“Simmons, check this out.”
At first, all that could be seen was the forest and then the camera was held out into the clearing catching the megaliths as they lit up and then cooled once again. A group of Goblins stepped out into the open space.
“What are we doing here?” one Redcap asked another.
“There is an entrance to the Chamber close by that has a more powerful connection to it than any other on Earth. We are going to guard it against any magick or human that thinks they can escape the death coming to them by slipping inside.”
“But the niseag’s already destroyed it.”
The leader smacked the other one upside his head. “You saying that you aren’t going to listen to Caoranach? That’s your death, then.”
“Freeze!” Edwards ordered as he leapt from his cover to confront the creatures.
It happened in an instant. Four of the Goblins were on top of him and took him down. The phone had dropped to the ground so the only thing left was the brutal sounds of the attack.
“Filthy human!” one of the Redcaps spewed.
Ken paused the video and bowed his head out of respect.
“You know where they’re going, right?” Ken asked.
“Right back where we came from. Grab his legs.”
“Huh?” Ken was thrown by the idea of touching a dead body.
“He’s a hero, and we don’t leave heroes behind. So, grab his legs. We’ll drop him off on our way back to the CHH. I think we’re going to need some back up.”
“Me too, but it’s not who you’re thinking of.
…
Caoranach hovered just outside of the smooth, black megaliths in Corways glaring at all of the little magicks in town and the two large giants just outside of it.
“I am Caoranach,” she declared.
“The mother of demons!” Biddy gasped.
“I have come to destroy this miserable village of Nuada’s making and the Morrigan’s backing.” She let her words resonate with them before she continued. “Everything you love will be destroyed, but most of you will keep your lives. I wouldn’t want you to miss the end of days.”
“Leave us be!” Colym shouted.
“I will leave you in shambles.”
A sly grin creased her full lips as she lowered to the ground, immediately causing it to shake. Houses and structures began to unravel, falling to the ground as if they were constructed of matchsticks. All of the Gnomes and Leprechauns fell down, bouncing into each other along the way. Tevis and Fergus tried to move forward but the vibrations made the ground below their feet liquid-like and caused them to trip.
When Caoranach was finally satisfied with the destruction she took back to hovering a couple of inches above the ground. “Better already.”
She floated back into the center of the megaliths and admired her handiwork. “Now to leave you with a special gift.” She exhaled her mutation mist into the air and caused it to float out of town. “I wouldn’t worry about rebuilding if I were you.”
Seconds later Caoranach was gone and the only noise that could be heard was the tortured howls of nearby animals in the area.
“Oh no,” Rory exclaimed. “Everyone, prepare to defend ourselves.”
…
“Have you gotten used to your powers, Brendan?” Dorian asked as she traveled with him, levitating high above the city in his protection.
“I guess so,” Brendan said with a shrug. “I had time to think about the weirdness of having powers after, you know, the witch, because I was away from that world for about a year, but since Elathan I haven’t had time to think about it really.”
“You have developed so many more abilities since the witch, too, and we have no idea why.”
He nodded as he thought, realizing that he really didn’t need to concentrate on keeping them aloft. They were heading out to survey the area where the fractured dominion pulse was supposed to be located.
“My best guess is that either Nuada or the Morrigan is responsible for my power boost. I mean, I’m guessing on the how, but I certainly understand the why.”
“I think we all are aware of that.” Dorian kept her eyes on Brendan for a moment longer and then she glanced around at the beauty of Tir na nOg. It rivaled Ireland, which made her a little homesick. “I wonder how Rory and Biddy and everyone are doing.”
“I hope they’re fine. Corways has been through so much,” he said, reaching out to take her hand. “And I’m not sure what I would do without Corways, her people—or you.”
Brendan placed his hands on both sides of her face and looked into her eyes. “I’ve realized something throughout this entire journey and that it’s…”
“What?” she asked as he hesitated. “What is it?”
“It’s that I know that I could not do any of this without you.” He fought the urge to look away, nervous about making himself so vulnerable. “I don’t want to do anything without you again.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Dorian said with a bright smile.
“I mean ever.” He couldn’t help but avert his eyes for a moment.
“What are you saying?”
Brendan took a moment to draw in a breath, hoping to calm his nerves. “I’m saying that if we—and the Earth—make it through this, I want to spend my life with you.”
“Brendan, are you…”
“Yes, if we live through Armageddon I want you to be my wife.” He bit his lower lip, a nervous habit he thought he’d broken in middle school. “I’m not saying we have to have a ceremony immediately or anything, just that I’m committed to you like you have been to me.”
“Like I am committed to you, silly,” she said before leaning up and kissing him passionately.
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
“Of course, yes!”
They kissed again and then he pulled away and looked at her. “This should work out, right, I mean between a Leprechaun and a human?”
“Don’t worry, we have magic on our side.”
“I guess you’re right. Not something to worry about right now anyway. Let’s find that pulse,” Brendan concluded with a grin.
They flew on for a couple more miles before he made them land softly in a field. Surprisingly the white shard was just lying on a patch of grass undisturbed. He bent down and picked up the mineral and then watched how it, too, was absorbed into his bloodstream. Another realm had joined the cause.
Brendan was calmer than he expected to be considering what was coming. There was no bigger challenge than Elathan, and he understood that, but when he looked over at Dorian, with her hair blowing in the wind and the sun shining on her face, he knew that everything was going to be okay—it had to be okay.
Chapter 19
Preparation
Huh. Not what I expected,” Frank observed of Brugh. “I get that its known as the realm of caverns, but come on. Look how many there are.”
“Must be hundreds that we can see,” Rohl added. “Who knows how many more there are.”
“There are 220,000 caves in Brugh,” Airmid answered.
Rohl leaned over to Garnash and whispered, “They must not have heard of rhetorical questions in Otherworld.”
Lizzie began to lead them away from the megaliths letting Frank pull up the rear of the group. While the terrain was rocky, there were enough patches of green grass to soften the landscape. Before too long the group came to the entrance of a large, open cave.
“Gotta say that I’m not a big fan of caves,” Frank revealed.
“I get it,” Lizzie nodded her agreement. “You should have been with us last year when we were surrounded by Ruas.”
“How did you escape?” Airmid asked.
“Our friend Artie saved us. He was a ghost.”
Frank shook his head as he looked at the friends around him. “Man, if you would have told me six months ago all of this would be happening and I was going to be a part of it, I would have said that you were crazy.”
Lizzie shrugged
. “You get over it.”
“Brendan’s map said this cave is the one, but he did also caution us about dragons and Dewi,” Garnash said, trying to keep the group on track.
“Dewi won’t hesitate to kill us if he can. Let’s hope that we don’t come across him,” Airmid warned.
“It’s true,” a voice called out from the darkened cave.
Lizzie conjured her bo staff in her hand as she waited for whoever—or whatever—was going to join them from the cave.
…
Della and Tannus had been ignoring each other for the past two days. His temper and blow-ups had been getting worse, and she needed a break. Being alone was easy for Della since she’d had a lifetime of practice. She never felt sorry for herself but realized that she had a penchant for getting into tough situations. She supposed it was to her credit for living through them all.
At that moment she found herself with nothing to do in the castle. She had already cleaned and cooked and delivered messages from Tannus to a few groups around the area. She walked through the courtyard turning the white shard over in her hand, admiring how unblemished it was.
“Della?” Tannus said as he approached.
She slid the shard up her sleeve deftly and bowed to the master. “What can I do for you?”
“Nothing. Come have dinner with me. You cooked a wonderful meal for me and I know that there have been tensions here, but I don’t want that. You are my friend as well as my assistant.”
“Thank you. I accept,” Della replied, pleasantly surprised by the gesture.
She walked a few paces behind him and managed to place the shard back into her pocket. Friendly or not, she did not want Tannus to discover her secret treasure.
…
Brendan set himself and Dorian down gently at the edge of Sarvaloo not wanting to draw a crowd. It felt like things had calmed down a bit since they had left to retrieve the pulse.
“Wait, I thought we were going to Corways?” Dorian asked in confusion.
The young couple hadn’t discussed much on the way back to the city so it didn’t surprise Brendan at all that she was confused.
“Sorry, I should have said something.” He smiled shyly. “I wanted to see if we can’t convince a god or two to come and fight by our side.”
Dorian nodded. “That’s a great idea.”
Brendan grimaced. “As far as I observed they weren’t really into defending themselves against Camulos, and since he’s on Elathan’s side, I’m not hopeful.”
…
“I’ll scout ahead,” Boann said, seeing a river off to the right of the megaliths. She sprinted towards it and dove headlong into it out of sight.
“It’s hard to believe that my feet are back on familiar ground, Argona,” Arawn noted as he and Argona stepped onto the luscious grass of Ann wn. “And even more unbelievable that you are by my side.”
“Don’t rush this, Arawn. Too much has happened to jump back in blindly,” she warned.
Arawn nodded his agreement. They began walking towards the location where Brendan told them the pulse could be found, and not surprisingly to Arawn it was his own castle. Someone else had moved in and made themselves at home. They were about to be in for a big surprise.
“Tell me about your time under Elathan’s rule,” Arawn asked cautiously. “Unless you’re not comfortable discussing that with me.”
Argona raised her brow and thought for a moment that she’d lose her temper, but she didn’t. How could she, really? He had watched over her for years during a very angry time in her life. She was stuck in a prison blaming Arawn for her descent into evil, but she knew deep down that it was her own fault. She chose to follow Elathan whose goals she thought had mirrored her own.
She sighed. “Early on Elathan was fulfilling his promises. The things he was doing and the things he had us do made sense for his goals. But before I knew it his goal became to destroy Earth and rule Otherworld.”
“He’s almost accomplished that, Argona.”
“I know,” she said as she averted her eyes. “We can’t let that happen.”
He knew he didn’t need to answer; they both already knew what was at stake, even if they were from two separate worlds.
“Who do you think Elathan named as the Watcher?” Argona asked.
“We’ll find out soon,” Arawn replied, pointing to his former castle just up ahead near the river on the hillside.
“Boann?” Argona said.
Arawn wore a weary expression that spoke to his mistrust of the water goddess. “Keep an eye out for her. I’m not sure I trust her loyalty.”
The Celtic warrior and the goddess of war approached the closed castle door with caution. There was no telling what surprises they might encounter. Arawn reached out his hand and pressed on the door, his other hand holding firm to the hilt of his broad sword retrieved from Camulos’ quarters. Argona stood by with her energy whip on standby having acquired a new one at a local weapons shop in town.
Arawn mouthed, one, two, three and flung the door open to an empty room.
Seconds later a Puck strolled into the foyer, glanced towards the gods and froze for exactly one second before she screamed.
“Della? What are you doing here?” Argona asked.
Della went silent and stared at her former master.
“Ahhhh!” Della screamed again.
Argona rushed in and put her hand over Della’s mouth. “Stop screaming. We’re not going to hurt you. Why are you in Arawn’s castle?”
“I… uh…” Della stumbled over her words.
Arawn cut her off. “Where is the pulse?”
“The what?” she asked.
“The pulse. It’s a white, jagged stone and I know it is here in the castle,” Arawn described.
Della hesitated and then, with a shaky hand, pulled the pulse from her pocket. It shone brightly, like a beacon of hope that Arawn and Argona hadn’t felt in some time.
“Is this what you are talking about?” Della inquired.
“That’s exactly what we’re asking about,” Argona said with a smile. “Well done, Della. Well done.”
…
“What do you think you’re doing, Tannus?” Boann said, surprising the Watcher of Ann wn from behind.
Tannus spun towards her and put a hand to his chest. “Don’t sneak up on a god of storms, Boann.” He pointed up at a fast-forming storm system that had seemingly come out of nowhere.
“You may want to keep that rolling.” She read the confusion on his face and then motioned for him to follow her with her finger.
Tannus looked at her curiously and then complied, following her around the side of the castle to peer in through the opened door. Boann pointed the way and then retreated to cover. What he saw infuriated him.
“Della!” he shouted. “You betray me?”
“Master Tannus? I…” Della stumbled over her words.
“No, Della, you don’t need to explain anything to him. You belong to no one anymore. You are free,” Argona declared, unfurling her energy whip.
“You don’t want to challenge me, Argona. I’m more powerful than ever!” the god of storms bragged.
Argona didn’t wait for any more banter and sprinted directly at Tannus. Tannus’ eyes clouded over and the thunder roared above. She got within fifteen feet of the storm god before she felt the static electricity in the air.
“Look out!” Arawn shouted, feeling the energy around them as well.
His words were drowned out by the crackle of the lightning striking the ground next to the war goddess. She ran on undeterred and arched her whip over her head and then lashed out at Tannus. The whip’s trajectory was headed directly for Tannus’ neck before another bolt of lightning struck it and knocked it down and away from him. The jolt caused her to stumble and Tannus reached out and grabbed her by the throat.
“I’m going to break your…” Tannus began to say until a fist struck his face, splitting his lip and knocking him to the ground.
�
��You will pay for this!” the god of storms promised.
Arawn pointed his broad sword at Tannus’ neck and chuckled. “You will pay for your crimes against my realm.”
The sound of roaring water played in Arawn’s ears and he turned around in time to see a massive wall of water just as it slammed into him and Argona. The sheer power of the water carried them away from the castle and Tannus, tossing them about like leaves in the sea.
Boann walked over and offered Tannus a hand up. “Don’t you have some place to be?”
“How do you know?” he said, accepting her hand.
“Let’s just say that I’m perceptive.”
Tannus bowed his head and the pair began to head toward the nearest tether, but Tannus stopped at the door and noticed that Della was nowhere to be seen.
“Come, Tannus,” Boann offered. “We don’t want to miss the end of Earth.”
…
Simmons’ unmarked car pulled onto the campus to a scene straight out of some monster movie where college kids and Goblins were running wild.
“This is crazy!” Ken exclaimed.
Two young men sprinted in front of the car running away from a pair of Goblins, so Simmons surged forward and rammed the creatures, causing them to roll under the car. The front tires smashed into the curb and popped under the pressure, making the car lurch to a stop.
“Let’s do this!” Simmons hollered.
As soon as his door was opened a Redcap leapt inside and tried to stab the detective in the chest, but it was instantly yanked from outside and tossed across the lawn. Simmons looked up and spotted Wanda, her wand’s tip smoking.
“Thanks,” he said.
“No problem, honey,” Wanda said. “Oh, and we brought some back up.”
“You know that’s right,” Patty added.
Ken hopped out of the car and pointed at the sky. “Where did all these Fairies come from?”
“You think we’re the only two around here, baby?” Wanda said.
“We brought our whole village.” Patty used her wand to zap a Bendith’s wing as it swooped down at a young woman.
“Looks like we’re going to fight magic with magic, Detective,” Ken offered, shotgun in hand.
The Bloodline Inheritance Page 22