Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [115]
They shook their heads.
‘You feel familiar,’ Shane said. He took his flute apart and slipped it into his pack. ‘Where did you come from?’
‘Not the portal, if that’s what you’re asking.’ She sat on a log and smiled. ‘How would you bards like a job?’
‘What did you have in mind?’ Clay asked.
Shane crossed his arms but didn’t speak. Instead he looked down towards the temple ruins where Shaea had gone.
‘She’s got tasks of her own,’ Nell said, following his line of sight. ‘Her mentor’s about to collect her. Meanwhile, I can offer you good food, a warm bed and all the music you can play.’
‘Where?’ Clay asked.
‘Treeon Temple. Heard of it?’
They had.
‘And what do you want in return, witch? You haven’t even told us your name.’
‘Haven’t I? Let’s just say I’m working with Kreshkali and we need a few extra eyes.’
‘Eyes?’
‘I want you to go to Treeon Temple and keep watch on La Makee. Follow her if she journeys. There’s plenty of gold to make it worthwhile.’
‘The High Priestess? From the portal?’ Clay asked. ‘You want us to track her?’
‘That’s the one. If you report her doings, I would be most grateful, and it will help Rosette and Jarrod.’
‘Rosette,’ Clay said. ‘The beautiful witch who swore she knew me? Where is she?’
‘I’m about to meet her.’ Nell stood. ‘What will it be, boys? Play your tunes at Treeon and keep me informed?’
‘Or…’ Shane asked.
‘Wander wherever the Entity sees fit to land you, I’d say.’ She glanced at the sky. ‘Or stay here and be pummelled by the gathering storm.’
‘Storm?’ Shane looked skyward. ‘Treeon’s exclusive. How will you get us in?’
She winked. ‘It’s already done.’
Clay slung his guitar over his back and stood. ‘I’m keen.’
Shane gave a curt nod.
‘Done then,’ Nell said. ‘This way. I don’t want you to be late.’
She guided them into the portal, visualising Treeon in the early morning light as her hand passed over the plasma Entity. ‘You won’t regret your choice.’
Rosette closed the book and placed it back on the shelf.
Maudi? I’m not comfortable with this.
‘I am, sweetheart. And remember. I’ve been body-dead before. It didn’t sever our connection. We are bonded always. I trust that.’
I trust it too, but there were aspects of being a disembodied spirit that didn’t sit well.
‘That’s because we were worried about losing Jarrod’s backup.’
I remember you being worried about a fair bit more than that.
‘But I’m not now. We need Jarrod, and if anything goes wrong, Nell’s on her way. The weapon calling didn’t bring anything of his, not a sword or a knife. Just this broken arrow.’
She had woven an attribute calling spell like the one she found in Kreshkali’s grimoire. It posed little risk, unless Jarrod had been in the middle of a sword fight. The spell would bring his weapons or accoutrements in exchange for the one she offered—a master sword from twelfth-century Earth on display in the library. She’d attached a note but it hadn’t made an exchange. The only thing that appeared was the short end of a broken arrow.
It doesn’t smell of Jarrod, Maudi. Why would a random arrow come when you called Jarrod’s sword?
‘I don’t know, though I doubt it is random.’ She sighed. ‘Activating the CPU is the only way to get him back. I’m sure of it now. Come, let’s awaken the spell. I’ll step aside, he’ll have my body, and if all goes well he can birth the baby too. I’m certain that’s an experience he wouldn’t want to miss.’
But you do?
She smiled, rubbing her belly. ‘I don’t mind.’
You make it sound simple, Maudi.
‘It is!’ She wasn’t frightened. ‘He’ll have a tulpa body again in no time, Drayco. And then I can have this one back.’
Best do it quickly. Nell will come soon.
‘I’m ready.’
I love you, Maudi.
She buried her face in his neck. ‘I love you too.’
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and repeated the mantra. Her brainwave cycles slowed as she drifted out of her everyday consciousness and into a meditative state. Reality slipped away. She visualised her circulatory system, amplifying