Alden's head bobbed down as his horse trudged along, then jerked up as a downed branch snapped under the hooves. Ceres, who rode beside him, did not seem to notice the sharp sound, so caught up was she in a huge gaping yawn. Waithe smiled as he shook his head. Did they really think he had not noticed? He knew that he should let this go, but it was just too tempting.

He turned to the little girl who rode with him. "My dear Eira, see how the sun shines so brightly and the birds sing so sweetly on this pleasant afternoon?" She looked up at him with her characteristic impish grin. "Why then, do Ceres and Alden seem so sleepy?"

Ceres gulped and Alden turned his head away.

Waithe took some glee in their discomfort. "Perhaps, they have trouble sleeping at night. Do you think that maybe the reason, little one?"

Eira shrugged and turned her gaze toward Ceres, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow. Ceres began to blush. Alden slowed to fall back behind Ceres' packhorse.

Waithe was not about to stop now. "What say you, Ceres? Alden? What disturbs your sleep so late in the night? The enchantment of the full moon? Each other, perhaps?"

"Father!" Ceres jerked her head around toward him.

Alden came up beside Waithe. "I swear, sir, I have treated her with the utmost of honor. We--"

Waithe raised his hand. "That I know, my dear Alden. If not I would have intervened. I am worried, though, what advantage she might take of you."

"Waithe, stop!" Deeper shades of crimson appeared on Ceres' face.

Eira seemed confused as she looked up at Waithe. He said to her, "Perhaps, my young one, they should schedule their activities earlier in the evening so they would be more alert during the day. Don't you think, little girl? We could play marbles then while they play their own, umm, games." She nodded with a grin.

Waithe suppressed his own grin as Alden and Ceres rode on in awkward silence, trying not to look at the other. Eira's eyes followed the bobbing flight of a bright yellow butterfly, blissfully unaware of their self-imposed embarrassment.

They descended from the ridges towards a sweeping open valley surrounded by towering mountains. Small villages dotted the valley floor, marked by thin columns of rising smoke from chimneys, each flanked by patchworks of cultivated fields and meadows. The flora transitioned from forests of pine and aspen into grasslands with scattered groves of trees.

Just around a corner, a bright red fruit hung over the trail. Waithe licked his lips in anticipation. "What say you, Eira. Would you like to share that apple?" She nodded vigorously enough to bounce in the saddle.

A closer inspection of the apple brought disappointment, most of it was soft and rotten. The tree itself seemed to be dying, with half of its leaves browned and withered. But it was not the only tree so stricken. Whole rows of trees were sickened, each carrying an abundance of spoiled fruit. From the looks of it, this was an abandoned orchard. The blight extended far beyond the orchard into the grasslands.

Waithe turned toward Ceres. Her face expressed the same unease he felt. She dipped her head. "The Taint is here."

Ceres dismounted near one of the apple trees and bent down to scoop up a handful of soil. She let it stream out between her fingers. She turned back to the others. "It is not so deep. I can cure this."

Waithe said, "Be that wise, daughter? If an area of Taint be suddenly cured, we may reveal ourselves."

"It is my purpose, Father."

Alden came up beside her. "It may also serve our greater purpose. If what the books say be true, that the Darkness grows stronger as the Taint spreads, then the opposite may also hold. If so, every time an area of Taint be cured, the Darkness weakens."

Waithe motioned off to the side. "Then let us move beyond that hill so that we would be out of sight of the road."

Ceres held out her hand as she sat down under the partial shade of an apple tree. "Join me, my dear little girl. Let us together be rid of this hideous Taint."

Eira sat down and closed her eyes. Immediately a sparkling green light snapped into view, twirling and bouncing around before the delighted squirming little girl.

Ceres tilted her head. "Did you call Phy already?" Eira grinned. Ceres sighed. "We have serious work to do. I shall need you two to stop playing now."

Phy settled into a motionless hover as Ceres closed her eyes and took both of Eira's hands into hers. "Very good. Eira, do you sense the foul Taint across the land? See how it rends the fabric of life?"

Eira frowned as she nodded, her eyes still closed.

Ceres continued. "Now bring forth the Magic through Phy and let it spread across the land. Nay, do not push it. Let it flow like sweet syrup on pancakes."

Shimmering white sparks spread across the orchard and beyond. They swirled around the wilted trees and through the spoiled meadow, encasing everything in a bright glimmer. Waithe and Alden looked on with warm smiles.

Ceres squeezed Eira's hands. "Very good, little girl. Now imagine the grass and trees pushing away the Taint, let Phy help you with this. This will take some time. The Magic, it alters reality but only so much as you may imagine." She paused as Eira tightened her face. "Easy little one, no need to rush. Let the Magic do the work."

Dark tendrils lifted from the trees and grasslands like wisps of smoke, disappearing into nothingness. This continued for several moments until there was no more of it. The trees themselves seemed to sigh in relief.

Ceres smiled. "You are doing so well, my dear Eira! Now comes the fun part. Imagine everything as it should be. Think of the grasses greening and reaching up to the sky, of the dark green leaves on the trees that catch sunlight and flutter in the breeze, of bright red apples that taste so sweet."

Eira grinned as the recovery of life happened. Shades of green spread across the trees and grass.

Ceres continued. "There still be more to do, my magic girl. We still need to rejuvenate the soil, the very foundation of life. This be harder to visualize, let me show you. The small life we must also repair, the worms and crawly things, even life too small to see."

Ceres snapped her eyes open and hugged Eira. "You did so well, my little girl."

Alden reached up a plucked a red fruit from a branch above and examined in his hand. Satisfied, he knelt and gave it to Eira. "I think the first taste should go to our little magic girl."

Sweet juices ran down her chin as she bit into the apple. Her impish grin told everyone how good it tasted.

Ceres pulled Waithe aside as Eira ate the apple, sharing some of it with Alden. She spoke softly. "Eira is incredibly adept with the Magic, especially for one so young. Even a fully trained Lady of the Order would struggle to heal Tainted land, that which she did so easily. She may well become a very powerful Shaman." She paused in thought. "Such power concerns me."

Waithe pulled his lips tight. "That power may lead to corruption?"

"Aye. She is innocent now, but that will fade. Careful must I be in her training that her heart remains good."