Journey to Cryshal-Yaananost
   
    “So we won’t be walking to the next town?” Duplica asked as Saliaven flipped the spatial controls. 
“Do you want to walk the entire continent?”
“Not especially.”
“Neither do I, we’ll be landing close enough to the next town so that we can see when the messager arrives.  We come in a day or two after, and no one suspects anything.”
“So what’s the point of so many of us going out?”
“We need to look like a large party because smaller ones usually need more trained fighters, and I don’t want people thinking that one of us can do that.  We want the least trouble.”
    It went much like that for the entire journey.  They would arrive after the right amount of travel time, stay a night at the inn, change the stones and leave.  As they neared the capital, they had to use more and more complex enchantments to fool the resident wizards, sorcerers and other magic users.  Saliaven took this opportunity to teach Ash how to put special attributes into objects, and more and more of the job was being done by Ash.  They were all busy honing their skills with psionics, so as not to cause a ripple when casting.  Misty was trying to use her power to gather mana in a way that people wouldn’t notice, by using the living creatures of the area as power sources.  All of this was in case the mark seven failed, which Saliaven was confident it wouldn’t, but equally confident in being prepared for any eventuality.  It also got harder to procure entry to the larger cities.  They finally reached Cryshal-Yaananost and saw why it was called that.  The center, a gigantic temple to the greatest god they had, was completely made of multicolor crystal, with a column of red energy flowing out the top, arcing in all directions to form the infamous barrier.  The rest of the city was gleaming alabaster, and rare metals adorned the walls, inset into the silver.  Saliaven looked at it with almost disgust “over the millennia, they became ever more self-important.  Note that this is the only city that openly flaunts wealth.  It is the only one that actually has any.  They stole much of it from surrounding cities after the shield was made.”
    Approaching, they could tell that they would not be allowed in.  The guards stood on top of the wall, their arms crossed and expressions of almost rage on their faces.  Despite this, Blaze tried a cheerful “Well met.”  Which failed as the guard replied “you shall not enter.”
Saliaven stepped forward “On whose authority?”
“The authority of the head of the magi order.”
“Can he stop us?”
“He rules the entire realm.”
“He does not rule me.”
“Blasphemy!  How can you stand there and utter those words of contempt for the authority of the greatest spellcaster in the realms?”
“I claim his title.”  Drawing the mark seven, he plunged it into the ground and used the ley sphere to regain his true form.  “I, Lord Saliaven Chronotis, true head of all magi on this continent, demand entry.  I have furthermore brought the two heads of the other magi order, from the realm across the sea.”
“There is no realm across the sea!”
“There is now, you have been cut off for too long, and they have grown in power to be the superiors.  Fear not, I have come to destroy the shield and restore to you your magic and technology.  Now let me in!” 
The guard was scared, he knew the legends of the greatest mage.  But he was more afraid of the wizard in the city than the wizard outside.  They said that he could torture a man forever, in a state of physical suspension.  His hesitation showed Saliaven he would not open the gates for quite some time, and Saliaven’s impatience grew.  “Either fetch your master, or open the gates.  I shall not stand here much longer.” 
The guard motioned that one of his associates go and get the head to see this man.  Awhile later, a flash of flame signaled the arrival of the head of the order.  “What is the meaning of this?”  He roared “I told you not to let them in, why do you–“ his words caught in his throat when he saw Saliaven. “Gods above and below, it’s him.”
Saliaven looked up “yes, now LET ME IN!”  The last three words shook the ground and one man nearly fell off the wall.
“No!”  The wizard shouted, though his voice was shaky “you abandoned us, you cannot enter.”
“I haven’t the time for this.”  Swatting away the ineffective shield that surrounded the city, he teleported the entire group directly into the main room of the temple.  Without stopping to help his friends reorient, Saliaven plunged his hands through the protective forcefield around the final and most powerful stone piece, caring nothing for the alarms or attacks from the magical defenses.  Crossing the floor to the column of energy, he began repairing the stone of the gods, noting that there seemed to be fewer names than last time.  The rest came over to watch and saw three pieces far from the others and not being included.  Blaze stepped forward “Why aren’t these being added to the whole?”
“Those are the names of three gods that have spread discord throughout.  They cannot be allowed to stay worshiped and powerful.”
Blaze read the names out loud “Allah, the unnamed God, Aten.  The last one is certainly not a god I’d reinclude, but I don’t recognize the other two.”
“They haven’t been very powerful here, but I still don’t like to take chances.  Aten was the least, but managed to do the most damage.”  Finishing his repairs, he saw why he’d been confused.  As he watched, the names shifted, others being revealed.  He then went to the energy column and opened a small door near it, revealing a control panel.  The keys didn’t light up.  He banged it once, twice, nothing.  Pulling the panel off, he swore heavily, someone had cut the cords.  “I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way.”  He pulled a mirror out of his robe and threw it into the column.  There was an almighty shudder as the beam reflected into itself, and began to change color.  As it changed, the barrier between them and the rest of the world cracked and dissolved.  It turned a bright blue, and leylines formed.  The entire temple shook with the power of the beam’s change and the effect of its feedback.  The conversion of the well of mana was a success.  The new column of energy rippled, as every spellcaster on the continent found their new powers.  Being trained to do the most with so little mana, this surge gave them powers they had not even dreamed could be attained.  Saliaven gently put the stone into a niche in the wall, just the right size, and a single pulse came out, traveling through the wall, toward the triple regions. 
    The gods sensed the fall, and got up to finish the job they had started those years ago, but the pulse came and showed them that they had been accepted for most of the millennia they had been denied access, and quieted.  Saliaven had done as promised, and given them an entire continent of believers.