Her smile dimmed as she motioned again to the rocks. "Find the Jupiter Stone, Nicolas. And bring it to me in the grove."
Then she walked down a hillside, taking the light with her. The only light, I realized, as the air around me became black.
I didn't want to use magic to produce a light. Using the bulla, I'd likely start a fire and burn the temple to the ground. That would hardly endear me to Diana, who probably already hated me enough. And using the Divine Star would alert Radulf to where I was. Above everyone else, except maybe Decimas Brutus, I didn't want Radulf to know I was looking for the Jupiter Stone.
So I worked in darkness, using the moonlight to guide me. The vestalis had given me no hints to know when I had found the Jupiter Stone, but I assumed, like the bulla, it would be one of those know-it-when-you-find-it moments.
There were hundreds of rocks here, none of them any different from the next. I picked up one, waiting for some recognition in my hand, then set it behind me and moved on. I did the same with another, and another, and dozens more. After a couple of hours of this, my back ached from being slouched over, and my hands were as gritty as they'd ever been in the mines. I was exhausted and also beginning to wonder if my method of hoping I recognized the correct rock was foolish. Maybe I'd left the Jupiter Stone behind an hour ago, and if I searched the rest of the year, it would produce nothing but a permanently hunched back and frayed hands.
Enough of this. What good was it to have a bulla hanging from my neck if I couldn't use its power to help me now? I would not search on my knees anymore.
I stood and raised my arms wide and used the bulla to command all the rocks from this field to rise. The mountain quaked beneath me, and for a moment, I thought it would split apart, then I remembered what I had stupidly commanded. No, I did not want every rock to rise -- that would hollow out the mountain. I only wanted the Jupiter Stone to rise.
The rumble continued beneath me, but different from before. I had no worries for my own safety, or even the temple structure. The rumbling was caused by the stones shifting into new positions. All I could do was step back to avoid their movement.
When the rumbling stopped, I hesitated a moment, because I had commanded the Jupiter Stone to rise, and if a rock was floating in the air, then I could not see it. I needed more light.
Upon my silent command, the rocks sparked, giving off a hot silver light that forced me to shield my eyes. They became as bright as a flash of lightning, but one that does not dim. When I removed my hand and forced myself to look, I saw the rocks had formed into a lightning bolt, as lengthy as what I imagined they must be in the skies, and as bright.
Which was amazing to see, but useless. Because as beautiful and terrifying as the bolt was, that did nothing to get me the Jupiter Stone.
The caw of an eagle overhead caught my attention next, and I looked up, expecting to see Caela there. It wasn't her, however. It was simply an eagle.
No ordinary eagle, that was certain. This one was larger than any I'd seen before, with eyes that reflected the moonlight and pierced me to my core when it looked down at me.
The lightning bolt and the eagle. Jupiter's symbols.
The eagle screeched in a fashion that even Caela would've respected and it seemed to call my name. When the bird was directly over my head, I saw something clutched in its grip. A rock.
I held out my hands to receive it, but instead of delivering it, the eagle crashed into me and took me right over the slope of the mountain. I tumbled end over end, throwing out magic in hopes of finding something to slow my fall, but all that did was create even more falling rocks, an avalanche of magical disaster.
Also, an appropriate symbol for my life, I thought.
Jupiter's eagle was flying beside me, cawing in a way that now sounded more like cackling. As if it was enjoying this. No, as if Jupiter was enjoying this.
Well, I hadn't chosen to come here. I didn't want a Jupiter Stone, now or ever, and this certainly wasn't the way I intended to get myself killed.
The rocks sliding below me crashed into a tree, knocking it at an angle. When I came to it, I grabbed at branches until one finally held my weight, then wrapped myself around the trunk as larger rocks continued pushing the tree downward.
My body was bruised and battered, but I still had the bulla's strength, which I used to shimmy up the trunk. As the eagle came toward me again, talons out, I leapt from the tree and grabbed on to its legs.
It screeched in anger and flew higher up the mountain, pecking at me with a beak that tore at my flesh, and trying to shake me off. I didn't enjoy that, but it was still better than falling. The bulla made me stronger, and the Divine Star gave me healing, but neither of them protected me from absolute stupidity.
Which this was, by the way.
I kept one hand holding the eagle's leg and, with my other, wormed my fingers into its talon until the rock it was holding was mine. Then I let go and asked the bulla to find a soft landing for me.
It didn't. The earth was every bit as hard as I remembered. Fortunately, the eagle had tired from my weight, so I was lower to the ground than before and at least I hadn't landed in thorn bushes. It wouldn't have surprised me much if I had.
I rolled a few times on the ground until everything came to a rest, then remained there on my back for several minutes, catching my breath and trying to find a position that didn't hurt.
I shouldn't use the Divine Star -- Radulf would know -- but I had no choice, and I let it wash through me, carrying away the worst of my pain.
He felt what I was doing, and he was curious, maybe even concerned. I knew he wanted to ask, but he didn't.
The vestalis walked up to me and chuckled lightly. I hadn't even realized the eagle had dropped me so near to her. "Well," she said, surveying my scratches and bruises. "That could have gone better."
I unfolded my fist and looked at the rock caught in my hands. Where the others had been rough and chipped, this was smaller, but perfectly round and as smooth as marble. I detected no magic inside it, but maybe the magic wasn't there ... yet.