I closed my eyes, tears spilling down my cheeks. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “You are the strongest person I know, Quinn. You are my hero, the one person I look up to. Don’t let me down. Don’t let her win.”
I put my hands over hers. “Do you remember when we used to wonder about mom, if there had ever been someone she really loved?”
The change in subject caught her off guard. I told her about Wil, about how Cora had forced Darcy to produce a child with Lir, and then Balor, And how Wil was still waiting for her.
“I think you’d like him. There’s something about him that seems so calm, so easy to just be yourself,” I said. Ashling was sitting beside me, our arms around each other. “It’s amazing to think he’s waited all this time for her.”
“Love makes us do crazy things,” she whispered. “I think I’m falling in love with someone, but I can’t tell him that. Not now, not knowing what is coming. But it doesn’t stop me from going to him as often as I can, just to talk to him.”
Her confession surprised and hurt me. Ash deserved a chance to have a shot at love, to find out all about what that meant, how it felt to love someone with all her heart and have that given back to her tenfold. It hurt that she would rather spend time with this new man in her life rather than me, but I did understand. Just the thought of leaving the two boys made my own heart ache with enough pain to steal my breath away.
“Yes, love does make you do crazy things.” I said, holding her tight, as if that would keep her here with me.
She looked up at me, pinned me with her gaze. “Don’t let it make you do anything crazy, Quinn. You can’t change this. I know you love me, but this is the way it’s going to be.”
Ashling flinched as though she’d been hit. I frowned and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to go.” She kissed me on the cheek. “Be brave, Quinn. She will try to trick you, will try to use me against you, just be brave and do what you must.”
Her image shimmered, and I was left alone in the tent. A hand on my shoulder brought me fully out of the dream. Bres leaned over me. “Everything’s ready. It’s time to go.”
15
Bres and I were alone behind a sand dune about a half mile from camp. The moon was overhead, the night clear of any cloud cover. “Do you think it went okay?” I asked for probably the tenth time.
He didn’t get upset, just took my hand and lifted it to his lips. “Luke is a fighter, he knows what he’s doing, Quinn.”
We lay on our bellies looking towards the camp. The fires were burning, which we could just see at this distance. Suddenly a great shout went up and I knew that Luke had released Nuadha and all those taken by Chaos’ mark.
The plan was that he would tell Nuadha that he’d never believed in me, not once did he see how weak I was. Both Bres and Luke thought the Tuatha leader would buy it, not seeing past his own arrogance.
There was a lot of movement in the camp, and then silence. The stillness was broken by a great crashing of symbols, and then we could hear someone shouting.
“That’s Nuadha,” Bres said. “But I can’t make out what he’s saying.”
I strained to catch a word, phrase, anything, but we were just too far away. “Should we get closer?”
Bres shook his head. “No. Luke said he would talk to Nuadha about bringing Ashling…Chaos here. We have ta be patient.”
A part of me wanted everything to just hurry up and get on with it. I had to face her. That wasn’t in doubt, but the waiting was killing me.
Suddenly there was a burst of flame and the clash of swords. I sat up and strained my eyes. “That’s Luke’s fire,” I said. “He shouldn’t be fighting. Not unless . . .”
“Shit,” Bres said, scrambling to his feet. “Nuadha didn’t fall for it.” He pointed to two figures battling across the night sands, out into the waves. I saw Nuadha lift his blade, saw him disarm Luke. No. I couldn’t let this happen!
I beckoned the water into a wave and it crashed into the two men. It saved Luke, but only for a moment. Seconds later a figure walked out into the water and plucked Luke up. Darcy held him up as if he were a wet rag doll. I heard her words as if she were standing next to me.
“She will not come for Chaos if we hold his life on the line. She loves him. He’s the perfect piece of blackmail.”
My heart clenched. What had we done?
Bres pulled me back down onto my belly. “Don’t do anything. They won’t kill him. We can figure this out.”
A soft scuffle of bush behind us spun us both around. Skulking towards us was the humped back shape of a Fomorii. With its head down, eyes towards the ground, it lifted its hands in supplication. “I mean no harm. I come in peace. Please, we need to be free of her. She is not Fomorii any longer. Bres, you know this.”
I’d pulled out Carnwennan and steadied myself on the sloping sand as the Fomorii spoke. “How do I know you tell me the truth? Why shouldn’t I make sure there is one less of you on the battle field?”
Now it did lift its head. Both eyes were clear of Chaos’ mark. “Your sister tells me that you speak of a past love of your mother, Wil. She said to tell you to trust me. I served her when she was still a little bit Fomorii.”
The Fomorii lowered its head again. I wavered. There was no way it could have known what Ashling and I spoke of without her telling it. Damn.
Carnwennan went back into the scabbard. “Alright. What do you propose?”
The Fomorii lifted its head, its tongue flicking out past the wicked sharp teeth its mouth barely contained. “I teach you, like I teach the other girl. You need help, I give it. One lesson only.”
Bres leaned in to me. I know Gormley. I trust her. She has some strange abilities, but I think she might have something to offer.
I lifted an eyebrow. “One lesson?”
Gormley ducked her head. She scratched a claw through the sand. “Yes, one lesson. Only one spell you need to know.”
She backed away from us and I shook my head. “No, I’m not going with you. Teach me here or not at all.”
A snap of her teeth and a kick of her feet in the sand preceded some heavy muttering. “Just like the other girl. Stubborn.”
Lifting her head along with one claw, she acquiesced. “Fine. I teach you here, but she might hear and then we are dead.”
There was no need to say “her” name; we all knew Gormley meant Chaos. I would take that chance.
The Fomorii shuffled forward and I tensed as she lifted her claw-tipped hands into the air. “I need to be close to show you.”
It took everything I had not to bolt or strike out as she came within inches. One claw touched Carnwennan. I glared at her.
“This is sword of power, like Excalibur?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Then it has power to lift curse on the Fomorii,” she whispered, her voice full of awe.
I hadn’t thought of that. “I suppose it might.”
She chuckled, “You are not surprised. You know of the curse.”
It seemed best not to try to explain my near death experience and the past battles I’d seen. “Yes, I know of it.”
Gormley grunted. “Okay, I teach you one spell, one magic, and then you try to lift curse.”
Shrugging I agreed. “Trying is not the same as actually doing it.”
“Yes, yes,” she waved a claw in the air. “I understand. You are not Silver hand.”
“She means Nuadha,” Bres said. “The curse has been in force for so long, I didn’t even know that he could break it.” His violet eyes were drawn with worry.
What’s wrong?
He shook his head. Gormley is old. She was at the battle where the curse happened, and she hates Tuatha, more than anything. This is beyond out of character for her. Be on your guard.
I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures, I said.
Gormley lifted her hand again to
touch Carnwennan. “So pretty.” She tapped the gem with one claw. “Soul gem. It will capture souls if you know how to use it. That is your lesson.”
I blinked. “That’s it?”
She sat back on her haunches. “Yes, lesson I teach is that there is a spell to trap souls. I don’t know it, but it’s there still the same. Now you try to break the curse.”
“Wait, give me a minute.” I stepped back and took Bres with me. “If I could trap Chaos’ soul, that would free Ashling, wouldn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed with thought. “I don’t know, but it’s a possibility.”
Gormley snapped her claws. “Is not possibility, is truth. Now try to lift curse.”
I shook my head, “That’s not a lesson, which isn’t a fair trade. You said you’d teach me something, not tell me something. That’s a big difference.”
The Fomorii growled. “Fine. I teach you first lesson. How to heal.”
Bres was shaking his head. “She can’t, it isn’t in her, not those abilities.”
She blew a messy raspberry at him, spittle flying through the air. “Stupid, you all are so stupid. There is always a way to heal, just what you are willing to give to make it happen.” Scuttling forward, she put her face into mine. It took everything I had not to flinch.
“You are like your grandfather. You can heal, but every time you do, it will take a piece of your power. When no more power to take, it will take your mind until even that is gone,” she said, her breath rank like old rotting compost.
“Back up, you stink,” I said. Her eyes widened, and then she started to laugh, right in my face. Before I could react, her claws had gripped my head and she put her forehead to mine.
“Here, see what you must do to heal.” A dark wave seemed to roll over me.
In my mind, I could see exactly how I would heal someone, drawing off the actual source of my power, giving that up in order to mend a body. Gormley let me go and I stumbled back, my legs tangling; I fell back onto my butt.
“That’s not what happens to Ashling, is it?” Gods, I hoped not. I’d had her heal me twice. What if I’d caused her to be weaker, to be more susceptible to Chaos?
Gormley snorted and shook her head. “No, the other girl is a natural, first in many, many years. She heals like you kill, with no effort.”
Her view of me, and my abilities, struck me hard. “I don’t want to kill.”
She shrugged. “But still, you do.” Her black eyes bored into me. “Now, lift the curse.”
I got to my feet and brushed off my pants. Cora, a little help here would be fabulous.
My mentor stirred within me. You intend to try and break a curse that is thousands of years old, one that Balor has tried to break thousands of times over and failed? Arrogance will kill you yet, Quinn.
“I’m not being arrogant,” I snapped. “I’m going to try because I said I would.”
Bres’ eyebrows shot up. “You okay?” I waved him off. “Yeah, just trying to work things out.”
Carnwennan came free from the scabbard with a soft, sliding snick. I held my breath as my mind raced. How was I even going to attempt this? Everything I’d done with my powers had been based on instinct and need. I neither needed this curse to be lifted, nor was I in dire straits, being forced to survive.
Closing my eyes, I thought about how Nuadha had held Excalibur high, how it had flashed bright, and then how the curse had taken hold.
The sound of the surf was deafening against the silence as I tried to see what I could do, tried to figure it out. Fomorii were creatures of water, and I, Lir’s daughter, had stolen Card’s power over the water. Maybe that would be enough. I opened my eyes and climbed the dune, then jogged out to the water’s edge.
With a quick thrust I drove Carnwennan into the soft, wet sand, the waves washing up around the blade. I knelt in front of it in the surf and put my hands on the hilt, gripping the bone handle. I thought about my father, about how the powers he, Card and I had were connected to all the water, everywhere.
Fomorii were creatures of the water, born and raised with the ocean. All I could think of was how salt water was cleansing, how it could help a wound heal, and keep infection at bay.
Carnwennan began to glow and I let my power flow through the blade and into the water, through the ocean and through that connection to them into the people of the Fomorii. I could feel each one of them, could sense their living force as if they each stood next to me. Some, though, were afraid; they didn’t want what I was offering. They didn’t want what Gormley wanted.
I shifted the power and gave them the choice. A bright burst of energy spilled out of Carnwennan. I held on, not realizing that I was screaming along with Gormley, who writhed in the waters beside us, her body contorting and twisting as the curse lifted.
With a final burst of light and power, I slumped over the sword. My body felt wrung out.
Bres put one of my arms over his shoulders and helped me to my feet. Without a word, he pulled Carnwennan from the surf and slid it back into my scabbard for me. “Thanks,” I whispered. My throat was sore.
“We’ve got to go. Now.” He was dragging me away, and though I tried to get my legs to work, there wasn’t much I seemed able to do. A sob reached my ears. Someone was crying.“Where is Gormley?”
We half turned to see a wizened old woman, naked as the day she was born, sitting in the shallows. Her skin hung off in wrinkled folds, but she was smiling. “You did it. You are the Chosen one! This is the prophecy coming to light, bringing our worlds back together!” She wobbled to her feet and, the best her old body would allow, and she began to dance, sending up sprays of water as she kicked and hopped.
There was shouting from Nuadha’s camp, and it was getting closer. “We’ve got to go,” Bres said again. “Gormley, you’d best hide yourself.”
She spun to face us. “Never again, boy.” Lifting one age-spotted hand, she waved to us. “If I die this night, I will die happy, and in my own body.”
I lifted my hand, waving to her as Bres half-dragged me down the beach. I really was trying to move my legs, but they just didn’t seem to get the message.
A snort and a splash off to our side made us spin around. Raising my hand, I prepped a power bolt. Or at least I tried to.
There was nothing left for me to use; I’d drained my powers. I looked anxiously for the source of the sound then hissed, “Bres, I can’t feel my power anymore!” I didn’t try to hide the panic that was filling me. How was I going to face Chaos without any way to defend myself?
“It happens to everyone, daughter.” Lir strode out of the water, the Aughisky at his side. “Only I suspect it is the first time for you. Breaking a curse that old and that powerful would have killed most.”
In two strides, he was at my side, helping Bres carry me out into the water. “Hurry, Chaos has sent her army, and we are not in the best of shape to take it on,” Lir said.
They helped me onto the back of the Aughisky that had brought me to the west coast. “Thank you,” I whispered.
He grunted, tossing his mane. “If you can break one curse, maybe you can break another.” There was a glint in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Hope.
Lir cleared his throat.“No time right now, we must hurry.” The Aughisky began to swim out into the ocean and within minutes, we were well past the breakers. Before I could protest, my legs were sucked hard against the Aughisky’s side, like some sort of magnet had taken hold of them, and he dove under the waves.
Bres’ words of warning whipped through my mind, but a light brightened beside me and I could see Bres on the other water horse with Lir swimming between us. Lir wouldn’t let the Aughisky hurt me, of that I had no doubt. My mind eased on that count. I peered around us, trying to see where we were going.
We dove deep, the waters around us black, strange shapes flickering through our scope of light here and there. The water was cold, but it felt good. We started to slow as we came to a rock formation that was more than a lit
tle familiar, one that I never thought I’d see again.
It seemed we were coming full circle. Bres dismounted from the Aughisky and I slid from the back of my mount with ease, floating in the water beside him.
Thank you. I mouthed. The water horse nodded, and butted his head against me.
Swimming was easier than walking, and I made my way to the Labyrinth’s entrance. Once more, Bres pulled me from the water and into the cavern that marked the beginning of the maze.
Holding me against his chest, he smiled down at me. “It seems we’ve been here before.”
I held him tight, feeling the strength of him steady me. “I’m not letting go this time.”
Lir cleared his throat. “We don’t have much time to make a plan.” He beckoned to us to follow him. The walls of the Labyrinth parted before him, the twists and turns disappearing as he walked. Bres took my hand, linking his fingers with mine. Neither of us said anything, the memories of our time in the Labyrinth swirling around us, almost like flashes from an old movie reel.
This was where it had all started for him and me, where I’d found out that Ashling was Balor’s daughter, where I’d faced my greatest fear. It seemed fitting to be back here now, at what I was sure was the end of the journey.
“Can I save her?” I asked, the words blurting out of me before I even thought to stop them.
Lir paused and waited for us to catch up. His eyes were sad when he looked down at me. “I don’t know, Quinn. I just don’t know.”
“I have something to tell you,” I said then paused, not sure exactly how to say that I had killed his son and stolen his powers. It turned out that I didn’t have to say anything.
“Card was no longer right in his head. If you hadn’t have killed him, he would have killed you, then me, helping Chaos reign. You did what you had to,” Lir said. His voice was a monotone, flat and emotionless.
“I tried not to,” I said, my voice soft. “I tried to get him to stand with me, against her.”
“I know.”
While the walls still dripped with moisture, there was no other sound. All the booby traps and dangers were wiped clean, now that the Fomorii were gone.
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