Heart of the Hill (8 page)
The sun shone weakly through the clouds, and the grass sparkled with a million droplets of rain, but to Holly's amazement only part of the lawn was wet. The place where the labyrinth had swirled was dry; the lawn held a ghost image of the loops, outlined by shimmering grass. The urge was more than she could resist. Besides, she was tired of waiting for the Lady. She wanted a part in this new adventure. Holly stepped inside the labyrinth's pattern and began to walk along the curves.
The curves looped back and forth hypnotically, and as she neared the center Holly felt strangely dizzy! She had experienced the same feeling at Mr. Smythe's when she had tried to draw the labyrinth. She rubbed her head and carried on. With each step the weird feeling grew stronger.
There ⦠she'd done it! She had reached the labyrinth's heart.
Come,
said a voice in her head.
Holly jumped. It was mindspeak. She gathered her courage. “Who's there?”
Come and see,
murmured the voice.
The labyrinth whirled and sucked her inside.
Darkness surrounded Holly. She was floating in nothing â no sound, no feeling, just blackness. She closed her eyes, wishing for a floor and, with a small bump, found herself sitting on a smooth hard surface.
Her eyes strained in an effort to find a glimmer of light, but the darkness was complete. She lifted her arms and swung them from side to side. They touched nothing. She sensed a great space around her. “Maybe I'm in a cave,” she thought.
Immediately she became aware of cavernous walls and heard the distant sound of dripping water. She shifted her feet and stretched her legs. The tiny rustles made by the movement of her clothes and heels on the rock floor echoed.
Strangely, she wasn't scared. I wish there was a bit of light, she thought. The darkness lifted, as though the remains of daylight had sneaked into the cavern.
Holly peered into the deep shadows. Something or someone was reacting to her thoughts, making things happen. “Hello,” she called out, her voice wavering.
“You are not the one,” a voice answered.
The voice enveloped her, surrounded her. She couldn't tell if it was a real voice, or inside her head. It just was!
“Not which one?” asked Holly.
“The Magic Child whose dreams I entered.”
“I am a Magic Child,” said Holly crossly. “Who are you, and where am I?”
“A second Magic Child ⦠How interesting⦠Has Zorianna succeeded already?” said the voice, as though talking to itself.
“Has who succeeded?” said Holly. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
There was a pause, and the voice spoke again. “Where would you like to be?”
“What?” Holly was flustered.
“You asked where you were, so I am asking where you would like to be?”
“I've no idea. Who are you anyway?”
“Who would you like me to be?”
Holly didn't answer right away. This was irritating magic. She must be careful. She tried another approach.
“Why am I here?”
“Why would you like to be here?”
Holly rephrased her next sentence. “I walked the Spiral Labyrinth.”
“Ah,” said the voice. “A second Magic Child from the same place as the first. How interesting. You saw my sign and walked it? Walking the labyrinth opens up human minds. Yours drew you into the Portal. The Portal has many doors. Which would you like to enter?”
“None right now, thank you,” replied Holly firmly. “This was a mistake. Can you send me back home, please?”
“You have entered the Portal; you must go through a door. Choose. What is in your heart and mind?”
Holly's mind whirred. What was in her heart and mind? Home was, but before she could speak she heard the voice again.
“Yes, you could go home, child, but other thoughts are stronger. The portal reacts to thoughts deep in your heart.”
Holly examined her thoughts carefully. The voice was right. Her sensible reaction was to go home, but something else told her this was Old Magic, and she should take advantage of it. She really wasn't thinking about home; she was thinking about Glastonbury. They were being called to Glastonbury Tor and its Labyrinth. Why? The moment she asked herself that question, a shaft of light cleft the dimness of the Portal, illuminating the cavern and revealing an archway in the rock wall opposite.
Holly scrambled to her feet.
A curtain of mist hung within the archway. A puff of wind stirred the mist. Fresh air rippled around Holly.
On the breath of the breeze came smells of water, wet mud and wood smoke, faint sounds of splashing, quacking and an unfamiliar rustling.
Holly crossed the cavern, clutched the edge of the magical archway with one hand and leaned through the mist to peer beyond.
She was in the middle of a reed bed.
Spear-like leaves and stems, taller than herself, taller than an adult, swayed and rustled around her. Holly stepped forward and parted the nearest reeds.
A peaceful landscape of marshes and water stretched to a horizon. She was on the edge of a vast shallow lake scattered with small reedy islands. Only one island that she could see was of any size. It rose as a hill from the middle of the lake and dominated the view. Its shape was unmistakableâGlastonbury Tor without its tower. Holly could see the spiral path up the side. The portal was showing her Glastonbury Tor in the past. Why?
A family of foraging ducks caught her attention, dabbling and splashing on the edge of the nearest patch of reeds. A faint haze of blue smoke drifted from the center of the reeds and hung above them. A passing breeze made the smoke dance and the reeds sway. Beyond the reeds, Holly caught tantalizing glimpses of what looked like the thatched roofs of large circular huts.
A sucking sound made Holly look down. She was standing on a narrow soggy pathway. Not an animal trail but a track built from short logs pressed into the mud and covered by mats of thin woven branches. The path offered firm footing over the waterlogged ground.
A whistle cut through the air.
The ground shivered. Someone or something was using the track.
Holly shrank back through the reeds, but the archway behind her was gone.
Three young men dressed in skin tunics and carrying wooden spears ran softly along the track, brushing past her as though she was invisible.
Maybe she was! She hoped so, for there was no return.
Gathering all her courage, Holly stepped onto the still-vibrating path and followed the men.
“It begins!” shouted Vivienne as Holly disappeared through the archway. “After lifetimes of effort I finally ensnare the minds of not one but two Magic Children. Watch out Old Magic, for now I have the means to break the bonds that bind me. Once a child is offered the power I wield, it will wish to use it!”
She swung her sword, and light flashed from its blade, glinting off her ringed fingers. “So ⦠how best to make them do my bidding? The boy is headstrong but weakened by worry. The girl is strong and clever but overly careful and conscientious. Which to approach and how? The boy was threatened by me as the warrior, but the girl was intrigued when I remained cloaked in darkness. What shape should I use to inspire both authority and confidence?” As she murmured to herself, Vivienne changed shape from warrior, to simple peasant girl, to modern middle-aged farmwife, to medieval woman wearing a long cloakâ¦
“PORTAL KEEPER, ATTEND ME!”
Vivienne froze as Zorianna's voice rang through the portal. “HEED MY WARNING. DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME LIKE YOU DO WITH THE HUMANS.”
Zorianna's voice dropped to a hiss. “I have proved my power. I mind-probed and brought you a child as asked.”
Vivienne grimaced. In what way could Zorianna lay claim to this second child? It had not come at Zorianna's bidding; it had walked Vivienne's labyrinth. “You think you brought the child here?” she challenged. “It was my labyrinth she walked.”
Zorianna snorted. “I made her long to walk it. I learned from the child's mind. She unknowingly revealed information about the Wise Ones and their tools.”
Vivienne tensed and cloaked herself in the dark anonymity of the Portal. Zorianna must not learn that she too had knowledge of a Wise One's tool.
Zorianna's voice hardened. “Now keep your part of our bargain, Vivienne. I demand to enter the Portal.”
“And if it remains closed?”
“I WILL DESTROY YOU.”
Vivienne's voice held a hint of amusement. “You know you cannot destroy either the Portal or its Keeper.”
“I cannot, but if I report to the Dark Being, she will shatter both you and your Portal. Reconsider, Vivienne. Would you not rather deal with me?”
“I would. I was testing you. You care not for Gaia, only for the power it might give you. Gaia's destruction is still an option in your heart, Zorianna.”
Zorianna stamped her foot. “All right, I will promise. I swear on the stars that I will not destroy Gaia. I wish to find the tool hidden here, to bend Gaia's inhabitants to my will and to learn their powerful Earth Magic. Does that satisfy you, Portal Keeper? It is the truth.”
Vivienne smiled in the darkness. Humans were not easily used, nor was their Earth Magic. She thought fleetingly of the Crystal Cave, then re-cloaked her thoughts in blackness. The staff was well hidden. Neither she, nor the Myrddin, knew what Earth Magic had been used to make the magic seal. Zorianna would fail. Vivienne's smile broadened. She would enjoy watching Zorianna deal with the humans. Both were in for a shock! And if Zorianna discovered the importance of the Crystal Cave? Any tampering would bring down the wrath of the Myrddin. That too would be interesting!
Finally Vivienne spoke. “Yes, Zorianna. You may enter Gaia.”
The track beneath Holly's feet gave at each step with a little sigh. The sensation was pleasant, almost springy, and much more fun than walking on pavement. At first Holly stepped slowly and carefully, testing each step in case she sank into the marsh beneath, but the track makers knew their job. The woven mat of branches, though it dipped at each footfall and sometimes water oozed between the cracks, diffused her weight, so she could walk through the marsh with confidence.
The trail seemed long, for the track wound its way through the reeds. At first Holly was glad to hide, but as the trail lengthened, she grew anxious and kept parting and peering between reeds on either side, trying to see her destination while remaining hidden. The day was hot, insects buzzed and bit, and sweat beaded Holly's face and trickled down the back of her neck. Pausing to wipe her face, she heard faint voices. Slowly she crept forward. The ground grew firmer. The track had brought her to a low mud bank, and the reeds gave way to an alder thicket and brambles. She peered through the branches.
Three round wooden huts stood in a clearing. Holly crept into the thicket to observe.
“Artoâ¦leave well alone.” It was a girl's voice, high with tension. “Utha will kill you.”