By the time there was no trace of the circle she had made, she was sweating and panting—and fighting panic as she watched a bonelover move toward the island.
“I wasn’t sure you could do it,” the man said, coming up behind her.
“You certainly sounded like you expected me to do it,” Caitlin replied testily.
“That doesn’t mean I was sure you could. Better close your eyes again.”
The bonelover was moving toward them, heading right for the path she knelt on.
She squeezed her eyes closed…
…and heard a roaring. And beneath it, closer, the lap of water.
She opened her eyes and threw her body back from the edge, knocking into the man and almost sending him tumbling.
“Easy,” he said, grabbing her to steady them both.
“Lady of Light, have mercy.” A wall of water, curved like a horseshoe, coming down from the land high above to meet the river.
“Haven’t you ever seen a waterfall?” the man asked.
“Not like that.” Even though their little bit of land was a safe distance away, the sheer sound of it made her tremble. Closer to them was another falls, its water breaking halfway down on a tumble of boulders as big as houses.
“They’re called the Guardian Falls,” the man said, crouching beside her. “The river has several names, depending on which landscape you’re in. Some call it the Wish River; others call it the River of Prayers.” He paused and looked at her. “What do people call you?”
“Caitlin Marie. And you?”
“Lee.” He rose and moved to the edge of the island, and raised a hand in greeting as a boat sailed past.
Seeing the men on the boat return the greeting, Caitlin scrambled to her feet. “They can see us! Why can they see us?”
“Because I want them to see us. The island resonates too closely with the river. Even if the people couldn’t see it, the boats on the river would still run into it. So the people here can see it until I shift it back to the place where it actually exists.”
“You don’t seem to be drunk, so you must be daft because most of what you say makes no sense.”
“It makes sense,” Lee said. “In this part of the world, it makes sense.” He leaned against the trunk of a tree and studied her. “Caitlin Marie, I don’t know the customs of your people, so I hope you won’t take this in a way it isn’t meant.”
“Take what?” she asked, suddenly too aware that she was alone with a man she didn’t know on a small bit of land she couldn’t leave.
He smiled. “I think it’s best if I take you home to meet my mother.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Sentinel Stones,” the Heart of the Bog said, pointing to the two massive stones that rose out of the bog on either side of the “trail.”
“I never thought I’d see the likes of them out here,” Michael said quietly, awed and uneasy. He’d seen Sentinel Stones before. They were always placed outside a village in a field beside a main road. Easy enough to reach, but set back far enough that going to them would be intentional.
There was power in the Sentinel Stones, and some strange magic in the air between them. People disappeared when they walked between the stones. Sometimes they came back with wild tales of seeing different countries or of suddenly finding themselves walking the streets of a town on the other side of Elandar; more often they were never seen again.
“No,” Michael said, stopping when he realized the Heart of the Bog intended to walk between the stones. “We can’t go there.”
“That is the border,” the Heart of the Bog replied, turning back to face him. “There is no other way to reach the other landscape from here.” Its yellow eyes studied him. “You afraid, Magician?”
“Yes.” No point blunting the truth.
The Heart of the Bog was silent for a moment. Then, “You must pass between the Sentinel Stones to find the Justice Maker. He is the next step in your journey. If you do not find him, you will not find her.”
Damn the darkness. “People disappear when they walk between Sentinel Stones.”
“That is the purpose of the Stones. But these mark a border and only go to one place.”
That is the purpose of the Stones. Lady of Light, did anyone besides the Merry Makers know this?
Michael swallowed hard, trying to push his heart back down his throat. You don’t have many choices, lad. You can’t stay here, and it seems a walk between the Stones is your only way out. The world has turned strange, and a great evil is out there, somewhere. And Caitlin Marie is out there, somewhere.
“What do I have to do?” Michael asked.
“Hum a note that sounds like what you seek,” the Heart of the Bog replied.
He thought about the woman who stirred him in dreams in ways other women had never done and who was somehow connected to this dark piece of the world. He took a deep breath and hummed the note.
A moment later, another note filled the air, creating a simple harmony.
The Heart of the Bog nodded, then wrapped its long fingers around his wrist. Humming the two notes, they walked between the Sentinel Stones.
Michael felt the lightest tingle of power. Then he was through the space between the Stones and…
The bog was gone. From what he could tell in the moonlight, there was open country in front of him and some lights in the distance that might be a village. The air felt different—and it didn’t smell like home.
He looked back and saw a handful of Merry Makers appear between the Stones, but there was no sign of the bog now. The Stones were just standing in the middle of a field.
“Not much farther,” the Heart of the Bog said, releasing Michael’s wrist and heading toward the lights. “Humans will find us soon and take you to the Justice Maker.”
Nothing to do now but follow. The pots on the outside of his pack clacked and clattered to the rhythm of his walk. After a minute or so, two of the Merry Makers pulled out their reed whistles and began playing a tune that turned the rattle of pots into percussion.
Well, Michael thought, if the lanterns and the musical clatter don’t attract someone’s attention, nothing will.
They were halfway between the Sentinel Stones and the lights when the Heart of the Bog stepped onto a cart path that began in the middle of a field for no reason Michael could discern. But a few minutes after that, two men came riding up to block their path.
“Halt!” the older man said. “State your business.”
“This human came to us without warning, appearing deep within our piece of the world,” the Heart of the Bog said. “He seeks the Justice Maker.”
Not by choice, Michael thought. Who were these men? Law enforcers? Thugs? He couldn’t tell by the look of them.
“Do you want us to take him the rest of the way, or are you bringing him to the Den?” the man asked.
The Heart of the Bog considered for a moment, then shook its head slowly. “Take him. If the Justice Maker is pleased with the Magician, we will trade him for another kind of meat.”
Michael stared at the Heart of the Bog. “What kind of meat?”
The Merry Maker shrugged.
“What kind?” Michael demanded. Lady’s mercy, would they drag some poor fool to those Sentinel Stones and hand him over to the Merry Makers? Or…different meat. Did the Merry Maker mean a woman…or a child? “I’ll go no farther until I know what kind of meat.” And if he didn’t like the answer, he would do the most harmful ill-wishing he could think of before he was dragged away.
The Heart of the Bog studied him. Then it smiled. “Cow. Sheep. Maybe goat.”
Michael’s huffed out a breath as relief shivered through him.
The Heart of the Bog stepped closer. “You are worthy of what you seek, Magician. Remember that.” It tapped Michael’s chest above his heart. “In here.”
Then the Merry Makers turned away and headed back toward the Sentinel Stones.