"How do you know where they went? How can we follow them? It's dark as pitch in these woods. The trees hide the moon."
She pinched his cheek. "A trick my mother taught me. I have never shown it to anyone. When I saw them leaving the Palace, I cast a pool of my Han at their feet. They stepped through it. It leaves tracks of my own Han. Only I can see them. Their footprints are as bright as the sun on a pond to me, but to no other."
"You must teach me this trick."
"Someday, I promise. Come on."
She led him by the hand as she followed the glow of the Sister's footprints through the dense woods. Distant night birds called in haunting voices, owls hooted, and other creatures made low screams and clicks. The ground was uneven, tangled with roots and brush, but the glowing footprints helped her to see the way.
The damp heat made her sweat. Her dress clung to her wet skin. When she got home, she would shield her room and she would have a bath. A long bath. With Jedidiah. Then she would let him use his magic on her, and she would use hers on him.
They went deeper into the Hagen Woods, deeper than she had ever gone before. Vapor drifting from boggy areas carried the pervasive stench of rotting vegetation. They passed through dark gullies veiled with hanging roots and moss that brushed against her face and arms, making her flinch at the unexpected contact. The footprints led up and over sparsely wooded, rocky ridges.
At the top of one, standing in the still, damp air, she looked back, out across the somber landscape. In the far distance, she could see the flickering lights of Tanimura, and set among the lights, rising up in the silvery moonlight, the Palace of the Prophets, its dark shape blocking out the lights of the city beyond.
She longed to be back there, to be home, but this was something that had to be done. There was no one else to do it. The lives of everyone depended on her. The Creator was depending on her. Still, she longed to be home, and safe.
But home was no longer safe. It was as dangerous as the Hagen woods, if there really were Sisters of the Dark. Even with as much as she knew, it was difficult for her to accept the idea. The Prelate had to believe her, she just had to. There was no one else she could turn to for help. She wished there was even just one Sister she could trust, confide in, but she didn't dare trust anyone. Nathan had warned her not to trust anyone.
Even though she wished Jedidiah was home, and safe, she was glad to have him with her. She knew there was nothing he could do to help, but it still felt good to have him to confide in. Her husband. She smiled at the thought. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to him. She would protect him with her life, if she had to.
The ground pitched into a descent. Through gaps in the trees, she could see they were going down into a deep bowl in the earth. The edge was steep and they had to move slowly so as not to send any rocks tumbling through the woods. One started to slide as her foot touched it, and she quickly used a handful of air to stop it, and then push it firmly into the ground. She sighed in relief.
Jedidiah followed her, a silent, comforting shadow. Her tension relaxed a little when they passed from the loose rock, back into denser woods where the ground was mossy and silent to step on.
The faint sound of chanting drifted to them through the thick woods, carried on heavy, fetid air. Low, rhythmic, guttural tones of words she couldn't understand resonated in her chest. Even without understanding the words, she felt revulsion at them, as if they made the air reek.
Jedidiah gripped her upper arm, dragging her to a halt. He put his mouth close to her ear. "Margaret, please," he whispered, "let's go back now, before it's too late. I'm afraid."
"Jedidiah!" she growled as she reached up and snatched him by the collar. "This is important! I am a Sister of the Light. You are a wizard. What do you think I have been training you for? To stand on a street down in the market and perform tricks! To have people throw coins at you? We serve the Creator. He has given us everything we have so we may use it to help others. Others are in danger. We must help. You are a wizard. Act like one!"
She could just see his wide eyes in the faint light. He sagged slightly as the tension went out of his muscles. "I'm sorry. You're right. Forgive me. I will do what I must, I promise."
Her anger cooled. "I am afraid, too. Touch your Han, keep a firm grip on it, but not too tight. Hold it so you can release it in an instant, as I have taught you. If anything happens, don't hold back. Don't be afraid of how much you might hurt them. If you do need your power, anything less than all of it will not be enough. If you keep your head, you are strong enough to defend yourself. You can do it, Jedidiah. Have faith in what I have taught you, what all the Sisters have taught you. Have faith in the Creator, in what He has given you. You have it for a reason, we all do. This may be the reason. Tonight may be what you have been called for."
He nodded again and she turned back to the glowing footprints, following them into the thick forest. They wandered through the trees toward the center of the bowl, toward where the chanting was coming from. The closer they got, the more the voices made her skin prickle. The voices were Sisters. She thought she recognized some of them.
Dear Creator, she prayed, give me the strength to do what I must to help you. Give Jedidiah strength, too. Help us serve you, to help others.
Little flickers of light came through the leaves. They crept closer. The trees around her were huge. The two of them glided from one trunk to another, no longer following the footprints. They could see glimpses now of something through openings in the underbrush. Slowly, they tiptoed forward across the open forest floor beneath large spreading spruce trees. The needles were soft and quiet to walk on. Shoulder to shoulder, they slid behind low, heavy brush at the edge of woods. It was as close as they could go. Beyond lay a flat, round, open area.
At least a hundred candles were set on the ground in a ring, like a fence, or boundary, as if holding back the dark forest. Inside the candles was a circle drawn on the ground. It looked to be made of white sand that sparkled with little points of prismatic light. It looked like the descriptions of sorcerer's sand she had heard, although she had never actually seen any. It stood out clearly in the candle light, and the light of the moon overhead.
Symbols were drawn with the same white sand. They were inside the circle, points of them touching the outer boundary of the circle at irregular intervals. Margaret had never seen the symbols before, but she knew some of the elements of them from an old book. They spoke to the underworld.
About halfway in from the outer white line and candles, eleven sisters sat in a circle. Margaret stared harder, trying to see in the dim, flickering light. It looked as if each had a hood over her head, with holes cut for the eyes. They chanted in unison. Shadows from the Sisters extended inward to a point in the center.
In the center lay a woman, naked, except for a hood like the others. She lay on her back, her hands crossed over her breasts, her legs pressed together.
Twelve. With the one in the center, that made twelve. She searched the circle of Sisters again. Even with the candles, it was still dark, and the candles were to the Sisters' backs.
Her eyes stopped on a form on the opposite side of the circle. Her breath caught in her throat. That form was larger than the rest. It was hunched, its head lowered, and without a hood. It sat at a convergence of lines in the symbols.
It was not a Sister. With a start, she saw the faint orange glow. The statue with the quillion was resting in its lap.
She and Jedidiah crouched, frozen, watching the circle of Sisters as they chanted. After a time, one of them, to the side of the hunched form, stood. The chanting stopped. She spoke short, sharp words in a language Margaret didn't know. At points in the speech, her hand shot into the air, flinging sparkling dust over the naked woman in the center. The dust ignited, bathing the hooded Sist
ers with brief, harsh light. At the flash, they all answered with odd, rhyming words. She and Jedidiah exchanged looks, her own confused, frightened feelings reflected in his eyes.
The standing Sister flung both hands up, calling out a list of strange words. She went to the naked woman, stood at her head, and threw up her arms again. The sparkling dust caught fire once more. This time, the orange glow from the quillion brightened.
The head of the hunched form slowly rose. Margaret made a silent gasp when she saw the face of the beast. Its fanged mouth opened with a low growl. The Sister drew a delicately wrought silver scepter from her cloak, and gave it sharp shakes as she chanted again, sprinkling water over the prone woman.
Something was happening to the quillion. It brightened, and then dimmed. The dark eyes of the beast watched the naked woman. Margaret stared, wide-eyed. Her heart pounded so hard it felt as if it would tear a hole in her chest.
As the quillion faded, the beast's eyes began to glow orange. The same color orange as the quillion. As the quillion dimmed, the glow in the beast's eyes intensified, until the little statue was dark, and the thing's eyes shined bright.
Two more Sisters stood. They moved to each side of the first.
The first knelt. Her hooded head lowered, looking down to the naked woman. "It is time, if you are sure. You know what must be done; the same as has been done to us. You are the last to be offered the gift. Do you wish to accept it?"
"Yes! I am entitled. It is mine. I want it."
Margaret thought she knew both voices, but she wasn't sure because the hoods muffled their words.
"Then it shall be yours, Sister." The other two knelt beside her as she pulled a cloth from her cloak, twisting it between her fists. "You must pass this test of pain to gain the gift. We cannot touch you with our magic while it is being done, but we will help you as best we can."
"I will do anything. It is mine. Let it be done."
The naked woman spread her arms. The sisters to each side leaned with all their weight on her wrists.