Lost Moon

by Dana Davis

  Patrice clasped her hands together and concentrated on the Hollow. It didn’t take long for her to arrive. Sure enough, Larisa was already there. Kepriah appeared about the same time Patrice did, so that confirmed their suspicions about the talisman. They couldn’t come here without Larisa. At least not yet.

  Luckily, they didn’t have to search for the Guardian. He came straight to them and pointed a bony finger at each in turn. “You do not belong here.”

  “We are looking for Honor,” Larisa told him. “You might know her as Nyanan.” If he knew anything, he didn’t let on. “She died in our world and recently contacted me from here.”

  The old, shadow man brought his back up and Patrice realized he was taller than he had appeared. “Then you are the Trine.”

  “Yes,” Larisa said. “We are the Trine. And Honor is interfering with our task. Why have you not sent her into Soul River?”

  “I have tried.” There was a hint of exasperation in his voice. “She’s stubborn, that one. Powers she had in the living world reconnect her and allow her to delay rebirth, tap into magic forces here.”

  Patrice wondered how the Guardian of the Hollow could lose control of his domain to anyone. That was a frightening thought. She stared at the numerous spirits drifting down Soul River. If the Guardian lost power here, there could be all kinds of ghosts running around in the living world. That sounded ridiculous but she knew it was the truth. He must know that, or he wouldn’t be so upset now. “Wait. Did you say she’s delaying her rebirth?”

  He turned those red eyes on Patrice and she fought a shiver. “Yes.”

  “Then she can’t stay here forever?”

  He shook his bony head. “No. Once a soul knows it is dead, no matter how powerful the soul was in its living body, it loses resistance to the river. The one you seek is fighting to remain here but she cannot hold out too much longer.”

  Patrice turned to her sisters. “Then maybe she won’t be a problem.”

  Kepriah narrowed her eyes in thought then said, “How long is ‘much longer’, Guardian?”

  “Time does not mean the same here as it does in the living world, so I cannot answer that. Could be a few hours or a few years to the living. But she is stealing souls. She thinks I do not know this but I see. I know.”

  Patrice didn’t like the sound of that but she kept her mouth shut as Kepriah asked, “Stealing souls?”

  “She takes the newly dead who touched magic in the living world to fuel her power.”

  This time a light bulb went off in Patrice’s head. “That’s it! I bet that’s why the souls were asking for Larisa’s help.”

  Larisa studied her a moment, offered a grave nod and turned back to the Guardian. “Does that mean these souls will not be reborn?”

  “Not until Nyanan goes to the river. Then they will be released for rebirth.”

  Kepriah sniffed. “Is there someone who can tell us how much time she has?”

  “Not to my knowledge. Time is slippery. Different here, different there. Even now, it is not consistent in the living world. It shifts forward, backward.”

  “Tell us something we don’t know,” Patrice uttered as she glanced down at her busted wristwatch. Frustration built.

  Larisa placed a brief hand on her arm then focused on the Guardian. “Where is Honor now?”

  He pointed a bony finger down river. “She is weakening. You must summon her.”

  “Thank you.” Larisa started that direction.

  Patrice and Kepriah exchanged glances and jogged to catch up to her, bones crunching beneath their boots. “I hate this place.” Patrice tried to ignore the crunching and focused on Larisa. “What exactly are we going to do?”

  “I am hoping I will know when I find her.”

  “That’s reassuring.”

  “Stop it, Patrice,” Kepriah said.

  She gave her eldest sister a sideways glance but kept her mouth shut.

  They hadn’t walked far when Larisa stopped and focused on her talisman. Patrice saw the blue gem give off light and she checked her ring. Nothing. Larisa stared at the talisman for several seconds, until a hunched figure appeared sitting on a rock. From the clothing, Patrice could tell it was Honor. She wore the same dress she’d had on when Jakon killed her. Patrice tried to shake that image as it popped into her mind. Luckily, Honor looked whole and quite solid here. No damage whatsoever.

  In fact, the woman stood and gazed at them much like an impatient mother ready to scold her children. “About time you three showed up.” She crossed her arms and shifted her golden eyes between the three of them.

  “What do you want, Honor,” Larisa said in a no-nonsense tone.

  “You had better show respect, girl.”

  Patrice let out a hiss of a breath. “You’re dead. In case you haven’t noticed.”

  Those golden eyes bored into Patrice and she wondered if Honor was solid enough to attack her physically. “You listen to me, you little snit. I have more knowledge than you can hope to learn in years.”

  “Then why don’t you tell us everything so we can get to the hoisting.” Patrice gave the woman a daring stare.

  “I am not letting you go that easily. I will share my when it is needed.”

  Patrice had a distinct feeling the woman, ghost, or whatever she was now, was bluffing. Keeping information about the hoisting a secret wouldn’t have benefited her. She wants it to succeed as much as we do. Granted, Honor knew magic that had allowed her to capture Kepriah, and she was more experienced, but Patrice doubted she knew any more than she had already revealed.

  In spite of her quest for power, Honor still held the values of her people. Allowing Jakon to kill her proved that. She could easily have gotten into his mind and forced him to release her. From what Patrice felt from her sisters, they were thinking the same thing.

  Larisa crossed her arms. “Prove it to us. Tell us something we do not know. Something you left out when you tutored us.”

  Honor looked as though she wanted to slap Larisa. “I will tell you when I think you are ready.”

  Patrice hid a grin. So, she is bluffing.

  “Very well,” Larisa said. “When you decide to tell us, you know where to find me. Come along, sisters.” She aimed her talisman at Patrice and the blue stone lit up.

  With several quick breaths, Patrice was conscious again and she sat up, tucking her legs beneath her. Kepriah returned next and they waited mere seconds for Larisa. Jakon looked relieved but kept his silent vigil at the foot of the bed.

  “What exactly did you do?” Kepriah said as she motioned to the talisman.

  “I brought us back. Let Honor stew a while.”

  Patrice studied her healer sister. “Yeah, but how?”

  “I realized something while in the Hollow.” Larisa’s voice grew calm and instructional, reminiscent of one of Patrice’s professors. “My talisman is linked to that place, as you know. When I am there, it allows me to sense where I need to go. The silver threads that connect us to our bodies are always visible to me now, no matter where we trek in the Hollow.” That was the first Patrice had heard about silver threads. “I figured if you two need me to get to the Hollow, maybe I have the power to send you back to the living. It worked. I also think Honor does not know as much as she lets on.”

  “Ya think?” Patrice said. “She’s clinging to her old life, just like the Guardian said. Sorry, Jakon.” The man gave a dismissive wave.

  Larisa nodded. “Exactly. And her quest for magical power was her life. She is weak now. I could feel that. She also has the ability to get stronger if she manages to stay in the Hollow a while.”

  “But the Guardian said the river calls to her.”

  “I could feel that, too.”

  Kepriah stood and placed a hand on her hip. “And just why are you suddenly feeling all these things?”

  Larisa smiled. “Because I finally accepted my powers.”

  That was news to Patrice. I thought I was the rebellious one. She had fought
so hard to get back to Earth, to give up the ring. It wouldn’t budge from her finger even now. She had never seen Larisa try to take the talisman off.

  “By accepting my powers,” Larisa said, “I am more sensitive to the talisman and its messages. I do not mean the visions. I am talking about feeling with my entire body, like a second skin that is sensitive to the magic around me.”

  Kepriah nodded. “I feel the same with my scepter. It’s part of me now.” She frowned then smoothed her features. “I have Honor to thank for that. If she had not tried so hard to get my magic, I might still be bumbling around.”

  Patrice, who was studying her ring, looked up to see three sets of eyes on her, two the same color blue as her own and one yellow. She shrugged. Anticipation caressed her senses from her sisters. “I can use more air power now, throw heavier stuff.” Like the tree that had blocked their way when they searched for Kepriah.

  Larisa moved closer to her on the bed. “You do not feel the ring encompass you? Become part of you?”

  “No. In fact, sometimes it itches.” She scratched at the dry skin that had formed around the silver band.

  “I think you are still holding onto hopes of returning to Earth. That’s why you cannot give yourself over to the ring.”

  “Everyone has already told me there’s no way home.” More times than I care to count, thank you very much. She didn’t care if her sisters felt her annoyance. Serves them right for bringing up Earth in the first place.

  Larisa briefly touched the ring on Patrice’s finger. “Do you believe there is no way back?”

  “I’ll take the fifth,” she uttered, not wanting to think about home just now.

  “The fifth what?”

  “No comment.”

  Kepriah and Larisa exchanged glances with Jakon, then the large man said in a paternal voice, “Answer your sister’s question, Third Noble.”

  Rebellion swelled in Patrice but she kept her voice calm. “I said I’m not commenting, Jakon.”

  Kepriah leaned in. “Answer her.”

  When Patrice hesitated, the scepter jewels began to glow and she realized that Kepriah was prepared to conquer her will and force her to talk. She raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Shit.” The last thing she wanted was to feel helpless and vulnerable. It had taken a while to screw up the courage to think about sex again, but it wasn’t until earlier tonight that she finally forced herself to act on that impulse. Ched had made her feel so relaxed that she yielded to him and conquered a huge part of her fear from the attempted rape. She had no desire to feel that powerless again. Ever.

  The scepter’s glow faded but Kepriah stood waiting, features hard and eyes boring into Patrice. The woman wasn’t bluffing. Patrice swallowed hard and forced herself to hold that gaze. “I’m still—I’m hoping you can open an archway to Earth after the hoisting’s over.”

  “You must let go of that thinking,” Larisa said in a tender voice. “I am sorry, Patrice, but there is no way back to Earth.”

  “You can’t know that for sure. We don’t even know how to do this damn hoisting thing. Once it’s over, I won’t be needed here so there’s no reason I can’t go back.”

  “Of course, you are needed. You are our sister, Patrice. Or do you not feel that bond, either?” Larisa looked hurt, and Patrice felt disappointment from both her sisters.

  “No. I mean, yes, I feel a sisterly bond. That’s not the point. Once we finish the hoisting, maybe the archway to Earth will become available again. That way, I can go home and we can still visit, travel back and forth between Earth and Selenea, the way your ancestors did. Or you could come live with me.”

  Kepriah shook her head. “I feel no connection to the sister world now. Larisa?”

  The blonde woman looked into Patrice’s eyes. “No. I do not.”

  Patrice dreams of home had waned, something that terrified her. Many nights she awoke, heart racing, not because of what had happened to her here in this place, but because the faces of her parents and friends seemed to be fading. She refused to give up their memories, no matter what the outcome here on Selenea, and she set her jaw.

  Larisa gazed thoughtfully at her. “If you cannot give yourself to your powers, Patrice, we might fail the hoisting.”

  “What? No, we won’t. I have powers.” To make her point, she sent out an air whip and lifted two nearby chairs then set them down again. The more she used her power, the easier it became. “See?”

  Larisa placed an arm around her shoulders. “But you have not submitted to magic, let it inside and become part of you. You are breaking a sweat even after that little example you just gave us. Look at me, Patrice.” A slender finger lifted her chin. “I went to the Hollow, summoned Honor and brought us back. All without very much exertion. I have not seen Kepriah struggle with her powers since she broke free of Honor’s hold.” She looked up at Kepriah. “You gave yourself over to the scepter in your fight with her, did you not?”

  “I had to. It was the only way I could keep my powers and fend her off.”

  “Patrice, you need to let the magic take you, allow the ring to become part of you, guide you. These thoughts of Earth are interfering with your destiny here on Selenea.”

  She didn’t want to hear that. All this time, she had hoped to get back to Earth, but in truth, she couldn’t feel her world, either. She hadn’t felt any physical connection since she had arrived here. That frightened her more than any magic she could imagine. Tears welled up and she rubbed at her eyes. “It’s my home.”

  Larisa put arms around her. “And that will never change. I know how difficult it is to let go of loved ones. And I know this transition has been harder for you than any of us. But you are strong, Patrice. You could not be one of the Trine if you were weak. We have to believe the Moirai know what They are doing. You need to have faith that your life will turn out all right, that you will not be alone.”

  Patrice studied her middle sister. Despite wanting to rebel against the idea, Larisa was right. Damn it. She would make a good therapist. As much as she bristled at the idea of a hoisting and magic and a mythical lost moon, Patrice had witnessed too much in her time here to doubt those things existed. If the hoisting failed, Earth would be destroyed along with Selenea. She couldn’t be the cause of Earth’s destruction. Her family, her friends, depended on her, even if they thought her dead.

  “I just wanted my friends and my books and my little house in Seward. Of all the women on Earth, why did I have to be the chosen one?” Part of her wanted to curl up in a fetal position and weep, like a dejected child.

  Larisa caressed her hair. “I do not have an answer to that.” She sounded very much like Jakon. “But we were chosen, all three of us. Sisters of the Trine. We have lost so much but we have each other now, sweetness.” Larisa kissed her on the forehead.

  Kepriah sat the other side of her and placed a hand on her arm, the most comforting gesture she’d ever witnessed from her eldest sister. The three sat that way for several minutes as Patrice tried to stall the inevitable. Tears streaked down her face as she warred within herself to do the right thing. To do what she knew she must. After another long moment, she took in a cleansing breath and wiped her wet face on her nightgown sleeve.

  I’ll do it for Earth. And Selenea. For my family and friends. And for you, my new sisters. Her heart ached and she pushed the sorrow away as best she could. Sensing her decision and discomfort, her sisters caressed her back and Larisa offered an understanding smile. I’m not the only one who lost my family but at least mine are still alive.

  Patrice closed her eyes, stilled the tree in her mind, and forced herself to let go. She said good-bye to her mother, her father, her brother, and her friends. Good-bye to her business, her house, her truck, the plant she kept forgetting to water. Farewell to Seward and to all of Alaska. Farewell to Earth. It was the most difficult thing she had ever done and fresh tears streaked down her cheeks. May the Moirai keep you safe.

  The ring warmed on her finger and soon
that warmth traveled up her arm and through her chest to encompass her entire body. She opened her eyes as the ring began to vibrate. A blue stream of light extended from the blue stone in Kepriah’s scepter to Larisa’s talisman to Patrice’s ring and back to the scepter, just as it had that first time she had put the ring on her finger. Suddenly, everything was clear. Earth, Selenea, the lost moon, magic, the Trine, the hoisting, the Hollow. Everything was connected. Everything made sense. She knew what the Hoisting meant and how to achieve it. Then the light disappeared, taking that knowledge with it.

  “I had it. I knew what we had to do. But it’s gone now.” She looked at her sisters and felt the same excitement and frustration mirrored in their emotions. She glanced down at the ring. Her finger no longer itched and the dry skin had healed. And she noticed something else. Power. She felt it all around her. The air tingled with it, like a warm breeze on a spring day. It comforted her and dulled the heartache she had felt moments ago.

  She concentrated on creating an air whip and this time she could see the thing. It looked like a translucent rope extending from her ring hand. She sent the whip to capture one of the chairs, lifting it with barely a care. Then she sent another whip to a second chair and another to the table and lifted them with ease. She held them as she got off the bed. Larisa squeaked as she used a larger whip to lift the bed with her sisters still on it. Finally, she lowered all the items back in place and crossed to the window. The shutters were open and she turned the crank handle to open the framed glass. Frigid air caressed her exposed skin and snow flurries drifted in.

  Her sisters stood at either shoulder now. Silent. Watching.

  There was hardly a breeze so Patrice decided to stir one up. She started with a small area near one of the trees and concentrated on it. Soon the ring vibrated and a blanket of air folded outward from her hand and reached down toward the ground below. Slowly, she circled her ring hand and the air began to spin, lifting snow and sticks like a tiny tornado. She added another and another until she created so much air that several mini-tornadoes appeared. Satisfied, she pulled her power back, until the cold night grew calm again.