CHAPTER 30
Our destinies are not written in stone.
But forces unseen do tap upon its
Hard surface with the deft
touch of a master stonemason.
-FROM THE BOOK OF ST. ALBANS-
“Are you ready, child?”
She looked at me, biting excitedly on one small finger and eyes bright with anticipation, and nodded. Still a small child. Small and naive and fragile to the appearance. Yet so deceiving. Ursala the child was also Ursala, the Fifth Sister. Even now her Netherworld powers almost exceeded my simple wizard’s command. She was almost as powerful as the Abbess of Hahnoor. Soon she would surpass all of us. Soon she would be the most powerful creature the world had ever seen when it came to commanding the powers of the Netherworld. If the Netherworld corrupted her–if her immortal soul fell into the
