Crystal Cardinals by Daniel Blum (best novels to read for beginners .TXT) 📕

The sun hits the gems of a young king’s crown as he stands on a port. Knights load cargo crates onto a ship. An emerald falls off the king’s crown. A woman wearing a black robe steals it off the stones and walks onto the ship.
“Your crown is missing a jewel,” a knight said.
The king feels the missing space on his crown. “Hold the ship,” King shouts.
The woman uses a witch’s staff to break into the king’s cargo and sees a shiny goblet wrapped in white cloth. “The cup of kings,” witch said.
A queen’s blond hair shines in the light as she walks through a crowd.
“She is here, I do not know how she found us but she is here,” King said.
The witch crushes the emerald with her staff. A knight opens the cargo hold door. A lantern sways side to side in the quiet darkness.
“King. King,” knights shouted.
The witch holds a knight hostage with a piece of emerald at his throat. The king walks past a row of knights and sees the witch.
"Well king it is the fall of souls that ignites an emerald dream,” Witch said.
“Do not do anything you will regret we can offer you freedom,” King said.
“I already have freedom I want the grail.”
The king laughs. “The grail is for holy souls not wicked beasts.”
The witch screams and cuts the throat of the knight with the broken emerald. A knight fires an arrow into the witch. The emerald falls and rattles into the cup of kings. The dead knight’s soul flickers in the emerald. The witch laughs as she breaks through the ship. The grail becomes covered in an emerald coding.
“No, stop her,” King said.
“What is happening to the grail,” Knight asks.
“Now forever the eye of the witch will be able to see the grail’s location.” The king holds up the new emerald grail.
Twenty years later the king bows before the royal throne. ” On this day my sword shall speak to the grail warriors of all centuries.” The king dips his sword into a green portal of pink rising spheres and smoke. “The liquid sword shall slay my enemies and rise the crown for my seed to come.”
A jester opens dual doors and throws a knife passed the king. The king’s eyes open as he rises from his knees. The jester heaves a laughing boomerang at the king. The king sticks his liquid sword into the mouth of a lion painted on the royal stone. A pathway of green liquid ignites and sucks the jester into the mouth of the lion. The lion roars as the liquid path streams the jester’s soul back into the sword. The king twists the sword in the moonlight as the trapped silent jester screams for mercy. The king places the sword on the wall. Hundreds of silent jesters scream from mounted liquid swords. The king drinks from the emerald grail.
“The moon always illuminates the stars when the soul of a jester wishes for his life back,” King said.
The king feeds the painted lion a sapphire treat. The beautiful queen with long blond hair walks into the king’s chambers.
“Who was that,” Queen asks.
”Just another jester trying to take the grail rather then walking the narrow years to eternal clouds,” King said.
Miniature crystal birds fly around a spiral birdbath.
“The wrath of God’s nightmares rides on the wings of crystal cardinals. How easily a blue jay and a cardinal can fight for love of dreams and fear of nightmares,” King said.
“The road to ever-after is the road of battle swords," Queen said.
The king sips from the emerald goblet. Snow sticks to the castle window.
"Can I have a sip," Queen asks.
"Only if you give the lion one more sapphire," King said.
The queen takes the sapphire to the bird fountain and poisons the gem with the wings of a miniature crystal cardinal. The queen tosses the sapphire into the mouth of the painted lion. The eyes of the holy lion turn dark and twisted. “
No what are you doing,” King said.
“What I should have done twenty years ago.” The beautiful queen’s voice turns old and raspy.
“You are supposed to be dead. Where is my queen,” King said.
“Oh she is not all the way here. I mean her head is in Rome and her legs are in Transylvania," Witch said.
The king puts the emerald grail into a cheetah statue. The cheetah comes alive and trots into the castle.
“You have twisted my lion, killed my queen and worst of all you have trespassed on holy land.” The king takes off a masse from an armored warrior. The witch kicks the leg of the king and swipes his crown with her staff. The masse rolls onto rose pedals. The witch grabs the back of the king’s head. The king bleeds from his mouth and starts to laugh in his final hour.
“Your castle has been sacked and you laugh,” Witch said.
“Oh please let me kiss my cross just once more,” King said.
“The last kiss,” Witch said.
The king takes off his cross necklace and bites off the end. Purple dust falls onto a joker card under the king’s foot. The castle shakes. Jester swords fly off the wall and stick into drapes over the witch’s head.
“You use magic on me king,” Witch said.
A hundred loyal jester hologram souls breathe to life from the swords and swarm the witch.
“No, all the laughing children, no,” Witch said.
Jesters dance and wield armored weapons.
“He is the king that captured you not me,” Witch said.
“They can not here you,” King said.
A jester steps on the heart of the twisted lion and gets swallowed by the stones.
“I have gems all for you, thousands of rubies. I will take you to them. No. No,” Witch said.
The king blows the purple dust off the joker card. Jester’s grab the witch and drag her into the lion’s mouth. The witch’s cry is heard through the hillsides as she falls into an abyss. White, red and blue jester orbs soar passed the king and into the wall of swords.
“I have what you need old friend.” The king takes a miniature crystal blue jay and feeds it to the lion. The twisted lion roars to holy order. The lion spits out the witch’s staff. The king picks up the staff and hits a jester orb back onto the wall of swords. "Oh jesters. Always laughing in the face of holy dreams." The king twirls the witch’s staff on his shoulder and knocks on the stones.
The leopard trots through purple drapes and leaps back into stone. The king takes out the emerald grail and looks deep into the bottom. A flicker of opening seas ignites a ship sailing in the bottom of the grail. Lighting cracks over the water. A young shipmate fights the breath of God as he tries to tie up the sails.
The captain shouts through the force of the cracking waves, “Boy I need you to save my daughter and protect her till the end of time.”
“I will captain. Do not go,” Boy said.
“I must,” Captain said.
The captain jumps after his drowning vessel. The boy walks below the bow of a rescue ship and sees a beautiful blond haired girl. The boy puts a blanket on her shoulders.
“Where is my father,” Girl asks.
“He is fighting the war,” Boy said.
“Who are you,” Girl asks.
”I am only here to protect you.” The boy lights a melted candle.
“Thank you.” The girl gives the boy a ruby ring. “For my protection.”
The king looks down at the ruby ring on his finger and remembers the girlish queen. The king pours out eternal wine for his queen.
A knight of the emerald grail hood steps to the king. “What are my orders my lord?”
“Burn the witches in a 500 mile radius of the castle and bring me their heads.”
“As you wish my lord.”
Fires in the castle's fireplaces burn through the winter. A violent pounding on the doors echoes the castle.
“Who is there,”