Some hours later, one of her followers enters the small room at the back of 
her talismonger shop and offers her a metal briefcase. Eliana gestures for the 
boy to leave the case on a stool, and dismisses him at once. The dirty and 
disgusting condition of the briefcase brings a sneer of distaste to her lips, 
but she kneels before it anyway. The case has been twisted and seared by fire, 
all but melted. She whispers words of power. The briefcase squeals and swells, 
then snaps open. In a velvet-lined recess lies an enormous white crystal. Eliana 
takes it carefully into her hands.