Brendan followed Toren and Dorian, and Olwen followed Brendan not knowing anything of what was going on. They approached Nuada’s body lying on a narrow bed, motionless. This was the first time that Brendan had laid eyes on Nuada’s face. The silver god’s features were kind and aged like a person who had smiled a lot in their lifetime. His hair and beard were silver and brought a strange comfort to the Protector. Brendan was grateful that he was finally able to truly see the god from his visions.
“Crimmeny!” Bide exclaimed as she turned around and saw three full-bodied people standing in the room. “How did you get here?”
“Tether,” Brendan said frankly.
“Nuada grew worse and worse and then—its like he died,” Toren said. “But he’s a god and they are immortal.”
“I hate to say it, but I’ve seen many gods struck down,” Brendan said remorsefully.
Brendan leaned down next to Nuada and reached out a shaky hand over the god’s chest. Power radiated out of the prone god causing Brendan’s hand to glow silver at first, but bursts of white energy escaped his fingers and struck the silver god in the heart. For a moment Brendan thought that would have shocked him back to life, but the god didn’t move.
Brendan leaned in close to Nuada’s ear and whispered, “If I can stop Elathan, I will. Thank you for giving me the chance to fight for Earth.” He touched Nuada’s forehead and then turned back to Toren and Bibe.
“You’re free,” Brendan declared. “Go where you like, but I would stay away from Earth if I were you.”
“You really think we could stay away from a fight?” Bibe chided. “Don’t be daft.”
“Uh, Brendan. Who are you talking to?” Dorian asked after a few moments of Brendan conversing to what seemed like an empty room.
“Remember Toren from my visions a while back, and Bibe the wise goddess? She’s in sort of a corporeal state as well.”
“Hello,” Dorian said, waving tentatively. “We should be going, Brendan.”
Brendan looked over to the empty space by the window he had just broken and pointed an open palm at the ground. He twisted his hand up and raised it high above his head. Like magic, a set of three megaliths ripped through the floor.
“Who are you?” Toren asked in awe.
“More like what have you become?” Bibe corrected. “Whatever it is, I’m glad you’re on our side.”
Brendan nodded and then held out his hand for Dorian and Olwen as they walked into the center of the megaliths.
“Good luck, son,” Toren offered.
Brendan waved, and then in a blink of an eye they were gone.
Bibe got up immediately and marched over to the megaliths.
“Where are you going? You don’t have a body any longer. Camulos took it from you.”
“I do have a body, remember,” she replied, pointing to her temple.
“That bird? You’re going to live out your days as a bird?”
“Caw,” she replied, and then, she, too was gone.
Toren walked back over and sat next to Nuada. “Then there were two.”
…
When Dewi arrived at the stones, the sun was already high in the late morning sky, a time of day that he would normally avoid when on Earth to prevent human contact or drawing the ire of Arawn or Nuada. Those days were gone and the dragon god stood confidently on the Earth’s soil.
Unlike most of the others who heeded Elathan’s call alone, Dewi brought an army of Goblins and dragons with him. They were spread out around the Standing Stones reinforcing the already formative guards the golden god had assembled.
The dragon god stood near Camulos and Tannus with his wings tucked behind his back.
“I heard you had a run in with the Protector,” Dewi mentioned to Camulos.
“Did Lir put you up to that?” Camulos said, spinning towards the much larger Dewi.
“I, too, fell victim to him so I wanted to make it clear that if he does come to our party then I will be the one who kills him,” Dewi declared.
Camulos, by nature, sought out conflict, but his strategic mind won over this time. A worn-out Protector would be a much easier kill. “Of course, Dewi. I wouldn’t dream of standing in your way.”
“As long as I get to kill Argona,” Tannus huffed.
“If they do show up, there will be plenty of blood for us all to shed,” Camulos said with a sick grin.
…
“Hello, Dug.”
“Hey there, Effie,” Dug replied as his key entered the lock on the welcome center’s front door. “I really don’t like these late day hours.”
“Why is that? It lets me stay up later to… study,” Effie said, sparing her much older counterpart’s sensibilities since she was young and vibrant and he was in the winter of life.
“You kids,” Dug grunted as the door was opened. He turned the lights on and began to remove his jacket when he glanced out the back window and saw a lot of shadows moving around on the hillside. “What do you suppose that’s all about?”
“Too early in the day for a party. Maybe a guided tour those Americans are always taking?”
“Did you notice a bus in the lot, Effie? I didn’t,” Dug said, pulling his jacket back on. “I’m going to find out.”
“Have fun with that,” she replied, moving over to the counter to turn on the lights in the display case.
Dug plodded to the back door and unlocked it, the bolt moaning; he opened the doors to a shocking discovery.
“Ahhh!” Dug shrieked.
“Well, lookie here! A bag of bones,” a Redcap shouted.
Dug backed up as fast as he could but he lost his footing and fell onto his back. Three Redcaps hustled inside and surrounded him. It wasn’t until Effie screamed and then fainted that they even knew she was there.
“What should we do with them?” said a short, portly Redcap. “Eat ’em?”
“No,” boomed a voice from the door.
The Redcaps turned to see Warnach enter the room, though he had to duck and come in sideways. “Any humans that arrive today—bring them to me.”
“What for? Are you going to eat ’em?”
Warnach didn’t reply, instead he lifted his wand and whispered a short incantation. The Redcaps leapt away from the old man immediately as his body transformed into a pale white, tightly-muscled Rua complete with black claws and blood-red eyes. The young woman behind the counter hopped on top of it and gnashed her teeth at the Redcaps and stared at them through the same red eyes.
“We can never have enough soldiers in the field,” Warnach said before walking away.
…
“That hit the spot,” Frank declared after finally getting something into his stomach. “Never thought I would eat haggis, but there it was.”
“When you’re hungry, mate, you eat whatever you can get your hands on,” Garnash reasoned.
“Someone’s coming!” a guard shouted from across the ruins of Corways.
Lizzie was the first one on her feet; she sprinted back to the megaliths. “Be ready!”
The arrival of their guest was taking longer than expected so many more of the citizens of Corways were able to gather. A nervousness weighed on the crowd.
Fog bellowed out from the center, and three distinct outlines came into view.
“Brendan!” Lizzie shouted.
“Liz!” he said, hugging her.
“Dorian!” Rory and Biddy shouted as they ran to her.
Dorian quickly dropped into her natural size and embraced them both.
“Whoa! You can shrink? That’s neat,” Olwen gushed.
“Right,” Dorian said as she quickly returned to human height. “This is Olwen.”
Rory looked back at Brendan. “How long have you two been away?”
“What? No, she’s a young goddess,” Brendan said after catching Rory’s meaning.
“What do I know about Otherworld and the time line? I mean, its not inconceivable, right?” Rory threw his hands up and feigned innocence.
Rory a
nd Biddy explained Sierra’s message to Dorian and Brendan. “It’s the Standing Stones, Dorian. I know what that place is to you.”
“That’s where he has my father… and my mother…” Brendan said, sadness etched in his words.
“We’ll get them back,” Lizzie promised.
Brendan looked her in the eye. “You can count on it.” He turned to Rory. “I want messages to be delivered to any allies we have that we are going to mount an attack tonight.”
“Tonight?” Rohl said with a gulp.
“We can’t wait any longer,” Dorian offered.
“We can ask the Magogs for help,” Rory said.
“What? Those monsters?” Garnash blurted.
“Their new leader came to us and offered their help,” Biddy explained.
Garnash shook his head. “I don’t trust a Magog.”
“Was this leader a female?” Dorian inquired.
“She was,” Rory answered.
Dorian nodded. “Deliver these messages as quickly as possible.”
There were many volunteers, and they left immediately, each one carrying the important news.
“I hope we have enough,” Dorian said as she leaned into Brendan.
“Whatever we get will have to be enough.”
…
The world around Elathan had all but vanished from his perception in the wake of the trance he had to muster to access the Crown. It was taking an incredible amount of concentration, so he knew he had been wise to enlist the protection of his Watchers, even if they didn’t know his plans for them.
He continued to speak the words of a language that was older than Otherworld itself that Caoranach had taught him and to his great pleasure a single, thin line of light appeared in the air before him.
It’s working! The Crown will soon be mine.
Chapter 21
Callanish
Bibe was just beginning to get used to being a soul when she found herself traveling through the tether towards Earth once again. Her raven body was waiting for her at Sam’s Creek when she arrived, so she slipped right in through the eye.
The bird shook its head and tucked its face down into a wing, but after a moment, the discomfort went away. Bibe spread her spirit throughout the bird’s body until she had absorbed herself into each and every cell.
She tried to speak but only managed to squawk. She tried again and cracked out a hoarse semblance of a word.
I’ll work on talking along the way!
Bibe flew faster than she ever remembered flying, cutting across the sky. It didn’t take long before she flew over an odd scene. Goblins of all sorts and Earth animals who had been mutated were causing havoc for the humans and a pack of Fairies. Two humans in particular caught her attention.
She swooped down and landed on a nearby stop sign. The older man fired off a couple of rounds at a fleeing Bendith, missed, then grumbled like a human.
“Hey,” Bibe squawked. The human looked up in confusion. “That’s right. I talk.”
“Of course you do,” Simmons acknowledged. “I’m sort of busy right now, so if you don’t mind…”
“Brendan has returned to Earth,” she said, taking a chance.
The man stood still and nodded. “I hope he saves the world, but right now I’ve got people to help.”
The bellowing roar of a bear across the lawn caught both of their attention. It was a brown bear but somehow had grown to the size of an elephant.
“Caoranach’s work!” Bibe barked. “I will seek out help!”
The raven flew off leaving the detective to think up something to try and defend the campus against a megabear.
…
“Hey, can we talk?” Lizzie asked Brendan and pulled him off to a secluded spot.
“What’s going on?” he prompted.
“We haven’t had much of a chance to talk about Mom.”
Brendan scrunched his eyes and looked toward the late afternoon sky, not really knowing what to think. “Part of me, the logical part, wants to say that it’s impossible, but it’s not like our family lives in reality anymore, right. Tell me about when you saw her.”
Lizzie relayed the moment. “You should have seen Dad. He never hesitated. Not once. He was on a mission to find her, no matter the cost.”
“What did she look like? I haven’t forgotten her, but… what did it feel like to see her again?”
Lizzie smiled. “In that brief moment when I recognized her my heart got so warm.” She kicked the dirt at their feet. “I hope you’re right about Dad being on Earth because that tells me that he got her back.”
“He’s here and we’re going to go get him and Mom back,” Brendan promised.
Lizzie pulled the white, jagged fragment from her pocket and held it up for Brendan. “Do you think these pulses will really help you?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
…
“You have a lovely home, Dorian,” Olwen offered.
“You’re pretty sweet, Olwen, but you should have seen it before all of this craziness happened. It really wasn’t much, but there was always music and parties, people laughing, a real family, you know.”
“My parents were always busy with the council and never really had time for me, and then when Camulos killed them… well, I had to hear about it from gossip on the street. It was days later, but it wasn’t unusual for me to go days without seeing them.” The young goddess sighed. “It would be nice to see something that was like a family.”
“We’ll figure something out, Olwen, but first we have to go and try and save this planet,” Dorian explained. “So I’m going to need you to stay here with one of my Leprechauns.”
Colym was walking by so Dorian called him over. “You’re going to stay behind and look after Olwen. You are going to also defend Corways, you and Olwen here. She’s a goddess,” Dorian said.
“If that’s your wish,” Colym said obediently before walking away.
Olwen looked up at Dorian with worried eyes.
“You should be fine. He’ll tell you some stories. He’s really entertaining.” Dorian bent down and wrapped her arms around Olwen. “This is called a hug, and it will be your first of many.”
…
Elathan’s mind was buzzing with the ancient words he had memorized. He had been able to find the crucial chant, that secret kept by beings more ancient than any other—and it was going to win him the Crown.
He was delighted when the thread of light expanded slightly and exposed an additional light source, this one hued in emerald green. His heart raced with anticipation.
So much power!
…
Brendan felt a little different every time he absorbed one of the pulses into his system. When the first pulse entered his skin he was more shocked than anything but didn’t focus on how he actually felt. He knew he was stronger, but he wasn’t able to perceive it for what he had come to think of it: the collective support of the realms themselves. He knew the thought sounded improbable, and maybe he was just fooling himself, but the idea was empowering. It was helping him to believe that he could, in fact, defeat Elathan.
“Every journey begins with a single step,” he mumbled to himself as he walked to a ruble pile that used to be a bakery.
Brendan reached out with his telekinesis and quickly formed a makeshift, yet stable, platform. He hopped on top of it and turned to face all of the friends and warriors who were gathered. Before he could begin his speech dozens of Magogs and the two messengers stepped out of the obsidian megaliths.
“We have received your message and graciously accept your invitation,” Arleen, the Bloodright Lady of the Magogs declared.
“You’d think they were coming to a royal ball instead of a bloodbath,” Rohl whispered to Garnash.
“You’re assistance is welcomed,” Dorian replied.
All eyes turned back to Brendan, and he took a moment to take it all in.
“In a few minutes we are about to meet a very dangerous enemy on th
e field of battle.” He paused and thought about all of the inspirational speeches he had heard from watching movies and smiled. He never would have believed that he’d give one in real life.
“This enemy will not take mercy on you. They will not fight fairly. They will do whatever it takes to kill you.” He looked out at the crowd trying to connect with each and every warrior present. “They’re not the only ones willing to do whatever it takes. I, too, am willing. I promise you that I will do what’s necessary to protect our Earth.”
The Leprechauns, Gnomes, and all of the Giants roared in unison at the vow.
“Will you do what’s needed?” Brendan shouted.
The gathered army raised their fists and weapons in agreement.
“If we fail that will mean the end and not just for us but for every living being on this planet, magick or otherwise, but if we win… it will literally mean the world.”
The group shouted again.
“It’s time, friends and warriors, that we show Otherworld we’re not about to let Earth die without resistance. It’s time we fight!”
Brendan, Dorian, Lizzie, Frank, Garnash, Rohl, Airmid, Rory, and Biddy all stepped into the center of the megalith first.
“As soon as we’re gone one group after another step in and meet us at the Standing Stones,” Dorian commanded. “Be aware that when you arrive, war will have already begun.”
And with that the group vanished.
…
The new megaliths near the Standing Stones of Callanish began to glow and that made Lir smile.
“Who could that be?” Tannus asked. “Do we have more reinforcements coming?”
“No,” Lir replied, almost giddy. “I believe we finally get to kill someone.”
…
Brendan wasn’t sure if anyone else was able to keep their eyes open while using the megaliths to travel but it was an odd sensation. Everything and everyone was stretched to ridiculous proportions as they moved through space and time to reach the new location. The journey wasn’t long, but he knew that the enemy would be alerted to their arrival, so Brendan allowed his body to start its silver glow even before he saw the destination.
The landing was soft and even before the fog had cleared Brendan could feel a rain of arrows arching through the dusky sky towards his group. He lashed out with his power and vaporized the projectiles. Brendan moved out into the field realizing that they had arrived via a different tether than he had on his first visit to Callanish.
The Bloodline Inheritance Page 24