Chapter 8 -- Thirst for Knowledge
"It's all your fault!" Brenna spat at her captor.
"Shut up..."
"Your fault that the crops failed..."
"Shut up."
"Your fault there's a drought..." The accusation was cut off as her captor backhanded her.
"Shut up!"
"The apparitions. The weather. The deaths. All on your head!" Brenna shouted, refusing to be cowed.
"Shut up!"
Brenna bit her lip to keep from crying out as her captor struck her again. "To think we ever trusted you..." she managed before another blow landed.
After that, her mouth was too swollen to allow for easy speech, so she focused her attention on the ropes that bound her wrists. Her absence would be noted by daybreak. Both of their absences. She glared at Eala as the girl paced around the abandoned temple. She had trusted her, listened to her lies, her accusations against the strangers... more willing to believe that all the trials they had suffered were the fault of outsiders than of someone she had known and cared about... She had failed her people.
But Eala had not yet killed her, and that gave her hope. The girl had not yet deciphered the Book of Shadows. If she had, Brenna's presence would have been superfluous. Maybe it was not too late. Of course, if Eala found a way to decipher the writings, it would be. There was a reason that magic was so strictly regulated. The droughts, the famine, the sickness... all no doubt related to Eala's efforts to gain some measure of power.
Looking at Eala now, it was clear that the dark magic was taking its toll on the girl as well. She was drawn and gaunt, the formerly soft lines of her face: hard, her formerly tender expression: bitter. It was consuming the young girl who lacked the power and ability to control it, but Eala was too taken with the power and rush of it all to notice. Brenna sighed and closed her eyes, rotating her wrists against the ropes, scrutinizing them for weaknesses. Her mind did not slow as she worked against the ropes. Much was now clear that had not been before.
"You honestly think the outsiders will help you?" Brenna scoffed.
"If they wish to live long enough to return to their home, they will."
"They will not. You've miscalculated, Eala. They're friends to our Lady. They will never help you!"
Eala backhanded her again, but her unnatural strength was already fading and the blow was less painful than the previous ones.
Brenna shook her head. "Already it fades. It is eating you alive, Eala! Turn your back on it while you still may!"
"So you and Audra can retain your monopoly?" Eala shook her head. "No."
Brenna sighed. "You claim to desire knowledge, Eala, but this is not about that. This... this is an abomination. All you can ever gain from this is power, and that power will destroy you."
"As it has you?" Eala scoffed. "You flourish, Brenna..."
"You lack the discipline to control it! It will control you! It will destroy you!" Brenna bellowed. "You take what is beautiful and you twist it into something hideous!"
Eala rolled her eyes and stuffed a cloth in Brenna's mouth. "How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?" she muttered, shaking her head. "I have always been disgusted by you and your sanctimonious blathering!" She walked to the alter and opened the book. "Well, see what it feels like to be like the rest of us, Brenna. Powerless..." Eala smiled at her before turning her attention to the book.
Brenna shook her head and resumed her struggles. There was a reason that Eala had been passed over for the priestly training. Sweet and biddable though she had been, the girl had always lacked both discipline and patience. Obviously, she also lacked an understanding of the responsibilities that magic carried with it. She would destroy herself, and probably everyone in the village in the process. And there was no guarantee, either that the damage would limit itself to the region, or even to Avalon itself.
***
By dawn, the search had been joined by dozens of villagers. As Sydney bent over a broken branch, trying to determine if it constituted a trail-marker, Nigel joined her.
"Anything?" she asked him.
He nodded grimly. "Eala is missing as well."
"The girl? The baker?" Sydney straightened, frowning.
Nigel nodded. "Now, the villagers believe that she was taken, same as Brenna." He inhaled deeply and lowered his voice. There were searchers all around and he did not want them to hear this. "However, Audra has her doubts. She'd like to speak with us."
Sydney nodded. "Ewan!" she called. "Nigel and I are heading back. We need to talk to Audra."
"Grace of the gods with you..." he replied, never taking his eyes from the ground. He pointed out a footprint to Connor, explaining in a low voice how they could tell that it was new and how it clearly indicated that the person who had left it had had their hands bound.
Nigel and Sydney walked back towards the village, feeling defeated.
"There any ruins around?" Sydney asked Nigel as they walked. He had remained in the village, researching places where Brenna could have been taken. "Caves?"
Nigel nodded. "One or two good possibilities. I'll show you the maps when we get back."
"Um, cities where these Sidhe may dwell?" Sydney ventured.
"Not marked on any maps. And whatever the people may believe, Audra does not think that they would have taken two people, one from the village itself." He sighed.
"What does Audra think, then?" Sydney asked, shaking her head in frustration. "That Eala managed to overpower Brenna and take her off somewhere against her will? Nigel, the two of us together couldn't do that and we both know it."
"But there may be other factors at work..." a third voice contributed.
Sydney and Nigel both jumped at the intrusion.
"Bridgit, jeez!" Sydney exclaimed, shaking her head. "Trying to give me a heart-attack?"
"After I went to all that trouble to keep you from death last time?" The redhead shook her head, her green eyes belying her casual tone and mild words.
Sydney stared at her. "How serious is this?"
"Audra is afraid..." Bridgit said simply, as though that alone was indication enough.
"Horrified is more like it..." Nigel muttered. "She's been holding out on us, Syd. Her and Brenna both." He glanced at Bridgit, frowning suddenly. "You, too, I suspect."
"I have told you all that I know, Nigel. Lying is not in my nature." She paused, looking thoughtful. "Audra and Brenna, though, almost certainly have been keeping information from you."
"You could have told us..." Sydney told her.
Bridgit ignored the reproach. "They are both afraid, and that speaks ill. I can feel Brenna..." She touched her hand to her chest, obviously fighting tears. "Such horror... shame, too. She believes she has failed me."
Nigel and Sydney both stared at her. Nigel absently offered her a handkerchief. "You can feel what she's feeling?" he asked.
"All my Devout, yes. Thank you." Bridgit accepted the handkerchief. "I can not... locate her. I... That is... not normal... Something is wrong. Tell Audra what I have told you. Tell her the child lives still, but Brenna does not believe she will live for long..." Bridgit trailed off, handing the handkerchief back to Nigel, touching his forehead lightly with two fingers. "Tell her these things, my son."
"Why won't you help us?" Sydney demanded, frustrated.
"If I could, I would!" Bridgit snapped, shaking her head.
Sydney and Nigel both recoiled. As gentle as she normally was, Bridgit was still a goddess, and when she was angry it showed. Her beautiful red hair seemed to have actually become living flame, and her eyes burned with rage. Her size seemed to triple despite the fact that her height had not changed. Nigel was not entirely sure, but he thought he saw sorrow in those angry eyes for a split-second before she vanished in a flash of fire.
"Whoa..." Sydney muttered, shaking her head.
"She's frustrated..." Nigel said softly.
"Obviously. And you know, Nigel, that scares me."
"Scared me, too, Syd..." he assured her.
"No, Nigel, not that little display." Sydney shook her head. "The fact that whatever's going on is beyond her power to fix. That scares me."
Nigel exhaled heavily, his eyes wide. He had not looked at it like that before, but Sydney was absolutely correct. "Come on, let's go talk to Audra."
"You know..." Sydney said as they walked. "I got the impression that the little that she told us was more than she really should have..." She frowned thoughtfully. "She was having a lot of trouble getting it out."
"She was upset, Syd..." Nigel pointed out.
She shook her head. "Felt like there was more to it than that... I don't know, Nigel." She shrugged as they approached Audra's hut. "Come on."
"Ah, thank you for coming, Sydney." Audra smiled anxiously at her. "Did... did Nigel tell you about Eala?"
Sydney nodded. "She's missing as well, yeah."
"We saw Bridgit, Audra..." Nigel told her quietly. "She said... she said Brenna is still alive, but she's scared and... she feels like she has failed the people."
Audra closed her eyes, relief at the first part of Nigel's statement washed away at the second pronouncement and replaced with pain so severe that it felt as though someone had run her through with a sword. She looked up at Nigel, finally. "Is there more?"
Nigel considered holding the rest back, but recalled how important Bridgit seemed to think it was for Audra to know. "She said... um..." Nigel paused, trying to recall the exact words. "Her exact words: 'the child lives still, but Brenna does not believe she will live for long'. Does that mean something, Audra?"
"Uh, I don't..."
"Funny syntax..." Nigel said abruptly.
Sydney stared at him as if he were insane. "Nigel! Can we please focus here?"
Nigel shook his head. "I mean it, Syd. Bridgit's syntax is invariably flawless... I... I remember it... it's the first thing I noticed about her..." he admitted bashfully.
Sydney could not help but laugh at that admission. Trust him to overlook the great figure, amazing hair, and gorgeous eyes in favor of a woman's speech patterns. "You need help, man..." she told him, shaking her head.
"Syd, listen to me... Bridgit does not use bad syntax. She just... doesn't."
"So? She was upset this time and did. Big deal."
"Possibly, yes..." Audra said simply. "Possibly a very big deal indeed."
Sydney stared at her. "Okay, someone want to share with the slow kid?"
"What if there's a message in there... something she couldn't tell us directly?" Nigel asked. "You yourself said that you thought she had said more than she should have. What if..."
"Secret message?" Sydney asked, considering. "Maybe... some kind of code?"
Nigel shook his head. "I don't think so... Just... a different meaning that could be derived. 'The child still lives, but Brenna does not believe she will for long'... Why not just say 'Brenna is still alive, but she does not think she will be for much longer'? Or just 'Brenna does not believe she will live long'?"
"Two different subjects!" Sydney exclaimed, nodding. "The child and Brenna. Two different people!"
Nigel nodded. "Yes. Eala and Brenna."
"Eala is still alive..." Sydney said, nodding. "But Brenna doesn't think she will be for long."
"Brenna doesn't think that Brenna will be alive for long?" Nigel asked, frowning. "Or Brenna doesn't think that Eala will be alive for long?"
"Why would Eala be in danger of dying?" Sydney asked. She glanced up at Audra.
"She's found the Book..."
"What book?" Sydney asked, frowning.
"The... the Book of Shadows, it is called now. It... Brenna was afraid that you were after it. Eala encouraged her in this belief."
Sydney frowned, thinking about the sweet, helpful girl she had met the day before, the girl who had seemed so anxious when she had told them that Brenna planned on harming them. "And she told us that Brenna was going to try to kill us. She was playing us against each other..." Sydney sighed, disgusted that she had let herself be taken in by Eala's act.
Nigel shook his head. "Buying herself time, no doubt." He looked at Audra. "Could she have called us here?"
"If she has the Book of Shadows, yes."
"I don't understand..." Sydney protested. "A Book of Shadows is... harmless! Wiccans record their spells and recipes in them... You speak of this thing like it's..."
"The most evil tome imaginable. It is..." Audra told her. "That it shares a name with an innocuous volume that exists on your world means nothing here. It is not a book of evil spells, it is evil. Already Eala has become corrupted by it. A sweeter child you could not have known, but see now what she is capable of, to attack a priestess of our Lady..." Audra shook her head, closing her eyes. "Dark, dark magic... Dark places... it was originally called the Book of Dark Places. Later, the Book of Darkness. At some point, it entered the popular mythology as Book of Shadows, independently of how a book in your culture came by the same name."
"What is it?" Sydney asked. "How did it come into existence?"
"It is said that every evil god in every pantheon from every time the world over collaborated in its creation. It is written in a dozen different languages, spells and ritual stolen from a dozen faiths and twisted into something ugly..."
"Bridgit said something very like that the other day..." Nigel murmured, frowning thoughtfully. "Something about magic being beautiful, but its intent being twisted about somehow. She seemed very upset as I recall." He glanced at Sydney. "Not upset like she was today, but sad..."
"There is reputed to be a spell that can give a mortal divine power..." Audra whispered.
Sydney and Nigel gaped at her.
Audra nodded and continued. "Sacrifice is involved."
"Human sacrifice?" Sydney asked.
Audra nodded. "Not to begin with, but yes. The spells... they start off seeming harmless. The early spells in the Book are simple and harmless. A drop of your blood, the proper forms and ceremonies and you become more beautiful. But they do not stay harmless. Next you find yourself sacrificing livestock for wealth or blighting the harvest for knowledge. Then you drain the strength from your neighbors to add to your own... Every page is darker than the last, but by small degrees."
"And before you know it, you're in over your head..." Sydney muttered. "It's like a drug addiction..."
"Exactly." Audra nodded.
"And this is... beyond Bridgit's power?" Nigel asked softly.
Audra nodded. "No good god can interfere in this without being called upon to."
"Then let's call!" Sydney said, shrugging.
"It is not so easy. The only ceremony that will work..."
"Is in the bloody Book?" Nigel guessed, shaking his head.
Audra nodded. "Yes. And it requires a sacrifice."
"But... in sacrificing to one of these good gods, aren't you..." Sydney trailed off, uncertain how to express it.
"To take the life of another is unforgivable..." Audra said simply. "The gods are bound by rules, as any mortal is. When the Dark Ones created the book, they had to include a way to allow the Holy Ones to intervene."
"So they came up with history's first legal loophole..." Sydney muttered in disgust.
"Yes." Audra nodded. "Eala can not be allowed to complete the ceremony that will allow her Transcendence. It is against every natural law and all will suffer for it..."
"How long do we have?" Sydney asked.
Audra considered. "She has not yet translated the text, that much is certain. There will be omens before she even begins. As long as the sun shines by day and the moon by night, there is still time."
Sydney nodded. "Um... Nigel said there are a few places she might be. Let's round up the villagers and storm the castle."
"Uh, Syd, that's going to be a problem..." Nigel muttered quietly.
"What?" Sydney demanded, staring from Nigel to Audra.
Nigel explained quickly and quietly. "No villager will go near one of the locations. It's a ruined temple on extremely evil, unhallowed ground."
"Sounds like our best shot, then." Sydney nodded. "She won't be counting on company. That gives us the advantage."
"Audra, is this place actually dangerous?" Nigel asked her gently.
"I have no way of knowing." She shook her head. "But... Eala's powers will be immense there."
"Can she be saved at this point?" Sydney asked.
Nigel stared at her with wide eyes. "Syd, you can't actually mean to..."
"Kill her if I have to, yes." She nodded firmly.
"Bloody hell, Syd, this isn't a joke! She's a child!"
"She is a monster..." Audra replied. "But she may yet be saved."
"How?" Sydney asked.
"Only by an act of love."
"Not another damned act of love!" Sydney snapped, storming out of the hut.
"Syd!" Nigel called, startled. He gave Audra an apologetic shrug then hurried to catch up with her. "Sydney!"
"Nigel..." she began.
"What did you mean? 'Not another act of love'?" he asked, frowning and feeling hurt. The last one had saved her life and ultimately brought them together. "Syd..." he said softly, touching her cheek gently. "What's wrong."
"The last one... you could have died."
"But I didn't. I was never in any real danger." This much was true even if he would never forget the pain and he still occasionally woke up in a cold sweat from nightmares about being boiled alive.
"Yeah, that time you weren't. Who's to say this time, though?"
"Who's to say that she meant me?" Nigel asked reasonably. "Syd, this... whatever it is, it can not be allowed to happen. We both know that."
"I don't want to lose you, Nigel. Not when I just found you." She shook her head.
"You won't, I promise. Not ever." He gave her a small smile. "I like to think that there'll always be a piece of me here." He gently rested his hand over her heart.
Sydney nodded and kissed him. When she finally had to release the breathless and dazed man, she asked, "So, where's this ruin?"
"Audra has a map inside..." he managed, staring at her with wide eyes.
"I'll get it." She grinned at him. "Catch your breath."
"Thanks, Syd..."
"My pleasure..." she assured him with a wink before reentering the hut. "Sorry about that..." she told Audra.
"I understand. Bridgit has told me of your concerns for him."
"Are they valid?" Sydney asked.
"The act of love will not fall to either of you..." Audra said simply, handing Sydney the map. "Good luck to you."
"Thank you." Sydney turned to leave. "What will you tell the other villagers?"
"I do not yet know. I will call them back now, though, if you do not mind. There is no point in them searching needlessly."
Sydney nodded. "Yeah. So... she can be saved?"
"She was a good child. I must believe some spark of that remains."
Sydney nodded. "We'll do everything we can."
"Thank you. Blessings on you."
Sydney nodded and left the hut. "Ready to move, Nigel."
"Kiss for luck wouldn't be out of order..." he suggested, grinning.
Sydney put her hands on her hips, staring at him and shaking her head. "You..."
"That a yes?" Nigel asked, laughing softly.
She nodded and held out her arms. "Come here."
Nigel smiled and slid his arms around her waist. "You know, Syd..." he muttered once they had kissed, not releasing her immediately. "Somehow rushing blindly into the jaws of death just doesn't seem as bad any more..."
Sydney laughed. "We'd better get rushing, then... Who knows how much of that book she's managed to translate."
Nigel nodded and consulted the map. "That a way." He pointed. He grinned at Sydney. "Ladies first."
She shook her head and started off. Nigel fell in step next to her, grinning and keeping on eye on the map and one on Sydney. After a few minutes, they heard a horn.
"That's Audra calling the villagers home..." Sydney told him. "We're on our own."
"Just you and me, Syd. Exactly as it was meant to be." He smiled, feeling oddly upbeat.
"Better to get them out of the... crossfire. Or whatever there's going to be instead of a crossfire."
"Not sure we want to know..." Nigel told her.
"You don't."
"Bridgit! Could you stop doing that please?" Sydney demanded, shaking her head and lowering the crossbow she had instinctively raised.
"You won't be needing that where you're going. I'll take it." Bridgit extended her hand, palm-up waiting.
"No way." Sydney shook her head. "You think we're going in there unarmed--"
"Any weapon you bring into the temple can be used against you. Bring only what the Dark Ones can not understand." She waited patiently while Sydney deliberated. "Was it not you, Professor Fox, who once said that you never carry a gun because the other guy always has a bigger one?"
Sydney shrugged and handed over the crossbow, bending and pulling the knives from her boots. "Nigel, you, too..." she muttered.
"Oh, bloody hell..." Nigel muttered, shaking his head and handing his weapons over. "This is insane..."
"Yes, it is..." Bridgit agreed. "The entire situation. I warn you again, bring into the temple only that which the Dark Ones can not understand."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sydney asked, handing over the last of her weapons.
After a few moments of silence, Nigel asked, "You can't tell us, can you?"
"No, I can not. Good luck to you. I would recommend that each of you say a quick prayer to whoever it may be that you pray to."
"Will it help?" Sydney asked.
"It might." Bridgit shrugged. "Besides, piety is good for the soul." With that, she vanished.
Sydney shrugged and shook her head. "How far, Nigel?"
"Right over this rise. You reckon we should say a quick prayer?"
"Can't hurt..." Sydney muttered, closing her eyes and bowed her head before beginning.
As Sydney prayed in her own way, Nigel crossed himself and uttered a quick mental plea, followed by the 23rd psalm. He waited for Sydney to finish, then glanced at her. She nodded once and they started towards the temple again. They paused when a cloud passed over the sun.
"Not another thunderstorm?" Sydney asked.
Nigel glanced up, shading his eyes with his hands. "Syd, I think we need to hurry..."
She stared skywards. "Eclipse. Damn. Come on..." She started forward.
"Syd..." Nigel quickly caught her hand. "Just in case anything happens, I want you to know... I love you."
She smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you, too, Nigel. You're a good man."
"And you're an amazing woman. And together, there is nothing we can not face." He smiled at her and took her hand in his. "Let's go prove it."
"Sounds like a plan." She nodded firmly, grinning.
Together, they started forward.
