The stone shell lay in the palm of her hand. Why or how it had been turned to stone she did not know, but she felt no trace of evil in it, no menace, only significantly that it was part of the natural processes of the universe.
‘I will keep this with me always,’ she said to herself. ‘It will be to me like Maal’s stone sphere with the spiral markings. It will be my talisman, my centre of strength. I survived the test within the cave,’ and she knew this had been a severe and important test, ‘and I survived the cursed circle. I will take it as a sign. A power has been brought to my notice and I will use its positive energy and not its negative. For me it will bring life, not death; spirit, not stone.’
Having decided this she held it in both hands and tried to will herself to feel better.
‘
