let them know everything I knew, with a few prompts from Grey to get the story right. And when I was done, Dharma had her hand to her lips and Ivan looked stricken.
"Is…is the curse going to kill her?" he asked.
"I don't know that much about it. She believes it will. And I sensed a mortality about her."
Dharma moved away from us to the center of the dais. "The Coyote Flame is still here."
"How? The bodies are all gone."
"The bodies weren't the important ingredients. Their deaths were. The door's still here on the Astral. This is also still a sacred space, believe it or not. It's why the Elementals feel good here," she raked her hand through her hair. "I think we should contact Tzariene now. With me here, you have a witness."
"A witness?" Ivan asked.
I nodded. "It's something highly recommended when Witches contact the Other Worlds. Having a Cleric present to assure the talks, or negotiations, go smoothly. A Cleric has to be an impartial observer. And Water is the great mediator, so Dharma's the perfect witness."
She put her hands on her hips. "There's just the three of us. You want to Call a Circle for the communication? I mean it's not like she can enter this world and survive."
"Yeah, I do. Because I just don't trust Faeries." Being an Elemental Witch, it was easier for me to cut and Call on my own because I had the support of the Elements. I asked them quietly if they would bear witness to a long distance call, so to speak. They all agreed and I clapped my hands. "Gonna have to improvise since I don't carry the accoutrements."
"It's all about the will to begin with," Dharma winked.
Okay, I might like her.
Might.
Grey moved to sit in the north. Ivan stood in the east. I planted myself in the south and Dharma in the west. I closed my eyes, quieted my mind and tuned into each of the Elementals. They, in turn, answered me and took their places around the Circle. I moved to the north, held up my hand, pulled down the moon and slammed the power into the Earth as I moved quickly around the Circle, cutting the line deosil, clockwise, as I laid the groundwork for a sacred event.
I had done this so many times in my youth. If there was one thing Ina had continued despite her no longer being human, it was my lessons in magic. She seemed to stress it. My practicing magic was as important as finishing homework.
As I came back to the north, I fused the two ends and heard the whoosh of the Circle sphere as it rotated deosil. My ears popped as the space was sealed.
"That has got to be the tightest I've ever seen anyone cut a Circle," Dharma said as I moved to the center of the dais.
"Isn't it cool?" Ivan said. He put his hands in his pockets.
"Well, as cool as it might be," I said. "I'm not exactly excited about talking with a Faerie again."
"It's just a mirror, a doorway. Neither of you can really step into the other world. You're both safe." Dharma clasped her hands in front of her.
Yeah. I hadn't asked Arden how Brendi got Crwys into Alfheim, so I wasn't so confident about any hole that connected the two worlds. I assumed the Circle her people built had been more than a two-way mirror, and more of a door of some kind.
I closed my eyes again, recited the spell for the door and cut a long, six-foot oval in the air in front of me. The edges glowed red, then blue, then green, and then yellow and finally white as the center of the oval burned away. Warm air filtered through the portal and I could smell the lush greenery of a garden. I could also see it. It was the same place where we'd met Tzariene before and exchanged the milk and—
Dammit! I didn't have an exchange!
"Samantha!" came a breathless voice from inside the portal. Abruptly, Tzariene came into view. She was as daunting as ever; tall with her horned brow and silver white hair. Yellow and pink flowers adorned her gown that swirled around her and seemed to grow into the grass on this side of the portal. "You received Cordelia's message!"
I shook my head. "She had a message? She said you told her to go through the Cairn, that the Obsidian Queen was dangerous."
Tzariene's pale features creased into a frown. "Yes.