Journey by Night: Quantum Encryption Bk 3

By Kim Falconer

A fast-paced story of fantasy and occult adventure, astrology and martial arts ... this trilogy tells past and future stories of characters we met in the Quantum Enchantment trilogy.
Desperation leads Nellion Paree to the forbidden spell ... but she accidentally awakens a power that could destroy the many-worlds forever.Rosette and her familiar Drayco return to Corsanon to face an invasion. they soon join the temple cats and shape-shifting wolves to make a final stand against their enemies.On a future Earth, Kreshkali uncovers a portal built by the allied states. Now the survival of both worlds is in her hands ... but the only way out is straight through the armies of ASSISt.Praise for Kim Falconer:'an epic story that seamlessly mingles science and technology with sociology, philosophy, and magic. A unique series that must be read' ***** GOOD READS on PAtH OF tHE StRAY'another searing and imaginative journey of intimacy and adventure, magic and technology' Mystic Medusa on ROAD tO tHE SOUL

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Sep 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780730497783

Kim Falconer

Kim Falconer is a bestselling speculative fiction author with nine published novels. Her work is described as contemporary, dark and compelling, romantic, provocative, and supercharged with high-intensity action. Originally from California, she lives on the far eastern coast of Australia with a house full of kids, and two extraordinary spotted cats.    To find out more, visit Kim on her website and web portal.   You can also follow her on:  Facebook Instagram  Twitter  Google+  Pinterest       

Book preview

BOOK ONE

SUNDERING

PROLOGUE

EARTH

24TH CENTURY

The sewer was dark. It echoed with footsteps and the slow drip of water from the corrugated ceiling. A horrible stench wafted up from the gurgling drains, clogged after the recent floods. If the rain kept pounding Half Moon Bay, the entire underground would be washed out to sea. Kreshkali didn’t want to think about that. She checked her laser gun and gasmask. The goal was to reach the objective and get back alive. This was the assignment she and Nell had been waiting for, the one that would prove their usefulness to Oben, head of the underground resistance. They had to get it right.

The op was simple — find each subterranean exit beneath ASSIST Base and map them on the digi-pad. Do that, and Kali might actually have the chance to lead a team of her own. It would mean full-time training, and no more whoring. She took a few deliberate breaths, trying not to swallow the taste in her mouth. The night air was foul, but it was nothing compared to the stink down here.

‘We’ll get used to it,’ Nell said. She had her hand clamped over her nose and mouth.

‘When?’ Kreshkali switched on her wrist light. ‘We’ve been in and out of these sewers all our lives and I’m not used to it yet.’ Something gnawed at the edge of her mind. ‘Do you remember the first time we came down here?’

‘It would have been before we got Mama’s grimoire.’ Nell never referred to Tatsania’s death in any other way. It was either before, or after, they’d taken possession of her magical books.

Kali nodded and the sound of her mother’s voice seemed to whisper in her mind, Kreshkali, it will be up to you …

What did she mean? Kali didn’t know. It might be in the grimoire but she and Nell hadn’t had a chance to study it much. When they were younger, the ‘aunties’ — the two women who had raised them, taught them to purify water and grow roots and begrudgingly allowed them to train in the underground — had discouraged study. Later, the aunties forced Kali to whore for water-credits and that cut into her reading time, among other things. Kali smiled. The aunties were dead. Good riddance.

But on the rare chance she and Nell did find time to study the grimoire, it confused them both. Many of the words in it were long and hard to pronounce. The script was nothing like what was taught in the underground. Kali had learned to write letters as they appeared on the battery-powered digi-pads — simple, upright and with spaces in between. The grimoire was written in a flowing hand — Mama’s hand. Running writing, Nell called it. Hard to read. Deciphering her books and notes was slow going and it wasn’t safe to tote them about in public either, not with ASSIST on the lookout for any sign of witchcraft or magical paraphernalia. They did spot searches, the bastards.

‘We can study tonight when we get home,’ Nell said. ‘If we get this op done quick.’

‘Good plan.’ Kali looked forward to getting back to their little room in the attic. There they could read the grimoire in privacy, but for now it was time to focus on this op. Strange what the mind would think of in the middle of a sewer, in the pitch-black night.

‘Did you hear that?’ Nell whispered. She switched off the digi-pad.

Kali dimmed her wrist light and listened. She didn’t hear anything. She didn’t see anything either but that wasn’t a surprise. She could barely make out her hand in front of her face. Oben hadn’t given them infra-reds for this op; they’d been lucky to score the digi and masks. Was that a scuffling in the distance? Water rats? she asked Nell mind-to-mind.

Nell shook her head. Can’t hear it now.

Might be a patrol. Kali waited for her eyes to adjust. As they did, Nell’s silhouette came into focus — dark patterns against the black. They were dressed the same in ex-issue ASSIST fatigues, tight vests and black jackets. Kali had a handgun tucked in her boot, the laser in her belt. Nell carried the pack and held the digi-pad. ‘Turn it back on,’ Kali said. ‘Or we’ll never get this done.’

Nell pressed the power up and the screen glowed with a soft blue light. It outlined her face and hands, eerie and ghoulish, the rest of her body indistinguishable from the black hole they were in. She held it out in front of her. ‘That’s Bay Street.’ She pointed to the nothing above.

‘And this way’s the first ASSIST exit.’ Kali led, one hand on the wall, one foot in front of the other. After fifty paces she came to a shaft of light beaming down from overhead. She checked the compass and street directory screen on the digi. ‘Still Bay Street,’ she said. ‘We’re below Max’s.’

‘We have to see him tonight,’ Nell said. ‘Before we go home. If we don’t give him his water-credits he’ll send Rugars after us. If he suspects you’re keeping his cut …’

‘I’m not afraid of Rugars,’ Kali said.

‘But I am …’

Rugars was a hard-core pit fighter famous for his ability to dislocate joints and break bones with a quick snap. He weighed in heavy and could take a punch from a concrete block and not fall. He could deliver too. A lot of guys went down in his ring and never got up again. None of it was legal, of course, and ASSIST soldiers could haul him away. They never did. After hours, they’d be ringside, betting on him.

Rugars worked for Max, when he wasn’t bashing someone’s brains out in the pit fights. Finesse wasn’t his style but he did know how to hurt people. That’s what Max used him for and they’d seen what he could do. Ugly business.

‘Max wouldn’t risk messing me up,’ Kali said. ‘I make too much for him.’ Kreshkali turned tricks for water-credits — had since she was thirteen. That had been the aunties’ idea, not hers. Their little ‘rabbit hole’ hidden on the hill behind Park West had washed out in a storm — no more roots to sell through the underground and no more water purification tanks. Someone needed to bring in the water-credits fast and Kali was elected. Her choice was to do as she was told or run. Either way, it meant whoring to survive. Kali made sure Nell never had to take up the occupation. They’d argued about it from time to time but Kali wouldn’t budge. ‘It’s not your nature,’ Kali had said. ‘You haven’t even had sex yet.’

‘I can handle it.’

‘Anyone can handle it, if they have to, but you don’t have to, so stop talking about it.’

‘Who made you the boss of this?’ Nell had started to dress for ‘work’ anyway, pulling fishnet stockings up her long slender legs. She was determined to work no matter what Kali said.

‘I’m not the boss. I’m just saying, this would ruin you.’

‘Ruin me for what?’

‘For any chance of enjoying a boy for real. You know, romantically.’

‘You mean love?’

‘Something like that.’

‘And what about you? What about your chances?’

Kali had laughed. ‘Too late for me.’

She checked her compass again and stared into the dark.

‘He won’t mess you up, but he might go to work on me,’ Nell said.

‘Ha! As if anyone could beat you in a fight, or a sprint. You’re faster than Rugars.’

‘Unless he has a gun. I don’t think I can outrun a laser, or a bullet.’

‘Not his style.’ Kali pulled her thoughts away from Rugars and focused on the task. There were more important things to think about, like mapping all the exits and getting out of the tunnels in one piece. She’d deal with Max later. Her steps gained confidence as they came to the lit area below the next manhole. There were more ahead — beams of reddish-brown light penetrating the black. ‘My eyes must be adjusting.’

‘That light’s not the right colour.’ Nell pointed out a narrow crevice. ‘Look at it.’

Kali squinted. Through the crack was a faint purple glow. ‘Side exit. They’re burning chemicals above. That can colour the air.’

‘It’s pretty.’ Nell could find loveliness anywhere, even in a crap hole like this.

By the time they reached a three-way junction they had five more manholes mapped and according to the compass and directory, they stood bang under the central link to ASSIST Base. Kali keyed in the data and saved it. ‘That wasn’t so hard. I don’t know what Oben was worried about.’

Sh! Nell pulled her back against the wall. Hear that?

Kali smiled. ‘It’s our backup, here to escort us out.’

Kill the light. Just in case.

They slipped around the corner of the left-hand tunnel and hid. No lights appeared. No sounds. Nothing but gurgling water and endless darkness.

We can’t stay down here all night, Kali said after a while. Her legs were cramped and her stomach knotted.

Let’s go then. Just keep a lookout.

They headed back towards their exit, moving as silently and quickly as they could. Kali held the digi-pad in front of her. She turned it off when they were under the second-last manhole. ‘We can climb out here and …’

‘And what, girl?’ A figure stepped out of the shadow. Male. Threatening. Not their backup.

Kali froze. She hadn’t caught his scent but now she got it. Glamour, Nell. I can handle him. She tried to push the digi-pad behind her and glamour it as well.

‘What’s this?’ The man snatched it from her hands.

‘Not yours,’ Kali said and reached to grab it back.

He clouted her across the head with it. ‘Shut up, bitch.’

The digi-pad cracked into pieces, the sound echoing through the sewers. There goes the op. Kali bent over, pain searing through her head. She felt a power shoot up her spine, her serpent energy uncoiling. All her senses heightened, just in time. He had a pipe and was swinging it straight at her.

Kali ducked and rushed the man before he could clock her with a backhand. He was big and fast. Four times her weight at least. It didn’t matter. She smacked her head into his belly, grabbed his legs and held tight. The momentum flipped him onto his back and Kali landed on top. From there she grabbed the pipe and pounded him unconscious.

This way, Kali! Run! Nell grabbed her hand.

But the man had friends. A lot of them. Nell raced past but they grabbed Kali’s arms and legs and pulled her down into the filthy drain. She screamed, a long wailing cry cut short by another punch to the head. When she blinked the blood from her eyes she saw him. Rugars. He pressed a knife against her pounding jugular.

‘You think you can cheat Max?’

Kali spat. ‘He’ll get his cut tonight.’ Light stung her eyes. Behind the glare were faces, filthy and angry and something else. Lustful. She knew what was coming next.

They turned her over and shoved her head into the drain. Darkness. No air. Water filled her nose, her ears. They pulled her out by her hair and she gasped, sucking in the muck as she tried to breathe. They shone a light in her face and she threw up.

‘Let’s do her here,’ she heard someone say. The voice was familiar. A recent trick? Someone from the underground? Keep running, Nell. I’ve got this under control. Where the fuck was her backup?

‘I like you on your knees,’ Rugars said. ‘I think we all will.’ He sliced through her fatigues and drew the blade over the small of her back. Her skin split and a trickle of warm blood dripped around to her belly. ‘You fight me and I’m taking your kidneys when I go. Got that?’

Kali! Nell called to her. I can’t find them. No backup!

Why hadn’t Nell kept running? Get away, Nell! Get away. They’ll leave me when they’re done. I’ll catch up.

Kali, they’re not going to be done until you’re dead.

They like it rough, is all. Her head slammed into the concrete ground. They aren’t going to kill me.

Hang on, Kali. I’ll keep searching. Oben wouldn’t have left us without any backup.

Nell, just go! This never takes long.

A man thrust himself into her. Was it Rugars? He wasn’t of much size — inconsequential. She was more concerned about the buzzing in her head and the halo vision. She turned around and spat out the taste of her own vomit. ‘I don’t know how you can fuck in this stinking filth. You want me so bad you couldn’t wait till I was back on the street?’

A pipe came down over her head and for a moment she saw only flashes of light. There was a sound like metal plates clattering on the floor. Had another one banged her? And another? Where in all this fucking hell is my backup?

Hands hauled her up and threw her against the wall. They pulled her jacket off and stripped her bare. Shit! She had just lost her way out if things went bad. Everyone in the underground had a cyanide capsule sewn into the shoulder of their jackets. As long as their neck wasn’t broken, they could reach it. If their neck was snapped, then there’d be no need to. It was a fairly foolproof system, unless they took your jacket …

Kali. Nell sounded far away. The crevice we passed. It leads to another tunnel. Narrow. Wait until this one is through and we can run for it.

I don’t think I can run. You go. I’ll …

You can run and you will!

Fists cracked across her face. It seemed the rest of them were more interested in beating her to death than fucking her. Strange. It didn’t seem like they’d all had a go.

Women, Nell said. The rest of them are women.

How lovely …

Kali couldn’t see. Were her eyes swollen shut? Energy pushed past her. What was happening? Nell? Steel-capped boots slammed into her ribs, her back. Her arms went instinctively over her head. Foetal position.

Get up! Get up!

Nell hauled her to her feet.

Run, Kali! Now! Run!

She moved in slow motion. It felt like her lungs were coming out her mouth when she exhaled. No air got in. Her head pounded. The sound of all those plates kept crashing to the ground. Flashes of red light seared across her mind’s eye. It turned to purple, brighter and brighter. She stumbled and still Nell dragged her forward. Her eyelids were slits filled with blood. A soft hum competed with the pulse pounding in her ears.

Hurry! They’re gaining.

How would she get up the ladder? She tried to focus, tried to work it out, but her mind went blank.

Through the crevice. This way.

She stopped. Who was speaking? Someone had her, was dragging her. Trying to kill her! Kreshkali fought like a cat drowning in a sack.

Kali, no! It’s me! It’s Nell! We have to get into this crevice. We have to hide.

Kali forced her eyes open long enough to see through the sticky blood. A girl bathed in purple light had a hold of her arm with both hands. She was pulling with all her might, trying to get her into a crack in the tunnel wall.

This is a way out!

Before Kali could decide what to do, the others caught up.

Laughter, horrid and mocking. Blinding lights in her face. They jerked her back towards the drain and the girl’s hands slipped away. The purple light winked out. A dull thud sounded in the back of her head and everything disappeared.

GAELA

THE TEMPLE WARS

CHAPTER 1

Where am I? Nell cringed. It was hard to form the words, even in her head. The back of her skull throbbed like a second heart. She felt her neck, clamping muddy fingers around her throat. It was in one piece. That was a relief. She thought maybe it had been chopped with an axe. The ache didn’t ease when she sat up. It was worse, if anything. She turned her head slowly from side to side. Her neck cracked, which gave her enough relief to realise she had to pee, urgently. She tried to stand. At least she hadn’t fallen into the drain and drowned. What drain?

Chills shot up her spine. ‘No!’ She struggled to gain her balance. The fractured memories made it hard to think. She’d lost someone. ‘I have to find her!’ She was about to scream but slapped her hand over her mouth. What am I thinking? Noise was the last thing she wanted to make. Her glamour was down and it wouldn’t be going back up any time soon, not with her head pounding and her bladder about to burst. She couldn’t concentrate. Stomach acid rolled up her throat and she swallowed it back down. First things first. She had to work out where she was.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A layer of darkness lifted. She focused on the hint of light, a diffuse haze up ahead, and made for it. A way out? She staggered forward and spewed. This isn’t good. As she straightened, the light seemed closer. She carried on towards it until she stepped out of the darkness into a grey fog. Nothing felt familiar.

A breeze swept past her face. She breathed in the clean, tangy scent. That wasn’t right. It should have made her gag. Even with an offshore wind the coastline always smelled like a rotting carcass. What coastline was she thinking of? It was there in her mind one minute and gone the next. She pondered the question as she relieved herself near a bush. She was completely lost, but it did feel good to pee.

Nell walked a little further, going slow, testing the air, the footing, listening for signs of danger. There were darker outlines in the distance, swaying with the wind. The sound was gusty. Unfamiliar. She ran her fingers across the back of her neck, feeling a scar — the source of the pain. How did I get that? She drew in a breath again, waiting for the stink to make her cough, waiting for her lungs to burn. She frowned. There was no burning, and definitely no stink. The air was moist and refreshing. It had a slight woodsy tang and a hint of roots fresh dug from clean soil. What is this place? In her excitement, she tripped over a ledge and fell headfirst onto the ground.

Nell woke up to the strangest sounds. She was lying on her side, her cheek pressed into the dirt. It was uncomfortable, but she was too startled to move with the noise so close by. It was terrible — like an alarm going off only more guttural and a lot more demanding. Her head throbbed with a dull ache. ‘Where am I?’

The light was dim. Morning or dusk? Her mouth was full of grit and tasted like vomit. ‘How did I get here?’ The last thing Nell remembered was … nothing. She rubbed her neck, waiting for her memory to return. Shapes formed in the distance like the outline of a pen-and-ink drawing. She spat and wiped her mouth. What had happened? Before she could work out an answer, the alarming sounds came closer.

A whiffle of air fluttered past. The noise was right above her now. Are you all right? She directed her thoughts towards the sound. ‘More to the point, how can I turn you off?’ Nothing answered in words but her stomach tightened. She had the distinct feeling of being hungry — really, really hungry, like a starving child. Nell sat up slowly. ‘Children,’ she corrected herself. There was more than one noisemaker.

The day broke and colours seeped into the surroundings. She could see her hands — white fingers with filthy black nails. She sniffed them. Disgusting. They smelled of rot, blood and waste. The noisy ones kept up their begging sounds. Nell felt like their hunger was drilling into her bones. ‘Come out where I can see you,’ she said, shifting to sit on her knees.

The ground felt strange. She swept her hand over it, scooping up a fistful of prickly needles. The scent made her head jerk back. It was pungent, sweet and sappy. Before she could contemplate it further, the air went wild with squawks. She looked up. ‘What on Earth do you want?’

The blurry edges of the world sharpened. She startled at what she saw. ‘Trees?’ she whispered. ‘Alive and full of …’ While forming the words a cacophony of sound burst into the air and golden light surrounded her. She jumped to her feet, all thoughts lost in the awakening day.

Suddenly there were hundreds of bird calls — chips and chirps and warbles and yodels and gaggles and long sweet melodies. They almost drowned out the noisy fledglings in the branches above her. She could see them now, an arm’s length away, their mouths open, gapes red, black feathers ruffled. The baby birds were famished. Nell slid back down to the ground, completely overwhelmed. Other birds continued to sing, but for the next few moments the sounds dimmed. All that existed was a golden orb of light, climbing over the distant mountains and into a bright blue sky. Blue! Incredible blue! She’d never seen anything like it in her life.

She stared at the sky for some time before the black birds reclaimed her attention. ‘What?’

They stretched their necks towards her, their mouths wide, their wings fanning. Deafening sounds.

‘Don’t you have a mother?’ She caught the image of a glossy raven in the mouth of a dog, the bird’s neck hanging limp. Nell studied the picture in her mind’s eye. ‘Strange dog.’ It had bright orange fur, a white-tipped tail, pointy noise and long white teeth. ‘It’s a fox, isn’t it?’ The longer she looked at the image the more agitated the young birds became. ‘Sorry.’ She let the vision fade. ‘I see what happened, and it is very sad for you, but how can I help?’

They hopped closer, the branches bouncing with the movement. Had she ever seen such beautiful birds? Surely not this closeup. Their feathers were jet black with highlights of blue-green on the shoulders and wingtips. As the wind ruffled the backs of their necks, white down showed underneath. Their beaks were long black daggers, their talons prehensile as they shuffled about the branch. ‘Magnificent,’ she whispered, gazing into their dark eyes, acknowledging each one in turn. ‘You’re magnificent, but I have to be going.’ She looked into the distance, the incredibly colourful distance. Where was it she had to go? It felt urgent but the sense of panic was disappearing like water down a drain.

‘Drain?’ She closed her eyes, trying to remember.

The caws increased.

‘Can’t you feed yourselves?’ If this kept up, it could get annoying.

Thunderous sounds answered her as the trio flapped their wings and opened their maws wider still.

She rubbed her temples. ‘You’re nestlings, right? All hatched at the same time?’

They sent her images of life since they were eggs.

‘Three sisters, are you?’ She smiled as they tilted their heads for a moment before the begging resumed. ‘The Three Sisters, I will have to call you, because for the life of me, I can’t tell you apart. Not yet anyway.’ Nell felt her heart swell and tears spilled down her cheeks. What had happened? Suddenly it was like they were hers, and even more so, she was theirs. ‘All right, my beauties, you win. I don’t know why but I like you all very much, in spite of the noise you make. Let’s find you some food.’

The closest one stopped begging and clicked her beak.

‘You’re so beautiful,’ Nell said. ‘Do you have a name?’

The creature sent a message straight to her head but the word was hard to pronounce. The closest she could come to it was Ruth, the accent on the Ru. ‘Tell me, Ruth. What do you like to eat?’ She wondered if there was anything in her backpack that might interest them.

They flapped about her, all reserve gone. Ruth landed on her left shoulder and the other two tangled in her hair. ‘Settle! I’m only looking. If you must know, I haven’t a clue what I brought with me.’ Or where I brought it from, she added. ‘Fingers crossed.’ Nell pulled her pack off and found three green-coloured bars. ‘Do you think they’ll taste any good?’ She felt sure they wouldn’t, but they were food. That much she remembered. In her pack was also a water bottle, all but empty. ‘Here’s the deal. We share these sticky bars and you show me where the drinking water is. You know of a source, don’t you?’ With so much healthy life around, there must be water nearby.

The young birds filled her mind with images from their vivid imaginations. They were too fantastical to be real — pure water rushing down a cliff face, spreading out into a large pool before turning into a stream that meandered through the woods. It was clear and sparkling. Beneath the surface she saw fish. ‘That can’t be real,’ she whispered. She didn’t know why it was hard to believe. She was talking to birds after all. But the thought of so much pure water seemed impossible. ‘Maybe I come from a desert …’

The birds flapped and fluttered and begged until she could think of nothing else.

‘All right! Hush! I believe you are real.’ Nell bit the edge of a bar and tore the wrapper. She broke off the tip and held it up to Ruth first. The bird tipped her head back and made rapid gargling sounds as she swallowed. ‘You’re not even tasting it,’ Nell said. ‘Which might be a good thing.’ She tore a piece off and ate it, to see if that was true. It actually wasn’t bad. Chewy but comforting somehow. She took another bite and gave the rest to the fledglings, handfeeding each one until their crops were bulging.

Nell scrunched the wrapper into a ball and buried it under the pine needles. ‘Two weeks,’ she thought. ‘That’s how long it will take to decompose.’ She wasn’t sure why that was important but thinking it somehow seemed natural. Meanwhile, the Three Sisters cleaned their beaks, swiping them back and forth on a branch. She hoped the bars were the right food for them. It mustn’t be too bad as the racket had stopped and the birds seemed content. They sent her pleasant images of the sky and the ground far below, wind in the trees and a well-feathered nest. ‘You’re welcome.’ She stroked their backs. ‘Now it’s your turn. Take me to the water source, please. I’m parched.’

The other two ravens, whose names were Pearl and Jade, stopped preening, opened their wings and took to the sky. Ruth stayed on Nell’s shoulder and shuffled her wings behind her back. They behaved very strangely, these birds. Nell had a fractured memory of black birds around mountainous refuse dumps. They weren’t tame at all, nor could she remember getting pictures from their minds. Toby, on the other hand …

Nell stopped. ‘Who’s Toby?’ She saw him for a second, a sleek brown rat with a very long tail, twitching whiskers and deep brown eyes. He sat on his haunches and held his hands together as if to keep out of trouble. Nell smiled but the image faded as quickly as it had formed. She couldn’t remember where she’d seen the rodent or what, if anything, he meant to her, but Nell felt something warm and comforting at the thought of him. Was there someone else close to her? Someone she had to find? The thought grew like a soap bubble until it popped and was gone.

Nell followed Pearl and Jade. They were headed towards a wooded valley. She sniffed the air around her and looked at Ruth. ‘I’m sorry to say this, little darling, but you stink.’

Ruth clicked her tongue and sent Nell an image of herself.

‘What? You’re saying it’s me?’

Nell smells bad. Like old food, but not good to eat.

The voice in her head was smooth and lilting, nothing like the rasping caws of Ruth’s outer voice. Shivers went up her spine. ‘You learned my speech fast. And that’s right; anything that smells like this is not good to eat. Do you think it’s me or something I fell in?’ She sniffed her armpit. ‘Oh, that’s rank. Please let there be a cup of water to wash in.’

Ruth sent her an image of a crystal-clear gorge with shallow pools near the edge, the water lapping against sun-warmed granite. Plenty of water.

Nell smiled. ‘Plenty for you, perhaps.’ The bird’s image had to be a gross exaggeration. More likely it was the size of a soup bowl, but that would be enough.

Ruth protested and Jade and Pearl joined in. They sent more images — water so expansive it went for as far as the eye could see.

‘Now I know you’re making it up,’ Nell laughed.

Ruth cawed in her ear.

‘All right. Hush! Just lead the way and we’ll see how much water there is.’ Deep in her mind something nagged — a hand reaching, slipping through her fingers. It haunted her, but she couldn’t figure out what it meant.

Nell had to pick her way around the foliage — vines and ferns and low sweeping branches. Tall trees shot towards the sky and thickets of blackberries ripened in the dappled sunlight. They smelled so sweet that Nell decided they were edible without a second thought. The warm berries melted in her mouth, a sweet purple syrup. She ate handfuls of them and fed the softest ones to the Three Sisters. Her fingers were stained with the dark juice and she figured her mouth was as well.

The sun baked down on top of her head. The air, when the breeze blew her own stench away, was so fresh she thought she would cry. She wasn’t sure why it moved her, but it did. Was this place that different from where she’d come from? ‘Where’ is the question, isn’t it? No answer came.

She smelled the water before she saw it, and then it came into view. There was more than Nell’d ever remembered. The gorge was magnificent, deep and clear with a waterfall at the far end, just like the Three Sisters had pictured. Still, she was cautious, not willing to risk being poisoned even though her throat ached for a drink. Water could be dangerous, where she was from. She remembered that much.

The Sisters thought she talked nonsense and told her so. Water beautiful. Safe. Bathe and drink and be refreshed. They showed her by example, splashing and bathing in the shallows with no visible harm coming to them. It wasn’t until she saw the fish up close, long, green streamlined creatures with flat heads and whiskers trailing over the river stones, that she decided to risk it. She washed her hands and they tingled but didn’t burn. The water was cold! She unlaced her boots and rolled up her pants, feeling the tiny pebbles between her toes. She washed her hands and face, and then drank her fill, letting the water trickle down her chin. ‘This is good!’ She had tears in her eyes. ‘This is magic.’

The Three Sisters agreed. Water good. Sacred to all, feather, fur, rock and tree.

‘And sacred to dirty skin in need of a good scrub.’ Nell stripped out of her clothes and washed her body with the coarse river sand until she smelled as clean as the water itself. She stayed in the shallows and washed her clothes and her boots. She tipped out her pack and washed it as well. There wasn’t much in it — the metal water bottle, which she filled, and a curious stamped gold piece, which she had a feeling was quite valuable. She focused on it for a moment, rubbing her thumb over the stamp. It read WC-1000, but it was still meaningless.

She returned to the water and soaked in the shallows. The only thing that would be better than splashing about would be swimming to the waterfall, but she didn’t know how. The thought of it excited her. ‘How can I learn?’ For a moment she saw an image of the rat Toby swimming along in a shady pool. Only his face and whiskers showed above the dark water, and the wake he left behind. ‘Maybe people can’t swim, only animals.’

The Three Sisters sent her images of children swimming in the vast open water, diving under crashing waves.

‘Really?’ She didn’t believe it but the Sisters sent her so many ideas on the topic of ‘humans swimming’ that she changed her mind. ‘Then I will learn too!’

For hours she played by the water’s edge, making little cities out of sand, digging up worms and feeding them to the Sisters and washing her hands and face over and over again. She watched the sparkles on the surface of the gorge dance like tiny white gems. Beneath the ripples, little finger fish nipped at her toes and made her laugh. Nell drank all the water she could hold and lay on a slab of granite, hot to the touch under a noonday sun. She lost track of time and didn’t care. She couldn’t remember how she used to live, but she felt certain this was the best day of her life.

By afternoon her clothes were dry but she didn’t bother to put them on. What was the rush? It was warm and humid. Her skin actually felt hot to the touch. She splashed water over her red arms and drew her knees up to her chest. It was enough to simply let the water meander by, but there was so much more to see than the water alone. She watched a bright blue butterfly flit over the surface. It took its time but eventually landed on a yellow flower nearby. The creature was brilliantly marked with two black eyes painted on its lower wings.

She studied the wings as they fanned open and closed. Its long antennae waved in the air. What a remarkable creature. She knew instantly what it was, but she couldn’t remember ever having seen one before. How was that possible? She held very still as another landed beside it. Nell was so absorbed she didn’t hear the Sisters’ warning. Their cawing had become familiar and was no longer so noticeable. ‘Hush,’ she whispered when she finally realised they were squawking. ‘Ruth, tell them to hush. I just fed you.’

They didn’t hush. They started sending her images as well as making noise. Their gestures were frantic. They couldn’t seem to find a satisfying perch. Ruth folded and refolded her wings, all the while cawing so loudly Nell thought her head would burst.

‘What is the problem?’ she yelled, her hands over her ears.

Others are coming!

‘Other what? Like me or you?’

Both.

In the distance a hawk called. It was immediately answered by a long whistling reply. Nell tipped her head back. Birds of prey circled above.

Fly away! Ruth sent images of hawks and ravens landing near the gorge, morphing into humans. Jade and Pearl screamed and fled.

Nell was caught up in their fear and bolted too, leaving her clothes and pack behind. She’d been too casual, too trusting. Life was dangerous. You had to stay hidden. How could she have forgotten? She ran away from the water’s edge and cowered in a nest of deep ferns.

Fly! Ruth called into her mind. Her voice was entreating, desperate.

Fly! Fly! Fly! the others said.

Yes, flying is great advice. I would if I could, but you forget, I’m human. I’ve got no wings.

They do, Ruth said as she dropped into the ferns with Nell.

Pearl and Jade landed silently by her. The three birds pressed close. She got her breath under control and peeked through the leaves. ‘Humans can’t fly, my darlings. I promise you that.’

But they can.

What Nell saw made her gasp. There were two women sitting at the edge of the gorge. ‘What are they?’ she whispered.

Shape-shifters, Ruth said.

‘You know a lot.’ Nell didn’t take her eyes off the women.

Good thing, isn’t it?

The bird-women were dressed in flowing clothes the colours of the woodlands. They had bare feet and long braided hair — one golden like sunrise and the other a soft grey. They were relaxed, unafraid. All their attention was on something overhead.

Nell followed their gaze and saw a large black raven circling above the gorge. It rode the thermals, spiralling towards the two women. The raven landed on the golden-haired woman’s outstretched arm, but it didn’t stay long. Its talons touched lightly before it leapt up again, a small hop, wings flapping once in a powerful downstroke. Then, right in front of them all, the raven turned to black dust and blew away.

Nell didn’t blink.

The large black bird scattered into a million particles floating on the breeze, until suddenly they snapped back, re-forming bigger, taller and longer limbed. The wake of the transformation spread in all directions. It rushed across the water, making ripples on the surface, chasing away the sparkling glitter. It flattened the grass and lifted the women’s braids into the air. Nell shut her eyes before it hit her face. When she opened them, a woman stood where the raven had been. ‘My heavenly goddess,’ Nell whispered to the Three Sisters. ‘Look at her!’ She’d never seen anyone so beautiful in her life.

The woman was tall, with long arms and refined features. Her hair was raven black and plaited into a thick braid that swept across her back. Nell swallowed, unable to do more than stare. ‘This is where you felt it?’ the woman asked the others. She was superior to them, Nell was certain. She moved like someone in command. In her voice and actions there was no doubt, no hesitancy.

‘Yes, Mistress,’ the golden-haired woman said. ‘There was a distinct ripple through my mind, as I told you this morning. Someone was bathing in the pools. From above, I saw a flash of movement.’ The woman turned. ‘These must be their things.’

‘Oh crap,’ Nell said. The urge was to retrieve them but she didn’t dare try. She didn’t run away either. Even when the three women came striding towards her, she couldn’t find the courage to flee.

The women approached. Their long braided hair glinted in the sun — raven black, golden and steel grey — and their robes flowed out behind them, green, blue and brown.

The Sisters sent her images of the fox breaking their mother’s neck. They made no sound, for once, but shivered against her bare skin.

Don’t worry. I can hide us, I think, she whispered. She remember being able to weave a spell. It’s called a … The word escaped her. Something like … I don’t know, but don’t worry. It will hide us. But she couldn’t remember how to make it happen. Crap, crap, crap!

‘There you are,’ the beautiful black-haired woman said. She was terrifying and enchanting all at once.

Up close Nell noted her wide-set blue eyes, high cheekbones, full lips and elegant neck. When the woman smiled, it made Nell smile back. She had perfect teeth, even and white, and the expression made her face even more radiant.

‘Are you trying to hide from us?’ the woman called out. She pushed up her sleeves and crossed her arms. They were tattooed all the way down to her hands — a long raven wing on her left arm, the five wingtips brushing her knuckles. On her right arm was a tree entwined with two snakes. One snake disappeared up her arm and the other rested its head on the back of her hand.

Nell wanted to respond but wasn’t sure her voice would work. The Three Sisters were frozen. Hide, hide, hide! Ruth said.

Hush! I am hiding, Nell answered.

Not well enough.

Who are you people? Nell cleared her throat, preparing to say something aloud.

The women exchanged a glance and the black raven one stepped up to the ferns. Her smile was gone. ‘I am La Kaffa, High Priestess of Treeon Temple. In the future, young witch, do not presume to bespeak a mentor without invitation. Has no one taught you any manners?’

Nell flinched. An image of an elderly woman slapping her face came so fast and so vivid she gasped. The Sisters extended their wings and Ruth let out a threatening guttural challenge.

La Kaffa raised her finger and the fledgling was instantly silenced. She turned her eyes to Nell. ‘Why don’t you come out of the bushes, dear? We can discuss greeting protocols later. It’s obvious you’re not temple-raised.’

The golden-haired one stepped forward. ‘Yes, please tell us your name. And then you can explain what you’re doing, bathing in our sacred gorge.’

Nell stood naked under their scrutiny. She still hadn’t uttered a sound, unlike the Three Sisters, bless their souls. They all clung tight to her shoulders, cawing up a storm, their talons hooking her collar bones and tangling in her hair. It was painful, but also reassuring. The images streamed into her mind were distracting, a mix of curiosity and distrust. It made it hard to hear what the women were saying. Had she been asked a question?

La Kaffa snapped her fingers and the Three Sisters settled. They looked at her side-on as if waiting for direction. It was a good trick, quieting them down like that. Nell wondered if she could learn it.

‘Deaf-mute?’ the steely grey-haired woman asked. She let out a sudden high-pitched whistle and Nell jumped out of her skin. ‘Maybe not.’

‘Hardly deaf, Mara. She’s in shock,’ the golden-haired woman said. ‘Unlike her familiars. What a racket. Fancy bonding with three ravens of Dumarka. I didn’t know they nested this far south.’

‘Perhaps she’s travelled from there?’ Mara said.

‘On foot? Not likely, especially with them to feed.’

‘Could she have flown?’ Mara asked.

‘That would be another sign of her potential.’ The golden-haired one smiled. ‘A refreshing thought.’

‘She must have a mentor,’ Mara said. ‘Look how clean she is.’

‘Sunburnt though …’

‘Excuse me,’ Nell finally found her voice. ‘I’m standing right here!’

The blonde- and grey-haired women looked surprised. Both started talking at once but La Kaffa cut them off. ‘Leave us for a moment, please.’

The other women stiffened.

‘Perhaps you can gather her things?’

‘Is she coming with us?’ Mara said.

‘We can hardly leave her here. It’ll be dark soon.’

Was the day nearly done? Nell looked up, an automatic response. She’d meant it to be a glance, spot the sun’s position and confirm the time, but as the vault of blue filled her eyes she was instantly captivated. It was like standing on the edge of a cliff. There was so much space above her she thought she might fall. And such colours! The sky was cornflower blue streaked with white clouds as if a giant brush had slapped it in a single stroke. The sun was golden in the west, impossible to look at for long without seeing spots. She blinked, watching the black and red specks dance in front of her eyes. The horizon was a pale mauve, beginning to turn pink. The beauty was almost painful. The tops of the trees swayed back and forth and she mimicked their dance, lost in utter reverence.

La Kaffa cleared her throat. ‘Do you have a name, young woman?

Slowly Nell brought her attention back to the High Priestess. In doing so she spotted the women behind her. They were going through her things! She felt a growl in her throat and the Sisters clicked their beaks and made short guttural sounds.

Our things! Ruth said. But the birds made no attempt to intervene.

Neither did Nell even though it felt important to protect her pack. Like Ruth said, it was full of her things, personal things, though Nell couldn’t remember where they had come from or when she had packed them. She looked back at La Kaffa. No point in trying to stop these women who could take the shape of birds. What chance would she have against them? They were witches and much more powerful than any she’d ever known. Have I known any? ‘Pardon?’ Nell said, waiting for the question to be repeated. What did La Kaffa ask? She hoped she could answer well, and perhaps get her clothes back. It was getting cold.

‘Come, tell me your name. Whoever your mentor is, I promise she knows of me and would approve of our conversation. I’m no Lupin, if that’s what you’re afraid of, though they can roam these lands close to the Prieta Mountains.’

‘Lupin?’ Nell had heard that word somewhere before. She caught the image of a book, a grimoire that belonged to someone special. Someone important.

‘No, I am not a Lupin,’ La Kaffa said with exaggerated pronunciation. ‘I am the High Priestess of Treeon Temple.’ She opened her arms wide, indicating as far as the eye could see. ‘There is no reason to hold back. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

Nell retrieved a strand of hair that Ruth was trying to preen. All her birds had ruffled when Kaffa said the word Lupin. She’d have to investigate that later. Meanwhile, the High Priestess wanted to know who she was. That was natural. She had given her name and rank. Why not reciprocate? ‘Nell,’ she said and licked her lips. She saw the image of the elderly woman again only now there were two of them. They were angry, reprimanding her for speaking out of turn, revealing too much. She flinched. Maybe it was a mistake to speak.

‘Is that all?’ La Kaffa asked. ‘Just Nell?’

The High Priestess wanted more, and Nell felt the overwhelming urge to oblige. ‘I am Nell … ion. Nellion.’

‘Good. Nellion? That’s lovely. And the second name?’ She spoke as if to a toddler.

‘My second name?’ Nell said. There was one on the tip of her tongue. She nearly said it aloud but it vanished the instant it started to form. What was that? she asked herself.

A name best left hidden, came the answer, only it wasn’t those two crones who spoke this time.

But I must give her something.

In the old book … use his, the voice urged.

Nell remembered the hardbound grimoire more clearly this time. She visualised it sitting in her lap, open to a well-worn page. The writing all ran together in a flowing script. Nell recognised it immediately, and she recognised the word Lupin too. I’ve read this before. She had spent hours deciphering it with … someone. They had to keep it hidden, especially from those two crones. The aunties? It was a flash that disappeared. I certainly hope I am not related to the likes of them. Her attention went back to the imagined grimoire. On this page was the name of a man. Not her father, but a man from the past. He was her ancestor. ‘Paree,’ she said finally. She stole it, claiming it as her own. Was there harm? She hoped not. ‘I am Nellion Paree.’

‘Very good. Now repeat it one more time without words, mind-to-mind like you did before.’ This is an invitation to