“You can’t have fires up here,” she cried. “One spark could set this tinder intodisaster!”
“We’re careful. We’ve cleared it down to dirt around the cauldron.” Mariah removed dried leaves from a pouch on her belt and blew them toward the small flamedancing in the rock bowl of dirt. The flames dancedhigher.
Each woman had her own pouch and her own smoldering branch, but they all chanted the same words. Smoke circled the clearing, smudging the air in the same manner as the fog hadearlier.
Visions of soaring flames rushing through the woods, engulfing the timber-clad lodge and its occupants froze her inpanic.
The scentof sage and incense swirled. She swayed dizzily, but her feet were rooted to the ground. The ground... she let the energy flow upward, clearing her head. The staff in her hand bobbedexcitedly.
The owl shrieked again. A swirling wind swept through the clearing, casting flames higher. The chant rose. Mariah flung more ashes on the flames. And a circle of white light nearly blinded theclearing.
Sam screamed, grabbed her head, and dropped to theground.
