The room Mor took them to
was medium sized, lined on all seven walls with shelves and chests of drawers. In
the center stood a round table about five feet in diameter made of deep purple
amethyst. It was there that Mor indicated Daniel should deposit the box.
Once he had, Mor told the
men to move away. Then she began to run her fingertips lightly along the seam
between the base and the lid of the box, all the while murmuring incantations.
Once she paused, her fingers tracing something neither Jared nor Daniel could
see. They heard her heave a small sigh of relief before moving on. When she was
finished she studied the latch. Crossing to one of the shelves she took down a
small vial, returning to pour the contents, thick green oil, over the latch, and
then lifted it. Finally, very carefully, she opened the lid.
As she did a light flared
brightly for a moment before dimming to a golden glow. Reverently she lifted a
tapestry-covered item from the box. Jared moved to her side to take the box,
setting it on one of the cabinets. Then he and Daniel watched as she undid the
gold wires that held the fabric, and the tapestry parted to reveal the wand.
At first glance it seemed to
be just a rough-hewn stick about four feet in length topped by a carved
butterfly. But as Mor reached out to take it in her hand, it became
incandescent as if the very heat of her touch made it burn with a cold fire.
The butterfly’s wings turned iridescent, colors swirling through them so that
they appeared to flutter.
Even as the wand changed so
did Mor.
An aura of light seemed to spring from her and in it were the shifting shapes
of many animals, those known to man and others, things of myth and magic.
Almost as soon as it appeared the aura vanished again and the wand returned to
its base form.
“Damn,” Daniel whispered,
his words breaking the silence that filled the room.
Mor turned to look at the
men. “This is…so much more than I could ever have imagined it would be.”
“What we saw, its
transformation and yours, would that happen to anyone who held it?” Jared
asked.
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