"They are fed to the meat-eaters."

"Meat-eaters?"

"The larger lizards and dragons that eat meat."

"Ick. Go on."

"For years my mother has been gathering abilities from other realms. I knew she was powerful, but I had no idea she could do anything like what she did today."

"So your mother is a progenitor? She could use the Chronicle to cross over to other realms and kidnap people for her rituals?"

"No. Mara did that for her."

"My mother is a pretender-a powerful one-but still just a pretender."

Mara turned to Ping. "I thought a pretender could only alter the realm they were in. This seems like she is able to do a lot more than that."

"It sounds to me like she has developed the ability to strip a portion of the consciousness from people and gather it to herself for her own purposes. I have never heard or read of such a thing. She must have a very strong belief in her serpents," Ping said.

"Her religious belief matters?" Mara asked.

"Remember from our lesson this morning? I said that consciousness is the raw material of all things, but belief, knowledge and awareness are the tools that are used to shape it. If she and her followers have the conviction that she can take power from someone in this manner, it is possible for them to develop the ability," he said. "You usually only see abilities like this in a progenitor."

Mara turned back to Sam. "What does all this have to do with how you got here? Was your sister coming over to grab someone for one of your mom's rituals?"

"Not exactly," he said, hesitant to continue.

"Go ahead. She needs to know," Ping said.

"Mara was practicing with the Chronicle to see if she could bring a large group of people across all at once. That was what she tried to do on the plane. She wanted to see if she could get all the pa.s.sengers to cross over safely."

"She was trying to bring a planeload of people from your realm to this one?"

"Yes. But, I grabbed the Chronicle from her once she had activated it. You saw what happened after that."

"Why would she want to bring a planeload of people here?"

"My mother wanted to cross over to this realm, but she wanted to bring her followers with her, and they weren't sure if they would be able to do it."

"What would be the point of that? Why did they want to cross over?"

"Things aren't so great where I come from. Like I said, there are food shortages, pollution, disease, little drinking water, poverty and crime. It's a complete nightmare compared to this place. The Basiliscans have used up or destroyed all the resources of that realm, and they now want to come to this one."

"Why this one?"

"The people here are pretty naive, and Diana thinks they'll be easy to control."

Mara froze at the mention of her mother's name. She had not connected the voice from the distant realm to her own crystal-gazing pacifist mother. Her pulse sped up.

"So why did you try to stop Mara on the plane? What's it to you if they come to this realm and take over?"

"Our, I mean, my mother is paranoid. She would not cross over to this realm if she could be forced back by interacting with her counterpart here. To inoculate herself, she developed a ritual she thought would protect her," Sam said, pausing for a second. "I don't know all of the details, but, for it to work, she had to have a sacrifice."

"What kind of sacrifice?"

"One of her own children, and she had no intention of sacrificing Mara."

"Your own mother wanted to kill you?"

Sam nodded, looked down.

Mara turned to Ping. "Would it be necessary for her to sacrifice Sam in order to cross over and stay here safely? Does that make sense?"

"If she and her followers need a sacrifice to believe it, then it would make sense," Ping said.

Mara looked back at Sam. "But if you stopped them, there would be no need for a sacrifice."

He nodded. "Diana would not cross over without her followers. So, if they could not get here, she would not need to do the ritual."

"What about this altar? She said, 'bring it to the Altar of Hyas Tyee.' I got the impression she was talking about the Chronicle. That she wanted me to bring it to this altar. Where is that?"

"I've never heard that name before. I don't know where it is or if it is an actual place. Mom's cult uses stone altars in its rituals. If she conducts a sacrifice, it would be over a stone altar surrounded by serpent pillars."

"Serpent pillars?"

Sam extended his arm and pointed to the tattoo. The snake was coiled around a square column that narrowed toward the top, capped by a pyramid.

"It's an obelisk," Ping said.

"It's the symbol of the basilisks," Sam said.

"Is there any chance she can get here without the Chronicle?" Mara looked to Ping.

"Even though she seems to be able to communicate through it when it is active, I can't imagine she could cross over to this realm without your help," Ping said.

"There is no other way for her to get here? She seems to be able to do things you guys aren't aware of. Maybe-"

"I think as long as we keep the Chronicle, we don't have to worry about her," Ping said.

CHAPTER 37.

THE FOLLOWING EVENING, after locking up the shop, Mara walked over to the bakery to keep her appointment with Ping. She had agreed to go with him to the warehouse again, even though she was not clear on what they would be doing. She had no intention of activating the Chronicle and encountering Sam's lizard-loving mother again. As she walked up to the front of the bakery, Ping stepped out and turned to lock the door.

"Where's Sam?" Mara asked.

"I ran him home a little while ago. He's got homework, and, to be honest with you, I think the incident yesterday took more out of him than he is willing to admit in front of you."

"Why would I matter?"

"Just a boy not wanting to look weak in front of his older sis-" Ping stopped himself. "Sorry. You know what I mean."

"I'm not sure I do, but I'll let it go."

She followed Ping to his Camry and got into the pa.s.senger seat. "I'd be out of sorts, too, if my mother spanked me with lightning bolts and wanted to sacrifice me to a lizard G.o.d. And I thought my mom was a freak."

"Clever comments aside, just try to remember there's a real boy there who has been through some very traumatic experiences." He pulled away from the curb in front of their businesses, keeping his eyes on traffic, not looking at Mara. "You and I cannot conceive of the abuses he has endured and the things he has seen. Making light of them, however unintended, could be very hurtful."

"I didn't mean-"

"I know. You are just dealing with things in your own way." He turned north toward the warehouse. "You may not ever acknowledge him as your brother, but that does not mean you can't appreciate what he has been through. It doesn't mean you can't be his friend."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Mara looked down at her hands. "I guess I haven't fully realized these are real people crossing over from other realms. I will try to be better."

"We are all learning as we go," Ping said.

They rode in silence the rest of the way to the warehouse.

Ping turned on only the bank of lights above the makeshift cla.s.sroom in the center of the empty warehouse, so they sat on their mats facing each other in front of the whiteboard in a square of light surrounded by inky darkness. It felt like sitting on a stage surrounded by a silent audience.

"Do you have any questions before we get started?" he asked.

"Yes. You said you were going to help me get my life back, help me deal with these pa.s.sengers who have crossed over. I'm not seeing how any of what we have done so far helps me do that," she said. "I get that maybe we could use the power of the Chronicle to send some of them back if they show up, but with Sam's mother able to strike at us through the Chronicle, that could be dangerous."

"Well, the first thing we should clear up is that the Chronicle doesn't have any power. It does not give you power. You give it power. Its abilities flow from you, not the other way around. You are a progenitor. You have the ability to draw consciousness into reality. You can shape reality in any way you wish."

"You said that yesterday, but I don't know what that means. I don't really get all this metaphysical stuff. Do you mean I can influence events to change my life, my environment?"

"Mara, I am not speaking metaphorically. I mean you can change reality, literally." Ping turned and reached for a marker in the tray of the whiteboard and held it up. "If you wanted, you could turn this marker into a piece of cheese."

She arched an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"You have to believe. You have to know you can do it."

"Well, there's the rub," she said. "I'm not believing it."

"That's why we are here. We are going to see if we can get you to believe enough to tap into your abilities."

"Okay." She threw up her hands, surrendering.

"Just keep an open mind. Remember, a week ago you did not believe in people from other realms or that you could activate the Chronicle. There are things in this world that you do not believe that you can come to believe. Follow?"

"I understand. I have a thick skull, but I'm not completely hopeless."

"Some people who want to develop their metaphysical abilities focus their energies, or consciousness, on certain objects called talismans, sort of metaphysical training wheels. Using a talisman is not required, but the literature indicates that they are a good tool for beginners. I thought we would try a few things and see if we get any results."

He sat the marker on the floor next to his mat, stood up and walked over to the metal closet next to the whiteboard. When he turned around, he held a roughly oval-shaped pale yellow crystal slightly larger than a softball.

"Do you recognize this?"

"It's bytownite, I believe. My mom has a couple of them. She says it helps people intellectually, helps them to know what to do with their lives."

"How appropriate." He smiled, returned to his mat and sat the crystal on the ground between them. "I want you to focus on this crystal."

"To what end?"

"What does your mother do with her crystals?"

"She meditates. I think it calms her, makes her feel centered."

"Okay, why don't you do that for now? While you are doing that, I will run out and get some dinner. Hamburgers and fries okay for you?"

"I suppose. Just meditate?"

"Yes. Focus on the crystal and try to imagine what you could use it for, metaphysically speaking."

Mara listened to Ping's footsteps fade away into the darkness and stared at the crystal sitting on the ground before her. She strained to see deeper into it, past the gla.s.s surface, into the various facets inside. Squinting, she perceived the refracted light shifting, bending at new angles, rotating in one direction, then another. It burst forward, enveloping her. Bands of golden light expanded and contracted as they danced along the periphery of her vision, some darkening to brown, others fading away to yellow. Her eyes moved with the light. No, the light followed her eyes.

She thought about a kaleidoscope she had had as a child and how the bands of light split into fractals rolling into bursts of geometric patterns that folded in on themselves. Lines formed triangles; triangles merged to make diamonds; diamonds cl.u.s.tered into florid spinning wheels of light. She pushed back with her mind, and the golden rays receded to a shimmering halo around the stone.

The echo of footsteps and the smell of French fries drew her away from the light. It weakened, sputtered and then went out entirely.

"Did you have any success with the crystal?" Ping asked, setting two white paper bags and a brown cardboard tray holding two soft drinks on the floor next to his mat.

Mara reached down and picked up the marker. "No, it's still just a marker. No cheese for my burger."

"I only meant that as an example. It wasn't intended as an a.s.signment." He pulled a burger out of the bag. "Did you get any feeling or sense from concentrating on the crystal? Anything at all?"

"Nothing I would consider life altering. I spent most of my formative years making fun of my mother's New Age practices. The only thing I'm likely to generate with this crystal is a sarcastic comment. It's probably not the ideal talisman if you want me to develop magical powers."

"I hate that word, magic. It is superst.i.tious and fantastical. What I want you to embrace is metaphysics-a higher natural form of physics. We are not learning sleight of hand or trickery. We will not be using any wands, potions or incantations. This is the real thing."

"Sorry. I'll try to be more politically correct in the future." She snagged a fry. "a.s.suming I can ever progenerate, or whatever a progenitor does, that will help me deal with these freaks from another realm, right?"

"If you develop your abilities, you will eventually be able to deal with just about anything."

CHAPTER 38.