“We, uh, haven’t had a lot of time together alone recently.”
“Was there ever a time that we had?” I teased, a hitch in my throat.
Was this the point where he was going to tell me that he’d been caught up in the heat of the moment of being rescued, and that he had changed his mind since then?
He quirked his face to the left. “I just wanted to ask you if you …”
“If I what?”
“If you remember what you said down in the wyvern cave.”
“When I said that I loved you? Yeah, I remember,” I said, dropping my eyes. “I mean, it’s okay if you don’t feel that way anymore.”
Jason pulled me into his arms and stopped me from talking by kissing me senseless. After a moment’s surprise, I gave back as good as I got.
At suppertime, Auraus told us that she had finished organizing the notes and was ready to actually write the ritual after a good night’s sleep. Jason, Ragar, and I cheered, though the mountain-cat-elf’s was the loudest.
“While you are writing, can we do anything for you like get someplace ready, or gather stuff together, or something?” I asked.
Auraus smiled wanly. “Thank you, Lise, but no. This is my responsibility.” Then she paused. “Actually, yes, there is. Can you tell me how to deactivate the trap on the roof of the tower that you have told us about?”
“Sure, but why?” I asked.
Auraus replied, “Because I think I would rather do it up there where Caelestis’ winds can touch us.”
Ah. That made sense. “Sure,” I said, and then I told them all how to deactivate the lightning trap by pressing the right part of the big mosaic on the back wall.
The next day, Ragar, Jason and I kept out of Auraus’ way until a little before midday, when she called for us. We found her at the extended steps to the roof holding a scroll in her hands.
“This is what needs to happen,” she said. “We need to create an anchor for Heather both here and in the Place of Soul’s Election.”
Ragar’s, Jason’s and my jaws dropped.
“I plan to send one of you to the place of Soul’s Election, while the others provide anchorage to this realm here. In that place, Heather will either already be there or will have the ability to be drawn to you based on the ritual that I have created,” Auraus said. “Both the person who goes and Heather need to have an anchor to this realm, and the one who goes needs to have a connection to Heather. You need to choose between you who goes and who stays.”
I was proud when all of us, including Jason, who had not yet met Heather, really, volunteered.
I took his hand. “Jason, I love you and all, but you can’t be the one who goes.”
“Why not?” he demanded.
“Because you don’t really have a connection to Heather. You’ve never actually met her.”
“Yes I have,” he insisted.
“I’m sorry, but neither the events of Central Park nor being half unconscious while she is being kidnapped constitute an introduction,” I said with a lop-sided smile.
His brown eyes glowered at me, but he couldn’t say anything against my reasoning.
“So it is between you and me, Lise,” said Ragar. “I love Heather, so I will be the one to go.”
“No, Ragar,” I said. “I know you love her and all, but because Heather needs to have an anchor on this realm, what I said before to Jason applies to you, too. He can’t be an anchor for her because he doesn’t know her. But he does know me, so he can be my anchor. And you would function best as Heather’s anchor in the circle because of the feelings growing between you two. The only person who can go, is me.”
Ragar and Jason put up a storm of protest, but Auraus finally shouted them down.
“Lise is right. Jason would be Lise’s anchor on this realm, Ragar would be Heather’s anchor on this realm, and Lise would be Heather’s hook to draw her to the Place of Soul’s Election, if she isn’t already there. Lise has been there once before, so she would have a better chance of getting there smoothly. By that experience and her own words, it can be no other than her.”
CHAPTER 36
When Ragar and Jason finally shut up, Auraus looked at me. “Go get dressed in your battle gear, Champion.”
I blinked.
“Why?” Jason and Ragar demanded together.
She looked at them with exasperation in her grey eyes. “Must you question everything I say? But I will answer: if Heather and Morsca are fighting for control of the body, do you think it would be wise to send Lise in unarmored and unarmed?”
“But the last time I went to that place, I ended up wearing a sleeveless white robe and was barefoot,” I reminded her.
“Last time, you almost died. This time, you are being purposefully sent there,” Auraus said. “That should make all the difference. I would rather over-prepare you than under-prepare you. If you end up there without armor and sword, at least it will not be because I did not try.”
“What if Lise dies in there?” asked Ragar with touching concern.
Auraus said, “She should simply wake up in her body again. She is not going to the Place of Soul’s Election because she is halfway between living and dying, she is being sent there by a ritual spell. If the spell is interrupted, it should rebound and bring her back.”
“Should?” Jason asked with an edge to his voice.
The Wind-rider shrugged.
“If I am going in with armor and weapons, does that mean Morsca and Heather will have them, too?” I asked.
Auraus shook her head. “I have no idea. Please do not delay us much longer with questions that I may not be able to answer, Lise.”
I scurried off to dress like I was going into a big fight. I returned to the foot of the retractable stairs in record time, taking a big gulp of air to quiet my panting as I stood before Auraus. She seemed somehow majestic now, even though she was dressed the same as when I’d left; it came to me that she had been mentally preparing herself while I’d been physically preparing. She looked at me and then let her eyes flicker to my sword sheath buckled at my side over my chainmail. Confused, I looked there too, and I saw the iron bar sitting in its special pocket.
“Oh, right, magic and iron don’t mix,” I said. I took the cell door bar out and handed it to Jason. “Hold onto this for me, okay?”
He took it from me without a word as I faced Auraus again.
“Are you ready, Champion Lise?” she asked me gravely.
If she was going to be formal, then there was probably a reason for it, so I gave it right back. I held my head up and squared my shoulders.
“I am, Priestess Auraus.”
She looked at Ragar and Jason. “Are you ready to support the Champion and Heather, Jason and Ragar?”
They exchanged looks, then nodded wordlessly to her.
“Then let us begin.” She solemnly led us up the stairs to the flat roof of the tower.
Auraus had opened the glass half dome that usually covered it, allowing the wind to playfully ruffle the hair and clothes of Heather’s body, who was lying unmoving on one of two padded blankets in the middle of a huge, complicated chalk circle.
Jason raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, but Auraus beat him to the punch by saying, “A sleeping spell, of course. Hush.”
Nodding, he closed his mouth again.
Seeing me study the drawing, Auraus formally explained, “This circle is a copy of the one downstairs, with a few exceptions. I have added signs and sigils of the Light, of Good, and of Caelestis, and have reversed some of the signs to create their opposite meanings instead, or so it is intended.”
“What!” Jason exploded. “You intend? You intend? How about ‘you know’ before Lise goes ahead and does this incredibly dumb and dangerous thing!”
Auraus fixed him with a grim stare, her majestic-ness cracking a little, but she still managed to say calmly, “As I have said before, I am not a full mage. In fact, I am not any kind of mage. I am a Priestess, which is a different r
ealm of magic all together. This ritual I have prepared is the best evil I can do to undo another evil, so until you can do what I can, you have no say in this matter.”
I winced at her words. I had not managed over the last couple of days to convince Auraus that she wasn’t doing evil despite our many conversations while researching. Jason looked ready to continue arguing, but Ragar cut him off.
“Peace, Jason,” the mountain-cat-elf growled. “Auraus is doing the best she can. Let us help her instead of hindering her.”
I gave Jason a quick kiss. “It can’t be as bad as all that,” I looked at Auraus, “Can it?”
She didn’t reply as she had closed her eyes, and soon the majestic-ness I’d felt before was back in place. The Wind-rider gestured me to the other blanket in the circle. I went and laid down, and at her command took Heather’s hand into my own. She directed Jason to leave the iron behind and then kneel at my head and place his hands on my shoulders. She then told Ragar to do the same for Heather, and then told Ragar and Jason to hold hands.
“There,” she said surveying us with satisfaction from where she still stood outside the boundaries. “That completes the interconnective web.”
Auraus walked outside the circle to stand in front of my feet while Jason leaned over, still holding Ragar’s hand, and kissed me very deliberately. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
When he was done, he raised his head and locked eyes with Auraus. “Make sure to bring her back, amiga, or by all that’s holy you will send me in after her.” His voice sounded deadly serious.
“What!” I protested, rolling my head up to look at him from where I lay. “No, Jason, don’t be silly. You can’t do that.”
But it made feel warm all over that he’d say something like that. Jason made no reply to me and didn’t drop his eyes from Auraus.
“I will do all I can with my preparation in sending Lise there, but Jason, it is just as much your responsibility in bringing her back as it is mine in sending her there. You are her anchor. Do not let anger, judgment, or any other emotion cloud the connection. Think only of her.” She fixed her gaze on me. “Lise, I want you to close your eyes.”
I relaxed back down to lie flat again and obediently did as she said.
“Focus on what you are wearing right now and hold the image of yourself dressed in armor and bearing weapons at your side like you are now, and signal me when you are ready.”
I built up a mental image of myself as I was right now—wearing my white colored clothes under my white-and-gold chainmail that had Caelestis’ symbol across the chest, my pendant with Caelestis’ winged orb tucked under it against my skin, my special goddess-given saber on my left side, and my dirk on the right.
“Okay, I’ve got it,” I murmured.
Auraus started intoning syllables that had no meaning to me, but I knew they held power, all right. I felt the magic tingle across my skin and start to raise the hair on my arms like when we’d been in the magic item storage room in Chirasniv.
Jason swore, startled by the power.
“See? That’s you, feeling magic!” I tried to tell him, but for some reason my mouth didn’t want to obey me.
I felt light headed and tried to open my eyes to see if the world was spinning or not, but they refused to obey, too. I panicked then, but Jason’s grip on my shoulder closed a little tighter as if he was aware of my distress, which calmed me. I felt a rush of air storm around me, and I went out like a light.
CHAPTER 37
I woke up in the Place of Soul’s Election, lying flat on that hard, smooth white expanse of ground, or floor, or whatever. But this time I was dressed exactly as I had been picturing myself, so thankfully that part of Auraus’ ritual at least had worked. That gave me confidence. But once again, I was alone.
I blinked. That wasn’t right. I’d expected to be sent to wherever Heather and Morsca were duking it out for possession of Heather’s body up here or to have them appear when I got here. I looked around me in every direction, but there was nothing anywhere I could see on the featureless plain.
“Great, just great,” I said aloud. “What do I do now?”
I had no clue. Auraus hadn’t told me before I left what I needed to do to be Heather’s hook.
On the off chance we were still connected, I shouted out, “Auraus? Hey, Auraus, if you’re listening, what do I do now? You forgot to tell me that before you sent me here!”
I listened intently but there was no whisper of a reply. I was on my own.
“Why does this keep happening?” I sighed. “I wish someone would just tell me what I need to do now.”
“Sure thing,” said a voice behind me.
I whirled around to see the plain gilt-framed mirror with the copy of myself in it dressed like I was right now, hanging in mid-air again.
The reflection smiled at me. “I see you are properly dressed this time.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not nearly dead this time,” I said. “Why are you here?”
“Didn’t you just wish out loud for something to tell you what you need to do now?” she asked, spreading her hands to indicate herself.
“Yeah—oh,” I said. “So that’s you, then?”
She nodded.
“All right, so what DO I do now?”
“Come to the mirror,” she said.
I walked over. She scanned me up and down intently and then nodded.
“All right. I have updated myself.”
“Wait, what? You can do that?” I blurted out in surprise, interrupting her. “Like downloading data?”
“Sort of. It’s hard to explain. I am you, you know. I was just an out-of-date you. I am now an up-to-date you.”
“Creepy,” I said, shuddering lightly.
She laughed. “Creepy or not, it’s over and done. So, you are here to get Heather back, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, picture in your mind Heather dressed as you saw her in the real world, and then imagine a big hook—you know, like those old vaudeville ones?—attached to a line coming out of your solar plexus. Then, while holding the picture of Heather firmly in your mind, ‘send’ out the hook to, well, hook her. And then reel her in.”
“Like a fish?” I asked, amused.
She grinned in reply. “If the analogy fits, why not?”
“Can’t hurt to try,” I said.
I closed my eyes and pictured what Heather was wearing in the real world, except she was awake and standing upright. Then I imagined the vaudeville hook and line coming out of my solar plexus. I felt a weird sensation in my midriff, and looked down to see a gently glowing, but huge vaudeville styled hook, complete with a pink ribbon, sliding out of my body attached to a line that still remained inside me.
I looked in awe at my reflection. “This–this is me, casting magic by myself!”
“Don’t lose your focus,” my reflection said with a frown as the line and hook wavered a little.
I looked back at them and concentrated on making the hook and line as real as I could. The wavering stopped.
“Go on, then,” she urged. “Cast it out for Heather!”
I ‘cast’ the hook with my mind, sending it to the picture of Heather I still saw in my head. It went straight into the mirror, and my reflection vanished.
“Oh!” I said as I felt a tug in my solar plexus.
I imagined the hook and line retracting into my body again, and out of the mirror came Heather—and Morsca. The mirror vanished once they were fully arrived. The two of them looked like they did in the real world, and they never even noticed they’d been pulled to the Place of Soul’s Election because they were going at it hard with punches, slaps, and kicks at each other like a school yard beat down. As soon the mirror vanished, the featureless white broke into a chaotic show of flashing colors timed to their battle.
“Heather!” I screamed at her. “It’s me, Lise! I’m here to help you!”
The two of them jumped apart and looked at me—Heather with surprised gladness, Mor
sca with seething hatred. As soon as they broke apart, the colors went away and the area became featureless white again.
“Where are we?” Heather gasped.
“Later, Heather,” I said before looking at the green-haired Miscere Surface-elf. “Morsca. You know how this is going to end,” I said severely. “Why are you making this hard on yourself?”
“Because it is not over!” she hissed. “If I win, then Heather goes away, and I get to keep the body!”
“And if I win, you’re outta here,” spat Heather.
“No, Morsca, you don’t get to keep the body,” I said, trying to be reasonable. “Because if you end up killing Heather here, Ragar will kill you there.”
“He will not hurt that precious body. He is too in love to do that,” she sneered at me.
Over Heather’s delighted gasp I said, “Don’t be too sure about that. Ragar loves what is inside, not the outside.”
“Then he can love me. After all, he was created for my amusement.”
I shook my head in amazement. “And that, right there, is why you would be killed if Heather goes away,” I said. “He could never love you, and in fact you have seen how he hates you. Had I not seen Heather’s soul peeking out, I would have let him have you.”
“Lise!” Heather said, aghast.
I shrugged. “If you’re dead, why should your body be walking around?” I asked her.
She paused. “Yeah, okay, good point.”
Morsca turned sweet. “Champion, why not let me have the body? I can do all sorts of favors for you, once my minions realize that I am still alive.”
I stopped her by laughing in her face. “What kind of a Champion do you think I am? One who is false to my beliefs or false to my friends? I’ve got news for you, lady. You can’t make me an offer that I would accept, so save your breath.”
I started walking determinedly towards her.
“S-stay back!” she stuttered.
She threw up a hand to ward me off, and a shield appeared in it. Her face brightened, and I faltered.
“Yes!” she shouted triumphantly and threw open her hand at me like she was casting a spell.
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