Blue Diamonds (Book One of The Blue Diamonds Saga) Read Free

The four must be safeguarded, I do not need to tell you how disastrous it would be if…”
    His eyes drifted to the jewelry box that she cradled to her chest, much like a mother her newborn.
    “What are you doing with that? We agreed to send it back," said Sir Williamdale.
    He shuddered at the power that was within a foot from him. The box should have been traveling back to Castle Somerlund three days prior, along with the men that he assigned. He held his tongue, although his posture screamed bloody mutiny.
    “Agreed?" she said. "Is that what you call it when people follow the orders you bark out? Did you really think I would trust your soldiers? They were simply a decoy. Only a fool would trust some low-level brutes with something this valuable.”
    The general continued to glare at her, not quite sure of how to react to the news. He felt deeply betrayed. Not telling the soldiers was one thing, but withholding the plan from him was something else.
    “I peeked in the hearts of your men," she added. "Die by your side they might, but when they aren’t at your side, that is a different story."
    "And what do you see in my heart, woman?" he asked.
    "Anger," Ambrosia chuckled.
    "Oh anger to be sure," she continued, "but also understanding. You understand that I'm right, but you need to be in control. You're angry, but mostly because you have to look past how I changed the plans, because you need me. You'll need me when it comes time to slay that lizard hiding in the bushes over there."
    "You'd let us die for your precious stones," he said. It burned him, but she was right. He did need her.
    The glossy black box contained four blue diamonds, each about the size of a chicken egg. The diamonds didn't posses any power on their own. The power that they were referring to was the power that was trapped within them. The power that she trapped within them.
    Many years ago, Ambrosia approached the general boasting of the power they could obtain by harnessing the dragon’s powers. She convinced Sir Williamdale that it was power that could serve the good of all mankind. In order to accomplish this feat, she would accompany him on his hunts so that she could magically capture their souls, which she would then force into her enchanted diamonds. Any skilled wizard could capture a soul and trap it, with the only conditions being the level of skill the wizard had, and what type of container he possessed. Blue diamonds are the rarest, as well as the strongest of the gemstones, so it was only natural that was what Ambrosia used to capture their dragon souls.
    The trickiest part was that Ambrosia needed to be nearby the dragon the very instant the soul is released from its body, the phenomenon known to common folk as death. The soul trap spell basically snares the spirit the moment it leaves the creatures body like a net would a bobbing butterfly, as a soul is always hesitant for the first few moments. Becoming a ghost is a shocking experience, and the soul always rejects the situation at first. Although, as simple as it all sounds, it’s a feat seldom attempted by any wizard, even when the most gentle of creatures are involved.
    A wizard understands that nothing living completely dies out, and that it's just the material parts that cease to operate, while the energy that makes up the soul goes on. In passing, the soul can move on to the next existence, linger aimlessly, or in situations such as the present case, be trapped and manipulated.
    Even in the rare occurrence someone is powerful enough to perform this feat of eternal imprisonment, to later summon and control the soul is another matter altogether. Conjuring a soul into the physical realm is powerful magic. It’s a transition that morphs the creature and turns it into a demon version of its old self. This is noted among all wizard folk to be a risk with far more disastrous outcomes than benefits, and hence hardly worth the effort in the first place.
    Even in the face of such risk,