Quest for the Moon Orb: Orbs of Rathira (55 page)

“This is yours to do,” Karma said.  “You need to follow your own instincts.”

“You’re right,” Kapia said.  She took a deep breath and tried to relax.  “At the top,” she said more decisively a few moments later.

Karma and Zakiel watched as  Kapia started up the incline toward the top, following right behind her.  Karma paused and looked back down at Nikura.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,”
he said.  She turned and followed Kapia the rest of the way up.

The top of the rock was a large, flat area that looked like nothing more than plain rock.  There was nothing to mark any one spot or area as different from the rest.  Karma and Zakiel stood at the edge as Kapia walked slowly around the entire area, then began crossing it back and forth.  Finally she knelt down in one spot and placed her hand on the rock surface.

“It’s here,” she said.

Zakiel, Karma and Nikura walked over and stood around her, all of them staring at the area she’d indicated with her hand. 

“Now what?” Kapia asked, looking up at them.

“Karaken said that only the
blood of the Maiden of the Moon can claim the Moon Orb,”
Zakiel said.  “I think that means that your blood is the key to opening it.”

“Makes sense to me,” Kapia said.  She reached for the dagger that Bredon had given her and slipped it out of its sheath, the shiny blade glinting in the sunlight. 

“I hope it doesn’t need too much blood,” she said as she held one hand over the rock and held the blade over her palm.  She froze, not moving for several long moments.

“Kapia?” Zakiel asked.  “Is something wrong?”

“What?  Oh, no, I was just...no,” she replied.  She lowered the blade and laid it on the rock in front of her.  Karma looked at Kapia and saw that her face was pale, save for two bright patches of red on each cheek.

“Kapia, what is it?” Karma asked.

“Remember when I said that Marene must be using my serpent ring to find us?”

“Yes,” Karma said.  “We remember.”

“Well, it occurs to me that I have often petted and scratched Nikura since we began this journey.  I’m sure I must have done it, at least a few times, with my right hand, which is where I wear the ring.”

Kapia raised her right hand and slipped the serpent ring off of her finger.  “Don’t you think Nikura would have sensed demon arts on the ring if he was that close to it?”

Zakiel took the ring from Kapia and held it out to Nikura, who leaned over and sniffed it closely.

“There are no demon arts on this object,”
he said after a moment.

“But Marene is dead now,” Karma said.  “Wouldn’t that have removed any demon arts that might have been there?”

“Her death would nullify her magic,”
Nikura said. 
“Not erase it, as though it had never been.  This soon after her death, I should still be able to scent any dark magic that was on it.”

Karma repeated what Nikura had said, shocking Zakiel.  Kapia’s face paled even further, but she did not look surprised.  She reached down and picked up the dagger that Bredon had given her, and handed it to Zakiel with a shaking hand.

Zakiel sucked in a harsh breath as understanding hit him.  He reached for the dagger reluctantly and froze when Karma suddenly yelled “Stop!”

Kapia, Nikura and Zakiel all stared at her in shock, but Karma barely noticed as she reached for the dagger and took it from Kapia’s hand.  “You touched it, the other night,” she said to Zakiel.  “When you got so angry at Kapia for having it.”

Zakiel’s eyes widened and he jerked his hand back.  “That’s why I got so angry,” he said.  “I couldn’t figure it out.  I even thought it might have had something to do with the Vatra.”

Kapia’s face was so white Karma was afraid for her.  The only thing she could do was get this done as fast as possible.  She held the dagger out toward Nikura, and held her breath. 

Nikura started to lean toward it, then leapt back and hissed.

The noise that Kapia made was part sob, part scream, and sounded as though it were ripped from her very soul.  Zakiel wrapped his arms around his sister, but Karma could see that Zakiel’s shock was hardly any less than Kapia’s.  She dropped the knife and slid over, wrapping her arms around her husband and sister.  

“Listen, both of you,” she said, “this does not necessarily mean what you both fear.”

Zakiel and Kapia both leaned back and looked at her, hope in their eyes.  “Zakiel, your
egora
beads were corrupted with demon arts, yet you knew nothing of it,” she reminded him.  “There is no reason to think that Bredon knew about this.”  A moment later she found herself in the crushing embrace of both of them.

“Thank you,” Kapia said.  “I was so afraid that..., thank you.”

“Yes,
valia
, thank you,” Zakiel said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. 

“You’re welcome,” Karma said, moving gently back out of their embrace.  “Now that we agree Bredon may be no less a victim than you, Zakiel, we must decide what to do next.”

“Shall we dispose of the knife?” Kapia asked uncertainly.  Even though she didn’t want to touch it, she could not forget that this was the
Mintaka-Til
, and Bredon had entrusted it to her care.  Could she simply toss it away?

Zakiel looked at Karma, who shrugged.  “Nikura?” she asked.  “No, wait.”  Karma sent a thread of energy into the Ti-Ank so that Zakiel and Kapia could hear whatever Nikura had to say.  “All right,” she said to Nikura once the glow of the Ti-Ank surrounded the Sphin.

“The knife allows the one who placed the magic on it to track it,” Nikura said.  “We can leave it here, toss it in the ocean, or keep it, though I would not recommend the later.”

“There is something else,” Karma said, frowning at the Sphin.  “Something else that bothers you.”

“Yes,”
Nikura agreed
.  “I am certain by the scent that the demon arts were placed there by Marene.”

“But Marene is dead,” Kapia said.

“Precisely the problem,”
Nikura said with a slow nod. 
“If she were dead, there would be a lingering scent of demon arts, but what I scent is active magic.”

“How can she not be dead?” Zakiel asked.  “We all spent many minutes washing her remains from our skin and hair.”

“I cannot be sure, of course,”
Nikura said,
“but my guess is that she found someone to possess.  She is fully demon now, as proven by the Ti-Ank’s reaction to her.  I should also mention that I scented a trace of blood on the knife, though I do not know whose it is.”

Kapia gasped.  “I know whose blood it is,” she said, her voice a pained whisper.  “It’s Bredon’s.”

“Are you certain?” Zakiel asked.

“Yes,” Kapia replied.  “He accidentally cut himself when he gave it to me.  Just a tiny cut, on his thumb.”

“Nikura, would that be enough?” Karma asked.

“I am not well versed in the demon arts,”
Nikura said,
“so I cannot be positive.  We have learned from what happened to you, Lady Techu, that demons do not always have to be invited, as we once believed.  If they are given an opening, they can and will use it.  Whether this is enough of an opening, I cannot say.  I think that it’s a possibility that should not be ignored.”

Karma met Kapia’s fearful gaze and reached out for her hand.  “Do not forget, Kapia, that I was saved from just such a fate by Zakiel’s love and strength.  Hope is not lost for Bredon.  He will need you.  Do not give up.”

Kapia swallowed hard and nodded.  “No, Karma, I will not give up.  Not ever.”  She straightened her shoulders and turned to her brother.  “Zakiel, may I use your knife, please?” 

He reached for the dagger he always carried and handed it to her.  Without hesitation, Kapia drew the knife across her hand in a shallow cut which instantly began to bleed.  She held her hand over the rock, unsurprised when the rock opened, revealing a dark space beneath the surface.  She reached in and pulled out a round, white ball that glittered so brightly the moment the sun hit it that they all had to shield their eyes.  Karma removed her vest and held it over the orb, shading it from the sun.  It was still bright, but at least they could now look upon it.

Even shaded, the orb flashed and glittered with inner fire.  Karma shook her head as she studied the object, unable to discern how such a thing could be. 

“This is a diamond,” she said as she ran one finger across its smooth, polished surface.  “A diamond that appears to be faceted from the inside out.”

Zakiel stared at the orb, not doubting Karma’s statement for a moment.  There was far too much fire in the object to be anything but a diamond.  A perfectly clear, intricately cut diamond with thousands of facets, all of them inside the orb.  “I cannot imagine how such a thing could be made,” he said.

“It wasn’t made,” Kapia said as she, too, stared at the orb that was nearly twice the size of her fist.  “It was created.”

“I don’t understand,” Zakiel said, frowning at Kapia. 

“This is not a diamond that was found in the ground, cut and polished,” Kapia explained.  “This was created using the natural power and energies of the people of Rathira, and those of Rathira itself.”  Kapia looked up at Zakiel and Karma, then frowned.  “I’m sorry, I can’t explain it any better than that.”

“It’s all right,” Karma said.  “I think I understand you.”

“It’s very beautiful,” Kapia said.  “And very powerful as well.”

“Yes, it is,” Karma agreed.  “It also means that we’ve succeeded in the first part of our quest.”

“Do you know where we are to go next?” Kapia asked as she wrapped the orb in Karma’s vest.

“Not yet,” Karma said.  “I’m sure we’ll learn soon enough.  For now, I suggest we get back to land.”

Zakiel and Kapia both nodded in agreement.  Kapia started to get up, then reached for the knife Bredon had given her, which lay on the rock where Karma had dropped it.  She turned it over in her hand, careful not to touch the blade.  She knew that she could not take it with her.  If Marene was still alive, and it seemed that she was, the knife would reveal every step they made to her.  Nor could she throw it into the sea, as Nikura had suggested.  She’d given Bredon her word that she would take care of it.

Suddenly, she dropped it into the dark cavern that had held the Moon Orb for a thousand years.  She stood, then backed away, watching the dark hole expectantly.  Just as she was about to give up, the rock that had hidden the Cradle of the Orb reappeared, sealing the
Mintaka-Til
safely within.

Don’t worry, Bredon,
she said silently,
I will come back for it one day.  This I promise.  No matter what.