McCann's Manor (57 page)

The quaking of the earth beneath them disturbed Liz's train of thought, fairly shook her to her core. She trembled inside as she took the next step, but her foot slipped and she found herself plummeting backwards into the pit. She was fighting as though she could stop her fall by grasping at the air, but her attempts were futile. Suddenly, her progress seemed to be in slow motion and she wondered if she was about to die. After all, they did say one's entire life would flash before one's eyes just before the end, didn't they? She tried to envision letting the portal carry her back to the safety of her home, but found herself unable to concentrate on that thought. She called out to the others once, but the sound coming from her mouth was incomprehensible and slow; so slow, she thought. She pressed her eyes shut, tried to prepare for the end, thought of Missy in her agonized last seconds before she crashed to the ground.

The creature blinked its great golden eyes, watched the falling form. It had been a long time since he had feasted on the flesh of a human. He looked on her with interest as she toppled toward him. He opened his mouth, headed for the thrashing figure.

"Help her!” Tarrh shouted to Loshan.

The great dragon plucked her from midair in his mouth, gently carried her the rest of the way to the floor and deposited her at his master's feet. Loshan then turned to stare at the three beings still clinging to the wall, returned his gaze to his conjurer. Tarrh repeated his order for Loshan to bring down the others. The beast let out a blood-curdling roar then and rose up to pluck them from the wall. In scarcely more than an instant, the huge dragon being picked each of the three writhing, struggling humans from the wall in its mouth, deposited them, blinking and cowering, one by one at its master's feet.

"Do not be afraid,” Tarrh instructed them. “This is Loshan, my boyhood playmate. I summoned him to help us. Sean and Moira are on their way. Quickly, now. Each of us must take our place on one of the points of the pentagram inscribed on the floor. This one here is my position. Elizabeth and Kimberly should be on the two points nearest to me, but otherwise, your precise location does not matter so long as each of you stand exactly on one of the other four tips and
do not move
off your spot, no matter what happens."

The others took their places. Loshan watched them scampering about in his home with interest, awaited further instructions from his master. “Doubtless, our adversaries will be much quicker at coming down than you were, for they will be using magic. Loshan will cover the crystal until I give the word for him to move, but that shan't be until they have arrived near the center of the pentagram. One of them may walk right past you—or even through you—and not be aware of your presence, so do not be intimidated to stand your ground. When they arrive in the center, I will have Loshan move to reveal the light. At just that moment, they will be where we want them. In this place, my power is many times stronger than theirs and when they arrive at the center, they will be in my control,” he explained.

"Then what?” Liz asked, still trying to calm the trembling inside.

"Then, while I have them subdued, Benjamin will take us to the time of the accident, since he seems to have a much better handle on how to control the portal than I,” Tarrh continued. “All of you must concentrate on going to the exact time where Benjamin is directing us. I will keep Moira and Sean with us; your job will be to complete the circle by maintaining the flow of intention to go with Benjamin."

"How will we know we are focusing on the right time?” Kim asked.

"Do exactly what you did when we came here from your own time,” Benjamin said. “Merely center on staying with me and I shall take care of the rest."

"Oh,” Kim said. “I can do that."

"Of course you can, lass.” Tarrh agreed. “Everything is going to be fine. We have only a few more seconds. Is everyone ready?"

Liz nodded. “I'm ready,” she affirmed, drawing the crystal Tarrh had given her and the garnet from Benjamin out of the cradle of her breasts.

The others nodded, steeled themselves for what was to come. “Fine. Loshan, cover the light until I tell you to move, my friend."

The great emerald dragon obeyed instantly, curled his mighty iridescent body into a tight knot around the crystal, plunging the chamber again into total blackness. They waited, scarcely daring to breathe until they heard Moira and Sean approaching in the distance.

Liz could feel the crystal in her hand growing warmer as she stood on weak and trembling legs, not quite knowing what to expect. Surely the ordeal at hand would be more complicated than Tarrh had outlined. Moira and Sean had a lot of power between them and she was certain they would never simply submit to Tarrh at this point. She took the opportunity this moment of stillness before the storm provided to fortify her protection, envisioning an orb of pure silver-white light encircling her. Then she took a few seconds to spin the same protective spheres of light for each of the others.

Additionally, she remembered Kim's words about how powerful love and positive emotion were in fighting the malevolent vigor of black magic. She envisioned then all five shielding globes being filled with the pink light of love as an added protection; she took a moment to invite her angels and those of her companions to be with them and to aid their task; then she whispered a prayer to God that this moment would be a triumph of good over evil. Finally, she brought all the fear and doubt she was feeling into a small ball, forced it into the garnet, sent it through the stone deep into the earth. She was ready....

Kim emptied her mind of all fearful thoughts, centered on the desired outcome of the confrontation to come. She drew forth the crystal Benjamin had given her, used it to channel all her unwanted thoughts and emotions out of her head and heart, into the earth. She could feel the meditative work Liz had initiated, lent her energies to fortify the protection Liz had already set in place. She could feel, too, the help Joel was sending to them; she could feel the positive energies of her fellows, which she accepted and magnified in her heart and mind, adding her own uplifting push to the flow, started that power swirling around the circle they formed about the pentagram. She stood, crystal in hand, ready for whatever would ensue....

Benjamin sent his mind to the place where Moira and Sean still stood on the precipice over their heads. He could tell they had no idea what they were about to face in the pit below. Neither of them knew the true importance of this pit or why Tarrh was invincible here. They both still thought Tarrh was under their control and that he was fleeing from them in a last feeble attempt to save himself. Foolishly, they were armed only with their own false impressions and over confidence in their own abilities. Oh, they had worked some spells against their adversaries, but none sufficient to the task nor potent enough to do Tarrh or him and the others any real damage in the long run. He took a deep breath, smiled at the vanity of the two who were about to plunge headlong into their own downfall. He was ready....

Melody had a heart full of hope for the first time in years. At last, she could dare to believe there would be a happy end to this travesty that had been their lives. Tarrh was going to live; he knew about their son and he loved her. What more could she ever ask of life? She silently sent praises to the gods and goddesses for allowing these three—Benjamin, Elizabeth and Kimberly—to come into their lives and bring the right balance of wisdom and power together to free Tarrh and her from the bonds that had kept them prisoners in their own home. Then she spoke a silent invocation to the spirits she had always called on for protection. She was ready....

Tarrh listened for Moira and Sean to come swooping down on them from above. He thought back to all the times he had played in this pit as a child, all the many rituals he had watched and initiated here. The pit had been his favorite place in the world, but somehow he had lost sight of the reason he had incorporated it into his house all those years ago. He had let Moira make him forget how to use his own power, let her make him believe he had lost all his ability. All he had needed was to remember this place and the mastery of the craft that was his here.

He could have taken back his life long ago while he was still strong, had he only remembered. It had taken three strangers from another time to show him what he should have known all along. He vowed he would never allow himself to be taken over by the evil schemes of anyone again. He had learned his lesson; he was strong again, whole again; he was again the master of his own manor. He was so ready for this moment....

Moira peered into the pit, strained to see any light, any hint of movement below. They were a bunch of fools to think they could hide from her in this dark hole of the underworld. She was not nearly stupid enough to be fooled by this feeble-minded trickery. If they thought she would hesitate to pursue them just because they had gone down inside this gaping black orifice, they had better think again. She had not worked all this time to put Tarrh where she wanted him to let him escape now like a mole underground. She meant to have her revenge for all the things he had done to her; she would have her victory, and no hole—no matter how deep or how black—would stop her. She arched her brow, lifted her chin, prepared for her descent as she called to mind the chant that would allow them to float down into the total darkness.

Sean peered into the blackness, took a deep breath. “Are you sure we should go down without a torch?” he asked, a bit too nervously for Moira's taste.

"What is wrong, Sean? Afraid of the dark, are you?” she chided.

"You know better, my love,” he replied.

"Then what
are
you afraid of?” she hissed.

"I am not fearful, merely cautious,” he said.

"I do my best work in the dark. I would have thought you would remember that,” she said.

"Aye, my love. I remember some excellent work you have done in the dark,” he said with a smile.

"Not that kind of work,
my love
,” she said. “You
know
what I mean."

"Aye, I know what you mean,” he agreed.

"Are you ready?"

He peered into the hole once again, wet his lips. “Aye, I am ready,” he said.

"Good,” she said. “Then jump."

"Oh, after you, lass,” he insisted.

"Together, then,” she said. She took his hand, stepped forward and pulled him in with her. The dogs watched them disappear from view, looked at each other a moment, then jumped into the abyss as well.

Quite unaccountably, Liz found herself standing alone on the floor of the pit when the light came up; alone, that is, except for the hound that was standing in front of her, its huge teeth bared in evidence of its obvious intent to
kill
her. Had she blacked out? Where were the others? Why would they have left without her? More to the point, how could the transition have occurred without her vaguest recollection of anything happening?

One second they all were waiting in the dark; the next, she was in the light alone, facing this monstrous beast. She dared not move, but stood gripping the stones tightly, as though they would magically tell her what to do. The dog glared at her, challenged her to make the slightest movement. It seemed to be trying to get her to turn and run so there would be more sport when it chased her down and ripped her limb from limb. But Tarrh had said it was important for no one to move from their appointed spot. There must have been a reason.
Protection
, she thought. After all, wasn't that what the pentagram was all about—protection from evil?

She cut her eyes to the side, looking for something; what, she didn't know. She was certain the others wouldn't have left her stranded here to face this
hound from Hades
, as Tarrh had so aptly named Moira's unnatural
pets
. Yet, here she was with no sign of the others. Surely they would return to collect her presently, she thought and yet, wouldn't coming back here for her now cause problems with the overall plan to make Moira witness the past? They couldn't return for her until that mission was accomplished, she was certain, but still, she pulled a deep, slow breath of air into her lungs, tried to calm herself. She needed to try to stay as composed as possible. Maybe this was what was needed—for her to distract the dogs.

But there was only one dog, wasn't there? And how did the blackguard get here in the first place? Where
was
the other one? She scanned the pit, but saw again no sign of anyone or
anything
else. Something was dreadfully wrong here, wasn't it? The dogs would undoubtedly be together, as they always were; she had to assume, then, they
were
both here, even though she could see only the one. And if both hounds
were
here, this absence of all else must be an illusion.
Of course
! She was being made to
believe
she was all alone without her friends; alone to face a mad, demonic beast. The others must still be there, even though she couldn't see them.

At least, that was what she was hoping as she firmly assured herself everything was going according to plan. She was safe and this was merely an illusion created by Moira and Sean to try to make her think she was unprotected. They had worked a spell against her; she was secure. And she was concentrating on going with Benjamin and the others to the time and place of the accident. This spell would not interfere with the task at hand; she stood firm. No sooner had she realized her predicament was an illusion than the room shifted again to reveal her friends, Moira and Sean and the other dog standing guard in front of Kim.

Moira and Sean had arrived on the floor of the great cavity, positioned themselves instinctively honing in on Benjamin and Melody, the dogs checking any attempt by Liz and Kim to come to the aid of their friends. Amazingly, they had been able to find their places even in the blackness of the pit. What Moira hadn't counted on was that Tarrh was well and strong, nor did she know about Loshan and how powerful the dragon was compared with her own two beasts of bewitchment. As the light came to full brilliance, Moira found herself under Tarrh's control, rather than manipulating the confrontation herself. She was momentarily caught off guard by the actual unfolding of the drama she had authored quite differently in her own mind. She stood in stunned silence, completely paralyzed by Tarrh himself; the effects of what she was seeing and feeling began to sink in.