by Vanessa Skye
Swimming easily, I step out on the other side only to stop and stare. Unlike the rest of the caves and caverns filled with natural metals and gems, this cave is ugly, stark, and barren. The cavity has been stripped—and not carefully—of anything of value. Tool marks mar the ancient stone, the precious metals and gemstones gouged out of it as if by the grasping hands of a careless giant. Unnatural squares of stone have been removed, telltale curvatures of electric saw marks scar the surface, and not a single speck of beauty remains, just mutilated rock, gaping gashes and pits, and piles of discarded stones of varying sizes strewn around the filthy floor.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
I spin, fireball in hand, which I quash when I see Aiden.
The anger and accusation on his face are terrible. “I told you not to come down here alone! Why do you never listen?”
I frown confused by his reaction. “Calm down.” I wave him off. “I’m fine.” I’m a grown woman, after all.
“You could easily not be!” He strides over and grabs my arm, pulling me into a dark tunnel off the edge of the cave. “You disobeyed me.”
“I wasn’t aware I had to obey you!” I jerk my wet arm out of his grasp. “You are my brother, not my keeper.”
“Yes! Your older brother whose job it is to keep you safe so you can fulfill your destiny.”
“Gee, your love is touching! Is that all I am to you? A-a vehicle to w-war?” My teeth start chattering as the cold from the lake seeps into my bones.
Aiden takes a calming breath. “I’m sorry, Alys. I didn’t mean to scare you. I worry. I love you.”
“What are you d-doing d-down here?” I ask, wrapping my arms around my body in an attempt to forge some kind of warmth. It might be summer above us, but in the subterranean depths, the air is cold. “I thought you were with your lover.”
“My lover?”
“Well, y-you’re ha-hardly ever here, and y-you said our father is elsewhere in Éire, so I ass-ssumed you met a wo-woman.”
He smirks and shrugs. “We all have needs. I am surprised you have not taken a lover yourself. You certainly have enough admirers.”
“D-don’t change the subject.” I frown and rub my arms, warming them. “What are you doing down here?”
“I, I was…” He gestures behind him then looks at me and frowns. “I was looking for you, of course. I returned and noticed you gone. Even Rowan didn’t know where you were.”
I nod and motion toward the scarred rock. “Who did this?”
Aiden shrugs. “I don’t know. Fae have mined these caves for millennia. Who knows if or when they will return, which is another reason why we can’t be here. Nuadha has eyes everywhere looking for you.”
“Those marks are fresh and different from the tool marks the fae left in my quarters.” I finger some of the gouges in the rock. “These weren’t left a millennium ago. They are not only new but also quite uniform—almost like they were done with a machine.”
Aiden shrugs. “I wasn’t aware you were an expert in tool marks, Alys.”
I pick up a rock. “This has not been blunted by time or covered by dust. This is new!”
“All the more reason it’s best we leave before you or your army is discovered!”
I follow Aiden in silence until we eventually end up in the large cavern bustling with Talentless fae going about their daily tasks.
“Time grows short, and Nuadha’s scouting parties draw ever nearer to our location. We must make our move if we are to control the element of surprise. Father wants to know how well prepared we are. Where is the weapons store?” Aiden asks.
“My room.”
My once-extravagant room is now a large storage area, brimming over with sacks of grains, dried meats and fruits as well as weapons, including swords, bows and arrows, and crossbows and bolts.
“This is impressive,” Aiden says as he inspects the blades. “The workmanship is excellent.”
I nod. “The fae may call them talentless, but it is not the case at all. Living lives without magic means they have developed so many talents in other areas. There is no skill unrepresented.”
Aiden replaces the weapons and smiles at me. “What you have done is beyond my wildest dreams, Alys. I am so proud of you.” He pulls me in for a hug.
“Is our father proud?”
Aiden searches for a blanket and throws a wool cover over my shoulders. “Of course. He’s combing the ends of the country to find more Talentless to boost our ranks. He will arrive soon, and all this will be over.”
“It will?”
“Yes. Even as we speak, lures are being sent to leak our supposed location to Nuadha. When he sends what’s left of his fractured army to the location, he will find our forces waiting. He expects to ambush us, but it will be he who is trapped and ambushed.”
Despite everything, the callous way Aiden speaks of the possible slaughter of Nuadha and scores of other fae causes me to wince as my heart constricts, but I nod. “Then surely we should get together, strategize? Are you going to see him now? Perhaps I should come?”
“No, Alys. You have much to do here. I will not leave to see our father until later this week. I ride to see my lover tonight and you are too conspicuous to be out. In the meantime, let’s test your shield again. You must be ready. The war might only be days away.”
I agree and allow Aiden to lead the way to the practice ground.
Mandrake?
Yes?
I have a cure for your boredom.
Outstanding.
Aiden’s disappearing a lot. Can you please follow him when he leaves camp this evening and find out where he’s going?
I can.
Will you be able to remain unseen?
It will depend on the terrain, Alys, but I have a good idea where he is headed. I should be able to seek the cover of nearby woods.
You already know where he’s going?
We will see tonight.
Okay. Please be careful.
He doesn’t respond, but I can sense his amusement.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Are you sure you know where he went?” I whisper the following night as I ride Mandrake through the quiet forest above the caves. I can’t see his face, but I swear I feel him rolling his eyes.
Of course.
I stroke his long neck as we walk. So where are we headed?
There is another hidden system of caves to the north of here. As I suspected, your brother headed there.
Why did you suspect it?
There is an ancient power there.
I frown. What kind of power?
I am unsure. It is as unfamiliar as it is familiar. Much magic is in this place, yet there is also none at all.
Your riddle speak is super annoying.
Your brother will not be pleased with your duplicity.
He’ll get over it. I think about the magic disappearing in the cave system. Do you think our caves somehow connect with these?
It is hard to say, but the caves are extensive, so it would not be unexpected. However, if they were easy to access, surely your fae brother would have traveled underground rather than risk exposing himself to Nuadha’s men in the open.
True.
“Ho, traveler.”
I slide off Mandrake and face the direction the low voice came from, raising my hands to show I am not holding a weapon.
A fae steps out from behind a tree, his bow taught and notched arrow quivering. “Explain your business here.” He eyes my strange armor and dreadlocked hair held high on my head with my ornamental sticks. His expression transforms from suspicion to pure desire when I step closer. He follows my enhanced curves with his eyes.
If this is where my brother meets his lover, then there is a good chance this guard has, at least, heard of me. “Do you know who I am?”
He flicks a glance at my face. His leer fades as his eyes widen, and he lowers his weapon. “Aye, lady. I will send a runner to inform your father —”
&n
bsp; I swallow a gasp. “No!” My father? He’s here? Aiden lied? I clear my throat and force a slight smile in an attempt to cover. This is the chance I’ve been waiting for. I’ve got to get in there before Aiden tries to send me back. “There is no need. He’s expecting me.”
“As my queen wishes.” He gestures toward a cliff slinks back into the trees.
Stay here.
Mandrake jerks his head. The magic here is…wrong. I cannot ensure your safety.
I will be fine.
He snorts.
I feel curious eyes on me, and I wonder how many men guard this hidden entrance. Still, no one confronts me as I navigate my way through a number of tunnels and passages. I’m not sure if it’s because they know who I am, or if they just assume I belong here.
The tunnel opens into a small cave lit by flaming torches perched on three walls but otherwise empty. The stillness is absolute as I follow the wall-mounted lights into yet another set of passages. The flames chase the chill from the air, and I start to sweat as I quietly walk into the bowels of Tír na nÓg.
A strange tingling pickles my fingers and toes the deeper I go, intensifies, and then spreads up my legs and arms. The filaments of my magic are vibrating in agitation.
As I watch, the magic stretches farther away from my body as if being pulled toward some unseen magnetic force. A wave of nausea washes over me as my magic becomes so thin that I can make out each spark as though they were iridescent grains of sand.
I manipulate it, and it snaps back like a rubber band then stretches away once more.
I collapse to one knee.
Use your shield, daughter. Quickly.
I nod, as if the disembodied female voice can see me, and use what’s left of my magic to form a nimbus of strong blue light around my body. As soon as the shield seals closed, the nausea stops, and my magic stays in place, buzzing happily.
Standing, I shake my head to clear it and take a few deep breaths to steady myself. Now on guard, I creep through the tunnel before slowing when I hear the low murmuring of voices up ahead.
I sneak toward the natural rock opening.
Poking my head around the corner, I catch a glimpse of a group at the far end of the space stacking crates against the rear wall of the cave. No magic. They must be—
I almost give my position away and quickly cover my cry of shock.
The six men aren’t carrying bows and arrows or swords like normal fae. Instead, they wear the familiar standard-issue green camouflage of the US Army with handguns holstered both on their hip and under their arms.
Why and where would fae get uniforms and weapons?
Reality shifts as it hits me, and my two worlds collide.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Fairy boy wants these crates moved into the tunnels in the mountains.”
The gruff voice of one human ordering five chuckling men about focuses my attention once again, and I gasp, jerking my head back. What is going on here? Why are there humans on Tír na nÓg? How did they get here? Then, I remember the bullet casing crushed into the macabre mixture of blood, ash, and mud.
Wait. That guy said fairy boy. Was he talking about Aiden? Or perhaps my father? I peek back around the corner. Does my family know humans are here? No wonder Aiden doesn’t want me here!
The men nod and grab metal handles attached to three of the wooden crates on the neatly stacked pile. The writing on the crates is English, but the combination of words and numbers mean nothing.
Straining, they heft them up and out, shuffling under the weight, then disappear with their crates down a long shaft on the right.
I decide to take the tunnel to the left, pausing just long enough to lift the lid on one of the remaining crates. Guns. There must be at least a couple of dozen in each crate, and not plain old handguns like I assumed. These are evil-looking semi-automatic or automatic weapons with long barrels and heavy stocks.
My heart is pounding so loud as I slink through the tunnel, I’m certain it’s going to give me away.
Wait. Why am I creeping around down here like I’m the one out of place?
The tunnel breaks into three, and I’m trying to choose which way to go when I hear voices coming from the right.
I inch closer, reaching the mouth of a small cave, and Aiden’s voice becomes clear.
“—impatient. I cannot keep her from you for too much longer.”
“It does not matter.” The voice is older, more gnarled, yet vaguely familiar—my father? “The end game is upon us. A few more days, we will have Nuadha exactly where we want him, and Tír na nÓg will be mine once more.”
I frown. His once more? What?
“She is powerful. Much like her mother.”
“Her mother was tamed. As she will be.”
“She will not like being used,” Aiden says, the warning clear in his voice.
“It doesn’t make a difference now. Where will she go? She cannot run back to Nuadha, and she wouldn’t anyway. She would not desert the Talentless. They have made her their queen, just as you needed. She loves them, and they her.”
Adrenalin spears through my body, kicking up my heart rate and causing my palms to sweat. Wait—is he talking about me?
“I doubt Nuadha would have her,” Aiden says ruefully.
“Exactly. It was a risk, my son, encouraging her affections for him. To your credit, he reacted exactly as you predicted.”
My hammering heart drops into my boots.
“There was no risk. His first and only love is Tír na nÓg. He will never allow himself to love a female again.”
“Do you think he cares for Alys?”
I ease forward as the silence grows, and for a moment, I wonder if Aiden is even going to answer. The mocking contempt when he does feels like a kick to the gut.
“Sadly, I think he does. He met his match in Alys, but he fears the prophecy and losing power more than he loves her.”
“His ignorance gives us the opening we need. Would he sacrifice himself to save her, do you think?”
I imagine Aiden’s familiar shrug as he answers.
“Possibly. I’m sure he would have before she left him. I cannot speak to his heart now.”
“Still. It may be something we can use…Alys in a perilous position, Nuadha exchanging his life for hers. Think on it, my son. Yet another weapon in our significant armory.”
I stifle the sobs bubbling out of my chest and squeeze my eyes shut, as if that will somehow help me forget the betrayal I just overheard. Placing a hand against the cold wall and steadying my breathing, I listen to papers being shuffled before Aiden breaks the long silence.
“The humans want another payment.”
My father scoffs. “They can wait! They are greedy. When this is finished, they will get their money and not a moment sooner. All the natural resources of Tír na nÓg will be ours for the plucking, and once we sell them off to the humans, we will rule not only this world but Earth as well!”
“Which reminds me, Alys found the cavern we stripped. The mining will have to cease until Nuadha is destroyed.”
I hear a huffed sigh of exasperation then my father’s irritated voice.
“You need to control her better. Is she not absorbed enough with her Talentless pawns?”
Pawns?
“She is, but she is smart. And observant. I believe she will eventually put the pieces together. The human bully, the arms, Aife, the raids, the trap, the messengers…I’m surprised she has not become suspicious already.”
Bully? Aife? What the hell is he talking about?
“Let her become suspicious. For her own well-being, however, you’d best pray she does not discover the truth until it is too late. This plan is thousands of years in the making. I will not be stopped by anyone, not even my daughter. I will kill her first.”
“Of course, Father,” Aiden replies quickly.
I rest my hand on my sword. It takes everything in my power not to run in and kill them both where they stand. Magic is
impossible here, but my sword would do the job. The only thing stopping me is the thought that somehow, somehow, I have it all wrong. That I still have the love of a brother and father I just discovered.
“It won’t be too much longer, Aiden. Thanks to the human mercenary raids, Nuadha’s army is fractured and spread all over Éire defending the remaining fae communities. Less than half his force will assemble to face us!”
The sound of his laughter spreads around the cave like a foul smell.
“Alys will lead the Talentless to their destruction, and Nuadha will not even see my hired guns coming until it is too late. The fae cannot withstand an onslaught of human weaponry, even with magic. Coupled with yours and your sister’s shields protecting us, Nuadha and his troops will be slaughtered! The remaining fae will once again bow to me, or they will die.”
I shudder at the sound of sneering disdain in my father’s laugh.
“What if Nuadha doesn’t take the bait?”
“He will take it. He has grown complacent and arrogant with no worthy adversary, overly eager for a fight. This time, when he faces me, the outcome will be very different.”
I can almost hear the satisfied smile forming on what, I’m sure, are purely evil lips.
“Yes. Very, very different,” he mutters.
“And your magic? What if it is not enough to defeat Nuadha and the fae? It has been a long time since it was recharged, and Danu’s power now belongs to the void.”
The older man snorts. “It is enough. If need be, I will take the power I need from your sister.”
I slump to the ground heavily, not caring any longer if the sound gives me away. “This time, when he faces me…” My father is an evil tyrant who wants to enslave the fae race, sell off this world’s natural resources, and kill the king I love. My father is Bres. I cover my face and bite back a cry of despair. He is supposed to be dead!
“The last of the weapons are being taken into the mountains now. The humans will await further instructions there,” Aiden says.
“Excellent. You have done well, my son. Come. It is time for me to meet my beloved daughter.” The contempt in his voice is thick and full of scorn.