The longer the examination went on, the more anxious Sam Verner became. Was the stone unsuitable? Had people died because he had misunderstood the needs of the ritual and gone after the wrong kind of object? Maybe the opal was the right kind of talisman, but was not strong enough. Or not focused right. The stone had seemed to pulse with power when first he had seen it in the cavern, but its aural glow had changed during the trip back. Had it weakened? He didn’t know. He wanted to pace, to scorch away his nervousness and uncertainty by burning physical energy.