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As she approached a dark hollow, hidden by the shade, an ole down to her sto enized iround her teeth as she pushed forward and the sense of dread heightened so e to run nearly overwhel with herworse with each step In the shade, she saw a symbol carved into the stone wall – two intertwined serpents It was the sy it caused a sense of dread and fear deep inside her It was the s Hoould she be able to get past it? There was a password, she realized Just as existed within the tunnels beneath Muirwood, there were Leerings that guarded her Abbey as well Without the password, she would not be able to enter

But as the password?

Lia breathed deeply, staring at the twisting snakes defiantly She had come too far to be thwarted now When she had passed the maston test at Muirwood, there was a password she did not know The Medium had whispered it to her Confidently, patiently, she waited, pushing down the awful feelings of dread and instead she thought of Muirwood and how calht of its beautiful grounds, the brilliant tendrils of fern, of flowers planted in sculpted stone boxes, of the laundry and fragrant sprays of purpledeeper into the memories There was the Aldermaston, Pasqua, Prestwich Fro, aware of her – unafraid of the surroundings but seeing if her fear would get the better of her She would not let it Gently, she bid it to assist her with the password, to teach her the co and open the hidden passageway beyond

The orb glowed in her hand and she thrust her eyes open as a single word appeared on the surface The Leering was ta her a way inside Thanking the Medium silently in her mind, Lia ventured inside

It opened to a narroay, between a chash that she realized she was staring at the base of the Abbey itself In her mind, she repeated the command She wanted to find Colvin but in a place where she could o where he was, then she wanted to go where he would be She judged that the orb could do this, as it has done it before when she sought hiuide her on the safest course, not just the most direct course The spindles spun and pointed and she followed the base of the wall for a good distance before it stopped at another section of wall that contained another Leering She repeated the request with the Mediu obeyed Once more she stepped beneath a short archway and found herself inside another garden This one was enormous and sculpted, full of shade and fountains and tri in lazy circles and rows of flowers and terraced stone boxes So smell of star jasmine filled the air There were sh the park was erateful to find a stand of plum trees that still were full of ripe fruit She ate several and savored their sweetness then stowed some in her rucksack for later As she looked past the screen of branches and leaves, she saw the citadel-like walls of Dochte Abbey loom above her and noticed s set into the towers and s

Lia consulted with the orb again and it led her to the outer wall of the Abbey She crossed the grass and hedges swiftly, anxious not to be caught wandering there and she listened carefully for the sound of any intruders There was a shallow alcove and a door and she reached for the handle and it opened without resistance Within was a corridor coulfed in stone, as black as a toain, and it blazed with light as she entered and the door shut behind her

Lia found herself within a maze of interconnected narrow tunnels deep within the Abbey walls The passage was not straight, but went up and down, forking this way and that as it followed between the walls of the lower portion of the Abbey It was designed for stealth andunseen Without the orb she would have been coed to find her way to a section that led to a winding stairwell ascending higher and higher Sweat beaded on her forehead as she climbed the steps, the path so narrow that she nearly felt the walls rubbing against her arher she went until the orb directed her to a es There were metal braces set into it and she saw the place where a loose stone could be pushed from the other side to unlatch it She put her hand on the wall, her breath nearly bursting