The Scourge of Muirwood (Legends of Muirwood #3)

Walking hesitantly forward, Lia entered a small cupola. It was small enough to admit only a few people, but the space was consumed by a massive boulder. She did not know how the boulder managed to be there in such a confined space, but then realized immediately that the stones had been laid around it, shielding it from the eyes of the world. The boulder was crumbling in places and seemed as ancient as the world. The face was so worn by time that it was unrecognizable. It could have been a man’s or a woman’s face. The stone was smooth, as if touched by the sea for a thousand years. The power emanating from it was fearsome and immense – a huge presence that made her feel like the child she really was. This Leering had stood there for thousands of years. Who carved it and when?

Instantly she knew. The whispers told her it had been carved by King Zedakah himself. It was nearly as old as the world itself. It had been protected by the elements and safeguarded at Dochte for generations. Lia stared at it in awe. What kind of Leering was it? What powers did it hold?

Lia hesitated, staring at the face – imagining the man who had carved it. The first Aldermaston. The story of her family. A story that had been written and scrived for thousands of years. She swallowed with nervousness, feeling the weight of the responsibility. With a trembling hand, she reached out to touch the stone. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her fingers trembled as they brushed the stone.

Knowledge flooded her as she pressed her palm against the Leering.

It was the Blight Leering – a carving that would summon devastation. In her mind, she saw images from the past whirl by, instances where Aldermastons had been summoned by the Medium to Dochte Abbey to unleash a Blight on the world. Some of the figures she saw in her mind were old men. Some were young. Some were women, of various ages. Always the Medium warned before the destruction came. Always it offered a chance to flee or escape. But throughout the centuries, there would come times when the people were so hardened by the machinations of the hetaera that they would not listen to the whispers of the Medium. They drowned the whispers in drink, in music, in dance, in smoke. They were lured by the wiles of the daughters of Ereshkigal until nothing could save them. In her mind she saw the horrors of what happened when the hetaera ruled. There was murder and lust and actions so terrible it made Lia shrink to even consider what occurred. The only way to reverse it – the only way to bring humanity back to its senses again was the coming of a Blight.

Lia’s hand began to burn.

She had never experienced the pain of fire before. She tried to take her hand away, but she could not. Her hand burned, but it was not just the sharp scalding pain of fire. She felt it passing through the Leering to her. The Leerings were just a conduit. They connected two points, bringing together two separate forces, combining them.

Knowledge of the Blight filled her mind. In the past, the Blight had manifested itself in many forms. Some it had killed by drowning. Some it had killed with famine. This Blight was different.

The Leering released her.

Lia nearly stumbled back, staring at her glowing hand. She could not see the Blight, but it was there, cupped in her glowing palm. Instantly, she knew what she had to do. The Medium whispered for her to return to the hetaera garden.





CHAPTER THIRTY TWO:


The Secret Veil





The hetaera gardens were empty, of course. The populace of the Abbey still thronged the furnace Leering as the last remnants were thrown to their deaths. The night was calm and the air smelled of jasmine. Lia entered the hedge maze, walking quickly until she reached the round stone lid that covered the lair. Staring at the stone, she knew in her mind the password that opened it and spoke the word aloud. The stone began to slide downward, sinking into the pit. Lia stepped on it quickly and descended into the black chasm. The previous time she had been terrified. There was no fear this time. Lia walked forward quickly, past the black gaps where the serpents waited for their victims. Her hand glowed more brightly now, the light keeping the snakes at bay.

Lia entered the chamber with the oath Leerings. They did not speak to her, for she had already made her oaths. In the center of the room, still in the floor, was the half-made kystrel. It was shallow in the grooves. The Medium commanded her to pick it up with her other hand, which she did after stooping. The kystrel was cold, lifeless. It was not a threat to her.

Walking forward, she met the barrier that had thwarted her before. Behind it, she sensed the Leering she had seen so often in her mind. The Leering with the twin snakes twisting into a circle. She felt its power throbbing, but it was pale compared to the Blight Leering she had just traveled from. She stared at the stone barrier. There was a dirge that would open the door – a command spoken by a Myriad One. But she was not controlled by a Myriad One.

“Open,” she commanded, drawing on the full power of the Medium.