Read Page 53

"But we have to go back," I say.

The hurt in Pippa's eyes wounds me. "But when you form the Order again, you'll come for me. Won't you?"Advertisement

"Of course we will," Felicity says. She's fallen into step with Pippa again, happy to be near her.

Pippa wraps her arms about Felicity and places her head on her shoulder. "You are my dearest friends in all the world. Nothing will ever change that."

Ann joins in the embrace. At last, I too put my arms about Pippa. We surround her like petals, and I try not to think about what shall happen to us all once we find the Temple.

Around a sharp bend, the river opens, giving the most majestic view of the shore and the cliff caves that rise high above us. Goddesses have been carved into the rock. They stand, possibly fifty feet tall, adorned with elaborate coned headdresses. Their necks are strung with jewels. Save for that, they are naked and quite sensual, hips cocked at an angle, an arm placed behind the head just so, lips curved into a smile. Decency tells me I should look away, but I find I keep stealing glances.

"Oh, gracious," Ann says, looking up and immediately down.

"What are those?" Felicity asks.

The gorgon opens its mouth."The Caves of Sighs. They are but abandoned ruins now, inhabited only by the Hajin, the Untouchables."

"The Untouchables?" I ask. "Yesss. There is one." The gorgon's head lolls to the right. Something scurries in the brush along the shore."Filthy vermin."

"Why are they called Untouchables?" Ann asks.

-- Advertisement --

pqdm.comads300x250--

"They've always been thus. The Order banished them to the Caves of Sighs. No one goes there now. It is forbidden."

"Well, that isn't fair," Ann says, her voice rising."It isn't fair at all." Poor Ann. She knows what it is to be an untouchable.

"What was it used for before?" I ask.

"It was the place where the Order took their lovers."

"Lovers?" Felicity asks.

"Yes." The gorgon pauses before adding,"The Rakshana."

I don't know what to say to this."The Rakshana and the Order were lovers?"

The gorgon's voice sounds far away."Once."

Felicity gives a shout. "Look at that!" She points to the horizon, where a heavy mist falls from the sky like shavings of gold, obscuring our view of what lies ahead. It roars like a waterfall.

"Are we going through there?" Ann asks, worried.

Pippa pulls Ann close. "Don't fret so. It will be all right, I'm sure, else the gorgon wouldn't bring us through it. Isn't that right, Gemma?"

"Yes, of course," I say, trying not to seem as truly terrified as I feel. For I've no idea what will become of us."Gorgon, you are bound to do us no harm. Is that so?"

But my question is drowned out by the relentless pounding of the golden waterfall. We huddle together on the floor of the ship. Ann closes her eyes tightly. As we push forward, I shut my eyes too, afraid to know what's going to happen next. With the roar thick in our ears, we pass through this damp curtain and emerge on the other side, where the river becomes like an ocean with no land in sight, save for a verdant island in the distance. "We're alive," Ann says, both surprised and relieved.

"Ann," Pippa says,"look--now you are a golden girl!"

It's true. Golden flakes coat our skin. Felicity turns her hands this way and that, laughing joyfully as she watches them shimmer."Oh, we're fine, aren't we? No trouble at all!"

Pippa laughs."I told you not to be afraid."

"The magic is strong," the gorgon says. Whether it's a statement or a caution I cannot tell.

"Gemma," Pippa asks,"why must we bind the magic?"

"What do you mean? Because it is loose inside the realms."

"What if that's not such a terrible thing? Why shouldn't anyone be allowed to use this power?"

I do not like where this is going."Because they could use it to come into our world and create havoc. There'd be no sense of order or control upon it."

"You don't know that the inhabitants of the realms would use it unwisely."

She hasn't heard the gorgon's story, else she might think otherwise."Don't we? Do you remember that creature that enslaved my mother?"

"But it was joined to Circe. Perhaps they're not all like that," Pippa muses.

"And how would I decide who should have it, who can be trusted?"

No one has an answer to this.

I shake my head. "It is out of the question. The longer the magic is loose, the greater the danger that those spirits here can become corrupted. We must find the Temple and bind the magic once again. Then we shall reform the Order and maintain the balance of the realms." pqdm.com