by Mary Coffin
~~~
“What is that?” asked Loki.
“It’s a vanishing rod,” replied Morten.
“You’re going to make her vanish?”
At first, Loki was astonished that Morten would even suggest it but as he gazed deeply into her eyes, she reached an understanding within herself. Her expression softened, as she resigned herself to the truth. She glanced at the wand in his hand and blinked several times. Then she looked into his eyes again.
“You’re going to have me do it.”
Morten spoke softly. “When you’re ready.”
Loki took the wand from him and turned it around in her hand. It was short, only about six inches long. Each end of the rod contained a crystal; both were six-sided with a perfect point at the tips. One crystal was clear; the other was gold.
“Remember, Loki. Your mother is gone. Her spirit has left. What’s left is a body. She isn’t in it anymore. So, you’re only making the body vanish.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Understand?”
Loki nodded.
“When you’re ready, point the gold crystal at her and say the word, abeo.” Morten started to walk away and then stopped. “Keep the rod for now. I’ll get it from you later.”
“Okay.”
Morten pulled a small pouch out of his pocket and handed it to Loki. “When you go to the evening meal tonight, pour this powder into your drink. It will help you sleep tonight. It’s time you got some rest.”
He turned and walked away, leaving Loki alone in her mother’s room. She thought over his words and reminded herself that she wasn’t doing anything to her mother’s spirit. She stood next to the bed and looked at the blue light that surrounded her mother’s body. It wasn’t so bright anymore and the straight line of healing fragments was fading with it.
Loki whispered. “Good bye, Mom. I miss you.” Then she pointed the gold crystal. “Abeo.”
Gwynn vanished. There was no sound to it. The light and the fragments were gone as well. Loki stared at the empty bed for awhile and then she walked out of the room.
FIFTY FOUR
_______________
Brethren of Darkness
En Route to the Great Mountains
“Halt,” ordered Draevil. “We’ll make camp here for the night since it will be dark soon. We’ll finish the trip tomorrow.”
Then he dismounted and looked up to the sky. There was a cloud of about twenty ebonravens circling overhead.
“It’s time to take care of you pesky creatures,” he muttered. “You’ll just draw unwanted attention to us.” He pulled a small drawstring bag from his pocket and pulled it open. He reached inside and pulled out a fistful of its contents. Then he sprinkled some on the road and in the vegetation beside the road. “That ought to give you a nice long sleep, until well after we’re gone.”
Squawking and chattering, the flock swooped down and began nibbling. Draevil knew that, by morning, the birds would be perched in the nearby trees in a dead sleep that would last a day or more.
Bortundo and the six men that accompanied him left the road and dismounted their horses. They walked farther into the vegetation for some cover.
“I’ll gather some wood,” offered Carlos. Then he glanced at his bandaged hand, as if he just remembered he was still hindered by his injury. “Hey, Ivan,” he hollered to one of the other men standing next to his horse, “come help me.”
Ivan trotted over to Carlos and the two of them started looking for wood.
“Bortundo,” called Draevil.
Bortundo tried to play the part of a confident member of the Brethren, drawing on the strength of the darkness, but he couldn’t help but wonder when Draevil was going to unleash his fury on him. He didn’t have a good feeling about this trip and couldn’t shake the feeling that he was walking to his death. He sighed and stepped around his horse to face Draevil.
“Yes, my Lord.”
“How long will it take from here?”
Bortundo thought back to the journey they previously took, when Elwyn was tagging along. They rode faster that time but he estimated they were about three-quarters of the way there.
“I believe we have half a day’s journey left, maybe less.”
“Good. We’ll leave at first light.”
Carlos reappeared with some chunks of dead wood stacked in his good arm. He dropped his arm and the wood crashed to the ground.
“Hey, look what I found,” hollered Ivan.
He came around from behind some bushes but he wasn’t carrying wood. He had an old woman by the scruff of the neck of a torn and weathered shirt. The woman was slightly hunched over. She wore a long skirt that was frayed around the hem, with loose strands of dirt-covered fabric dangling above her filthy leather boots that appeared one size too big. The tattered blouse that Ivan grabbed was loosely thrown over another stained shirt. A scarf, which was more like torn rags, was tied on her head to keep her long, gray, frizzy hair out of her face. She wore a black patch over one eye and, by the opaque film covering the other eye, it was a wonder she could even see the ground in front of her.
Draevil looked on with impatience. “What use do we have for an old hag?”
“She’s got a wagon full of stuff. Maybe there is something in it that could be useful to us.”
The woman babbled incoherently and one hand shook as she made erratic gestures in the air. It was hard to tell whether her filmy eye rested on any one place or person.
“Bring her wagon, then,” agreed Draevil.
“My wagon. My horse,” uttered the woman’s raspy voice.
Bortundo rolled a stump of wood closer. “Have a seat, old woman.”
The woman held her hands out to her sides to feel for the log as she lowered herself to sit.
“I know who you are,” the woman spouted as she shook a finger at Draevil. “You are the Brethren of Darkness.”
Draevil didn’t look surprised. The black cloaks were a dead give-away, assuming the woman could actually see what they were wearing.
The sound of wagon wheels barreling over uneven ground broke through the relative quiet as Ivan brought her horse and wagon closer.
“What are you doing here, old woman?” demanded Draevil.
“I travel all through these parts. Sell my wares. Tell fortunes.”
Ivan spoke up. “By the looks of the junk in her wagon, I doubt she sells any of it.”
“Aaahh,” breathed the woman as though a realization had just entered her awareness. She shook a finger toward Draevil again. “You seek something.”
Ivan and the others looked surprised by this news but Draevil wore a deadpan expression.
“Either you are a liar or you have the inner sight. You certainly don’t have the outer sight,” replied Draevil.
Ivan and the others laughed at his words. Draevil held up a hand to quiet them.
“Which is it?” demanded Draevil.
The woman continued as though she felt no threat from him. “It is dangerous, what you seek.”
“What makes you think that?” he inquired.
“There is an old tale…about a man who found it once. He laid his hands upon it, soaking up its energy. He hungered for its power…just like you.” She shook her finger in his direction again. “He was cast away from it, by the ghosts of the dead and never found it again. But his thirst for it haunted him the rest of his days and tormented his mind.”
Draevil didn’t appear discouraged by her story. Ghosts of the dead belonged to the darkness, the darkness upon which he thrived.
“That’s a lot of talk for an old woman who can’t see.”
As if to convince him that she knew what she was talking about, she added. “I know where it is. I know which mountain hides it.”
If the woman had her eye sight, she might be unnerved by the hardened glare from Draevil’s eyes.
“Why don’t you claim it for yourself, then?” he asked.
&
nbsp; The woman spread her arms. “Pppfffshaw. I am no mountain goat.” Her eyes lowered to the ground, as if her thoughts drifted off someplace else. “I am tired of this world. When my day comes, I will gladly face it.”
If the woman could see the lust-filled glimmer in Draevil’s eyes, she would know that her words had finally caught his attention, but she didn’t need to see to know. His silence told her as much.
FIFTY FIVE
_______________
Tannis, Guardians of Light
En Route to the Great Mountains
The early morning air was crisp. Puffs of warm moist air sprayed from the horses’ nostrils with each breath. The sun had just broken the distant horizon, still clinging low to the ground, turning the sky a pale bluish-gray color. The riders were mounted, listening to their orders as Tannis spoke. His breath visibly lingered in the chilly air.
They had spent the night in an area just north of the Great Mountains, off an old trail that received little use since the main road had been built. He originally told Noya they wouldn’t leave the Brethren’s compound until that morning but, as they continued their conversation, it was decided the group should leave that night after the evening meal.
Now, it was time to break into two groups, each taking a different route, and converge at the old lake bed on the southern flank of the mountains.
“I will take Anton, Pria and Simon. We’ll take an old path that leads over the mountains. Katarina will take Zack, Geoffrey and James and go around the western end of the range, and meet us on the southern flank at the old lake bed. Take caution. It’s possible that the Brethren are still in pursuit of the same thing that we’re after.”
“When will you tell us what we’re after?” asked Zack.
Tannis looked at all of their faces and let his eyes rest on Anton when he answered. “We’re going after the crystal that Markus wanted to find.”
Anton rolled his eyes. “I thought that died with Markus.” As soon as he made the comment, he quickly backpedaled. “I…sorry...I don’t mean to be disrespectful. I just thought Noya wasn’t interested in pursuing it like Markus was.”
Tannis looked displeased with Anton’s remark. “Well, you’re wrong. Noya wants us to find it.”
Tannis had estimated that it would take both groups nearly the same amount of time to reach the other side of the mountains. In fact, his group might be the first to arrive. His route was shorter but much more difficult. Katarina’s was longer but, for the most part, it was level. So if they pushed their horses, they would make good time and, at the latest, should arrive shortly after Tannis.
He still needed to determine whether the crystal had sinister powers and decided that, once they got inside the mountain, he would have Anton physically remove it. He believed that Anton was the person speaking over the gate with the Brethren. In fact, he questioned whether Anton, himself, was a member of the Brethren. He hadn’t been able to shake off his suspicion that his roommate was a spy. So what better way to flush him out? If the stone is evil, then Anton would be his guinea pig and would receive the brunt of its effects. If it isn’t, then there are enough members of the Guardians to prevent him from running away with the crystal.
Tannis eyed the group. “May the light be with us. May it guide our way and protect us. Shield yourselves with it at all times.”
With that spoken, Katarina spurred her horse to the west, and her group followed. Tannis led his group to the southeast, where he believed he would find the old trail that led over the pass.