“I believe you,” May said, setting the bag on the table. “Very well, she wants to be part of the ritual. To be honest, she’s been around. I feel her now and then, resting on my shoulder. I rarely respond because…”
“Because you don’t want to hold her to this realm?” Grams asked.
May nodded. “Yes. But if she wants to stay, it’s up to her. I’d welcome knowing she was watching over me. I miss her.” She turned to me. “We’ll do everything in our power to find Fancypants.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I can’t imagine losing him. I hate that he’s out there, waiting for me, and I’m not there. What if he thinks I’ve abandoned him?”
May took the items out of the bag—the tincture, the sage spray, the Merkabah quartz, and then a porcelain urn that had a lovely green dragonette painted on the front. She set the urn on the coffee table as Faron wandered in. I glanced at him, but by his expression, he had been listening in. He took the bag from May when she finished, then retreated to the kitchen.
May motioned for me to sit beside her. “This won’t be pleasant, but it will allow you to focus.” She picked up the Merkabah stone—spraying it with the sage spray. “Now stretch your arms out to the side and hold them steady.”
I did as she asked, closing my eyes. “I’m ready.”
May sprayed me down with the sage spray, then said, “Open your mouth. I need to drop this tincture on your tongue.”
I did as she asked. As the tincture hit my tongue, it was as though I’d been supercharged with rocket fuel. I spiraled up, soaring as though I’d taken a hit of acid that immediately hit my core. I kept my hands out, but felt like one of those pictures of a meditator sitting there, in the lotus position, half out of their body.
I started to speak but the words that came out of my mouth sounded a million miles away and I wasn’t sure if I’d actually said anything.
“Can you hear me?” May asked, from a million miles away.
I tried to nod, not trusting my tongue to actually behave and follow instructions.
“Listen to me carefully. You’re experiencing the power of the tincture. It’s helping you to connect to your oversoul. From there, you’ll be able to work out on the web. I’m going to place a crystal in your hand. I want you to try to keep grounded when I do—it’s imperative you not let yourself fly until I give you the go-ahead.” Her voice was commanding, and once again, I nodded, hoping that I had actually done so.
The next moment, she placed a crystal in my hand and I knew it was the Merkabah stone. It felt pointy, and a cold, ethereal beam of energy began to emanate from every point on the star-carved stone. The force surged through me, lifting me even further away from my body and the world around me. I was sitting in the middle of a star-studded field, swirling round and round as though I were on some crazy carnival ride, like the Octopus or the Spider. I wanted to let go, to allow the energy to send me wherever it wanted, but May’s instructions were still in my thoughts, so I held on, doing my best to keep still as the field of stars spun around me.
“I’m now going to place a counter stone in your other hand. This will help guide the quest. When you feel it, you can let go and let the journey take you.” May’s voice sounded so far away now, but she still echoed in my ears and I grabbed her words before they flew by unheard.
The next moment, she placed a smooth palm stone in my other hand. This one felt heavy, weighing me down to allow me to focus. I felt my body begin to ground at a midpoint between flying off and crashing back to earth.
I took a deep breath and realized I could hear the sounds in the room again. “I’m grounded.”
“Good,” May said. “Keep your eyes closed.”
I knew from experience that I was in a very suggestible state, but I trusted May and Bran, and my Grams was here to watch over me.
“I want you to find the thread that bonds you to Fancypants. Can you see it?”
I looked around—on the astral—and realized I could see thousands of strands connecting people, connecting events, connecting everything in the universe. A handful shimmered with a familiar sparkle. As I reached out to touch them, I discovered they were mine. And among those that stood out as belonging to me, one in particular had a reddish hue. I touched it and immediately Fancypants flooded to mind. This was my bond with him.
“I found it,” I whispered. “I found our bond. Please don’t make me cut it.”
“I’m not going to—but I need you to take the energy that I’m going to filter through you, and coat the strand. It will quiet the energy and you’ll be able to focus.”
I licked my lips, nodding, as May connected to my aura and began streaming in a pale gray cloud of mist. I didn’t want to accept it, but I knew she was just trying to help both Fancypants and me. As I accepted the energy and began to coat the strand with it, the connection to my dragonette started to fade into the background. Heartsick, I continued on, dampening the connection until—after a few minutes—I no longer felt him. I could see the thread binding us together, but the bond was thoroughly suppressed.
A moment later, I let out a long sigh and May withdrew her energy. She talked me out of trance, and as I opened my eyes, I realized that my face was covered with tears.
“I miss him,” I said, bereft.
“Well, now we focus on rescuing him. They’ll be keeping him sedated, so it will be hard to follow his energy signature, anyway,” she said.
Grams crossed to sit beside me. She gave me a hug. “We’ll find him, Elphyra. We’ll do everything we can.”
I pressed my lips together, unable to say anything.
“What next?” Bran asked.
