Legacy & Spellbound (24 page)

Describe her, please. If her spirit is held captive here, it will appear to us as her physical form.

Holly nodded and described Barbara in detail, both her physical appearance and her personality. Aliki closed her eyes and seemed to retreat inside herself. Time passed, and she did not move.

When her eyelids fluttered open, her eyes were blazing with green light.
You are in luck. She is imprisoned inside one of the caves at the base of the rock.

“Then let's go,” Holly said, turning.

Be careful. There are things much older and far more terrible than the Gate Guardian you just killed. I'll go with you to help you find your path.

Holly nodded understanding and started back down. The woman followed her, and Jer brought up the rear. When they reached the bottom, Aliki led them around the side. They walked for nearly half an hour before reaching a small aperture in the rock. It looked too small to be the opening of a cave, but their guide ducked her head and squeezed inside. Holly followed, and Jer anxiously ducked down and entered as well. Once inside, his skin began to crawl in a way that he recognized well. His family had cast its spell here; their magic crackled in the walls and turned his stomach.

Every fiber of his being shouted out for him to
turn and flee, but he doggedly followed the two women. The passageway was narrow, and his shoulders scraped painfully against the walls as they passed through. At last they rounded a corner and a cavern was revealed. Jer exited into it with a feeling of relief.

Blue flames leaped into life all around the perimeter of the cave. Pictographs graced the walls, standing out in stark relief and seeming to blaze with a life all their own. Several passageways led off the cavern into darkness, and once more Jer shuddered. The feeling of evil was overwhelming.

In a dark corner of the cavern a green light shimmered. Holly moved toward it slowly, as though something was pulling her. Jer hung back instinctively. When Holly drew close to it, she gasped. “Barbara!” Holly raced forward and fell to her knees before the light.

Cautiously, Jer crept forward. An old woman with tortured eyes looked up at him from the green mists of energy. She seemed half-spirit, half-flesh. Her mouth formed silent words, and her eyes pleaded with them.

Holly reached out a shaking hand as though to touch her.

The mists swirled and coalesced on top of her chest, becoming a hideous, dark shadow. The shadow was blurred, but Holly could trace the silhouette of the creature that tormented her.

Take care,
Aliki warned as she glided up beside her.
She has been here for some time. You must be very gentle and very precise or she will die.

Holly nodded slowly. “Tell me what to do.”

In the old days, leaders of my people came here to seek enlightenment and to commune with our gods.
She frowned.
I showed these secrets to Sir Richard in return for favor. We had a ritual for coming and a ritual for going. You have used the ritual for coming or you would not be here. You will have to do it for yourselves as well when you want to go. This is where she entered this land and so this is where she must leave. You must leave where you entered.

“Why haven't you performed this ritual for yourself?” Jer asked.

She looked at him sadly.
I have the House of Moore to thank for that. Someday, I'll free myself. But for now, I'm trapped here.

She bent swiftly and drew a circle around Barbara.
Watch carefully,
she instructed.

She began murmuring a spell in a beautiful language. Jer struggled to hear the words, to remember them.

The image of Barbara shimmered once and then returned. Aliki nodded as if to herself.

Kulpunya still holds her here. He is a spirit-dingo. He was originally sent to Ayres Rock to kill the people who lived
there by their enemies. He can be forced to obey with a chant.
She narrowed her eyes and set her jaw, as if coming to some kind of decision.
I will teach it to you.

Holly glanced at Jer apprehensively. “Two chants?”

Jer said to Holly, “You remember one, and I'll remember the other.” He paused. “I'll learn the one to tame Kulpunya.”

The woman held up a hand.
If you mispronounce even a single word, you will free Kulpunya from his bondage, and he will try to rip you to pieces.

“Then I'm
definitely
the one learning the chant,” Jer said.

Holly looked alarmed. “Why can't you say it for us?” she asked the woman.

I am of this place now,
she replied.
My magic won't work on him.

Then she hesitated. After a moment, she drew Jer a distance away from Holly and stationed him so that her back was to Holly. She said to him in a quiet voice, not using her mind, “I need to warn you. Your spirit and hers, they are at war on another plane.” She touched his face, tracing his ruined flesh. “She did this to you.”

He licked his lips, felt the scarring on them with the tip of his tongue, and sighed heavily. “I know.”

And yet … you love each other. This passion … it can
rip you apart as surely as Kulpunya. It can rip her apart too.

He cocked his head, aware that Holly was staring at them. He steadily returned her gaze.

“I know that, too.”

“Jer?” Holly called.

He said to the woman, “Teach me the chant.” He held a hand up to keep Holly at bay. Holly's mouth dropped open and she stared at him, fuming.

“All right,” the woman said. “Let us begin.”

She began to chant. Jer listened carefully as her voice took on a strange, hypnotic drone, and soon the rhythmic syllables began to make sense to him, as if she were speaking English. Mental images of the nightmare creature stood out in sharp relief as she took his arm and led him back toward Barbara, still encased in green energy. It was hunched on top of her chest; and as Jer watched, it plunged its hand into Barbara's chest and squeezed her heart.

He was not aware he was speaking until Kulpunya jerked up his head and drew back fangs in a rictus snarl. Jer continued the chant, aided by Aliki, his voice drawing strength from hers, until their voices took on a bizarre, humming quality like a didgeridoo.

The monster growled deep in its throat and squeezed harder. The form of the aged, weakened Barbara threw back its head and whimpered in pain.

“Jer,” Holly murmured. “Jer, are you doing it right?”

He ignored her, continuing the chant with Aliki. She steadied his arm, raising her voice with his.

Then she turned to Holly and said, “Get ready. When I tell you, say your chant.”

Jer's voice continued to thrum, louder, louder still, as the monster's eyes narrowed. Blood and saliva dripped from its jaw. Its shoulders rounded, and the muscles in its legs bunched as it shifted its weight on Barbara's chest, preparing to spring.

Reflexive fear shot through Jer, but he kept his place in the chant.

Then it leaped at Jer.

Aliki shouted, “Now!”

Holly began her chant as Aliki bellowed at Jer, “Use your mind!”

As Kulpunya slammed into Jer and flung him to the floor of the cave, demons exploded from the dark passageways.

Seattle

Deep within his chamber of spells, Michael Deveraux looked up from his altar and smiled. “Well, well,” he said. “Someone's released Kulpunya.” He picked up a scrying crystal and gazed into it.

He turned to the other two participants in the night's ritual. “Care to make a journey with me?”

His son, Eli, and James Moore both nodded.

Amanda sat beside Tommy on the couch opposite Barbara Davis-Chin. Holly and Jer had been gone a while, and everyone had scattered around the room, resting and waiting and watching. Fear nibbled at the corners of her mind as she prayed protection spells for their absent comrades.

Tommy slid an arm around her shoulders and she stiffened, acutely aware of his touch. Deep inside her a new warmth began to spread, a feeling of well-being that belied their circumstances. Her skin tingled where it met Tommy's. He gave her a gentle tug and she leaned back gratefully into the circle of his arms.

She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. She felt so good that a twinge of guilt touched her. Who was she to feel so happy when her cousin and friend were in such terrible danger? Still, she could not stop the slow smile that spread across her face.

They sat that way for what seemed a long time. Slowly Amanda could feel the tension oozing from her body. She met Tommy's eyes and saw something beautiful shining in them. Slowly he bent his head toward
her to kiss her. And then Barbara Davis-Chin began to scream.

Australian Dreamtime

Michael Deveraux smiled as he opened his eyes and found himself in Australia.
Well, not exactly Australia, but close enough.
He turned and saw James and Eli beside him. Eli looked disoriented and a little unnerved. James, on the other hand, appeared completely unruffled.

Michael narrowed his eyes. He was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, he had underestimated Moore's kid. He would bear watching. There would be time enough for that later, though. For now, they had a witch to kill.

Michael turned slowly. Ayres Rock, desert floor.

And I know just where to start looking.

He had known Holly had returned to Seattle, but his falcons and scrying stones had been unable to locate her. When she had entered the Dreamtime, though, he had known it. She must have come trying to rescue her friend, Barbara, whose spirit he had exiled here. House Moore didn't claim an exclusive understanding of Australian magic.

As they began walking toward Ayres Rock he glanced again at his companions. Eli had been a lot quieter the past few weeks. He wondered if it had
anything to do with the Cathers witch that James had married out from under him. Michael was unsure where Eli's loyalties lay anymore, but he was sure there was a resentment of James that would work to his advantage.

When they reached the base of the rock, James commented, “They are inside it.”

Michael nodded. “That's where I had their friend trapped.”

“It's a big rock,” Eli said flatly.

Michael could feel himself growing irritated. “It's more than just a rock. It's a living thing.”

“Legend says that the rock was formed because two serpents were battling each other and became frozen together, locked in combat for all eternity,” James explained.

Michael nodded. “Let's wake them up.”

The demons flew from everywhere, and Holly threw three fireballs before she remembered that in the Dreamtime the mind was what mattered.

The hideous monster Kulpunya had pinned Jer to the ground; he had one hand around the creature's jaw, and blood was gushing down his arm.

“Jer, use your mind!” she shouted to him.

Kulpunya jerked his jaw free and dove at Jer.

“Your mind!” Holly shrieked.

At the last possible instant, the creature exploded. Gore splattered across Jer's face and arms, and Holly fought the urge to vomit as she dispatched another demon in a similar manner.

Aliki was also fighting, taking out demon after demon. While Holly hazarded a glance her way, a demon seized the opportunity and charged her. Before she could stop the creature it hit her
and passed right through!

Holly doubled over in pain, feeling as though every one of her internal organs were ripped to shreds. It was then that she saw the demon carrying a scythe in each hand. Too late, she shouted out a warning. Aliki turned just in time to see the creature as it sliced her in half.

As Holly groaned, the two halves of Aliki's body hit the dirt and vanished.
She was more spirit than flesh,
Holly realized. She had little time for reflection, though, as she straightened up to face another assault.

Suddenly the earth shook violently and it threw her face-first into the dirt. She heard a heavy thud and guessed that it had knocked Jer off his feet too.

Earthquake?

As she pushed herself to a sitting position, the ground shook again. She glanced up and saw Jer rising
unsteadily to his feet. All the demons had vanished.
Not good.

Ulu had lain in the sand a long time, so long that he had forgotten how many millennia had come and gone. Even now as he shuddered and the dust of ages fell from him, his mind quickened, flitting back through time, searching for a purpose, a meaning to it all. He groaned and stretched out sinuously. His long tongue slid out between his fangs and tasted the air, savoring the sensation. He felt bruised and scarred but above all he felt alive. He took a deep breath that rumbled in his lungs and exhaled slowly. Then he remembered Ru.

His eyes flashed open, seeking those of his brother. Ru stared back with cold, unfeeling eyes. Slowly the other snake began to uncoil and Ulu felt the almost forgotten sensation of hatred coursing through his veins.
Kill Ru,
his mind urged his body.

He pulled his head back and opened his mouth. Long fangs dripping venom extended downward, but Ru was ready for his attack and when Ulu struck, Ru was not where he had been. Instead, he feinted to the side and then came in, sinking his own fangs into Ulu. Ulu wrapped his body around Ru and began to squeeze as hard as he could.

* * *

Jer fell outside, and rolled as quickly as he could away from the heaving rock. Several feet away he managed to stagger to his feet and look up. His jaw dropped at what he saw.

There, above him, two enormous serpents were battling each other. Each was the red of the rock that moments before Jer and Holly had been inside. Holly, who had come tumbling out after him, joined him in looking upward, her face bearing a mixture of fear and awe.

“It will only last about another minute. Enjoy the show while you can,” a familiar, mocking voice advised.

Jer whirled around to find himself facing his father, brother, and James. He clenched his hands into fists at his side as rage tore through his body.