Nuada’s eyes were moist with tears of sadness and regret as he paced in his sanctuary, considering the lengths to which Elathan had gone to humiliate him. His human Bloodline Protectors were exploited beyond imagination. Oscar became Elathan’s Seeker and Lizzie’s touch freed all of the Banshees who used the very prisons and charms that Nuada created to hold them as a conduit for the tether. Worst of all, Elathan used Brendan to resurrect his Earthly body! Nuada’s own tools had been used against him.
The silver god walked over to his window to the world and observed Brendan and his band of friends face down in the stream. This is Earth’s only hope, he mused. Pushing aside his doubt, Nuada chose to put his faith in his chosen Protectors. They really were the only ones who could stop Elathan.
…
“Brendan,” Ken said, shaking his friend.
“I ain’t sure he’s breathing,” Patty observed.
Ken shook Brendan again and his roommate’s eyes fluttered. “There—he is alive!”
Brendan pushed himself up to his knees and grabbed his head. “Lizzie? Dorian?”
Ken looked around. “Dorian seems okay and so does Garnash. There are two other people here and they seem fine, too. Everybody is shaken up, though.”
Brendan got to his feet about the same time as the others did. “Everybody’s alive?” he yelled.
“I think so,” Frank answered.
Brendan stumbled over to Dorian and Lizzie and hugged them both. Frank bowed his head trying not to intrude, and Brendan pulled him into the hug as well.
“Don’t leave me out of this,” Garnash said, snuggling into Brendan’s calf.
“Never crossed my mind,” Brendan said.
The group climbed up the small embankment and stepped onto a dramatically different field. Everything had been scorched, leaving behind nothing but dirt and ash. The megalith union towered over the area ominously.
“I can’t believe they reconnected a tether to Otherworld,” Garnash said, not believing what his eyes beheld.
“Say what, honey?” Wanda asked.
“It’s true,” Brendan confirmed.
“What’s that sound?” Patty asked with her hand cupped to her ear.
“Sirens,” Lizzie answered. “We better get out of here.”
Wanda and Patty zipped away, leaving Ken with Brendan and his group.
“You going to be okay?” Brendan asked Ken.
“Yeah,” Ken said. “I grew up not too far from here. I know my way around.” Brendan nodded, and he and his group walked towards the moss-covered megaliths. “Hey, Brendan, if you need anything, well, just get a hold of me. I’m here for you.”
“I appreciate that, Ken.” The sirens grew a little louder and Brendan wanted nothing to do with the emergency responders.
Ken ran back to his motorcycle and fired it up. He had watched Brendan, Dorian, and the others stand in the middle of the stone pillars, but when he looked up after he put his helmet on, they were gone. He shook his head and left Sam’s Creek in a trail of dust and ash.
…
The Bloodright Lord of the Magogs was slow to recover after his hasty and painful exit from Corways. He ambled back to a hillside where he watched the Leprechauns bring their dead.
“Stupid girl,” he grumbled to the wind. “Humiliating, that’s what it is.”
The more he thought about how she defeated him, the more it angered him. That one girl had turned the tide of the battle and had saved the remaining Leprechauns and Gnomes. His Magogs could have wiped their entire clans from the Earth if it hadn’t been for her. He made a vow on that very hillside to make the Seeker’s daughter pay for his suffering with her own life!
…
Elathan was the last to arrive in Tech Duinn. His personal megaliths were on the fringe of a lake of fire on a narrow strip of obsidian rock. He emerged from the megaliths and was greeted by the Three Sisters of Death, Conchar, his Niseag, and the spellbound Seeker.
Elathan strode past his followers and directly towards a large castle that had been carved into the side of a mountain.
“Come,” he commanded. “There is much to do if we are to see the Earth suffer.”
“Master,” Conchar called after Elathan. “Where are we exactly?”
Elathan stopped and turned back to Conchar. “We are in Tech Duinn, and it is only a matter of time before all six realms are mine.”
The golden god led his minions into his castle as the clouds that had vanished long ago reformed and a single black bolt of lightning blazed across the sky.
…
A raven landed on a window perch of an old Scottish cottage. It tapped on the glass three times. The pane slid open and the bird hopped in with a caw.
“Well?” asked Sinead. “What have you found out, mistress?”
The raven hopped onto a worn down, but very comfortable reclining chair. A transformation caused the bird to grow out of its raven form and into a frumpy maiden. “Curious, Sinead, curious.”
“What is?” Sinead said, handing her mistress a cup of tea.
“Soon, we shall be visited by the Protectors,” the maiden replied. She sipped her tea and then nodded towards a shiny silver sword that was leaning against the stones of the fireplace. “Oh, yes, Brendan O’Neal will not only come for the Sword of the Protector, but he will seek counsel as well, he will,” she said with a laugh.
Sinead bowed low. “Yes, Mistress Bibe. He will come.”
The servant left the goddess of wisdom to her tea and to her thoughts. Considering the dark times that were still to come, Bibe had much to do. After all, who else could teach a young man how to kill a god?