Bolan stepped forward and Keph dropped down before him.
'Your intention proves your devotion,' the priest said. 'Your sacrifice to Shar is your own illusion of love.' He rested his hands against Keph's head. 'Mistress of the Night, a new follower enters your embrace,' he prayed. 'Bless him and cleanse him that he may continue in your work.'
Cold darkness poured into Keph's body, searing away the haze of wine and scouring him clean of fear and doubt. He gasped at the touch of the goddess and when Bolan lifted his hands away, he rose. The alchemist-priest held something out to him: Shar's black and purple disk. Keph took the symbol, wrapping trembling fingers tight around it.
Terrible screams ripped through Moonshadow Hall. In the central courtyard, Feena's headand the heads of everyone else who stood listening as Velsinore sang the moonrise prayersnapped up. Velsinore gasped in shock, her song shattered.
Against the big windows of Dhauna Myritar's sitting room, a silhouette reeled.
Feena reacted on instinct alone, charging across the courtyard and through the cloisters, back into the temple and up the ramp to the High Moonmistress's quarters. The screams were even louder inside, echoing through the halls. Every priestess and priest she passed seemed stunned to silence.
'Dhauna!' Feena shouted as she ran. 'Julith!'
'Here!' Julith shouted back.
The door of Dhauna's chamber had been flung open. Julith's call came from inside. Feena caught herself at the door and choked on her breath.
On the floor of the sitting room, Julith wrestled with Dhauna, trying to pin her down. The old woman was thrashing like a demon. Her face contorted and she screamed as if all the hordes of the Abyss were parading before her. Books and scrolls were scattered everywhere.
'Help me!' Julith yelled.
Feena leaped into the room, grabbing for Dhauna's flailing arms. One she caught, the other she missed. Dhauna's fingernails scratched a trail across her cheek.
'Moonmaiden's grace!' Feena spat. She caught hold of both of Dhauna's hands and held them firm. 'Dhauna!' she shouted at the High Moonmistress. 'Mother Dhauna… calm down…'
Dhauna fixed her with burning eyes. 'Too late!' she howled. 'Too late'
Her voice soared up into a renewed shriek. Feena glanced at Julith, then at the door. Crowded into the doorframe, Velsinore and Mifano stared back at her.
Dave Gross
Mistress of the Night
Cultists squeezed around Keph, slapping his shoulders and shaking his hand for all the world as if he had just won some contest at a Midsummer fair.
A few slipped back their cowls to reveal men and women he had already met through Jarull. Keph couldn't recall any of their names. They seemed completely wiped from his mind. The best response he could manage was a stunned smile and a slow nod. His heart was still racing. He clutched the disk of Shar, its edge hard against his palm.
Fuel was added to the smoldering braziers and they flared up with new light, pushing back the darkness just a bit more. With a start, Keph realized where they were the temple of Shar lay in the tunnels that laced the rocky cliffs surrounding Yhaunn. At an intersection of tunnels, most likely. Firelight glimmered on a number of irregular arches of rock, though it didn't penetrate the shadows beyond. There was still no sign of the ceiling overhead.
Nor was there any sign of Jarull.
Bolan had turned away from him. The other cultists were beginning to as well, breaking off into their own little groups like merchants at a party. One cultist, however, brought him a basin of water and a sponge. His eyes flickered distastefully over the torn remains of Keph's vomit-soaked, wine-stained shirt. The first emotion to penetrate Keph's fogged mind was embarrassment. The symbol of Shar was strung on a black cordhe looped it around his neck, took the basin, and retreated to wash himself.
The water was blessedly cool against his face. When he wiped it away, however, he realized just how badly he stank.
'Dark,' he muttered.
'In the grand temples of Shar,' whispered a soft voice, 'the initiation of a new devotee isn't so primitive.'
Keph started and looked up. Variance stood beside him. He flushed and took a step away from her.
'F-forgive me…' he stuttered but the strange woman shook her head.
'No need. I've seen enough of Bolan's initiations now to be used to the effects.'
She held out a fresh shirtand Quick. Keph's eyes widened. He took both gratefully.
'Thank you,' he said.
As he took Quick, he saw a flash of purple on Variance's hand. A ring of blackened silver set with an amethyst. Variance noticed him looking and nodded.
'You're thinking how like Jarull's this ring is,' she said. She smiled slightly. 'I gave his to him. He's told me about you, Keph.'
Keph managed a small bow. 'And me about you, Variance. Do you know where he is tonight? He promised me he'd be here.'
'Bolan forbade him from attending. An initiate comes before Shar without support.' She said it so bluntly that Keph flushed again. Variance must have seen his shame. 'It was Jarull's error,' she said. 'He shouldn't have offered to be here.'
She turned away slightly, giving him some privacy while staying close. Keph set Quick and the clean shirt aside, stripped off his ruined garment, and began to sponge his body clean.
After a moment, Variance said, 'You saw through Bolan's illusion.'
Keph flinched so violently water splashed the stone around him. Variance glanced over her shoulder at him, then away again.
'Your secret's safe,' she murmured, just barely loud enough for him to hear. 'Bolan's a coward. Shar demands a sacrifice, but Bolan's too afraid to kidnap real people for fear of the local Sehinites uncovering his cell. He resorts to illusion too easily.'
'With whatever was in the Elixir of the Void to help the illusion along?' Keph asked.
He brushed water from his arms and chest, then pulled the clean shirt on over still damp skin. Variance turned back around and looked at him with dark, emotionless eyes.
'The Elixir of the Void is a part of every Sharran's initiation. It's a poison. The Dark Goddess's blessing purges it. An initiate who can't prove his dedication to her deserves death.'
'It's too late to back out now,' Jarull had said. It was truer, even, than he'd probably thought!
Keph swallowed uncomfortably and asked, 'Does Bolan know I saw through the illusion?'
Variance shook her head. 'No. He was too busy waiting for the moment of sacrifice. I was the only one watching you.' She moved a little closer. Her voice was intense. 'Not many people could have seen through the illusion while fighting the effects of the elixir.'
The aura of power that Variance commanded was palpable. Keph could feel it radiating off of her.
'Everyone in my family is a wizard,' he said. 'When you grow up in a house like that, you learn a thing or two about illusions.'
'Jarull told me about your familyand your feelings toward them,' Variance commented. 'But he also told me how you dealt with Bolan yesterday.'
Keph winced. Jarull had been talking about him a lot. How often did the big man see Variance anyway?
Between his talking to her and her gift of the amethyst ring to him… Keph began to wonder if Jarull had more than just a special trust for Variance. The nervousness he felt around the woman receded a little bit.
'I just figured out what Bolan was up to,' he told her. 'He wasn't very subtle.'
'You didn't just figure out what Bolan was up to,' she said. 'You made him uncomfortable. You have remarkable strength of will, Keph. Your penetration of the illusion confirms it.' Variance gave him a long, measuring look as if peering deep inside him, then she nodded, almost as though to herself. 'You may have potential,' she murmured as she started to turn away.
'Potential?'
Without thinking, Keph grabbed for her. Variance's arm was shockingly cool. She stiffened and glared down at
