The house on the hill was best described as a shack and for Dorian that was an odd thought. The only witches and wizards she knew lived in ominous castles where dark and spooky stuff was always happening. This little abode was pleasant enough to look at. It had blue shutters over the white clapboards with a steeply pitched roof that nearly touched the ground on all four corners.
“I have to say that this house is unexpected,” commented Biddy as if reading Dorian’s mind. “You would think there would be at least a storm overhead, now wouldn’t you?”
Dorian shrugged. “Let’s go meet Brett and Vivian Blanch.”
The pair strolled up the cobblestone walk to the front door. Before knocking, Dorian glanced back to the shadows of a patch of trees and caught a glint from Griffin’s eyes. She had instructed the griffin to stay close by and to be alert for signs of trouble.
Satisfied that their back-up was in place and assured of the three vials of rainbow dust sitting snuggly in her jacket’s inner pocket, Dorian knocked on the front door, just above the welcome sign.
The movement of feet and rearrangement of items could be heard almost instantaneously. “Just a minute!” was the call from beyond the door. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually a sweet-faced, young woman cracked the door open and met them with inquisitive eyes. “Yes?”
“Vivian Blanch, I presume?” asked Dorian.
“That depends on who is asking, dear,” smiled the bright-eyed lady. “What do you need?”
Dorian glanced down at Biddy who was concentrating steadily on the woman. Her brow was knitted and Dorian recognized the expression of her friend putting her gift to work. When Biddy smiled and nodded, Dorian took that as a sign to open up about the nature of their visit.
“My name is Dorian and this is Biddy. We are from Corways.”
Vivian’s face showed instant empathy as she flung the door open and wrapped the Leprechaun Queen up in a consoling embrace.
“I was so sorry to hear about your father, sweetie,” Vivian howled as she began to sob.
“Oh,” was all Dorian could reply, being caught off guard by the response.
A man with bright-blue eyes and a kind expression stepped in behind Vivian and pulled her away by the shoulders. “Don’t mind my lovely bride. She has a powerful sense of empathy about her.”
“Are you Brett?” asked Biddy.
“Sure am. Please come in,” he said.
Dorian and Biddy walked into the modest home as Dorian’s stomach flitted with butterflies at the prospect of uncovering an age-old secret.
…
The cafeteria was basically empty when Brendan arrived, but by the time he was nearly finished eating the place had filled up. He had been in there for a couple of hours using the time to eat and to study. It had been hard to concentrate the last few days and he was falling behind in his homework. Breakfast seemed to help on that morning and since his first class wasn’t until 10:30, he took the opportunity to review a couple of chapters.
“Hey, there,” sang a lovely voice.
Brendan glanced up from his anatomy book and saw that the speaker was a certain Welsh beauty. “Hey,” he replied with a smile.
Meghan sat down in the chair next to Brendan. “How’s it going? Looks like you’re hard at work.”
Brendan shrugged. “I’ve just been trying to play catch-up, you know. I haven’t been able to concentrate lately.”
“You’re probably just tired. All those practices and you do have some tough classes for a freshman,” she reasoned.
“Maybe,” he said, acknowledging the point. “Also,” he hesitated. “Also, I’m missing my girlfriend.”
“Your girlfriend?” Meghan’s eyes spoke of a slight surprise. “How long have you had this girlfriend? I mean, you never mentioned her before.”
“Oh, a little longer than a year. Actually, I met her last summer in Ireland.” Brendan avoided Meghan’s eyes briefly and then looked at her with a small smile.
“You two met in Ireland?” Meghan replied with a little-too-large of a smile and a glint in her eyes.
Brendan hesitated a moment, almost certain that he caught a flash of gold, but when some students behind him flashed another photo and laughed about a new profile picture, he blew it off. He smiled broadly as he brought his thoughts back to Dorian and all they had done last summer. “Yeah, we had some adventures. I think the two of you would get along great.”
“I’m sure we would. Really, she sounds great. Just great. Hey, listen,” she said, pulling out a flyer from her purse. “I saw that the noted surgeon, Dr. Charles Conner is coming here to speak tonight. I was hoping that you would go with me.”
“Well… ” Brendan responded while he was thinking about the consequences of this sort of thing. Classes were one thing, but outings… that was quite another.
“Just as friends, of course,” Meghan promised.
Brendan thought it over and couldn’t come up with a reason not to go. After all, this was why he went to college, right? Sure he was going with a beautiful woman who was apparently in to him, but that should be fine… right?
“Okay. That sounds good, but I’ve never heard of this guy, have you?”
“Um, no. But it says here that he’s ‘noted’ so you know that must mean something,” she said, rising to her feet. “I’m really glad you’re coming with me, Brendan. I’ll drop by and pick you up at your place at 7 o’clock. Okay?”
Brendan nodded. Meghan walked away, and he made himself pull his eyes away from her. She was breathtaking, but he loved Dorian. He just hoped that he would be able to explain that to Dorian when the time came.
…
“Master,” Dullahan said, entering the tower as he bowed low before the golden god.
Elathan was seated on what looked like a small black end table in the center of the tower with his eyes closed. He was softly chanting, but it only took a few moments before Elathan was roused. He opened his eyes, golden and glowing, and hissed, “What is it?”
“The Leprechaun Queen has reached out to the Blanchs.”
“I know. My spies have told me.”
“What is your bidding?” Dullahan asked. “Do you wish me to kill the troublesome queen and the traitors?”
“No, I need you to find the boy’s sword.” Elathan cast a harsh stare at Dullahan and pointed to his own temple. “Have we forgotten?” Elathan’s eyes pulsed as the god jumped to his feet. His perch immediately transformed into an ornate throne made of the smooth black stone of which he was so fond.
Dullahan retreated a few steps and bowed. “Of course not, Lord Elathan. I just don’t know where to find it.”
Elathan looked at the headless demon with a raised brow. “Must I rely on more competent servants, demon?” Elathan watched as Dullahan squirmed and then he walked towards the open balcony. “For now, let’s just deal with these little meddling Leprechauns. Notify D’Quall, and have him take care of the situation.” The golden god turned back to face his minion. “Thus far your search has been fruitless. You had better hope that you show your value, Dullahan, or I will simply wipe you away.” He accented the point with a sweeping hand gesture.
The demon bowed low and left at once to deliver Elathan’s message. He knew that crossing the powerful god would not be a wise move.
…
The interior of the Blanchs’ home had an interesting look. Dorian imagined they hired a cupcake maker to go crazy and decorate everything in the house. Bright pink walls, frilly lace doilies, and extra fluffy furniture were a few of the eye catchers that the Leprechauns spotted in the home. “You have a lovely home, Vivian.”
“My Vivian has a real gift when it comes to design.” Brett kissed Vivian on the cheek. “I’ll go grab the cupcakes, dear.”
Maybe Dorian had some sensory ability, too.
Dorian and Biddy were fed and chatted a great deal by the Blanchs. The pair of necromancers were quick with a story and even quicker to give a hardy laugh. Dorian felt comfortable with Vivian and Brett, so she went ahead and brought up the real reason for her visit. “Brett, Vivian, you both have been very kind, but I need to ask you a question,” said Dorian.
“Ask away, dear,” replied Vivian.
“I need to know the secret of travel,” Dorian asked.
“Well, book your flight well in advance and always pack extra underwear,” answered Brett.
“No,” laughed Dorian. “I mean the way the Druids traveled.”
The Blanchs exchanged looks. “Excuse us for a moment, would you?”
Biddy and Dorian nodded their agreement as the happy couple went into an adjacent room. “Do you think they even know about the Druid travel?” asked Biddy. Dorian wasn’t sure, but she smiled widely when they returned.
“We are familiar with this form of travel, a sort of teleportation,” began Brett. “We have not traveled in that manner, but we have both heard of stories that other witches and wizards have.”
“How’s it done?” asked Biddy.
The couple exchanged looks once again. “We don’t really know.”
“You don’t?” Dorian was really disappointed in that answer. She so badly wanted Brendan to be able to come over for the Midsummer Celebration, but more than that, she wanted to be able to go see him whenever she could.
“We can take you to a port if you like, but I’m afraid we don’t know how to use it.” Vivian’s eyes were woeful.
Dorian knew that the couple wanted to help, but if they couldn’t, then they couldn’t. “We would really appreciate it if you could show us the port. If a port is like a starting point for the Druid travel then by all means, lead the way.”
The Blanchs, Biddy, Dorian, and Griffin began a long walk through a dark wood with the destination set for the Druid’s travel port. Surprisingly, Brett and Vivian were not at all shocked to see a griffin in person. If fact, Vivian snuggled Griffin right into a hug. She had him smitten and quite literally eating out of her hands within seconds. They began the long walk to the port unaware that there were unfriendly creatures lurking about.
…
“Are you ready for this?”
Lizzie considered the question from Frank. He was big, strong, and pretty skilled, but had he fought mutated Merrows or Sidhes? Had he battled the Ruas or Dullahan? No, he hadn’t, but she had —so yeah, she was in fact, ready.
“Bring it, big boy, that is if you think you have what it takes,” she quipped.
Frank smiled and came at her with his staff. Lizzie blocked his downward slash and sidestepped an arcing attack. She spun to the ground and extended her staff right into the back of his knee and toppled him onto his backside on the mat.
“Whoa!” Frank said from his back. “What was that?”
“What?” she said, smiling coyly.
Frank popped up from his back straight to his feet. “You have some moves there, pretty lady.”
Lizzie liked the fact that he was impressed. “I do okay, but you on the other hand, well-”
“Let’s try that again,” he declared.
Lizzie nodded and got into her stance. This time she was the aggressor and charged forward, though it was only a feint. When Frank lunged forward, Lizzie leapt into the air above his head in a forward flip and smacked Frank on the rear-end, sending him forward a few paces gripping his aching cheek.
“Owwwww!” said Frank. “How in the world does that make sense?”
Lizzie just winked, and Frank bit his lower lip through a smirk. He charged again and brought his staff down with a series of chops. Lizzie backed up a step or two with each chop but never allowed Frank to have the advantage. She spun out to the side, but Frank snatched her by the shoulder with his right arm. Instead of halting her spin, she simply wedged her staff between his arm and his back and planted her foot into his knee. She continued to twist and allowed his momentum to become her own and used it to fling the big guy ten feet across the room to the very edge of the mat. He landed with a humph! as the air left his lungs.
“Okay,” he gasped. “I give.”
Lizzie walked over and knelt down beside Frank. “There’s one thing you should know, Frank.”
“What’s that?” he asked, looking up at her from his back.
“I’ve had some practice using a staff.”
“No kidding!” he replied.
They smiled as Lizzie pulled the big lug to a sitting position.
“I think you are one of the coolest girls that I have ever met,” Frank said in a half-embarrassed, farm boy sort of way.
“Back at you,” she said in a whisper, knowing that she was giving him a little jab.
He didn’t even take offense to the joke and they leaned in and shared their first kiss in the midst of the rubber-mat smell and beads of sweat that dripped into their eyes. Neither one seemed to mind.