“Sorry to ruin your plans,” Law replied. “Do you want to share your name?”
“I am Yibal, and you ruin nothing. A witness is required. You or another was always necessary.”
“A witness to what?”
“What is about to happen.”
Yibal signaled to someone who stepped across the outer circle and stopped beside her. Mal frowned. Ilee. Like everyone else, she was dressed formally in the style and colors of her clan. Yibal held out her hand, and Ilee placed something in it.
It was round and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize it was the box containing the talisman that would make Nayena virdana of the new giant clan.
“Virdanas, assemble,” Yibal ordered in a carrying voice as Ilee stepped back out of the circle.
Female giants came forward. All large. What were the odds that no virdanas had been cursed? Mal didn’t have time to consider. A few moments later, the assembly was complete. There had to be more than fifty virdanas stood in the circle below.
“Did you know there were so many?” she whispered to Law.
He nodded. “There are seventy-nine clans. The small giant clan will be the eightieth. I just didn’t expect to see so many here, acting in concert. No wonder that spell packed such a punch. Don’t forget this means that these are all probably dragon shifters, and that doesn’t count who among their companions and the small giants can make the shift also.”
“Can they cast spells in dragon form?”
“Let’s hope we don’t have to find out,” he said grimly.
Yibal began speaking again. Magic enhanced her voice, carrying it to everyone gathered.
“Tonight we have seen the marriage of Coorsel of Clan Vorki and Nayena of Moontree Clan. We have blended their blood and made the first offering to seal the alliance. Now we will invest this pixie female with a sacred uiral. We shall summon up the power of Yehedros, Cromelin, Skukrekil, and Norrif. We shall ask them to embrace the new Moon Clan we form this night. We ask them to protect this clan, to honor it, to grant it the prestige and power it has given each of the rest of our clans. We ask that they cement this clan with bonds more powerful than blood, more powerful than friendship or oaths. Let this clan be bound by the good of one another and the good of all who belong to Moon Clan.”
With that, she stepped between the candles and approached Nayena. Opening the box, she removed a small piece of jewelry. A nose ring, Mal supposed.
With one deft movement, Yibal snapped the ring in place. Given the size of her fingers, Mal was surprised she could be so fast and accurate. The large giant then splayed her other hand on top of Nayena’s head and began a guttural chant. Outside the circle, the other virdanas joined her. The magic in the outer ring rose and split into thin, whip-like snakes. They wound through the crowd, seeming to search. When they found the cluster of small female giants, they pounced.
They seemed to open jaws and bite deeply, but the women made no sounds in response. More of the snakes stretched outward, seeking. They headed toward the pavilion.
“What do we do?” Mal asked, feeling like something was wrong, even though this wassupposedto happen. Tomorrow, and with all the giants in attendance, and without trying to kill half the guests at the wedding.
“Nothing yet,” Law said. “Let them complete the ceremony. Clearly we were wrong. They didn’t want it stopped. Or if they did, they changed their minds. Now they are up to something new. We’re going to have to play it by ear and make up a plan on the fly.”
“You hate playing it by ear.”
“Don’t exactly have a choice, do I?”
“She planned for you to be here. She expected you. She’s ready for you.”
“Maybe, but I’m fairly certain she thought I’d get here later, that I’d be seriously depleted, and she didn’t expect you and your ugly friend.”
“Friends,” Mal corrected. So’la wasn’t the only one helping. The ghosts were here, and while they couldn’t do the spectacular magic that the demon or Law could, they weren’t helpless either.
“Friends,” Law agreed.
At some point, the magic of the outer circle stilled, which was the signal to continue. The words of the chant changed, though Mal still had no idea what they were saying. Power surged, pushing down and outward.
Mal could feel a tug that she easily resisted. The summons wasn’t for her, but for those Yibal had named earlier.
The response came like warm honey and scraping teeth. It rumbled through the dirt, and though Mal could feel it flowing around and past her, it left her and Law alone. It encased the giants, limning each in a weirdly bright darkness, which shouldn’t have been a thing but was. It pushed inward and up, concentrating on the ritual circles. It swallowed the circle of virdanas, and they disappeared inside the bright darkness, then moved inward to collect up Nayena and Yibal. The power around them bubbled and swelled before compressing and thickening. The air turned hot and moist. Mal smelled earth and death and wet. Inside the darkness surrounding her, Nayena turned orange. Her wings flared wide, and she floated up in the air. The light of the outer circle contracted. With it came the many tethers connecting the other members of the new Moon Clan, pixies and giants alike.
The ring squeezed tight around Nayena then disappeared inside, the many tethers protruding like hundreds of tentacles. The orange brightened and leached outward, pulsing along each of the tethers.
Everything held its breath. Even the wind stilled.
