A tap to his shoulder gained Horris' attention. Waithe pointed toward Ceres, who struggled in the grip of two dark-clothed men. He held up two fingers and then made a sweeping motion with his hand. Horris understood immediately: two enemies, and a request to flank and contain them. He ran off to the side into the darkness.

Waithe withdrew a short knife from his boot and sprinted toward Ceres, who continued to struggle against her captors. There was no time for stealth.

Rage boiled up from his core. He yelled. "Let her be!"

The attackers snapped their heads around toward Waithe. Their eyes glared with malicious intent from beneath dark hoods. One pulled a shiny long knife from his belt in a single motion and stepped forward to face Waithe, while the other held the terrified Ceres in a tight grip.

Waithe could tell by the way the attacker grasped his blade and his fighting stance that these were trained fighters. His small knife would not be much of a match against their long blades. He took a chance and threw his knife while looking directly into his opponent's eyes. If this did not work, he would have to face them with no weapon at all. The knife found its mark and buried itself in the attacker's neck. With a sickening gurgle of blood, the attacker fell to the ground.

Waithe bent down to pull his bloody knife from the dead man's neck and retrieved the dropped long knife. He pointed it at the remaining dark attacker and issued a silent challenge with his eyes.

The dark man put his blade to Ceres' throat and spat, "Back! Or I spill her blood."

"I think not. Your master would not want a corpse." Waithe slowly stepped forward as Ceres' eyes grew even wider and she shook her head.

The man lifted his shiny blade from her neck and pressed it against her cheek. "Perhaps so. But I can easily carve up this pretty face. Now you..."

Those were his last words. One of Horris' hands grabbed the attacker's knife hand and the other drew a knife across his throat. The attacker slumped to the ground, spilling his own blood on the woman he had threatened.

Ceres peered at the blood that now stained her dress and began to shake. The color drained from her face. Waithe came forward to remove the gag from her mouth and enclosed her in his arms. She began to sob.

He pulled her head to his shoulder. "It be over, dear Ceres. You be safe now."

One of the Captain's men dragged Cassio before them. Wraithe let go of Ceres and approached him, his eyes narrowed to a scowl and his hand tightly gripped a bloody knife. Cassio tried to back up, but the guard held him firm.

He pleaded. "Please, mercy sir! They said they just wanted to talk to the Lady. I did not know that they might hurt her. Please..."

Waithe stood before him, his mind unsure if he should give in to his rage or not. A thrown fist caught Cassio in the cheek and he fell to a knee, a fist from Lord Eudus, who now stood over him. "Take him away."

Waithe embraced Ceres again, her sobs now reduced to intermittent shudders. Lord Eudus stood before her and bowed. "My deepest apologies, my Lady. I am relieved that you be unhurt, but this should never have happened."

Sharm rushed out to the garden and dropped her jaw. Eudus said to her, "My dear, please take the Lady Ceres and her protector back to their rooms and see to their needs." He turned to Horris. "Captain, post additional guards and see to her safety."

*****

Ceres woke up to find Sharm bearing a tray of food. Waithe stood up from a nearby chair and rubbed his eyes, having slept there last night. The morning light streaming through the window seemed to wash away the previous evening's terror.

Sharm bent down to hug her friend. "How feel you this morning?"

"Better. It seems, though, that I have awoken from a nightmare."

"A nightmare indeed. I cannot imagine what you went through."

"My protector saved me again, with the assistance of your Captain. Phy was wise to have led me to him." She turned toward him. "Waithe, I feel I owe you an apology. You were right to distrust that dreadful Cassio."

He sat down on the bed next to her. "Not at all, my sweet Ceres. My thoughts were only on deceptions of the heart, not this sort of treachery."

"You know, he kissed me. I had hoped my first kiss to have some meaning..." A tear came to her eye. "Not one of betrayal."

Sharm took up her hand. "Nay, my friend. That was unworthy of being called a kiss. Your true first kiss still awaits you and it shall be wonderful." Sharm drew Ceres into another hug.

Ceres took a deep breath and wiped the moisture from her eyes. "After breakfast, what say that we together purge the Taint from this land?"

*****

The covered horse-drawn carriage bounced along the narrowing pocked road, sometimes jarring its passengers. Muddy water splashed up from potholes, glazing the shine on the polished wood exterior. Eight armed riders escorted the carriage, four ahead and four behind. The procession wove along a dark-water bayou through towering cypress trees laden with grey-green moss.

Waithe asked the question that weighed on his mind. "My Lord, what have you discovered of the assault on Lady Ceres?"

Eudus replied, "We know little of the attackers, only that they arrived weeks ago on a schooner that sailed from Kust. They bore no markings or possessions that tell of their allegiance, perhaps they be mercenaries. The timing troubles me."

"And Cassio?"

"That vile man told us everything but offered little clarity. Some hooded men gave him gold and promised a trading allowance in return for a clandestine meeting with Lady Ceres. He now cowers and whimpers in his cell."

Ceres asked, "What will become of him?"

Eudus narrowed his eyes. "In two days he swings from the gallows. There shall be no mercy for such betrayal."

"My Lord, I would ask mercy of you."

Eudus snapped his gaze to Ceres and raised an eyebrow. "No mercy did he grant you, Lady Ceres. Why would you give him such? He should pay for his crimes."

"Aye, my Lord. Justice must be served. I only request he be given a chance for redemption, if he would earn it. I believe every man can be redeemed, even one such as Cassio."

Eudus sat in thought for a moment. "Very well, Lady Ceres. I shall honor your request."

Sharm frowned and tilted her head toward the open window beside her. "The Taint. We have arrived."

Calling a halt, the four emerged from the carriage and stood in shocked silence. They lifted hands to shield their eyes from the glaring sun as the tall trees devoid of leaves denied them shade. As far as the eye could see ahead, what should be rich plant-life laid wilted against the ground. Blackened and grotesquely twisted stems contrasted starkly to the deep green foliage from which they had come. The air stood still and silent, no bird sang or butterfly flittered. Strangely, even the smells of the swamp had departed. Despite so much death about, there was no decay, as if the Taint took the whole cycle of life.

Ceres took up Sharm's hand. "Shall we, my friend?"

They walked ahead and stopped beneath a huge leafless weeping tree at the water's edge. They sat down cross-legged facing each other and grasped each other's hands. Waithe came up behind Ceres while Eudus and the guards stood back.

Ceres looked across at Sharm. "It is as you said, so deeply embedded is the Taint. I will call the Spirits Myr, Dal, and Phy if you would call Anu. Perhaps that way she won't squabble. Waithe, you know what to do. Let us begin."

Ceres and Sharm closed their eyes. Eudus crouched as he and Waithe waited in anticipation. Phy came first as the now familiar green light, then Dal as an amber light and Myr as a deep umber light. They sparkled in triangle formation just above Ceres. Anu's silver light popped into view and wavered above Sharm.

The shimmer appeared around the women, faint at first, then brightening such that it could clearly be discerned in the sunlight. It spread from them across the land, growing brighter still. Eudus gazed in wonder at the tiny lights. The women smiled broadly as their eyes remained closed.

Opaque black mists slowly rose from the land in laminar streams and dissipated. Waithe smiled - it was working. A mental shudder then wracked him, like his first experience with Ceres' healing. The Death Spirit Ker's ashen light burst into view above them all, pulsing angrily with darkness. Why does she interfere? The lights of the Life Spirits scattered, as if terrified.

Ker descended slowly. The black mists above the land began to swirl in angry turbulence and spread, even obscuring the shimmer. The women shuddered and cried out together. Somehow, he could feel their terror as if it was his own, and it distressed him.

Waithe placed his hand on Ceres' shoulder and gathered his thoughts. He willed a vision of his daughter and it appeared to him in striking detail.

Aala giggled as she pulled a bent stick across the brown garden soil leaving a shallow furrow. Not so straight, but it would do. He sat down and handed her small seeds, one by one, which she carefully placed in the furrow. After completing that task, little fingers gently spread fine soil over the seeds and patted them in, her face glowing all the while. She grunted as she drug over the heavy watering can and he laughed as she spilled much of the water on him.

The women's shudders ceased, but still, the black mists swirled around them. Something more was needed.

Another woman suddenly appeared before him, one seemingly made of pure light. Her radiance did not blind but comforted the soul like a lantern in the dark of night. Waithe's eyes remained wide open, but they did not see her. Still, his mind did in dazzling detail. She was not there, but yet she was. A strange clear object like a crystal sphere swirled above her head, bending space around it.

Strangely, everything around him stood still, as if frozen in time. A withered leaf that floated down from a nearby tree stood suspended motionless in the air. One of the guards, who had backed up in surprise at the shimmer and tripped over an exposed root seemed to hover over the ground, his fall incomplete. Even Ceres and Sharm seemed to have stilled in mid-breath.

The Woman of Light floated towards him and trailed her hand gently across his shoulder. A blissful warmth flowed through him, originating from her touch. She settled between Ceres and Sharm and kneeled to place a gentle hand on the shoulder of each.

As suddenly as she appeared, she then vanished. The flow of time returned. The leaf resumed its fluttering fall and the guard who tripped landed on the ground with a thud. Ceres and Sharm began to breathe again.

The Spirit Ker disappeared. The swirling blackness stopped, replaced again by the smooth smoky wisps. Ceres opened her eyes and turned her head toward Waithe. He nodded. She turned back to her shocked friend. Her voice was calm. "Sharm, let us continue."

Sharm took a deep breath, nodded, and closed her eyes. The Life Spirits came back to them. The shimmer of Magic returned and spread forth again. Calmed dark mists began to dissipate until they were no more. The lights of the four Life Spirits began to dance about the women. Once blighted plants greened and rose up, flowers emerging on some. Deep green leaves appeared and grew on naked tree branches until a comfortable shade returned. The fibrous moss that dangled from so many branches regained their pale green and turquoise colors. A bullfrog's croak and the gentle rustling sound of reborn leaves broke the silence.

The women took deep breaths as they opened their eyes, then leaned forward to embrace each other. Waithe helped Ceres to stand, her legs wavering. He wrapped an arm around her waist for support. Sharm rose and dizzily stumbled backward. Eudus caught her in his arms, bringing her into his chest.

Eudus brushed long dark hair from his wife's face. "My Ladies, the land is redeemed! Had I not seen such a miracle with my own eyes, I would not have believed it."