In her mind, she pictured the image she had seen in her visions. The coiling double-snakes – the image that burned with fire. The orb swung sluggishly, as if the very air around them was too thick for it to move freely. A dread filled her heart, a deep poignant dread. They followed the trail through the garden, listening for even the smallest scuff of a boot, a sigh or whisper that did not belong to the wind or the leaves. The garden was sprawling, weaving itself around the entire rear of the Abbey proper. Nestled within a maze of hedges, a maze that would have made her hopelessly lost, she found it. The hedge opened and revealed a sunken pit of stone, with a single stone lid as a shield to the opening. Night had fallen fully and she summoned just a little hint of light to observe the area. The feeling was utter blackness. The strength of the Medium in the place startled her – but it was not the familiar essence of Muirwood. It was raw, raging power – a force that made her feel insignificant and loathsome. The power was chained there, like a mighty beast sulking with fury at its captivity. She sensed it brooding beneath the stone.

“This is a fell place,” Martin whispered hoarsely. She looked back at him and saw his teeth clenched, his face twitching with concern as the tide of emotion surged around them. “Great evil lurks here. Do what you must, girl.”

Lia reached out and touched the surface of the Leering, closing her eyes and preparing herself for the battle of wills that would follow. The impression struck her like a pillar of pure stone, nearly crushing her with its weight. She lost all sense of herself for a moment, all sense of who she was. The blackness solidified around her and she recognized she had no power to speak, to move, or even blink. It was nothing but blackness, so thick she could see nothing, nothing at all. Her heartbeat’s frantic wail was the only sound that she heard. Not even a breath escaped her.

Then the smothering sense was gone and she could move again. The Leering had accepted her. She could almost feel a smug smile emanating from it. Tame me, child? it seemed to be saying. I am without beginning of days or end of years. Open my chasm and be acquainted with our ways. We are older than the stars. You will join us or you will die. We welcome you here, child of fallen Pry-Ree.

Lia’s skin crawled as the sniffing, mewling, hissing of the Myriad Ones dashed around her gleefully. They swarmed her, nudging and writhing around her as she knelt next to the stone. It made the small hairs on the her skin pucker. What was she to do?

The pull and tug of the Myriad Ones shrouded her, wrapping them in their folds so tightly she almost did not hear the Medium when it spoke. It was more of a gasp. A faint hint in deepest part of her soul.

Seek Hillel Lavender.

She heard it. She understood it. Rising, she shrugged away from the twisted beings lurking within the hedge maze. She walked quickly, following the orb through the maze until they emerged. Martin was chalk-white, his face haunted as he walked.

“What did you see?” Lia asked him.

He shook his head.

“Tell me,” she pressed.

“It was not what I saw but what I felt,” he answered. “The most vile thoughts came into my head. I dare not utter them. By Cheshu, a wicked place this is.” He looked at her fiercely. “You must end this, child. You must end this taint.”

She nodded. “That is why I came, I think.” Looking down at the orb, she asked it to find Hillel.

* * *

Without the Cruciger orb, she never would have found it. It was not a door hidden within the stone past a maze of secret tunnels that led her to Hillel’s room. The way was from the garden itself. A series of stone steps, hidden by the trees and the shrubbery, snaked their way up a single tower that rose like a great white torch into the star-spattered sky. The steps were narrow, the width more for the gait and size of a girl than a man. The stair coiled around the tower, ascending steeply round after round, going higher and higher. Lia motioned for Martin to wait below and with the orb in hand, she ascended. There was no railing to prevent a fall, only the wall itself to flatten herself against as she climbed higher and higher. The wind chilled her and made her shiver. Her legs burned as she continued to climb, coming around the tower again and again as she went up the neck of it towards a balcony she spotted high above her. Her heart thundered with the exertion. She knew she would find Hillel’s room at the top. There was no doubt of it.

Each step weighed against her, causing her to rest and gasp as she continued up and around, over and over. From the vantage of the tower, she could see the whole of the garden and realized some had lamps lit, which revealed little domes of light. She coughed against her arm to muffle the sound, and pressed upward, grateful her leg had healed so well. Another mountain to climb. One wrong step and she would plunge to her death. Best to keep focus on each step as she went. Another and another sweep around the tower wall. The breeze tugged at her cloak, giving her a sense of nausea. She licked her lips, trying to focus her courage. She was almost there.