"Where have Dr. Morgan and the others gotten to?" Hope asked.
Jack shook his head. "Forget about them. They won't be meeting up with us."
They had reached the halfway point of the mountain, and so far, their enemy had not launched a second attack.
"Now." Jack pulled out the Briefcase. "We need to prepare the ritual."
"Now?"
"Now."
"But we're still some distance from that thing," Hope said.
He raised his head to look, but the shrubs were still thick and the light was too dim for him to make out anything. "Are you sure we're close enough?"
"Of course I'm sure. I've already seen it." Jack answered with his head lowered, not looking at Hope at all. "Things are much more dangerous now than they were before, especially with you here. We need to keep our distance from it."
"You're preparing the ritual?"
"We'll do it together."
"But I don't know the first thing about it."
"That's fine." Jack opened the Briefcase, revealing the bottles and jars Dr. Morgan had prepared for them. "Just follow my instructions. Do exactly what I say. Now put this under that tree."
Jack pointed out the tree to Hope.
But Hope did not look in that direction.
He looked down at what Jack was holding and leaned closer. There was some kind of powder in the bottle.
Most of Hope's knowledge applied only to raw herbs, while almost everything in the case was a powder or a solvent.
"Just put it there?" Hope asked.
"Yes." Jack nodded.
"I don't need to open the bottle?"
Jack hesitated for an instant. If Hope had not been watching his face the whole time, he would barely have noticed.
Jack said with an air of confidence, "Yes. I know you're confused, but just do as I