Ceres stirred with a faint moan. Her eyes fluttered then snapped full open to four other sets of eyes that peered down on her. She scanned her surroundings. A low sun cast shadows from the tall pine trees and monoliths of grey granite. A brown blanket separated her from a dry patch of grassy meadow. This was a far better scene to her, Waithe surmised, that the Darkness infused lava rock field.

Alden helped her sit up then allowed her to lean back into him. Ceres let out a yelp as Eira plopped down into her lap with a big grin.

Waithe smiled. "A certain little girl was very worried about you, my dear daughter. How feel you?"

Ceres took a deep breath. "Much better now. I cannot tell you how much it warms my heart to awaken among those I love." She snuggled into Alden and pulled Eira into a hug. A pensive expression came to her face as she cast her eyes down. "Please forgive me my failure."

Waithe waved his hand. "Think it not as a failure. You met a strong enemy and learned of its capabilities."

"Aye, but in the learning, the Darkness nearly consumed me and three Life Spirits. If not for the vision we shared, I fear it would have." A tear came to her eye. "I felt my mother's love, and yours too, Father. The vision was so clear that I relived the past. I know not how these visions occur, but I treasure them and they strengthen me."

Waithe recalled the words from the Woman of Light and repeated them. "Love be the weapon that would defeat the Darkness."

Ceres nodded. "Aye, there is truth to that." She looked around. The sun cast its final rays from behind a forested hill. "How long did I slumber?"

Alden replied as he wrapped his arms around both her and Eira. "Through afternoon, dinner, and now almost 'til time to sleep again. Rest and renew now, my dear Ceres, tomorrow be a new day."

*****

They stood once again at the rock field. It did not seem so ominous now with the risen sun at their back. But the horses sensed something. They huffed and pawed the dusty ground, threatening to break away. A brief shudder came to both Ceres and Eira as the clutched each other's hand. The Darkness still held here.

Alden asked, "Ceres, be you sure that this would work?"

She nodded, but not with the assuredness that Waithe hoped. "Aye, it should. But we shall know soon enough."

Ceres knelt down and placed a small tied course-woven bundle in a mug, one containing a measured mix of ground medicinal herbs. Into this, she poured hot water from a pot. They all watched wisps of steam rise up from the cup as the tea brewed.

She turned to Waithe. "This be the same mix of herbs I gave you soon after we met, the one I used to hold the Taint within you at bay. It be infused with Life Magic and should also hold the Darkness away."

He closed his eyes and wrinkled his forehead. "The taste of it still haunts me."

Ceres paused with the mug in her hand, then took a drink of it. She strained to hold a stoic expression for a moment, then her lower lip began to quiver. She thrust the mug into Waithe's hands, lest it be spilled, and bent over with a gagging sound.

Waithe grinned. "Forgive me. I should not take such pleasure in your distress, my dear daughter, but there be some justice to it."

Still bent over, Ceres looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "Now it is your turn, Waithe."

Waithe took a cleansing breath then lifted the mug to his lips. With a twisted face, he shook his head back and forth, trying not to regurgitate the pungent liquid.

He handed the mug to Alden, who's eyes had gone wide at the previous reactions. "Is it that bad?"

Waithe replied, "Words fail me."

Alden paused. With all eyes on him, he accepted the inevitable and took a large drink. He bent over holding his stomach, sputtering and gasping for air. Staggering, he removed his canteen slung over his shoulder and drank deeply from it. Ceres helped him stand upright.

Alden shook his head. "My sweet Ceres, how did something so horrid come by your hands?"

Ceres ignored Alden's question. She knelt to hug Eira. "My dear little one, you must remain. You may help Yorg tend the horses and look after him as well. We shall return as soon as we can." A green light appeared above the little girl, bobbing slowly. Ceres smiled. "And you, my dear Phy, look after both of them."

Ceres looked up into the eyes of the giant, silently imploring him to protect Eira. He nodded with a grunt. She trembled at the underlying Darkness of the place, then followed Waithe and Alden into the rock field, turning her head back for one more look before disappearing from view.

A faint tortuous path wound between massive piles of frozen black lava and around deep dark holes. They clamored over jagged boulders and piles of loose rock that sometimes blocked the way. Ceres let out a gasp as she came across the emaciated remains of a man, only his arms and head visible above a narrow crevice along the trail. Dried darkened flesh stretched tightly across the dead man's skull. She held her breath as his open mouth and empty eye sockets issued a silent warning. Alden embraced her and then urged her on.

They continued in silence. Drops of blood seeped from the small cuts on their hands, a result of the sharp rough rock edges. Waithe stopped for a moment to wrap their palms with strips of cloth. What had been a cool morning became hot as the sun-baked the black rock around them. Ceres and Alden wiped the sweat from their brows and took drinks from their canteens.

Waithe cautioned them. "Be sure to leave enough water for our return."

Alden asked Ceres, "Sure you know where this Shadow Spellbook be?"

"In the vision given me by the Time Spirit Aon, it is somewhere near the base of this fearsome volcano. There is a small structure built of this dark rock and near plumes of steam. That we seek. I hope the Tau would lead me once we come closer."

The sun blazed from high in the sky by the time they reached the volcano base. The cinders that crunched under their footsteps were easier to traverse than the tumbled rock from which they came. They began to circle the mountain.

Ceres shook her head. "I feel we be close, but I do not see it."

Alden leaped atop a boulder. "There ahead, the steam vents. It might be near there."

"But I see no rock structure as in the vision."

"The cinders may have covered it, obscured it from view. Let us go see."

They scrambled up a slope of red and black cinders, sometimes sliding back on the loose granules. Wisps of steam rose above them. A sulfurous odor stung their noses and throats. Alden first reached the top of the cinder flow.

He shouted back. "I think it is here!"

The cinders covered all but the top of an opening among stacked rock that surrounded the entrance to a shallow cave created by huge slabs of rock. Apparently, a mass of cinders had slid down the mountain slopes at some point to hide the structure.

A big smile came to Ceres' face. "Aye, Alden. Well done!" She put a palm to one of his cheeks and kissed the other.

Waithe groaned. "And now we must dig."

Alden and Waithe used the blades of their long knives to push cinders away from the opening, pausing now and then to wipe the sweat away from their faces or take a drink of water. Ceres would periodically slither into the hole to check the progress.

She emerged from the hole. "We are so close. I can feel its presence."

The opening to the stacked rock hut was barely waist tall, only by crawling could it be entered. A smaller window at the top provided some ventilation. Ceres disappeared inside and began to push out small piles of cinders with Waithe's knife, which Alden then cleared away.

She yelled out from the hole. "I found it!"

Waithe took hold of a dried leather-wrapped package that emerged from the hole. An unpleasant tingling in his hands occurred as he grasped it. Ceres followed. Dust sloughed off of her dress as she shook it, but remained caked to areas of sweaty exposed skin.

Alden came up to her and brushed some of the caked dark dust from her cheek while she looked up into his eyes. "You be a mess, my dear Lady." He pulled her closer but then hesitated.

Waithe rolled his eyes. "By the Spirits, Alden, kiss her already."

Their lips met as Ceres wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing herself into him. Waithe turned away as the kiss lingered.

Waithe placed the bundle he held on the ground and, with Ceres, began to peel away the layers. Much of the brittle leather broke off in pieces. Eventually, a small plain book wrapped in burlap was revealed, the leather cover still somewhat pliable. The pages were blank, but as Ceres ran her hand over it, fanciful writing appeared.

She shuddered. "The Shadow Spellbook. There is Darkness within it."

At that moment the mountain trembled. Bits of rock and gravel sliding down the slope pelted them as they staggered on their feet. A swirling cloud of dirty steam billowed from the top.

Waithe rewrapped the book with the burlap and handed it to Ceres. "The dragon of Grimmur stirs. It be time we leave this cursed place."

The journey away from the volcano took longer than the journey in as the heat took its toll. They stopped to rest under what few bits of shade they could find and soon drained the last of their water. Parched and exhausted, they emerged from the rock field as the sun stood low behind Grimmur.

They spotted their horses under the welcoming shade of a tree grove and made their way to them. Alden rushed in to support Ceres as she wavered on her feet. He helped her sit down and brought her a canteen of water from her horse.

She drank deep and handed the canteen back to Alden. "Thank you." She looked around. "Where is Eira and Yorg?"

Her eyes grew wide as she spotted marbles scattered on the ground. They were Eira's prized possession and she would not so easily abandon them.

Waithe spun around. "Yorg's maul, it be missing from his horse. Something be wrong here." He place his hand on the long knife at his waist.

With a whistling hiss, a fireball smashed into the base of a rock a short distance away, setting a patch of dry grass ablaze. A man wearing the traditional long robe of a Shaman emerged from behind a knoll. His hood laid back revealing a wrinkled bald head and the iris' of his eyes as black as night. Two more fireballs floated above his hands. Above his head pulsed the red light of a Spirit, but with streaks of blackness. Several more men in black uniforms appeared behind him with blades drawn, the iris of their eyes also dark.

Ceres whispered, "One of Scias' Shaman." She jumped up to her feet. "The Darkness... It has these men. And the Fire Spirit Pyr also be corrupted with it."

The Shaman bared his teeth in a scornful smile. He spoke with a gravelly voice. "The Lady Ceres of the Order, I presume. Raste thought you might come here. The book, be it found? Most appreciative he would be if you have."