zale knew why. Even though his father respected the Skeksis and would have cooperated with them under normal circumstances, he also would have wanted to add fuel to the flare on top of the lighthouse before he left. Clearly, the Skeksis weren't willing to wait that long.

He leaned against the door, unable to fathom what had happened until he heard Eily speaking to him in a cold, furious whisper, “They took my family, too—my mother, my father, and even my baby sister, all because they knew that I'm a friend of yours.”

Zale looked up with a pained expression.

Eily wept and crinkled up the piece of parchment in her hand. “Zale, sometimes you can be so selfish. . . .”

Zale wept and yanked the note from his door, crinkling it up into a ball as well. “Then come with me. If they want me to go to the Castle so badly, who am I to deny them?”

Eily frowned. “You want to go to the castle? But everything in the journal must be true for them to hunt down our families to get it back. Do you know what they'll do to you?”

“Yes. And I don't care. But this has to get to the elders.” Zale pulled the journal from his sack of supplies and muttered, “I'll leave this curse with them, but we'll get our families back, one way or another.”

Eily nodded and whispered, “We have to. But, how did they even know that you had the journal?”

Zale shivered, remembering the cold, dead eyes of the bird that attacked him when he entered the cabin. “The screecraw. I knew that there was something wrong with it. There were furry lumps all over its body. Those had to be spyeyes.”

Eily became pale. “So they could see us. They could tell we were from the Sifa clan, and they had enough time to send someone here while we were repairing the ship.”

Zale kicked the door, making it fall down with a satisfying crash. “And they took our loved ones to make sure we would come for them and bring the journal before anyone else could see it.”

Eily stammered, “We could give it back—”

Zale held up his hand and turned abruptly as he heard something rustling somewhere within his home. In a flash, a small red lizard with gossamer wings zipped by his head, rushing toward the doorway. Its back looked as though it was covered in furry black lumps, like a mane running from its neck to its tail.

He gasped. “A drakolye covered in spyeyes!”

Both of them reached out, trying to grab the lizard before it could escape, but it was too late. It easily soared out of their reach and then flew as fast as it could in the direction of the woods. Eily looked as though she was ready to rush after it, but Zale put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. It was too far away to catch. They watched in silence until it was a speck in the distance.

Eily leaned against the doorframe. “We've already failed. Now that they know we're taking the journal to the council, they'll kill our families. We have to go straight to the castle and bring that journal back.”

Zale shook his head. “No. If we bring it straight to them there's no guarantee they'll let our families go. We have to go to the elders and ask for help.”

Eily snapped, “The Skeksis know we're back now. They'll probably send someone to hunt us down to get it back anyway. We'll never make it in time, and we can't risk leading them to the elders. Maybe if we go straight to the castle to return the journal they'll be lenient.”

“Do you think our parents would want us to let the Skeksis get away with something that horrible?”

Eily looked at the ground. “No, but Sherilie was only one cycle old.”

Zale felt tears forming in his eyes as he thought about Sherilie. “Don't talk like she's dead. We can't get our parents or your sister back without help. We need as many allies as we can get. The elders will have guards to spare. Now that the Skeksis know we're leaving, that just means we don't have any time to waste arguing.”

Eily began to weep. “But what if the elders won't listen?”

Zale put a hand on her shoulder. “They will. And, if not, we'll think of something else. I'm not giving up on our families, and I know that you won't, either. We'll go together and convince them to help us, and we'll do it before the Skeksis can stop us from getting there. The Skeksis won't kill our families, not when they can use them to bargain with us.”

“But how do we know that they're still okay?”