Pillars Of Grace - The God Pillars Trilogy - Book 1

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Miraveh was not angry with Sialira. She knew from the beginning that the young Witch was under Yusuvur's thrall and, if nothing else, she had shown herself, time and again, the kind to follow instructions. For the most part. She would not have seen anything wrong in keeping Yusuvur informed of Miraveh's progress. It was Yusuvur that held all of Miraveh's anger.

It all made sense, though. The times Sialira had wandered away in order to 'practice her magic'. A believable subterfuge, bearing in mind Sialira's lack of magical power. The time in the maze-like area of the Goblin Trails, where Miraveh had felt the presence of strong magic. Familiar magic. Yusuvur, again. That time, the Elder Witch had opened a portal to speak with Sialira. Miraveh had sensed the magic wielder and the magic they had used, but only now did Miraveh make the connection.

Lies and hidden truths. Underhand tactics and withholding information. These were surgical tools in the hands of Yusuvur and, to a lesser extent, all Witches, but Yusuvur was a master at it. No wonder that the people who once called themselves the Order of Velaurian Warriors had thought themselves betrayed and left to flounder by the Covens. They didn't understand the game, but those games had come back to haunt Witches and the rest of the world's magical creatures and wielders now suffered for those games.

Brothimir stared at her. He always stared and Miraveh tried her best not to take her anger out upon him. She could never become like the Hunters O' The Dark, become twisted and vicious, evil and violent, but she could understand their turn away from Witches. He waited for her, with Turotara by his side, as she gathered her thoughts, a small, almost insignificant door behind them.

"In there?" She moved past them both and pushed against the wood. It held firm, remaining closed. "So help me, Brothimir, if you're leading us on some trail as a joke, I'll beat you bloody."

"It's no joke. It's part of the trial. My brothers and sisters, former brothers and sisters, have to find the relic chamber. Everything here is to make gaining a relic an achievement. A reward for hard work." He moved to the side, using both hands to show her and Turotara a hole in the wall beside the door. "Tests for all three, the Karline and their companions. To make them work together. I take this side, Turotara the other, and you try to open the door."

Turotara moved to the other side of the door, finding a similar hole to the one Brothimir indicated. She crouched, looking inside, before looking to Miraveh and shrugging. They had moved through the crumbling keep, passing a number of similar doors, but this seemed the only one with the holes on either side. Miraveh nodded to Turotara, who inserted her hand into the hole. After a moment of moving her hand around, her eyes widened.

"A rope. Taut, as though something is attached." She gave the rope a tug, her arm almost completely inside the hole. "Anything?"

"We have to pull at the same time. The counterweights are connected." Brothimir reached his own hand inside the hole at his side and looked toward Miraveh. "When we pull, place your hand upon the door. The magic infused within will recognise you as a magic wielder."

"How did this work when magic was absent from the world?" Miraveh held her hand before the surface of the door, but hesitated to touch it. "There's a relic embedded somewhere in the door. I can feel it. How many relics are there?"

Brothimir looked away, then held up three fingers. Folding each finger down in turn, the Hunter indicated when they each needed to perform their task. He and Turotara pulled upon the ropes together and Miraveh placed her hand upon the wood. She felt an immediate response. A sense of magic seeping through the door, touching and tracing against the skin of her hand. Her fingers and her palm tingled but the magic went no further, did not penetrate beyond the surface of her skin. The magical energy pulled away from Miraveh and the door began to open outwards without anyone moving it.