CHAPTER TWELVE
After that, they checked the other mage’s body, and sure enough, he had Venifucus markings too. The Venifucus were an ancient brotherhood of those who supported Elspeth, the Destroyer, and fought on the side of evil against the forces of Light. Until recently, it had been believed that the order had been wiped out in the last big battle, centuries ago, that had resulted in Elspeth’s banishment to the farthest realms.
More recently, it had been discovered that the order had not died out. In fact, they’d gone underground and were actively working to return their leader, to the mortal realm. They’d been gathering strength, and new followers, in secret all this time. They’d hunted and killed those who would have opposed them if the battle had been out in the open. They’d stolen magic from Others who would never have approved their power being used for evil. They’d done terrible things, all with the same goal—bringing Elspeth back.
There were rumors that they’d already succeeded, but nobody had any real proof. If Elspeth was already back in the mortal realm, she hadn’t shown herself yet. At least not to anyone who would mount a defense against her evil. No, if she was here, she was being stealthy about it, biding her time, building her strength for what could be a devastating strike.
It was one of Ray’s primary duties to fight evil wherever he found it. He would also be on the front lines of any battle against Elspeth, should it come to pass, as he’d been before.
“We’re going to have to take them someplace special to deal with this,” Fred said, interrupting Ray’s grim thoughts. “Can you still handle the residue?”
As with the yellow mage, there was an inordinate amount of blood under the red mage’s body. More than could be accounted for by his death alone. No, this was the blood of those he’d killed in pursuit of power. This was the blood that had powered his evil. Blood of innocents, for the most part, though he’d probably taken out more than a few of his rivals in his time. Blood path mages weren’t known for being nice guys.
“I can,” Ray answered Fred’s question. “It helps that the majority of those he preyed upon were innocent.”
Fred nodded and hefted the yellow mage’s body easily, placing it across the back of the snowmobile he’d driven. Neither of the bodies had a single drop of blood left in them—an after-effect when a blood path mage was killed. When one of them died, all the blood they’d taken through evil usually fled their body, taking their own blood with it. That was handy, Ray thought, since they’d have to transport the two bodies to Fred’s special place, and it wouldn’t do to leave a trail of any kind.
As Fred secured the body to the machine, he nodded grimly at Ray. “Do what you must, my friend, and let me know if I can help in any way.”
“Thanks, but I can manage.” Ray opened his hands, facing his palms toward the blood slush that had been under the red mage.
He called on the Goddess he served, sanctifying the area with the ritual words. As he spoke, he could feel the Light gathering to banish the remains of the dark. A current of power rushed through him when the blood of the innocents was freed from the small residual hold the red mage had on those he’d killed, even though he was no more.
Ray felt it when the last of the red mage’s power disintegrated. Breaking that final bond allowed the blood to dissipate, melting into the ground, leaving no trace behind. A bare spot on the earth was left when all the blood had gone, the deep brown of the soil unmarred by red. And then, a sudden wind rose, and snow drifted to cover the spot, obliterating all evidence of the red mage’s passage. Not only the place in which he’d died was covered, but Ray knew all traces—footprints and even his snowmobile tracks—disappeared thanks to the Goddess’s blessing.
No one would know the red mage had passed this way. Should his allies come looking for him, they would find no trace. Ray nodded when it was done then walked back toward the place where the yellow mage had fallen to Evie’s claws and teeth. He did the same, erasing the yellow mage’s passage.
The smoke mage was a slightly different case, since she was still alive, but the Goddess was benevolent, and She gave Ray the power and skill to erase the third mage’s presence completely. The paths all three of the mages had taken could not be followed by anyone now. Nobody would link those three to Evie’s cabin, which was a relief to Ray’s mind. He’d protected his mate and hopefully confounded the servants of evil in the process. As humans would say, it was a win-win scenario.
When Ray returned to where they’d parked the snowmobiles, Evie was subdued, but her strength of spirit was not in doubt. She reached for his hand, squeezing his fingers in silent support.
Fred looked at him with a sort of respectful suspicion as Ray mounted his snowmobile, already laden with the yellow mage’s body. They would have to ride a bit slower and more carefully on this journey than they had coming here, but the sooner they properly disposed of the evidence, the better.
“You are a very interesting fellow, Sir Fey,” Fred said, one eyebrow raised as he started his snowmobile. “One day, you and I are going to have to sit down for a very long talk.”
Ray shrugged. “Perhaps,” was the only thing he said in reply.
It would be up to the Goddess whether or not this bear shifter shaman was made part of the ever-widening circle of those who knew the extent of Ray’s service to Her. Though he suspected the time was coming when he and his brother Knights would have to reveal themselves in order to fight the evil he feared was fast approaching. Ray thought the shaman might just be a very powerful ally in that fight, should it come to pass.
Evie was surprised when she saw where Fred was leading them. She’d thought she’d known every square inch of territory around here, but this place was new to her…but ancient in its structure and purpose.
Entering a hidden canyon she had never noticed before, they took the snowmobiles up a gentle incline, crisscrossing the grade as it steepened in an unpredictable pattern. Fred didn’t hesitate. He seemed to know exactly where he was going.
Underneath the solid blanket of snow, Evie knew the rock formations beneath them would be striped with the layers of earth that had been laid down over the millennia. It was a unique feature of this area. Erosion and the unstoppable movement of the earth’s crust over eons had caused the entire area to be painted in broad stripes of brown, tan, ochre, yellow, rust and every shade of color between darkest brown to palest cream.
It was breathtaking when not buried under feet of snow. In fact, in the warmer months, hikers were common, if not exactly encouraged by the local tribe that oversaw the land. Still, Evie couldn’t blame the people who trekked out here, to the back-of-beyond, to witness one of Mother Nature’s most artistic settings.
Photographers, painters and just adventurous day trippers checked in at the ranger station for safety, and so area residents would know who to expect out in the wilderness. Occasionally, they also saw trespassers who didn’t necessarily play by the rules, or tell anyone in authority what they were doing or where they planned to be. More than one intrepid soul had tried to hide out here, running from the law or their fellow criminals, but they were always found in the end.
Their circuitous route took Evie and the others to the top of a rocky outcropping that was oddly shaped at its apex. In a small depression—so it could not be seen from below—was an amazing rock formation. Covered in snow on the outside, it looked like a big lump with jagged breaks between craggy rocks that towered over her. But when Fred led them through one of the openings, the vision before her stole her breath.
Outside, it was deep winter. Inside, it was warm. No snow. No dust. No debris of any kind.
The striped marks that were characteristic of the rock formations in the area showed here, on the inside faces of the stone monoliths that formed a perfect ring at the top of the outcropping. A sacred circle of living rock. A Goddess circle.
Fred signaled for them to park the snowmobiles near the center of the ring. As she pulled up a few feet from Ray’s ride, she saw the low stone altar that sat at the exact center of the circle. When all the motors fell silent, she stepped off the snowmobile and looked around her in awe.
“I had no idea this place was even here,” she breathed, looking up at the beauty of the Mother’s creation.
No wind howled here. No snow powder flew up to hit her in the face, as it had the whole ride here. It wasn’t exactly tropical inside the circle, but it wasn’t the cold of outside, either. It was definitely above freezing and warm compared to the snow beyond. This place was a sanctuary that would shelter someone in trouble, and keep safe those of pure heart.
It was a place of worship and would soon become a place of purification. Evie completed her circuit of the natural stone temple and turned back to her companions in time to see them place the bodies of their enemies on the altar. Fred caught her eye and nodded, standing and moving a step toward her.
“If you’d stayed in the area, I would have shown you this place eventually,” he told her, his tone almost apologetic. “When Josh was old enough.”
Evie shook her head, smiling at her old friend. “It’s okay. I understand. This is a special place that must be protected. Even I can feel that.”
Ray moved to stand beside her, his gaze traveling over the circumference of the circle. “This will be perfect for what we have to do,” he said approvingly.
What followed, over the next hour or so, was a very intense ceremony. Fred led the ritual, and Ray assisted, seeming to be perfectly in tune with whatever Fred needed him to do at a particular moment. It was as if they had worked together for years, even though they had only just met. Some things transcended time, Evie supposed. And those who served the Goddess, no matter in what form, shared that unifying force in common.
Evie jumped a bit when the magic started swirling. There was real snow outside the circle, but within the powerful bounds of the stone monoliths, a magical storm was brewing. It was the pale gold of Ray’s energy, mixed with the rainbow hues of Fred’s. Evie felt her own energy rise to aid the spells they were working and knew they would take only as much of her magic as they needed.
Of course, she was willing to help in whatever way she could. She’d played her part in killing one of the men on the altar. The least she could do was lend her strength to be certain he was laid to rest properly, his magic returned to the earth where it could never harm anyone else ever again.
The spell was mighty, and the magical whirlwind was hard to look at. Evie shut her eyes as the power came to a crescendo, blinding white emerging from the myriad colors as Fred loosed the energy he’d been gathering. It coalesced at the apex of the standing stone, in the exact center, above the altar. Then, it descended with a near-deafening boom that didn’t hurt so much as startle Evie.
She jumped again as the crash of power flowed out and down, into the earth. When she dared to open her eyes—first, a crack, then wider as the storm dissipated—she was shocked to see nothing left of the bodies that had lain on the altar. They’d been turned to dust, the ashes of them carried into the earth by the whirlwind of magic for all time.
Wow. Evie had never witnessed anything like it before.
“The Mother of All has blessed our endeavors,” Fred intoned, drawing his ritual to a close. “Be at ease, Eve, daughter of Morris and Anita Grey Wolf. Our Lady sees the questions in your heart and offers Her blessings upon you for standing with the Light against evil. You had no other choice. You did only what was right in the Lady’s sight.”
The last few uneasy qualms Evie had harbored about killing the yellow mage dissipated in the Light issuing from Fred’s eyes. He was filled with power not entirely his own, and she wondered again exactly how close a servant of the Goddess her bear friend was. Judging by what she’d just seen, Fred was a lot more than he advertised. Shaman, yes. But his magic had grown by leaps and bounds since the last time she’d seen him all those years ago. He was a whole lot spookier than she remembered, and if she wasn’t mated to a consecrated Knight of the Light, she might almost be uneasy around Fred.
As it was, she was beginning to get used to having powerful people nearby. Between Ray, Josh, and the priestess who was her new daughter-in-law…and now Fred. Evie felt totally outclassed by the levels of power all around her, and a more insecure werewolf might get a complex of some kind.
Not that Ray would ever let her feel inferior. Not for one moment would he allow that. She knew where she stood with him. They were partners. Not exactly equal in all ways, but they evened each other out. She was good at some things and he was good at others. They complemented each other perfectly. As it should be with true mates.
When the power left Fred, he staggered, just slightly before he caught himself. His eyes were dull with the loss of the intense energy that had flowed through him. Ray steadied him and led him to the altar. Fred leaned against it as Ray moved back, keeping a close eye on the bear shifter.
“That was masterfully done,” Ray commented. “Now, if you’ll allow me, I’m pretty good with mechanical things. It’s a particular talent of mine.” Ray shrugged a little as if it wasn’t much to brag about. “Since I assume we’re going to pass these snowmobiles on to someone else, we’ll want to be sure there are not latent traces or traps upon them before we let them go.”
Fred looked impressed, and Evie was outright surprised. She hadn’t even thought such a thing was possible, but magic and spells was Ray’s bailiwick. If he said they should check, they should check. And by they, she, of course, meant him. Him or Fred. Those two were much better at consciously using magic than she was. With her, it was all instinctual—except for the little bit Ray had taught her about casting wards.
“Please,” Fred said magnanimously, gesturing toward the vehicles, parked all in a row.
They were spaced out enough that Ray could walk between them and around each completely. He did this, chanting something Evie didn’t quite catch and took his time examining every inch of every machine.
Evie leaned against the altar, now just a slab of striped rock empty of magic and any evidence of what had just happened here. She kept a close watch on Fred. He was drained of energy, which wasn’t surprising after what she’d just seen. They watched Ray work silently, and a few minutes later, he seemed to finish, leaving the snowmobiles and heading back toward them. He was grinning.
“There wasn’t much on the machines. I think they bought them new only a day or two ago and didn’t have a lot of time or energy to spend on them. If they’d been older, it would have been worse, but as it is, they’re clean and ready for whatever you decide to do with them,” Ray said.
“Me? I thought maybe you two would want them,” Fred replied. “Or at least two of them.”
“Nah,” Evie told her old friend, in perfect alignment with Ray on this subject, though they hadn’t talked it over much. “We’re not staying. And even if we did, we don’t really need snowmobiles, though they are more fun than I’d realized. Your people could use them, can’t they? For one thing, if anybody comes looking for them, which I doubt will happen, you can easily say they were abandoned on res land, which they were.”
Fred looked thoughtful, scratching his chin for a moment. “My nephew, Bruce, is the tribal sheriff now,” he told her, which was news to her. “He can start legal proceedings in our system. The outside world wouldn’t have to know, but there’d be a legit human paper trail if anyone did come looking.” He looked her straight in the eye and grinned. “I like it.”
“Use them for good,” Ray agreed. “That’s a win for the good guys.”
“And with all the snow this year, the tribal police could use another way to get around. They have a snowcat, but that thing is a monster, and it takes a while to get anywhere in it. These things can just zip around, and if a call comes in for help, they can send someone out right away. My nephew Bruce will put them to good use.”
Fred was regaining strength as she watched him, and his eyes were beginning to sparkle with life once more. Bear shifters were really amazing beings. So magical. So strong. Evie truly admired Fred, though she didn’t really understand him. Her wolf was always a little shocked by the hijinks bears got up to when left to their own devices, and Fred had pulled some unsurpassed feats of hilarity when they’d all been younger.
“Since these machines are going to the res, why don’t you two come back with me? I’ll feed you a good meal and then get you a ride back to your place. Sound good?” Fred asked, graciously inviting them onto the reservation proper.