Temple of Fyre (Island of Fyre) (19 page)

Relief made her light-headed. He seemed as unnerved by the experience as she was. After eating some of the remains of the lopears and tubers, she filled her flask with honey-sweetened tea. On her way through the orchard, she picked some citrons. She strode toward the cavern where she intended to explore the remaining passages.

Before entering the cave, she took one of the torches and used a yellow fyrestone to light it. Around her neck, she wore three chains, each one holding a caged crystal. For a few moments, she paused and watched the stones on the columns and dome take light.

Were there really dragons and wizards across the mountains? Should she travel there and learn? First she had to find the ancient temple and destroy Malera’s control of the priestesses.

She walked along the double row of columns. Had this cavern been the temple’s rotunda? Would one of the two remaining passages lead to an inner chamber? She paused at the entrance to the center tunnel. As she entered, tiny lights glowed. White fyrestones were set at regular intervals along both walls. Excitement quickened her pace. What would she find when she emerged? She pressed her hand against the smooth rock and drew deep calming breaths. She crept forward until she reached the light at the end and stepped into a circular chamber.

Bright sunlight streamed through the opening above a massive tiered circle. Just like the one in the Rosti temple, except this circle had five levels. She had found the one pictured in the scroll.

Ria looked around in wonder. Questions pushed into her thoughts. Why had the temple been build here so far from settled lands? Why were there three tunnels? Did the other ones lead to temples in other lands? Perhaps the answers were found in the scrolls she’d taken from the cavern.

After pushing the questions aside, she began to explore. Openings in the walls led to empty chambers. Had this been where those who served the temple had lived? Nothing remained to give her any clues. Who had make homes in the glen? The passages here also led to rubble. Had the temple been abandoned because of earthquakes? Putting questions and speculations aside, Ria returned to the circular room.

For a time, she studied the tiers. Five levels meant all the stones, even the whites, were used in the rituals. She knelt before the lowest level and examined the cups carved in the granite. Fragments of crystals remained. She lifted a shard. ‘Twas white. She checked the remaining tiers and found fragments of yellow, orange, and scarlet. On the fifth level, the single cup was empty. Had a blue fyrestone once filled the cavity?

She smiled. She would clean the cups and place stones in their proper places. When complete, even without a blue, this circle would have more power than the one in Rosti. If she could call and master the flames, she could challenge Malera. If the fates were kind, the chief priestess would face a reckoning for all the people torn from their homes, or killed by Malera’s whims.

With this decision made, she left her flask and the fruit in the chamber. She hurried from the cavern to the camp for cloth to clean the shards of shattered fyrestones from the cups. Ari stood beside Ber. He had loaded one of the pannier baskets. “What are you doing?”

“Preparing to leave.” He failed to meet her gaze.

Ria swallowed. “Because of what happened last night?”

“Partly.”

“Were you going to tell me?”

He shrugged. “Hadn’t gotten that far.”

Ria stared at the grove. If she had remained in the temple, would she have returned to the camp and found him gone? Was he rejecting their double bond because of what he’d experienced last night? “Why?”

“I need some time alone. To think. To remember.”

She stepped toward him. “You can’t leave. I’ve found the ancient temple.”

“That’s exactly why I must go. I’ve seen and felt the depth of your hatred for Malera.”

“Do you think I’m wrong to want justice for those she’s harmed?”

He groaned. “She deserves punishment for misusing her powers. You want to start rival circles and confront her. Think of Gydon. Will you lead others to their deaths as my parents led their followers? Will you see more innocents destroyed, or another hamlet become a waste?”

“Did I say I would go to a hamlet?”

“Where else can you gather people?”

Tears burned her eyes. “There’s a temple here and a circle with more power than the one in Rosti.”

He continued packing. “Forget this need for vengeance and come with me.”

“Not when every commoner and every priestess faces death at Malera’s hand. Anyone who could be stronger in power than her is at risk. If I can restore the circle here, I can activate the stones and challenge her. If you stand with me, we can win.”

He turned away. “Don’t be a fool. Malera has been a priestess for longer than you’ve lived.”

“Ari, please.”

“I’m newly come to power. What help can I be?”

Ria knelt and rummaged for cloths and a sack. “Go, but hear me. This is the time and the place.” If she had to stand alone, so be it. She ran back to the cavern. After scooping stones into the sack, she returned to the inner chamber.

* * *

Ari frowned. She didn’t understand. Though she had witnessed the destruction of the Gydon circle through his memories, she had no ties to the dead. Not just his parents had died that day, but friends and their families. He had lost his entire family. He had no desire to see another person die in the flames.

He completed the division of the supplies and left Bera for Ria. She might decide to follow him. Would she see his plan to take the crystals to Rosti and offer the rest of the fyrestones in the cavern to Malera would buy freedom for them? He tugged on Ber’s lead. At first, the burro balked, but with gentle prodding, plodded after Ari.

As he entered the pass, he heard noises. A courser neighed. Ari froze. Who had found the pass? Thieves didn’t ride steeds and the nomads never came into the hills.

Ari turned Ber, released the lead and slapped the beast’s rump. Ber fled down the slope. Keeping to the shadows, Ari crept toward the head of the pass. When he saw the uniforms of the guards, he knew the priestesses had found them.

“Here,” a woman shouted. “He’s here. Grab him.”

Ari turned to run. He felt a blow against his head. When he roused, he opened his eyes a slit. He lay near the fire circle with his arms bound behind his back.

Malera stood over him. She dangled the chain and crystal he’d worn for most of his life. “So stone seeker, you’re the spawn of those who rebelled against the temple. My teacher saw to the end of your sire and dam.” She laughed. “Larina shared the event with me. Would you like to see how they screamed when they died in the flames?”

Ari pressed his lips into a firm line. To answer would only raise her ire. He knew what had happened. When he and Ria attempted the triple bond, his memories had surfaced and he witnessed the end. He had to escape and warn Ria. He turned his head away from the chief priestess.

Malera knelt beside him. She grabbed his hair and forced him to look at her. “Your mother was a traitor. She lusted after the stud Larina had claimed as hers. Your mother took him, another stud, and two priestesses, and left Rosti. They tried to found a rival temple. They failed.”

Ari closed his eyes. He had to keep her from asking about Ria. “The son of a priestess. How can that be? Women who serve the temple are unable to bear children.”

Anger flashed in her eyes. “We aren’t barren. Giving birth is forbidden. To get with child means surrender to a man. The burden of motherhood keeps a woman from her duties as a priestess.”

She dangled the caged scarlet in his face. The crystal began to circle. Would it point to the cavern? Would it reveal the stone he wore on a chain around his neck or the blue one in his hand? How could he divert Malera’s attention? He closed his eyes and began to concoct a plan.

Chapter Ten

Ari focused on the trees behind the chief priestess. To watch the movement of the stone was to fall into her power. That would mean his death. The crystal beneath his tunic heated. “Shouldn’t women, even priestesses, have a choice?”

Malera glared. “The sons born to priestesses can call fire from the major stones. If men became priests and served in the temple, they would push women aside. The priestesses would lose and become slaves to men’s whims.”

“Couldn’t men and women work together? In the past they have.” The breaking of the seal over his memories had brought recollections of his parents and their friends working together. He thought of how he and Ria shared camp chores and the unity they’d found as she taught him to use the fyrestones. Why had he walked away from her?

Malera released her grasp on his hair. His head smacked the ground, bringing a return of his headache. “You were commanded to attend the solstice celebration in the temple. Instead, you slithered out of Rosti in the company of a traitor. When I sent the flames to kill you, you survived. Did this stone protect you?”

“Perhaps.” He wouldn’t tell her how Ria had blocked the sending.

Malera smiled. “And now you face punishment for that disobedience.”

He sucked in a breath. “What right have you to punish a man who doesn’t desire you?”

“All men desire me.” She leaned closer. “I could make you beg to pleasure me and make you ache for a release I wouldn’t allow you. I could use my scarlet to inflame you, or force you to tell me where Ria has gone.”

“Ria?”

“Don’t deny she was with you. The innkeeper and the gate guard identified her as your apprentice.” Malera brought the caged stone toward his face. “She used this crystal.” She cupped the stone and stared into the depths.

Ari felt her attempt to crawl into his mind. He held fast against the invasion. “No.”

“Do not lie. Where is she?”

Ari closed his eyes. “She was with me in Rosti. She left the hamlet in my company. What proof have you that she remained with me?”

“Open your eyes.” Her hand lashed his cheek. “Where is she?”

“I can’t tell you.”

With a cry of fury, she smashed the caged scarlet against a rock of the fire circle. “This is what happens to those who use fyrestones and defy me.”

Sharp pain stabbed Ari’s head. Agony convulsed his body. During the seizure, he rolled to his stomach. The heat from the new scarlet stone eased the pain and halted the convulsions. All tension left his body. His muscles went slack. Let Malera believe he was unconscious. He needed time to plan an escape and a way to find Ria.

* * *

Ria reached for the flask and sipped the tea. The first tier of the circle now held sixteen white fyrestones in the cups. She peeled a yellow citron and bit into the juicy flesh. Eight yellow, four orange, and two scarlet crystals would complete all except the top level. For that, she believed a single blue stone was needed. If she couldn’t find one, would a scarlet work?

Knowing filled her. As she had told Ari, this was the time and the place. She felt subtle vibrations from the fyrestones she wore and the ones she’d gathered in the cavern. When the crystals were in place, she would call fire and challenge Malera. The teaching sessions with Ari had honed her skills and raised her confidence in her ability to control the flames. Once the chief priestess had been defeated, the stones could be restored to their proper use.

What would she do then? She had no desire to be the chief priestess of the temple in Rosti, or even in this ancient place. She wanted to learn more about the crystals and how they could be used. She wanted to visit the lands beyond the mountains, and she wanted to be with Ari.

Tears threatened. She choked back the cries that lodged in her throat. Why had he left? Would he take the stones to Malera? If he did, could the challenge be won? Ria drew a deep breath. She could only try. She rose and continued her work on the circle. When she finished the fourth tier, she considered what to do about the empty cup on the fifth level.

Ari had found a blue fyrestone, but he had taken it when he deserted her. Though they had bonded in body and heart, he had left. Had they really failed to complete the third bond? She shuddered. Flashes of the destruction of the Gydon circle flooded her thoughts. Why had they failed? Had the priestesses of Rosti been that much stronger?

Ria cupped the caged scarlet she wore and tried to conjure Ari’s face in the flames. The place where he should have been was a dark area. What had happened to him? Her heart skipped a beat, and then pounded in an erratic rhythm. Was he dead? The dark shadows lightened. Ria stared, but she couldn’t bring him into view. She tore the web of grief aside before she became enmeshed in unbreakable threads. No matter what she felt inside, restoring the circle was her mission.

She had no blue stone. Would a scarlet work? When she placed one in the cup, the crystal shattered with enough force to embed a sliver in her palm. She drew the shard out and sucked the burning wound, then used her fyrestone to heal the cut.

With care, she cleaned the debris from the depression. A blue fyrestone was essential. She made her way down the tiers and sat with her head pressed against her bent knees. Healing the small cut had used a great amount of energy. As soon as her head cleared, she would return to the outer cavern and search for a blue crystal.