“Inside the Labbacallee is the guardian of the treasures, they will only let the blood Lugh inside. You will have to enter the Megalith and retrieve the weapons. That will complete the first part of our plan, so we can move onto the next phase, come on let’s go.” Brigit said, standing up and slapping her hands off on her thighs.
A gesture at the boy’s and she strode off with purpose once again, the two youngsters hot on her heels. The rest of the way Brigit explained exactly what they were supposed to do and what they would encounter. They had to enter the Megalith and retrieve the weapons, simple right? Not exactly, once inside the Labbacallee they had to travel down two levels and then enter the treasure room.
The trick was they had to avoid all the traps and count on the guardian recognizing them as the blood of Lugh, which Brigit said not to worry about, it would be fine. Then, once they had both the sword and spear, they just had to bring both back out, not triggering any traps again, and going through the still docile guardian.
By the time the goddess was done explaining things, the trio had arrived at their destination, the fields of the Labbacallee, the boys were both scared shitless. Brigit had done this purposefully, the boys would later find out, because nothing is harder and shows more courage than doing what needs to be done even though your scared. In fact, it’s the definition of courage to keep on through your fear and still fight. This was their last chance to change the balance and the goddess wanted to make sure the boys were made of the right stuff. Judging by the way they hid the fear behind brave faces, made her think she made the right choice.
“Off you go, hurry up, you want to be done by nightfall.” Brigit said.
“What happens at nightfall?” Patty asked.
“Better you don’t know. Now go.” She commanded, pointing towards the Megalith.
The boys each took a deep breath and shared a look, then nod, then stepped off towards the first stop on the way to fulfill their destiny.
“Wait!” Brigit shouted. The boys stopped and turned to goddess, who ran up and placed a hand on each boy’s chest. “I almost forgot, here take this.”
Energy flowed from her palms into each boy and they gasped in unison as the magical power entered their bodies. It was over in moments and each boy glowed for a moment then went back to normal.
“Okay, off you go.” Brigit said, taking her hands off their chests and slapping them together in a job well done.
“What the fuck in the Morrigan’s mother fucking tits did you do to us?” Patty shouted, grabbing himself and looking over his no longer glowing body, his cousin doing the same.
“It’s like a blessing, you’ll see when you get to the treasure. Now go, daylight’s a wasting.” Brigit responded, pointing back out towards the tomb.
The sun was high in the sky as they picked their way gingerly across the stone studded moor and towards the Tomb of the Labbacallee. They made it the entrance with no issue and paused only for a moment, before heading inside and down the entrance’s stairwell. The light began to fade as they descended, causing a gloom to enwrap the pair. The stairwell ended, and the bottom of the area was just visible in the dim light. Ahead of them was a giant stone door, etched with markings that were faded with time, so faded, that neither of the boys could make anything out of them.
“What now?” Patty asked.
“How the fuck should I know? I’m just as new to this as you, you daft prick.” Billy replied.
The cousins grinned at each other, as Billy had used their typical banter to lighten their fearful mood.
“Let’s examine the stone more closely, maybe there’s a lever or pulley or something.” Patty suggested.
“That’s as good an idea as any, you’d think Brigit would have told us how to enter you know?” Billy mused, as he headed to the door along with his cousin.
The moment the two touched the door however, it began to rumble causing both boys to jump back in fear.
“The fuck is going on?” Patty yelled, over the rumbling stone door.
“I think we found the damn lever!” Billy called back.
Two recessed areas on the upper sides of the door burst into flame, bathing the area in fiery light, while the door began to shake even harder. The stone rumbled and shook louder than ever, slowly began to slide to the right, and slid into the rock beside it. When it was done and the rumbling and shaking finished, a perfectly lit portal with smooths sides was in the stone doors place. If the boys hadn’t been there before, they wouldn’t have known a door had ever existed.
“At least we don’t have to worry about light.” Patty said, gesturing ahead.
Billy nodded and looked ahead at the trail of burning lights that ran inside the entrance and beyond. The two shared another look then stepped off into the entrance. Each walked along slowly and tried to look everywhere at once, taking Brigit’s advice about traps to heart. They made their way down, with each step feeling like they were walking far below the earth. In actuality, they had only gone a couple dozen feet down so far. When Patty reached out, placing his arm in front of his cousin, then pointed to the ground with his other hand.
Billy followed Patty’s hand and saw an off colored stone on the step below them. Billy’s foot hovered just inches above the obvious trap, he took a deep breath and nodded his thanks at his cousin, who nodded back and motioned onward. The two boy’s both shared a sigh of relief, then stepped over the trap stone and placed their feet down on the step below. The second their feet touched the step, the whole stairwell began to shake, before they had a chance to look at each other in surprise, the steps shook harder then ever one last time, and they recessed into each other, turning into an impromptu slide.
“Ohhhh Shhiiiitttteeeee!” They screamed in unison, as they tumbled end over end in an uncontrolled slide down the now converted stairwell.
“Fuck! Shit! Crap! Mother fucking shite holes!” They swore, echoing up and down the stairwell slide.
The cousin’s bounced and smashed into each other, the bottom, and the sides of the trap. Then suddenly, they stopped crashing about and sailed into the air, the slide ending abruptly, launching both boys out into the open. The pair spun and twisted as they flew through the open air, cussing and spinning wildly, until they landed in a loud crash, in a pile of bleach white bones. The skeletal remains exploded in a cloud of dust, dirt, broken bone, and other debris, enveloping the two boys.
Groans and more cursing could be heard through the obscuring cloud. Eventually, the dust settled, and the boys stood up, brushing the debris off, and nursing bruises. Luckily, with the exception of said bruises, they were no worse for the wear.
“Are you alright Billy?” Patty asked, while he surveyed their new surroundings.
“Aye, what the fuck was that?” Billy replied, looking around the area as well.
They were now in the lower level of the tomb, fire burning sconces lined the rough-hewn rock walls of the room. The chamber was about a hundred yards long but only twenty feet wide. The two boys were at the far end of the chamber.
“I don’t know but look.” Patty said, pointing in the distance.
At the far end of the chamber they could barely make out another door, much like the one at the entrance.
“Let’s be a little more careful…” Patty started to say.
Both boys spun as the wall behind them began to rumble like the door from earlier.
“Run!” Billy yelled, eyes going wide as saucers, as the stones in the roof began to fall.
TRACK 18 – RAPPER’S DELIGHT – THE SUGERHILL GANG
Falling roof stones crashed into the granite stones of the ground, shaking the whole tomb, each time almost throwing the running boys off their feet. They ran, dodging and darting around the incoming deadly obstacles. Each boy moving and concentrating so hard on not getting squashed, or pierced by bits of rocky shrapnel, as they traversed the first floor of the tomb.
“Look!” Patty screamed, pointing at the far end of the room.
Billy
spared a moment to follow his cousin’s gesture. At the end of the floor was a small exit, just big enough for the boys to leap through, not a doorway exactly, but it was a way out. He picked up his pace, Patty as well, and beelined towards the safety of the portal, that seemed to be their only exit.
More dodging falling death and then the boys were there, Billy took the lead and leapt superman style through the small circular exit.
“Oh shite!” Billy called,
Patty didn’t even hesitate and leapt a second after Billy, it was either crushed by stone or the unknown, he decided the unknown was preferable to certain death. As soon as he flew through the exit, darkness surrounded him. He could hear Billy cussing ahead of him but couldn’t see him, then he hit the ground hard, since he couldn’t see it coming, with a grunt as the air blasted out of his lungs.
His body twisted and bounced, all sense of direction lost, in the spinning and crashing in the dark. Suddenly, light began to appear all around him and he could make out his body and snippets of the tunnel, then the light exploded, blinding him while he continued his roll.
“Oof!” Billy sounded, as Patty crashed into him, bringing him to the ground once again. He was getting really, really fucking tired of smashing into walls, followed by his cousins flying tackles.
A few seconds went by and the two boys caught their breath.
“You ok cousin?” Patty wheezed.
“Yeah… if you don’t count my whole body hurting. Fuck, you think we made the wrong choice following Brigit?” Billy asked.
“I’m beginning to think less and less of this idea, so…” Patty began.
A low growl interrupted him, causing both boys to sit up straight and stare in horror at the originator of the sibilant noise.
“Oh yeah… definitely the wrong fucking choice.” Billy said softly.
Even though they were bathed in torchlight, the far side of the room was wreathed in darkness. From those shadow, the growl was followed by a figure, staring at the boys with undisguised malice. A ten-foot tall monster out of their nightmares, slowly approached the sitting boys. It hissed and clacked along, as its five-inch claws scraped the ground with each slow step. More and more of the creature resolving itself, as it stepped into the light.
Neither boy said a word, as their eyes were as wide as saucers, and their mouths quivered in fear. They could only watch, their gazes glued to the monster in horror, taking in every monstrous detail because, approaching them was the guardian of the tomb, the Hag of Labbacallee.
Putrid green and gray skin, peeling and oozing with glowing green ichor, covered its emaciated body. Bones could be seen through the paper-thin skin covering. Long matted hair, the color of puke, hung from her skeletal head. Her eyes were like glowing coals of evil, her lips stretched across her face in a leering grin, showing rows of razor-sharp teeth, a tongue long like a serpent and black as night, flickering around her disgusting visage. It was as if someone had taken the fears straight from their brains and created the monster.
Time seemed to slow as the hag approached the two boys. Neither could move so full of fright were they, that they just stared in horror. The smell of the hag was the first thing to hit them as she closed the distance. Both gagged involuntarily at the combination of rotten eggs, shit, and decaying flesh. The hag stopped a few feet from them, then bent down, bringing her maw of razor-sharp teeth and burning green eyes inches from each of their faces, as she inspected them. Neither boy moved as she sniffed and stared, each sure they were about to die. Then something neither of them expected happened, the hag spoke.
“I smell fear upon you, but not only that, the blood of Lugh runs strong in you both. It is a shame, I have not feasted upon the flesh of mortals in hundreds of years.” She rasped, her voice hissing and cracking, making the boys feel like she was scratching their brains from the inside.
The hag stood up, made a very human sigh, then turned heading back towards the darkness, which was now slowly illuminating, and becoming lit like the rest of the room. She paused, turning her head over her shoulder and motioning the boys to follow her. As she did so it was as if an aura of fear disappeared and the boys were able to move and breath once again.
“Do we?” Billy whispered.
“Is there a choice?” Patty replied softly, gesturing around the room and then towards the hag and the only exit.
Sharing stares of incredulity and resignation, the two cousins swallowed audibly and stood up, following hesitantly after the hag. They cautiously stopped about five-feet from the monster, who had stopped a few feet closer to the door. She stepped to the side and the boys got a good view of the portal, which took up almost the whole wall. It was stone, like the entranceway, but that was where the similarities ended.
This door was far more ornate, someone had carved an intricate storyline on it, starting from the top left, and worked its way right, then down the edifice. What made it even more intriguing, was that it was decorated with whorls of gold, silver, and bronze. Not only that, but precious gems were there as well, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and diamonds, adding even more beauty and wealth. They boys were so entranced with the tableau that they practically jumped out of their skin when the hag spoke, she apparently found it highly amusing, and cackled for a minute to the boy’s chagrin.
“This is the story of your ancestor, Lugh, who was the best of Eire, and of the Tuatha De Danann. In the beginning it was just the Tuatha…” The hag began.
The boys listened but had heard this story so many times that they knew it by heart. They were much more interested in the physical representation on the door, as it was the first time they had seen the tale physically represented. They followed along while she spoke, taking in each carving, as the hag told the time old story, in her grating voice.
“…then Lugh joined the Tuatha De Danann and leads them, with his spear, in revolt against the Fomorians…” She continued.
The pictures showed the hero wielding his weapons and his followers fought their oppressors, bloodshed, death, magic, war, were all the pictures, picked out in amazing detail. Seeming to blur and move as the hag told the story. Now, the boys were mesmerized and listened as intently as they followed along on the door.
“…It was then that Lugh died, betrayed by his wife, was killed and laid to rest here, in the Tomb of Labbacallee, forever guarded by Buach, his betrayer and cause of his and the Tuatha De Danann’s downfall, as punishment never allowed to rest, never forgiven…” The hag finished.
The last picture on the door was of a beautiful woman, Buach the boys guessed, and it followed her with Lugh, then with another man, Cermait, and the two plotted against Lugh, until finally it showed Lugh killing Cermait, then he, intern being killed by Cermait’s sons. Then, it showed Lugh placed in his tomb with his weapons, and Buach weeping against the tombs entrance, the next she was gone, replaced by the hag.
It was then the boys knew, they turned and looked at the monster, who used to be a human like them.
“You are Buach…” Billy said.
“No, I was Buach, now I am the hag, forever doomed to guard the treasures of the man I betrayed. That is, until the blood of Lugh comes to take his weapons, only then may my punishment end. Now, you are here, take his Spear, his sword, free me from my prison and torment.” The hag said. “Cut your palms in the blood oath and place them on the portal, hurry, now that you are here, I can feel my freedom. Only the blood of Lugh can open the door.”
Billy and Patty went to do as she said, then each noticed, they had no blade or way to cut their hands in the time old way. Billy turned to the hag to tell her, when she struck out faster then either boy could see, then both yelping in pain as she sliced each palm, then went back to her position beside them. With another shared look and sigh, the cousin’s placed their hands on the giant decorated doorway. The instant their bloodied palms hit the stonework, the entire edifice exploded in colored lights, blinding the boys and enveloping them in a riot of color and sound as the doorway began t
o open.
It seemed as if the entire tomb was shaking and then it stopped, the light faded, and the boys were able to see once again. In front of them where the doorway had been, was now split open into double doors, showing the contents of the room they had been guarding.
“Holy…” Billy said.
“Shite…” Patty finished.
The room itself was not huge, maybe twenty feet in diameter, circular and made of the same stone as the rest of the tomb. Chests overflowing with gold, silver, jewels, and other items of extreme wealth, littered the room in piles of haphazardly thrown riches. That is not what caused the boys awe. In the center of the room, atop an ornate glowing dais, were the objects of their quest.
The sword Fragarach lay at rest on the base of the dais, glowing a light orange, in its sheath. Even more impressive though, was the Spear of Lugh, it stood tall in the center of the dais, seeming to be floating in midair, and shining with a light blue glow, and radiating power.
As if entranced, the boys slowly walked forward, compelled by some unknown force, until they were both standing inches away from the magical weapons of legend. With unspoken agreement Billy reached out and placed his hand on the glowing orange sword. Angelic singing seemed to surround them as his hand gripped the soft leather hilt. Taking confidence from the beautiful sound, Billy lifted the sword and sheath from the dais, grabbing the sheath in his off hand and pulling the blade slowly out.
The singing intensified, the glow of orange changed, beginning to shine like the sun. The light and sound reached a crescendo, as the blade fully cleared the sheath, then the light grew enveloping Billy in the orange light. Then as quickly as it started it reversed, the light sucked into the boy and the singing faded away.
“Well fuck me…” Billy whispered, staring at the blade in awe, oblivious to his surroundings.
Patty turned his attention from his cousin to the now lonely spear, still standing tall in the air above the dais. Reaching out gingerly, he placed a hand on the dark black wood of the haft, the blue light covering his hand as he did, and the singing returned even louder than it had when Billy touched the sword. Unperturbed by the light, it felt quite cool and refreshing as he touched it, he reached his other hand out and wrapped it around the haft of the spear, then pulled it off the dais in one smooth movement.
I Am Gamer II Page 9