The Heartstone (9 page)

A few days later, when Ariana walked into the study, it was empty. She found a note on the table. “Find Me.” Closing her eyes, she focused on the Stone, clear, no colors tinted the surface. She pictured Cerynus, clear gray eyes, thin face, terse renaissance lips smiling at her. His image shifted in her mind, blurred greens and blues, a strong sense of outdoors. The colors coalesced into a clearing circled by oaks. Opening her eyes, she went outside and followed a trail tucked in the undergrowth behind the herb garden. She knew she was going the right way. The trail ended at the grove she had visualized. Cerynus sat looking at her in the center. “Good. You are learning quickly. Come.” He rose.

A huge sheet of green light barred her way. She stopped energy jolting through her from the force field. A sharp pain lanced between her eyes. She groaned, putting her hand to her head. “A safeguard,” Cerynus gestured. The light dimmed. Ariana walked over to him.

“Wild magic is present in the sacred grove. Here you can work with the Stone unshielded, full power undetected.” Ariana took the Stone out from under her shirt; bright green light emanated from it, shot through with greenish black streaks in the center of the stone.

“First lesson, lie down in the center of the grove and touch the Wild Magic.” Ariana lay on her back, hands touching the ground. Closing her eyes she tried to feel the magic… nothing.

“Listen, Ariana...Empty your mind. Feel the Music.” Cerynus whispered.

Ariana felt the sun’s warmth, smelled the fragrant grass, and listened to the rustling oaks. The Stone branded her with heat. She felt a deep hum rising from the depths of the land. It pulsed through her. She couldn’t decide if it was pain or pleasure. Energy rose from the earth vibrating through the delicate filigree of roots into solid trunks. It streamed out from the branches into the sky above, eddied through the winds, and then rained back into the ground seeping deep into the world’s foundation. For a heartbeat, she held the rabbit’s frozen terror and wolf’s snapping jaws within her. She was the forest. The power of life arced through her. She shuddered and gave in to rapture.

Something shook her, breaking the cocoon of bliss. She opened her eyes. Cerynus slapped her lightly. He held her by the shoulders, concerned. Drenched in sweat she sat up. Her head spiked with pain. She felt hung over.

“What happened?” She groaned. He gave her a water skin. She drank greedily. “The wild magic almost got you. It can be seductive and some have been lost forever. “

“Ow.” Gently she massaged her throbbing temples.

“You’ll be alright. Never lose yourself in any magic. When you use the Heartstone you must draw on your own inner strength and identity.”

“What?” Ariana looked blankly at him. She almost laughed through the pounding in her head. How was she supposed to draw on her identity when she didn’t know who she was anymore? She could hardly hear him through the pounding in her head.

“Come, we’ll go back to Shady Vale. You can go to the bathing pool. It will soothe your head.” Cerynus said.

Numbly Ariana nodded. Her head felt like it was going to explode. Cerynus spoke a word and the pain subsided to a dull ache. She made a mental note to learn that trick. She went to the pool and washed away the last of the pain under the waterfall. She also washed her clothes then set them on the rocks to dry in the sun. For this moment at least she was content. Floating on her back after washing her hair with the herb soap Cerynus had given her she sighed. The sky was blue and the sun was warm on her face. Her headache wasn’t even a memory. Eventually she paddled to the edge of the pool and dressed in her now dry clothes. She hoped some of the honey cakes were left in the kitchen.

That night she sat in front of the fire with Cerynus. They had finished a simple but hearty meal. Ariana looked at him. “Who does the cooking?”

“I do.”

“When?” She laughed, “I never see you in the kitchen.”

“I enhance my cooking with magic. It’s simple to keep a pot of stew or porridge boiling. I trade for the milk and butter. I make the bannocks and bread once a week.”

Cerynus glanced at her. “While you were bathing I did some research. In the vision, your mother was dressed as a guardian of Galancarrig. Only people with the most powerful magical talent were considered to be guardians. It was a post handed down through families along the female line. It was a great honor. The Guardians vowed to protect the Heartstone. When Galancarrig was destroyed it was believed all died in the carnage and that the Stone was lost forever.”

“If she was a priestess or something how could she have a baby?”

“The Guardians were not celibate and to be taken as a partner by a guardian was a high honor. When a child was born to the pair that child could choose to remain as a guardian or was free to choose another path. There was a whole community at Galancarrig. They say there are still some remnants in the Serenvale Mountains.”

“So there may be people there who knew my mother?”

Cerynus looked at her. “It was a long time ago.”

“How long?”

“Thirty years.”

“That’s crazy. I’m only twenty five.”

“I don’t have an answer for you.”

Ariana didn’t want to believe him. “Is there any way to prove any of this?”

“I was reading about a certain mark. Do you have any birthmarks my dear?”

Slowly Ariana lifted the hair behind her left ear. Nestled behind her ear was a small mark. Cerynus handed her a parchment with a sketch on it. It was a star, the same as the mark behind her ear. She could still remember when she’d realized it was there. The hairdresser had asked her why she hid such a cool tattoo. She’d looked in the mirror appalled. Ever since then she wore her hair low over her ears to stop the questions. This was it, more proof. It was all too much. It seemed she had no choice.

There was something else...” he hesitated. “Do you know who the youth was at the end of the vision?”

Ariana shivered, that face scared her. “No, I was hoping you would.”

For the rest of the week Ariana worked with wild magic. Cerynus taught her to clear her mind and concentrate on the task at hand. She became comfortable with the four elements, able to control them easily. They settled into a pattern. In the mornings were lessons. After lunch Ariana practiced and at night Cerynus would tell her about his research on the Stone, or they’d sit relaxing before the fire. Ariana looked forward to the evenings together in the firelight. She could relax and feel safe here with the only sounds turning pages and crackling flames.

By the middle of the second week, Ariana grew restless. Worries about Jarod and questions about her parents intruded on her concentration. Cerynus noticed. Suddenly she was unable to access the magic.

“You can’t get lazy. You are a newborn babe. You have potential. Yes, more than I’ve ever seen. But Rhysin could stop you before you even drew breath. There is no second chance.” Chastened, she continued practicing. But still her mind wandered to Jarod, she hoped he was all right. The water eddied and she saw Dun Caer.

A pall of smoke hung over the town. Dun Caer was rubble. Deserted, except for bodies tumbled haphazard in the streets. Small fires smoldered in the thatch and charred timbers littered the streets. Periodic screams sounded as the invaders found hidden victims. A battering ram impaled the gate surrounded by splintered wood, mangled iron and twisted corpses of defenders and invaders. The courtyard was filled with Rhysin’s forces, dressed in black and crimson emblazoned with a stylized cat. Smoke poured out of the windows as Dun Caer burned.

Prisoners sat stunned in one corner, Ariana couldn’t hear but she saw the anguish on their faces. Soldiers and two leashed creatures guarded them. They mimicked panthers, but these cats had never lived. They gleamed metallic in the smoky light. Their blazing eyes unblinking, lusting to rend and tear the prey before them. Their tails lashed with excitement and great claws unsheathed from silver paws as a prisoner moaned. Looking straight at Ariana they leapt up screeching.

Ariana reeled away from the bowl, shaken from her vision. Where was Jarod? Was he alive? Tears streamed down her cheeks, Cerynus came over and supported her. He led her to a chair. He knelt holding her cold hands, “What did you see?”

“Dun Caer, destroyed, Rhysin’s forces have taken over. It was horrible, death everywhere. I couldn’t find Jarod or Kievran”

Cerynus stood. “We have to move more quickly than I had planned. Tonight we go to the Grove.”

“But what about Jarod?”

“There is nothing we can do for him. If he is alive he’ll come back to Shady Vale.”

“But what about the people?”

“The only way you can avenge them is to learn as much as I can teach you and defeat Rhysin. We don’t have time to waste. Tonight you must be initiated.”

Moonlight washed the trees; warm green metamorphosed to cold silver throwing shadows into stark relief. Darkness pressed against Ariana following Cerynus on the now familiar path toward the grove. She felt numb, trying to understand her vision. She shivered in her white shift. What was she supposed to do? Cerynus had been mysterious. She was to stay in the grove until dawn no matter what. What was going to happen?

In the center of the clearing Cerynus gestured for. He’d warned her earlier not to speak. Chanting softly he took jars of white, red and black pigment from his bundle. He painted symbols on her hands, forehead and the soles of her feet. Briefly his hand touched her breasts and belly. His touch was cool and impersonal. His face was remote in the silver light. He looked over her head as he circled her.

Putting the jars away, he spread sweet oil under her nose and on her eyelids. Then he gave her a flask covered in symbols, gesturing for her to drink. It was bitter. She forced herself not to gag as she swallowed. Things grew fuzzy. Cerynus helped her down to the woven mat he’d provided. She sat abruptly. Cerynus looked deep in her eyes placed his hand on her head in a final benediction and left.

Alone in the moon washed woods she looked around wondering. Cerynus had said only it was up to her. He had also said she had to be naked under the moon for the ritual to work. She was glad he’d gone. Taking a deep breath she let the white cloth puddle around her feet. She stood naked except for the Heartstone. Her arms rose to cover her breasts. But some instinct stopped her and they fell back to her sides. She shivered, exposed, defenseless.

The shadows deepened, more menacing every second. The Heartstone, it was drawing the shadows, she had to get rid of it, now. The desire to rid herself of the stone swept over her. She shook her head clearing it for a second. Cerynus had said to hold onto the Stone. The shadows were trying to trick her. She looked at the Stone concentrating.

Memories flashed through her. But they weren’t her memories. She was her mother, three or four years old. She was dancing in a sunlit meadow and suddenly she was able to weave the sunlight, making patterns in the summer sun. She was part of the sunlight and as she danced thousands of blue and yellow butterflies flew around her until they spiraled up into the cloudless sky.

Something woke her. She turned with a smile to her man, Aran. His golden brown hair tickled her nose. He slept his back to her. She cuddled close for a moment. Clink, the smallest sound, she tensed. Something was wrong. She slipped into her robes checked on the sleeping baby and went outside. There was a crack of thunder and even as she watched lightning hit the tower. She ran forward heedless of the rain. A great wind whipped around her and the earth shook under her feet. Someone was trying to steal the Heartstone. She ran to the tower. A sword slashed at her and she fell, her lifeless eyes filled with horror and the rain beating down on her pale face.

No! Her mother had lived to save the stone, for her. Gritting her teeth she opened her eyes and looked at it. The shadows wouldn’t trick her. She was the Stonebearer. The Stone glowed blue and the hot honeysweet current engulfed her.

She was mindless, whirling, in a maelstrom. She needed to focus the energy, to control it or be sucked dry. Left only with a drooling stare blinded by that seductive force. She wrestled with the Stone, visualizing it as a reservoir holding the power, forcing it back, leaving only vestiges within reach, a small conduit between them.

Strength filled her. She flew among the birds, fled on scampering paws, panted hungry for hot blood. She was the river rushing to the ocean. She was the wind sweeping through the mountains. She was the sun bathing the world in heat. She became aware of darkness; starting as a small itch it became a persistent blight on the land. Gray smoke rose from burned land where no life grew. She fought against it a fresh wind whipped the smoke away and shoots pushed through the ashy soil.