Chapter 15

The Witch’s Ruas

The vision faded and Brendan was left with the darkened cave. What a crazy thing to see! Images that no person would want to see! Why did he have to see it? What did it mean?

“I think we need to be cautious in this part of the cave,” he said.

“What are you talking about?” asked Rory. “There’s nothing here but a little pool.”

“No,” Gorgoch spoke up. “He’s right. This place is cursed with evil.”

Dorian nodded and allowed her eyes to roam the dimly lit cavern. Nothing seemed out of place, yet their was something in the air. Something that gave her chills.

The group walked cautiously on the thin path, and both Gorgoch and Brendan’s eyes scanned the shadows on the walls and ceilings.

“What are you looking for?” Gorgoch asked the young American.

“Ruas,” answered Brendan.

Gorgoch shook his head knowingly. That’s why the memories had flooded him in this place. Brendan was some sort of clairvoyant, a vision catcher. Gorgoch should have seen it before. He wasn’t sure if he had just piggybacked off of the boy’s sight or vice versa.

Brendan scanned the walls, and then he saw them. Red orbs flared to life on the far right. Then another set of eyes popped up on the left. Next thing they knew the room was lit up like Christmas lights with a hundred pair of eyes flaring from every shadow of the cavern.

“Looks like they didn’t want to disappoint you,” said Gorgoch.

Brendan hardened his features and whipped his sword around in preparation. “Who were they again?”

Gorgoch shrugged. “They were the poor locals who have been enslaved by the witch.”

“Are they alive?” asked Lizzie. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt real people. It was one thing to smash a stick into a Kelpie’s face but to bash a human was quite another.

“In a way,” answered the spirit man. “But don’t be fooled into thinking that you can bring them back to the human world. The human side is dead.”

“Think of them as shells, Lizzie,” added Dorian. “You’re going to have to crack those shells, hon.”

The slaves could be heard growling and shuffling along the walls and ceiling apparently surrounding the travelers. The group readied themselves with their backs to the center. Each held their magical weapon with a purpose.

The Ruas slowly came into view and Brendan breathed out a slow breathe of preparation. He held the sword out like a knight. “Be ready, guys. Here they come.”

…

Dullahan stood well off in the shadow in the cave’s opening to watch. If he’d had a head he would have smiled. The Leprechauns, the humans, and the meddlesome Gorgoch were about to be in big trouble. If the mindless, savage slaves could just delay the little rescue party for enough time, then the Leprechauns would be out of the equation and the humans would join the throng of slaves. Dullahan was hoping for an entertaining show, no matter how it turned out.

…

Duncan was vaguely aware that his cage was in motion. The grunts of a guard and the creaking of one the wheels was the only noise he recognized. Sometime after the cage started moving it stopped. He heard the wind from somewhere off to the right and the scraping of some long talons on a stone floor. He thought that the griffin was clawing at the ground so that meant that he was in the tower. A large cold wave swept into the room, and it wasn’t the wind.

The air felt heavy and pressed in on him. He was feeling terrible as it was, but resisting Morna with her being that close in proximity was difficult and growing more difficult with every second that passed.

“How are we feeling today, Duncan?” cackled the witch.

Duncan’s willpower was dwindling and he sensed the witch’s magic forcing its way into his. Its tendrils were slippery and crafty. He had been holding her assaults at bay, but how could he expect to continue?

“Give in,” Morna prodded. “You’ve been so brave, little one. No one would blame you.”

Her voice was like a memory or a dream. It floated into his head and played with his will. He half thought that it was his voice trying to convince him to stop the resistance. It would be so much easier to just give in.

“Don’t worry, Duncan. You will be able to rest soon. I’ve almost got you.” A wicked smiled played at her lips as the delicious thought of all that power was so temptingly close to her grasp.

…

The Rua hoard attacked like a mob storming a wall with sharp, jagged nails, powerful bodies, and hungry jaws. They were fast and that surprised Lizzie. In the movies they usually made them out to be plodding and sloth-like, but these suckers were like ninjas and pumas all in one. Luckily for the rescue party, they had a bit of Leprechaun magic on their side.

Lizzie spun and swung her staff cracking heads and dislocating jaws. The slaves had glazed looks in their eyes and they showed no signs of pain or emotion as the small group slashed, smashed, and thrashed them. Lizzie felt satisfaction as she beat the red-eyes away. After a particularly good Thwack! she chanced a glance at her smaller Leprechaun friends.

Rory was way quicker than he looked. Lizzie thought he looked elvish as fluidly as he darted in and out of stomping feet, firing arrow after arrow into the Ruas. A well-placed arrow would bring down the savage creatures, but Rory didn’t always have time to take his best aim. She didn’t worry about Rory as she broke the skull of another of Morna‘s slaves.

Next, she looked up and watched Biddy torment the red-eyes that were still clinging to the ceiling. She darted in and out of their flailing arms and shot daggers from her wings. Bodies splashed all around Lizzie in the shimmering little pool.

“Nice job, Biddy!” she shouted. It gave her strength to see them doing so well, and she knew she had to match them.

Dorian and Brendan stood back-to-back as they faced the horde. His sword and her magical blasts were making short work of the red-eyes.

After cutting off the head of an ugly female Rua, Brendan took a needed breathe. It seemed like he had been holding it for some time without realizing it. “How are we doing, Dorian?”

Blast!

“Eh, I think we’re doing better than they are,” she said.

Sching!

“Don’t let them fool you,” he warned. “They are vicious and will eat you as soon as look at you.”

Dorian seared more of the red-eyes from across the cave, cutting their bodies in half. “How do you know anything about them?”

Gorgoch appeared between them. “He’s a seer.”

“What!” she exclaimed. “You’ve been having visions and you haven’t said anything?”

Brendan sliced and diced and then shrugged. “I didn’t know that’s what was going on.” He blocked a claw and spun out to the right to disembowel the beast. “They have mostly just been dreams, but when we stepped in here, I had one happen right in front on my eyes.”

“This one was my fault, I’m afraid,” declared Gorgoch with his head hung. “I was relieving a memory, and Brendan must have hitched on to it.”

Brendan paused his fight and took a second to pity Gorgoch. If that was how he was caught, then how did he die? he wondered.

“I’m sorry, Artie,” replied Brendan.

“It wasn’t your doing.” Gorgoch’s features showed anger and he began to glow with a blue hue. “Don’t worry, I won’t let them do the same to you.”

Dullahan was impressed with the young ones. They were very capable of handling themselves. What pleased him most was how Gorgoch stood, or floated, frozen with fear. This must have been very painful to the spirit man. Dullahan reveled in that.

The Ruas kept coming at the travelers and Dullahan had the feeling that they couldn’t hold back the dead for much longer. That was until that blasted spirit exploded. At least that’s what it looked like to Dullahan.

The entire cavern was drenched in a bright blue light and in a flash the creatures vanished! Dullahan couldn’t believe what had just happened, but whatever it was he had to tell Morna that the travelers were on their way!

“What was that?” asked Lizzie, her eyes still seeing spots.

Dorian looked around with the spots in her vision as well. She saw the spots well, but the Ruas were nowhere to be found. “I–I don’t know.”

Biddy zoomed down from the ceiling and hovered near Brendan’s head. “Where’s Artie?”

Brendan thought that the old ghost had something to do with the flash, but he wasn’t certain. The fact was the spirit man was gone. It was as if he and the red-eyes had all been teleported somewhere else.

“I don’t think we can worry about that right now,” said Dorian. “We need to hurry. I feel that my father can’t hold out much longer.”

“How do you know?” asked Lizzie.

Rory leapt up to her shoulder. “I can feel it, too.”

“Then let’s get a move on,” Brendan declared and walked towards the cave’s exit.

…

A dark and shadowed man hovered just out of Oscar’s sight, but he knew he was there. He also knew he was still dreaming.

“One down, my friend, and two to go,” the shadowed man declared. “You will not remember this conversation, but you will act on my words. Two sisters patiently wait for their discovery, Oscar. You are charged with finding them and returning all three to me.”

“Yes,” accepted Oscar happily.

“The music box and the prisons of the remaining two shall be brought to me. Do you understand?”

Oscar nodded. “Yes, I understand.”

“I’ve been waiting on you and your children for quite some time. Don’t fail me.”

The shadowed man vanished as Oscar rolled onto his side. His conscious mind had no recollection of the task that he had been given.