The walls of the narrow canyon were practically vertical, the ground we walked on littered with stones of all sizes and the remains of unidentifiable, dead creatures. Three times I almost gagged as the stench cloyed at my nose. The few faelah that hadn’t followed the Dotarbh scurried around us, fighting with one another as they picked at the rotting flesh and broken bones. Hurrah. Another scene that would be giving me nightmares for all eternity.
The Morrigan strode before me, her dress of dark evil swirling about her like a black cloud as Donn, still chillingly silent, took up the rear. Eventually the canyon came to an end. Ancient, Celtic ogham letters and knot work designs adorned a massive stone doorway pitted with large recesses. I nearly fainted when I spotted what resided inside the primitive shelves. Human skulls, or more likely, Faelorehn skulls. At least twenty of them formed a gruesome border around the entrance to the Morrigan’s realm. Two great, dead trees, their limbs bleached white and free of leaves, protruded from the rock wall on either side of the door. A flock of ravens decorated their branches like nightmarish Christmas ornaments, the half-blind, white spirit guide who had brought my message to his master sitting higher than all the rest. The birds let out a chorus of caws when the Morrigan approached, and she smiled and scratched at their necks as they greeted her. Donn merely crossed his arms and gave a sneer.
Once the birds were appeased and they had returned to their guard posts, the goddess turned to the doorway and gently ran her fingers down its surface, muttering something under her breath as magic flared from her palm. I felt it as clearly as I felt all magic, a strange tugging at the back of my knees, as if someone had taken a rope and was trying to pull my legs forward into a bend. Could this be some sort of well-disguised dolmarehn?
The rock shifted and a stone slab in the shape of a massive door swung inward, the icy air hissing free like the first breath of the risen dead. Goose bumps broke out all over my skin despite my warm cloak. A black abyss yawned before us and as I peered reluctantly into the opening, the Morrigan shoved me.
“Your cell awaits, Princess. If you behave yourself I’ll let you share with your brother.”
I tensed, but forced myself to relax. Good. That’s exactly what I was hoping for. Despite the fact that my every last instinct screamed at me to flee in the opposite direction, I made my shoulders slump and shuffled forward, attempting to adopt the guise of an acquiescent prisoner.
The Morrigan moved to follow me, but something stopped her. I peeked over my shoulder to see Donn’s gloved hand grasping her arm. He pulled her closer and hissed something under his breath, his black, disheveled hair and beard hiding most of his expression. I strained to hear him, but he used the language of Eile. If only I’d asked Cade to teach it to me earlier . . .
The Morrigan jerked her arm back and snapped at him, her eyes flaring red. “I hold everything she cares about in the palm of my hand. Believe me, once she’s in that cage with her brother, there will be no escape for her.”
Donn growled at her. Actually growled.
“You wish to put the two offspring of Danua and that Fomorian in one cell?”
The Morrigan snorted and grasped her skirts, turning to walk away and herd me further into the pit of darkness that gaped before us.
I braced myself for another shove when Donn barked out, “You fool of a woman! To come this far and risk combining their magic?”
I froze where I stood, my heart catching in my throat. No, no, no! Could Donn have any idea what I had planned? Was I that obvious, or had he figured it out? But if he hadn’t, wouldn’t the Morrigan know what I was up to? Was she, like me, playing dumb until all the dice fell into place? I knew they hadn’t read the thoughts in my head. My second little spider was keeping the details of my plot nice and out of reach, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t read my actions, actions I’d thought I’d hidden from their immediate observation. Then I swallowed hard as another thought came to me. True, they couldn’t see what I was thinking, but could they have detected the magic I used to hide the secrets I kept?
The Morrigan, who was trying, unsuccessfully, to force me into her underground lair, paused and let loose a deep sigh.
“Donn, I’ll tell you one more time: leave the thinking to me. This Faelorah may have power, but it is in no way greater than yours or mine, and she has not had time to hone it either. As for her brother . . .”
She yanked on my arm so that our eyes met. Look terrified, Meghan. Appear meek and beaten, but make sure that burn of hatred shows as well. Huh, like that was difficult to do at the moment.
“He is in absolutely no condition to be aware of his magic, let alone use it.”
Another jolt of dread coursed through me then and I felt my eyes grow wider. What had she done to Aiden?
The Morrigan smiled and I could have sworn the temperature dropped a good ten degrees.
“That’s right Meghan, dear, you have lost and any tricks you planned on performing with your brother won’t work. He’s a bit incapacitated at the moment.”
“Wh-what did you do to him?” I asked, my voice raspy.
“Nothing, though I did give him a draught to make him sleep. He’ll make a wonderful sacrifice once this is all over. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time nor the means to do much more than drug him.”
I choked back the bile that threatened to rise as the Morrigan shoved me further down the tunnel. A sleeping potion would wear off, sooner or later, and I was praying it would be sooner rather than later.
* * *
The trip down into the bowels of the Morrigan’s domain was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. The tunnel, though spacious and lit with torches hanging in cruel-looking sconces, gave me a sense of extreme claustrophobia. Every now and then the path would branch off, as if we were following the trail of a giant ant hole, and the distant noises of pain and suffering came floating up from their depths. Five minutes into our journey I could no longer feel my fingers or toes, and by the time we reached our destiny my whole face felt numb.
Eventually, we spilled out into a massive chamber. Well, I stumbled but the Morrigan, with her usual grace, took the small staircase like a fog spilling over a range of hills. Donn opted to stand at the top of the stairs with his arms crossed. It’s a good thing I couldn’t feel my hands because the small stones that lodged themselves under my skin were the size of lentils. Shivering, I dragged myself to my feet, taking deep breaths of the icy, semi-fetid air and wondering why I felt so exhausted.
I glanced around and nearly gasped at what I saw. The chamber was, in reality, a huge cavern, complete with stalagmites and stalactites and a small stream meandering along the floor. That’s not what surprised me the most, though. Several feet in front of me there was a natural formation of rock acting as a dais with a dark throne perched upon it. The tall chair resembled my mother’s in Erintara, only this one was composed of black stone and the skeletal remains of several creatures I didn’t know the names of. The perfect seat for a goddess of war and death.
The sconces, which housed the hundreds of blood-red candles and torches lighting the huge place matched the throne, but that was about as far as the macabre decor went. The cold floor was draped with thick, rich rugs in dark shades of red and gold. Delicate, tasseled curtains hanging from the walls suggested passageways into other rooms, and a great, roaring fire just behind the throne took away the bite of the freezing air.
The Morrigan turned to share a few clipped words with Donn. He nodded once, then turned on his heel, his boots grating into the hard ground of the cave and sending a raspy echo bouncing off the walls. I assumed he was satisfied with my impending imprisonment and was off to accompany his monsters to the battlefield.
“Is my domain not splendid?”
The sudden sound of the Morrigan’s voice, cutting through the trickle of the stream and the soft breathing of the Cumorrig sleeping by the fire startled me out of my stupor. I could only nod. As much as I hated the Morrigan and everything connected to her, this cave was beautiful, in an underground, Phantom of the Opera sort of way.
She sighed and brushed past me, her skirts trailing far behind her as she crossed the wide room and climbed up the stone steps and into her throne. She threw one leg over the arm rest and crooked one elbow up onto the opposite knee.
“It’s a pity things had to end this way. If only you and Caedehn could have seen things my way, we might have been able to work something out.”
She shifted in her seat and brought her leg down so that she could lean both elbows on her knees.
“Unlike your mother, I would have blessed your union with my son if you two had joined me in my plans. But now you and your brother will be mine, slaves bent to my will. Or I may just destroy you both and take what magic you have to offer. Of course, that all depends on how today’s battle plays out.”
She grinned, a wicked cut to her mouth, and her eyes glittered like rubies.
I kept my mouth clamped tight and stood as straight as I could.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, once I’d gathered my loose emotions. “Cade won’t have to worry about protecting me on the battlefield now. I won’t be a distraction to him and he’ll have a better chance of defeating your faelah army. And besides,” I said, taking a quick and pity-filled breath, “if you kill us after all this is over, at least I’ll be with Aiden, to offer him what comfort I can.”
I hoped with all my might it wouldn’t come to that, but if it did, I would have to push aside all my regrets. You knew this could be a possible outcome Meghan, my conscience reminded me, so you must live with that decision. Yes, there is still a chance that things will go your way, but this isn’t over yet.
The Morrigan narrowed her scarlet eyes at me and then started clicking her tongue as she slowly shook her head back and forth. “You see, still the weak little Faelorah you were when we first met. Letting useless emotions rule your decisions.”
The goddess sighed again and pushed herself to her feet, the dark, cloudy smoke of her magic swirling around her.
“Well then, as you know, I’m going to be quite busy for the next several hours, so I’ll have to lock you up until I have time to deal with you. They say you shouldn’t keep all your eggs in one basket, but in this case, I think it would be wise.”
She leveled those eyes on me again then raised a hand and snapped her fingers, the sharp sound bouncing off the walls. The Cumorrig jolted awake and quirked their half-rotted ears at her, only to pant when they recognized their master. I almost threw up at the sight of their decaying tongues.
The soft sound of a heavy blanket crumpling to the ground soon pulled my attention away from the hellhounds. Near the base of the dais, where a curtain had been hanging on the wall and covering what I had thought might be another passageway, was a small indentation carved out of the wall. Black iron bars ran from the tiny room’s ceiling to its floor, a gate complete with a lock in its center. And there, curled up on a blanket in the furthest corner sat . . .
“Aiden!!”
My voice tore across the massive space, causing the Cumorrig to jerk to attention once again.
I ran, just put my numb toes to the floor and ran, tripping over both the thick rugs and my own clumsy feet at least three times. I crashed into the bars, my frozen fingers wrapping around the icy metal, tears streaking down my face.
“Aiden! Oh, Aiden, can you hear me?”
“No, he can’t. I drugged him, remember? He should be out another hour or so and I wove a spell of silence around him so he can’t speak either. So sorry, Meghan, but you’ll not be able to ask him any annoying questions.”
I gritted my teeth, anger and sorrow boiling up, enticing my own magic and the magic of Cernunnos to flare. Oh yes, now would be a wonderful time to use that magic . . .
You must visit the lair of the Morrigan before you can use my glamour.
Cernunnos’s words revisited my mind, bypassing my emotions and settling themselves firmly between that wall of magic and the tiny grain of control I currently had over it. My nerves tingled and a rush of adrenalin poured through me. I let the magic build a little, and just before I was about to let my defenses fall and push all that power forth, I hesitated. Aiden was still in that cage and I was still an emotional wreck.
Wait . . . a tiny voice whispered into my mind. Wait . . .
Reluctantly, I released the breath I was holding and drew my magic back within me. There was one more thing I had to do before I let all hell break loose, and that was to get to Aiden and make sure he was alright.
Before any other thoughts could cross my mind, however, the bars I clung to gave way and I stumbled forward. I didn’t have to look behind me to know that they’d rematerialized. The Morrigan’s cold laughter filled the massive chamber and with a sharp snap of her fingers, the Cumorrig stood and left their beds by the fireplace to lie in front of mine and Aiden’s prison.
“Keep a close eye on those two and if, by some miracle of Eile, they figure out how to open the door, kill them,” the goddess snarled as she whipped her skirts around and headed for the exit.
“I hope you take this time, little Meghan, to think of all the horrible things I’ll do to my son once I catch him. Because I don’t plan on killing him on that battlefield, oh no, I’ve got something extra special planned just for you.”
She turned and smiled at me and all I could see across that dark space was the white flash of her teeth and the low, smoldering glow of her crimson eyes. The scene from my dream the night before flashed into my mind, of Cade bound and surrounded by the Cumorrig, of the Morrigan ordering them to attack. The sound of Cade’s screams as they tore into his flesh.
A sob broke free of my throat and echoed throughout the cavern. I shot my hand to my mouth, trying to hide any other sounds, but it was too late. The Morrigan’s laughter filled the room as she disappeared down the dark tunnel. The echo of a large stone slamming into place informed me that she was really gone and that Aiden and I were trapped in this hell hole with the hounds to keep us in check. I was distraught, Aiden was unconscious, and we hadn’t a hope in the world. For a few brief moments I allowed myself to get lost in my despair, but then I gritted my teeth and shook myself.
Stop it Meghan, stop it! I told myself. You spent four weeks of intense training with Enorah. Yes, it wasn’t nearly enough time to become a glamour-wielding expert, but you can’t forget what you learned. You must find a way to use it to your advantage.
I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths through my nose. Eventually, my volatile mix of magic settled down and I could feel the distant warmth of the fire across the room. I glanced down at Aiden, wondering what the Morrigan had given him to sleep. I nearly gasped when he stirred, lifting his hand up to rub his eyes before curling tighter into a ball.
“Aiden?” I whispered, my voice mimicking the rasp of sandpaper. She had said the sleeping potion would last another hour. Could her calculations have been wrong? Could Aiden’s own potent magic be protecting him?
My brother wiggled around again and moaned, but still didn’t sit up.
“Aiden!” I hissed, sharper this time.
The ears of the closest Cumorrig swiveled in our direction, but I ignored it.
“Aiden, it’s me, Meggy. Please wake up.”
Slowly, Aiden opened one eye, the one that wasn’t covered by his tiny hands. For a few seconds he simply gazed at me as if he wasn’t sure he was awake yet. All the while I sat there, still as a statue, holding my breath. But then both of my brother’s aqua eyes flew open and he leapt at me, crying out in a muffled voice. I hugged him back, my grip fierce, as tears streamed down my own face.
“Oh, Aiden! I’m so sorry the Morrigan took you! I’m so sorry!”
He simply clung to me, shaking as his own tears flowed free. When I pulled him away to look at him, I found bright, blue-green eyes staring at me. He sniffled and frowned, pointing to his throat.
I furrowed my brow then felt a cold prickle trace down my spine. “What did she do to you, Aiden?”
He lowered his eyes as his bottom lip trembled. A moment later, a fat tear slid down his cheek.
With a thick voice, I whispered, “She made it so you can’t talk, didn’t she? With magic?”
Aiden glanced up at me, his eyes full of terror. But there was something else there as well. A slow-burning anger. Good. Both Aiden and I had to be strong if we wanted to get out of here.
I glanced past his shoulder, making sure the hounds were still asleep, then lowered my voice and looked him in the eye. “I have an idea, Aiden. I know a trick that might make it possible for us to talk, but you can’t be afraid, okay? Cade taught me. You remember Cade, right?”
Aiden’s eyes grew big and he nodded his head, placing his hand on my heart. I smiled, my eyes shimmering with tears again. “Yes, I love him very much. And I love you very much, too. That’s why I let the Morrigan capture me and bring me down here.”
Aiden’s lower lip started trembling again so I shook my head.
“No, Aiden, shhh. I have a plan to get us out of here, okay? But I need your help. First, I’m going to teach you something called shil-sciar. I’m going to teach you how to talk inside my head and how to hear me inside of yours.”
Aiden firmed his mouth and nodded.
“I’ll send some thoughts your way, okay? If you can see them in your mind, I want you to try to send something back. It might take a while, but I think you can do it.”
Crossing my fingers, I hoped that the Morrigan had only hindered his ability to speak and that entering the Otherworld really had awakened his magic.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and sent, Aiden? Can you hear me? This is your big sister, Meghan.
I opened my eyes and found Aiden concentrating. He looked confused, but I gave him a few more moments. Just when I was convinced my words hadn’t reached him, his eyes and mouth shot open in surprise. Good. He’d heard my thoughts. I smiled, but before I could say anything else to him my mind was bombarded with words in vibrant, overpowering colors.
Meghan! She took me! Mom, Dad, Logan, Bradley, Jack and Joey! Are they okay?! She’s so mean and her dogs smell bad and they growl at me and I didn’t know where we were going and I thought it was a nightmare and it’s so cold in here and she made it so I can’t talk . . . but when we went through the first tunnel I could talk like you and Bradley and Logan and she understood me and I was so mad she made it so I couldn’t talk because I could finally say what I was thinking . . .
I struggled to sit up, dizzy and overwhelmed by what was happening. Oh, Aiden understood how to use this magic, and he had figured it out really fast. Danua had said he had powerful glamour, but could the Morrigan know just how potent it was? My guess was that she didn’t, or hadn’t taken the time to check. My skin prickled and I had to swallow against my nerves. Perhaps this crazy, convoluted plan of mine would work after all. I had counted on the Morrigan bringing me here; I knew she couldn’t resist my magic. I had also planned on being locked up with Aiden and to somehow find a way to combine our magic to break free. I hadn’t counted on his magic being so strong, and as the realization flooded over me, I tried hard not to let my excitement show.
Settle down, Meghan. You’re still a long way away from being on the other side of that long tunnel, my conscience reminded me. Right. I just needed to take a few deep breaths and get my mind back on track. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it go completely blank.
. . . And I wanted to see you because I knew you were here somewhere, but that mean lady just told me to be quiet and I wouldn’t stop asking so she made it so I couldn’t talk and then put me to sleep . . .
Ah yes, Aiden was still on his nervous rant. Not that I could blame him. I placed a hand on his shoulder and he immediately went quiet.
Okay Aiden, I sent into his mind, we’re going to get out of this, but I’ll need your help. We need to use our magic together, to break the Morrigan’s spell on that door. Cade’s sister taught me some tricks, but I’ll need you to help me.
I could feel my magic stirring, amping up as my body got ready for the fight ahead. Cernunnos’s glamour burned right beside my own, but I still held it at bay. I wasn’t out of the Morrigan’s prison yet, and I was saving that for the last possible minute.
Aiden calmed and then nodded once, his face set in rigid determination. I took a deep breath and, not sparing another single moment to let my worry, anxiety and fear burrow into my heart, I began to teach him everything Enorah and Cade had taught me. First, I showed him how to find his well of magic and how to draw it out and shut it down. Then I taught him how to become invisible and how to make a shield. I trained him how to transfer his magic to me and showed him what to expect when I wanted to give him some of mine. He learned fast, brilliantly, impossibly fast, and I thought for a fleeting second that perhaps the reason he was picking this up so quickly was because he’d been deprived the ability to learn for so long.
When we were done, I felt shaky and exhausted, but I drew Aiden close to me. We must have been at it for hours, and I feared that we were running out of time. That Cade and Enorah and my mother and all the other gods and goddesses were running out of time. Guilt hit me and stung fiercely. Saving Aiden was only the first part of my plan. We needed to get moving.
I took a shaky breath and pulled myself to my feet, dragging Aiden up with me. He felt lighter than I remembered and I gritted my teeth in outrage. The Morrigan would pay for her cruel treatment of him.
“We need to get this gate open,” I whispered so as not to wake the snoozing Cumorrig.
Aiden pulled his hand free of mine and placed the palm to the locking mechanism. I furrowed my brow and bent over to examine it.
The Morrigan said some strange words to open it, Aiden sent with shil-sciar.
I felt my shoulders slump. Great. Probably words Aiden hadn’t understood.
Suddenly my mind was flooded with a string of phrases that looked suspiciously like the language I’d heard so often here in Eile. I blinked in total shock.
What was that? I asked my little brother.
The words the Morrigan used to open the door.
He repeated them again, and several more times until I got the hang of them.
“Um, so how exactly did she do it? Did she just say the words?”
Aiden shook his head. She placed her hand on the lock and then said the words as her hand glowed.
No. It couldn’t be that easy. She simply said some fancy words and released a stream of magic? Then again, how was she to know Aiden had a memory like a trap. I didn’t even know that much. Shrugging, I turned towards the gate. It was worth a shot.
“Okay,” I whispered as I reached around my back to pull out Enorah’s knife. I still didn’t know how the Morrigan’s magic had missed it, but I wasn’t about to complain. “The Morrigan said that her hounds would kill us if we broke the charm on the gate, so here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to stay in here, behind me, and I’ll stand just inside the doorway so they can only come at me one at a time.”
I replaced Aiden’s hand with my own, gathered my magic at my fingertips, cleared my throat and repeated the phrase.
When my knees came into contact with the stone floor just on the other side of the bars, I knew it had worked. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to celebrate. The ruckus of our escape had woken the hellhounds.
“Behind me Aiden!” I hissed as I shoved him back and moved to stand in the door-sized gap in our prison.
He let out a whimper and dug his fingers into my coat.
I readied the long dagger and adopted a fighting pose.
The first Cumorrig leapt and I shoved my hand forward, stabbing its rotten heart with the blade. The hound yelped and fell to the ground, smoke pouring from the hole in its chest. I didn’t pause to watch its demise. I fell back just behind the doorway and waited for them to come at me again. I managed to kill seven more before one got in a bite. I gasped as the hound’s teeth sank into my thigh.
Meggy! Aiden screamed into my mind, trying to rush forward.
No! I returned, the pain making me grit my teeth as I shoved him further into the alcove. Stay back! Only five more.
I managed to cut the remaining hellhounds, but not before getting a few more bites, one on my arm, the other on the same leg as the first one. Once the horrible dogs were on the ground, writhing in pain as the magic of Enorah’s blade slowly incinerated them, I limped around the cavern floor, plunging the dagger into the beasts’ hearts and watching in macabre satisfaction as they turned to dust.
A light tug at my back made me turn around. Aiden gazed up at me with wide eyes, his skin looking slightly grey. Despite the pain in my arm and leg, I reached down and lifted him up, smoothing out his dark hair as I murmured in his ear.
“We’re getting out of here now, Aiden,” I said, leaning my head against his, “but this isn’t over yet. Outside we’re going to find a war, and the Morrigan will not be happy that we got out. I need you to be strong and to do everything I tell you, okay?”
He nodded. Will Cade be there? he asked me as his arms encircled my neck.
I swallowed back a lump in my throat and kissed my brother’s forehead.
Yes, I responded, he’ll be there.
Aiden sighed. Good. Cade will help us, won’t he Meggy?
Yes, but this time I hope to help him.
Although it was a struggle, what with my bum leg and Aiden’s weight, I climbed the stairs, leaving the beautifully morbid cavern behind and making my way back down the tunnel. I had no idea what awaited me on the edge of the Morrigan’s territory, but as I limped along, something began burning deep in my chest, and I had a feeling it was more than just my magic and Cernunnos’s combined. It was the burn of vengeance, the demanding need to protect all those I loved.
No longer was I the naive Faelorehn girl who quaked in the presence of the almighty goddess of war and strife. Oh no, I was a warrior, my instincts honed to a fine point, a point I planned on driving straight into the heartless soul of my enemy. I almost laughed and I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body. I had so much to lose, but I was through with being afraid. Win or lose, live or die, the Morrigan would grow to rue the day she ever thought to cross me.
The moment I drew my first breath of air on the other side of the stone doorway, a single, frantic word bombarded my mind.
MEGHAN!
The brilliant letters actually seared my eyes and forced a hiss from my mouth. I fell to the ground, my knees digging into the sharp rock shards that littered the dead canyon leading from the Morrigan’s underground fortress.
Meggy! another internal voice cried out.
Oh, right. Aiden’s. He reached for my elbow, trying to help me up.
I’m okay, I sent to him, pressing my hand against my pounding head.
Meghan! For Eile’s sake, where are you?!
I gritted my teeth and took another sharp breath. Looks like I’d let my shield of magic fail. Not that I was surprised, what with all that had just happened in the Morrigan’s cavern. Drawing on some of my glamour, I quickly protected my mind again before I was tempted to answer Cade.
Aiden and I moved as swiftly as we could to get out of that canyon. I had a sense from my short connection with Cade that the battle had either begun or was mere minutes away from commencing, and we were several miles from the dolmarehn. I could only hope that the Morrigan’s army moved at a very slow pace. Regardless of the fact that there was no way we were going to make it to the edge of her territory in a hurry, I held out hope for a miracle. After all, I had come this far and I was still alive. Perhaps Fate had one more use for me.
Once clear of the imposing granite walls of the ravine, Aiden and I paused a few moments to catch our breath.
Where are we going now Meggy? he asked me, his words, though not spoken, quiet nonetheless.
There was no point in lying to my brother. He had been exposed to enough horror already; it wouldn’t hurt to tell him the truth.
We’re going to fight.
The Morrigan?
Yes.
Good. She is evil.
That she is, Aiden. But we’re going to try and be careful.
Is that where Cade is?
My heart took another plunge and I fought against the panic and sorrow that tried to take over me.
Yes, Aiden. He is fighting with all the kings and queens of Eile, of the Otherworld, and with our mo–
I was about to say, ‘and with our mother’, but I wasn’t sure how much Aiden had been told about our birth mother. Best not to shock him as well as scare him.
I took a deep breath. And the high queen of the Otherworld is with him as well.
Aiden squeezed my hand. The Morrigan has lots of monsters, and that scary dark man as well.
Scary, dark man . . ? Oh, Donn. I found it odd that the god of the underworld was so silent and complacent with regards to the Morrigan. Then again, his part in all this was to lord over the lost souls of the underworld, whereas the Morrigan’s job was to stir the pot that sent them there. She would be the more violent one, naturally. Didn’t mean Donn didn’t scare the crap out of me, though.
Come on. We need to keep moving if we want to help Cade and all of our friends.
Your friends, not mine, Aiden corrected. His words were the color of doubt and sadness.
They’ll be your friends too, I promise.
Just as I took the first step on what would definitely be a long, grueling journey, a sharp whinny cut through the air and brought me to a jolting stop. A fiery red horse came bursting around the corner, trampling what plants had managed to live in this desolate place. The stallion danced around wildly as several small, ugly faelah snapped at his heels.
“Lasair!” I cried, dropping Aiden’s hand and moving to run towards him.
The horse let out another irritated scream and pinned his ears to his head, baring his teeth and snorting. I stopped my forward progress and instead flattened myself against the closest stone, Aiden at my back. Guess the stallion wanted to dispatch the faelah first. Who was I to argue?
With efficient grace, Lasair crushed the rotten creatures under his heavy feet and came trotting up to me, throwing his head back and digging at the earth with his hoof.
I stepped away from Aiden and the rock, crossing my arms and wincing against the lingering pain in my injured arm and leg.
“I told you to leave this place!” I demanded, though I couldn’t hide the raw joy I felt at seeing him.
He tossed his head again and then nickered, as if reminding me I was wasting time.
“You’re right,” I breathed.
Grabbing his mane, I pulled myself into the saddle and then reached out a hand to Aiden. My brother gave me a wary look and swallowed hard, his aqua eyes filled with fear.
“Aiden, this is Lasair. He’s my horse here in Eile and he is very smart.”
When my brother remained where he was, I tried again. “He won’t hurt you, he only kills faelah.”
Lasair rumbled and lowered his nose to try and sniff at my brother.
Please, Aiden, I whispered into his mind, Cade needs our help.
Taking a deep breath, Aiden stepped forward and reached out a tentative hand. I didn’t give him a chance to change his mind. With a sharp tug, he was atop Lasair and sitting in front of me.
“Let’s go!” I shouted, giving the red stallion full permission to head westward towards the epic battle that awaited us. As we left the canyon and rocky hillside behind, another screech filled the air and the sting of tears broke free of my eyes as Meridian landed on my shoulder.
“Does no one listen to me?” I sobbed as she nibbled at my ear.
Protect, she insisted. Never leave.
I hugged Aiden close as Meridian took off again, screaming her own battle cry as she led the way. I wanted my friends to be safe and I was unhappy that they hadn’t listened to me, but I was also happier than ever to see them.
Luckily, the time it took us to breach the distance between the Morrigan’s hold and the dolmarehn was so brief with Lasair running at full speed, I didn’t have too much time to think about all that could go wrong now that everything was coming to a head. After what seemed like an eternity of monotonous landscape, the flat terrain began to lift into a patch of small hills. I knew the dolmarehn that would take us to the edge of the Morrigan’s realm couldn’t be more than a mile away now.
“Almost there,” I breathed, pulling Aiden close.
As we crested one final hilltop, Lasair slowed to a stop and whinnied in distress. Far below us all hell was breaking loose. Literally. We couldn’t have been more than fifty feet up, but on the flat plain spread out before the looming dolmarehn in the distance, a sea of carnage awaited our arrival.
For several heart-wrenching minutes I simply sat in Lasair’s saddle, my mind numb as my eyes scanned the battlefield, seeking out those I held closest to my heart. Donn’s Dotarbh dominated the scene, their black shapes barreling through faelah and Faelorehn alike, trying to cause the most damage. Quickly, I located most of the Tuatha De: Lugh using his Spear from horseback, impaling faelah like marshmallows, their rotted corpses going up in flames and burning away as soon as their flesh touched the wood of his magical weapon. Epona, in her horse form, stood out like a beacon, her pale coat and mane stained with the dark blood of faelah. The equine goddess and her fellow horses used their teeth and powerful legs to bring down the enemy. Lasair let out an eager whicker as he watched his friends run down and destroy any faelah standing in their path.
“Alright, Lasair,” I growled softly, sliding off his back before helping Aiden down.
I quickly removed the stallion’s saddle, then his bridle. Before he took off, he turned to give me one last appraising look.
“Be careful,” I murmured as moisture pooled in my eyes.
He tossed his head, then let out his own battle cry before charging down the hill. I wiped away the tears and made sure one of my hands held Aiden’s tightly before I returned my attention back towards the fight.
The sights, sounds and smells of conflict bombarded my senses. The screams and roars of animals and Faelorehn alike scraped at my ears and forced goose bumps to break out on my skin. Death, its aggressive smell akin to a malicious parasite, made me sick to my stomach, and the grand image of suffering all around me, like a serial killer’s slide show gone berserk, was almost enough to make me turn tail and run. But I couldn’t. My loved ones were down there and if that wasn’t enough to motivate me, I had that bone to pick with the Morrigan and the conviction that the Tuatha De needed me if they wanted to win this fight.
Gritting my teeth, I continued my search. I wasn’t doing anything until I found Cade, so I kept scanning the ongoing carnage, holding my breath and hoping to see some sign of the one I loved the most. I spotted the Dagda and my mother next, both of them on horseback and holding their own. The Dagda used a great battle axe to take out his enemy, while my mother threw arcs of magic that blasted the faelah into clouds of black dust.
A sharp scream followed by the tell-tale thlunk of several arrows striking flesh jerked my attention to the small patch of trees off to the left. I squinted, then grinned when I spotted Enorah and her archers in the branches of the trees, picking off faelah with arrows. Good. She was still in the fight and still alive. But where was Cade . . . ?
My eyes darted around frantically, but it wasn’t long until they came to a screeching halt. Just at the base of our small hill, something large and dark rose above all the dead monsters surrounding it. The Morrigan. She sat astride a great horse. No, not a horse, but a faelah that looked like a horse. She wielded a curved, black sword and the sleeves of her dress were torn away. Wild, unfettered bloodlust gleamed in her scarlet eyes and the skirts of her dress billowed around her like a black cloud of death.
Ice pooled in my stomach and I forced my hands to stop shaking. I could not lose it now.
Something big slammed into the goddess’s demon horse and she was thrown from its back, only to land soundly, her sword ready to do more damage. I watched in horror, unable to look away, as she mowed down men and women with that weapon of hers. When someone wearing the uniform of the Dagda’s guard caught the sword on the handle of his axe and tore it from her hands, she simply threw the smoky edge of her skirts over him, the black substance sucking the life right out of him and making him age before my eyes. When the Morrigan pulled her skirts back, nothing but dust and a bleached skeleton remained.
“Meghan!”
The familiar, guttural roar dragged my attention away from the slaughter. My eyes flashed to the left and my bones almost melted. Cade.
He was coming out of his riastrad, his arms shrinking to their normal size, his huge frame returning to its usual proportions. He looked utterly spent and he stumbled as he tried to make his way towards me. Too much blood. There was too much blood covering his body and I could only pray it wasn’t all his.
The Morrigan stopped dead in her tracks. She had been busy burning her way through a group of soldiers wearing Lugh’s colors. I looked up and gritted my teeth. They were in the way of a direct path to Cade. The scorn and malice that gleamed red in her eyes only confirmed my suspicions. She wasn’t even bothering to check and see if she had killed any of her adversaries; she was far too intent on getting to her son.
Over my dead body, I thought with fury. I took in a deep breath and let my magic grow and surge. Aiden clung to me, but I felt him tense up, as if he were about to bolt.
Once her path was clear, the Morrigan gave her son one hard look, then followed his gaze up to where it rested on me and Aiden. As the shock rippled over her face, pure hatred and anger took its place. Her ruby eyes darted between Cade and I, and before Cade could close the gap between us, the goddess spoke a string of ancient words and sent the edges of her living skirts unfurling towards her son. The black cloud pooled at his feet and began climbing up his legs. He stopped mid-stride and lifted his hands to his throat, gasping for breath as the Morrigan continued her chant, her words becoming lost in the cries and screams of the battle still going on all around them.
“No!” I screeched. My magic reacted with me, bursting forth and saturating my every cell.
Not yet, I told it, let me get her a little closer first . . .
“Morrigan!” I shouted even louder.
This time she heard me. Jerking as if she’d been slapped, Cade’s mother dropped her magical hold on her son and whipped her head around. As soon as the Morrigan’s attention was on me, Cade fell to his knees, coughing to catch his breath, the aftermath of his battle fury having sapped all his energy. A few faelah noticed he was down, but out of nowhere something white blurred by and attacked. Fergus. A small flush of relief joined the rush of my magic as the wolfhound made mincemeat out of the Morrigan’s abominations. Good. He would keep Cade safe for now. As the magic in my veins pulsed and cried out for action, I turned quickly to Aiden who had remained plastered to my side.
No more self-control, no more holding back. This was it. The final hour. My final dance with the woman who had been making my life miserable for the past two years. This ended, right now.
Taking a breath, I crouched down so that Aiden and I were eye to eye. Speaking into his mind, I tried my best to make my shil-sciar words seem calm, controlled.
Aiden, this is it. I’m going to use my power to try and end this. I’d send you away if I could, but I don’t know where you could go that would be safe at this point.
Aiden’s eyes grew large and worried and he shook his head.
No, listen, okay?
I had to take a few deep breaths to gather my bearings. I needed my brother to hide Cernunnos’s magic; to create a shield of his own glamour to stretch around me as I allowed it to bloom to its full extent. This way the Morrigan would only be focused on his magic and not mine, and if I could gather Cernunnos’s power and throw it at her in one large blast, I might just be able to obliterate her. But if I told Aiden about my extra glamour, then I would break my geis. How ironic it would be, to make it this far and lose everything. I gritted my teeth. The magic had to be hidden from the Morrigan. She had to believe I only had my little bit to use against her. The element of surprise would not be there if I revealed my extra glamour too soon.
Think Meghan, think . . . What did Cernunnos say to you? About your geis, about his magic, about not telling a single person . . . And then it dawned upon me, like brilliant, pure golden light bursting through an ocean of storm clouds after a week of rain. His words came rushing back to me: You cannot tell a single Faelorehn man or woman Meghan . . . That’s right, I couldn’t, and Cernunnos had told me this twice. Why? Because he’d wanted me to remember his exact words. I couldn’t tell any Faelorehn men or women about my gift, but he hadn’t said I couldn’t tell any Faelorehn children . . .
I quickly turned my attention back on Aiden, the ridiculous urge to smile like an idiot flitting across my mind. Unfortunately, my intense fear and anxiety pulled the plug on that plan. Taking a deep breath, I prepared the words in my mind. Well, here goes, I told myself.
I have my magic Aiden, I sent to him, but I also have someone else’s magic as well. I’m going to let it free, and I’m not sure what will happen, but I want you to stay by my side.
I paused for a moment to take a shaky breath, realizing that I had to use everything I had to make sure the Morrigan didn’t rise again this day. It meant risking more than I was willing to sacrifice. It meant taking the chance that my own flame of magic might burn out, but as I cast one more glance over my shoulder to survey the fight below me, I also realized that this might be the only way to save Danua, the Dagda, Aiden . . . Cade.
A light touch pulled my thoughts back up to the hilltop. Aiden had placed a hand on my shoulder.
Don’t worry, Meggy, he whispered into my mind. I’ll protect you.
I pulled my brother close, fighting the warning in my head that kept telling me not to do this, not to risk my own life. But I had no other choice. I would not lose Cade again, nor would I lose Aiden or anyone else if I could help it. I drew in a deep breath, my body shuddering as I did so. I had to make a sacrifice, and the only sacrifice I could live with would be one of my own offering.
I glanced over my shoulder and checked on the Morrigan’s slow climb up the low hill. Her immense power was gathering and crackling around her like a scarlet web of electricity; her skirts of smoke and death billowing out over the ground, smothering anything that dared approach.
Meggy? Aiden asked, his own silent words tainted with terror.
I closed my eyes and let the tears fall silently as the clash and shouting of battle continued to rage on just below us.
It’ll be okay, Aiden, but you have to do exactly what I say, okay?
He nodded and hugged me closer. A twinge of bitterness coursed through me, matching the tingle of the magic I was building up in my blood. I had to push it away. It would do me no good to reflect on what I was being forced to give up. No. I would not dwell on regrets.
I knelt down on the damp grass and looked Aiden in the eye. I’m going to use my magic to stop all this, I repeated as the first icy raindrop fell from the black clouds above, but I need your help.
Aiden nodded, his dark hair ruffling in the wind.
Remember what I taught you about your magic? How you can never let the candle go out?
He nodded again.
And remember how I showed you how to build a shield with that magic?
Yes.
Good. I blinked hard and took a deep breath.
How is all this possible, Meggy? Why do we have this magic? Does anyone else have it?
I knew he meant the rest of our family in the mortal world. Biting my lip, I shook my head. I reached up and placed my hand on his cheek. Just us, buddy, and when this is all over, I’ll explain it to you. But first I have a job to do and so do you. I need you to build a shield and I want you to place it around both of us. But Aiden, you must never, ever, let your candle go out. That is the most important thing. Do you promise me to never let the candle flame go out?
I knew my fingers dug into his arms, but I could not loosen my hold.
Yes Meggy, I promise I won’t let my candle go out.
I pressed my head against his small chest and murmured, “Thank you, Aiden.”
Then I pulled back and reached my hands up, lifting the mistletoe charm from around my neck. I never took it off anymore, but today I had good reason to.
This was the first thing Cade ever gave me from the Otherworld. It is a charm to protect you against evil. I want you to have it.
Aiden shook his head fiercely. You need it to keep safe.
No. I have my torque, see? I brushed my fingers against the smooth metal.
Reluctantly, Aiden took the necklace and looped it over his head.
I stood and carefully removed Enorah’s dagger from its hiding place. I remembered what Cade had said to me long ago, about how magic was more potent when the barrier between blood and skin was breached. Despite the wounds I’d received from the Cumorrig in the Morrigan’s cave, I didn’t think they were enough.
“Look Aiden, look at how dark the sky is over there. I think I saw some lightning.”
Once he turned away, I dug the sharp edge of the dagger into my arm. I gasped, but bit my lip so I wouldn’t cry out. I made several more cuts, two at the base of my neck, two on my palms and one on each of my forearms. I could feel the blood trickling over my skin and I could smell the metallic tang of it. But I could also see the pale blue aura of my glamour gathering around me like a small storm. And for the first time since acquiring it, I allowed the magic Cernunnos had given me to join my own. It flowed free, an exhilarating, cooling rush of darker blue as the rose burst into bloom. The strength behind the antlered god’s glamour made me gasp, but I refused to give it full control, at least not yet. Behind Aiden’s shield, away from the Morrigan’s immediate sight, I let my magic and the foreign magic build and grow until it nearly consumed me. I had one shot to end the Morrigan’s assault for good, and I couldn’t blow it.
I took Aiden’s hand, my own bloody from the cuts I’d made.
His blue-green eyes held concern, but I smiled at him as the tears gathered in his eyes once more.
Now Aiden, keep the shield nice and strong. But remember, never let your candle flame go out.
What about your candle, Meggy?
I gritted my teeth and fought the tremor that tried to take over me.
Don’t you worry about my candle, Aiden. You just take care of yours.
“Hold onto me Aiden,” I breathed down to him in my best big sister voice, ending our silent conversation, “hold onto me no matter what and when I say let go, I want you to let go of me but keep the shield of magic over yourself, okay?”
His bottom lip quivered, but he sniffled and nodded, then buried his face into my side. Taking a deep breath, I sent a prayer out to the spirits of Eile and then I turned and faced the Morrigan once more.
My power crackled down my arms, making the small hair stand on end, and a supernatural wind stirred around me, but the goddess of death was undeterred. Pure fury engulfed her, her black skirts like a great cloud of death and strife spreading out behind her, the dark tendrils of smoke seeking out new souls to ensnare as she finally breached the crest of the small hill.
“How did you two fae straylings escape my fortress!?” she hissed.
Oh yay, we were going to have a little chat before we attempted to obliterate one another on this hilltop. Fine. I had lots to say to her.
“You put Danua’s two children together then left us to be guarded by your worthless hounds,” I retorted, my voice shaking a little. “What did you expect?”
“The bars on that gate were charmed!” she ground out. “You should never have been able to break free!”
“That was your mistake,” I responded, calling my combined magic to gather into one, solid sphere of power.
Just a little longer, I whispered to myself. You just need to keep control a little longer . . .
A screech and a white flash flew into my line of vision, breaking my concentration for a split second. Meridian.
Too late, I realized what she was doing, but I screamed nonetheless. “No!!”
A red flash of power zapped through the air and slammed into my spirit guide, sending her cart-wheeling into a thicket of oaks growing up the side of the hill, white feathers flying everywhere.
Crying out in pure anguish and hatred, I turned my eyes on the Morrigan and almost charged at her.
No Meghan, you’ve come too far and suffered too much to let it all fall apart now, my conscience reminded me.
Gritting my teeth and fighting back a new wave of tears, I glared at my enemy. The Morrigan merely returned my look of disdain. I didn’t have time to wonder about Meridian’s fate, because in the next breath the goddess continued on, as if taking out my spirit guide were as noteworthy as smashing a mosquito.
“So then, Meghan, after escaping my lair and killing my hounds, do you still think you are strong enough to fight me?” she hissed in a quiet voice that suggested she had a very thin hold on her own temper. “Even with the paltry power you’re siphoning out of your brother, you stand no chance against me. Do you think I’ve simply been killing these Faelorehn scum and leaving them to rot?”
She cast her hand around, gesturing towards the plain below. “Do you have any idea the amount of power I’ve accumulated since this battle started? I’ve given you every opportunity to join me and I am weary of this game. You die today, Faelorah, you and your worthless brother and that pathetic son of mine. You all die and I get all that power I’ve always wanted without the headache.”
The Morrigan wiped the blood and sweat from her forehead, seeming to take pleasure in the act.
“Your words don’t frighten me, Morrigan,” I retorted. “I have survived your murder attempts twice already, and you know what? I learned something from those experiences as well. I’m not the ignorant little Faelorah you once thought I was. But Donn was right; you let your superiority get in the way of caution.”
I lowered my voice, though it was still hard to speak over the building wind of the storm and the continued percussion of the battle below. “Just think about it. You laughed at him for believing it unwise to leave Aiden and me alone. Looks like he had a point, huh? Makes one wonder what else you’ve been wrong about.”
The Morrigan’s eyes shifted, and for once I saw something other than anger, hatred and conceit in their crimson depths. I saw doubt. And I saw fear.
“You may be the most powerful goddess in Eile, but everyone has a weakness, and I know yours,” I said, my voice harsh and angry. “Your arrogance has caused you to underestimate me, to become lazy on the details. All I had to do was behave the way you expected me to behave and bide my time. Well Morrigan, your time is up!”
I drew the immense ball of power closer, sending it spinning into a spiral just in front of me. I could feel Aiden’s shield of glamour wavering. He had done so well, considering how little he knew about magic, and I understood that it was now or never. One shot, I had one shot to either end the Morrigan’s reign or annihilate all that I loved.
“You cannot kill me!” the Morrigan screeched as she covered the last several yards that separated us, lifting her arm as that dark power crackled along her skin.
“No,” I said harshly, my voice not sounding like my own. I could tell that my eyes glowed brilliant blue, like the magic I was building. “No, I cannot kill you, but I can destroy you.”
The Morrigan’s eyes grew wide and she pulled in a deep breath, calling upon every last reserve of her own immense glamour as it condensed into a brilliant crimson blaze in her hand. But before she released it, I screeched at Aiden to pull the shield away and simply let the power I controlled pour forth, the great, spinning sphere surging forward as it continued to pull more magic from my self-inflicted wounds and every pore in my body. It stung, the way a healing dose of medicine stings away infection, and the air was swooped from my lungs. I felt suddenly like an empty shell and I collapsed to the ground just as my magic crashed into hers. An explosion that rent the dark sky and sent shock waves rippling across the land rumbled like the roar of the earth itself. Above all the chaos and cacophony and pain from the magical explosion, a primitive scream, filled with hatred, anger and anguish, rang out.
It felt like my eardrums would burst and I recalled a few things before the darkness came. One, I didn’t feel any pain anymore, which in its own way was a blessing. Two, I could sense more than hear Aiden’s sob of realization when I crumpled beneath him. Good, that meant he had listened to me and hadn’t let his flame of magic go out. And the last thing I experienced before I lost all sensation was Cade’s anguished voice and his words splaying across my mind in brilliant red, Meghan! NO!
* * *
I floated in darkness for a long while, waiting to be taken to the afterlife of the Faelorehn. Did we have an afterlife? Or did we just drift around in nothingness? It didn’t seem fair, that we would have a conscious and have nowhere for that conscious to go once our bodies died. But maybe it was different for us because we were immortal; we weren’t supposed to die.
I inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, wondering why I was breathing if I was dead. Maybe it was something that followed the spirit; something done more out of habit than necessity.
Time passed, how much though I could not say. Eventually the darkness that surrounded me faded away and I was shrouded in mist. Not a single sound disturbed the quiet, and as the mist swirled and unfurled before me, I saw something familiar. A huge tree, its many branches and upturned roots tangled together to create a sphere. The Tree of Life. So, I really was dead, my spirit returning to the great Tree. It made sense and I had, after all, used up every last speck of my magic. I only hoped that I had taken the Morrigan with me, or at least hit her so hard she wouldn’t be solid again for centuries.
The Tree seemed to beckon me, but before I could so much as set foot on the first stepping stone, I glanced down and saw my reflection in the water. The mist had parted, blown away on a gentle, indiscernible breeze, and the grey and white monotone of the glade became suffused with a golden light.
What I saw in that pool was shocking. The girl, no, the young woman, who stared back at me was absolutely beautiful. True, she had the same color eyes as me, only they were a clearer, brighter hazel than my own, and my hair . . . that tangled, curly mess that had more than once tempted me into shaving it all off, fell in perfect, dark curls down my back. A beautiful white, long-sleeved gown replaced the torn and bloody clothes I had worn when confronting the Morrigan, but my feet were bare. I looked like some little girl’s guardian angel but without the wings.
“Yes, Meghan, that is you.”
The voice startled me, and I jerked my head up. A tall man, a pair of many-pronged antlers protruding from his head, stepped out of the pale mist that remained and came my way. Cernunnos.
“It is you, but it is how Caedehn sees you.”
“I don’t understand,” I answered.
And I didn’t. I was dead, lost in the spirit world, I assumed. Cade was safe, I hoped, and alive in Eile. Along with Aiden. So why was Cernunnos here talking to me? Had he died in the battle too? Maybe because he didn’t have his magic to protect him?
Cernunnos only grinned and gave a slight shake of his head.
“Not many of us ever know how lovely we look in the eyes of the one who loves us. This is my gift to you; to know how Cade sees you. This image represents more than just physical beauty, but your spirit also. As you can see, I chose well.”
I blinked at him, confused.
“I thought my gift from you was your magic, the magic of a god.”
“Yes, but that gift you paid for. You kept your word, Meghan; you didn’t tell a soul about it, except for Aiden, and you used it when it had the best chance of helping others. When it could show you just how strong and great you could be.”
I tried not to feel bitter. “And yet, I am here.”
Cernunnos’s brown eyes sparkled and became almost green. “Yes, you are here.”
I gritted my teeth and tried not to regret my choice. I had known this could happen, so I had to live with it, so to speak. But now that this was all over, and now that I had the woodland god here with no one to interrupt, I took a deep breath and asked the same question I’d asked him the day he bestowed his magic upon me, “Why me? Why did you give this gift to me? Of all the Faelorehn you, or the Spirits of Eile, could have chosen, why did you choose me?”
Yes, he had already given me an answer, but there had to be more to it. And now that we were both in the spirit world, I thought maybe he’d be more honest with his response.
“Because you were the most innocent. Of course, your brother would have been an even better choice, but he is far too young to understand. You, Meghan, you who knows next to nothing of our world, who is not yet blinded by the power you possess, no one but you could have done this.”
“But to keep it secret from everyone, to let them live in fear for that long? To have sacrificed so much when they could have known my gift of power would make things right in the end?”
“Ah, but what is a sacrifice worth if it is not given from our hearts? It is worth nothing, Meghan, if there is nothing to lose. That is what makes it a sacrifice; that is what allows it to hold its own power.”
I glanced at him once again, then at the Tree looming only yards away.
“I think I have to go now,” I murmured.
As I took a step towards the Tree, Cernunnos reached out and grabbed my hand gently.
“Oh no, Meghan, not today,” he said, his own words quiet.
“But,” I turned towards the Tree again. “I think–”
“No,” he said more firmly this time as he pulled me away from the stepping stones and deeper into the mist. “The Tree can wait.”
Slowly, the warm, fuzzy orange glow of the enchanted meadow faded away and an image of Cade’s worried face appeared before me. I smiled, my eyes prickling as they filled with tears. Oh, how I had missed him, floating around in this strange state of death. But then my grin vanished and I felt a stab of pain. This was wrong. I had died so that he wouldn’t have to. Had my sacrifice come too late? I bit my lip and choked on a sob. Not fair. Not only had Cade died too, but shouldn’t the afterlife be free of such painful emotions?
Then his hand found my cheek and he stroked my face gently. His eyes shone and he released a great breath.
“Oh my love, oh Meghan.”
He sighed again and drew me close, pressing his forehead against mine.
“I thought I had lost you.”
I was confused. What?
But you have lost me, Cade. I’m sorry. I lied to you about my extra magic, all this time. But don’t you see? I did it to protect you, and Aiden and everyone else. Please forgive me. I thought it would be enough. I thought I could save you.
I didn’t realize I had been using shil-sciar until Cade’s lips met mine as he answered me. No Meghan, no. You did not die, but you almost did. Gods, you were so close I nearly went crazy. My riastrad is nothing compared to the state I was in when I found you.
His arms wrapped around me as he trailed kisses across my face. It felt as if he would never let me go and I sighed, enjoying this comforting fantasy while it lasted. There was no way what he told me was true. I couldn’t have survived that fight. My candle flame had burned out.
Eventually, Cade stopped kissing me and took a deep breath as he pulled me even closer, tucking my head in against his chest and under his chin, his strong hands splaying across my back. I melted into him, barely registering that it was our bare skin that touched. I sighed again and grinned, wishing with all my heart that what Cade had told me in this afterlife dream was true.
A moment later everything went dark again and I knew that the next time I woke, this bliss would be nothing more than a memory.
I woke again to the sensation of someone stroking my face. Blinking the blurriness from my eyes, I noticed that Cade was with me.
“Where am I?” I murmured.
“In our room at Erintara,” Cade responded quietly.
“Am I dead?”
Cade grinned, his eyes filling with tears. “No my love, no. You are very much alive.”
But what about the Tree of Life? My conversation with Cernunnos? Then I remembered the dream I’d had of Cade just afterwards. Perhaps it hadn’t been a dream after all.
I took a shuddering breath. “Are you sure?”
Cade tilted my chin up and kissed me gently, his lips lingering on mine.
Very much so.
My voice was rough when I spoke again. “How?”
And then he told me everything that had happened.
“I was halfway up the hill when your glamour hit the Morrigan, and the shockwave knocked me off my feet for a good thirty seconds. By the time I made it to your side, Aiden was there, crying silently over you with his hands pressed to your skin.”
Cade shuddered but then forced himself to continue. “Immediately, I sought out your magic and couldn’t find any. I panicked, thinking the worst, but then I felt a steady stream of another’s glamour keeping the tiny spark of your candlewick going.”
“It was probably Cernunnos’s magic, not mine,” I murmured without thinking.
“No. It wasn’t his,” he replied, no question in his voice.
I stiffened. How did he know?
“Once we got you safely inside Erintara and I knew you were going to stay with us, Cernunnos pulled me aside and explained everything.”
Cade pressed his lips to my temple and I could feel his mouth curve up in a grin. “I gave him a black eye and a few broken ribs before the Dagda pulled me off of him.”
“What?!” I cried, struggling to sit up.
Oh no, that wasn’t going to happen. It felt like someone had thrown me into an industrial-strength drier full of broken glass and gravel and then hit the heavy duty button. I hurt all over.
“He deserved it for what he put you through, and he even said so after his nose stopped bleeding.”
Ugh. I was so tired of people getting hurt. “Will he be okay?”
“Now that he has his glamour back he will be,” Cade answered.
I sighed and snuggled back against him. “Cade?” I murmured.
“Hmmm?”
“Not that I’m complaining, but why are we naked?”
He chuckled and said, “Helps with the magical transfusion. I’ve been sharing my glamour with you to help you get stronger. That’s what kept the spark of your magic from going out you know, the magic that was being poured into you.”
Ah yes, the conversation we’d been having before I got sidetracked with my concern for the antlered god. “So who was it then? Who kept me alive?”
Cade turned my face so that I looked directly into his dark green eyes. “Aiden,” he said quietly, “Aiden was the one who kept your magic from dying.”
Tears welled and fell before I could even register them.
“Is he okay?” My voice was hoarse and my throat hurt, but I didn’t care.
“He’s with Danua right now. He’s a bit weak, but she managed to break whatever spell of silence the Morrigan placed on him and when you’re both well enough to travel, we’ll pay a visit to your family in the mortal world.”
I nodded. Now that I knew everyone I cared about was safe, sleep pulled at me. Before I drifted off, however, one more thing came to mind.
“The Morrigan?” I mumbled.
“Gone, my love.” Cade kissed me again. “And when Eile raises her again in a thousand years or more, we will make sure she never gains back the power she once had.”
* * *
I later learned that I’d been unconscious for three days, during which time the Tuatha De gathered their people to head back to their own realms. They possessed the task of spreading the news that the Morrigan had been vanquished and that those faelah who survived the battle, the ones not controlled completely by her power, had scattered to hide until she returned again. Or to cause their own mischief. As for Donn, well, Cade told me he had disappeared after my blast of power hit the Morrigan. No one thought that the god of the dead would be making an appearance any time soon.
On the fourth day after the great battle, I woke up to find a familiar set of dark eyes regarding me from the bed post.
“Meridian!” I cried, a sob catching in my throat.
Cade stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist when he heard my cry.
I shot my glance to him, the joy at seeing Meridian distracting me from his splendid state of undress.
“I thought the Morrigan killed her,” I said.
Cade shook his head, a small smile on his face. “We found her in a grove of trees under the care of a small colony of twigrins.”
I continued to stare at him, confused.
Cade crossed the room and took a seat on the bed next to me.
“That’s right, I never told you about that characteristic of your favorite Otherworldly creature. Twigrins like to fix things, well, repair things that are damaged. They use their special magic to mend broken branches or crushed flowers, or sometimes heal the twisted ankle of a fawn.”
I was smiling broadly now. “Or cure a white merlin who has been hit with a blast of bad magic?”
“Precisely,” Cade said, giving me a quick kiss on the top of my head.
I reached up and gave Meridian a scratch. She cooed and closed her eyes.
Safe, she sent on a mental sigh. No more hurt.
“What about Lasair?” I asked, my joy drying up only to be replaced with fear.
“He returned home with Epona,” Cade said. “The faelah hurt him pretty badly, so he needs time to heal among his fellow horses.”
I nodded, pained to hear he’d been hurt, but grateful he was alive. Then I asked the next question, somewhat afraid of the answer. “Will I ever see him again?”
Cade put his hand behind my neck and pulled me into a deep kiss. My nerves tingled and my fingers drifted towards his towel, but he escaped my grasp with a quick twitch of his hips, lifting up off of the bed and pulling away from me so that he could dress for the day.
“He told Speirling that once he has returned to full health, he’ll be back to serve as your devoted companion.”
Despite my disappointment at Cade’s escape, the bright smile he sent me, along with the news of Lasair’s impending return, kept my thoughts positive.
I started to get out of bed, insisting on a shower. Cade helped me, of course, because I could barely walk. I guess using up almost all of your power in one fell swoop took a while to recover from. Who was I to complain, though? It was better than being dead.
Once I felt clean and was dressed, I asked about Aiden and my mother again.
“Danua sent a message up earlier while you were still asleep. They are waiting for us in the parlor beside her throne room with tea.”
I moved to stand up and as my legs crumpled beneath me, Cade stepped in and took charge, lifting me up into his arms.
“As much as I admire the chivalry thing,” I grumbled, “I don’t need you carrying me from room to room.”
“Yes you do,” Cade answered cheerfully, maneuvering us through the door.
As we passed down the hallway, people paused and stood aside, bowing and greeting me as if I had grown up here in this very castle. I guess risking my life and taking out their enemy improved my status in their eyes, and against my better judgment, their kind acknowledgment warmed me.
Danua and Aiden were waiting for us when we arrived, my mother in her usual, court dress and Aiden in a pair of fancy clothes that looked personally tailored to fit him. When he saw Cade carrying me in, he jumped up from his chair and came running over.
“Meggy!” he cried out.
Cade set me down just in time for Aiden to slam into me, wrapping his arms around me in a tight grip. Cade held onto my shoulders so I wouldn’t fall over, and I reached down and ran my hand over my brother’s dark hair. I couldn’t help it. I started crying again. Aiden. My autistic brother, talking to me as if he’d done so his entire life.
“The lady says she’s our real mother, Meggy, is that true?”
Aiden looked up at me with those big eyes of his and I bit my lip, nodding. “Yes, Aiden, she’s our real mother.”
He furrowed his brow and I waited for him to deny it, to break down and insist she was wrong. Instead he gave a little sigh and just leaned into me. “Then that means we’re true brother and sister.”
I sniffled and pressed my hand against his back.
“Meggy,” he said again, looking back up at me. “If she’s our real mother, why did she send us away to Mom and Dad?”
Danua had stood up and was moving our way, but upon hearing Aiden’s words she froze and gave me a sad look.
I cleared my throat. “Because, Aiden,” I said, returning my eyes to his face, “she loves us very much and thought that we would be safer if we grew up with Mom and Dad.”
Aiden seemed to turn that over in his head for a few moments, but then nodded again and closed his eyes as he rested his cheek against my hip.
I looked back up in time to see Danua approaching me with her arms open. I had to swallow back my surprise when she wrapped all of us, Cade included, into a great hug. Her shoulders shook and when she stepped back, tears streamed down her face.
“I never thought in a thousand years that I’d see the two of you again,” she said softly, looking first at me, then Aiden. “And now I have both of you here.”
After that, we all sat down to tea. Aiden asked one question after another as we enjoyed our meal, and he got an answer for each of them. I couldn’t believe how comfortable he was here, sitting in Danua’s castle and talking to us as if he had never had a timid streak at all. But maybe that had never been the case to begin with. Perhaps he had just been awkward about his inability to communicate with others. Whatever it was, I was beyond happy to see him so vibrant.
Cade trailed his hand across my thigh, seeking my fingers. When both our hands were clasped, I looked up at him. He grinned and whispered into my mind, Danua has sent a message to your parents, telling them that you both are well. She has also requested that Aiden start spending his summers here in Erintara.
I blinked in surprise at him. I hadn’t thought about where Aiden would live. I’d kind of been too busy trying to rescue him and get rid of the Morrigan. What Cade suggested sounded like a good plan, but I only had one question.
Does Aiden know about this?
Cade nodded. He was present when we discussed it.
And?
He said as long as he got to spend time with his big sister, then it was fine by him.
Smiling like an idiot, I leaned back in my chair so that I pressed up against Cade. It would take me a bit longer to heal, but as soon as I could walk and function like a normal person once again, we would take a little trip to the mortal world and tell my parents everything that had happened.
That evening, my mother hosted a small dinner in my honor. Her entire court attended (along with their new, positive attitudes with regards to me) and when I entered the dining room and found the Dagda and Enorah waiting for me, both dressed in Erintara’s finest, I almost fell on my face as I bolted away from Cade’s side. I’d forgotten my legs still weren’t working properly.
Aiden came in after me, flying away from Danua and latching onto my arm. I introduced him to Enorah and the Dagda, and although he hid behind the folds of my skirts at first, by the time the main course arrived, he was as chatty as he’d been with our mother earlier that morning. I still couldn’t believe how much my brother had changed, but it was quickly growing on me.
The next morning, Cade, Aiden and I left for Luathara. I was well enough to travel, and it was long past the time we return Aiden to my parents in the mortal world. Danua came to see us off, her regal, controlled mask back on as she said farewell to a son and daughter she had almost lost.
“I’ll come back again,” I promised, squeezing her hand, “and hopefully our foster parents will agree to summer visits for Aiden.”
Danua smiled, a tiny quirk of her lips, and nodded her head once. I turned to join Cade and my brother, but before I could take one step, Danua pulled me back and gave me a fierce hug.
“I am so sorry for all the pain I caused you before, and I’m proud to call you my daughter.”
Sniffling, I hugged her back just as fiercely. “And I am glad to call you mother.”
The Dagda and Enorah joined us on our trip back since their destinations were along the way, and by late afternoon we were gazing upon Cade’s castle from the wooded hills above Luathara. Speirling, happy to finally be home, let out a cheerful whinny while the borrowed horse Aiden and I rode gave the black stallion a questioning look.
Briant and his family were there to greet us when the horses clattered into the courtyard. In no time, we were ushered into the castle and taken directly to the dining hall where the staff who had remained for the evening insisted on hearing every little detail about the great battle against the Morrigan.
It was nearly midnight when we finally clambered up the stairs, Aiden out cold and draped over Cade’s shoulder.
“Tomorrow morning we’ll cross into the mortal world,” Cade murmured, closing the door to one of the spare rooms after tucking Aiden into bed.
Nodding my head and yawning, I happily used Cade as a crutch as we headed towards his bedroom. I don’t actually remember making it to the bed, but I do know that my dreams were filled with light and joyful things.
I rose early the next morning, rubbing my eyes as I stumbled into the bathroom to take a shower. Cade was still asleep, so I did my best not to wake him as I fumbled around for a fresh towel and soap. Once I was clean and dressed, I returned to the bedroom to find the bed empty and Cade missing. Assuming he had gone downstairs to get the horses ready for our trip to the dolmarehn, I stepped up to the window, gazing out over the beautiful fields of Luathara. Far below, I could see people getting ready for work and I almost laughed when I recognized two familiar white shapes chasing each other around the courtyard.
A few moments later, the door clicked open and shut. Cade stepped up quietly behind me and wrapped his arms around my torso a few seconds later. I leaned my head against his shoulder and drew air deep into my lungs, breathing in his scent. Closing my eyes and smiling, I said, “I could get used to this.”
“As much as I’d love to stay here all morning,” Cade murmured, “we have a quest to undertake, and I have something to show you first.”
I turned and arched a brow, but Cade had already pulled away, taking me by the hand and leading me towards the bedroom door. I followed, my curiosity getting the better of me, and soon we were out in the courtyard and heading towards the garden gate. The sun was just peeking above the horizon and those helping with the castle’s ongoing renovation were just arriving. We maneuvered around the neatly trimmed herbs and made our way through another archway that opened up into a smaller, secluded garden. A tiny section in the wall had been removed so that water from the stream could trickle into a pool, and a continuous stone bench wrapped around the four walls. Above, the branches of oak and ivy, bare of leaves this late in the season, intertwined to form a natural lattice. Once we were both tucked safely inside, Cade stopped and turned towards me, his face bright with a wide smile.
“Um, why’d you bring me out here?” I tried to make my voice sound curious and not accusatory. I think I might have failed.
“Look,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he inclined his head upward.
I glanced up again, but this time I saw something that hadn’t been there before, or maybe I just hadn’t seen them. Looking down at me with big, kind eyes, their limbs interweaving and blending in with the branches above, were at least a dozen twigrins. I gasped in delight, pulling my hands free of Cade’s so I could cover my mouth.
“I had Enorah bring some from the Weald to live here in our garden. For your birthday,” he said smugly.
“My–” I began, but then stopped short. “Wait, what’s the date?”
Cade’s smile only widened. I groaned and buried my face in my hands again. Had I really lost track of that much time?
“What kind of a girl forgets her own birthday?!” I complained.
Laughing, Cade pulled me close, but sobered up the second our eyes met. He brushed back a loose strand of my hair and said in a quiet voice, “The kind that is too busy saving our world.”
I sighed and succumbed to his embrace. For once, everything in my life seemed to be perfect. I had finally found my place in this world, and it was a very pleasant place indeed. I no longer had to worry about the Morrigan, for a long while at least, and my mother had finally opened up to me. I had so many new, wonderful friends and I had a brother who, assuming my mortal parents agreed, would be visiting me every summer. And I had Cade. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought my life would end up here, standing in an enchanted garden with the young man I loved beyond all reason and who loved me back just as fiercely.
As the bright rays of the early morning sun streamed in through the branches above, I felt my magic rise to meet up with Cade’s, enveloping us in a mantle of contentment no amount of words could describe.
The sun dipped low on the horizon, painting the fields of pure white with its golden light. I wrapped my cloak more tightly around myself and watched as my breath made small clouds in the frozen air. The waterfall at the edge of the patio was nothing more than a trickle this time of year, but I welcomed its simple melody as I let my mind wander. Nearly three months had passed since the Tuatha De had won their battle against the Morrigan; three months since I’d torn myself free from her wrath. Luathara’s castle was nearly complete, but with the approach of winter the masons and construction workers had to postpone until spring’s first thaw. I didn’t mind. The interior of the castle was finished, so we were able to stay warm and protected from winter’s wrath.
Today, though, had been pleasant. No snow had fallen and the sun had shown all day. I only hoped this trend continued through tomorrow for our Imbolg celebration, a holiday to mark the end of winter. I grinned as I rubbed my hands together. For some reason, thinking of Imbolg and the arrival of spring brought to mind the Solstice party my mother had hosted a month and a half ago. All the Tuatha De had attended and I had been so pleased to see them once again, even Cernunnos. I only hoped that our own small bonfire and festival would prove as joyful.
Sighing, I cast my eyes back over the fields and rolling hills of Erintara, wondering when Cade would be back from his outing. Once a month he insisted on taking a few days to ride Speirling throughout his property to make sure any stray faelah hadn’t moved in. Sometimes I went with him, especially now that Lasair had returned from his stay with Epona’s herd. The memory of his arrival flashed across my mind, and I allowed myself another small smile. He had just shown up one day, a red flame standing on the hilltop, and I had run to him while Meridian swooped down and chattered happily.
At the moment, however, he was most likely snoozing in the stables while I rested from my long day of preparation. Yes, the reason for my staying behind this time. I had to make sure everything was perfect for all of our guests tomorrow. Cade and I had invited the entire town of Kellston, as well as the Dagda and Enorah and several of the other Tuatha De. My mother received an invitation as well, but we weren’t surprised when she politely declined. She was the high queen, after all, and could not leave Erintara at the moment.
Thinking of Danua made me think of Aiden, of course. I had wanted to invite my little brother to the Imbolg celebration, but Cade had made a good point. Aiden needed as much time to get over the shock of his kidnapping and the following trauma he’d been through. Even though he seemed like a changed boy, exuberant and cheerful just after our ordeal, the evil that had surrounded him for those few days had to be dealt with, and the best way to help him heal was to let him soak in the normalcy he’d been so used to in the mortal world.
Four more months Meghan, I told myself as I rubbed my hands together and blew into them, four more months and he’ll be here for the summer.
I grinned, remembering how grateful I was to my mortal parents for understanding Aiden’s need to get to know his mother and the world he’d come from. Although, telling them about how Danua had deceived them was hard. They had taken their time to grieve the loss of the child they never knew, while at the same time rejoicing in the fact that they’d had me and Aiden for so long. I don’t know how they could show such strength after all they’d been through, and I only hoped that someday I might show that same courage.
A distant whinny followed by sharp barking snapped my attention away from my reminiscing. Far below, a black smudge interrupted the perfect, snowy landscape and my face broke into a wide smile. Cade was back with Speirling and Fergus. Several minutes later they entered the courtyard, and Cade sent me a few words using shil-sciar.
Where are you?
Look up, I said.
He glanced up to find me gazing down at him from our patio. I waved and sent, Come join me, the sunset is beautiful.
Ten minutes later, the great wooden door leading into the third floor hallway creaked open and Cade stepped out onto the frost-encrusted terrace. I turned to study him, drawing in a deep breath of admiration. He looked resplendent in his dark green riding cloak, his hair tousled from the wind and his cheeks slightly flushed from the cold. With boots crunching against the thin layer of snow, Cade closed the distance between us and took me in his arms. I sighed and simply leaned into his solid warmth, closing my eyes and pressing my cheek against his shoulder. The day had been long and busy and I was ready for a break.
“I missed you. You were gone longer than usual,” I breathed quietly as Cade rocked me gently in our very own slow dance.
“Yes, I had a few extra stops to make this time around,” Cade murmured, his lips pressed against my ear and dispersing my wayward thoughts. “You see, I’ve been doing some thinking . . .”
I grinned and looked up at him, his arms still encircling me. “Have you now?”
He nodded, and then dipped his head as he fished something out of his pocket.
“I have,” he continued, lifting his hand, his closed fist hiding something.
I blinked in confusion. With his other hand, Cade pulled my left arm from his waist and proceeded to wrap what looked like a gold string around my wrist. What on earth . . . ?
“I was hoping that you might want to make our current arrangement a little more, well, permanent.”
I lifted my arm and stared at the armlet, stunned. It was absolutely beautiful, a long, thin thread of gold bedecked with tiny chips of pale green, blue and topaz jewels, woven into an intricate knot work pattern to form a bracelet. It looked strangely familiar, as if I had seen it before.
And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had seen this before, on the people of Eile. On men and women alike. It was symbolic, a token of love. A representation of a bond made when two people wished to live and love one another forever. Cade had just wrapped an engagement ring, uh, bracelet, around my wrist. And when I glanced at his own arm, I could see he, too, was wearing a similar one, the gold thread of his a bit more masculine and the jewels a shade darker than my own.
I felt my mouth fall open in shock and tried desperately to say something, anything. Before the words would form, however, Cade took my face in his hands and tilted my eyes up to meet his.
“Marry me, Meghan,” he whispered, his voice soft and sincere. “Bind your spirit to mine. Give your heart over to my keeping, just as I have already given mine over to yours.”
I said something, but I have no idea what it was and I think it might not have even been an actual word. Oh, very romantic Meghan . . .
Cade grinned, his eyes gleaming a beautiful jade green. “Is that a yes?”
Finally, some real words got out. Yay! “But, Danua?”
Ugh, why had I said my mother’s name?
Cade’s grin widened. “She was the one who suggested we go through with the bonding ceremony.”
He reached down and gently kissed my cheek, just below my eye.
“A princess of Eile cannot remain unmarried for very long once she reaches a certain age. It would be shameful and the last thing I would want to do is bring shame upon yours and your mother’s names.”
I took several shallow breaths and stuttered, “M-Mom will want to know about this . . .”
“She’s the one who helped me pick out the right bracelets.”
He kissed my other cheek, his lips lingering on my skin.
“Wait!” I breathed, my heart hammering against my ribs as I grabbed at his hands and pulled them away from my face. I could not think straight with him kissing me.
“What about Dad?”
Cade sighed gently and stepped in closer. He pulled his hands from mine and ran them along the sides of my face, threading his fingers into my hair.
“He said the same thing he did when he took me aside at your house those many months ago,” he murmured.
“Oh,” I managed, “and what was that exactly?” Why wouldn’t my heart stop beating so wildly and why were my palms so clammy?
Cade looked me in the eye and answered, “That if I ever hurt you he would find me and kill me, even if he had to cross into the Otherworld to do it.”
I bit my lip and stopped fighting the tears that were forming in my eyes. “And what did you tell him?”
Cade’s lips quirked up and his eyes took on a mischievous glint. He leaned forward and pressed his mouth against my ear.
“I told him,” he whispered, his warm breath sending goose bumps down my spine, “that I had already died for you once and that I would not hesitate to do so again.”
At some point I had curled my fingers around his shirt collar, but now my grasp was so tight my knuckles actually hurt. It was getting harder to breathe and I felt flushed.
“So, Meghan Elam, daughter of Danua, high queen of Eile,” Cade said, kissing my neck, “will you marry me? Will you be my better half and live with me here at Luathara and help me destroy what faelah the Morrigan has left behind? Will you take care of me and let me take care of you?”
Finally, the answer I had been trying to give him all this time pushed its way past all the other silly, insignificant thoughts that had flooded my brain and burst forth.
“Yes, Caedehn MacRoich of Eile, of course I will marry you. Of course I will stay by your side and help you rid this world and the mortal world of evil. And yes, I will take care of you.”
I laughed then, my smile hurting my face as he scooped me up into a great hug, twirling us both around on the stone terrace of Luathara as he kissed me again and again.
We remained outside until well after dark, dancing to our own music and to the natural rhythm and song that could only be found in Eile. Three years ago, I was nothing more than an awkward teen, ready to move on with my life even though I hadn’t the slightest idea where I wanted to go. And then Cade had stepped into my self-conscious, pitiful little world and turned everything on end. I had survived the wrath of a goddess, had made peace with a mother who had abandoned me, had discovered a brother who could share my life in the Otherworld, and had fallen in love with a young man who I knew, without a doubt, would always be by my side to help me through anything. I knew this because, let’s face it, he’d already proven his devotion to me.
As Cade and I slow danced under the moon and stars of Eile, I finally let my joy spread through me. I was so very happy, truly and blissfully happy, and I had an eternity to spend adding to that happiness. For once in my life, I couldn’t wait for the future to start.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have been with me on this long journey, including my family and friends and everyone who inspires me and encourages me every day to continue with my grand writing endeavors. I especially want to express my appreciation towards my readers, who have, over this past year, sent me wonderful messages and comments about the Otherworld Trilogy. I am exceedingly grateful for your dedication to Meghan and her friends, and I’m so very happy that my books have brought some joy into your lives. Finally, I especially want to thank Jodi Moore, Kaitlyn Ikenouve and Keisha Martin for their help in adding the finishing touches to Luathara. Once again, thank you all for being there right beside me on this wonderful adventure.
Jenna Elizabeth Johnson grew up and still resides on the Central Coast of California, the very location that has become the setting of her Otherworld Trilogy, and the inspiration for her other series, The Legend of Oescienne.
Miss Johnson has a degree in Art Practice with an emphasis in Celtic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. She now draws much of her insight from the myths and legends of ancient Ireland to help set the theme for her books.
Besides writing and drawing, Miss Johnson enjoys reading, gardening, camping and hiking. In her free time (the time not dedicated to writing), she also practices the art of long sword combat and traditional archery.
For contact information, visit the author’s website at:
The Finding (Book One)
The Beginning (Book Two)
The Awakening (Book Three)
Tales of Oescienne - A Short Story Collection
*Read excerpts of these books here*
Faelorehn (Book One)
Dolmarehn (Book Two)
Luathara (Book Three)
Ehriad - A Novella of the Otherworld (Book Four)
Ghalien – A Novel of the Otherworld (Book Five)
Lorehnin – A Novel of the Otherworld (Book Six)
Caelihn – A Novel of the Otherworld (Book Seven)
Faeleahn – A Novel of the Otherworld (Book Eight)
*Read excerpts of these books here*
Twitter: @AuthorJEJohnson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjejohnson
My Website: http://www.jennaelizabethjohnson.com/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/authorjejohnson/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/authorjejohnson
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/authorjejohnson
A Sneak Peek at Lorehnin – A Novel of the Otherworld (Book Six in the Otherworld Series) . . .
I didn’t hate my job at the Green Tea Leaf. Really, I didn’t. But some evenings even waitressing at this little hidden gem in San Luis Obispo could be unbearable. It was Thursday night, which meant the streets were crawling with people in town for the farmers market, and it was rush week. Every last perky sorority girl and conceited frat guy was out prowling the masses, pressing all the young, impressionable people into uncomfortable conversations complete with big, fake, bleached-toothed smiles and forced enthusiasm. And for some ungodly reason, one of these girls was pestering me.
Okay, there were two things very wrong with this situation. First, I was in no way, shape or form impressionable. In fact, I think I was born with my opinions already intact. Yup, I’d been forcing my independent nature on the world even before I could talk. And secondly, anyone with half a brain could tell, on looks alone, that I was not sorority girl material. My black hair was more than a dozen shades away from being platinum blond and the streak that was dyed electric violet only accentuated that fact. Furthermore, if the small assortment of silver hoops in each of my ears didn’t scream rebel, then my lovely little collection of tattoos sure did. They had been a birthday present to me, from me, as well as a nice way to remind myself that, thankfully, I no longer lived under the tyranny of my rigid, stodgy foster parents.
That’s right, the day I turned eighteen they’d met me in the living room with all my bags packed and ready to go.
“If you continue to live this ridiculous lifestyle of yours and refuse to accept our rules, then we can no longer support you,” my father had said as my mother watched on in stone silence.
At least the woman had had the decency to look regretful. Fortunately, I’d already enrolled in classes at Cuesta, the local community college which was much more affordable than the better-known Cal Poly, and had narrowed down a few possible apartments in San Luis. Okay, they were more like economy-sized closets than anything else but they would suit my simple needs and that was all I could afford on my meager student loan anyway. Finding a job had been tougher. Just when my stubborn insistence on keeping my pride intact started to falter, I’d stumbled upon the Green Tea Leaf and the Help Wanted sign. It had been a gift from the gods of outcast orphans.
A bark of laughter from one of the tables snapped me back to the present and the grinning blond hovering in front of the serving counter. I arched one of my eyebrows, the one not pierced, and drew in a deep breath that I hoped would encourage patience.
“So, I think you’d be a wonderful addition to Delta Sigma Lambda,” the bright-eyed blond chattered. “Here’s a flier with a list of our upcoming activities.”
Gritting my teeth and trying not to be rude, I reached out a hand and took the neon pink paper, skimming it as the girl studied my black-and-silver nail polish and equally dark eyeliner. For the first time since entering the Tea Leaf, her lips twitched in uncertainty.
That’s right Barbie, you picked the wrong victim.
My eyes raced across the list of vomit-inducing social events. A barbecue with one of the frat houses, a themed pool party where the guests were encouraged to dress as movie stars from the fifties, a scavenger hunt that included visiting all the bars in town.
Ugh. Not a single one of these “Nights of Fun” appealed to me. I sniffed and snapped the flier back at the girl. She actually squeaked and jumped an inch. Time to turn on the famous Robyn Dunbarre charm I’d often used in high school.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m a neo-pagan and I prefer to spend my evenings sacrificing small animals and chanting to the gods while drinking blood and dancing naked around a bonfire. Unless you have some of those activities planned, I don’t think I’ll be joining you.”
The girl’s blue eyes widened and her jaw dropped open.
I splayed my fingers on the countertop and smiled as she made a beeline for the exit.
“Dude, Robyn,” Jonathon, one of my co-workers, whispered, “I know Margie thinks you’re the long lost troubled niece she never had, but one of these days she’s going to hear one of your snide remarks and then you’ll be busted.”
I snorted and tossed my hair, cut shorter than it had been in high school. Margie was the owner of the Green Tea Leaf. A sweet, middle-aged woman who employed a diverse work force and enjoyed supplying the local college kids with something other than fast food and alcoholic beverages to keep them energized. The Tea Leaf was an organic café as well as a gift and book shop, and much of its wares and fare leaned toward the more eccentric types, such as myself.
“You know, what I said was only half true,” I responded with a sniff. I turned and regarded Jonathon, his brown eyes skeptical behind tasteful, wire-rimmed glasses. “I don’t really dance naked or perform animal sacrifices or drink blood.”
“Too bad,” he muttered as he got back to making a cappuccino for one of our patrons. The machine hissed, blasting steam into the decanter of milk, almost covering up his next words. Unfortunately, I heard him. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that.”
“Jonathon!” I gasped, smacking him with a towel. “There are rules in the work place about sexual harassment, you know!”
Jonathon’s eyes widened in shock and I could have sworn he would’ve fainted had I not smiled and said, “I’m kidding! I know you didn’t mean it.”
He cleared his throat and finished up with the drink he was preparing. “Sorry,” he muttered, trying to recover from his embarrassment.
I reached out a hand and squeezed his thin arm. He towered over me but then again, most people did. Jonathon, however, was a beanpole: all height and no muscle. And he was probably the only friend I had in the world at the moment, except for Margie and Kelly, the other girl who worked here in the café.
When Jonathon gave me a sheepish smile I turned back to my work. With the sorority recruiter long gone, I went back to stocking the shelves. Most people loathed this part of working in the service industry, but to me it was a nice reprieve from dealing with the public, especially if we had recently received a new shipment of books. As the smooth, new age music played in the background and mingled with the sputtering of the coffee machines and the chatter of warm, conversational voices, I let my thoughts wander. Yes, I only had my colleagues to call my closest friends, but that was because those I had known in high school had either gone off to college far away from the Central Coast or, in the case of my friend Meghan, had gone to live in a different world entirely, and I mean that literally.
I paused as I placed a box of organic loose-leaf tea onto one of the shelves and drew my hand down to touch the cool metal band around my neck. The necklace, well, torque technically, had been a gift from Meghan and her husband, Cade. I gave a short snort. It was still hard to think of Meghan as happily married to the hottest guy I’d ever seen. It was even harder to imagine she was living in the Otherworld, a place I’d been semi-obsessed with for years. All throughout high school I was the one in our little group of friends who’d been into Wicca and anything pagan. Of course, I had never really believed the Otherworld existed. I’d always assumed it was more of a spiritual place one might journey to in the afterlife. Turned out, I was wrong.
“Robyn, could you help me at the counter?” Jonathon called from up front.
I coughed and set the box of tea down.
“Yeah, sure!” I answered, brushing my hands down the apron I wore.
I glanced at the clock on my way through the small dining area. Ten more minutes until the end of my shift. Ahhh, bliss.
* * *
Downtown San Luis Obispo was still crowded when I left work. There were always people out and about after dark, yet with the new school year just around the corner, college students old and new were making their way onto campus and settling in as they awaited the first day of class. A large clump of young students, made obvious by all the Cal Poly gear they wore, stood in my way. Gritting my teeth, I hiked my purse farther up onto my shoulder, wrapped my arms around my torso and ducked my head, ready to burrow my way through them like a bull. I managed to escape the press of fresh-faced incoming freshmen with nary a bruise nor shout of irritation thrown my way and soon I was enjoying the privilege of personal space as the crowd thinned.
The night was chilly, but not unbearable. Loosening up the death grip on myself, I glanced up at the banners welcoming the students back to school, their gold and green colors warped from the orange glow of streetlights. Cal Poly was the local state college, a good school but way too expensive for my budget. Cuesta was a better fit, and my student loans paid most of the cost. What the loans didn’t cover I had to work for; hence my job at the Green Tea Leaf. I was all on my own after all, no proud parents willing to sacrifice some of their spending money so their daughter could improve herself by earning a better education. I guess if I fit into their image of a perfect child, my foster parents would lend me the money I needed, but there was no way in hell I was going to change for them. Not because I was stubborn or thought their beliefs were ridiculous. That wasn’t the case, though they would never believe me if I told them so. They thought I was a lost soul and the only way for me to be saved was to cast aside my ‘sinful and heathen ways’. Unfortunately for them, that’s who I was. I knew deep down in my soul that their way of life wasn’t for me. I only wished they could understand that.
Sighing, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and turned down a familiar alley. My house was only six blocks from the Green Tea Leaf, but I could cut that distance in half if I took a few shortcuts and I had left my bike at home this morning. Okay, technically it wasn’t my house. I rented out the basement apartment from the four girls who lived in the main building. The space was small, but I made it work. I had a bathroom with a shower, a spacious living room and a kitchenette off to the side. I’d taken down the doors to the closet to convert it into a bedroom of sorts. My twin bed fit inside the alcove perfectly, and a set of drapes closed most of it off from the living room. Heck, it wasn’t a four-star hotel, but it was home.
I took one more turn past one of the local high schools and ended up on a quiet street decorated with a variety of Victorian-era houses, all of them in different states of decay. None of the buildings were completely derelict, but a few could definitely use some fresh paint and a garden renovation: a common problem in a college town.
The house I lived in was toward the end of the road, a pink, two-story structure complete with lacy molding around the windows and a covered front porch. My roommates, well, housemates really, must have been throwing a party because the door hung wide open, the lights were on and rap music was blaring from the windows, making the panes of glass rattle inside their frames. Three guys holding red plastic cups, undoubtedly full of beer, laughed and conversed on the path leading from the gate. I cringed as I passed by them since every other word of the conversation was an f-bomb. Lovely. Made one question a society’s education system.
Fortunately, the three vocabulary-challenged party-goers didn’t notice me as I bypassed the porch and headed for the side of the house. The door to my basement apartment was sunken into the side of the building and framed by an arbor of clematis. The flowering vine, along with the side garden space, had led me to choose this apartment above all the others when I first looked. There had been a few places that had extra living space for the same rent, but none of them featured a yard for planting flowers, herbs or vegetables, many of which were now ripe. I didn’t hang out with my Wiccan friends from high school anymore, but I still needed that connection with the earth and growing things. Breathing in the muted scent of flowers and spicy herbs, I let my purse drop from my shoulder.
I dug around for my house key in the semi-dark, gritting my teeth against the pounding music, and continued crude conversation on the porch above me.
A rustling in the bushes at the edge of the yard drew my attention away from my task the way a gunshot spooked a horse. The house sat not too far from the place where the road dead-ended and the land sloped downward into a small ravine. A seasonal creek cut through the gap and ran behind the house. Above the creek, an old road bridge stretched across the breach, creating a popular campground for some of the homeless people who called San Luis Obispo home. In my experience, most of them were harmless and usually kept to themselves. Unfortunately, a handful were dangerous. Drug use and mental illness combined with desperation often stripped people of their humanity. I hoped that the disturbance I’d heard just a few feet away wasn’t someone looking for an easy victim.