he stood waiting, Yul noticed the charcoaled designs on the stones and frowned at the thought of Imbolc. He was still angry that Leveret had been chosen, and that he’d had to give in and agree to let Sylvie lead the forthcoming ceremonies when she wasn’t completely well.
But at least things were finally improving between them. For three nights now they’d eaten dinner together, actually talking to each other and then moving to the fiery hearth to make love. It wasn’t maybe quite as spontaneous and passionate as in the past, but was a big improvement on the situation in recent months. As they started to relax in each other’s company again hopefully they’d return to their former happiness. He grinned suddenly, thinking that whatever happened he felt a damn sight better now than he’d done for ages. It was a shame it was now Dark Moon.
A great cloud of black starlings flew overhead blocking the light, and as the shadow passed over Yul he shuddered involuntarily. He felt a tremor of green magic below his boots, a glimmer of the energy that had once doused him completely. Why wasn’t it coming back to him? Surely now he and Sylvie were united again, the equilibrium had been restored and the magic could once again seek him out? Yul was convinced that his role as magus and his ability to channel the earth energy was somehow linked to his relationship with Sylvie. None of it had started until she’d come to Stonewylde and he’d fallen in love with her, and it hadn’t stopped until recently when things became so bad between them.
He thought suddenly of her moondancing – perhaps that held the key to his problems too. Maybe he’d been wrong to stop her going last month He’d encourage her to go to Hare Stone next Moon Fullness and see if that helped. But he was sure that at the heart of it all was their passion for each other, and when that was fully restored the Earth Magic would return as well. He’d just have to work at it a bit harder.
The sun had now disappeared completely and the clouds were darkening. Then Yul felt a thrill of a different nature – the Dark Moon. He breathed deeply, filling his chest, and tipped back his head to the skies. A sinuous thread of power stirred within him; it had always been like this at the Dark Moon. His fingertips tingled with this dark energy, the delicious sensation of power and control over everything around him. He smiled to himself and leapt off the Altar Stone, his boots landing with a thud in the soft earth. But as he strode back across the great Circle towards the Long Walk he sensed a movement, something stirring behind him. He spun around, seeing nothing.
‘Who’s there?’ he called, his deep voice bouncing off the stones in faint echoes. There was no reply so he continued to walk, but the hairs on the back of his neck had risen, and try as he might he couldn’t rid himself of the notion that he hadn’t been alone in the Stone Circle. He jumped at the sound of a sudden mew and looked up to see a great buzzard with barred wings circling overhead.
Leveret stood with her back to the Hare Stone, also watching the sun set. She’d spent a long time thinking about where to go and decided that this was the special place for her. There was also symmetry in the fact that this was where Sylvie used to dance at the Moon Fullness. Leveret had no Dark Moon dance but she felt sensations coursing through her. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard.
‘Mother Heggy, are you here with me? Or are you out there in the night?’
She sensed no answering reply but still the magic tingled in her fingertips. Her stomach knotted with excitement – should she cast a circle after all? Clip had admitted that he didn’t really know what to do for the best and maybe he’d been wrong to advise against it. The spell of protection she’d cast for Magpie seemed to be working, for nobody had harmed him yet, so perhaps calling Mother Heggy tonight would work too, especially now she had her own spirit guide. Leveret looked up into the skies where the light was fading fast now the sun had gone, hoping to see a raven or crow as a sign. But there was none – only the