Teela stepped toward Mrs. Erickson—or the altar; it was hard to judge because the older woman stood between Teela and the large stone structure. Sanabalis had turned toward the altar itself but, at Hope’s squawking, turned toward Mrs. Erickson instead.

Mrs. Erickson was shining as well. Given the radiant brilliance of the altar light, Kaylin might have otherwise missed that glow—but as she watched through Hope’s wing, she could see that it was steadily increasing in brightness.

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Erickson said, audible even though the texture of her voice was soft. She was looking up, as Teela looked up, at the altar. Kaylin was certain that what she now saw through Hope’s wing was naturally visible to the older woman.

Teela came to stand to Mrs. Erickson’s side; she placed a staying hand on the older woman’s shoulder. The Barrani Hawk gestured quickly and sharply; Kaylin felt Teela’s magic as if something had walked by and peeled off a layer of skin. She could see a barrier rise in front of Teela, Mrs. Erickson, and Sanabalis; it was Teela’s magic.

Mrs. Erickson winced. “I don’t think it means harm,” she said, raising her voice as if to be heard. “It’s a...ghost.”

Kaylin knew—or thought she knew—that the liquid that occupied the surface of the altar wasn’t the water that occupied the surface of Tara’s pool; it was the blood—the golden blood—of an Ancient, those beings who had once been the creators, the gods of this world. The Ancients were gone, although their work endured: the Towers that guarded the fiefs, the Hallionne that provided shelter and defense as one approached the West March, the sentient buildings like Helen, whom Kaylin called home.

It hadn’t occurred to her that gods could die.

But Darreno and Amaldi weren’t dead, and Mrs. Erickson considered them outside ghosts—and friends.

“I don’t think it’s a ghost,” Kaylin said, keeping her voice even.

“If you could stop babbling and join us,” Teela said, “that would be safest.”

“I have Hope,” she replied. She would have joined Teela regardless because the circumstances had grown strange enough that Teela served as her partner here, and Hawks were forbidden to work alone. But she felt it urgently important that the ladder be placed against the rise of the side of the stone altar, and she put her weight behind that ladder, pushing it as quickly as she could.

Only when she heard it smack stone did she turn toward Teela and the barrier Teela had raised.

“Sanabalis!” Kaylin shouted. “Can you see it? Can you see what Mrs. Erickson can see?”