“Took the words right outta my mouth,” Elijah declared.
Drostan shoved Ruarachan’s shoulder and cast him a chastising look for putting it so bluntly and causing the pups to panic.
“It needs sayin’, brother!” Ruarachan snarled, gritting his teeth in frustration. “She needs to know exactly what she’s up against. Nah gonna do her any good to go sugarcoatin’ it!”
“He’s right, Drostan,” Skye whispered. She was standing stone-still, her expression clearly conveying that she was close to losing her grip. Her vision tunneled. The possibility of being back in the possession of captors who wanted to carve her up was just… And this time, she would not be able to die from it. They would not have to be careful with the torture to ensure she stayed alive. She felt like she might faint. Or throw up. Or both.
Miko saw the borderline detached look in her eyes and shook his head. “Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey!” Miko shouted and clapped his hands together loudly, startling her from her dark thoughts and memories. “Skye, you listen to me, mami. NO. Do not do that. Focus. You’ve gots to get the hell up OUTTA there. Like yesterday,” he insisted frantically. “We gotta do something. Can we dig under this barrier? Can we run through it? Can one of yous throw one of these fucking trucks at it and break it down? Everybody THINK! What can we do?” he screamed furiously, hating the way everyone was just staring at the barrier as if accepting defeat.
“I don’t… I think it’s…” Skye breathed in a daze. “The visions and nightmares…” she finally whispered as she watched the sun grow darker with each passing second. Her brows drew together as she began to see the big picture. “It was all just to scare me into coming back to Sorcha for help. This was their end game. To get me right here, right now, so they could trigger this… so they could…” She stopped abruptly as it hit her, then turned and looked to her King in horrified realization. “Taran? They’re going to try to steal my power like they did Sitheag’s. They’ve been waiting to get their hands on me just as long as you guys have.”
Taran’s eyes practically glowed with rage in reply. He was too overwhelmed to even attempt to speak.
Ruarachan gave Skye a stricken look as he paced along the edge of the barrier.
“How much time do we have?” Elijah asked frantically.
“Minutes – maybe less,” Drostan answered, wincing at the whispers rising in the wind.
Skye moved as close to Taran and Ciaran as she could and looked up at them desperately. “I’m so sorry. I played right into this,” she said regretfully.
“Don’t talk like tha. It’s nah over yet!” Ciaran insisted. “Ya are gonna fight with everything ya’ve got, yeah?”
“Aye, she will. And we will find some way to get through this barrier to reach ya,” Taran insisted.
Skye nodded and fought to appear as confident as they were. Her efforts would have been far more convincing, were it not for the tears in her eyes. She knew they had been out-strategized. The Droch-draoidh had been preparing for this moment for nearly 4,000 years. Revising and updating their plan as they went to take all the variables into consideration. Skye was weak and exhausted. She was about to battle alone against an enemy she had never seen. Everything she could think to do would only make the situation worse.
Ailean saw the resigned look in her eyes and swallowed hard. He turned and addressed Taran in Gaelic – a sure sign that he was distressed. He knew he was too upset to be understood in English.
“She’ll have to be!” Taran answered before looking back to Skye. “Ailean asks if ya are strong enough to fight in faol form.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I should be okay to,” she said before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She willed the change. She felt her wolf surge and move to take control of her body… Only the change would not come. She opened her now-yellow eyes and snarled. Her teeth had changed, her fingers were taloned, but she was not able to transform any further. “I can’t!” she cried in startled disbelief.
“Because ya are so tired? Or…?” Ciaran asked fretfully and exchanged a deeply troubled look with Taran. If it was just a matter of her exhaustion, there was a chance she could overcome it with an adrenaline burst in battle. If not…
“It’s this stupid fucking barrier! I can’t change in here!” she answered and struggled to keep her breathing under control. Panic was setting in. Given her current sleep-deprived state, panic was the last thing she needed. She already was not thinking straight. She cried out to Sorcha in her mind but could immediately feel her cries reverberating back. The barrier was blocking her from reaching out for aid. “I can’t…” she tried to say but had to stop. She leaned forward onto her knees for a minute to keep herself from hyperventilating. “I can’t reach Sorcha, either,” she managed in a broken whisper.
“Someone call Latharn!” Taran ordered.
“The phones are nah working,” Drostan said quietly.
“Then someone RUN to a phone tha is!” Taran bellowed. “Get word to Sorcha of what’s happening!”
“Aye, my King,” Cathal answered resolutely and took off like a shot.
Taran looked to Ciaran. The two of them exchanged a look of fear. It was a long shot, but maybe – just maybe – the Goddess could do something to help.
“Pray.” Taran ordered suddenly, turning and pointing around to the ancients. He reached out and grabbed Ruarachan and Ailean’s arms as he dropped to his knees, dragging them down beside him. Ciaran, Drostan, and the others quickly followed suit. “Pray.” Taran urged again. “Pray and call to Sorcha. Perhaps She will hear us all together.” The men bowed their heads in unison, each frantically calling out to the Moon Goddess.
Aiyana’s jaw flexed as her mind turned their current dilemma over and over and over again searching for a solution. She looked around the group of faoil and realized, despite their supernatural abilities and the ancient status of most of these men, this was checkmate for them. They could not even attempt to break down the barrier to reach Skye without dying. They could not help to fight the enemies that were about to attack her. They had no move.
“On your six, Skye!” Elijah shouted.
Activity at the cave’s mouth drew everyone’s attention. The ancients all jumped back to their feet. Aiyana took the opportunity to slowly back away from the group.
Emboldened by the waning sunlight, a strange, twisted creature was testing its luck, scurrying back and forth just beyond the cave mouth, impatiently waiting for the opportunity to attack.
Skye struggled to focus on its form, but it stayed low to the ground. Its movements were unnatural and disturbingly insect-like. She fought back the wave of fear that instinctually rose in her.
Taking a deep breath, she turned back to her men. She raised her hands uselessly towards them, aching to hug them and kiss them if this was going to be the end for her. All she could do was clasp her hands together tightly and clutch them beneath her chin like a prayer.
“I love you, Taran. And Ciaran, I love you,” she whispered sincerely. “You’re the best things that have ever happened to me.” When both men opened their mouths to tell her not to say goodbye, she cut them off. “Just in case, okay?” she choked out, fighting back tears. “I’m gonna fight. I’m not gonna give up. But… just in case?” she asked brokenly.
“I love ya, my wee Queen, with all my heart,” Taran answered ardently, “and we will get through this to be together again, no matter what.”
Skye nodded sadly and turned to Ciaran, only to find him shaking his head as tears slipped down his cheeks.
“NO,” Ciaran declared quietly with a sniffle. “Ya will get no pretty goodbyes from me, a stóirín,” he managed stubbornly before flashing a tearful smile. “Ya will just have to come back to us, safe and sound, to hear me say it.”
Skye laughed and nodded. “Deal,” she agreed before grudgingly turning back to the cave.
The sun was nearly blocked now. The world was cast in an eerie red light. The creature at the cave’s mouth had grown tired of waiting
and was skittering toward them. Once clear of the rocky outcroppings, it shoved off of the ground and launched into the air.
“They can fly?!” Skye cried as she watched it unfurl its horrid wings. She had seen winged, ancient fògaraich once before, but she had no experience fighting them. Also, this thing’s appearance was far more disturbing than the fògaraich’s had been. It brought to mind the first time she had ever seen a Palmetto bug in her travels. A giant cockroach with wings was pure nightmare fuel – the sort of abomination that could only have been spawned in the darkest depths of hell.
“They can do a lot of things!” Ciaran warned bitterly.
“And there are several variations, so stay alert!” Taran added.
“There’s more than one KIND?” Skye shouted over her shoulder in disbelief.
“I told ya, they got inventive!” Drostan answered.
They all watched its approach with wide eyes, each growing steadily tenser in anticipation of the fight to come.
Skye extended her hand, already knowing that it would be pointless, but needing to at least try to do something to defend herself. She released a strong bolt of power aimed directly for the creature. Just as she feared, her magic was immediately drawn up into the barrier instead and carried to the cave.
“I can’t use my power on them, either!” she screamed.
The creature landed ten feet in front of her.
“Oh, what in the actual flying FUCK?!” Miko cried shrilly when he got a look at it.
Its disturbingly elongated form was boney and emaciated. Its pale, entirely hairless skin was stretched tissue-thin over a grotesquely disfigured frame. Despite a base humanoid form, it skulked toward Skye on all fours. Slits were the only indication of the presence of any sort of eyes or nostrils. Saliva poured from its over-sized mouth as it cackled excitedly.
Skye let out a ferocious growl as she hunched down slightly. She spread her feet and got into a fighting stance, bringing her hands up. The creature screeched, baring every needle-sharp fang in its horrid mouth, and charged for Skye at a dead-run. Just before the two could collide…
A single, deafening gunshot rang out, startling everyone.
Skye watched in astonishment as the creature screamed and collapsed to the ground with a substantial hole in its forehead. It writhed for a moment before burning up from the inside out and quickly falling to ash.
Every head slowly swiveled to find Aiyana standing on the hood of a truck in the distance with her rifle still in the firing position and a determined scowl on her face. She waited several seconds until she was sure the creature was not going to do anything crazy – like regenerate or something.
Miko’s shouts finally broke the astonished silence.
“HELL YEAH, YA-YA!” he whooped proudly.
Aiyana looked around the group of awestricken faoil and raised her rifle, resting it back against her shoulder. “What? Am I the only one who packed more than fur and fangs for this trip?”
Skye stared at her for another moment with her mouth hanging open before finally declaring deadpan, “Maybe it’s just the wolf in me, but… I am so incredibly turned on right now.”
“Oh my God, RIGHT?!” Ciaran gasped overdramatically and clutched his chest. He grinned and winked at Aiyana when she laughed.
Miko was already over by Aiyana, diving into a weapons case and arming himself.
“Hell of a shot,” Elijah commended with an impressed nod. He shed his coat and pulled his hair back into a hasty ponytail as he rushed over to her. “Did you bring enough party favors to go around?”
“I brought favors in all kinds of flavors, my canine compadre! Even ones a Navy SEAL such as yourself can enjoy,” Aiyana joked as she jumped down to the ground. She opened a few of more weapons cases and motioned for him to help himself. “You a good shot?” she asked hopefully.
Elijah gave her a ‘bitch, please’ look before declaring, “Was awarded the Marksmanship Medal for pistol and rifle, so yeah – you could say I’m a decent shot.”
“Great. Means you won’t waste my UV ammo,” she commented. Looking out at the rest of the group, she called, “Anyone else know how to shoot?”
A couple of younger faoil stepped forward, pups who had long-since completed their Nasgadh and had tagged along with their ancients for this excursion. But that was it. Aiyana, Miko, Elijah, and 2 other faoil were the only ones who could assist Skye in her hour of need.
The rest of their group of ferocious warriors – each hand selected for this mission due to their age and bravery in the early battles – had been rendered utterly useless by a single spell. It had never been clearer to Taran and the other ancients just how much they could benefit from the knowledge of the Ashers and their upcoming generation of pups. Taran and the other faoil watched in tense silence as their young armed themselves and prepared for this new, unfamiliar form of warfare.
Aiyana directed Aodh and Ailean to carry a couple of weapons cases over to the edge of the barrier for her. She got to work strapping on everything she could possibly carry, then filling her hands with a great deal more. Once she was loaded for bear, she took a deep breath, and decided to test a theory…
“And what about you?” Aiyana asked a minute later. “Can you shoot, or do you prefer pointy things?” she asked with a smile… as she stood directly beside Skye.
Skye turned toward her friend with wide, astonished eyes.
Aiyana was INSIDE the barrier.
In response to Skye’s thunderstruck expression, Aiyana shrugged. “No magic, remember? Just plain old mortal me here. The barrier must not have been rigged to keep non-magic folks out. Sooo….” Aiyana held up her hands and offered, “Gun? Machete?”
Skye threw her head back laughing at the utterly unexpected glimmer of hope presented by a single thing finally going right. In an exceedingly rare show of affection, she stepped forward and pulled Aiyana into a tight hug. Aiyana laughed and hugged her back as best she could while covered in weapons.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa – time the fuck out!” Miko called, deeply disliking this situation. It was bad enough that Skye was trapped where he could not help her fight. Now Ya-ya was out of his reach, too? NO. “She can’t be in there with those freaky ass things! She’s mortal! Tar? Skye? Tell her!” he yelled.
Skye stepped back and gave Aiyana’s shoulder a squeeze. “He has a point, Aiyana. It’s not safe for you to be here. You need to stay out there where the guys can help protect you.”
“Oh, really?” Aiyana asked and arched a challenging brow. “And if the tables were turned, would you leave me out here to fight solo? Even if you were a mortal and I was the big bad wolf?”
Skye scrunched up her face, hating the answer.
“Exactly,” Aiyana said. “So, nice try, but let’s just not, okay?”
“Ready yourselves!” Taran warned as creatures poured from the cave mouth.
Skye sighed heavily and nodded in agreement with Aiyana. “Fine. You stay, there’s one rule: Don’t. fucking. DIE. Got it?”
“That’s generally always my number one rule!” Aiyana answered in amusement as she shouldered her rifle.
The young ones all aimed and prepared to fire. The ancients all held their breath and watched in anxious silence.
At least 20 of the creatures came this time, all making a beeline for Skye. Guns fired off shot after shot as Miko, Elijah, and the others beyond the barrier focused on picking off as many as possible in the air, going for headshots to conserve ammo. Skye and Aiyana took out the ones who came too close.
They managed to take them all down in a minute flat, but there was no time for celebration. The next wave emerged from the cave in a cacophony of flapping wings and screeches. Everyone watched in growing horror as a swarm of nearly 100 creatures approached.
Skye could hear Taran’s roars and snarls of fury, his desperation to cross over the barrier and defend her. She could feel faint traces of Ciaran’s terror for her safety seeping through their link, even if it was muddled by
the spell.
The field turned into a warzone. A deafening, overlapping repetition of gunfire stretched on for an intense few moments before it was broken up by pauses for reloading.
All too soon, Skye was out of ammunition. She abandoned her guns in favor of claws and teeth to fight off those that managed to reach her. She had taken down the closest three when the deafening boom and blinding flash of a UV grenade detonation caught everyone by surprise – especially the 10 creatures it obliterated. Skye turned and laughed in amazement and pride when she realized the grenade had been thrown by Taran, of all people. He was a fast learner.
“Nice arm, babe!” she called.
“Well, I can nah just stand here!” Taran shouted back as Ciaran quickly handed him more grenades.
Only a few of the winged nightmares remained on the field when Skye heard a deeply distressing sound in the distance. It sounded like… galloping… She tore the head off the creature she was fighting before daring to steal a glance in the direction of the cave.
Hairy, ravenous, muscular beasts three times the size of any man were tearing across the field toward Skye and Aiyana with singular intent. Their claws ripped up the ground in their wake. Their piercing yellow eyes were large and reflective. Their teeth were the size of tusks, so long the beasts could barely close their mouths around them. And above them all swarmed yet another wave of the winged abominations.
“Holy–” Miko breathed as his jaw dropped open. “I’m gonna need bigger rounds!”
“Here – it’s Christmas come early!” Ciaran said in a rush as he thrust a handful of grenades into Miko’s arms. “Don’t say I never gave ya nothin’!” he called over his shoulder as he continued racing around the frontline, passing out grenades to the eager hands of Ruarachan, Ailean, Aodh, and several others. “Make’em count, lads! We’ve a limited supply!”
Skye took advantage of a fleeting pause in the battle to gaze out across the field at the fresh wave of inbound threats. The world quieted for her as she sensed the inescapable conclusion to this fight closing in. She took a deep breath as the breeze blew an errant strand of her hair across her face. The whispers echoed on the wind. The air tasted of fate. Something important and beyond her ability to stop was fast approaching.
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