The Crystal Sorcerers Read Online Free PDF

planet he saw great wonders and beauty--but no Earth.
    His skill in using the Godchair was growing stronger every day, and now he could make it respond to his slightest command. But the search for Earth seemed to be coming to a dead end. He had originally compared it to trying to find a needle in a haystack. But what if this particular universe was the wrong haystack? According to Jartan there were so many universes, or dimensions, that no one had ever bothered to count them all.
    He felt a flow of the Essence surrounding him and turned to face a pillar of light forming behind him. An instant later there was a brightly glowing figure within the column: Jartan, one of the Creators and rulers of this universe.
    "Try not to be too depressed, Kochanski," commented Jartan, as the pillar of light coalesced into a brilliant, luminous figure shining with an internal radiance. "This search of yours could take years. Allowing yourself to be disappointed this early is self-defeating."
    Kochanski smiled and relaxed. "My lord, sometimes I do wonder why I even try. Hell, this world of yours is better than anything I ever dreamed of. I've got the powers of a sorcerer, a thousand year life span, and a whole universe to explore. This is the type of place I'd fantasize about when I was a kid growing up in Trenton."
    " Trenton, is it a beautiful place?" Jartan asked.
    Kochanski started to laugh so hard that tears came to his eyes.
    "Did I say something funny?" Jartan inquired.
    "Ah, my lord, if only you could experience Trenton on a hot summer night, and smell the Delaware River down by the sewer plant, you'd understand."
    "May I look within?" he asked.
    "Certainly, my lord," Kochanski replied, pleased that the god would ask permission before probing his private thoughts. Kochanski felt the gentle stirring within his mind and then the pulling away.
    Jartan's features wrinkled in a grimace of disdain. "I see what you mean," he said, chuckling softly. "But there are loved ones there who can make even a place like that beautiful."
    "My folks, my brothers and sisters, and my granny," Kochanski whispered. "I guess they would've gotten the telegram a long time ago."
    "Telegram?"
    "A message from my government. Since the war started back home everyone lives in dread of the messenger, bearing the statement 'On behalf of the President I regret to inform you that...' " He fell silent for a moment.
    "I'll be reported missing in action, most likely. My family will hope against hope that after the war is over I'll show up. They'll carry that hope for years, always wondering, praying, never knowing. You see, it's all so strange. Here I've never been happier, yet at the same time there is that tug, that pull . If only I could spend one day back there, to tell them I'm safe, that I'm happy... Then I would return to your service."
    "I guess that's what's tugging at most of us. For some there is family, several with wives and children. For others there's still the sense of duty to their country in time of war. Maybe one or two are just plain homesick. Yet I think most of us in the end would prefer to stay here, if only we could finish up our business back there first."
    "It might not be possible that way," Jartan replied gently. "If, and I must emphasis the if , you do find a way, you might be able to cross back, but chances would be high that keeping a gate open to your world would be difficult. Because the Essence was drained from your world, your crystals would be useless for reforming a gate to return to Haven. Tracing and reopening a gate at a certain time later would be difficult. Chances are those of you who ventured through would be lost to us forever. It'll be a hard choice if that chance ever comes."
    Kochanski looked away, unable to respond.
    "Live your existence for what it is now," Jartan said in a fatherly tone. "All of you by rights should have died in that battle back on Earth. View what you have now as a gift of a new life, unexpected, and to be