Sex Rites

by Brandon Fox

  Erik was standing a few yards to the west, scanning the meadow with a tracker’s eye. Heather and phlox dotted the landscape, adding blue and purple highlights among the rocks and hardy grasses. Thane saw no signs of someone having passed that way, but then his survival had never depended on tracking game. Erik’s rapport with the earth and the animals inhabiting it was unmatched by the other mages; the young hunter could work spells with animals that eluded even Thane.

  Erik turned as he approached. “You think he went this way?” Thane asked.

  Erik pointed west. “See the lighter green patches? The grass has been bent.” He pointed with his toe to a small rock near their feet. “And this was moved, recently, from here.”

  Thane looked closely and saw a shallow depression near the stone where brown soil was still dark with moisture. “Can you tell how long?” he asked.

  Erik turned his face to the sun, eyes closed, judging the heat. He opened his eyes and looked at Thane with striking confidence. “Half an hour, no more.”

  “We’d better hurry. He could be in trouble.”

  Erik set out across the meadow, pausing occasionally to examine the ground and vegetation, even sniffing the air as if he could detect Dannel’s scent. Thane followed and kept quiet. Tracking required concentration, and Erik was more easily distracted by talk than most. The hunter moved slowly but with great deliberation. When they reached the far side of the meadow, where grass met trees, there was an easily discerned trail where pine needles had been disturbed. Erik had found his way to it with unerring accuracy.

  “Good,” Thane said, touching his arm. “Let’s hurry now.”

  Erik nodded, and they set off at a jog through the aromatic pines. There was little underbrush, and the needles covering the ground muffled their passage. They padded through the forest, heading up a slope, responding easily to the exertion. The air grew warm, and sweat soon soaked Thane’s shirt.

  The slope became steep and rocky, almost like running up steps. The rippling terrain seemed too regular to be natural. Though it was cluttered with loose rocks, and trees had taken root, they seemed to be ascending a series of shallow terraces. His gaze swept higher, and the pattern held. The whole slope had once been a vast staircase.

  The landscape made Thane’s hackles rise. It was bad enough that Dannel had wandered off. But disappearing to overgrown ruins, a place he had never even mentioned, was even more alarming.

  Tree cover thinned as they neared the crest of the ridge. The construction of the terraces was now obvious. Large yellow stones were fitted together with meticulous precision, functioning as broad steps even though the rock had been rounded by untold years of weather.

  A menacing growl echoed around them as they neared the rim. Erik froze, immobile as a stag waiting to see if it had evaded a pursuer’s notice.

  “What is it?” Thane whispered. “And where is it?”

  “Lion,” was the soft reply. Erik turned his head slowly, one way and then the other, sniffing and listening at the same time. He looked puzzled. “Didn’t sound right, though. I can’t tell where it came from.”

  Thane’s eyes narrowed. They had seen a few lion tracks in the valley, though the beasts had avoided them. But changes had come over the valley, and there was no way to guess what the effects might be. “I think it came from the other side of the ridge,” Thane whispered. “Let’s look.”

  A dozen yards brought them to the top of the slope. They were higher than the pass through which they had entered the valley, though still not as high as the encircling peaks. Instead of the ridge Thane had expected, he found a flat expanse curving away in both directions. Finely fitted blocks covered its surface, broken only by clumps of grass that had taken root in hairline cracks. The plaza was a ring of stone some twenty feet wide and dropped off in a clean line on both sides.

  The growl echoed again, this time escalating quickly into a full-throated roar. Thane stifled an instinctive urge to flee and walked across the curving roadway. As he approached the rim, a strange vista appeared before him.

  The flat area on which he stood formed the broad lip of a huge bowl. Steps descending the bowl’s steep inner curve were wide enough to serve as seats. Channels were cut at angles to the seats, zigzagging in a complex pattern that connected a platform at the center of the depression with dozens of points on the bowl’s rim. Water flowed from spouts at the top of each channel and cascaded down to vanish beneath the central platform. The design was similar to the exercise area near the hierophants’ temple in Skarn, but on a vastly larger scale. Sunlight glittered on the water, making it look as if streams of jewels poured from the rim and flowed to the center. The place pulsed with unseen energies.

  Erik moved to his side and pointed. “There, in the center. See it?”

  Thane shielded his eyes and looked at the circular platform far below. At first the complex structure at the bowl’s bottom was hard to fathom. Ten pillars carved from opalescent stone formed a circle around a pyramid some fifty feet across at the base and fifteen across at its flattened top. The tops of the pillars rose about ten feet higher than the platform at the pyramid’s apex. Then Thane saw what Erik had noticed.

  A lion lurked in the shadow cast by the pyramid, its tawny head swinging back and forth as it sniffed the air. It growled again, a rumble from deep within its chest, then sank to a crouch, preparing to spring.

  The predator’s muscles bunched, but its prey was quicker. Dannel sprang from behind a pillar and raced straight for the lion. The startled cat hesitated while Dannel leaped and landed on its back. The beast roared and immediately started rolling, but Dannel had already wrapped an arm around its neck and his legs around its body. A cloud of dust engulfed them, penetrated only by snarls and outraged feline howls.

  Thane found himself running down into the bowl, bellowing an incoherent challenge. Erik raced at his side, silent and determined. The hunter had left his bow and quiver of arrows at the lodge but still carried his hunting knife. It was a toy against a lion’s slashing claws, but better than nothing.

  Roars echoed around them, amplified by the curving bands of rock circling the amphitheater. The noise showed the struggle wasn’t over, but Thane had no time to ponder what more it might mean. His dash down the slope had gained momentum. He ran in long strides, racing over treacherous stone with bone-jarring impacts. A misstep would send him tumbling down the steep ledges, but he didn’t slow. Sweat stung his eyes by the time they reached the bottom of the depression and plunged into the cloud of yellow dust. Echoes vanished, and the sound of struggle was suddenly close.

  The dust thinned enough to reveal Dannel still astride the lion, clinging desperately as the cat twisted and screamed. Blood smeared his arms and torso, staining the dust red as they rolled. Releasing his grip on the enraged beast would have meant quick death.

  “Watch its claws!” Erik shouted, pulling his knife from its sheath.

  Thane circled to the left as Erik went right. There was nothing in sight to use as a weapon.

  Erik dashed to within twenty feet of the combatants and threw his hunting knife at the lion’s stomach. But the blade was made for skinning game, not throwing, and wobbled in flight. It struck its target broadside and fell harmlessly to the ground.

  The lion roared, an earsplitting bellow of rage at the intrusion, and rolled away with Dannel on its back. Thane rushed forward to reclaim the knife, moving inside the ring of pillars.

  A sound like a bell rang in his ears, seeming to come from all around him. The tone was pure and strong. His whole body reverberated in response. He felt something build within him like an onrushing wave.

  “Stay back!” he shouted to Erik. “There’s a nexus here. Maybe I can use it.” He held his hands chest high with his right cupped in the left, palm up. Ignoring the nearby snarls and commotion, he closed his eyes and focused on the sensation of power filling the air around him. The land itself seemed to come alive and flex granite muscles deep below the surface. Something tickled the
palm of his right hand, as delicate as a butterfly’s landing. In the space of three heartbeats, the sensation grew, becoming a faint itch and then a numbing tingle like hundreds of tiny pins pricking his flesh.

  Energy coruscated up through Thane’s feet and into his hands. He opened his eyes. A translucent ball the size of a plum hovered above his right palm, resembling a piece of glass containing a tiny orange sun.

  Curling his fingers around the manifestation, he spun and sprinted toward the lion. “Let go!” he shouted. “Now!”

  Dannel released his hold and rolled aside, tucked into a ball. The lion flipped and twisted, swiping at him with two-inch claws, drawing a new line of red across his back. At the same moment, Thane threw the globe.

  The ball of self-contained energy hit the lion squarely on the flank. It exploded with an intense white flash and a sound like water hitting red-hot metal. Thane blinked and rubbed spots from his eyes. Where the lion had been, only ash and a few charred remnants of bone remained.

  Dannel lay on the ground a few yards away. He faced the sky, unmoving, but his chest rose and fell with shuddering breaths. His upper body was streaked with bloody gashes. He looked utterly exhausted. Thane went to his side and knelt in the bloodstained sand, pulling off his shirt and using it to wipe blood and dust away. Dannel groaned and looked to the side, his face a mask of misery.

  “Nasty cuts,” Thane said, daubing gently. “But not too deep. They’ll heal well if we wash them out quickly.”

  Dannel nodded, tight-lipped, avoiding Thane’s eyes.

  “What happened?” It was obvious that Dannel had been upset by more than the combat.

  Dannel groaned and raised an arm to cover his eyes. He swallowed as if choking back bile. “I failed you.” His voice was a hoarse whisper.

  Erik arrived at their side, carrying water in his cupped hands. “Drink,” he offered. Dannel slowly moved his arm and raised himself on his elbows to accept the offering. Water cut rivulets through the yellow dust caking his face, but he managed to drink most of it. When he was done, he raised his gaze to meet Thane’s.

  “Where’s Ander?”

  “He’s fine. We found him at the sweat lodge, fast asleep.”

  Relief flooded Dannel’s face. “No trap, then. Just my weakness.”

  “Let’s wash your cuts,” Thane said. “You can tell us what happened.”

  They helped Dannel to his feet and out of the ring of pillars. Water swirled around the platform where the pillars stood and disappeared into concealed drains. It was clear and icy cold and quickly revived him. Haltingly, he began his story.

  “We were lying together, under the blankets. Ander was sleeping. I stayed awake to keep guard. Then I heard something outside. Or thought I did.”

  “Animal sound?” Erik asked.

  “No. I’ve never heard anything like it. Like chanting, but with no words. A slow and deep sound. Like the sea would make if it could sing.”

  Thane leaned forward, intent. “I heard something too. Like tuned bells in a deep cavern.”

  Dannel shrugged, having no explanation to offer. “I decided to look outside, see if there was something coming. When I opened the door, the sound got louder.” He pointed at the red orb and spokes that still spun lazily in the sky like a giant wagon wheel. “I glanced up at that thing in the sky, and suddenly everything got… different.”

  “Different how? This could be important.”

  “It was like I was dreaming. But not exactly. I could still feel sun on my skin, weight on my feet. The sound pulled at me. I had to follow, even though this hill has always been forbidden ground for Aerehoth Guardians. I couldn’t help it, my legs moved by themselves. It was like riding a horse that’s made up its mind where to go and won’t heed the bit. And I… I was distracted by the voices.”

  “What voices?”

  Dannel frowned with concentration. “The sound I told you about, like chanting? I was starting to hear words in it. I couldn’t understand them, but I still felt the meaning.” He gulped, looking confused, but plunged ahead. “Somehow they were telling me to come here. To meet somebody.”

  Thane rocked back on his heels. Unless Dannel was addled by exhaustion, what he said offered an unexpected opportunity. “What happened when you got here? Did you see anyone?”

  “I don’t remember. My head was full of voices and music. I couldn’t think of anything else. It seemed like I stood among the pillars a long time. Until the lion came over and swatted me to see if I was alive. Then the voices vanished, and I didn’t have time to think about anything except lion claws.”

  “You fought well,” Erik said. “I’ve never faced a lion without weapons. I’ve heard of men defeating one barehanded, but the lion usually wins.”

  “I didn’t defeat it, remember?” He turned to Thane and bowed his head. “Thank you for coming to my aid. I don’t deserve it. I’ve led you into danger instead of protecting you. I hope you’ll still let me be your apprentice.”

  Thane clasped his forearm and held it until the grip was returned. Dannel’s heartfelt relief was like the sun emerging after a downpour. “I have no reason to regret my decision,” Thane said. “Besides, you hold more promise than most initiates.”

  Dannel’s eyes turned questioning.

  Thane gave his arm a squeeze, then released it. “If something or someone in the kei wants to meet you, there must be a reason. If we can learn what it is, the riddle of this place might be solved.”

  They finished washing and tending to wounds, then started on the hike back. While Dannel seemed hopeful about the day’s events and buoyed by his friends’ confidence, Thane remained silent. Drawing the attention of forces in the kei might offer promise, but it offered peril in equal measure.

  Chapter Thirteen

  ANDER pulled down on a springy branch, lowering clusters of spiked blue flowers at its tip into reach. Thane started twisting the clusters off with practiced snaps and dropping them into a basket. They had already harvested the materials they needed for the numbing oil and were collecting a few additional specimens from the hierophants’ garden while they had the opportunity.

  “I still don’t understand,” Ander said, afire with curiosity. “You pulled power right out of the kei without using the art? How is that possible?”

  Thane kept working as he answered. “The amount of power in that nexus surprised me too. I was hoping for enough to create a bright flash, so I could scare the lion away or blind it long enough to let us escape. Instead I got a flood.”

  Ander shifted position and let the branch surge up, nearly whacking Thane in the face with it. He restored his grip and pulled it back down, hardly noticing his partner’s reproachful glance as he thought about the encounter. “Then it’s like the fastness back at the lyceum? Where earth, fire, water, and air all come together at one place and make a focus? Could you tell if it—”

  Thane stopped harvesting and raised a hand. “Did you hear something?”

  Ander had been too full of questions to notice anything, but he dutifully cocked his head and listened. Wind whispered through leaves, and insects buzzed among the blooms. He could hear Dannel and Skorri a short distance away, engaged in muted conversation. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then he heard it. A low hum pulsed like the beating wings of a giant wasp. It gave him goose bumps.

  “What is it?” Ander whispered, slowly reducing his pull on the branch and letting it swing back into the air. He looked around apprehensively. “Um, lions don’t make sounds like that, do they?”

  Thane turned slowly, squinting against the late afternoon sun, then shook his head. “I don’t see anything. It sounds like it’s coming from all around us.” He pointed toward the garden’s main gates. “You check over there. I’ll get Dannel and Skorri started looking, then catch up with you. Yell if you find anything. And be careful.”

  Ander nodded, then started down the trail toward the setting sun. Golden light bathed the garden, and dust motes swam in the afternoon haze. The a
ir was heavy with the sweet scent of roses and persimmons.

  Fronds waved in the gentle breeze, finely cut leaves like giant fans casting intricate shadows across the trail. The garden suddenly seemed alien and ominous as the buzzing grew louder. Looking over his shoulder, Ander saw that Thane had finished with Skorri and Dannel and was coming down the trail to join him.

  A queasy feeling filled him as he neared the tall obelisks and pyramidal capstones at the garden’s entrance. There was still no sign of what could be causing the sound. The high wall enclosing the garden blocked his view of anything beyond. He cautiously stepped through the gate.

  Ander’s stomach lurched as something caught him midstep. The sixteen-foot obelisks that flanked him seemed to become partially transparent, as if they were riddled with thousands of tiny holes and light poured through from a source within the rock itself. Faint blue lines writhed and flashed between the stones. They held Ander like the web of a ghostly spider.

  He heard Thane yell, a panicked shout that alarmed him even more than his sudden immobility, and heard the pounding of booted feet sprinting toward him. The obelisks pulsed with shafts of red light. There was a jerk, like a giant’s hand encircling his body and snatching him from the air the way a boy catches a butterfly. Then darkness.

  THE first thing he noticed was ringing in his ears, followed by the discomfort of cold marble beneath his back. Ander opened his eyes.

  A baleful red eye stared at him, an eye set in the head of a bird with a long hooked beak. The bird’s head rested on a man’s body. The creature was eight feet or more in height, a giant. Black feathers covered it except where leathery skin hung between its arms and body like a bat’s wings. A sword hung from its belted waist, its only clothing aside from a gold necklace holding a medallion set with a blue sapphire.

  “Vermin!” The creature’s voice was a raspy shriek, but somehow Ander understood its meaning perfectly. “Who dares trespass in the Sacred Grove? I’ll pluck your eyes out!”