«This is about healing the earth first,» Syndil explained. «We've found the richest soil we could and have coaxed more minerals in it, but we have to heal it from all toxins.»
«And parasites,» Lara muttered under her breath.
Shea spun around. «What did you say?»
Lara wished she hadn't spoken, but they were all looking at her expectantly. She pressed her fingers against her suddenly throbbing temple. «I'm sorry. I was thinking out loud.»
«No, I need to know what you said,» Shea insisted.
Lara shrugged. She didn't want to talk about her childhood, or even think about it. «Xavier always experimented with parasites. He was never satisfied with them and always looked for ways to use them. He once said they had been more useful than any of his most gifted mages. I can't imagine that he would do anything without that being his first thought. He could create toxins for the soil, but what if he created a parasite that entered the host body and prevented pregnancy?»
Francesca stood up slowly, her eyes meeting Shea's over the tops of both Raven's and Savannah's heads.
«We checked for foreign microbes. We scan the bodies of the women all the time,» Shea said. «Gregori would never miss something like that.»
«Maybe,» Lara said, «but Xavier is a master at working with microscopic amoebas. And when you're dancing to heal the earth, you're looking for modern-day toxins.»
Shea frowned. «Do you have any idea how many toxins are found in a newborn's umbilical cord or in breast milk? The soil is what we live in, what rejuvenates us, yet our children can't go to ground with us or use the most perfect nutritious milk nature can provide. I could name every chemical we've found in the soil, most of which cause cancer and…»
Raven laid a restraining hand on her sister-kin's arm. «Lara, our water supply and our soil are fed from the purest of sources, the glacier. Even with that, Syndil has to heal the earth.»
«I'm just saying maybe your glacier isn't the purest of sources. Xavier owns the ice caves. The caves run for miles beneath the mountains, an entire city really. His mountain is above your homes and his glacier feeds your water supply and seeps into your soil. You've discounted him because you think he's dead. Well, he's not. No one is going to kill him. And he hates the Carpathian people. If he could have, he would have found a way to introduce something into your systems to make your bodies reject a pregnancy.»
Lara ran a hand through her hair. «I'm not saying it isn't modern toxins, I'm only saying you might want to look to your past for answers as well.»
She couldn't believe she was voicing her opinion to the circle of women. Growing up outside the ice caves, she had stayed under the radar by remaining as quiet and meek as possible. She had learned that if she wanted to remain with a family or in a camp, she had to keep from being noticed-not too easy when her hair banded with color and her eyes changed as well. The gypsies she had been with had been kind to her, but they were superstitious and her strange appearance along with her psychic abilities often made her unwelcome.
«Don't be uncomfortable,» Francesca encouraged. «We need as many new ideas as possible.»
«Well, Xavier isn't just a possibility as far as I'm concerned, he's done something to cause this. He might be spreading toxins to the land, and the water, but I would bet my life that he introduced something to Carpathian women that cause them to reject their children.»
«We checked the women thoroughly,» Francesca said. «And not everyone has the problem.»
«Let's get this started again,» Syndil said. «Raven and Savannah need rich soil to aid them in strengthening their bodies.»
«Oh, my God!» Shea spun around, wide-eyed, her gaze meeting Francesca's. «We've checked the women, but men determine the sex of the child, both in human and in Carpathian. We didn't check the men. Our problems started with a disproportionate number of male children.»
Francesca obviously tried to suppress her own excitement, opting for caution after so many disappointments. «Maybe. It's logical, but we have to continue to explore every avenue open to us.»
Shea nodded her head several times, but squeezed Raven's hand. «We're going to help Syndil and the others make this the best soil possible for you and Savannah,» she said. «And then I'm going to my laboratory and figure this out. All you have to do is hold on a little longer.»
Raven nodded, but there were white lines around her mouth and desperation in her eyes. Lara had to look away from the open grief on her face.
Some of the other women must have seen Raven's face. They once again formed their loose semi circle. A fire in the corner held a large pot and Francesca put several large stones of various composition into the water along with bunches of the small blue flowers and the bitterroot mandragora. While she added other herbs and ingredients, several other women lit aromatic candles. At once the scents of lavender and jasmine filled the air. The women began to sing the Carpathian lullaby.
Lara found herself joining them, lifting her voice, feeling the overwhelming sense of love for the unborn children, calling to them to stay in the womb, safe and protected, waiting until the moment they were born and could be held in loving arms.
Power surged in the room and it held a subtle difference. Feminine energy was every bit as potent as male, but it held roots of nurturing and compassion. Part mage as she was, Lara was very sensitive to the differences, sorting through individual threads and finding that the layers being woven around Raven and Savannah held genuine love and absolute harmony. The women had come together with one purpose-to save the babies-and no matter how each was different, from different backgrounds, their minds and hearts held the exact same objective and intent.
The strength of the combined women was amazing. She felt bolstered by it and encouraged not just to be part of the amazing sisterhood, but to feel balanced and confident in herself and the others as a whole.
Lara looked around the cavern at all the women, drinking in the sight, soaking in the feeling of unity. Power lived in each of them, as it did in all living things and they gathered that positive energy and used it for the best of all purposes-saving lives.
She added her voice, a soft melodious plea, a soothing comfort to the unborn children. The women connected, so that they could feel each other, close in their minds, and they also felt Raven and Savannah, and through them, the children.
Savannah's two daughters were nestled close, listening intently and trying to ignore the spasms that occasionally clamped down on them. Raven's child was a boy. Her body was desperately trying to abort, laboring hard to rid itself of the intruder. The boy was in great distress, torn between fighting to stay with his mother, and gaining peace by leaving. Raven crooned softly to him, rocking gently, her empty arms folded over him as if she was cradling him.
Syndil signaled to Skyler to take her position at the corner of the immense bed of soil prepared for the two pregnant women. Natalya and Lara took the lower corners. A hush fell over the cave until the only
sound heard was Raven's labored breathing.
Syndil's arms rose into the air and the other three women followed suit. Her feet began a pattern of dancing, her body swaying gracefully as her hands flowed in elegant lines. Skyler waited several heartbeats, humming the melody in perfect tune with Syndil until her feet took up the rhythm and she started the first line of the chant two lines behind Syndil. Lara took her cue from Skyler, waiting instinctively until her feet and hands, of their own volition, began to move. She felt the song of healing rising from inside to burst out. The air shimmered with power. And then Natalya joined them.
Their voices rose in song and they danced an intricate pattern to the sound of their bare feet patting the dirt as if drawing music from the very center of the earth. Lara felt the song, felt the dance, through the soles of her feet. She knew each step before she took it, each graceful movement of her hand and sway of her body before she made it. The song was loud in her mind, in perfect harmony with the other three dancers, perfectly tuned to th
e notes of the earth itself.
Oh, Mother Nature, we are your beloved daughters. We dance to heal the earth. We sing to heal the earth. We join with you now. Our hearts and minds and spirits become one.
As she sang the song, this time it was right, the women merging into one unit with the earth, in accord with the sky above them and the hot core beneath them.
Oh, Mother Nature, we are your beloved daughters. We pay homage to our mother and call upon the North… Syndil bowed low and swept into a circle.South , Skyler repeated the move in perfect synchronization with Syndil.East . Lara dipped low, a sign of respect, spinning with the other two women as Natalya went next.West . All four women completed the fourth bow and turned at the exact same moment.Above and below and within as well .
Power burst through the chamber, alive now, visible threads linking all of the women in the room, drawing on their energy.
Our love of the land heals that which is in need. We join with you now, earth to earth. The cycle of life is complete.
The soil warmed beneath their feet. Raven and Savannah gasped as the wave of heat washed over them. The color of the soil darkened even more into a rich, fertile black, sparkling with minerals.
Lara felt the joy of the earth through the soles of her bare feet, moving up through her legs to infuse her body with strength and happiness. As part of a cosmic whole she was one with the women, one with the universe and had a complete feeling of confidence and accord. For that one moment in time, she had no fears, no vulnerabilities, part of a greater whole. She was flooded with almost a euphoric feeling of well-being, transcended by the energy and peace surrounding her.
The dancers stopped swaying and the women buried their hands in the richness of the fertile soil, far more valuable to them then the richest gold mine. They all should have been drained and weary, but the soil infused them with energy.
Syndil's face reflected the joy Lara was feeling, her eyes shining with wonder.
«This is what our soil should be for our women,» Syndil said. «And with four of us, we can do so much now.»
«I feel a difference already,» Savannah said, relieved. «My cramps are far less.»
Raven bit her lip and shook her head. «It isn't helping me. The contractions are getting stronger.» Despair was in her voice.
Lara, one with the other women, reached to connect with the child. Fear swamped her mind, pain followed. She had the sensation of being torn from her safe haven. She choked back a ragged cry. The little boy was conscious of what was happening to him and he kept reaching out to his mother.
Raven tried to shield him from the pain and the continual battering on his tiny body. More than the physical assault against him, Lara felt the subtle flow of something else. She frowned, glanced at Natalya and then the others to see if they caught it as well. They were all caught in the same fear and grief of losing the child.
Lara touched her tongue to her suddenly dry lips, reaching instinctively for Nicolas. At once he was there, his warmth surrounding her, his strength giving her confidence. Steadied, she took a breath and let it out, trying to follow the thread of dark influence working against both child and mother. Before she could find the source, the child slipped farther away.
Raven began to cry, deep wrenching sobs that tore at Lara's heart. «I can't lose another child. He's too tiny to send into the next life without a mother. I have to go with him.»
A collective gasp went up and the women visibly paled.
«You cannot,» Shea stated. «Absolutely not.»
«Mother,» Savannah protested.
«Raven,» Francesca's voice was the sound of calm. «If you choose to follow your son, Mikhail will follow you into the next world. Our people need both of you. You are distraught and not thinking straight.»
Raven continued to weep brokenly. Shea sank down into the soil beside her, wrapping her arms around her while Savannah clasped her hand.
«I don't understand what that means, that Mikhail will follow her,» Lara whispered to Natalya.
«Lifemates cannot exist without one another. If Raven chooses the next life with her child, Mikhail will have no choice but to follow, or he will turn vampire. This cannot be a choice for Raven, especially with Mikhail. He is our leader. Unless Savannah could take his place, our enemies have won and our species will be extinct.»
Lara went very still, fingers of fear trickling down her spine. Nicolas could have turned vampire. She had left the world by her own choice, never fully understanding the dire consequences to him or to the people around him. He had never said a word to her, not one word of recrimination. Nicolas was an experienced hunter. Had he turned, he would have killed many before he was destroyed.
She scooped more of the rich soil into her fists as she looked at Raven's tear-streaked face. «You cannot take the chance with your lifemate's life.» As she had done. Selfishly, without thought of the consequences to anyone else.
Looking around the chamber at the women gathered together to heal the earth and to save the lives of
three children, she realized that each person was valuable in their own way, that each contributed to the greater good. She was part of the circle of life just as Nicolas was, just as Raven and the unborn children were. Each of them was special and important and had a contribution to make. Maybe none of them knew what it was, but they had to revere life-fight for it-count each individual as important.
«Raven, you're needed here by so many,» she murmured aloud, understanding for the first time that individuals made up the whole. «We would all be diminished by your passing.»
«I need you,» Savannah said, gripping her mother's arm. «I need you with me. I'm your daughter. If you only have me, aren't I worth staying here for?» She looked panic-stricken, very white in contrast to the black soil. «Mom, you can't leave me.»
«I know. I know.» Raven put her arms around her daughter. «I just can't bear losing another child. He's so tiny and he wants to live. He's so far away.»
Francesca caught her arms, gave her a little shake. «Raven, look at me.» She waited until Raven focused on her. «You re panicking. You have to be calm so he can stay calm. You have to believe we can save him so he'll believe it.»
«It hurts him and he's in shock,» Raven protested.
«I know, honey. And you're feeling his pain and his fear and it's amplifying your own, but that won't help him. We can. All of us. Look around you. We're all here with you. We'll help.»
Savannah nodded her head. «I'll help, too, and so will the twins.»
Lara reached again for the thread. «There is a dark art at work here. I feel it when I connect with you and the child. You're being influenced to give up and so is your son. You have to fight back, Raven. Don't let Xavier have this child. Don't let him take you and the boy. Buy me some time.»
Francesca and Shea whipped their heads around to stare at her in shock. «Are you certain?» Francesca demanded. «Really certain?»
«It's subtle but it's there. Believe me, I can recognize Xavier's influence anywhere, no matter how light his touch is.»
«I need to feel what you're feeling,» Francesca said. «Natalya? Do you feel it?»
Natalya went very still. She nodded slowly. «Yes, she's right. And the same influence is working in Savannah as well. Not as strong yet, because the twins are merging to bolster their strength, but the weave of dark art is attacking them as well. They won't be able to hold out against it if it continues, at least not until they're ready to be born.»
Savannah placed both arms protectively around her stomach. «What can we do?»
«We have to destroy whatever is attacking them,» Francesca said.
«Should I call Gregori back?»
«And Mikhail?» Raven's voice wavered.
Lara frowned. «We can't take the chance of it retreating once it feels the threat of a male. Carpathian men are the protectors and guardians. It doesn't perceive us as a threat.»
«Can you follow it?» Natalya asked. «Because if you can gi
ve me a target, I can destroy it.» She spoke with absolute confidence.
«I can follow it,» Lara said.
«Raven?» Francesca said. «This is your call. Yours and Savannah's. If you believe Mikhail and Gregori should be called back to try to deal with this attempt to murder your children, then we'll summon them immediately.»
Raven and Savannah exchanged a long look. Silence settled into the cavern. The water in the huge pot continued to boil and the soothing scents of lavender and jasmine filled the air. Raven looked around at the women who waited, the women who had all come for one purpose-to save their children.
Raven lifted her chin, leaned over and kissed her daughter and met Lara's blue-green gaze. «Find this thing and let's destroy it.»
Chapter 14
The hum of the crystals greeted Nicolas as he entered the deep caverns. The formations of the giant crystals never failed to astonish and impress him. Only nature could have provided such a wealth of beauty formed with rich minerals. Gypsum, not uncommon in many areas, was not as well known in the Carpathian Mountains. A thousand feet below the earth, with the hot magma burning even farther below it, the soft limestone bed had been cut through by the wash of hydrothermal liquid bubbling up, breaking through from the magma chambers below and filling the chambers before draining away, leaving behind a thick forest of selenite, some over seventy feet in height and a good seven feet in diameter.
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