Belladonna

woman replied. "She gave us the plants."
    "Where is Raven's Hill?"
    "On the eastern coast of Elandar."
    That told her nothing, but she would wait until she was back on her own island before trying to figure out where Elandar was in relation to any landscape she knew.
    She picked up the pot of heart's hope and handed it to the cloudy-eyed woman. "Tend this carefully. It's the only anchor you have left to the world. If it's destroyed, I don't know if you'll be able to touch the world again."
    "Touch the world?"
    "This island is all you have now. What can be harvested from the land and the sea within this landscape's boundaries is all your people can reach — at least until I find the other ... sorceress ... whose heart resonates with this place."
    Glorianna stepped back and took the pot of belladonna from Yoshani. "Hold on to my arm. We need to leave now."
    "Agreed," he said, looking around at the men who had remained at the wharves.
    She focused her heart and will on her garden, on the beds that represented Sanctuary. The feeling of strength and peace and home filled her. "Now," she whispered.
    Together they took the step between here and there — and stood in her garden, looking down at a bowl-shaped stone filled with water.
    Glorianna set the pot of belladonna next to the stone. She wasn't sure the island was really one of her landscapes, but she would keep it safe for a little while.
    "What now, Glorianna Dark and Wise?" Yoshani asked, striding to keep up with her as she headed for the part of the garden that would take her to Aurora.
    "I need to talk to my mother and Lee — maybe Sebastian, too — and see if any of them have heard of Elandar or know how to reach Raven's Hill. If the Eater followed the ship, It may know how to find the girl. We have to find her first."
    "Forgive me if the question sounds cold, but why is this girl so important?"
    Glorianna stopped in front of the statue of a sitting woman that she'd taken from her mother's garden to act as an anchor for Nadia's landscapes. She kept her eyes on the statue as she felt the question flow through her.
    Something is changing. Has already changed.
    "Because, Honorable Yoshani, I think this girl is like me. There may be someone else out there who is like me."

    *
It smashed water on water out of frustration at being cheated of Its prey. It raged at the True Enemy's cunning.
    It could see the Place of Light, but as It got closer to the island, the land began to fade, becoming less substantial until It reached some invisible marker in the sea. At that point, the island vanished altogether.
    Something had drawn the True Enemy to this place. Something ... or someone.
    Turning, It followed the ships fleeing south. If It couldn't have the Place of Light, It could — and would — have the sorceress who had helped deprive It of Its prey.

    *
We're safe, Merrill thought as she stared at the calm sea. The Destroyer is gone; the dark-hearted sorceress is gone.
    "Merrill."
    The world can't touch us anymore. Isn't that what she said? We won't be tainted by the world anymore. But the Dark feelings are still here. The Dark still smears the Light. I am the leader. I will cast out the Dark. I can. I will. Somehow, I will.
    "Merrill."
    She looked at Shaela and smiled. "We're safe. From everything." She looked at the pot. "We should throw that into the sea. We can't take it with us. It would contaminate Lighthaven."
    Shaela shook her head. "Hope is the Light's seed. We must keep it with us and tend it. We will need it in the days ahead."
    Merrill looked at the pot of heart's hope that had come from Caitlin Marie and shuddered.
    I will cast out the Dark. I can. I will. Somehow, I will

Chapter Nine
    "I 'm not drunk," Lee said as he bumped intoSebastian.
    "Of course you're not," Sebastian agreed, steering them both along the path that led from Sebastian's cottage to Lee's.
    "Because you kicked me out of the Den."
    "That's what family is for — to help you stop being stupid."
    "That is not what family is for."
    "You'll have to explain that to my wife. In point of fact, cousin, Lynnea was the one who decided you needed to go home and kicked you out of the Den. I'm just the messenger."
    Before Lee could say anything about women not minding their own business — which would have gotten him into trouble —
    his feet got adventurous and decided to make flat ground dip and roll.
    Damn the daylight, weren't all the chirpy-chattery critters supposed to get quiet when people