Song of the Ancients (Ancient Magic Book 1) by Sandy Wright

to join Maya at the altar.
    The coven members cut up the apples, slicing each one sideways to display the seeds arranged in the shape of a five-pointed star. They would be the 'cakes' portion of our cakes and ale at the end of ritual.
    Each of us had brought an item symbolizing what we wanted to eliminate from our lives for the coming year. One by one we each threw our representation into the blazing fire. One member brought a broken watch. Her friend next to her laughed. "She's always fifteen minutes late!" A slightly chubby woman threw in a picture of her bathroom scales with obvious relish. I dropped in a ruler to remind me to quit measuring my worth by other peoples' standards. As we continued around the circle, the pile of un-wanted traits grew until the flames licked high above our heads.
    We threw our objects in, and Maya chanted:
    "Hecate, honored crone of night,
    I call upon you to put things right.
    Transform these negative thoughts and pain,
    Help our lives be whole again."
    Nuin and Maya went last. I was interested to see what Nuin wished to release. He pulled an object out of his robe pocket, but before I could see it, he wrapped it in a piece of black cloth and tossed it into the fire. Maya looked at him for a moment, then pulled a bundle of traffic tickets from under her cloak. She dropped them onto the fire with a flourish, shaking her hands in riddance as we shrieked with laughter.
    We held hands and swayed as we chanted, letting the flames carry away the dross of the old year.
    "I'm free of you and all the strife
    You once cast upon my life.
    I am healed now. I am free.
    As I will, so mote it be!"
    When the fire burned down, Maya invited everyone to join her to cut and decorate the Yule tree the following weekend.
    I helped clean up the circle and waited while Maya gathered the remains from our ritual fire in a metal bucket. "What are you going to do with the ashes?"
    "Take them to a remote spot in the desert where they won't be found and bury them," she said. "We don't want any of this nastiness around our circle or homes."
    Nuin finished loading his pickup and joined us. "Any plans for Thanksgiving?"
    "I haven't even thought about it," I admitted. "We're volunteering at a homeless shelter the weekend before. I have to bake a half-dozen pumpkin pies for that dinner."
    Nuin opened his truck door and pulled a notepad and pen from the seat. He wrote a few lines by the light of the car dome and handed it to me. "Here's my address. Maya and I are hosting an orphan's Thanksgiving feast for friends who can't make it home to their families for the holiday. We'd love to have you come, and Rumor too."
    I hugged them both goodbye. "Happy baking!" Nuin called with a wave as I pulled away.
     

Chapter 13: Hollow Bone
    Sinclair pulled a faded, red bandana from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his face, squinting across the horizon at the setting sun. An hour at most until dark, time for one, maybe two last loads of rocks. He jammed the cloth back in his pocket and shuffled down the trail where it fell steeply off the north side of the plateau.
    As he set the last stone in the circle he grumbled, "Why did you send me a second wasiĉun? " He had no desire, or patience, to teach a white woman the sacred ways. The thought puckered his mouth, as if he'd just bitten into a lemon. He had been fighting misunderstanding by non-Natives all of his life. They couldn't comprehend how protecting a few spots did little to solve the issue of sacred land, since the spirits of the land were interconnected. These mountains were not sacred in just one place.
    This was not the first time he had resisted his guides' instructions. The last woman came up the trail to his campsite alone, just like Samantha. Standing Bear had not sent her; she had come on her own, pleading with him well into the night, asking him to blend his powers with hers. She called him wicasa wakan , which was true. He had been a holy man with his tribe and had the