“Go away! Leave me alone!” She jumped up and ran behind the garage, disappearing into the trees.
“Why did you do that?” Lance said. “Don’t you think we have enough problems without egging her on all the time?”
“Oh, okay. I’ll go get the queen.” Kelile toddled along in slow motion after her.
Several minutes had passed before a screech sent a stabbing chill through Aishling’s stomach, up her shoulder blades, into her arms.
Lance bounded out of the garage. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes.” She dropped her grimoire, and they rushed after the others.
As they neared the lake’s edge, they spotted a body lying in the brush.
Kelile.
When they reached him, he was moaning and whimpering. He cradled his bloody eyes with one hand and his stomach with the other. “Stabbed me … blood …”
“Kelile, we’re here,” Aishling said. But he didn’t respond. He kept moaning and turning from side-to-side, rubbing his eyes and his stomach. He had smeared blood all over himself. “Did you look at Morri’s journal again?” Aishling tried pulling his hand away from his stomach so she could tell if he was bleeding there, too. “Did she stab you? What happened?”
No answer.
She managed to get his hand away long enough to see his stomach wasn’t bleeding.
Lance stood, looking around. “Where is she?” He squatted and gently shook Kelile. “Tell us what happened.”
Still no answer.
Lance motioned for Aishling to help lift Kelile. They struggled as they tried to get him to his feet. Once they did, they half-dragged him back to the sleeping bags.
“I’ll find Morrigan.” Lance ran back into the trees.
“Kelile?” After getting her water container, Aishling cleaned his face and hands. “Oh, Kelile, I don’t know what to do.” She pulled him up into her arms and rocked him.
Lance returned, alone. “I can’t find her. Is he any better?”
She shook her head.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“I don’t know for sure.”
He bent down, grasping Kelile’s shoulders. “Kelile, can you hear me?”
“Lance, I’ll go look for Morri. Maybe she’s afraid we’re mad at her.”
“I am!”
As she meandered between trees, Aishling called for Morrigan. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time. How could Morri do this? Why wouldn’t she answer?
“Please don’t be mad at me, Aish,” Morrigan muttered from behind her.
She swung around, meeting Morri’s eyes, “What did you do to him?”
“I didn’t mean to. Really.”
“You have to come fix it!”
“I’m not coming back unless you promise you won’t be mad.”
“Morri! Kelile is suffering.”
“Promise you won’t be mad.”
Aishling blew her breath out. “Okay. Come on.” She reached out for Morrigan, but Morrigan stood her ground.
“And, promise you’ll talk Lance into not being mad.”
“I’m not promising you anything else. Now come on! Or, I will be mad at you.”
Morrigan turned and jogged back into the trees.
“Drat!” Enough is enough! Why should she put up with Morri anymore? She barreled her way back to Lance and Kelile. She would figure out what to do by herself.
When she returned, she sat next to Kelile and told Lance about her encounter with Morrigan. Then, still angry, she commenced taking deep breaths, trying to find the inner calmness needed so she could use healing touch to help Kelile.
She closed her eyes and envisioned the golden light faintly shimmering above her becoming brighter and stronger. Then she envisioned it moving into the top of her head. In a whisper, she repeated the words, I am a channel for the healing light of love, until she felt heat generating between her hands and his eyes. After the energy had cooled, she turned her focus to his stomach and used the same process.
He stopped moaning. As the energy cooled between her hands and his stomach, he took her right hand and placed it over his eyes, while keeping the other hand on his stomach. “Aah, good witch, you don’t know how much better that feels. Thank you.”
Lance settled next to him. “What happened? Are you any better?”
Aishling lightly tugged on her hands to remove them, but Kelile held them in place.
“Why did Morrigan do that to you?”
“It was stupid, man. She threw her diary at me, and it was like a reflex. I started readin’ it.”
“Did she put a stabbing spell on you too?” Aishling asked.
“I don’t know what happened next, but all of a sudden it felt like I’d been stabbed through my stomach. The pain shot up my back and into my arms.” He released her hands.
When she raised the hand that had covered his eyes, she gasped. His eyes were open, and he had no pupils!
“I can’t see anything. God! I can’t see!”
Lance bounded to his feet. “We’re not waiting any longer, Aishling. We’re going to the ranger station and tell them it’s an emergency, that we need Redhawk. Kelile is blind. Morrigan is missing. We don’t have a clue where to find that stone, or if it even exists.”
“No, I can’t go back yet. What about Morri? We can’t leave her behind?”
“We’ll get Redhawk to help us find her. We just can’t sit here.”
“Hello? I can hear you. My ears still work, you two. Why don’t you go after Redhawk, Lance. Aishling and I will stay here.”
“No. I can’t leave you like this.” Lance paced. “We need to get you to a hospital.”
“A hospital ain’t gonna fix this. You know that. I need the queen, and I’m waitin’ here until her sorry ass returns. Besides, if I move around much I feel like a knife is still sticking in my gut. Now, get outta here. We’ll be fine.”
Lance huffed, crossed his arms and glared at the ground.
Aishling picked up her grimoire. What could she do? She had her book, peacock obsidian, and a bell. But she didn’t know what to do with them. Oh, Kelile’s right! Just what is a bell good for?
Pouting, she carelessly flipped through the pages of her grimoire then stopped, shut her book, and sighed. What can I do? For one last attempt to find the answer in her book, she closed her eyes and randomly opened it again, hoping.
This time, she opened to a passage that hadn’t been there before—and the answer to her question:
You use a bell for different purposes. A bell’s music or vibration can invoke the Goddess during ritual, or invoke pleasant energies and repress negative ones. You can also hang it above your front door to guard your home. It is especially useful for warding off evil. The most potent of bells are capable of summoning beings from other realms, like the Sidhe, to your aid.
“That’s it! Lance, I know what I can do.” She opened her wish box and pulled out the silver bell.
As she took a deep breath, she closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and opened to her intuition. Immediately, she remembered the vision of her and Ma walking under the arbor in their garden and entering into a different realm where Da was waiting for them.
She took the bell to the Garden of Life and Death and stopped in front of the arbor. This had to work. While ringing the bell, she closed her eyes and stepped under the arbor, expecting Da to be there when she opened them.
It didn’t work.
Aishling still stood in the weed-infested garden, no lights, no fireworks, no sweet smells.
She lumbered back to the sleeping bags.
Lance shook his head.
“What’s goin’ on, you two?”
“I had read something in my book about using a bell, and I tried it out. It didn’t work.”
“What was the bell supposed to do?” Kelile prompted.
“I thought it would help me move into the Otherworld and talk to Da.”
“The Otherworld? Girl, do you make this stuff up?”
&n
bsp; “Please don’t make fun of me. I’m trying to help you.”
“I know. I know. Wait. You said that book of yours told you how to use the bell. What about the black stone your mom left you? Does it say anything about that in your book?”
“Kelile, you’re a genius!” After getting her grimoire again, she looked through a section that explained uses for several stones and found an entry for peacock obsidian:
Use this stone to enter other realms of reality and traverse between worlds. It acts as a beacon and carries you forth on its rays of light. It can also attract entities from other realms and carry them to you. It helps the holder ignite and expand consciousness, and to see with clear vision. Its elemental aspect is fire. This stone not only generates travel between worlds and opens one’s spirit, but it offers protection while doing so. At certain times, it may be used to communicate with deceased loved ones.
“That’s it! I’ll use the obsidian with the bell.”
She ran back to the archway leading into the garden and began the process again, this time holding the obsidian in her right hand and ringing the bell with her left hand.
When she stepped across the threshold, her mother stood before her.
“Ma! Ma, I see you!”
Her mother smiled and said, “We have very little time. Use the obsidian for healing the tissue in the boy’s eyes and absorbing the dark energies of the stabbing spell. Honey, remember when we’d go to the cave in the forest close to Joyce Kilmer?”
At once, Aishling glimpsed the memory. She nodded.
“You’ll find what you need there.”
Her mother’s image faded, and Aishling was in the overgrown garden again.
As she wiped the tears from her eyes, she turned to go back to Kelile. Lance stood at the archway, watching her.
“Did you see her?” she asked.
“See who?”
“Ma. Ma came to me.”
She returned to Kelile. “You were right, and I know what to do. I have to place this obsidian on your stomach and eyes. It should absorb all the negative spellwork that Morri cast on you. It should heal you.”
Kelile shrugged. “Whatever works.”
Moments later, he said, “Wow. That stone is hotter than your hands were. It’s like a fire.”
When the energies cooled, she moved the stone from his stomach to his right eye. “Keep your eyes closed. Let me move back and forth over them.”
“Aishling?” Lance sat next to them again and placed his hand on her arm. “Is that what your mother told you to do?”
“Yes.”
She continued holding the obsidian in place until the energies had cooled over both eyes. “I think you’re okay now, Kelile. Open your eyes.”
He opened one eye first. His mouth formed a wide grin as he opened his other eye. “I can see.” He sat up and leaned from side to side. “Wow, I don’t get any stabbing pain anymore, either.”
“Well, goody, goody for you,” Morrigan mocked, strolling into the yard as if coming from a lazy afternoon walk.
“Morrigan!” Lance jumped up. “I can’t believe you did that to him.” He looked like he was ready to pounce on her.
Leaning away from him, she inched down beside Aishling. “I didn’t mean to hurt you like that, Kelile.” She clasped her hands under her chin. “Please forgive me, everyone. Please?”
So happy about Kelile and about having seen her mother, Aishling hugged her and said, “I forgive you. And guess what? I saw Ma, and she told me where to find the Suti Stone.”
39
Tuesday, May 7
Aishling opened her eyes. Still dark. Still early. She sighed, not wanting to get up, too exhausted from the nightmares that had plagued her throughout the night. Even now, the dreams haunted her.
She had been eager to fall asleep, expecting to see Ma again. Since they had planned to look for the stone today, she had felt sure her mother would come in her dreams and tell her what to do.
But, Ma hadn’t appeared in her dreams, nor made any further contact.
Now she lay there struggling with her thoughts. The nightmares always ended with her desperately trying to build a protective fire, unable to succeed. Would her grimoire show her how to summon fire? Had she overlooked something when she searched yesterday afternoon? Maybe that’s why Ma didn’t come last night. She’d have to check it again this morning before they left.
She didn’t want to get up, though, or even move. Instead, she wanted to rid her mind of the nightmares, to stay there, safe and warm.
She touched her amulet with her left fingertips. Just how safe would it keep her? Obtaining the Suti Stone would not be easy. Hadn’t her dreams made that clear?
Also, she was worried about Morrigan. In her dreams last night, as before, the serpent had bitten her. And, as before, Aishling couldn’t prevent it, couldn’t help her, couldn’t even confirm whether she had lived afterwards.
The protective fire, she reminded herself. This was the most important thing to learn before leaving. As quietly as possible, she collected her grimoire and flashlight and tiptoed into the garage.
When she first opened her book, she found a page she had not seen before. The title was, Your Amulet. How strange. Hadn’t she just wondered if it would protect her? After removing her amulet from around her neck, she held it in her right hand while she read:
Your amulet is crafted with moldavite, jet, and rose quartz. Each stone radiates a different energy. The stones are entwined within silver, the lunar metal and metal of Goddess.
The pink rose quartz is a glorious stone that floods your heart and soul with a pure stream of divine love. Its elemental aspect is water. The forest green moldavite is an intense stone that acts like a tornado, thrusting you down your spiritual path. Its elemental aspect is air. The black jet is a purification stone that acts like a great sponge, absorbing, neutralizing, and clearing all impurities and negative energies along your path. Its elemental aspect is earth.
These stones combined together create a powerful, protective, and transformative amulet you should wear at all times.
Aishling studied her amulet a few more moments before placing it back around her neck and underneath her shirt. Then she continued searching for a spell to summon a protective fire.
Nothing.
She searched once more.
Nothing.
Before closing her book, she reread the page regarding her amulet. This time, she realized there was no reference to a stone with the elemental aspect of fire. Even her amulet didn’t contain fire. Discouraged, she gave up.
An hour later, they packed their things and left in search of the cave.
“How much further?” Morrigan huffed. “We’ve been walking all morning.”
“The cave should be around here, somewhere.” But Aishling’s stomach had begun gurgling as she seethed with self-doubt. The others were getting impatient, too. Lance had already made several comments about calling the whole thing off.
Kelile stopped in front of her, preventing her from moving forward. “Look, girl, I don’t know anything about magick or witch stuff, but in the real world, you don’t hide something important where just anyone can find it.”
This triggered a connection of thoughts, and she swept through snippets of memories of when she and Ma had been here before, of the information she had read in her grimoire, of bits and pieces of recent dreams, and of the last encounter with Ma’s spirit.
“Kelile!”
“What is it?” Morrigan said.
At first, she couldn’t find the words to match her thoughts.
“Girl, you’ve got that weird, voodoo stare again.”
“I think … I think the cave is in another dimension, another realm. The bell and stone Ma left me are tools for walking between worlds. That’s why she left me those things.” She stared past the others.
“Aishling? Aishling!” Lance gripped her shoulders.
She must have zoned out again. “Okay,” she said and took out h
er silver bell and obsidian. “Remember the riddle?—As the closed is opened, a treasured link returns.—I think I’m supposed to use this bell and stone to open a gateway to the cave.”
“What?” Kelile said.
“Aishling, you’re not making any sense,” Lance added.
When she looked at Morrigan for moral support, Morri was beaming. “Do you mean what I think you mean?”
“I think the cave is not in our reality, and we must go through a gateway to get to it. I need to use these tools to open the gateway.”
“Where do you think it is?” Morrigan asked.
“Well, Ma told me to come here. There must be something around here to show us where it is.” Aishling twisted around, searching the area.
“I can’t believe I’m following you on this ridiculous search,” Lance said, taking off his backpack and setting it on the ground.
“Don’t give up on ’em yet, man.” Kelile swept both his hands toward his chest. “Hey, I’m a walkin’ example of their magick.”
“What?” Lance stepped away, drifting to the left. “It can’t be.” He squinted while he leaned forward, moving his head side-to-side. “No.”
“What’s the matter?” Aishling asked.
Moments ticked by while he continued staring, squinting, moving his head. He looked as though he was trying to align something.
“Man, you’re freakin’ me out. What are you doing?”
Lance motioned for the others to come near. He clasped Aishling’s left arm and guided her in front of him. “Do you see that first tree ahead, the mountain ash, and how the base of it is bent over like half an archway?”
“Oh … yes.”
“That’s a thong tree, a trail marker. There’s very few left nowadays. Indians used to form young trees that way to mark important trails.”
Morrigan and Kelile squeezed even closer, looking.
Lance continued, “Okay, now look past that tree a little to the left, about forty paces, and there’s another mountain ash with half an archway. Do you see it?” She nodded. “See how you can look a certain way and they form a complete arch?”
Dead Moon Awakens: A tale of Cherokee myth and Celtic magic (Mystic Gates) Page 18