The Gods Awaken

been so happy since her mother died.

On the table was a toy executioner's platform, complete with a masked doll bearing an ax, and a little bench for the victim to kneel over and expose his neck.

This didn't bother Jooli very much. Executions were quite common in Hunan and there was always a fantastic party atmosphere at them, with treats for the children and puppet shows and all sorts of wondrous things to get the crowds in the mood to witness the evildoer receiving his just punishment.

Jooli clapped her hands in delight. 'We're going to give him a pain in the neck!' she crowed. 'That's perfect, because that's what he's always calling me.'

She frowned. 'Although once he said a bad word, instead of a€?neck.a€™'

Clayre smiled and Jooli noticed an odd glitter in her eyes. 'That's exactly what we're going to do, my sweet,' she said. 'Give him a pain in the neck!'

Jooli frowned, suddenly concerned. 'But it won't hurt too much, will it?' she asked. 'He is pretty old, after all, and maybe that's why he gets so cranky. Maybe his bones hurt or something.'

'Don't worry, dear,' Clayre said, 'it'll only hurt a little bit. And after that-why, he'll never suffer again.'

She chuckled. 'You won't find him so cranky after we play our little trick on him.'

Mollified, Jooli helped her grandmother prepare the spell. Following Clayre's directions, she set four gray candles, pebbled with black, around the toy platform. When Jooli lit them with a taper, they gave off a purplish, sweet-smelling smoke.

She sprinkled a white powder up the little steps that led to the executioner's bench. More powder was dribbled on the bench, then smeared on the tiny ax held by the toy executioner. Finally, using a pen dipped in glistening black ink, Clayre had Jooli draw a circle around the Grand Wazier doll's neck.

She got a little of the ink on her fingers and Clayre made her stop and wash them carefully with vinegar before they proceeded.

'Otherwise it will make your fingers burn when we cast the spell,' her grandmother explained.

Jooli's eyes widened. 'Will it make his neck burn too?' she wanted to know. 'I wouldn't want to really, really hurt him, or anything.'

'No more than a sunburn, dear,' Clayre replied. But she said it a little quickly, although Jooli didn't think about that until later.

When all was ready, Clayre gave Jooli the doll. She told her to pretend it was the real Grand Wazier and to make the doll walk up the steps, then bend over the executioner's bench. Four tiny cuffs fixed to the bench were locked around the doll's hands and feet.

Jooli did as she was told, but after she arranged the doll, Clayre wasn't satisfied, saying, 'We need to stretch his neck a bit, dear.'

As she spoke, she tugged on the doll's dried apple head, drawing out more of the cloth neck and tucking in the collar of the robe so the inky mark Jooli had made was fully exposed. She told Jooli to focus all her attention on the task at hand. And to repeat everything Clayre said.

Then she sang:

'We are the sisters of Asper,

Sweet Lady, Lady, Lady … '

In her high, piping voice, Jooli chanted:

'We are the sisters of Asper,

Sweet Lady, Lady, Lady … '

Then Clayre sang:

We guard his tomb, we guard his tomb,

Holy One … '

And Jooli repeated:

We guard his tomb, we guard his tomb,

Holy One … '

Then the chamber's dim light faded even more until it became quite dark. The golden tiles glowed into life, bathing the executioner's platform in an eerie light. A ghastly face formed on the tiles, floating there as if caught in a watery mirror.

'Welcome, Sister Charize,' Queen Clayre intoned.

Jooli was frightened and started to draw away. But Clayre pulled her back.

'Speak with me, child!' she commanded. 'Repeat all I say!'

Then Clayre said again, 'Welcome, Sister Charize.' And she tugged at Jooli's arm to do the same.

Jooli quavered, 'Welcome, Sister Charize.'

Although she certainly didn't mean it! This horrible creature with its long glistening fangs and scaly face was certainly not welcome anywhere near her, as far as she was concerned.

'We have a boon to ask, dear Sister,' Clayre said, tugging once again at Jooli's arm to prompt her.

And so, against her will, Jooli repeated, 'We have a boon to ask, dear Sister.'

The beast's jaws opened and a voice like rough sand on a washboard said, 'Is this the girl we spoke of, Sister Clayre?'

Jooli's racing heart skipped a beat. Was this … this … Thing! … speaking of her?

Then she knew the answer, because her grandmother said, 'None other, Sister. She goes by the human name of Jooli.'

Red eyes turned on little Jooli, who felt as if they were boring holes into her soul. 'And is she ready to take the oath, Sister?' Charize asked in that terrible voice.

'Indeed she is,' Clayre replied. 'And the boon I ask is her initiation into the Sisterhood.' Clayre indicated the toy platform and dolls. 'All is prepared. We only need your assistance to complete the spell.'

There was a silence as the face floated over the scene. Then Charize chuckled. It was an awful sound.

She said, 'Ah, I see. The king's Grand Wazier. What a nasty little man. I'd be pleased to grant your boon and welcome the girl into the Sisterhood. Proceed.'

'Thank you, Sister Charize,' Clayre said. Then to Jooli: 'Concentrate, my sweet. And we'll all cast the spell together.'

And she sang:

'O, join us together who now are apart.

Make us an arrow aimed for his heart.

We are his pain, we are his hot blood.

Spilled on the ground in a great raging flood!'

Charize joined in, rasping:

' … O, join us together who now are apart.

Make us an arrow aimed for his heart … '

Trembling, Jooli piped in her clear voice:

' … We are his pain, we are his hot blood.

Spilled on the ground in a great raging flood!'

To Jooli's horror the dolls on the bench suddenly came alive. The wazier doll screaming and struggling against his bonds. The executioner doll running forward, lifting his blade high to strike. And whack! , the head came off! And the white powder was transformed into a torrent of blood flowing across the platform and down the steps.

Jooli shrieked in horror. She broke away from her grandmother and bolted from the room, Clayre angrily calling after her to come back. But Jooli closed her ears to her grandmother's commands and ran to her room where she hid under her bed all day and all night.

The next morning, Clayre sent a burly slave to fetch her. Jooli protested, but it was no use. The slave grabbed her by the feet and dragged her out from under the bed. On the way to Clayre's chambers they passed the Grand Wazier's room. To Jooli's relief, she heard him groaning in pain. At least he was alive!

She got a peek into the room and saw him sprawled on his bed, a bloody bandage around his throat.

Puzzled doctors were in attendance.

As she was rushed down the stairs to her grandmother's sanctum, the ghastly murals on the walls took on new meaning to Jooli and she was even more terrified when she entered the chambers. Thankfully, her