A Wrangler of Crystals

By Frank Carey

A third-class magician finds more than he is bargaining for when his witch boss decides to steal a crate of gems to sell to the highest bidder from another universe.

A Wrangler of Crystals is the complete saga of Sigmund Alderthal and includes previously published and fully revised and re-edited books Spell Slinger and Crystal Wrangler along with the never-published third book, Wizard. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frank Carey
• Release date: Mar 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393895893

Frank Carey

Frank Carey has been formally writing and publishing works of science fiction since late 2013. Over the years prior, he had dabbled in various forms of writing including haiku poetry, but that all changed when he and his wife, Jo, decided to try their hand at writing and self-publishing. Since then, he has written and published a collection of flash fiction and short stories, two anthologies, a pentalogy, and a trilogy. All his work, to date, has been in the science fiction genre. Most of his stories take place about two centuries in the future when Earth joins the League of Planetary Systems. Many of his protagonists are strong females. He is an inveterate pantser who believes the story will go where the story wants to go. Frank’s background includes degrees in physics and extensive work as a scientific programmer and technologist.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

I hate not having a clue. It's unbecoming.

I opened my eyes and saw a smooth, white ceiling above me. That's not good, I said aloud.

What's not good? a rich, melodic, female voice asked.

I turned toward the source of the voice and nearly fainted. Sitting next to the bed were a set of beautiful triplets, identical in appearance except for their hair which spanned the color range from blond to flaming red to raven. I sat up slowly and swung my legs over the side of the bed, so I was facing them. My clothes were gone, replaced by the love child of a hospital gown and scrubs. From the smell, and the clothing I'm wearing, I assume I'm either under arrest or in a hospital.

The blond and raven-haired women looked at the red-haired one who shrugged back. What's your name, sir?

Wizard of the Third Order Sigmund Alderthal. I'm a tracker with the Realm of Planets Department of Crystals and Storage.

The what? the blond asked.

Realm of Planets? Crystals? I've seen less blank looks on sheets of paper, so I opened my top and showed them the glowing spot in the center of my sternum. This is Kristin. She's the sapient crystal entity I merged with years ago... Still blank. Living crystals? They allow us to utilize the power contained in the etheric energy river that flows through the universe. Some are sapient while most are not? I'm blessed to have been chosen by a sapient one?

The three looked me as if I were growing a giraffe out of my forehead. I'm Calliope. The raven haired one said. She pointed to the red head. This is my sister, Clio. Clio waved. And the blond is our sister, Urania. Urania waved.

Why the hell did this Calliope person change the subject in such a ham-handed fashion. Kris, what the hell is going on? I asked silently.

Haven't got a clue, Sig, she replied. Access to the river is five by five, though I'm not detecting any spell slingers in the vicinity.

None? Are you sure?

Am I sure? Was that a deliberately stupid question? Of course, I'm sure. I'm looking at three ladies of the correct age, yet none of them could manifest a crumb if their lives depended on it.

Great... I am pleased to meet you, Calliope, Clio and Urania. I have never met identical triplets before.

Clio. Urania. Calliope. Clio said. Not ring a bell?

I shook my head. Nope.

How about 'The Nine Muses, or Daughters of Zeus?' Calliope asked.

Again, I shook my head. Not a clue.

My sisters and I are not triplets. There are nine of us, all identical.

Nine? Your mother must be a powerful sorceress to have birthed nine identical children. What is her name?

Mnemosyne.

Who the hell is Mnemosyne? Kris asked.

I don't have a clue. We're still alive, right?

Yep, and trust me, I would know.

You've never heard of Mnemosyne? Clio asked.

I shook my head.

What year is it? Clio asked.

2275 by the standard calendar, I replied

She nodded. Good. Now, bear with me. Tell me about space travel.

I looked at her like she was daft, but I played along. We have faster-than-light travel which makes use of secondary spacial domains including other-space and hyperspace. These forms of physical travel have allowed the formation of the Realm of Worlds which currently includes 65-planets and colonies. Once a planet is colonized, the citizens of the Realm can make use of portals to travel from world to world.

Portals? Clio asked.

I pointed to a wall and an eight-foot diameter ring of fire appeared. Through it they could see a market. It was night, so the market was closed. I snapped my fingers and the ring disappeared. That one opened on a marketplace on the newly colonized planet of Sokuhl, a planet purportedly once inhabited by two reptilian races. Portals... I stopped when I saw the look of shock on their faces. You've never seen a portal before? I looked at the ceiling for a moment to collect my thoughts. Where the hell am I?

Earth, New York City, Gabriel Adon General Hospital. Urania looked at him. Did you say Sokuhl was once inhabited by reptilians? What happened to them?

What happened to them? They died 15,000 years ago during a catastrophe which killed every sapient in the sector. The only ones to survive were the humans on Earth. Today, the other worlds are colonies.

What planets?

What planets...? Do you want their catalog numbers, colonist's names, or the ancient names?

Ancient, Clio whispered.

Tralaska, Ventos Prime, Cora, Sokuhl, Olympia, Altura, Elspeth-3...

Stop! Clio yelled as she and her sisters suddenly got out of their seats.

We even found several space stations. One was huge, shaped like a cube. It's remains are orbiting a sapient dwarf star...

The three ladies ran out of the room.

OK, now that was odd, I said.

You think? Kris replied. I wonder if that's a real window.

"I walked over and looked out the window. We were about ten-stories up, so I could see the people walking on the sidewalks below. It looked like New York...

Kris, is that dragon opening a door for a large cephalopod?

You mean the two carrying briefcases?

Yeah. I think they're going into a bar.

The door opened, and a woman walked in followed by the three sisters. Now, it was my turn to stare. The woman was wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope around her neck. Attached to her coat was a name tag that read Dr. C. Rensler. Nice looking except she had long, pointed hears, cat-like eyes, and a long, black, whip-like tail. Through the open door I could see two bipedal cats with embarrassingly well-defined muscles and large, dangerous-looking shoulder-held weapons.

Kris, please tell me you're seeing this, I said silently as I prepared for battle.

Oh yeah, I see it. I'm tying into their computer system... My gods, their security is a joke... She's an elf from Ventos Prime... That's not possible. We were there last week. The colonists barely have an atmosphere. Sig, what are you going to do?

What I always do: wing it!

I manifested my sword in my right hand while drawing the good doctor into my left arm using a capture spell. I placed the edge of my blade against her neck which calmed her down considerably.

You need to calm down, Mr. Alderthal, the doctor said. No need for anyone to get hurt.

Open your blouse, I said.

Excuse me?

I need to see your sternum, between the fourth ribs.

I don't have a crystal. None of us do.

What the hell are you?

I'm an elf from Ventos Prime.

I told you, Kris said, but do you listen? Noooo. You never listen to your better half...

Not now, Kris. Doctor, like I was telling the muses, Ventos Prime is dead. There are no elves. Humanity is completely alone in the universe.

Then how do you explain the people walking on the street below. When I walked in, you looked like you saw a ghost. What did you see? A dragon? People with tentacles? How about a werewolf?

Silence!

What about the two cats outside in the corridor? If only humans exist, how do you explain two seven-foot-tall kitties with bad-ass weapons and even worse tempers.

This is impossible. Kris and I have traveled the Realm for over six-centuries, and we have never seen an alien, neither living, dead, or fossilized. My mind raced. I'll show you! I said. I unconjured the sword and grabbed the doctor around the waist as I formed a portal in the floor. Before anyone could react, I dove in, taking the doctor with me.

###

Bob—the immortal formerly known as Zeus—pushed past the two Katalan guards to find his three daughters and several members of Earth Security scanning the floor in the middle of the room. Girls! What the hell happened?

The three of them tried to explain at the same time, so Bob pointed to Calliope who told how Sig was found unconscious and brought to the hospital.

So, why are you three here?

When the emergency room doctor found the power-emanating crystal in his chest, they called the Elven Industries CEO to see if they had something to do with it.

What did Athena say?

Ms. DesCourse checked, found nothing in their records, so she asked us for help since we were on-site working on another project.

Then what happened?

She told him about the conversation and what happened after.

And you're sure he wasn't carrying a device to generate a portal?

Dad, if he was, it was hidden someplace no one looked, and they looked at him with every scanner in the inventory.

Where the hell could he have gone?

He mentioned having been to Ventos Prime... Clio noted.

And he said he would show us all, Urania added.

And he did kidnap an elf. Lieutenant Fellana!

Sir! one of the Katalans replied as she stepped into the room.

Get Ventosian Royal Security on the horn explain what happened here. Have them issue a BOLO for Mr. Alderthal and Doctor Rensler.

Yes, sir! she said before stepping out into the corridor to make some calls.

He looked at the spot in the floor where the portal had appeared and said nothing while he processed the possibilities.

###

We landed, but not in the center of a colonial settlement. I think shopping mall would be a better description. A huge, multi-level, shopping mall filled with creatures that defied description. Dragons, werewolves, reptilians, bird people, elves, and I could swear I saw a family of bipedal chihuahuas walk past carrying shopping bags and wearing Hawaiian shirts. I let go of the doctor as I fought the urge to pass out or run into a corner and scream. If there is one thing I’ve learned during my six-hundred years of life, it was that humanity was alone in this universe. Around me walked hundreds of people who refuted that fact.

Sig? the doctor asked from behind me.

Not now, doctor, Kris said. Can't you see he's having a nervous breakdown?

Doctor Rensler walked around in front of me. I take it you weren't expecting this?

I shook my head. I was here a week ago. This was a dirt road in the middle of a prefab colony town...

I started to shake. I was truly losing it. Nothing could prepare anyone for this kind of nightmare. Kris... Full shutdown of river access. Do not let me manifest anything, I said as I started to get sick to my stomach.

Access terminated. Sig, you need to calm down...

I felt a stinging sensation in my arm as the universe winked out around me.

###

I need some help here, Doctor Rensler yelled as she grabbed Sig before he folded like a cheap suit. Once she lowered him to the ground, she tapped her earcomm. Douglas, I have an emergency...

Connie, where the hell are you? We just got a be-on-the-look-out from New York for you and some guy named Sigmund Alderthal.

I'm in the Harmon Aymar Mall, court 3, lower level, she said as the mall's medical team arrived. She quickly explained what she had given Sig before returning to the comm. I need you and a security team here stat and bring an energy dampener.

On it, Sis. Be there in five. Douglas out.

She tapped the comm off. Paramedic Smith, how is he? she asked while using her stethoscope to check his heart.

He's stable. A little undernourished, but fine. No sign of disease or pathogens, but our scan did pop one alarm.

Smith showed Connie the scan readout.

Well, that explains a lot, she said just as her brother and his team arrived.

CHAPTER TWO

I woke up on a cot in a dark room. After taking a moment to calm down, I checked myself over. Finding neither injury nor restraint, I snapped my fingers and a burning orb of fire appeared above me. It filled the area around me with light. I was in a room about 12-foot-square with a plain ceiling and a wooden plank floor. My hospital garb had been replaced with some type of one-piece uniform with RoyalSec emblazoned across the left shoulder. The only furniture in the room was a table, chair, and my cot. Over in one corner, I could see an open door behind which sat a commode. On the table was an empty glass sitting next to a metal pitcher filled with clear liquid. I got up and went to the table. A finger dip and a lick showed it was water with a few trace minerals. After a long drink, I walked over and checked the door. I wasn't surprised to find it locked. After a stop in the loo, I pulled out the chair and took a seat while I waited for one of my captors to visit.

Kristin, are you functional? I asked.

Of course, Moron. Your body would have to be turned to cinders before I would even notice, she said as her crystal pulsed in time with her voice. Like all citizens of the Realm, I had been paired at an early age to a living, crystal through whom I was able to access the flow of energy that governed reality. Unlike most of the population—almost a trillion at last count—my crystal was sapient.

Good to hear. By the way, I'm fine, though I do have a slight headache.

Drink more water. You're dehydrated.

Yes, milady, I thought while sipping water. Old Friend, do you have any idea what the hell is going on?

Maybe. Everything, except the etheric energy stream, seems to be slightly off. The boffins have long theorized that our universe is one of many which coexist at the same spot in space-time but in different planes. We may be in one of those other universes.

That would explain the lack of crystals and the preponderance of non-human inhabitants. Magic seems to work fine here, though.

The inhabitants may have abandoned it for logic, or they may have never discovered it, she noted.

My headache intensified as I digested the idea that I was sitting in some other version of home. I sat back and cleared my mind. The last thing I remembered before waking in the hospital with a woman shooting me with an energy weapon.

Let me look, Kris said. I listened to her hum to herself as she reran my memories. Yep, and she has the same ears, eyes, and tail. She's an elf just like the good doctor.

That means she's not from our universe.

What we're missing is why was that elf visiting our part of the multiverse and why she shot you.

Kris was right. The woman with the ray gun was the key to this mystery. I waved my hand and a solid image of her appeared above the table. I set it to slowly rotate while I stared at it.

Sig, this room is probably being monitored, Kris reminded me.

Right now, I don't give a damn. These people are being rude. Maybe this'll get their attention.

You did kidnap the doctor at sword-point and transport her across space using a portal. One would think that would garner some attention.

I lightly tapped the table with my fingers. I hate waiting, I said aloud.

There was a knock at the door. When it opened a being covered with tentacles walked in followed by a seven-foot-tall, bipedal cat wearing a white uniform and carrying a notebook. She tapped a control at the side of the door which turned on the room light. I wiggled my finger and the orb disappeared.

Now, there's something you don't see every day, Kris said. I just grinned.

Hello, Mr. Alderthal, the tentacled one said. My name is Doctor Edyth Krane, and this is my assistant, Nurse Moyra Torrent.

Hi, I said while continuing to stare.

So, other than being completely overwhelmed by all of this, how do you feel? the doctor asked as she wrapped a tentacle around my wrist while placing another across my forehead.

Don't panic, Sig! Kris silently yelled.

I feel fine, doctor. May I ask a question?

Always.

What the hell are you?

Her eyes—there were three of them on stalks sticking out from the top of her body—twinkled. I'm a member of a race of sapient cephalopods known as Alturans which hail from a planet known as Altura. Moyra is a Katalan, a species of sapient felinoids from the planet Katala. I take it you've never met either race before.

Nope, can't say that I have. Am I in another universe?

Yes. We're just not sure how you got here. Well, you seem fine, so we shall take our leave. Need anything?

Something to eat would be wonderful.

I'll have something brought to you. Good day, Sigmund.

I stood up, took one her tentacles and lightly kissed what I hope was the back of it. Enchanté, mademoiselle. I released her and took the nurses hand, repeating the French phrase. I then manifested two flowers and handed one first to the doctor, then the nurse. Both women left the room staring at me on the way out.

Sig, you are such a charmer.

It was either that or fall to the ground in catatonic shock.

Good choice.

###

Did you see that? Douglas exclaimed as Sig manifested two flowers and handed one to each of the two women before they left.

Connie stared at readouts from scanners hidden in the room. Like with the light-orb, there's no indication that they're coming from him though there is an energy flow into the room associated with the action.

Could you put that in terms your poor, dumb brother can understand?

He's not powering the appearance of matter and energy. Instead, he's controlling the flow of energy from some as-yet-to-be-determined source.

Not the water tank, but just a valve?

Yeah, that'll work.

A knock at the door was followed by Doctor Krane coming in. Well, Connie, he's human, and you didn't kill him with that sedative you gave him. Hurray for our side.

I can see that, Edyth. It's confirmed he's from another universe?

Yes. My scans show he has a quantum spin signature nearly identical to ours. We also scanned him when he walked in. I've never seen anyone remain conscious after having a fear response that intense. He's never seen a non-human before that's for sure. She removed a flower from underneath her tentacles. He pulled this out of thin air and gave it to me. It's a tropical orchid from Earth, and it's real. Oddly, it has no residual life signs. In other words, it is as if it was long dead but perfectly preserved. Its quantum spin is identical to ours which means he used local matter to create it.

Douglas walked over and sniffed it. How the hell did he do it?

And why is he here? Connie added.

You'll have to ask him yourself, Edyth said as she put the flower back under her tentacles. Maybe he'll give you a flower. By the way, he's hungry.

###

There was another knock at the door, but this time Doctor Rensler stepped inside with a tray of food. Doctor, I owe you a huge apology, I said as I stood up and took the tray from her. My actions were inexcusable. I'm truly sorry, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

Hearts, she replied.

Excuse me?

Elves have two hearts, and yes, I forgive you. Hungry?

Yes, very, but I'll eat on one condition.

And that is?

You'll join me. I hate eating alone.

Another knock was followed by a tall male elf walking in with a tray. I stared at him. He was the doctor's twin. You sure about this, Connie?

She took the tray and gave him a Don't be an idiot, look. Mister Alderthal, I would like you to meet my brother, Douglas Rensler, Douglas, this is Sigmund Alderthal.

Please, call me Sig. I take it, Doctor, that you were monitoring my conversation with the muses and Doctor Krane.

Yes. I hope you don't mind.

No. I don't mind at all. If I did, I would have cast a confusion spell.

A spell. Connie, do we really need to put up with this nonsense? Douglas said while reaching for a muffin from my plate. I waved a finger.

He screamed and leapt back as the muffin grew legs and hissed at him from the tabletop. I waved the finger again, returning the muffin to its original form before picking it up and taking a bite from it. That's called a transformational spell. The flowers I conjure have no residual life in them. They are just simple rearrangements of energy and matter. The muffin creature mimics life, though like the flowers, it is nothing more than lifeless matter. Once outside of my influence, it would become inert as the muffin it was created from. Some wizards can rearrange living matter with spells, usually their own. They can mimic other people or animals. Some call these wizards shifters. I call them incredibly talented.

But how? Connie asked.

Some call it magic while others call it spell slinging. There is a river of energy that flows through the universe. With the help of the living crystals, members of the Realm can change reality by manipulating that flow. You can imagine my confusion when I saw that none of you have crystals. Most people in my universe are implanted with living crystals.

And these crystals are sapient?

A rare few, Doctor, Kris replied. Most are just organic crystals.

Wait just a damn minute, Douglas started to say, but Kris cut him off.

Quiet, elf boy, or I'll transform your belt into a poisonous serpent.

He looked at me. Can she do that?

Yes, she can by channeling my spell slinging capabilities, but she won't. She's just being blustery, I replied.

Sig, why are you here? Connie asked.

I conjured the image of the elf woman. "This woman stunned me while she, a witch from my universe named Sarah, and a group of elves