The dark form crept silently out the door and crossed the moonlit yard to the stable.

            "Hey girl.  I brought you a treat," Jenna reached into her pants pocket for the apple half she'd saved from supper.  A soft neigh answered her as she hurried down the walkway to Kendra's stall.

            "You want to go for a ride?"  She asked while the horse munched on the apple.  The horse snorted.

            "I'll take that as a yes," she said, grabbing the hackamore off its peg and slipping it over Kendra's nose.  With the reins trailing over her shoulder, Jenna tied her long dark hair up in a knot as the horse followed her out of the stable. 

            Wide awake and restless after an evening spent celebrating the Moon Goddess with her mother, Mora, and the rest of the village, Jenna allowed the horse to pick her own pace through the moonlit night to the clearing where Jenna would hold her own private moon ceremony, quite different from the village celebration she'd attended earlier.

            Moonlight flickered through the trees, guiding the pair until they reached the clearing and rode into a flood of moonlight.  Jenna slipped off the horse’s back, dropped the reins, and walked to the tall rock formation that stood at the heart of the clearing.  Climbing quickly, she found the spot she wanted, about half way up the stones, and settled herself on one of the flatter sections of her personal monument to the moon.  Seated here, the moonlight would wash over her as she meditated.

            Breathing slowly and deeply, she grounded herself and drifted into her meditation state, sensing the life around her as she opened herself to the magic of the night: rabbits, squirrels, a couple of foxes headed deeper into the forest for some hunting, even the trees.  Jenna opened her eyes and as the tall trees shimmered with the light of her heightened senses, she saw a wolf, a very large wolf, enter the clearing and approach her.  Jenna hadn’t sensed the wolf.  She waited warily as the wolf came nearer and sat down in the circle of moonlight near the stones Jenna used for her meditation.  For a few moments they simply watched each other.

            “My name is Mojanar, little sister.”  The words whispered through her mind.

            "The time has come for you to seek your future." 

            Jenna remained silent.  Her mother had taught her that questioning visions too closely, or too soon could affect your overall perception of the vision and end it prematurely.  She waited for the wolf to speak again.

            "Take this ring."  He said, and the image of a sapphire ring appeared in Jenna's mind.

            "Follow where it leads you."

            "How can a ring lead me?"  The question came unbidden to her mind even while she tried to remain receptive and unquestioning.

            "You'll know," the wolf replied as he slowly faded from sight.

            When the wolf didn’t return, Jenna slowly roused herself from her meditation and opened her eyes.  From the position of the moon, about an hour had passed.  As she returned to full alertness, she felt a weight on her finger where none had been before.  Looking at her hand, she saw the sapphire ring the wolf had shown her.  A large star shaped sapphire set in a gold mounting.

            Sliding down from her perch, Jenna whistled.  Kendra's head and ears came up and she trotted over to the rocks.  Jenna stepped off onto her back.

            She puzzled over meaning of the wolf's visit during the ride home.  For fourteen years, she and her mother had lived quietly in the small village.  Her mother, Mora, was the healer there, and despite Jenna’s own sometimes erratic success with earth magic, she had always assumed she would follow in her mother’s craft and either remain in this village or find another village nearby in need of a healer.  The idea of leaving the village, however, sparked an interest she’d not known she had in traveling and seeing more of the world.

            Daylight was breaking as she put Kendra back in her stall and headed for the house.  Her mother was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when she entered.  Jenna was sure her mother would know what the ring meant. 

            Stopping work, her mother automatically scanned Jenna from head to toe to make sure she was all right

            "Jenna?  Where have you been?"  Her mother started to return to her breakfast preparations and stopped, seeing her daughter’s outstretched hand.

            "I went to the clearing," she said as she walked into the kitchen looking at the ring.

            Her mother’s large dark eyes focused on the ring on Jenna’s finger.

            "Where did you get that?"  The sharp tone startled her.

            "I'm not really sure," Jenna replied.  "From a wolf, I think."

            "A wolf."  No question, a statement.  Her mother seemed to fall back a step, almost as though she had taken a blow, and closed her eyes, her black hair feathering around her face as she shook her head, and she seemed to force the words.  "Take it off." 

            "I can't.  I already tried.  Mama, do you know what this means?  Who’s Mojanar?"

            As her mother’s eyes opened, Jenna saw a fierce light in her eyes, and when she straightened to her full height, it seemed to Jenna that her mother’s back stiffened. 

            "Mojanar is your grandmother’s familiar."

            "My grandmother?"

            "Your father's mother."

            "I thought she died before father disappeared."

            "No, I had hoped she'd never find out about you.  I should have known that was foolish."

            "What does she want with me?"

            "You have your father's blood, and his power."

            "Power?  She wants my power?  She obviously didn’t think this through.”  Jenna grinned at her mother.

            "Part of the reason you have those control problems is that your power takes a different path than mine, so what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for you.”  Jenna could smell the flowery, woodsy scent that she identified with her mother, and as Mora stepped closer and wrapped Jenna in her arms, she felt the familiar tingle that meant that her mother was adding her shields to Jenna’s own.

            "Well I just wont go."

            "I wish it were that simple child, but with that ring, she can force you to come to her.  If the house weren’t between the clearing and her, I don’t know that you’d have been able to come home.”

            "What can we do?"

            "I'm not sure: maybe nothing in the long run, but we will most certainly fight it.”  Jenna’s look of surprise caused Mora to smile.  Her mother had always been the most peaceful person Jenna had ever known.  The fire in Mora’s voice now spoke of a side of her mother she’d never seen before.

            “We'll go to your uncle Bran first.”  She said, her voice slightly lower than normal.  “He resisted her; maybe he can help you.”  Mora turned back to the stove and scooped the eggs onto the plates.

            “Come, eat some breakfast, so we can get started."

            Breakfast and packing done, they rode out of the small courtyard less than two hours later. Jenna was beginning to squint from the pull of the ring that was already giving her a headache, so after a very brief stop at the home of her mother's apprentice, Kyla, to tell her they'd be away, mother and daughter headed south. 

            Jenna hadn’t been due to go to her uncle’s for training for another 6 months, and her mother had only recently begun to be more open with her about her father’s heritage and what had happened when he disappeared.  All she really knew was that her father’s family was rumored to have Elvin blood and that her mother blamed her grandmother for his loss.

            They rode in silence for several hours, each lost in their own thoughts.  Finally, Jenna asked.

            “Will you tell me about my grandmother?”

Mora sighed.  “All I can really tell you is what the stories say about her.  We were never close. “Legend has it that she was much like all girls when she was young.  She was very pretty and no more or less kind than any other, but after your grandfather died, she withdrew into herself and became distant. 

            Somewhere during that time, your father wasn’t sure exactly when or what caused it, she became obsessed with retaining her beauty and increasing her power.  She eventually had a disagreement with the Sorcerer’s Guild, and since your father was very young when his father died, she was able to convince him that the Guild was responsible for his father’s death.”

            “Were they?”  Jenna asked.

            “No, they were actually trying to help him.  Your uncle Bran was older, and knew the truth, but he was out of the country, and by the time he returned, it was too late.  Your father was lost to us.

            “When I found out I was pregnant with you, I came to the village we live in now, and told no one who I was, hoping she would never find out about you.  Your uncle Bran knew, of course, but he’s the only one of your father’s brothers and sisters who was ever able to resist her manipulation.”

            “I have other aunts and uncles?”  Jenna asked.

            “Well, you did have.  Most, or all, of them are dead now.”

            “What did they die of?”

            “Your grandmother.”

            “Will Uncle Bran be able to get the ring off?”

            “I hope so, and I’m also hoping he will let you begin training early.  I’ve taught you the basics, but my power is in healing and herb craft.  We don’t know what yours is in yet, but it’s time for you to begin learning how to use and control your own power.”

            “You mean I’ll be staying there?”  Jenna’s voice raised several octaves as she stared wide-eyed at her mother.

            Mora smiled lovingly at her daughter.

            “I’m afraid that we have to hope so.  I know you’ve been frustrated by the difficulties you’ve had learning healing and the problems you’ve had with control.  You know your talents simply lie in another area, most likely in another element altogether.  My element is Earth.  You have to discover what element, or even elements are yours.  Your uncle Bran is a master of all four elements, as was your father, so he can train you in any element.  I really thought I would have a chance to talk to you about this before you had to go, but your grandmother has changed the timetable a bit.”

            They returned to riding in silence.  Both lost in their own thoughts.  Some hours later, they gradually returned to talk of everyday occurrences as they both tried to stop thinking about what was to come, but with little success.  Jenna’s headache worsened as the need to focus more and more on her shields increased.  Her mother seemed to sense that Jenna needed her help to hold the shields, and soon both were focused only on maintaining and strengthening the shields. 

            When they camped for the night, Mora prepared an herbal tea to help Jenna sleep.  In her dreams, however, visions of her older self, in a flowing red robe of oh so soft material, tempted her.  She saw herself enter a grand hall where servants bowed to her as she walked through a throng of people to take her position at the head of a long table groaning with food.  She knew then that she needed only to follow where the ring led to have her every wish fulfilled.

            For two more days, they traveled; for two more nights, the dreams tempted her.  Sometimes she was in the banquet hall, sometimes in a beautiful sculpted garden; always there were servants and courtiers eager to do for her.

            On the third night, Jenna was just drifting into the same haunting dream when her mother whispered her name and woke her with a hand over Jenna’s mouth.  With her other hand, Mora signaled to Jenna to remain silent.  Another signal from her mother directed Jenna to grab the bedrolls and follow.  The two quietly slipped further into the wall of trees that lined the road.  Fully awake now, Jenna could hear the horses approaching.  The two worked their way further into the trees until Mora found what Jenna knew she had been seeking.  Six feet across at the base, the tree would provide shelter while Mora worked her magic.

            The hooves sounded closer now, even muted by the forest, it sounded to Jenna like the riders must surely be close enough to see them where hid, and she couldn’t resist peering around the side of the tree to see if that was the case.  She couldn’t get a very good look, but now she could hear them talking.

            “I want them taken alive!”  The leader shouted orders at the others.  “My mother wants to chat with my dear niece about her future.”  He laughed, but there was no humor in the sound.

            Jenna ducked back behind the tree where Mora had centered herself and was very quietly singing under her breath.  As she sang, the branches of the tree elongated and drooped a little lower.  All the while, the grasses surrounding the base of the tree began reaching upward. 

            The riders were at the campsite now.  Jenna could hear the voices clearly now.

            “Search the woods!  They can’t have gotten very far!  I want them found immediately!”  The voice sounded angry now.  “Nine Hells!  How could you idiots lose a woman and a girl!”  She could hear the crack of a riding crop as it struck flesh, followed by screaming.

            “My eye!  My eye!” 

            The cold voice spoke again, “Unless you want to lose them both, I suggest you shut up.”

            From within the arbor that had formed around them at Mora’s coaxing, Jenna held her breath and waited.  An eternity later, she heard the leader’s voice again.  “Come on fools.  They have to come through Dunbar, we’ll catch up with them there.” 

            As the last sounds faded, Mora rose and began spreading out their blankets.  “We’ll stay here tonight,” she whispered, “just to be safe.”  Wrapped within a cocoon of her mother’s magic, Jenna slept without dreams for the first time since she’d received the ring.

            On the morning of the fourth day, Jenna waited quietly while Mora again sat and began singing softly.  She slowly guided the tree and grass back to their original places, and thanked them for their help.  Returning to the campsite, they found that what was left of their possessions trampled and torn.  The horses had been loose, so they could graze, but when Jenna whistled, Kendra came trotting up, followed by her mother’s bay mare, Star.  Jenna’s heart lifted at the sight of the two trotting into camp.  Kendra had been one of her best friends since she was ten, and the thought of losing her friend terrified Jenna.

            After salvaging what they could from the mess, Jenna and her mother once more mounted their horses and set out.

            Shortly before noon, they spotted riders coming toward them.  Two young men and a young woman rode to meet them.  The young woman spoke.

            "Greetings.  I'm Tamara, and these two are Jory and Thom.  Master Bran sent us to escort you. He has been preparing for your arrival."  The two young men grinned at them and nodded hello.

            “Pleased to meet you.” Mora said.  “I’m Mora, and this is Jenna.  Thank you for meeting us.  I’m afraid we really need to hurry, so your guidance through the forest and shields is much appreciated.”

            Half a candle mark later they rode into the yard of what appeared to be a small farm.

            A tall angular man hurried toward them.  "Merry meet and welcome;“ Bran said, smiling.  “The glass told me of your approach, but I must say I hadn’t expected you until closer to Jenna’s 15^th birthday.”  Seeing the expression on Mora’s face he added, “I'm guessing this isn't just a friendly visit."

            Jenna swung her leg over Kendra's neck and jumped down from her saddle as Mora stepped down from her own mount.

            "Delaina is trying to get Jenna.”  Mora said.

            "Well, I might have figured she was behind this.  I thought I felt Mojanar pass this way three nights ago.  What's my dear mother up to now?"

            "Tell him what happened child."

            Jenna recounted her moon ceremony, the visit by the wolf, and told him of having the ring when she left her meditation trance.  Bran's smile faded and deepened into a frown as Jenna told her story.

            "What have you done so far?"  He directed his question to Mora.

            "Just strengthened her shields.  The healer's arts don't extend to spells on non-living things even if they affect a living being.

            "Well, she still seems to have her wits about her, so that gives us some time."

            It usually annoyed Jenna when adults talked about her as if she weren't there, but in this case, she wasn't sure she really was.  Her headache was causing her vision to blur, and she'd been feeling very strangely since she got the ring, like she was being pulled in two different directions.  As they’d traveled, the pull on her had become stronger.

            "We must work fast," Bran said as he ushered them into the house.

            Her aunt Lura met them at the door and helped her uncle herd them into the kitchen of the large house.  Once inside, Jenna's headache eased considerably, and she said as much to her Mother.          "The shields are stronger around the house," her uncle said.  "But we still need to work quickly.  However, Jenna will need her strength, so first you'll have some lunch and then a short rest.  This afternoon we'll begin."

            As her headache lightened, Jenna noticed the table where Lura had lunch laid out for them.  Jenna hadn't seen such a spread in a long while.  She and her mother lived simply and only when there was a visit from the elders of her mother's clerical order did they have this much food on the table, ham, roast beef, vegetables, gravy, and fresh bread.  The smell alone was heavenly, especially after nearly three days of travel rations, which were definitely not her favorite food.

            After lunch, her aunt showed them to their rooms.

            "Bran will come for you in a couple of candle marks.  Just rest until then," Lura said as she and Mora left Jenna’s room.

            Jenna lay down on the bed and tried to follow her aunt’s instructions.  The urge to travel on was still there as were the images of all that was promised at the end of her journey, but she eventually drifted off and slept, dreamlessly, until Bran’s knock on the door woke her.

            "Come along," he said.  "We really should begin before too much more time passes.  She might allow stops for rest, but soon she'll start getting suspicious, and there'll be hell to pay if that ring isn't off by then."

            He led them down several long airy hallways to his lab.  Once inside, Jenna's headache receded almost completely.  Bran pulled two stools into the center of the room and had Jenna sit on one while he sat facing her on the other.

            “First thing you have to understand is that I cannot remove the ring.” Bran said.

            “What?”  Came Jenna’s panicked question.  “I thought you said you could?”

            “Easy now,” Bran said calmly.  “That doesn’t mean we can’t get the ring off, it just means that your will must overcome the compulsion, not mine.”

            Jenna let out the breath she’d been holding.  “I’ve already tried to get it off, I told you that.”

            “That’s what I’m going to show you.”  Bran said.  You’re going to have your first lesson in opening yourself to your power.  I'll help you control and focus it, but you must force the compulsion away for it to be truly effective.  What exactly does the ring promise you?  You have to be very sure you understand because you will be the one who has to refuse it."

            Jenna thought about it a moment, wanting to make sure she knew exactly what it was that the ring promised.

            “It promises me love, power, money, whatever my heart desires.”

            Bran nodded his head and took her hands in his.

            "Close your eyes.  Center yourself, and drift toward your meditative state.  Don't go quite all the way there though.  You don't want to be completely receptive.  You must maintain control.  You have to refuse the promise of the ring"

            She closed her eyes and did as he asked.  When she approached her trance state, her uncle's voice drifted to her as though from a great distance.

            "Ok, first, think about the things the ring promises.  Now, focus on refusing that promise.  Know you can get those things for yourself, if you want them.  Believe that, with my help, you have the power to remove the ring.  Visualize the ring sliding off your finger.  Focus on pushing it off."

            She could feel a surge of energy when Bran added his power to her own as she concentrated on pushing the ring off her hand.  After a few moments, she seemed to feel the ring moving and After a few moments, she seemed to feel the ring moving before her concentration shattered and she screamed from the pain in her hand and head.  From a great distance she seemed to hear first Bran calling her and then her mother.  Painfully she opened her eyes and the anxious faces of Bran and her mother swam into focus.  Quickly she glanced down at her hand and to her dismay she saw the ring still on her finger.

            “What happened?  Why is it still on my hand?  Did I do it wrong? She blurted out as soon as she could speak.

            Her uncle looked grim.  “No, it isn’t your fault.  I underestimated how vicious your grandmother could be.  She cast a blood spell on it.”

            Jenna looked quickly at her mother who looked equally as grim.  “What now?”  Mora asked.  “Can you remove it?”

            Bran looked even grimmer.  “Not without blood.”  He turned back to Jenna and took her hand in his.  “Your grandmother cast a blood spell on the ring.  That means that the only way the ring can be removed is if you are dead or …

            “DEAD!!” shouted Jenna.   “Oh, no, I will have to go and maybe I can get away from her later.”

            Bran raised his hand before she could go on.  “You interrupted me.  There is a less drastic way.  We have to cut your finger off and unfortunately, we can’t use anything to deaden the pain or the ring will signal the removal and we need to keep your grandmother believing as long as possible that the ring is still bringing you to her.  Mora, you will have to help keep her as calm as possible while I prepare.” 

            Jenna darted a quick glance at her mother.  “You’re not going to let him do this, are you?”

            Mora slowly began to move around to behind the chair Jenna was sitting on.  “If I thought there was any other way, I would fight harder but we came to Bran to have him remove the ring and if he thinks this is the only way, it will have to be done.  Once behind Jenna, Mora put her hands on Jenna’s shoulders.  “Lean back against me.  Try to go into your meditative state.  I will lend you some power to help you stay there until the shock and pain pass.”

             Jenna tried but found it hard to not think about what was about to happen to her.  She again felt the pull of the ring and its promises.  She was angry with her grandmother for forcing this on her and her mother and uncle for not being able to find another way to rid her of the ring.

            “My darling daughter, I am so sorry I have let you go through this, Mora’s soft words helped Jenna beat back the anger so she gradually sank deeply into her meditative trance.  She felt her mother’s warm power supplement her own and her mother soft crooning to her.

            Then a sharp stab of pain and her uncle’s voice "Ok, you can relax now.  It's done"

            Moments later she opened her eyes and immediately looked at her hand.  Sure enough, the ring was gone as was her finger, and in its place, a smooth stretch of skin where her finger had been.  Her headache was gone, and she no longer felt like she was being pulled apart.  The ring was in the palm of her uncle's hand.

            Bran and Mora helped Jenna up and they returned to the family room.  Lura, looked up smiling as Bran held out his hand with the ring in it, but at the expressions on their faces, she stood and hurried over to them.  “What?” she started before Bran quickly shook his head at her. 

            Bran turned to Mora and Jenna, "Well, now we have to send this back slowly enough to buy us some training time.  I'm guessing you want her to apprentice here?"

            Mora and Jenna nodded at the same time.

            "Ok, then, lets put this ring on something that will travel slowly."

            They walked out into the courtyard.  One of Bran's other apprentices smiled shyly at them before shimmering into a friendly looking raccoon.  Bran bent down and handed the ring to the raccoon who took it and scrambled off.  Bran turned to them and said, “He knows to take as long as possible before passing the ring on to an animal near her tower.

            "She'll protect the wearer until it gets to her tower."  He chuckled.  "But she'll have a fit when she sees what she's got."

            Even Mora laughed at that.  It was the first time she’d heard her mother laugh since she saw the ring.

            That evening, they arranged for Jenna to stay with her uncle to be trained.  One day she would undoubtedly have to face her grandmother, but for now, she would be under her uncle's protection.

            `In a way' she thought, `Mojanar was right, it was time to seek her future.'

 © 2004