Part 24 (1/2)
”They are fed to the meat-eaters.”
”Meat-eaters?”
”The larger lizards and dragons that eat meat.”
”Ick. Go on.”
”For years my mother has been gathering abilities from other realms. I knew she was powerful, but I had no idea she could do anything like what she did today.”
”So your mother is a progenitor? She could use the Chronicle to cross over to other realms and kidnap people for her rituals?”
”No. Mara did that for her.”
”My mother is a pretender-a powerful one-but still just a pretender.”
Mara turned to Ping. ”I thought a pretender could only alter the realm they were in. This seems like she is able to do a lot more than that.”
”It sounds to me like she has developed the ability to strip a portion of the consciousness from people and gather it to herself for her own purposes. I have never heard or read of such a thing. She must have a very strong belief in her serpents,” Ping said.
”Her religious belief matters?” Mara asked.
”Remember from our lesson this morning? I said that consciousness is the raw material of all things, but belief, knowledge and awareness are the tools that are used to shape it. If she and her followers have the conviction that she can take power from someone in this manner, it is possible for them to develop the ability,” he said. ”You usually only see abilities like this in a progenitor.”
Mara turned back to Sam. ”What does all this have to do with how you got here? Was your sister coming over to grab someone for one of your mom's rituals?”
”Not exactly,” he said, hesitant to continue.
”Go ahead. She needs to know,” Ping said.
”Mara was practicing with the Chronicle to see if she could bring a large group of people across all at once. That was what she tried to do on the plane. She wanted to see if she could get all the pa.s.sengers to cross over safely.”
”She was trying to bring a planeload of people from your realm to this one?”
”Yes. But, I grabbed the Chronicle from her once she had activated it. You saw what happened after that.”
”Why would she want to bring a planeload of people here?”
”My mother wanted to cross over to this realm, but she wanted to bring her followers with her, and they weren't sure if they would be able to do it.”
”What would be the point of that? Why did they want to cross over?”
”Things aren't so great where I come from. Like I said, there are food shortages, pollution, disease, little drinking water, poverty and crime. It's a complete nightmare compared to this place. The Basiliscans have used up or destroyed all the resources of that realm, and they now want to come to this one.”
”Why this one?”
”The people here are pretty naive, and Diana thinks they'll be easy to control.”
Mara froze at the mention of her mother's name. She had not connected the voice from the distant realm to her own crystal-gazing pacifist mother. Her pulse sped up.
”So why did you try to stop Mara on the plane? What's it to you if they come to this realm and take over?”
”Our, I mean, my mother is paranoid. She would not cross over to this realm if she could be forced back by interacting with her counterpart here. To inoculate herself, she developed a ritual she thought would protect her,” Sam said, pausing for a second. ”I don't know all of the details, but, for it to work, she had to have a sacrifice.”
”What kind of sacrifice?”
”One of her own children, and she had no intention of sacrificing Mara.”
”Your own mother wanted to kill you?”
Sam nodded, looked down.
Mara turned to Ping. ”Would it be necessary for her to sacrifice Sam in order to cross over and stay here safely? Does that make sense?”
”If she and her followers need a sacrifice to believe it, then it would make sense,” Ping said.
Mara looked back at Sam. ”But if you stopped them, there would be no need for a sacrifice.”
He nodded. ”Diana would not cross over without her followers. So, if they could not get here, she would not need to do the ritual.”
”What about this altar? She said, 'bring it to the Altar of Hyas Tyee.' I got the impression she was talking about the Chronicle. That she wanted me to bring it to this altar. Where is that?”
”I've never heard that name before. I don't know where it is or if it is an actual place. Mom's cult uses stone altars in its rituals. If she conducts a sacrifice, it would be over a stone altar surrounded by serpent pillars.”
”Serpent pillars?”
Sam extended his arm and pointed to the tattoo. The snake was coiled around a square column that narrowed toward the top, capped by a pyramid.
”It's an obelisk,” Ping said.
”It's the symbol of the basilisks,” Sam said.
”Is there any chance she can get here without the Chronicle?” Mara looked to Ping.
”Even though she seems to be able to communicate through it when it is active, I can't imagine she could cross over to this realm without your help,” Ping said.
”There is no other way for her to get here? She seems to be able to do things you guys aren't aware of. Maybe-”
”I think as long as we keep the Chronicle, we don't have to worry about her,” Ping said.
CHAPTER 37.
THE FOLLOWING EVENING, after locking up the shop, Mara walked over to the bakery to keep her appointment with Ping. She had agreed to go with him to the warehouse again, even though she was not clear on what they would be doing. She had no intention of activating the Chronicle and encountering Sam's lizard-loving mother again. As she walked up to the front of the bakery, Ping stepped out and turned to lock the door.
”Where's Sam?” Mara asked.