Maya came back into the room.

She had a leather purse full of silver dust and three bulky old books. As she started to create a circle of silver dust around me and the scroll, Maya remarked, "Listen closely, Michael. This isn't like the first ceremony. "Your awareness is being sent into the scroll. "Tell me what I need to do," I said as she went on. For the first time in 10 months, my heart wasn't pounding due to sadness.

Hope was the reason. "You have to locate her," Maya said. She is the ...