Page 51 of Alien Hunter's Prize

We looked at the vibrating, whining crystal, at the cracks spreading like dark veins across its milky surface, at the air shimmering around it with gathering energy.

We had stopped the immediate threat of the corrupted Trelleth, but in doing so, we might have just triggered a much larger, more dangerous release of the unstable energy poisoning this valley. We needed to find a way to stabilize or contain it, and fast.

JEN

Aheavy silence descended after the Trelleth's merciful death. The crystal's whine climbed higher, drilling into my skull, a counterpoint to the sudden quiet. I watched, horrified, as new, hairline fractures spiderwebbed across its surface near the point where Iros had struck it. The sickly yellow light pulsed more rapidly within its depths, and the air around it shimmered with gathering energy.

"Interrupting the feedback loop had saved us from the Trelleth," I confirmed, my voice unsteady, "but the crystal’s internal structure felt even more volatile now." My markings screamed warnings, visualizing the energy patterns within the crystal shifting from erratic pulses to a rapidly coalescing core of intense yellow-white light. "It's building too fast," I warned, my voice tight. "It's nearing a catastrophic discharge. We don't have much time."

Iros moved quickly to my side, his gaze locked on the vibrating crystal, his hand automatically finding mine, his grip tight. Nirako stepped back, his expression grim, understanding the danger.

"Can you stop it?" Iros asked, his voice low, urgent. "Harmonize it? Like you planned with the device?"

I shook my head, feeling a wave of despair wash over me. "This isn't technology with regulators I can target or frequencies I can precisely countermand. This is... raw, natural energy under immense geological stress, amplified and corrupted. It's like trying to soothe an earthquake." I focused my senses again, pushing past the painful whine, trying to analyze the buildup. "It's absorbing ambient energy too fast, the internal fractures preventing a stable release."

"So it shatters?" Nirako asked gruffly.

"Or discharges everything at once," I said, the visualization becoming terrifyingly clear—an uncontrolled explosion of raw energy that could potentially scorch this entire section of the valley, maybe trigger seismic shocks. "We need to... bleed off the excess energy somehow. Or... or contain it. Stabilize the resonance before it reaches critical mass."

"How?" Iros pressed, his gaze sweeping the immediate surroundings, searching for a physical solution.

My eyes fell on the harmony stones still secured in my pack. Pure, stable resonance. Could they...? "The harmony stones," I breathed, the idea forming rapidly. "Their resonance is the opposite of this chaos. If we could place them around this crystal, create a focused field of stable harmony... maybe it could dampen the buildup? Absorb some of the excess energy? Guide the crystal back towards a stable resonance state instead of letting it shatter?" It felt like a desperate gamble, trying to use small, precisely tuned instruments to calm a volcano, but it was the only idea I had.

"How many? Where?" Iros asked immediately, trusting my intuition.

I closed my eyes, visualizing the energy field building around the stressed crystal, mapping its chaotic frequencies. "All six," I decided. "Placed in a circle around it. Equidistant. We need to create a balanced containment field." I pointed out six specificpoints around the base of the vibrating crystal, areas where the ground seemed marginally more stable. "Here, here... we need to place them simultaneously, just like at the Echoing Caves conduit."

"The ground is unstable," Nirako warned, eyeing the cracked earth near the crystal. "And the energy discharge risk increases by the second."

"It's our only chance," Iros stated firmly. He looked at Nirako, then at me. "We move together. Jen, you guide the placement with your senses, ensure the harmonic balance is right. Nirako and I will handle the physical placement. Be ready to withdraw instantly." He squeezed my hand one last time before releasing it, turning to retrieve the carefully wrapped harmony stones from my pack.

He quickly distributed two stones each to Nirako and himself, keeping the two largest, the ones that had resonated most strongly with me in the heart chamber. My heart hammered against my ribs. This felt even more dangerous than placing the stones near the conduit; the energy here felt wilder, less predictable.

"Ready?" Iros asked, meeting my eyes across the vibrating crystal.

I took a deep, centering breath, focusing my mind, visualizing the pure, stable blue-green harmony of the stones pushing back against the sickly, frantic yellow of the overloaded crystal. "Ready."

"Now!"

We moved as one unit. I extended my senses, guiding them, calling out minute adjustments as they approached the designated points around the base of the crystal. "Left slightly, Nirako! Iros, angle it inward more!" The heat emanating from the crystal was intense now, the whine almost unbearable. The ground vibrated beneath our feet.

Simultaneously, they knelt, carefully placing the harmony stones on the cracked earth at the precise points I indicated. The moment the six stones formed the circle, their combined pure resonance flared outwards—a visible wave of cool, blue-white light that slammed against the crystal's chaotic yellow energy. For a terrifying second, the two forces battled. The crystal shrieked again, vibrating violently. Cracks spiderwebbed further across its surface. The yellow light within pulsed frantically, fighting against the imposed harmony. The ground shook.

"It's not enough!" I cried out, feeling the harmonic field straining, threatening to buckle under the sheer pressure of the crystal's imminent overload. "The crystal's internal stress is too great!"

Think! Mateha's training! Resonance isn't just about blocking, it's about guiding! Find the silence within the sound!

Closing my eyes against the flashing lights, ignoring the deafening whine, I focused entirely on my link with Iros, drawing on his steady strength, and reached out with my markings, not pushing against the crystal's chaos, but trying to find the underlying stable frequency buried deep within its fractured core, the original 'song' it was meant to sing. I hummed, low at first, then louder, matching the pure tone of the harmony stones, projecting it inwards, amplified by the circle, offering the stressed crystal a path back to stability, a harmonic anchor in its storm. The harmony stone pendant Mateha had given me blazed against my chest, resonating with my effort, adding its own small measure to the focused intent.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, the frantic yellow pulsing within the crystal began to slow. The high-pitched whine lowered in frequency, the jagged edges of its energy signature smoothing out as it seemed to latch onto the stable harmonic I projected, guided by the surrounding stones. The violent vibrations lessened. The blue-white light from theharmony stones intensified, seeming to flow into the milky crystal, calming it, containing it. The process felt like coaxing a terrified, wounded animal back from the brink of panic. It took every ounce of my concentration, every fiber of my will, anchored firmly by Iros's unwavering presence felt through our connection.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the sickly yellow glow faded entirely from the crystal's core, replaced by a soft, steady, internal white light. The high-pitched whine died away, leaving only the gentle, harmonious hum of the surrounding harmony stones and the now-stable crystal itself. The ground stilled. The air cleared, losing its charge, smelling only of the damp earth and the faint resin of the ghostwoods. It was stable. Contained. Harmonized.

I collapsed backwards, the sudden cessation of effort leaving me utterly drained, gasping for breath. Iros was there instantly, catching me, supporting me. "You did it," he breathed, his voice filled with awe, relief flooding through our link.

Nirako approached cautiously, staring at the now calmly glowing crystal, then at me, shaking his head slowly in disbelief. "Aerie tenders speak of soothing the mountain's fevers," he murmured. "I never thought to witness it."

I leaned against Iros, relief making me weak. We had stopped this localized disaster, calmed this echo of instability. But the effort had taken its toll, and the implications remained heavy. Iros let out a breath, his tail relaxing from its tense readiness for the first time since entering the Depths.

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