Free Wrede, Patricia C - SSC by Book of Enchantments (v1.1) Page B

have believed, even
after all this time. But returning would mean losing all she had gained in the
long, painful years—not her power as Earthwitch, for that was soon to end in
any case, but her love of books and her knowledge of herbs; her fondness for
sunrise and bird-song; her occasional pleasure in being alone; all the things,
large and small, that made her herself and not a reflection of Evan Rydingsword
and his ambition. She would lose them, because she knew she did not possess the
strength to leave him twice.
    "I am the Earthwitch,"
she said aloud, and the words echoed in the darkened cave, bringing her back to
the present and the knowledge of her duties. She took a deep breath and set her
fears and longings aside, as she had learned to set aside all her emotions when
she invoked the earth magic. It was foolish to be concerned with such choices
now. Evan had asked the earth for help; if that help were to be given, some
price must be paid. Afterward, there would be time for other considerations, if
the earth's demands had not made them impossible.
    She set that thought aside, too,
and rose from her chair. It was time to begin. Her tools were laid ready on the
table before her: a small brazier of unlit charcoal, a cup of water from the
pool of visions, flint and tinder, a clean cloth. Making a request of the earth
magic was a more complex undertaking than accepting the visions it chose to show.
    Clearing her mind of everything
save Evan and the Dhainin, Mariel raised her arms and began the invocation. Her
hands moved almost without conscious thought, lighting the fire, sprinkling the
water, catching the flying ashes in the cloth. She sprinkled the fire again,
sending more flecks of ash whirling upward with the steam, and breathed in the
smoky scent. And knew before she opened the cloth what answer she would find there.
     
    When Evan woke, Mariel was sitting
beside his bed. Half dreaming still, he put out a hand, and she drew away. His
hand dropped; she looked at him gravely.
    "Are you determined?" she
asked.
    "What other choice do I
have?"
    "Then the earth magic will aid
you," she said in a cool voice.
    Evan sat up. "Thank you,
Mariel."
    "It is no doing of mine,"
she said sharply. "And the price is yet to be paid. You may still fail if
you have lied about your motives." Evan did not reply, and after a moment
she shook her head. "Come, then, if you are sure."
    She led him through a dark and
twisting passage, back to the pool where he had first seen her. At the iron
brazier, she stopped and pointed. "Stand beside the pool," she said,
"and do not move or look behind you until I tell you. Watch the water, and
think of your purpose."
    Evan stepped to the place she had
indicated. A flicker of orange light glittered suddenly on the surface of the
water and Mariel's voice began a harsh-sounding chant, but he did not turn. He
sensed power slowly growing around him, until it surged in invisible waves, and
he felt the very rocks were watching him. He stared at the water and thought of
his dying men, his burning villages and war-torn land, and his own powerlessness.
    The water became darker, reflecting
nothing. Slowly it drew away from the center of the pool, and Evan saw
something lying there, or growing, a shape blacker than darkness, darker than
night: a sword. He did not move. He hardly dared to breathe.
    Mariel's voice, the voice of the
Earthwitch, rose behind him in a rasping command, then stopped. The water of
the pool surged forward, then back, then forward again, and dull orange light
from the brazier glittered on its surface once more. Outlined against the
reflected light, the sword stood upright in the water, visible only as an
interruption in the sparkling ripples. Hands reached past Evan, holding a
cloth. A moment later, the sword had been pulled from the water, and a voice
said, "You may turn."
    Feeling as stiff and tired as if he
had just fought a long battle, Evan looked away from the pool. His eyes met
Mariel's