“Oh, pet.” Sonoe’s voice caught and as tears filled her jade eyes, Ashinji felt a wave of uneasiness wash over him.
I have no proof she’s anything other than what she seems to be , he thought. All I’ve got is the message of my visions…Sonoe, surrounded by shadows and a cloud of menace. Though if she were truly evil, surely the others would have sensed it and never allowed her so close to Jelena.
“Now that you are finally here, we can go.” Taya snapped. “Give me the ring.” She thrust out her hand. Sonoe froze, and for an instant, Ashinji thought she might refuse, but then, she reached into a pouch at her waist and withdrew the White Griffin. She dropped it onto Taya’s palm without comment.
The princess tucked the ring into a fold of her sash, then turned toward the wall. Ashinji could not see how she did it, but a moment later, the panel swung open to reveal a short passageway of dressed stone and a steep staircase leading down. An exhalation of cold, musty air flowed around them. With a flick of her fingers, Taya conjured an orb of magelight and sent the glowing sphere bobbing ahead. Without looking back, she strode through the door to the staircase and started down.
“Quickly, children,” Amara urged as she followed after the princess.
Jelena clasped Ashinji’s hand and led him forward. “Come, Husband,” she said. “We have work to do.”
Taya, Amara, and the magelight had already disappeared around the first turn of the staircase. Gran and Sonoe stepped through onto the landing and the eldest Kirian closed the panel behind them, plunging the passage into darkness.
Ashinji could feel Sonoe’s presence at his back; while not exactly menacing, nonetheless, an uncomfortable tingle pricked the nape of his neck. He squeezed Jelena’s hand and felt her squeeze back as she started down, pulling him along in her wake.
The stairs spiraled through three turns and ended in another passage, this one made of rough-hewn stone. Taya and Amara already stood at the far end before a plain wooden door. As the others caught up, Taya whispered a single word and tapped the door with a forefinger. It swung open to reveal a small circular chamber. An elaborate pattern of lines had been carved into the hard-packed clay floor. Taya stood aside and indicated with a wave of her hand that they should all enter ahead of her. When everyone had gathered inside the little room, the princess spoke another word and the door shut with a soft thud. She then clapped her hands once and Ashinji started in surprise as a backwash of magical energy blew over him, setting every nerve afire for an instant.
“The door is now sealed against anyone or anything without the proper password,” Taya explained as she looked first at Jelena, then Ashinji. In the silvery glow of the magelight, the planes of her face stood out in sharp relief. “Before we go,” she continued, “I want to describe what we will encounter on the other side. Or, I should say, what I think we will encounter, for none of us here knows for sure.”
She glanced at her fellow Kirians before continuing.
“This portal is linked with at least two others we know of within the Black Tower. The one we seek lies closest to the center of the fortress. Nearby, we hope to find the main Spell Chamber-the place where the ancient Kirians worked their greatest magic-intact. This room is the safest place to perform the Ritual, though if we can’t reach it, or if it’s been destroyed, we can work anywhere within the fortress. Once we reach our destination, there is no turning back. We must either accomplish our task, or die trying.”
“We won’t fail, Aunt,” Jelena stated. She lifted her chin and added, “My daughter’s future depends on us.”
She looks so brave and determined , Ashinji thought. She’s not the least bit afraid, not anymore…Goddess, I’m the one who’s terrified! How am I going to do this? How will I make myself kill the woman I love?
The princess gestured to the center of the room. “Jelena, Ashinji, stand there in the middle of the sigil. We will position ourselves around you and I’ll take us through. It will feel like you are falling. Remain calm. The sensation won’t last long.”
As everyone took their places, Ashinji brushed Jelena’s consciousness with his, communicating not with words, but with the direct force of his love. She returned the mental caress, but did not look at him.
Taya spoke a single Word and the chamber vanished.
Ashinji’s stomach lurched as the floor dropped from under him. He stifled a yell as his body plunged through nothingness. A heartbeat later, he found himself fighting to keep his balance on an uneven surface, all the while struggling to hang onto Jelena. Total darkness surrounded them and the cold, like a quick punch to the gut, took his breath away, despite his heavy fur-lined coat and quilted breeches.
Amara cried out in pain and Ashinji’s heart slammed against his ribs. “Mother, what’s wrong?” he shouted.
Someone muttered an incantation, and an orb of magelight flared to life, revealing a confusing jumble. It took several heartbeats of staring before Ashinji could make sense of things.
The group had materialized on a slope of shattered rock, cascading from an unseen source above. It flowed through a ragged hole to a buckled floor of flagstones below. Amara had slipped and fallen, and now crouched in the loose scree, clutching her ankle.
“Mother!” Ashinji cried in alarm.
“It’s all right, Son!” Amara gasped. “I twisted my ankle, that’s all.” Her face looked ghost-pale in the silver light, wreathed about with the steam of her breath.
“Go help your mother, Ashi.” Jelena nodded and patted his arm.
“Can you walk, Sister?” Sonoe asked.
Is that genuine concern I hear in her voice , Ashinji wondered, as he scrambled to help Amara, slipping his arm through hers and gently lifting her to her feet.
Amara grimaced as she put her full weight upon her injured ankle. “I’ll do well enough,” she declared. “Let’s just go.”
“The main Spell Chamber is supposed to lie at the end of a wide corridor, to the east of this portal,” Taya said, peering into the gloom. “The portal itself must be buried beneath all this rubble. That it still functions is a testament to the strength of the ancient Kirians.”
Ashinji took in their surroundings with horrified awe.
The amount of energy that had to have been unleashed to do such damage… he thought. I wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t standing here looking at this!
Ashinji pointed at the hole leading to the corridor below. “We’ll have to climb down there,” he said. “Do you think that’s the way to the Spell Chamber?”
“I believe so,” Taya replied.
“I’ll go first.” Ashinji looked over his shoulder at Gran. “I’ll need to borrow your magelight.”
“You can conjure your own magelight, Ashi,” Gran replied. “Just think about it, will it to be, and your Talent will transform your thought into substance.”
“This is no time for a magic lesson!” Sonoe snapped.
“Sonoe is right, Chiana,” Taya agreed, but before she could say any more, Ashinji had a small orb of light glowing on his palm. Neither as large nor as bright as those of the Kirians, it was magelight nonetheless, and he had done it just as Gran had said he could.
He cupped his hand and tossed the orb away from him as he would a game ball. It described a graceful arc and came to rest, hovering, just above the hole in the floor.
Despite the heavy layers of wool, leather, and fur between his skin and the air, Ashinji felt the bitter cold seeping into his flesh. He reached into the sleeve of his coat, withdrew a pair of thick leather gloves then pulled them on over fingers already numb with cold.