Liquid Diamond

Liquid Diamond

By

Sebastien Blue

For Natalia in honour of your character

CHAPTER ONE

THE LOST GIRL

The wind was whipping across her face as Natalia walked through the winter snow that covered the path along the riverbank. Trying to avoid the cold, grey, dead-looking landscape that surrounded her, Natalia lost herself in a daydream, knowing it was her only escape from her everyday life of poverty.

Lost in her daydream, it wasn’t until her watch beeped that Natalia noticed she had long since strayed from her usual path and was now lost in a bog surrounded by swirling mist. Although she had walked these paths many times before, she had never seen this bog. Being just ten years old, Natalia was afraid because being lost in the Russian wilderness is a scary thing for an adult, never mind a little girl.

Natalia was brave so she walked on and tried to find her way back to the riverbank. The warm ground of the bog turned the fallen snow to slush so Natalia could only guess which direction she had come in. The fog only made matters worse.

After walking for half an hour, Natalia knew she would not get home that night and she did as her father had taught her. She found shelter and waited for the morning light.

Hearing the wind rushing through a cave, Natalia headed straight for it. She stopped to listen for anything that might be living inside but it was quiet, so she slowly walked in and made her way deep into its tunnels.

As she walked further into the cave, Natalia could hear the soft flow of water as it trickled against the rocks that lay in its path. She was feeling thirsty, so she followed the sound until it led to a small pool.

Kneeling to drink, Natalia noticed a glimmer coming from the stream that fed the pool. She headed straight for it and with one look at the perfectly rectangular shape that lay there Natalia knew right away it wasn’t water. It was richer, cleaner and thicker than the water that surrounded it. Forgetting what her Father had always told her (if you don’t know what it is, don’t touch it), Natalia touched it.

As she dipped her finger into the glimmer, Natalia felt a tingle as it touched her skin. She tried to pull her hand back but found she was being pulled forward into the glimmer.

Feeling weak, confused and lost, before she could scream for help, the glimmer enveloped her and pulled her from the cave.

Natalia left the cave and stood there, feeling woozy and out of sorts. She hoped she would feel better in the morning. She wobbled to the wall and rested against it, waiting for the sun.

Confused but not afraid, Natalia momentarily stood in the centre of the warm glittering goo only to be pushed out of the other side with a pop.

Feeling that something was missing, Natalia began checking herself, making sure she had all her parts. Looking down she could see she was covered from neck to toe in diamonds of so many different colours and sizes that all she could do was look in wonder at their beauty. She watched sadly as they dropped to the ground and burst like drops of water on her shoes and then returned to the glimmer that was a lot larger than it had been a few seconds ago. It now ran all the way outside the cave.

“
That just keeps on happening,” came a voice from behind her. She turned in surprise.

Walking out of the shadows was a boy no older than Natalia. He had silver hair, bright red eyes and was wearing a cloak.

“
I’m Natalia. Who are you? What happened to my diamonds?” she blurted out.

“
Do you always talk so fast that no one can answer you? First of all, I’m Catalyst. Secondly, they’re not your diamonds. They belong to the river and it’s nice to meet you, Natalia,” replied the boy.

“
Hahaha, Catalyst, that’s a funny name,” said Natalia, giggling.

“
It means the beginning of trouble,” said Catalyst sharply.

“
Are you trouble?” demanded Natalia just as sharply.

“
Some people think so,” replied Catalyst.

“
The river owns the diamonds?” asked Natalia mockingly.

“
Yes it does. They’re a part of it. We call it the Liquid Diamond. It’s a river that is no longer solid,” replied Catalyst, looking into it.

Turning around, Natalia saw the glints of light bouncing off the cave walls.

“
Now why don’t you come with me, Natalia?” requested Catalyst as he took her by the arm.

“
Why should I go anywhere with you?” demanded Natalia, pulling free of his hand.

“
You may be the one responsible for the missing crystals and diamond ring that is keeping the portal sealed. The King has given orders to all that should anyone come through the portal they’re to be brought before him for questioning,” replied Catalyst as he nudged Natalia out of the cave.

“
I don’t know how I could be responsible. I was only pulled through just now and I have never been here before,” said Natalia.

“
Maybe so, but the King has given his orders. Besides, the Queen will know all about you soon enough. She’s a seer and with one look into your thoughts she’ll know everything you know,” said Catalyst.

Some time later they arrived at the castle. A guard watched over them as the King was informed of their presence. A few minutes later, the King and Queen entered the hall. Their guards surrounded Natalia and Catalyst. One very large, angry beast-like guard with huge sharp teeth paid very close attention to Natalia.

“
So you must be the Human that came through our portal,” said the King as he waved to a guard to take hold of her while his Queen approached.

Gazing coldly at Natalia, the Queen strained to see her thoughts. With all Natalia’s fantasies filling the spaces that most people use for fact, a burst of energy exploded between them, sending the Queen flying across the hall into the wall behind her. Natalia was ripped from the guard’s hands and sent crashing into Catalyst’s chest. The impact sent him flying into the wall as Natalia landed face down on the floor where Catalyst had been standing.

The King helped his Queen to her feet and whispered in his ear. They both looked sternly at Natalia.

“
It seems that my Queen cannot see your thoughts so there’s no way for us to know whether you are innocent of tampering with the portal,” said the King as the guards pointed their spears at both Natalia and Catalyst.

“
I will question you first,” continued the King, glaring at Natalia.

“
Who are you?” asked the King.

“
I am Natalia Cherkasskaya,” replied Natalia calmly.

“
Where are you from, Natalia Cherkasskaya?” continued the King.

“
I am from Yekaterinburg, Russia,” replied Natalia proudly.

“
What are you doing here in this world?” demanded the King.

“
I was taking a walk, I got lost, I found a cave, I took shelter for the night, I touched some glimmering water stuff and I was pulled here, wherever here is,” replied Natalia.

“
Have you ever been here before?” asked the King suspiciously.

“
No,” replied Natalia simply.

“
Did you have anything to do with liquidizing the portal?” asked the King.

“
What kind of a question is that? I have never been here before,” shouted Natalia, tired of his badgering.

“
Mmmmmg!” growled the King as he turned his attention to Catalyst.

“
What have you to do with all this, Catalyst? After all everyone knows you’re trouble – you must have had something to do with it,” said the King as he stood towering over both of them.

“
I only went to see the Liquid Diamond Portal for myself. I watched as this girl came through, then all I did was as you ordered: if anyone comes through the portal, bring them before you,” replied Catalyst.

“
I do not believe either of you. One last question, tell me, are you friend or foe?” asked the King as he looked at Natalia, paranoid about her Humanity.

“
Friend, of course,” replied Natalia, being a decent girl.

“
Good! Then you won’t mind retrieving the locking crystals for the portal then, as it would seem that one of you Humans have taken them,” demanded the King, looking boldly at Natalia.

“
Just how am I supposed to do that?” asked Natalia.

“
You find them and bring them back,” growled the King as he held up a key and showed it to Natalia.

“
Do you recognize this?” asked the King.

“
It’s a key, but I’ve never seen this one before,” replied Natalia.

“
Well it would seem that this key was the only evidence found in the portal cave. It was used to release the locking crystals by opening the portal from your world to ours. And since we’re the ones that locked it to keep you Humans out, I think it highly unlikely that anyone other than you opened it. Since the crystals would have liquefied going through the portal and there are some Humans scattered throughout this world, they must still be here. Catalyst, you will help her and be her guide,” ordered the King as he handed the key to Natalia.

“
Your Majesty, if the crystals liquefied in the portal, how are we to know?” asked Catalyst.

“
The crystals are not the same as the diamonds in the portal. We would have detected the difference. They’re here in this world somewhere. Since we learned long ago not to trust Humans, you can be sure they’re here,” replied the King. “Furthermore, I hope for both your sakes that the key helps you two in finding our crystals. Only in this way will you prove your innocence,” said the King.

The Queen gave orders to a guard to provide Natalia and Catalyst with a meal and a place to sleep for the night, and then be sent on their way at first light.

As they sat there eating their meal Natalia had to ask.

“
Catalyst, if the portal was locked from this side, how could anyone from my world have opened it” asked Natalia.

“
I don’t know, but the King and Queen are paranoid and very dangerous. They believe there are still Humans here so one thing is for sure, we have to try and find the crystals,” replied Catalyst as he took the key from Natalia and examined it.

“
Do you recognize it, Catalyst?” asked Natalia.

“
No I don’t but I bet you I know someone who might,” replied Catalyst, looking hard at the faded engravings on the key.

“
Who?” asked Natalia.

“
The Krusnik woman. She’s lived here for three hundred years since coming through the portal and she’s been alive a lot longer than that, so if anyone would know, it would be her,” replied Catalyst.

“
What’s a Krusnik?” asked Natalia.

“
You can ask her when you meet her,” replied Catalyst with a smile. Natalia just looked at Catalyst and went off to bed. She was much too tired to talk with such an exhausting boy.

When Natalia woke the next morning, she found breakfast on a table beside her bed and clean clothes laid out for her journey ahead. Through the window she could see the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen in her whole ten years. She noticed she no longer felt afraid of where she was. Try as she might, she could not remember feeling afraid the night before either.
“How funny,”
she thought to herself as she started to daydream again.

“
Natalia, Natalia,” came a shout that shook her out of her thoughts.

“
Catalyst, Catalyst,” Natalia shouted back at the boy. She really hated being yelled at. Being a very proud Russian girl, she didn’t expect to be yelled at.

Natalia stepped outside her room with a mouthful of food to find Catalyst waiting for her. Walking as fast as they could, they headed off to find the Krusnik woman.

“
So Catalyst, where is this Krusnik woman?” asked Natalia.

“
She’s about a day’s walk from here, just through the wooded maze,” replied Catalyst.

“
What’s a wooded maze?” asked Natalia, not liking the sound of it at all.

“
It’s a maze through the woods. We have to go through it to get to the Krusnik woman, take this path or that path. In the end it really doesn’t matter because with one wrong turn anywhere in the maze you’re lost. So stay close and keep up and don’t look back, because you will get lost in the blink of an eye,” replied Catalyst not thinking of the dangers that might exist for a Human and trying to scare Natalia just a bit…for fun.

After a long and boring walk to the wooded maze, Catalyst took Natalia by the hand as they entered.

“
Don’t let go,” whispered Catalyst.

Natalia squeezed his hand hard enough not to let go then twice as hard to make sure of it. Catalyst started to run, dragging Natalia behind him faster than she could run, making her almost fly through the air.

“
Why are we running?” screamed Natalia.

“
We’re being followed!” yelled Catalyst. Looking back fearfully, Natalia’s hands started to sweat. Losing her grip, she went tumbling to the ground, rolling head over heels until she came to a stop with a thump.