Chapter 15
The women moved quickly but calmly to prepare the chamber for the new ceremony, the most important ritual they might ever perform. Several women took bundles of sage, lit them, and began to walk from back to front through the chamber, along the wall, chanting low, asking to cleanse and bless with only positive energy, reaching as high as possible and then crisscrossing the room as they repeated the chant. The smoke drifted through the cavern and when they were done, they added the bundles of sage to the hot rocks lining the back wall.
Four of the Carpathian women braided sweet grass already soaked in water, in long ropes, binding their intent into the ropes, chanting softly their intentions of attracting energy to help aid Lara in her shamanic journey.
Francesca had already prepared potent-water beneath the full moon and she now gave it to both Savannah and Raven to drink. She had cleansed several good-sized rose quartz under running water and then placed them in a bowl of water covered with cheesecloth under the full moon. The rose quartz was the mother stone and often used to effect change and open the heart.
She took the smoothest stones of rose quartz and ametrine from the pouch and gave them to Raven and
Savannah to hold in their hands and rub while the ceremony took place. Next she took braided cowrie shells and placed them around both pregnant women's necks, another call to energy. She scattered rosebuds over the rich soil and added pomegranate to aid in the ceremony of renewed life.
Once Francesca had prepared Savannah and Raven, she took up a small drum, hand painted with a map of the shadow world and various animals of power and wisdom. She took a soft mallet and began to thump in a monotonous beat, using the rhythm of the women's collective hearts.
Lara seated herself close to Raven and Savannah, forming a triangle, while around them, the other Carpathian women formed a tight circle. Now, braids of sweet grass and copal tree resin were added to the smoking sage on the hot rocks along with herbs so that the room surrounded them with the scents of nature. Lara inhaled the scent, allowing the fragrance to carry her jitters away.
This was the most important task she might ever accomplish and she had nearly ended her own life. Had she succeeded, how many children would be lost? She felt she had been put on earth to fulfill this moment, to make this journey and save the three children. Xavier had destroyed so many lives and she was determined that he would not take these women and children as he had so many others.
Rubbing her fingers over a clear quartz crystal for clarity and focus, she pushed all thoughts away and allowed the waves in her mind to come and go and then recede altogether until her mind was a calm body of water, lapping at the edges relentlessly, ready to expand.
In her calm state, she sifted through her memories, long forgotten, and found the faint tracks of mage. She followed the path until she could open the door she needed. Dragonseeker blood might flow through her veins, but she was mage-her mother from a pure line. The mystic ran strong in her and everything she had been taught by the aunts was ready to feed her instincts should she need aid. This underground chamber the ancient women had instinctively chosen to use for their rituals was a place of power where the physical world merged with the spiritual realm. She felt the energy flowing into her, heard the rhythmic sound of a drum and the distant feminine voices chanting. The melodic notes carried her deeper into another sphere.
Smoke filled her vision. Clouds of mist and fog drifted in the smoke. She inhaled sharply, drawing the smoke and air into her lungs, as she set her soul free to travel. She found herself at the border of the two worlds, the chamber where she sat composed and tranquil, at the first stage of travel.
As her vision cleared, she could see a large tree with a labyrinth of roots and a jungle of wide-reaching branches standing before her. Mist of varying colors swirled through and around the branches. Leaves rustled as if alive, silvery green in color, fluttering in the soft breeze. The wind was just strong enough to stir the mist, not dislodge it, so that the she caught glimpses of the thick twisting trunk, leading upward toward the sky and down beneath the soil.
Lara concentrated on the tree. The trunk appeared quite old, grayish in color. There were a few dark knots in the trunk and branches and one or two places where it may have lost a limb over time, but the tree appeared healthy. She continued moving over the ever-expanding meadow toward the tree, her bare feet skimming the fresh grass. As she moved across the field, flowers sprang up under the soles of her feet as if she scattered seeds along the fertile ground. The closer she got to the tree, the more missing branches she spotted, and beneath the tree, held within the cage of roots, old dead limbs lay like broken bodies in a mass grave.
As she approached the tree of life, she heard voices crying out, the sound of weeping, and she felt wet drops on her upturned face. Tears rained down on her, the tears of ancient women who had gone before,
losing child after child to the unknown killer. The tears splashed on the ground to form a stream, each tear merging with another until the stream became a river.
Lara waded through the rising water to get to the wide, thick trunk so she could examine it up close. Faint, shallow marks were burned into the trunk leading up toward the branches where new life waited. Raven's son. Savannah's two daughters. Their souls clung to the gently rocking limbs far above her. She could see the two branches were blackened and hollow, twisted from some disease. Above them were several other brand-new souls as well, clinging to relatively healthy branches, but she could already see signs of the unknown disease eating at the limbs. These then, were the most recent Carpathian pregnancies. The killer had targeted Raven's child first and then Savannah's, but these children were in jeopardy as well.
There was a taint to evil. Xavier had used the dark arts against the Carpathians, corrupting his gift, twisting it for his own purpose and now she could see not only the faint track marks, but smell the odor of the malevolence along the trail of dark alchemy. The path led up toward the high branches, but also followed the trunk down to the maze of roots below the earth. She went down the trunk and followed the root system, seeking the source.
Lara drifted down the long trunk, pursuing the tracks, using scent and sight. Once on the tangle of roots, the trail was much more difficult as the tracks appeared everywhere. Shadows leapt out at her, great greedy claws, extended toward her. Moans and wails rose around her. The river of tears continued to rise.
She pressed the pads of her fingers deep into the smooth surface of her crystal and waited patiently. The croak of a frog drew her attention. The small creature floated to her on a lily pad. It leapt from the streaming water to the trunk of a tree, looking at her with large, earnest eyes.
She smiled and greeted the creature formally and with respect, her spirit guide in the underworld realm. Frogs were amazing, magical creatures, potent in both land and water energy. To Lara, the frog symbolized everything the Carpathian women sought. Transformation, rebirth, the bond of mother and child and Mother Earth to her daughters. Unblocking the energy and creating a path for a smoother flowing so healing could prevail, ridding the earth and water of all toxins was exactly what Lara wanted to do. And the symbolism continued further; when frog populations were strong, the ecosystem was in balance and harmony was restored. She was on the right path.
She followed with even more confidence. The frog hopped easily along the root system, moving from stalk to stalk until he found one extremely large and twisted root that seemed to lead away from the rest. It bored deep into the earth and the farther down it went, the more twisted and black it became. Holes pierced the root and the stalk wept black tears.
Lara traced the faint footprint of evil farther, spiraling down the long taproot. The impression of hatred and despair grew stronger until she was caught in its flow and felt the influence pressing on the mother's body to reject the small intruder nestled in her womb. The illusion was strong, mother hating child, wanting it to leave, to get out, that thething inside was a monster not a beloved ch
ild.
She resisted sending the little boy reassurance. That wasn't her job. Far away she could hear melodic voices singing a lullaby softly. She concentrated on the heartbeat, on the crystal in her hand that kept her focused on her journey.
The shadows grew stronger and darker. Waves of despondency washed over her. Threads of hatred and rage mixed with the flow of desolation. A weave of incredible power, but restrained, so subtlety was
at work here. She knew that touch. She'd felt that touch all too often as a child. Xavier had humiliated her. He'd made her feel weak and defenseless, unwanted and unloved. He had made her feel as if the people who had brought her into the world rejected and despised her. This was his work. His signature was everywhere. Whatever microbe he had devised to carry out his cunning conspiracy was very close. She was nearing the home of the killer.
She tapped Natalya's mind. She couldn't afford detection until Natalya was ready to strike and she dared not continue until Natalya followed her clear path and joined her spirit to spirit. This part was the most dangerous. Lara was light and airy, floating along the realm with little to alert others to her presence. Natalya was a warrior, skilled in the art of killing, and now, in spite of the fact that she had been mage, she was fully Carpathian. She had lost none of her mage skills, but it was possible the entity could feel her presence as a threat. Lara stayed very quiet until she felt Natalya's spirit join hers.
Lara continued forward, taking Natalya's spirit with her. The entity had burrowed beneath the earth, the negative energy raising the toxicity of the ground so that Lara's sensitive soul wanted to weep. She pressed her fingers against her clear crystal and pushed on, focusing on her mission. Used to the ice caves and the extremophiles she found there, she spotted the killer as it clung to a bit of fungus. It didn't surprise her at all that Xavier had chosen to use such an organism to deliver death.
Extremophiles were given the name because they could survive and thrive in all kinds of extreme conditions, hot or cold, darkness or light, even a salty environment. The microbe was perfect as an assassin. Of course, Xavier had mutated this one to serve his purpose. It was tiny, a chameleon microbe able to merge with cells and appear part of whatever it chose to mimic. She felt the moment the microbe became aware of her presence and the danger to it.
Alarm spread, resounding waves swamping her and she leapt aside as the microbe spit chemicals at her. Droplets of acid hissed through the stem of the root. The tree shook under the assault. She had known that extremophiles spit chemicals at other microbes to protect themselves and their territories so she'd been somewhat prepared, but the sudden aggression surprised her. The microbe went on the attack immediately, raining acid over the taproot in an effort to eradicate the threat to it.
Lara had to lure the thing to the surface so Natalya could kill it and she had to do so immediately. The attack could kill off the last of the baby's strength.Baby . The extremophile was programmed to kill an infant. No baby would be a threat to it. Knowing Xavier, he would have given his assassin the scent of both Dubrinsky and Dragonseeker blood.
For the first time she hesitated. She would have to go back to her childhood and face her demons again. There would be no Nicolas to stand between her and her traumatic memories, but she could not fail this child.
I am here, Natalya reassured.
The echo of female voices surrounded her, uplifted her, gave her renewed confidence with their offer of sisterhood.
Lara looked to her spirit guide. Without hesitation, the little frog who had started in water and transformed to land, began the journey along another root. She felt the warp of time and knew the frog was taking her back so that she would appear as an infant to the assassin.
At once the acid stopped raining down, but now the attack was different, sharp and focused and very complex. It began as a feeling, dread stealing into her mind. A voice whispered to her in the Carpathian
language, a repetitious message of hatred. The insidious tone was poisonous, seeping into her mind even though she knew she wasn't an infant. The disgust was all too reminiscent of her childhood.
She forced herself to continue up the taproot, knowing the microbe followed, feeling its presence as it whispered hideous things. No one wanted her. She was worthless. The body carrying her rejected her, fighting to rid itself of such a parasitic creature. Go! Go! Abandon the host. She detested carrying such a weak, pathetic foreign object. Not a person, an object.
Without warning, something stabbed at her, a vicious hot poker that tore through her outer shell to her soul. The microbe had gotten close enough to attack with a retracting stinger. She saw the probe disappear back into the chameleon of an extremophile. The pain was excruciating. Lara stumbled. At once sharpened points raked at her ankle. She nearly panicked, terrified of being injected with a mass of parasites. It was only the crystal in her hand and the sound of feminine voices rising in melodious harmony that kept her from abandoning her infant state.
She moved faster, her baby cries clearly spurring the microbe on to more vicious action. The murmur of the voice continued, relentlessly pushing at her to give up, to go away, that the body she resided in wanted her gone. Despair was an ever-present companion and now her environment became hostile as well. Attacks came in the form of an army of antibodies. Small chains lashed at her, beating at her in an attempt to drive her out. She realized the stinger had tagged her for attack and now the chains of proteins whipped around and through her.
This was happening to Raven's son and Savannahs daughters.
Outraged, Lara pushed upward toward the traveler's entrance where one realm met the other. No matter the cost to her, she would be bait and bring this hideous killer to the surface where Natalya waited.
As she moved upward, she felt a burning sensation, not on her outer shell, but deep inside, as if her blood was boiling. The stinger had injected her, not with a parasite, but with an incompatibility to her host's blood. Already cells were breaking down, causing hemorrhages. And all the while that voice continued to tell her how worthless she was and how much her host didn't want her there. Waves of despair swamped her continually.
Sound began to drown out the voice as pressure built all around her, squeezing down on her while the sound thundered in her ears and her heartbeat picked up pace. The comforting sound of the ebb and flow of life-giving fluid changed to a fast, hard race that roared in her ears, sounding like a frightening freight train coming at her from all sides.
Lara struggled up the tree, clinging to the sound of the lullaby, forcing the pads of her fingers into the crystal to maintain some semblance of reality. She wept, spurring the microbe on, letting her baby cries whip it into a frenzy so that the organism didn't realize she was doing anything but trying to flee its presence. In response, sensing victory, the killer increased its attacks, pressing despondency deep into her mind while it increased its assault.
Terrified, she fixed her sight on the smoke and mist swirling all around just out of reach. Time slowed, and she felt as if she was wading through quicksand. Her environment became less and less stable, small earthquakes rocking her, pressure squeezing down on her, shrinking her world from every side, fluid building all around her so that she felt as if she was drowning. A swarm of tremors shook the tree from branches to root deep within the ground.
Just when she thought she might not make it out, the little frog was there, swimming beside her, guiding her through the crumbling walls as violent shock waves attacked her. Fissures opened up around her as stability decreased. She made one last desperate push to regain the surface, to find her spot of entry.
Gasping, she inhaled sage and sweet grass. «Now, Natalya, now!» She slumped to the floor of the chamber, in the dark, fertile soil, exhaustion gripping her body and the echo of her childhood nightmares resounding in her mind.
Natalya crouched over Raven, her body as still as a tigress, unmoving, every sense alert, trained on her prey, waiting-waiting. She struck quickly when she detected a faint trac
e of mage and the taint of dark art. Her weapon was an egg. She rolled it carefully over Raven's wound, drawing the microbe into the center of the egg.
Lara couldn't talk, but she sent Natalya a warning using the common Carpathian path her aunts had taught her.Watch out, it's nasty. Don't let it sting you .
Already the egg was rocking, darkening in color, the microbe sending waves of hatred and despair out into the chamber. A mixture of the foul stench of decomposing flesh and rotten eggs assailed Lara, deepening the feeling of being back in the ice cave. In spite of the heat rising from the chambers beneath them, she shivered with cold, and icy fingers of fear traveled down her spine.
The smoke and incense quickly absorbed the negative energies. Natalya, mindful of the lashing stinger, rushed the new host from the cavern. She called for an electrical storm so that for a moment the night sky lit up as she called down the lightning to incinerate the microbe held within the egg.
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