"Our error at Callanish was in trying to make direct contact with the lord Taranis. Taliere was not equal to the challenge, and the intermediary he brought through was less than helpful - which is no fault of Mr. Barclay's," he added, with a nod at the pilot. "The problem was compounded by the fact that Taliere and I differed from the outset in our notions of how the procedure should be approached; and the compromise we reached proved less than satisfactory. I will not compromise again."
"Can you explain how the Head-Master came to be involved in the operation?" Richter asked neutrally.
"No, I cannot. He'd become very unbalanced just before his death, but he was the last person to harness the power of the Soulis tore - and the last wielder of the dagger before myself. I would venture to guess that the dagger drew him to our working - which tends to confirm that it can be made to function as the tore did. As to his tirade during our ritual, I can only attribute it to the demented ravings of a tormented soul. He was quite mad by the time Taranis took him to his own."
"Mad or not," Richter replied, "he still possessed the ability to focus the power of the tore - and presumably the dagger. How do you propose to gain his cooperation?"
"I don't," Raeburn said simply. "I know of another who was able to do what the Head-Master was able to do, and that is the same Lord Soulis whose name came to be associated with both the dagger and the destroyed tore. Indeed, the Head-Master claimed to have derived his knowledge from Soulis."
"Ah." Richter's eyes had narrowed as Raeburn spoke. "Perhaps you should further acquaint us with this Lord Soulis."
Raeburn inclined his head in assent. "Certainly. I should tell you, first of all, that in his day, William Lord Soulis was known as 'the wickedest man in all Scotland' - though that sobriquet was bestowed by his enemies, who did not understand his work. He had his seat at Hermitage Castle, down in Liddesdale, and accounts surviving from his own lifetime relate how he used the cellars of the castle as a temple to his magical arts. Personally, I would draw the line at sacrificing young children - or at least torturing them - but Soulis apparently exercised no such restraint. Or perhaps his demon familiars demanded such oblations, and Soulis was willing to pay that price for their favors.
"One of his familiars is said to have used its powers to render Soulis invulnerable to the weapons of his enemies, who otherwise would have brought him to justice. It was known as Redcap Sly or Robin Redcap, so-called from its practice of dyeing its cap in the blood of its victims."
"What does this have to do with the tore and the dagger?'' Mallory asked. "Calling on familiars is all very well and good - I can do that - but Taranis is no mere familiar like Redcap; he's an elemental lord."
"And Soulis was a sorcerer of immense power," Raeburn replied. "It is a matter of record that he was able to bind and control a number of infernal spirits, and we know that he had control of the tore and the dagger. Since we also know that Soulis was the source of the Head-Master's knowledge of how to invoke Taranis, it occurred to me to wonder whether Soulis himself might have been able to go that one step further."
Angela stiffened - apparently first to seize upon the significance of what Raeburn was implying.
"Are you saying," she said, "that you think Soulis might have found a way not simply to invoke Taranis, but to bind him?"
"I think there's a fair chance of that," Raeburn replied. "And at very least, Soulis was able to invoke Taranis in the same way the Head-Master did, and induce him to channel his power through the tore. I know that power, Angela; I've tasted it. And oh, it is sweet}"
"Power is always sweet," Richter murmured. "What if it cannot be channelled through the dagger?"
"I feel confident that it can," Raeburn replied. "We have already begun potentializing the dagger by using it in the bull sacrifice. I remind you that the tore was activated by the life-blood of human sacrifice. If anything, the dagger should prove an even more potent focus, since it is the direct instrument of sacrifice."
"That assumes that we can contact Soulis," Angela said. "And that he will agree to share his knowledge."
"We can contact him," Raeburn said confidently. "Our Derek is acquainted with the basic methodology."
Mallory went a little pale. "I only assisted," he whispered. "It was Geddes who summoned Michael Scot."
"I'm quite aware of that," Raeburn replied. "And I shall require your assistance in a like manner for this operation. I mention the incident only to underline that we do have experience in summoning the dead. In the case of Soulis, we shall use a wizard to summon a wizard. Master Taliere will serve very well in that capacity, and you, my dear Derek, will ensure that he cooperates."
Mallory breathed out a relieved sigh and nodded slowly.
"Suppose Soulis is currently incarnate?" Angela asked. "You can't have forgotten the problems with Scot."
"No, and it wouldn't have been a problem, if not for Sinclair's meddling," Raeburn snapped. "In fact, Michael Scot would have been my first choice for this operation, but Sinclair put him beyond our reach by placing his protection on Scot's current incarnation."
"Was ist das?" Richter murmured, raising a startled eyebrow in inquiry.
"A schoolgirl named Gillian Talbot," Raeburn murmured, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "She'd be about fourteen by now. We'll retrieve her one day. But for now, we'll have to settle for Soulis."
"What about Soulis?" Angela said. "You never answered my question fully. Even if we can contact him, what makes you think he'd agree to help us?"
"Because I can offer him the one thing he desires more than any other thing," Raeburn said, smiling thinly. "I can offer him his liberty."
"His liberty?" Richter repeated. "Are we to understand that this Soulis is somehow a prisoner?"
"In a manner of speaking," Raeburn said somewhat smugly. "In the past few days I've engaged in some covert investigation of my own. It seems that Soulis' spirit presently languishes in a state of limbo, to which he was exiled at the time of his death by an edict of banishment which prevents him from ever again reincarnating."
The cavernous pause elicited by this revelation was at last broken by Richter's perplexed sigh.
"If Soulis was as powerful as you claim," he said tentatively, "how could he have allowed himself to be bound in that way?"
A pained smile flickered across Raeburn's face, almost a grimace.
"Perhaps I should acquaint you with the manner of his passing. As the years went by and his excesses became more outrageous and more blatant, Soulis apparently became overconfident in his own abilities and allowed his defenses to slip. Outrage and anger had been growing among the folk around Liddesdale, and he also appears to have come to the notice of a Hunting Lodge of the time.
"I have no details on what they did," Raeburn went on, amid looks of indignation from his listeners, "but I can tell you that his tenants eventually rose up in a body, attacked the castle, and took him prisoner. Somehow his occult powers were nullified, or at least suppressed. Laden with iron chains, and wrapped in a sheet of lead, he was taken from Hermitage Castle to a site now known as the Nine Stane Rig and there boiled alive in oil in his own brazen cauldron. His body was burned thereafter and his ashes scattered on the wind. His soul…"
"Bound by a Hunting Lodge," Mallory muttered through clenched teeth.
Raeburn shrugged. "Save your indignation for the Hunting Lodge we must deal with, Derek. Suffice it to say that I've analyzed the spell that bars Soulis from the Wheel of Reincarnation. For all its potency, it appears none too complicated. He can't unlock it - but I can."