sway from side to side. Four tribesmen, two men, and two women, with bodies painted entirely in red, stepped through the circle and grasped the woman. Two lifted her under her arms and the others held each leg as they raised her onto the platform.
James looked at Kilani and Luno, who wore horrified expressions. The red-painted tribesmen reached the top step of the platform. They placed the woman on the table-size stone, which James realized was hovering slightly over the top step. The woman kicked and spat and cried until she touched the stone. The moment she contacted it, she fell silent.
The red-painted tribesmen turned, leaving the woman on the stone. She did not make any attempt to escape. James again looked over at Luno.
“What the bloody hell is going on? Luno asked.
“They said they’re giving the island a gift,” said James.
“Human sacrifice,” said Luno.
James looked back at the platform. The warrior woman had removed a long dagger from her belt and was making her way up the steps toward the woman. James couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He wasn’t about to let it happen. He quickly stood as the warrior woman leaned over the stone table with knife in hand. The woman on the table hadn’t moved.
“Stop,” James cried in the native tongue. “This is not acceptable. You must not hurt this woman.”
“Chief, I have no intention of hurting this woman,” the warrior woman said with a mirthless smile. She took her dagger and cut the bindings on the woman’s wrists and ankles. Held by an invisible force, her arms immediately snapped outward and her legs opened. The warrior woman lifted her head, again smiled at James with her evil smile, and retreated back to the base of the platform.
Perhaps I’m wrong, James thought. The drumming stopped again and the torches surrounding the circle extinguished synchronously. For an instant, they were enveloped in darkness. Then a bright light shone on the platform. It was a perfect circle, its edge fell just one step below the stone table. The moon was aligned perfectly through the center hole in the trees and cast a beam of light more focused and intense than James or any in his group had ever seen.
The light was somehow mesmerizing and James couldn’t help but look in wonder as it crept ever so slowly closer to the edge of the table. The warrior woman stepped completely off the platform, careful to avoid the light, and returned to her place in the circle as the light came within inches of the edge of the table. James remained standing, ready to act.
The round beam of light struck the woman’s outstretched fingers first. She immediately let out a blood- curdling cry. Smoke began to rise from her hand as the flesh on her fingers quickly turned to dust. In an instant, James realized that the warrior woman wasn’t going to kill this woman, but the island was. Beside him, Luno, Kilani, William, and Roger had all gotten to their feet.
James ran toward the platform as the cries continued. Nearly her entire hand was now nothing but bleached bone. A slight breeze blew away the gray powder that moments ago had been her flesh. In the distant darkness the cries of a man echoed those of the victim.
As James reached the edge of the platform, he felt energy similar to that which came from the stone tower he’d touched in the cave on the Second Widow. He tried to surge through it, but he was unable and fell back to the ground. The others in his group hit the ground as well.
He quickly stood. “ Tertiri ze Manukto norge,” he said, sending a surge of electric energy that looked like a miniature lightning storm toward the barrier. The invisible wall absorbed the spell and did not yield. By this time the beam was creeping toward the woman’s elbow and her cries continued at an earsplitting volume. They could also still hear the unknown man’s cries in the darkness.
“You are defying the will of the island,” the warrior woman said calmly.
“The island did not put her on this table. You did,” said James. “ Tertiri ze Manukto suomi,” he said. Several large rocks lifted from the dirt beneath the ground outside the circle. He sent them hurtling toward the invisible barrier. Upon impact, each of the rocks shattered into sand. He then lifted a large amount of dirt into the air. It began to swirl like a hurricane creating a dense black cloud. James again directed it toward the barrier but this time sent it high into the air in hopes of blocking the moon’s rays from hurting the woman further. Unfortunately, regardless of how high he went, the barrier continued even higher.
James abandoned this idea, letting the dirt fall to the ground like rain on the tribe. The light had passed the woman’s elbow and was steadily moving closer to her torso. He knew he had only seconds before any intervention wouldn’t matter.
“ Tertiri ze Manukto suomi,” he said, concentrating on the stone table inside the barrier. To his surprise, the table rose into the air. James sent it as far from the circle of light as he could inside the barrier. The woman immediately stopped screaming and looked around, confused. The stone table struck the far side of the barrier and came to an awkward rest on the steps. James knew this was merely a temporary solution. The moonlight was steadily making its way in the direction of the woman. He had time, but not much.
The warrior woman ran to James’s side, an incredulous look on her face.
“You dare defile the ceremony? If this woman does not die, the island will seek its revenge upon us all. Especially the one who interrupted the ceremony.”
“I will not stand by and watch her die,” James said. “If I am truly your chief, I order you to help me.”
The warrior woman stood looking at James with a defiant expression. It was clear that regardless of his title, she had no intention of bringing an end to the ceremony. Kilani, who James had forgotten was even there, reached down to the warrior woman’s belt and ripped away a small sac. She tossed it to James. The warrior woman turned on Kilani, ready to fight. Kilani brought herself to her full height, over a head taller than the warrior woman, and the warrior woman paused, realizing she was outmatched. Infuriated, she turned and walked away.
As this was happening, James reached into the sac, pulled a pinch of transporting powder from the bag, sprinkled it over his head and said, “ Tertiri ze Manukto ahlnas.” The next thing he knew, he was standing inside the barrier beside the table. The woman looked up at James in surprise. She whispered in a language James could not understand. Tears streaked her face. James tried to lift her from the table, but she was held there by an invisible bond.
“ Tertiri ze Manukto lehtinen,” said James. The table immediately fractured, then crumbled. The woman’s body was free. What was left of her right arm was bright red and burnt but James thought it would be okay. He lifted her into his arms, took another pinch of the transporting powder, and tossed it over his head.
Both the woman and James had disappeared. Kilani, realizing they were now alone, nervously looked at Luno. The four of them stepped closer together as the tribe recovered from the shock of what it had just witnessed. Several of the tribe were shouting angrily and moving about pointing at the platform.
“Now vut?” William asked, eyeing the increasingly hostile tribe.
“Hold our ground. James will return,” said Luno.
The warrior woman marched quickly back toward the group carrying a spear. Over her back she’d slung her bow and quiver. She stopped just in front of the group and looked right at Kilani. She shouted in the native tongue.
“I will not fight you,” said Kilani.
The warrior woman clearly did not understand, because she grasped the spear and pointed it at Kilani, just inches from her chest. Before Kilani could react, Luno stepped in front of her, snatched the spear from the warrior woman’s hands and broke it over his knee. Enraged, the warrior woman began to pull her bow from her back.
“ Tertiri ze Manukto reisa,” Luno said. Both bow and arrows immediately caught fire. The warrior woman quickly pulled them from her back and dropped them to the ground, where they burnt to ashes. She looked at Luno in shock and fear. Several tribe members began disappearing in orange flashes while others made their way back to the encampment on foot. The warrior woman, who’d retrieved another sac of transporting powder, disappeared in an orange flash. Within a minute, they were alone.
“Without James I fear we are extremely vulnerable here. We should leave at once,” said Luno.
“Into the jungle at night? I’m not sure that’s a good idea. At least here we know what we’re facing,” said Kilani.
With a flash, James appeared not three feet from where they stood. He was alone. He looked around, surprised to only see his friends.
“What’s happening,” he asked.
