by Cory Huff
Something flickered in Sophronia’s peripheral vision. Liam glanced at whatever it was, and Badb charged, carrying Sophronia by the neck, above her head. The speck in her sight was a tiny bird. Just as she registered that it was a finch, the bird’s form shifted, distended, and morphed into a bipedal, thin, long-limbed boy wearing rags with feathers sewn into them. The little boy grabbed Liam and whirled away from Badb. In that spin, the little boy and Liam both disappeared. Badb swung her sword through a swirl of large brown feathers and looked around. Nobody was there.
As Badb choked the life from her, Sophronia’s struggles faded to almost nothing. Her vision began to swim. On top of the houses lining the alleys she saw crows everywhere, watching, waiting for their turn to divvy up the spoils.
As Badb whirled around looking for Liam, Sophronia saw another figure. Two women, one short and familiar, and one tall and unknown, calmly standing just a few feet away. Were they wreathed in a soft white light?
A detachment came over Sophronia as she realized she was going to die. She didn’t want it to happen. It seemed as if it were happening to someone else. She became an observer as her body shut down. She faintly heard a voice speaking, but couldn’t make out what it said. It was alright. She was disappointed in what she had achieved. She thought it ironic that her death was coming in a way that would have inspired the old bards to write tragic songs.
“Badb, ta logh agat.”
Aidan winced and whined. He tried to turn over from where he’d landed at the foot of the fence. His ribs screamed broken. Someone was speaking.
“You did what you had to do. The spirits forgive you. Humanity doesn’t even remember why they did this to you. You were merely striving to preserve your people.” There was a pause, and Aidan thought he heard a whispered voice, but he couldn’t make out the word. Then the original voice spoke again.
“This…draiocht…that was used against you and bound you here is lifted. Ta logh agat. Your people wish to see you. Go in peace.”
Aidan tried to sit up to see what was going on. The pain nearly made him black out, and he heard the blood rushing in his ears. The answering voice was covered as his vision spun and a bright, white light flared.
When he reoriented himself, he took several deep breaths. Maybe not broken, but bruised badly. No drowning from a punctured lung today.
Aidan saw Badb standing face to face with his dear friend Nia. It was the Badb of yesterday, in her immaculate plate mail that reflected the moonlight. The fanged, green-skinned monster who had nearly killed them all was gone. Her pale Sidhe face shone with tears. She spoke words to Nia that he didn’t understand, but recognized as the same language that Nia had spoken.
Aidan heard the sound of hundreds of bird wings flapping in takeoff as Badb raised her sword in salute to Nia, then seemingly distorted and then disappeared into thin air.
He heard someone sharply inhale, gasp, cough, scream and begin sobbing. It sounded like Sophronia.
“Nia, is that you?” he said. His dizziness warred with his overwhelming relief at seeing his friend alive. She bent over Sophronia, looking beautiful, alive. He smiled and immediately began crying.
“Nia, what happened? How are you alive? How are you here?” Aidan asked again.
Aidan slowly stood and groaned in agony. Nia rushed to him, bracing him and murmuring, “Peace, Aidan, peace. Sit back down. Let me look you over. Is it your ribs? You’re holding there.” He nodded. Another voice whispered, definitely speaking words he didn’t understand. Nia had brought company. Nia seemed to hum a quiet melody as she touched his chest. His chest tingled, and it was warm. The pain eased. Not entirely, but enough that he could take a full breath.
Aidan looked her in the face, so desperately confused and glad, “Nia what happened? How are you alive? How are you here?” He grabbed Nia’s wrist and looked up at her. He wanted to ask her how she healed him, but he saw her face. Half of it covered in horrific scars. The flesh was still pink and where her right eye had been, just a scar. He gasped, and immediately wished he hadn’t. “What happened to…”
The fire. The fire had happened to her. The collapsed house.
Aidan began crying again in earnest. “Nia, I’m so sorry. They wouldn’t let me go in to get you. I would have Nia. Please believe me. I wanted to go back and get you, but they wouldn’t let me.”
Nia put her arms around him. She shuddered, and he felt her wet tears on his cheek.
Sophronia caught Aidan’s eyes and indicated the other figure that had appeared out of nowhere with Nia. A short, indescribably beautiful woman with pointed ears similar to Mindee’s. A Tuatha. She had to be. She wore a white gown and seemed to have just the faintest of white luminescence around her. A thrill ran up Aidan’s spine as he realized that they would finally get to speak to a Tuatha who wasn’t trying to kill Sophronia and Liam.
Liam.
“Where is Liam?” Sophronia wondered out loud.
Nia, Aidan, and the ethereal Tuatha looked at her.
“Was he with you?” asked Nia.
Sophronia nodded. “Badb hurt him pretty badly. He might have run off to hide. He couldn’t have gotten far. He has a twisted ankle.”
Nia stood up and called out softly out, “Liam! Liam, it’s safe! Badb’s curse is lifted. Where are you?”
There was no answer.
Liam’s pulse raced as the street suddenly whirled around him. Badb disappeared, and so did his friends. His vision was suddenly a brown blur, and he felt himself shift in space.
Just as suddenly as it started, the whirling stopped. Liam was standing in an alley between two tall buildings. Between his broken arm, using the Ogham and whatever had just happened, he couldn’t handle it. His knees gave out, and he sagged to the ground, holding up his broken arm protectively.
As he attempted to focus on the figure in front of him, he fuzzily thought he saw a young boy, perhaps a thin teenager. He had sparse brown feathers from head to toe, and his hair was spiky like a wet cockscomb. There were no whites in his eyes. He cocked his head to the side, making eye contact with Liam, and hunched over as if examining something strange. He had a proud smile on his face like he had just pulled off a grand trick.
Suddenly Badb was there, in her shining plate armor. Her skin was the same pale color from this morning instead of the green cast it had tonight. She had a mournful look on her face. “I’m sorry Liam. I’m sorry this happened. But I’m free. The young druid released me from the curse. I can leave Ghealdar. I am going to speak to the Summer Queen and tell them about you. I need something from you to convince the Seelie Court to help you. I need you to prove that Darian was never in league with Cyric. Darian wrote everything down. The proof you seek might be in Bloodstone manor in Atania. Look for the abandoned house in the woods with your family sigil. If you find it the Seelie Court will give you all the training you want in the Ogham. Do you hear me? They will send you a real teacher.”
Liam tried to concentrate on what she was saying, but it was challenging. His head swam.
“Don’t pass out on me, Liam. I need to know that you understand this,” she said.
The Ogham sickness hit Liam again, harder. His abdomen was wracked with pain and tension. His eyes rolled up in his head, and he started having a seizure. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was, “Damn the Gaeas.”
Sophronia was already tired and slightly nauseous from using the Ogham. Her glamour had probably saved her life though, so the nausea was worth it. It wasn’t the first time the Ogham had made her nauseous, but this time was rough. She could barely see in the moonlight, and she was afraid the crows would come back. She tried to gesture along her arm with her broken fingers. She hissed in pain. She looked over to Nia and Aidan. “I wanted to summon a light. I can’t use the Ogham with my fingers broken like this.”
“I guess we’ll have to find him by moonlight,” said Aidan. He looked back at Nia as if to reassure himself that she was still there. She saw him looking, and she smi
led and nodded.
“Let’s find Liam and a place to rest. I’ll explain what I can, I promise,” she said.
The Tuatha woman spoke, “We must be quick Nia. It’s not safe to stay here long. Even with Badb’s curse lifted, there are other beings here that could end our lives.”
Sophronia responded, “I have so many questions to ask you after we find Liam.” The woman nodded in response.
They fanned out and began walking down the alley. The three peered down every street for several blocks. The back alleys between buildings were a warren of twisting, turning arteries - visibility in any one direction was never more than a full block in any direction.
When Sophronia was thinking it wasn’t going to work, she saw movement in the dark and focused on it. A tiny bird was flying around in the alley. It was making circles just above head height just a few feet in front of her. She stared at it as it flew in a circle two, three, then four times then came to a halt on a fence. Sophronia walked close to it, cautiously unless she scared it away. It was a tiny finch. It clicked in her mind, “Ean?”
The diminutive bird hopped off the fence and flew down a side alley. Sophronia hustled after it. Just a few houses down, in an area where the road narrowed to the point where two people could barely walk abreast, she found Liam on the ground. He was twitching, seizing. Sophronia’s heart sank. The shaking was just like what happened after the cave-in.
She yelled out, “Aidan! Nia! I found him! We need help!”
She sat down behind Liam, folding her legs under Liam’s head and neck to keep him from slamming his head on the cobblestones again. Liam twitched in her lap for several moments before the two women and Aidan showed up. They looked, Aidan in consternation and Nia in confusion.
“What’s happened to him?” asked Nia.
“Ogham sickness,” said Sophronia. “He gets it worse than I do because he accesses too much of it at once.”
“Ogham sickness?” Nia was confused. “What is that? I might be able to help him.”
“The Ogham is …” Sophronia tried to figure out how to explain it to Nia who didn’t have any context at all.
“Magic. It’s magic Nia,” said Aidan. He held Liam’s twitching head on his lap. “Fairy tale magic. Sophronia is a wizard, and Liam is learning too. But he’s getting hurt because Sophronia is a terrible teacher.”
Sophronia glared at him.
“Don’t look at me like that Sophronia. It’s true. You barely have any idea what you’re doing yourself. That’s why we’re in Ghealdar.”
They glared at each other for a moment. Still scowling, Sophronia grudgingly spoke, “It’s true. Liam is suffering some side effect of the Ogham. The magic. Last time it happened, it took him several days to recover.”
The Tuatha woman knelt next to Liam’s shivering and twitching body. She spoke quietly, “Watch and learn, Nia.”
She took Liam’s head in her hands and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. She was mouthing something. Sophronia couldn’t make out what she was saying. Some prayer. Liam’s twitching seemed to calm, become less violent. The woman opened her eyes, “That’s all I can do for him at the moment. We should find a place to shelter. As I said, there are other dangerous creatures and things in Ghealdar.” She paused, head cocked to the wind. “The battle of Ghealdar will start again soon, and we do not want to be outdoors when it does.”
Aidan nodded and bit his lower lip. “I’m going to see if we can get into one of these other houses to hide and rest.” He turned and walked back up the alley. He found a gate into a back yard and opened it. It creaked loudly from years of disuse. The overgrown grass, apple trees, and tulips had hidden entirely the paving stones leading to the back door. He tried the handle, and it was unlocked, so he went inside.
10. Imminent Threat
Dubhaine easily trailed the goblins through the woods. They were moving quickly with no thought they might be followed. The forest was their home, and nobody had attacked them here in the decades they’d lived here.
The goblins headed East, towards Ancient Atania. They passed many of the buildings she was familiar with, including the engineering school and the library, heading in the direction of the cliffs above the rotted and useless docks. She didn’t see any of the deformed Tuatha the humans called dwarves surreptitiously watching. That worried Dubhaine. The dwarves watched everything in Ancient Atania. She had come to think of them as the de facto guardians and watchers of the place. This place was theirs, at least until humanity rediscovered the site and reclaimed it.
The small band of marauders stopped at the top of the cliffs, looking down and excitedly poking at each other and laughing. She had paralleled them through side alleys, and she now hid behind a building. She didn’t want to bring herself out in the open. She wasn’t sure if they had received orders from the Cumhnantach regarding herself. She silently cursed herself for not learning more than just cursory goblin words.
She froze when she saw a bone-white Thalamtuatha appear as if by magic, walking from another alley out into the open, stopping just a few feet behind the goblin band. This Tuatha stood there cockily, saber and dagger at his belt. He wore the loose-fitting pants and tunic of a sailor. He cleared his throat. The goblins all turned around slowly, surprised at being surprised. Dubhaine smiled at the incongruence of this bloodthirsty band looking caught.
Despite her smile, Dubhaine furrowed her brow. Sand’s band was a bloodthirsty lot, but they were easy to control. They wanted nothing more than good food, good alcohol, and the chance to bloody their caps now and again. They stayed out of sight in the woods. An armed Tuatha, especially one of the seafaring pirates, meant there were more of them nearby. It might even mean an invading force.
When Sand saw the elf, he stepped forward and spoke, “Me Sand. Leader.” He gestured to the band. They all nodded.
The Tuatha spoke, “My name is Cichol. You are assigned to watch over and dispose of Ogham trouble makers, yes?”
Sand nodded.
“You failed at your job, Sand. Two of the gaeas-breakers got away from you.”
Dubhaine’s blood turned cold. How could he possibly know that unless the Cumhnantach sent them? Soldiers like the Thalamtuatha were more than scouts; they were also assassins.
Sand shook his head, “Ogham. Big Ogham. We can’t stop.”
Dubhaine looked around; sure there were more of them nearby. Sure enough, she saw them. They were positioned on rooftops and creeping down alleyways with crossbows drawn.
“Caile, how do I use a hiding glamour?” she whispered.
“Like this,” came the response. An image of a series of tally marks came to mind.
Dubhaine invoked the Ogham as quietly as she could.
The glamour won’t make you invisible, Caile spoke to her internally. It wraps you in distracting light, deflecting eyes away from you. Those who know what to look for will see the distractions for what they are. Be careful.
Dubhaine nodded to nobody. She wanted to see the death of the goblins, but she didn’t want the soldier to see her.
“Emperor Gabalifix will be taking over here now Sand,” he walked forward until he was nearly touching Sand, who seemed uneasy. Cichol smiled at him and relaxed into a slouch. “You are relieved of your command.” Cichol exploded into motion, a dagger appeared in his hand and he plunged it into Sand’s heart. Sand only got his hands up in time to grab Cichol’s wrist, but not stop the momentum. His eyes widened in shock and pain.
The goblin band drew its weapons and Cichol yelled out, “Don’t even think about it!” as a dozen Thalamtuatha revealed themselves with their crossbows. The goblins hesitated. Their numbers were even, but the Thalamtuatha had the drop on them with the crossbows. Cichol continued, “You are now recruited into the Emperor’s army. You will do as you are told. Nobody else has to die. Understood?”
Dubhaine knew that not all of the goblins spoke another language besides their own. Grok was speaking rapidly in goblin, making calming gestures. He looked a
t Cichol with a curious mixture of admiration and hatred. It was the most calculating look she had ever seen on a goblin face. It disappeared so fast, she wondered if she had even seen it. After calming everyone and explaining for a moment, Grok turned and looked at Cichol. He took a deep breath, “Goblins serve Emperor.”
“Good,” smiled Cichol. “Now, I have questions. You will come with us.” Cichol turned and took his dagger out of Sand’s dead body. While cleaning the blade, he led the goblins down the cliffs. Dubhaine watched all of them leave.
Sand’s body laid there in a pool of blood for a long time as Dubhaine stood there, cloaked in her distraction glamour. She waited to ensure that none of the Tuatha were watching. After an hour had passed, she walked out from behind the building and past Sand’s dead body. She dropped to her belly and crawled to the edge of the cliff. Her heart leaped into her throat. Arrayed on the beach was an army. There were a dozen large ships. There were hundreds of goblins on the beach, scrambling to and fro, unloading the vessels.
She looked for the Emperor. He would be difficult to miss. There. A tent pavilion on the beach, surrounded by massive Minotaurs. He would be inside that tent. She continued watching. She saw orcs and a few ogres. All told, this was an army that Atania was utterly unprepared to face. This invasion wouldn’t be much of a fight.
The Emperor was here at the request of not only the Cumhnantach but possibly at the additional behest of the Winter Queen herself. Humans had accessed the Ogham again. The agreement between the Winter and Summer queens was that if the Ogham was accessed and got out of the Cumhnantach’s control, the humans would be put to the sword.
Mindee had failed in her duty. Her job had been to kill a few humans so the rest could live, but they had stopped her. She had been conflicted. It had caused her to hesitate and make bad decisions in anger.
Now, Dubhaine was glad that Mindee had failed. She had killed a few humans to save the rest of them. Then Sophronia and Liam had come along. Because of them, she had ended up beneath that rubble. For some reason, that experience had allowed her to assert control when Mindee would not. Now she would warn the humans, and train them. She had to convince them to surrender, submit, and fight as a resistance. She would redeem herself. She dropped her hiding glamour as she began jogging, shrugging off nausea that barely affected her anymore.