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eina placed the shining gold lantern upright next to Shadebane. The light from the Lantern illuminated the side of the gully nicely. By now Cici was sitting up and rubbing her face with her hand, only succeeding in adding another layer of dirt.

“I am called Reina. What is your name?”

“I’m Cici. How come you wear so many rings?” Cici asked quietly, pointing at Reina’s hand while still rubbing her nose. Then she sniffled again.

“Because I like to collect beautiful things,” Reina replied, impressed by Cici’s inquisitiveness. “Do you like this ring, Cecilia?” she asked. Cici nodded, eyes wide. Reina indicated a heavy gold ring on her right hand set with a nearly transparent delicately faceted blue stone and decorated with a dozen smaller white gems.

“This ring is called the Soaring Chime. It was given to me long ago by a Scribe named Giho skilled in the arts of gemcutting. He lives on an island in a place called the Princesses Crowns far away in the Eastern Sea. There are men there who dig deep into the mountains to find raw stones such as this one. Giho spends years cutting and shaping them into Chimes. Chime stones can make sounds with magical properties.”

“What’s magical properties?” Cici asked, enthralled.

“It means this stone can ring, and the sound from it can heal your injury,” Reina replied. “Will you help me make the Soaring Chime ring?”

“Can I?” Cici asked.

“Look carefully at the stone,” Reina said, offering her hand so Cici could see. “Do you see the upper edge? Where the tiny symbol is carved into the gold?”

Cici looked carefully and saw that the edge of the setting just above the oval-shaped sky-blue stone had a tiny symbol carved into the polished gold. If Reina hadn’t mentioned it, Cici would never have noticed.

“All you must do is tap that symbol with your finger as if you are trying to make a bell ring,” Reina said. “Then, listen for the sound.”

Cici peered at the stone and the tiny symbol, then reached up with her hand and held her finger over the ring for a moment. Then she flicked her hand, tapping the edge of the ring with her finger as if testing something she had been told was very hot.

A soft and faint glow appeared in the center of the stone and Cici began to hear the sounds of chimes and bells all around her. First one, then a second. They began to play cascades of three tones, then five. Then ten. It sounded like someone drawing a stick along a series of bells, each one larger than the one before it, making a luxurious sound like the playing of all the strings of a harp from smallest to largest.

Cici looked at her foot and was startled by the greenish swirl of energy around her ankle. She saw a pale blue glow along the outer edge of her hand where she had been cut, and a silver shower of sparkling energy around the bruise on her knee. Her ankle felt much better. The music was so beautiful that Cici didn’t want it to end. All of her wounds and bruises were healed, and the music faded peacefully along with the glow of the ring’s power.

“It’s magic just like my Lantern! Are you a magician?” Cici asked.

Reina looked away. The sudden movement frightened Cici, who looked apprehensively into the darkness of the damp forest and saw nothing. Just as suddenly, Reina turned back and spoke in an urgent, whispery tone.

“When I have gone, you and your sisters will have these treasures to protect you. The Amethyst Lens of Time will release the others. Speak the phrase ‘Spectrum Deflect’ to call upon the power of the Chronicler’s Lantern in times of danger.”

Cici’s heart pounded.

“This is a map to the Lockvern. You will find an iron gate in a deserted vale along the road south. The key to the gate is inside. In the Lockvern, you will be tested. Examine all things. Do not be foolishly brave. Trust your knowledge. When you gather again, you will know what you must to defeat evil.”

Reina desperately pulled at her staff, shaking as she attempted to stand. She whimpered as she reacted to what must have been a wracking spasm of pain as she placed one foot flat underneath her. She exhausted herself rising to a point where she could shakily stand on both feet. Cici watched her with a concerned expression.

Her eyes looked so strong. What’s the matter with her?

“Excellency!” a voice called. “Excellency!”

Reina did not look. Cici stood. A moment later a young man appeared at the top edge of the gully carrying his own lantern.

“Do not follow, Enken!” Reina shouted. “Ride for Branven and wait for word!”

“But Vicereine– I..”

“Do as I say!”

The sharpness and authority in Reina’s voice made both Enken and Cici jump in shock. The Vicereine turned away from them both. Her robes billowed as a cool breeze drifted past, carrying tiny ice crystals. Cici shivered. Reina pushed a rolled piece of leathery fine parchment backwards into Cici’s hand as if trying to hide it. It was bound with a gleaming silver circular band emblazoned with the symbol of a fanged skull.

“I suppose you have a melancholy anecdote for us?” Reina asked, appearing to speak into the darkness to no one.

“A caterpillar was crawling through a wood, entertaining thoughts of becoming a butterfly, until a spider blocked her way.” The low velvety sound of a man’s voice floated from the darkness as he stepped out of the shadows.

Cici froze, looking out from behind Reina’s robes. The rattling and galloping sounds of a speeding horse-drawn carriage clattered through the darkness above.

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eina very slowly picked her way down the gentle slope of the gully step by step. She was rewarded with stabbing pain in her knees and hip as she placed each footstep. Her arms trembled as she jabbed the ground with her staff. Without the extra support, her path would have been impossible.

The leaves, twigs and small stones made a relatively rugged and unpredictable surface. Reina’s feet slipped on almost every step, and her legs trembled each time she managed to avoid losing her balance. Her breath came in short gasps. The gloom of the Mudwood forest made her task far more difficult, but she could not risk attracting any unfortunate wildlife with a bright light.

Finally she stopped near where Cici had fallen and very slowly began to crouch down. Using her staff for support, she allowed her hands to slide down the smooth twisted wood bit by bit. She winced and groaned in pain several times before coming to rest on her knees. The Vicereine sat hunched over for a moment as if exhausted, clutching her staff to the side of her head and trying to catch her breath. Her cowl hung down, covering her face. So far, Reina knew she had only succeeded in stranding herself at the bottom of the gully. Ascent would be impossible, even with Cici’s help, and none of Reina’s alternate forms could carry the weight of another human being.

Cici tried again to stop crying, but her ankle was very swollen by now, and her shoe was beginning to hurt her foot.

After a few moments, Reina finally placed the staff flat on the ground next to her. Cici felt a hand under her own and turned her head. She gasped as she saw a grayish slender hand with jewel-encrusted rings on all four fingers reach down and take her by the wrist. Cici sniffled and looked up. The woman seemed to be busy concentrating on something.

“Do not pull against the tree trunk.” Reina said.

Cici sniffled again. She didn’t know what to think. She was sure the robed woman was really mean, but now she sounded different. Reina looked at Cici’s dirt-streaked and astonished face. The woman’s gold-colored eyes and pleasant expression made Cici feel better, even though her skin was a strange grayish color. Maybe she wasn’t an old witch like Cici had feared. She looked like she wasn’t much older than Alanna!

“I am not your enemy,” Reina said. “Sit up.”

Cici realized she wasn’t really stuck. She was just snagged on the tree and had been pulling in the wrong direction. She stopped and gradually crawled sideways far enough that she could push herself up. The moment she tried to move her foot, however, a stab of pain rushed through her ankle. Cici yelped and pulled her foot up to her hands and immediately started crying again.

“Will you help me cast a healing spell?” Reina asked. Cici looked down through the blur of tears at her right foot. Her ankle was swollen and the skin around it was darker. She sniffled and looked up at Reina, then nodded.

“Sit up slowly this time,” Reina said. “Place your foot flat against the Earth. Gently.” Cici gingerly pushed herself up with one hand as Reina reached over and retrieved the Chronicler’s Lantern lying sideways on the ground.

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