Page 65 of Pure Magic
We follow mutely. Ignoring the wet seeping through my boots, I help Sara Beth across.
On the other side, the hart walks to the tree and thrashes his antlers against the trunk.
The noise is so sharp and loud, a bird flies out of the tree, and Sara Beth gasps.
A three-inch tip breaks off his tallest point and rolls to the mossy ground.
Looking at each of us one more time, he grunts, then strides around the tree and disappears.
Hand shaking, Sara Beth picks up the piece of antler. “This was—I don’t know how I shall ever explain this to the great mother.” She giggles and clutches the shard with both hands.
“Do you feel something special from the gift?” I long to touch it yet know I’m not worthy of it.
She reaches toward me and opens her palm. “You’re wrong, Adam. The hart wouldn’t have gifted us had you been unworthy.”
“He gifted you. Your heart is pure.” Magic radiates from the hart’s gift.
Closing the distance between us, she takes my hand and wraps it around the antler. “He knew your heart and was not put off. What Kaden and Ariana are doing is not your fault. Men are not guilty by association. You have become a man of honor despite difficult circumstances. Why is it that you are the only one who cannot see it?”
The hart’s magic doesn’t reject me. In fact, it seeps below my skin as if exploring my power. “What do you think we are supposed to do with it?”
“Hopefully we’ll know when the time comes.” She wraps her hand around mine and we stand with our foreheads touching.
It was cool when we entered the woods, but the clearing is warm like a summer eve.
Magic sizzles behind us, and we turn to find Midhir standing at a table laden with food. “Eat and sleep. No harm will come to you in this place. When the sun rises, I will hide these woods until they are needed again. I think in the days to come you will be glad to have had one night of peace.” Without another word, he vanishes.
Roasted fowl, potatoes, and vegetables make my stomach grumble. It’s been a long time since we ate Lynda’s thoughtful bread and cheese. “He’s right about needing rest and food.”
Leaving the tree behind, we sit at the wooden table that was not here when we entered the clearing.
Sara Beth picks up a grape and eats it. “It feels and tastes real enough.”
“It smells like perfection.” I hold the chair for her to sit before sitting across from her.
She takes a leg from the fowl. “I feel a bit guilty for being so cross with Midhir when we entered the woods. This is very kind.”
Always thoughtful, even about her own behavior, is just one of the reasons I love her. “He provoked you. This kindness is because even the sacred hart has chosen us for this task. Perhaps our host didn’t believe we were the right people for the job when we entered.”
“It’s possible he just enjoyed a bit of foolery at another’s expense.” She bites into the meat and closes her eyes with a hum of delight.
“Also a possibility.” I wish we could stay in this clearing forever. It would be perfect to remain just as we are without any worries. “What if we wait until after the third, Beth. If she doesn’t have me, she can’t work her magic as she pleases.”
Before Sara Beth can reply, Goddess appears three feet from the table. “I wish it was that simple, child.”
I stand then bow. “Why isn’t it, Goddess? Ariana needs me, and here she can’t find me.”
Hair and diaphanous gown billowing in a nonexistent breeze, she floats a few inches above the ground. “When your sister’s attempt to capture you at Birchover failed, she found another to use in your place. The girl is not a perfect match, as you would have been, and the dark magic will probably kill her, but the attack could still work. She will take her brother and false sister to the great stone circle and open a gate as soon as the sun leaves the sky on the third day of the third month in this third year. When the gate opens, she will use the darkest of magic to kill all that live in the world beyond.”
Sara Beth says, “Why don’t you stop her, Goddess? Take her magic from her or bind it so she can harm none.”
Sadness dulls Goddess’s eyes. “Perhaps when she was a child, I could have done this. Her magic was still mine to take. I thought—perhaps it was only hope. I hoped she would use her gifts for good. I wished the priestesses of the Order would show her the way to the light.”
I’m torn between not wanting to know and having to hear the truth. “What happened while Ariana was with the Order?”
“What has never happened before. She opened a path to a world of dark magic. She changed her alliance. She gave him all her light, and in return, the dark one funneled his magic into her. I cannot bind her magic because it is not from me. The Order nuns tried to bind her when they saw what she’d willingly become. Your sister killed them.” Hecate closes her eyes and floats toward the stream.
“I don’t think I can kill her, Goddess.” My soul feels as if it’s being ripped from my body.
