by Cory Huff
“It’s a redemption story,” said Sophronia, breathlessly. “You have to right the wrongs of your ancestors. Restore Atania to its former glory and begin an age of peace and prosperity again.”
Celestina nodded. “So you see Liam, you can’t die. If you die, the story instead becomes a dirge for your people.”
She looked around again. “I’ll tell you this. Emperor Gabalifix isn’t here to enslave your people. He is the Winter Queen’s vassal. The Gaeas, the forgetting, was a compromise between her faction and the Summer Queen. Now that they know humanity has rediscovered the Ogham and have met the Tuatha and the other fey creatures again, the only way this ends is in all of your deaths. The genocide Cyric started will end with you. The only question I have is why he hasn’t just killed you all yet. He must be looking for something.”
Sophronia spoke up, “Liam, do you think Elder Kaufman knows anything about this? Perhaps that’s why he sent us to Ghealdar? He used the Ogham to rescue us from that Sidhe creature on the beach.”
Liam swallowed. His throat felt tight. “I’ve been wasting my time. I thought we could push the minotaurs and orcs out, but I think I was wrong. I have to find the proof Badb mentioned. I have to prove that Darian did not betray the Sidhe. I need to find the Bloodstone ancestral home in the Western woods.”
Sophronia once again waited in the alley, glamour-wrapped. It was near sundown. Nearly time for martial law to go into effect. Everyone was hurrying home. Anyone who so much as looked at a guard was grabbed for questioning, roughed up, and told if they were still in the street after dark their life was forfeit.
Over two weeks, they had attacked twice more. Another dozen orcs killed. Another dozen humans hung in retaliation. The city was at a boiling point. The army was conducting house-to-house searches and people were disappearing. Sophronia had to admit that the discipline of the orcish soldiers and their minotaur leaders surprised her. It wasn’t what she expected from the old stories about barely sentient, savage monsters. She wondered if Cyric had started those stories as a way of justifying his genocide.
After some discussion, the group had decided that their next attack would come at night. The Emperor’s Army was too wary of crowds now. By changing it up, they hoped to make the disciplined army begin to wonder if and when they were safe. Celestina told them this was the way to break an organized fighting force.
She watched a column of goblins taking down the marketplace. She wondered why. Sophronia shuddered at the memory of the first time she had seen goblins. She and Liam had nearly died escaping them and that assassin Mindee. She could see perhaps twenty orcs stationed up and down the street.
There was one by himself, urinating against a wall further down the alley from her. She crept down one end of the alley as Aidan crept down the other end. The two of them had worked this out. When Aidan was within a few strides of the orc, he threw a rock at him. The orc started and turned in irritation, his pants hanging open. “That’s it?” Said Aidan, staring.
Sophronia struck. A quick succession of stabs in the lower back, just as Celestina had shown her. Aidan ran forward, launching his small frame into the orc’s upper body. He shoved a rag into the green-tinged mouth, muffling his death screams. Aidan hung on for life as Sophronia did the wet work of stabbing over and over. The orc stopped moving, and the two of them ran down the alley.
As they rounded two bends and stopped for rest, they nodded grimly at each other. It was working.
Less than an hour later they were shadowing a small troop of 10 orcs who were out on late-night patrol, enforcing martial law. The wind moved at the end of the column, and a door creaked open in the quiet night. The two orcs at the end of the column broke off to look. Aidan smiled. Sometimes the Creator was more than willing to go along with what they needed. As the rest of the column continued, one of them entered the abandoned building. The other one stood outside to watch. Sophronia and Aidan pulled the distraction trick again. Aidan walked out into the open, staring at the orc. “You there, halt,” said the orc in a gruff, loud command. He tried to keep speaking but found himself suddenly quite unable. His body shuddered as Sophronia stabbed it again and again. Aidan rushed in, and they lowered his body to the ground together. They moved to the open door, Sophronia first.
The other orc was on the ground, unmoving. Sophronia saw a woman standing above the body, bloody dagger in hand. The moonlight reflected off of her bald head and pointed ears. They made eye contact, and Sophronia caught her breath. Sophronia recognized Mindee the assassin and raised her daggers, hissing, “Aidan, run!”
“There’s no need to run,” the Tuatha woman quietly spoke. She held up her hands, daggers dripping orc blood, in peace. “I’m here to help you.”
Sophronia looked at her incredulously. “You’re what?”
“What happened between us before is past. Things have changed. Our people don’t deserve this,” she gestured at the orc.
Dubhaine tried to talk them down, “If I wanted to hurt either of you, I could have alerted the orcs to your presence. I didn’t have to take out this…” her voice trailed off as she looked beyond the two women at a living legend walking through the door. Celestina. The General of the East. Goblin Slayer. She breathed the word, “Sealgair.”
“No Tuatha calls me that anymore. Not for a long time,” responded Celestina in her mountain-accented Tuatha tongue. Sophronia and Aidan looked back and forth at them, tense and uncomprehending. Celestina spoke again, “what are you doing here, Caile? I didn’t even know you were still alive.”
Caile. Nobody had called her that in a very long time. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Tá aithne agat orm?” she said. It meant, “You know me?” It was the first time she had spoken to a Tuatha in nearly a century.
14. Proof
Liam made his way into the woods with Aidan. The two of them had left after Mindee - who was now calling herself Dubhaine, previously known as Caile - had agreed to explain herself to Sophronia and Celestina. Dubhaine-Mindee-Caile was working on their side currently? Celestina had vouched for her? The whole thing seemed insane. Liam had been glad to leave when Celestina had suggested they find the proof Badb said they needed.
“Why do we need this proof and what is it supposed to be?” asked Aidan.
Liam responded, “I’m not sure exactly what the proof is supposed to be. I’ve been thinking about why they need it though, and something clicked after our conversation with Celestina. The Winter Queen thought that Darian had betrayed the Sidhe, right?”
“Yes, that’s what Celestina said, and what you told me Badb said,” replied Aidan.
Liam continued, “The Winter Queen, whoever she is, thought that all of humanity had betrayed the Sidhe. Celestina seemed to have some doubts. She said ‘he convinced Darian to cut off contact with the Sidhe and purify the human bloodlines. Alternatively, depending on whom you believe, he deposed Darian’.”
Aidan cut in, “I didn’t even think about that. Celestina is saying there are two versions of the story. So the Sidhe leaders argued over whether humanity betrayed them. That’s why the Gaeas happened instead of them wiping us out.”
Liam nodded, “Exactly. Badb is trying to figure out who was right. If Darian betrayed the Sidhe and the Summer Queen’s daughter, then she will probably support Emperor Gabalifix killing all of us. If Darian did not betray her, there is hope for us.”
Aidan was quiet as they walked. After a few minutes, he spoke softly, “That’s pretty thin. We don’t know if that’s what’s happening.”
Liam nodded again, “I agree. What else can we do?”
Finally, they had traveled through the dizzying maze of alleys under cover of darkness to the West side of Atania. They would find the manor and, hopefully, the proof that Badb said she needed to prove that Darian had not betrayed Mab, The Summer Queen.
“You don’t know what kind of proof we’re supposed to find?” asked Aidan.
“Anything we can find that shows Darian’s thoughts,” responded Li
am. “Badb told me that Darian was such a meticulous records keeper that there might be a journal or other record of what happened between him and Cyric.”
They moved through the woods when Liam suddenly stopped, “This is the place where they tried to kill us. The goblins.”
Aidan nodded. “It doesn’t look like they’re here anymore.”
Liam swallowed a massive lump in his throat. “Let’s go. The only building I know of near here was the tool shed that Sophronia and I hid in after the fight. It’s this way.”
They traveled around the now desiccated corpses of their fight with Mindee and the goblins. After about an hour of walking, they found the shed he and Sophronia had used as a hiding spot. It was dark, so Liam almost missed the insignia on the door again. Just as his hand closed around the doorknob, he saw it. Three red jewels in a triangle painted on the door. He felt chills. The insignia was on his family’s book that had burned in the fire. It was also tattooed on the chests of an entire tribe of barbarians.
Liam looked around. “This is a toolshed. There has to a be a large house near here. We went South to find the road before. Let’s keep going West.”
They continued walking. After just a few minutes, Aidan pointed. “That big black shadow. That’s a house, right?”
Sure enough, straight ahead the moon illuminated a house. As they walked closer, they could see that it was an immense manor. It was built from the same old style of stone building that populated all of Hidden Atania.
They circled the building and found a massive front entrance with heavy wooden double-doors hanging open, allowing the elements into the vaulted foyer. Marble floors led to a double staircase with several rooms leading off the entryway below the stairs, which was all they could see in the moonlight.
Liam walked back outside to look at the exterior of the doors. Yes. There it was. A massive version of the Bloodstone family insignia emblazoned in the door. This was the place. “We wait here until dawn,” said Liam.
Aidan found a reception room with a couch in the dark. Liam followed him, and they slept fitfully inside the house until the sun rose. At first dawn, Liam was up, exploring more of the house. Off to the right of the double staircase, he found what he suspected he would: a vault with a heavy metal door. He didn’t know why he thought it would be the same as the library in Hidden Atania. But there it was.
“Aidan, come here,” he said.
Aidan walked up and whistled. “That’s a big, important door.”
Liam walked down the handful of steps and stood before the massive door. It had the Bloodstone family insignia on it. There was no handle, so he put his hand on it. The cool metal immediately warmed to his touch, and a soft blue glow began. As the blue light grew, Liam felt a humming in his hand that resonated up his arm and echoed through his body. Liam flinched and pulled his hand away. The glow went away, and the hum stopped.
“This is some magical stuff, Liam,” said Aidan. “Touch it again.”
Liam sighed, shook his head, and touched the door. The glow came back, and the hum resonated through his body as he held his hand there. He pushed against the door, gently at first. It didn’t move. The hum grew until he felt it in his whole body, and then he just knew what to do. He slid his hand to the right, and the enormous metal door that weighed hundreds of pounds went with it.
The room beyond was beyond beautiful. It was as if someone had transported Liam back to the library in Hidden Atania, as well as back in time. No water damage or mold here. Instead, it was a massive underground library. Weighty tomes lined the room. Thousands of them lined dark wooden shelves. The spines faced out. Leather. Wood. Thick paper. The smell of paper and glue washed over him. The room was quite large, perhaps 50 feet to a side.
Besides books, the room held a wealth of other items. Weapons and armor lined a rack. They had jeweled pommels and ornate inscription on the blades and scabbards. There were stands on a table holding jewelry, including a golden torc which caught Liam’s eye. It was simple, wide, and flat in front of the neck, covered in Ogham inscriptions.
Liam realized that the blue glow from the door illuminated the interior of this room. There were no windows or other entries. The light illuminated everything, including a large table with several books laying open on top of a large map. He walked over to it. The map showed the entire known world that Liam had ever heard of, plus more. Atania was a tiny dot in the Southwest corner. There was Ghealdar. He saw the tower where they escaped from the Black Ravens.
The Great River led up to the Hartland forest and the Dragonspine Mountains. On top of the map, there were pieces of parchment with numbers on them. Bloodstone. Blackraven. Gallchobhair. Conghaile. Mathúna. Many of the ones Celestina had mentioned. Liam guessed that this was a battle plan that showed where everyone had been at the time of the Hartland War. Arrayed in various places across the Thir, they were all pointed at the Hartland Forest, where the Tuatha lived.
Except for the Bloodstone army, stationed near a place called Dragonshome Peak. He wondered why.
“Hey, Liam, look to this. It’s a journal,” said Aidan. He spoke quietly, reverently.
“What does it say?” a voice spoke that was neither of them. They both whirled around to see Elder Kaufman standing at the doorway. His straight back and long silver hair made him look almost imperious.
“Elder Kaufman, what are you doing here?” asked Liam, his blood pounding. “Did you follow us?”
“Indeed I did,” said Elder Kaufman. “What does the book say?”
Aidan looked at Liam, who hesitated for a moment, thinking, then nodded. Aidan turned around, facing Elder Kaufman, “It was open to the last page. The entry ends here.”
Aidan read out loud, “I must stop Cyric. I will meet him at Dragonshome Peak. I will exchange my life for Dearbhail’s that this insanity might end. I know now that he is treacherous. Fíoróir will be by my side in secret should something go amiss. Should I succeed and return Dearbhail to her mother, I hope that this war may end.”
They turned and looked at Elder Kaufman. His face was expressionless. “How much do you know of what happened at the end of the Hartland War?” Elder Kaufman asked.
Liam said, “I know that the humans were at war with the Tuatha and that something happened that ended the war. Maybe it was Darian slaying Cyric. It might have been the Gaeas that caused all of humanity to forget the Tuatha. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
Elder Kaufman nodded. “Yes, it is a mystery, isn’t it? I wish I knew the answer myself. I’m glad you found this place. It will help us unravel some of it, perhaps? I’m glad you’re back, Liam. Did you receive the instruction you needed in Ghealdar? How is dear old Badb?”
Liam felt a tension between his shoulder blades. Something was off here. “Why are you here, Elder Kaufman? How did you even know to look for me and find me here?”
“I know enough of the Ogham to feel a disturbance in its flow. You cause…ripples…young Liam.” Elder Kaufman walked into the room, casually taking in the massive library. “Did you find what you were looking for in this vault, young Liam?”
Liam walked over to the golden torc. Trusting an impulse, he picked it up and set it around his neck. “I think I’ll take this, yes.” Then he walked out of the room, “Let’s go, Aidan. The others will wonder if we’re safe. Elder Kaufman, do you want to meet the rest of the Resistance?”
“Oh, yes, I do,” said Elder Kaufman. He had a speculative eye on Liam as he followed him out of the vault.
Dubhaine wiped the tears from her face as she followed Celestina, Sophronia, and Aidan to a new location. They left the orcs dead where they’d lured them away. After several minutes of jogging down twisting alleyways, Sophronia rounded on Dubhaine, pointing a dagger at her. “This is far enough, Mindee. You tried to kill me.”
Celestina gently put her arm on Sophronia’s wrist, “Hold, Sophronia.” She looked at Dubhaine, “explain yourself, Caile.”
Dubhaine inwardly struggled. Caile wante
d to front, but Dubhaine mentally pushed her aside. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for your brothers Sophronia. I truly am. That should not have happened. Your brothers got in the way. I was there for you. You were putting all of Atania in danger with your use of the Ogham. I was trying to stop this from happening,” she gestured vaguely in the direction from which they’d come. “I failed, and now I’m trying to stop it from getting worse. The circumstances have changed, and now I find that we must be allies. Hate me if you must, but that is the reality now.”
Sophronia lunged at Dubhaine, punching her square in the cheek. It was unexpected and the blow staggered Dubhaine. Her warrior reflexes kicked in, and she came right back, swinging for Sophronia. Celestina tackled her as Aidan grabbed Sophronia.
“Sophronia, stop, the army is going to hear us,” she heard the one called Aidan whisper fiercely.
Celestina held Dubhaine to the ground, growling out, “stand down. Let it go. You’re fine.”
Dubhaine looked at Celestina and made eye contact. Internally, she struggled mightily to prevent that cold-blooded killer from taking over. Mindee knew how to handle this situation, but Dubhaine sent her this thought: we’re all on the same side now. Don’t kill this legendary hero.
“Caile.” It was Celestina again, “Do you hear me? Are you with me?” She seemed puzzled.
Dubhaine realized she was looking straight through the general. Mindee did that when she was ready to kill someone. She saw some understanding dawn on Celestina’s face.
“Battle shock,” murmured Celestina. “You’ve been living with it since the war.”
Dubhaine summoned all of her courage and nodded, tears in her eyes. If only the general knew how much worse it was than battle shock.
“What are you doing here?” asked Celestina. She was a rough warrior, but her manner was gentle. She still had a hold of her, but it was no longer a death grip. “What did you mean you were trying to stop this from happening?”