away.”
Melenea nodded in turn. Sharissa had explained this to her earlier; had gone through each agonizing moment again and again. It had hurt her deeply to relive that time, but the other woman had insisted that she needed to know exactly what had happened.
“I wonder…”
“What?”
The enchantress shook her head. “Nothing. Idle thoughts, sweet one.”
Sharissa came over and pointed at the additions she had made. “There’s where I had to alter what Father had created.”
“That pattern should not be possible,” Melenea breathed in astonishment.
“Father said the same thing, but when he looked close, he saw that the other realm was intruding into our own. That was what sent us out to the ridge and…” She trailed off.
“Don’t trouble yourself with that anymore.” Circling the astonishing panorama once more, Melenea smiled. It was a smile unlike the others Sharissa had seen. This smile denoted satisfaction, great satisfaction. She wondered whether the enchantress had indeed discovered a way to recover her father.
“I think, pretty Shari, that you should add something here.” A thin, elegant finger pointed toward the very center of the spiral. “And here.” The finger now pointed toward a spot near the ceiling.
“Are you certain?” The locations that Melenea pointed to were certainly open to stable additions, but their purposes escaped the younger Vraad.
The brilliant smile banished her fears. “Oh, yes, Shari! We don’t dare go on until you add crystals to those two points.”
“All right.” Sharissa walked over to a case on a worktable. The lock spell protecting it was one she knew, having opened it often in the past. The case itself was wooden, with intricate scrollwork. Dru Zeree’s mark was upon it, emblazoned in the center. This was where he kept the crystals he used in his work.
“I-” She was about to tell Melenea that she knew neither the size nor the color of the proper crystals, but then another mind entered hers, interrupting her chain of thought.
It was Sirvak. Mistressss, Tezerenee Gerrod departss.
So soon? That did not sound like Gerrod. Are you certain?
There was a moment of hesitation, which Sharissa took as the familiar’s attempt to confirm its own statement. The Tezerenee is nowhere outside, mistressss. I have protected home asss best asss I deemed posssible.
It was a peculiar way to put it, but she understood. Keep vigilant, though, Sirvak. He may try to gain entry again. Do what you have to in order to protect the castle. Father’s safety relies on you.
I do what I mussst, mistresss. Mistresss, I cannot enter the master’ss sanctum.
If I need you, I’ll let you in. It would be too time-consuming for now, Sirvak, and there’s no need. Father’s darkdwellers will assist with the work, if necessary. The darkdwellers were creatures of shadow that lived in the rafters above. They acted as extra hands for Dru when he experimented.
They are weak, mistresss, I-
That will be all, Sirvak!
I do what I must for the master and you, mistressss, Sirvak repeated again before breaking contact.
Sharissa briefly wondered at the last statement, not so much because of the words but the tone that Sirvak had used. The gold and black beast had sounded almost fatalistic.
“Shari, sweet thing?”
The crystals! “Sirvak linked with me, Melenea! Gerrod has departed, likely back to the Lord and Lady Tezerenee.”
“Has he now?” Melenea smiled thinly. “Watch him, Shari. He is likely the most devious of them. You cannot trust his words or his actions at any time.”
It fit with the way Sharissa had pictured the hooded Vraad. Gerrod was both a Vraad and a Tezerenee. What could be a worse combination?
“The crystals, Sharissa dear.” The enchantress tugged at one of the locks of hair following the line of her cheekbones. She seemed to be holding back a building excitement within her. Sharissa took that as indication of their eventual success. It made the need for proper crystals even more urgent.
“Which ones do you need?”
“Any will do.”
Sharissa’s head jerked upward and she stared at the other Vraad. “But the size and color! You can’t just put anything in there! You might destroy Father’s work and then we’d never be able to find him!”
With swift strides, the magnificent sorceress devoured the distance between them and took hold of her younger counterpart by the shoulders. The grip was perhaps a bit stronger than Sharissa would have liked. “Shari, dear little one, I know the workings of the crystals. Don’t you worry. Here.” Melenea took out two of the larger ones, a blue and a clear. “You need not worry. These two will do just fine.”
While Sharissa watched, still uneasy about the carefree choices, the enchantress returned to the brilliantly illuminated artifact and quite casually tossed the two new crystals into the center. Propelled by her power, the blue one immediately shot ceilingward. The clear crystal, meanwhile, struggled against the spiral pattern, which seemed to resist its addition with an almost living determination. Supported by Melenea’s will, however, the clear gem soon overcame opposition and took its place within the structure of the one spiral.
Her own additions had made perfect sense to her father once he had inspected the final results, but the younger Zeree, even after several seconds of careful study, could not comprehend what purpose these new pieces served. She said as much to Melenea, who gave her a smile that warmed Sharissa so because of the care that she read in it.
“It will become obvious over time. I promise you that. Now, there’s just one more thing. I’d like you to remove the crystals that would contain knowledge of the sighting where poor Dru vanished.”
That was easy enough. Happy to be once more an active part in her father’s rescue-and happy to understand what she was doing this time-Sharissa joined Melenea by the artifact. With deft skill, she summoned forth the magical gems in question, smiling as they broke away from their positions and fluttered to her waiting hand. While that went on, she brought forth replacements from the protective case. The newcomers fit into the places vacated by their predecessors with perfect ease.
Her skill earned her the praise of her friend. “How wonderfully deft you are, Shari sweet! Had I a daughter of my own, I could not be so proud as I am of you! Dru has raised you so well!”
Sharissa blushed deeply under the barrage of compliments from someone who was not her father.
“Now,” Melenea added, holding out one smooth, pale hand. “Give me the crystals and we can be on our way.”
“‘On our way’?” Sharissa almost dropped the gems. “Where are we going?”
Taking the younger woman’s hand in her own, the enchantress replied, “This is best done back in my own sanctum, dear love. I have methods I doubt Dru even knows… and I think you would be quite a bit safer there if blustery Barakas sends Gerrod back with a few more of his endless supply of relations. You see what I’m talking about?”
Sharissa did. No one really knew that Melenea was aiding her. The Tezerenee would hound her father’s castle, wasting time in which the two women could study the crystals’ findings. It made perfect sense to her and once more Sharissa was grateful for having the help of so good a friend as the caring enchantress.
“There are notes Father compiled that we’ll need. He has them in his private chambers, but I’ll be able to get them easily enough.”
“That’s fine. While you do that, I’d like the opportunity to inspect this chamber for anything else of importance to our goal.” Melenea squeezed Sharissa tight for a brief time. “Soon, you’ll see Dru again!”
Separating, Sharissa rushed from the room, the quicker to retrieve her father’s work and return. Her mind had slipped from the present moment to her eventual reunion with her father. It was because of those dreams that she passed the shadow without noting how it differed from the rest.
“Sharissa.”
She stumbled and fell back against one of the walls, disbelieving what she had heard. Her eyes scanned the corridor behind her, at last sighting the shadow that was no shadow.
