"They are like you said about a couple, being strong when the other is weak?"
"Yes, exactly so.” He shielded his eyes and looked at the distant sky. “See, there. She lingers still by his side."
Maerose looked up towards the sky, where he pointed. In the distance she could see the moon, despite the fact it was daylight. It was really there, a pale, almost spiritual outline against the blue sky. “Oh, I have never noticed that before."
He moved to stand behind her, his body warm against hers, his hands on her shoulders. “We are lucky today, the sky is clear. We will strengthen your connection to the moon goddess later tonight, when she is full force."
"My connection?” She glanced at him over her shoulder.
"You'll see. It is in you to make your own magic, Maerose. The moon goddess will adopt you as her own if you open yourself to her."
She was about to raise a cynical objection, when she felt a sudden draft of air sweep over them. Bron merely smiled. She glanced around and saw that the trees stirred with a breeze, and a sound, like a soft chuckle, whispered through them.
"Don't fight it so. You will have true vision soon; it will help you understand the nature of such things. You will learn as much of the elder ways as we can teach you before we leave."
He couldn't be serious. Not her; she couldn't hope to learn such things as he did. “No.” She shook her head. “You know so much; your magic is so strong. I am just a woman from Riversbend. I do not even feel this fey blood my mother spoke of."
He smiled gently, turning her in his arms so that they faced each other. “You will learn. Your powers will be great. Trust me. Believe. It was hard at first, for me, too. Now, I can channel the powers of nature to wield in mighty ways. I can change form, project images and see what goes on beyond my eyes. It's all about faith and opening yourself to the forces around us."
Staring up at his handsome face, she could scarcely begin to believe that she would learn such things, but she could not deny that he had mastered these things; she had seen the evidence. “Did it take you a long time to learn?"
"All my life. And there is much more to learn. The truth is that we can become blind to our surroundings, to the powers of nature and the gifts we are given in this world. The elder way is to restore the balance, to tune the mind and the soul to the intense power sources around us, and to key into them."
"Is it very hard to create something such as this?” She gestured at the wavering curtain of light. It looked like a waterfall through which she could vaguely see the outside world.
He gave a wry smile. “At first, yes. From deep within myself I had to draw the means to harness the powers at play in the natural world, to commune with the gods and build trust by using the powers for the good of all souls. Time and concentration makes things easier, though. They become habits."
"What you said about the spirit world, overlapping with our world. Is it like this, like a divide that you can see through?"
"In the sense of being a shifting thing at times, not solid, yes."
She tried to grasp it, making sense of it all in her own way. “The older people in our village speak of the curtain between the dead and the living, and how it is drawn back on Samhain. I did not picture it being like this."
"It is very different, as you will soon see. It's more like a gateway."
She noticed his expression grew tense when she mentioned Samhain.
"In a way it's akin to the relationship between the animal and human worlds,” he explained. “When animals are driven by hunger, they come to the nearby villages to forage for food. When they see us and we chase them away, we're maintaining the division, but it really isn't there at all, not truly. Does that make any sense?"
"Yes, I see.” She was struggling to understand, to envision what might happen, but she did not want him to think her unwilling or dim-witted.
He led her on, watching her closely. She rested her hand within his as they walked, taking comfort there. She was afraid of the immensity of what he said, and of what was ahead. “This seems so far away from what I know, from what I understand. I feel as if I have leapt a great gap and now I'm in a different land. A strange land."
"Yes, that is true. You are in a different land, but it is also very close to your own home.” He urged her on, leading her to a green place along the cliff face where ferns fanned out from the rock toward their narrow path. He bent and pulled back an armful of foliage, revealing a shimmering pool of water hidden beneath.
She blinked, not quite believing what she saw. Even though hidden so well, the surface of the water was surprisingly bright, and almost silver in color. It reflected the light in a strange way, seemingly glowing from within. “What is it?"
He knelt on one knee and urged her to come closer. She dropped down beside him.
"It is my visior pool. Another curtain between worlds, if you will. Would you like to see how your family fares?"
"Why, yes,” she said, confused but entranced.
He rested into a sitting position and closed his eyes for a few moments. She watched, mesmerized, as he breathed deeply and concentrated. When he opened his eyes again, he looked strangely forceful, as if controlling something outside of himself. He stared down at the water. She sensed a shift in the atmosphere; a hushed quiet fell around them, the wavering ferns growing still. It was as if all light and movement became watchful and focused on him. Her heart beat fast, her breath caught in her throat.
His eyes were changing as he looked into the water. They were intensely dark and she felt suddenly afraid, as if his mood held warning. He stared at the pool, his gaze not leaving it. “Look, and you will see what you need to know."
Following the direction of his gaze, she bent forward. She gasped when she saw a picture of her young brothers at the table in their home. In the background, Russet was serving dishes of food from the stewpot. She felt as if she was looking in from the window, and she marveled at the strange image, before asking Bron for an explanation. “How can this be?"