“Tight squeeze,” she said, smiling at him. “But it won’t last long.”
“Good,” he grunted. “Not that I mind being close to you, but—”
“Cut the apologies. We’re soldiers getting ready for war.” She pointed her palms upward. The room levitated and began to rise, slowly but steadily.
Jason tightened his muscles. Would the wonders of this castle never end?
The corridor disappeared, replaced by open sky and the snow-covered landscape of the Northlands. A reddish tint coated the entire view, making the blue sky appear violet and the snow slightly pink.
When the cylinder stopped, a circular chamber appeared beyond the capsule’s rear door. Tables and workbenches sat in various places on the floor’s wood planks. An assortment of unidentifiable devices rested on the benches, and a sheet covered a lumpy object on one of the tables.
Uriel Blackstone stood at the side of a workbench at the far end, perhaps thirty paces away. With a quill in hand, he dipped the point into an inkwell and jotted something down on one of several parchments.
“Let’s go!” Elyssa called as she hopped out and reached for Jason’s hand.
Jason took her hand and stepped off the capsule’s floor. With a whoosh, the hovering capsule fell through a circular hole. As it descended, it pulsed with light, dimming as the distance grew.
Still holding his hand, Elyssa helped Jason walk to the workbench. “We’re here, Mr. Blackstone.”
“Excellent.” Uriel dropped his quill and held up a thin chain with a dangling pendant. “Now we can continue our tests.”
Jason glanced down at his chest. Elyssa’s chain and pendant were gone. “Is that Elyssa’s?”
“It is, indeed.” Uriel marched to the sheet and slid it gently off, revealing Petra lying on her back. “If it works, we will soon have a living, breathing Petra with us.”
Jason walked slowly toward the table, barely able to breathe. Petra’s body looked exactly as it had before, except that her hair was now clean and brushed. Her chest stayed motionless, and every muscle appeared to be limp. White manacles wrapped around her wrists, so cold they emanated frosty air that brushed his skin.
Another whoosh sounded. The hovering capsule reappeared, and a pair of female forms stepped into the room, radiant outlines that pulsed in and out of visibility as they moved and paused.
“Petra and Deference,” Jason said. “It’s getting easier to recognize the spirits around here.”
As the two girls glided toward them, Uriel pointed at the manacles. “These are keeping her body preserved. I will remove them as soon as Elyssa is ready to revive her.” He draped the chain over Elyssa’s head and let it fall to her neck. “Remember to probe for the stardrop first.”
Elyssa nodded. “I will.”
“What will that do?” Jason asked. “What’s so special about the pendant?”
“Do you remember when you slept against a tree shortly after the great storm?” Uriel asked.
“I remember.”
“While you slept, I took the time to study the pendant. It sparked a memory from long ago, but my mind was still awash in fear and dread. Once I came here, the old sizzle returned. That pendant was carved from manna wood. Do you know what people in our world use it for?”
“We chew the bark to relieve the effects of extane. It slows metabolism.”
“Correct, but the metabolism reducer is also effective as a sedative. If you burn it, inhaling the fumes will relax you, perhaps even put you to sleep. Back in my day, it was used to bring comfort to someone in great pain.”
“Okay,” Jason said. “That makes sense. Go on.”
Uriel nodded at Elyssa. “If you would be so kind, please read it for him.”
Elyssa lifted the pendant and set the edge close to her eyes. “The letters are tiny.” She squinted, reading out loud while turning the pendant. “The halves are cleaved. Life has triumphed over death.”
“What does that mean?” Jason asked.
“It’s a dedication to someone who died,” Elyssa said. “My mother gave the pendant to me. It was a gift from Marcelle, who carved it herself. When she was about fifteen years old, she watched the widow Halstead’s execution, and it hit her hard. After everyone but the executioner was gone, she asked him for the stake the widow was tied to. She sliced out a section and carved the design and the inscription. The message that husband and wife would be together again gave her solace.” “Solace,” Jason whispered.
Elyssa dropped the pendant to her chest. “Did you say something?”
“Just thinking out loud.” He refocused on her. “Why would she give something so important to your mother?”
“When Orion started accusing me of being a Diviner, my mother went through a lot of turmoil, so Marcelle gave it to her, thinking it would bring her comfort.”
“Did it?”
She shook her head. “Just the opposite. You see, the widow Halstead was a Diviner, so every time Mother looked at the pendant, she imagined me burning at the stake. She was going to give it back or throw it away, but I asked for it. Since you and I were both there when Orion had the widow burned at the stake, I thought the pendant might protect us. Kind of a silly, childish thing, but I believed it.”
“Not really childish.” Jason gazed at the pendant as it dangled in front of Elyssa’s red vest. “I remember being there with you. We were both scared, especially when Orion personally lit the wood. The look on his face gave me nightmares.”
“But I’ll wager that he didn’t gather the wood.” Uriel raised a finger. “I know a man who was an executioner, a man named Porter. He once told me his predecessor added green wood to the pyre to make it burn more slowly and cause more suffering. Porter altered that practice and substituted manna wood for the stake and the kindling. It burns quickly and eases the victim’s pain. I assume that became the common practice and continued through the widow Halstead’s day.”
“Probably,” Jason said. “The wood did burn quickly.”
“Our theory,” Uriel continued, “is untested, but a good one, I think. Elyssa reported that while she was healing you, the pendant began to glow and grew warm to the touch. Perhaps it absorbed her metabolic energy and transferred it to you. My hope is that she can do the same for Petra.”
“Energy to heal is one thing, but raising the dead?” Jason shook his head. “That’s asking a lot from a piece of manna bark.”
Elyssa lifted the pendant again. “It’s not the bark. It’s the Creator. He uses the bark to absorb energy from me. If I can seal the internal wounds, it could work.”
“I suppose it’s worth a try,” Jason said, “unless it weakens you too much.”
“I’m willing to take that risk.” Elyssa reached out her hand. “Come, Petra. I’m ready.”
A radiant outline of another hand appeared and clutched Elyssa’s. Petra’s spirit glided up to the top of the table and settled over her body. As she sank into her motionless shell, she slowly disappeared.
Deference jumped up and sat on the corner of the table. “If you don’t mind, please let me know what you see inside her.”
“Of course,” Elyssa said. “I need your medical expertise.”
Uriel touched one of the white manacles. “My concern is that Petra’s body might deteriorate rapidly when I take these off, so if she doesn’t respond, we must end the test immediately.”
Elyssa nodded. “I understand.”
Uriel squeezed one of the manacles, and a fastener under Petra’s wrist popped open. After he pulled it off, he did the same to the other. “Now, Elyssa,” he said, stepping back, “if you will proceed.”
Standing with her waist pressed against the edge of the table, Elyssa slid her hand across Petra’s abdomen, her fingers touching her shirt with a gentle caress. Her glow left a trail of dim radiance that faded as she moved.
Closing her eyes, she dipped her head. “The stardrop is embedded in her stomach lining. Light is flowing from it and up into her esophagus.” Her h
and glided from one spot to another. “I sense no perforations and no blood.”
“She’s been moved around a lot,” Deference said, “so blood might have drained from her abdomen. It also could have clotted.”
“That makes sense.” Elyssa shifted her hand to Petra’s sternum. “Her heart is motionless, as we expected. It looks like a normal heart, at least from pictures I’ve seen.”
Deference slid closer, adding her aura’s glow to Elyssa’s. “Do you see any scalding? If the stardrop burns, it could have sealed her entire insides.”
Elyssa shook her head. “The lining seems the same as Jason’s, moist and smooth everywhere.”
“Something must have killed her. If not bleeding or scalding, then what?”
“I don’t know.” Elyssa opened her eyes and looked at Deference. “I’m not a Starlighter. I can’t recall history and watch it happen.”
Jason stepped close to the table. “Elyssa, you have Starlighter gifts. You said so yourself.”
“Not all of them. I’m not a storyteller.”
“While we were walking to the dragon village, you said the story in the book came to life for you.”
“Yes, but that was in the presence of a stardrop and that book I got in the Basilica. I could never replicate that.”
Jason pointed at Petra’s abdomen. “There’s a stardrop in there.”
“But no book. I think I would need some kind of historical record.”
“Everything that happened is stored in her brain,” Deference said. “It’s better than a book.”
“Maybe.” A skeptical frown turned Elyssa’s lips. “But how could her brain hold any memories? It’s dead.”
Deference touched Petra’s head, setting it aglow. “Her spirit is inside her body. The memories are in there somewhere.”
Closing her eyes again, Elyssa moved her hand back to Petra’s stomach. “I’ll follow the stardrop’s energy and see what I can find.” Her fingers glided up Petra’s midsection, across her throat, and over her face until they rested on her forehead. “The light surrounds her brain, like a bath of radiance.”
As Elyssa’s pendant took on a reddish blush, something hot stung Jason’s chest. He laid a hand over the spot where the litmus finger rested under his skin. It hadn’t throbbed like this in a long time. What might it mean? A reminder that he had a piece of a Starlighter dwelling within? Maybe the infusion of stardrop crystals into his bloodstream had somehow stimulated it.
Elyssa’s brow lifted. “I found something. I’m seeing lots of images, and I hear whispered voices, but they’re coming so fast. They won’t stop long enough for me to figure out what’s going on.”
Jason looked at Elyssa’s glowing hand and imagined the rapid scenes and voices traveling from the point of contact up to her mind. It was like the whisperers that streamed from the star chamber and passed him by, leaving fractured messages he couldn’t piece together. If Koren and Cassabrie pulled these messages out of the air and created visible tales with them, they could probably do the same thing with these memories.
“I have an idea,” Jason said.
Elyssa kept her eyes closed. “What?”
He slid his hand into hers and pulled his shirt down at the collar. “Let’s see what the Starlighter can show you now.” The patch of skin over the litmus finger glowed, pulsing in time with the piercing stings. Still holding Elyssa’s hand, he leaned over Petra. The light washed over Elyssa’s fingers and Petra’s forehead.
A new furrow etched Elyssa’s brow. “The images are slowing down, and the voices aren’t so quiet.”
“Good.” Jason stretched his collar further. The litmus finger stung worse than ever. “Let us know what you see.”
“I see Koren and a dragon, a mean one. It looks like the room where they’re keeping Cassabrie.” Her eyelids quivered but stayed closed. “Yes. Yes, it is that room. I see her floating. The stardrop is on the floor. A hand reached out and grabbed it.”
“I think you’re seeing memories from physical vision,” Deference said. “If you want to see what happened inside her body, maybe you should look for other input.”
Elyssa moved her hand across Petra’s scalp, combing through her hair with her fingers. “No, nothing there…. Not here either…. Ah! I might have something. I’m connected to some kind of recording. It’s … it’s so strange. I feel like … like …” She moved her hand to Petra’s mouth and let it glide down the outside of her throat. “Something weird is happening to me.”
“What?” Jason asked. “Can you describe it?”
Elyssa gasped. “It burns! It burns so badly!” She slid her hand down Petra’s chest. “Oh! Oh, help me!” Her own chest heaved. The pendant shone like Solarus, fiery orange. Lifting her head, she let out a wild scream.
“Elyssa!” Jason compressed her hand. “Are you all right? Should you break the connection?”
Her eyes clenching shut, she shook her head hard. Then, panting, she whispered, “Too hot. It’s too hot. I cannot stay in this oven.”
Like a rising mist, Petra’s spirit lifted from her lifeless body, her face mimicking Elyssa’s pain-streaked expression.
“The fire burns!” Elyssa shouted. “Oh, it burns! I must leave!”
“No!” Jason reached for Petra’s spirit, but his hand passed right through. “You have to stay! Crawl back into your body. You have to stay there!”
As Petra sank back in, Elyssa panted. “I’m inside. I feel so hot, so very hot!”
Deference touched Petra’s arm. “Her body is getting warmer.”
“She has the energy now,” Uriel said, “but she’s not breathing.”
“We have to start her heart.” Deference laid her hands on Petra’s chest, one on top of the other. “Jason, put your hands here and push in time with your own heartbeat.”
Jason copied Deference’s pose. “Like this?”
“Yes. Not too hard.”
“How hard is not too hard?”
“Just don’t break her rib cage.”
Jason pushed, compressing Petra’s chest and imagining his heartbeat as he repeated the action again and again, but with his own heart thumping so rapidly, might his rhythm be too fast?
“Help me!” Elyssa screamed. “Something is grabbing me! It’s dragging me into a dark place! I’m being swallowed!”
Jason pulled back. “Is she all right?” “That’s better,” Elyssa said. “I’m coming back out now.”
“No!” Uriel pushed Jason’s hands back in place. “Keep it up! You almost had her! Elyssa isn’t telling the history; she is telling us what Petra feels now.”
Jason compressed her chest again, trying to maintain the same rhythm. He closed his eyes and called out, “Tell me when to stop!”
“No!” Elyssa cried out. “It’s sucking me back in!”
Uriel pumped his fist in time with Jason’s pushes. “Don’t listen to her! She’s almost there!”
Petra’s head jerked to the side. Her arms flailed. Her chest heaved, sucking in a deep breath.
“Now, Jason!” Uriel shouted. “Let her go!”
fourteen
Jason leaped back. Petra’s eyes shot open. She inhaled through her nose and looked around. For a moment, her eyes stayed wide, the muscles in her face tense, but as her breathing slowed, she relaxed. Looking at Elyssa, she lifted a hand and set it gently on hers.
Elyssa’s face turned pale. Her legs buckled, and she collapsed.
“Elyssa!” Jason dropped to his knees and cradled her. “Can you hear me?”
Deference jumped from the table and joined him. “She’s breathing.”
“Energy transfer,” Uriel said. “Her metabolic rate is likely below a level that can support consciousness, but since the drain has stopped, it’s reasonable to hope she will stabilize.”
Jason touched the pendant, still hot and glowing. This piece of manna wood had literally absorbed Elyssa’s energy. Uriel was probably right about her recovery, but how long would it take?
Pe
tra rose to a sitting position, then slid her body to the edge of the table.
“Wait,” Uriel said as he grasped her arm. “Are you sure you can get up?”
She nodded and, with his help, lowered herself to the floor. She sat next to Jason and laid a hand on Elyssa’s cheek, looking at Jason with forlorn eyes, as if Elyssa’s condition might be her fault.
“It’s okay,” Jason said. “You’re alive, and she’ll be okay.
It’s worth it.”
Uriel clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Well, then, it seems that the stardrop did not harm Petra’s body. It merely scorched the spiritual plane so thoroughly that Petra’s spirit could not stay. She literally leaped out of the oven her body had become.”
Jason looked into Petra’s glistening eyes. They reflected a blend of joy and sadness. “That’s probably what the Reflections Crystal does. When I was chained to it, it seemed like I was trying to jump out of my body, like being barefoot on hot sand.”
“Yet the stardrop remains, so it is only the initial entry that purges the body. After that, it seems that the spirit is able to dwell there without a problem.”
Petra grasped Jason’s hand and clasped it in both of hers. She nodded at the clasp, her eyes wide. A weak glow surrounded her skin, making it shimmer.
“That’s strange,” Deference said. “Her skin looks like Elyssa’s now.”
“What?” Elyssa opened her eyes. “Did someone call me?”
Jason smiled and took her hand. “We were just talking about Petra and her new radiance.”
“I remember falling. Did you catch me?”
“Not quite. You pretty much crumpled.” Jason pushed her hair back from her forehead. “Do you want to try to stand?”
She smiled. “In a minute. I’m as dizzy as a spinning top.”
Uriel crouched between Jason and Petra. “We have learned two important facts. First, although a stardrop is fatal, a person is able to be resurrected if his or her spirit stays in proximity. Second, Elyssa has the power to bring about that resurrection using the manna pendant. The process drains her, but she seems to be recovering quickly.”