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along the enchanted vine. Gregori took a step toward Stan before halting abruptly, scowling at Ashur.
"The two of you have shared a lover." Ashur brought the spiked vine to his mouth and gently tongued it.
Gregori's face went hard. Glancing away, he turned and walked over to stand with me.
"What?" Stan gasped in pleasure. I felt like a voyeur peaking in on an intimate moment. "No," Stan panted. "Not since college." Even in the crisp morning air, sweat covered his face.
Ashur came to stand next to me. "That is a control enchantment, created with human sex magic."
"Humans have magic? Wait, sex magic is a myth."
"Yes, humans have magic and sex magic is not a myth." Ashur gave me a toothy grin. "What I mean by sex magic is the essence; their semen was combined with the spell master's to bind them to the caster's will. The purpose was to play on and enhance his fears." The God pointed at Jory. "This person had to have known both of them; otherwise, binding the two of them together would have backfired, killing the both of them and the caster. He or she would have needed to make sure they were enough alike so when the spell antagonized the one, the other wouldn't resist."
I regarded Stan and Jory, wondering what had happened to cause this. "Can it be safely removed?"
"I will show you how to cast off the binding but the experience will not be pleasant for them."
I shivered, remembering when Ki had pulled off a remnant of a broken binding spell from me a couple of months ago. The string of the spell that had been tugged through me had felt awful and it was nowhere as extensive as this. Unpleasant? What an understatement.
Jory looked as though he'd faint one moment, and the next he glared at me. I wanted the spell removed but I was worried. What were Jory's true feelings? Did he genuinely despise me? It didn't matter because I'd help him regardless. If he hated me, I'd send him back to Tribe Marduk. If Stan wanted to go with him, so be it. I wouldn't stop them, although, Gregori wouldn't forgive them if they left again.
I sang a formal greeting to the Earth. Energy moved through my feet, up my legs, and into my body as I listened to her response. My skin tingled pleasantly as my sore and achy muscles were soothed.
Ashur guided me through the chant of extraction. Together the Earth and I worked on delicately removing the barbed vine of magic that was entwined with my friends. Jory and Stan were both breathing hard and leaning on the men who held them up. The enchantment begin to dislodge, the orangey-red turning a brilliant cool blue before crumbling and drifting away, starting with the end wrapped around Stan.
At first, the removal seemed to be working, but then the vine, sensing its demise, constricted painfully as it viciously squeezed Stan and Jory. They started to convulse, their eyes rolling up into their heads. The Earth changed her song. The melody reverberated through me like the great pulling waves of a vast ocean. I turned my head up, closed my eyes, and blocked out the distress of my friends. I chanted the counter to the song. The power built, surrounding the two men, and then wash over them like a tidal wave, engulfing them in the Earth's magic, dissolving the spell that entrapped them.
After the conclusion of the chant, my friends were sweat soaked and unconscious. They were free, released from the enchantment, and the influence of another.
"Put them in the rooms we prepared for them." The guards helped to carry the two men into the house.
Ashur came to stand beside me. We both stood facing the east. The sun would be rising in a few minutes; the horizon glowed with colors of yellow, pink, and purple.
"Where did you learn the spell?" Ashur regarded me curiously. He was always watching. I had become used to his assessing gaze. He meant nothing by it but I often wondered how long he'd been away from humanity to be so curious.
"Not sure," I replied honestly. "I just did. As soon as the Earth started singing, I knew."
He stared