One day she would know, she vowed. One day she would take this crystal, or one like it, along with a diamond-flecked crystal for magical light, and explore that pit.
The thought brought a chill, though, and the memory of a shadowy creature confronting her—a creature she thought was the specter of her own death.
There were secrets in the dark depths of that pit, Aoleyn knew. The one thing Aoleyn liked about secrets was uncovering them.
* * *
They all approached the cave entrance together, women and men, and no one spoke a word. The Usgar-righinn gave a nod to the women maintaining the enchantment, and she released her magical energies, allowing the illusion to fade and the cave’s entrance to be revealed.
And within, the long corridor and an empty chamber.
No one was supposed to say a word until the Usgar-righinn gave permission, but Seonagh couldn’t suppress a small wail.
“Well, let us return to our people,” Mairen said with a heavy sigh, and she offered a quick prayer of “Usgar take her kindly.”
Seonagh, though, moved for the cave.
“No!” Connebragh and several others admonished her.
Seonagh caught herself midstep and glanced sheepishly at the Usgar-righinn, finding Mairen’s cold stare waiting for her. She apologized and the group began filtering away.
“Perhaps you will find the girl when you enter the cave from a different entrance,” Tay Aillig whispered to Seonagh as he walked by her.
Seonagh wanted to lash out back at him, but she didn’t, caught by surprise at the man’s tone, for truly he seemed disappointed, angry even, that Aoleyn was not here awaiting them.
Too many emotions and fears grabbed at her then, and so she just began walking off behind the others.
“Where are you all going?” The voice, the girl’s shout, came from high above.
As one, the group gasped and looked upward, to Aoleyn, sitting on a ledge up on the cliff face, her feet dangling, swinging back and forth carelessly.
She met Seonagh’s eyes directly, and the two exchanged heartfelt smiles.
The group gasped again—all but Seonagh–when Aoleyn kicked off from the ledge.
Aoleyn floated gently to the ground, landing gracefully among them.
“Brayth will have to wait,” Seonagh said bitingly to Tay Aillig.
The man just grinned an unsettling, conniving smirk, and Seonagh got the distinct impression that he was hardly upset by that notion.
22
MAGICAL JACKS
Over the next few weeks, Aoleyn used every spare moment to experiment with the two crystals she had taken from the caverns. Seonagh and the other witches had let her keep them, and even more amazing to the young woman, she wasn’t being discouraged in her experimentation with the magic. It also seemed to her that she was being given more free time.
The song of Usgar contained within the crystals seemed fainter than it had been in the cave, though, more distant. She didn’t need a teacher to explain that the vibrations of magic within the crystal-filled labyrinth had somehow made the song louder and more accessible to her—never had Aoleyn felt more attuned to the magic than in her time wandering the caverns beneath Craos’a’diad, not even when she was in the tree beside the great angled crystal manifestation of the god itself!
She wanted to go back to the cave. She had even asked Seonagh if it would be possible. The answer made it clear there was no such possibility, and offered no compromise. Aoleyn was not a stranger to mischief, but Seonagh had made it clear that any excursion she might take secretly to the caverns would ruin her entirely.
Aoleyn’s teacher had even hinted that if she snuck away for such a journey, she’d be caught and then would indeed go into the cave. Thrown into Craos’a’diad itself, and never to come back out.
Aoleyn dearly wanted to get back to the caves and knew that Seonagh had seen the near-desperation on her face.
Every time she tried to use her green-flecked crystal, she wanted to get back there all the more, for the song was distant out here. Aoleyn had trouble aligning her inner energy with the hum of the magic, more so than she had experienced while alone in the labyrinth. There was simply too much noise. The day-to-day life of the Usgar drowned out the crystal’s song.
She could still manage to levitate, but barely, and there was no way she would risk the type of controlled descent she had used to rejoin Seonagh and the others outside the cavern. She could still lift other objects off the ground, but only the tiniest of stones, and nothing like she had performed with Seonagh’s crystal that day in the tent.
Aoleyn didn’t understand it, and it bothered her. Was it her? Had she somehow damaged her magical abilities?
Or was it the crystal?
She purposely awakened early one morning to try to find out. It was still dark, and she heard Seonagh’s rhythmic breathing. Delicately, Aoleyn rolled off her cot and onto her knees on the floor, and slowly, so slowly, she crept across the room.
Aoleyn couldn’t really see it in the darkness, but had committed this room to memory. She made for Seonagh’s robe, which was hung on a hook at the foot of her bed, fighting hard to contain her excitement, repeatedly reminding herself to go slow.
She shuffled a bit too much, and Seonagh stirred. Aoleyn held perfectly still for many heartbeats before beginning again.
Her relief at reaching the robe was short-lived. The pockets were empty.
Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness a bit by then, and she made out Seonagh’s form in the cot. Seonagh’s shift had a pocket.
Aoleyn got to the side of the cot, and there she froze, settling in, letting Seonagh get used to the presence and settle more deeply into sleep.
Slowly, Aoleyn moved her hand, low, near the woman’s belly, but not touching. She knew where the pocket was located and was fairly certain that her hand was positioned right over it, but there she held in place again, gathering her courage, steadying her hand.
She reached for the pocket. She felt the crystals.
She felt Seonagh’s hand clamp hard over her wrist!
The older woman sat up forcefully, throwing Aoleyn’s hand aside, and Aoleyn fell back from the cot.
A light came up, just a little one, glowing from Seonagh’s pocket.
“What’re you about, girl?” the woman demanded, and her eyes, lit from below by the diamond-flecked crystal in Seonagh’s shift, looked demonic. “You would do well to tell me at once,” Seonagh pressed.
“I … I just wanted to borrow—”
“Borrow?” the woman growled angrily. “How dare…”
She started to come forward, as if to attack Aoleyn, but she stopped herself and stared at the young woman curiously.
“Why?” Seonagh asked, her voice calm once more.
“I just … just wanted one, and only for a moment.”
“And you could not ask?”
“I could not wait!” Aoleyn exclaimed.
Seonagh stared at her for a long while. “Why?”
“Just the green-flecked one, like the one you let me keep.”
Seonagh nodded, reminding her that she had not answered the question.
Aoleyn swallowed hard, not sure how to actually explain her fears, or questions.
“Go on. We’ve come too far now for you to be lying to me.”
Aoleyn pulled out her own crystal. “I can’t do much at all with this crystal,” she said.
“You jumped from a cliff and floated down.”
“Here, I mean,” Aoleyn explained. “I felt so … so mighty with it that night in the cave and the next morning. But here, it is almost useless in my hands.” She sniffled, and was surprised that she was so near to tears. “I think I have lost the magic.”
Seonagh shook her head and put on a comforting smile. “No, girl, you have not lost your magic. The crystals function more powerfully near Craos’a’diad. It is almost as if the crystals within the cave reach out to them and add to their strength, and to the powers of the witc
h.”
“But I’m not as strong as I was, even here,” she cried.
“Go fetch the crystal that let you float down to us,” Seonagh bade her.
Aoleyn retrieved it and was surprised to see Seonagh holding a crystal of her own when she returned to the cot.
“Reach inside your crystal,” said Seonagh. “Attune yourself to its song. Hear Usgar in your heart and be as one with the music within the crystal.”
Aoleyn did as she was told. She felt the magic whispering within the crystal and within herself, but it seemed distant once more, barely accessible. After a few frustrating moments, she opened her eyes. “What shall I do with it?”
Seonagh motioned with her hand. “Give it to me.”
Aoleyn handed it over, somewhat reluctantly, for she feared that she would not get it back. She was surprised when Seonagh took it, and held out her own crystal in exchange.
“Do it again, with mine,” she explained.
Aoleyn brought the crystal in against her breath and searched for the song—and found it waiting for her, thrumming powerfully! Her eyes opened in shock.
“Did I break the other one?”
“No, silly girl!” Seonagh said with a laugh.
“But…” Aoleyn shook her head, seeming at a loss. She looked down at the crystal she now held and felt certain that she could leap from the highest peak of Fireach Speuer and use it to float down gently. She was smiling, despite herself, when she looked back at Seonagh, her expression curious, expecting an answer.
But Seonagh held silent, and wore her teacher’s face sternly.
Aoleyn lost her smile and focused again on the gem, her thoughts spinning. She glanced at the crystal Seonagh now held, then to this one, before looking up again, nearly gasping as she did.
“They are not all the same!” Aoleyn blurted.
“What do you mean?”
“The crystals—even the ones with the same colors in them,” she said, talking so fast that her thoughts could hardly keep up. “They are different in…” She stuttered about, looking for the word.
“Power,” Seonagh offered, and Aoleyn wagged her head excitedly. “The one you hold now is quite powerful, quite loud with the song of Usgar,” Seonagh explained. “This one you have given me can only whisper.”
“Unless I am near the crystal cave—Craos’a’diad!” Aoleyn said triumphantly.
She felt quite pleased, and more so because Seonagh looked quite pleased.
“Go to bed, young Aoleyn,” she said. “I will forgive you for waking me … just this once.”
Aoleyn wagged her head happily and spun about.
“Aoleyn!” Seonagh barked, and Aoleyn swung about to see Seonagh motioning with one hand and holding Aoleyn’s weaker crystal with the other.
The girl sheepishly completed the exchange.
Her fears had been calmed. But Aoleyn got no further sleep that night, her thoughts chasing many tangents in an attempt to sort out these beauteous revelations.
* * *
The Usgar encampment bristled with excitement as the last raid of the season drew near. While the warriors were down by the lake hunting for supplies and slaves, the camp would move to the winter plateau. The thought made Aoleyn giddy. She believed that she would find much greater magical powers nearer to Craos’a’diad, and Seonagh had hinted that she would be given new crystals to study during the short days of winter.
She would not participate in the ritual that preceded the raid this season, but in that, too, Seonagh had teased her, hinting quietly that Aoleyn would possibly be included in the dance and the blessing of the weapons.
The thought both intrigued and terrified the young woman, reminding her keenly that she was a woman now and that her days were relatively carefree compared with the responsibilities that might soon be upon her. Suppose she blessed a weapon incorrectly—her blunder could cost a warrior his very life!
During those last days of the summer encampment, Aoleyn found herself with little to do. Aside from the basic cleaning and food gathering, Seonagh set out no other tasks, and even encouraged Aoleyn to go and experiment with her crystal, or to wander as her heart led her. So she did, meandering about, using her green-flecked crystal to scare away a squirrel by lifting the acorn it sought into the air, then catching the squirrel itself with the magic as it leaped high for a tree.
The creature floated up to the branches, and as soon as she was certain it had caught on to one, a giggling Aoleyn released the magic.
She spent many hours seeing how high she could leap with the help of the stone. She ran, she jumped, using the magic to elevate her higher and farther by turn.
For all the silly ways Aoleyn found to amuse herself, though, the days remained quite long—at least until she found another who was as unengaged as she: the slave boy Bahdlahn.
“Nothing to do?” she asked, coming up behind him as he sat. Bahdlahn turned and smiled at her, but motioned for her to be quiet, then turned his attention back to watch a tortoise that was trying, unsuccessfully, to clamber over a stone.
At first, Aoleyn was more intrigued by the boy than the tortoise. He had been worked hard in the last couple of years, a beast of burden for the tribe. His days were spent hauling buckets of water, carrying deer and other animals killed in the hunts, or simply moving stones. He never complained. All of it was having a profound effect on the young man’s body. He was thin—they didn’t feed him very much—but his sinewy muscles were hard and tight. His filthy shirt was torn, revealing his upper back, and that, too, rippled with lean muscle.
Aoleyn admired his form, nodding at his strength, and found herself wondering if, in a couple of years hence, there would be an uamhas man in the tribe.
She blinked and noted Bahdlahn’s intensity as he watched that poor tortoise trying to climb over the rock.
Aoleyn grinned and clutched her crystal to her breast.
The tortoise began easily walking up the side of the stone, climbed right over it, and gently floated back to the ground on the other side, to continue on its way.
Bahdlahn nearly jumped to his feet, and when he looked back to Aoleyn, the astonishment painted on his face made her giggle.
“I did it,” she said, to which the boy responded with a confused look.
Aoleyn showed him the green-flecked crystal, from which he immediately recoiled.
“Oh, don’t be afraid!” she said. “It is mine. I control it. It won’t hurt you.” She had an idea. “Do you want to play a game?”
The boy hesitated for a long while, then only tentatively nodded.
“I didn’t have to ask, you know,” Aoleyn reminded. “I could have told you that we were going to play a game, and you would have to, wouldn’t you?”
When he didn’t respond, she told him to stand up.
Aoleyn reached inside the crystal with all her power, focusing on him. “Jump!” she commanded suddenly, and she threw her telekinetic power at him.
Bahdlahn did jump, reflexively, but even with Aoleyn’s magic, the young man didn’t get very high, nothing out of the ordinary.
Aoleyn snorted. How she wished she had Seonagh’s crystal instead! She imagined Bahdlahn flying up into the air, his feet higher than a tall man’s head. He’d cry out, surely, and she could float him back to the ground.
The thought had her giggling once more.
And she found another idea.
“Follow me,” she instructed, and she went back toward the Usgar encampment, just a few dozen paces from the camp’s southern edge, down in a rocky dell and out of sight of the encampment.
“Watch,” she told Bahdlahn. She sat cross-legged on the ground and spotted a nearby pebble. With the crystal, she magically floated it off the ground.
Bahdlahn gave a stifled little cry of surprise and fear.
“Oh, don’t be afraid,” Aoleyn scolded.
The pebble rose to the sitting girl’s eye level, and she brought a second one up, as well, to the other side of her, but both very near.
/>
Aoleyn took a deep breath, then let the magic drop, and so let the stones drop. Fast as a striking snake, her free hand shot out and caught the stones, one, two. She opened her hand before Bahdlahn, revealing her victory.
“I’ve caught as many as six,” she bragged. “How many do you think you can catch?”
He seemed not to understand.
“Sit,” she told him, and when he did, she asked, “Which hand will you use?”
He still seemed not to understand.
“To catch the pebbles!” the girl explained, and in her exasperation, she almost called him Thump! “Which hand? You can only use one.”
Bahdlahn looked at his hands, shrugged, and held up the left.
Aoleyn nodded and chewed her lower lip, clutching the crystal tight once more. “Wait for me to tell you when to catch them,” she said.
On the ground before Bahdlahn, a pebble shook and lifted, then a second and a third joined it, the three floating up to the sitting boy’s eye level.
“Ready?”
Bahdlahn nodded.
“Go!” Aoleyn said and released the magic.
The stones fell and Bahdlahn caught them, one, two … and almost three, the last pebble bouncing off the side of his hand and flying aside.
“Oh, nearly!” Aoleyn exclaimed. “Put them down and do it again.”
He caught all three the next try.
And so they made a competition of it, and were soon laughing. Then they worked together—how many could they catch using all four hands, Aoleyn wondered?
She tucked the crystal under her chin, and to her delight, discovered that she could hear the song in that position, even without her fingers about the item. As she did that, Bahdlahn fetched a bunch of pebbles, laying them all about the ground before them.
Instead of focusing her magic on one at a time, Aoleyn concentrated on the area itself, and sure enough, more than a score of pebbles floated into the air.
Aoleyn found it hard to breathe from the excitement, amazed by her control of the magic. This was the best kind of practice, she decided then and there! She was finding out so much more about what she might do, and it was fun!