"I'm sorry, it had to be done. I'm protecting us now," Luch said, nodding furiously. Bradaigh nodded.
"I can tell. I'd recognise one of your shields anywhere." He stroked the tip of his finger down Luch's cheek, though they didn't actually touch.
Macey's heart broke for the two of them. There was so much love on display between them, and yet it couldn't be realised. Not unless Luch suddenly learned how to make herself into a spirit. If anyone knew how, it'd be the mouse. Though Macey suspected she'd already have done it if she could.
"These are them?" he asked.
"Yes, these are the newest Wardens," Luch said.
Macey grimaced slightly at the use of newest. She didn't like the fact there'd been so many Wardens before them. Or that they were nothing more than another set in a long line. Even so, the seven of them were unique. They were the first Wardens made up of all supernatural beings. That was a start. If she kept reminding herself of that, then she wouldn't feel too bad about being just the next set.
"And you brought a kelpie? Are you crazy?" Bradaigh demanded.
"After all these years, you're still not going to let go of that stupid prejudice? We both know that neither of your kinds are responsible for it. That has Unseelie written all over it," Luch admonished him.
"It's not about my own prejudices. I couldn't care less. You know as well as I do, that I've known for thousands of years the importance of the Wardens. I'm not going to turn my nose up at her just because she's a kelpie. But the others..." he trailed off.
Macey hissed, and glared at him. There'd only be one creature that talked that way, and she didn't like that he was one of them at all. Though it did explain the song, and the reason this place was so deserted.
"They wouldn't come here, would they?" Luch asked, a slight quiver in her voice that Macey wasn't a fan of at all. Anything that scared the mouse was certainly a bad thing.
"They always get in the way."
No, that quiver in Luch's voice hadn't been fear. It had been annoyance. Anger. The mouse didn't seem to like the other selkies, even though her lover was that species. There was no doubt that the two of them were deeply in love. It made it even more heartbreaking to see the women, made of flesh and blood, and the man, a ghostly figure who couldn't touch her. She hoped the two of them had had a good life before Bradaigh became a spirit. A ghost. Whatever he was. The alternative was too sad to even imagine.
Macey tried hard not to cry and the sight of them. It was one of the most heartbreaking and depressing things she'd ever seen. And one of the most touching.
"Would you like to introduce us?" she asked gently, trying to get back to work before her unshed tears escaped her.
They both turned away from each other, but their hands stayed close, almost touching.
"This is Bradaigh, my husband," Luch explained. "He's not a Warden, but as my companion, he was bestowed the same eternal life that all Wardens get rewarded with."
"Wait, you were a Warden too?" Flint asked, saying what Macey had just thought.
"Yes, once, a long time ago. I am no longer, of course, there are only ever one set of Wardens. Back when it was my turn, it was just me. A lone Warden, tending to the Staran, living all by myself in this little house. They chose me because I was unattached, without family who would miss me if something went awry with the transformation. I was the first, you see? They didn't know if their plans would actually work."
"Who's they?"
Bradaigh looked at his wife in confusion. "You've not told them?"
"I wanted to make sure they were ready," Luch replied softly. "Shall we go inside? If we're lucky, there's still some peat we can use to make ourselves some tea."
Macey turned to her fellow Wardens. They seemed just as stunned as she felt. Luch, a Warden. The first one. Who turned out to be married to a ghost. It was all a bit much. She breathed in the cold, salty air to clear her head.
"I'm not sure what's going on," Jared muttered. "There's so much she could have told us before, but instead, she brought us here. I'm not sure we can trust her."
"I disagree," Amber suddenly said. "Her feelings for him are true. So is what she said to him. We weren't ready before. We had to see this house reappear. We had to see where she's from before we could believe who she is." She smiled, removing some of the gravitas from her words. "Shall we go inside? I'd kill for a cup of tea right now."
Luckily, Amber didn't have to kill anyone. Luch managed to start a fire in the simple hearth using a heap of old peat, before asking Macey to conjure some water to fill the kettle. The peat smoke slowly began to fill the house, a warming, comfortable scent that made it smell like a home. A place where people lived, not one that was solely inhabited by a ghost waiting for his wife.
Bradaigh was sitting on a bench, not taking his eyes off Luch. He took in her every move with a longing that made Macey's heart ache for them once again. She suddenly understood Luch's brusque manner a lot more.
"I haven't met a kelpie in ages," he suddenly said, turning to Macey who had slipped onto the bench next to him.
"I've never met a selkie," she admitted. "But I've not heard many good things about your kind."
She instantly regretted saying that. He seemed like a nice man and she really didn't want to offend him.
Luckily, he chuckled. "I've not heard many good things about your kind, either. But I've met and befriended kelpies, which is a lot more important than hearsay and rumours, wouldn't you say?"
Macey nodded. "I met a ceasg recently and had only ever heard terrible, frightening tales about them. It turned out she was really nice and helpful."
"Oh, there are not many ceasg around anymore. You're lucky to have met one." He laughed again. "There are a lot of selkies though, they live all around St Kilda. You may want to stay away from them; most of them have never met a kelpie before and all they've heard about you are legends of how you drown and eat humans."
"I'm a vegetarian," Macey said automatically, and he grinned.
"So am I. It's very amusing to see someone else use that argument."
"I should really know better by now," Macey berated herself, annoyed that she hadn't really thought to question her thoughts and feelings towards selkies before now.
Of all the creatures she'd met along the way, almost none of them had turned out to be anything like what the rumours and tales had said.
Probably the humans fault. She imagined a human must have drowned in a loch where kelpies lived, and they'd taken the blame. Or maybe it was worse than that. Maybe it was humans killing other humans and blaming it on the myths of old. That wouldn't surprise her. Not from what she' seen of the misrepresented creatures.
"Please explain more," she prompted, after taking a sip of her tea. She aimed the question at Luch. While debating why kelpies and selkies had been led to hate one another was interesting, it didn't get them any further on their quest to save the Staran.
Luch sighed. "Which bit do you want explaining first?" she asked.
"Start with who you mean by they?" Macey prompted, hoping that was the right thing to ask first. It was hard to tell what questions she should be asking when she had absolutely no idea of any of the answers. In some ways, it was easier to question the things that had happened already. That way, she had something to ground her answers on.
"The gods," Luch said with a shrug.
"The gods don't exist," Macey blurted.
"Really?" Amber questioned. "After all that we've been through, you're going to question the existence of gods?"
"And you're not? Are beithirs brought up believing in them?" Macey demanded, though not unkindly. She didn't want to start a disagreement with her friend. She just wanted to get to the bottom of it all.
"No, we're not. But after all we've seen and done, including the mysteriously appearing marks on your back, are gods really too much of a stretch?"
Macey slumped back in her seat, and took a sip of her tea, letting the warm liquid slip down her throat and soothe
her in a way nothing else could. It was one of her favourite things about being above water.
Well, other than her other three favourite things. She looked between her men, noting they were listening intently. They were learning new things too then. That made a change. They always seemed to be telling her things, and adding to her knowledge. And quite frankly, making her feel like the naive and sheltered loch kelpie that she was slowly learning she actually was. It had been a hard lesson to learn, but she liked to believe she was strong for it.
"No. Gods aren't too much of a stretch," Macey added. "Where are they now?" she asked Luch.
"Dead. Gone. On vacation. I'm not really sure. But I don't think they're about, if that's what you're getting at."
Macey nodded along. That made sense. There was very little point to having gods involved if they were just going to solve everything. Oh no. That would be way too easy.
"They created the Wardens to do the job they're supposed to do themselves, didn't they?" Amber asked.
One glance over at her friend showed just how uncomfortable she was. She was nestled into Izban's shoulder, his arm wrapped tightly around her. But it was her tail that gave everything away. It was curled up in Amber's lap, switching slightly as she stroked it.
No. Amber was particularly uncomfortable with what was happening.
Macey didn't blame her. She couldn't say she was a fan of how complicated things had become. And she'd be even less so if she'd been kidnapped from school, locked up, and then instantly thrown into this situation, like Amber had. In fact, they all deserved a decent rest when all of this was over.
"I think so," Luch responded. "But I'm not sure. For the first hundred years or so, I did exactly what I was told. And then something changed. I'm still not sure what it was, but I think someone else tried to tamper with the Staran, and I got caught out. It sucked, but there was very little I could do. It was shortly after that when the gods decided I wasn't enough. They created the Seven Wardens and tasked me to watch over them."
"But?" Macey prompted. She could hear that it existed just from the mouse's tone. She just hoped Luch would actually tell them what she meant, and not just keep them in the dark like she had been.
"I'm not sure. That first set of Wardens did everything they were supposed to do, when they were supposed to do it. But something didn't quite work out. The same happened for the second set, and the third..." she trailed off, then shrugged. "You get the picture."
"Basically, you're saying that even when the Wardens know what to do, it ends up going wrong?" Jared asked.
"Not wrong, wrong. What they do works, otherwise the Staran would have disappeared years ago. But it's not stabilised everything quite the way it should," Bradaigh answered.
"Is that because the issue is bigger than the Staran themselves?"
"Yes and no," Luch answered.
"The Seven Wardens job is to stabilise the Staran. And yes, before you ask, I will tell you how to go about doing that," Luch said, holding up a hand to stop Flint from speaking.
It wasn't Flint Macey was concerned about though. Cam had been suspiciously quiet through the entire conversation, causing worry to build within her. He was normally so aware of everything that was going on, and the fact that he wasn't, was somewhat concerning.
"Why do I feel like there's another but coming?" Jared joked.
"There is. I don't think your job as Wardens is going to just include the Staran. I think you need to stabilise something far, far bigger than that." Luch worried her hands together, as if she was nervous to admit whatever it was.
"Let's guess," Macey started. "All we have to do is save the world?"
Luch gave a dry laugh. "Something like that, yes."
"How about we focus on one problem at a time?" Cam said gravely. He looked as exhausted as Macey felt. "Can we fix the Staran first and then worry about the rest of the world later?"
"I'm afraid you won't be able to repair the Staran entirely without looking at the bigger picture. They would only destabilise again," Luch replied with a sad smile.
"But how long will we be able to continue travelling on the Staran? We already need one of the wraiths," Jared protested. "What if we repair them and then fix whatever else needs to be fixed immediately afterwards? Would that work?"
Bradaigh nodded thoughtfully. "It should, yes. The Staran won't destabilise that quickly. How long do they still have, love?"
"No more than three weeks. I can feel the end coming ever closer. There's not much time left."
"How do we do it?" Cam asked, directing his question at Luch. "How long will it take?"
Luch sighed. "When I said that I'd tell you how to do it, I meant I'd tell you what I assume. It's all a rough guess, if you will, but usually my guesses turn out to be right."
"I can vouch for that," Bradaigh said with a chuckle. "She's almost always right."
"Almost?!"
He cleared his throat. "Ehm... always?"
"Good. Now, as you know, the origin of the Staran is here on St Kilda. The problem is that it's hidden deep beneath the island. Back when I was guarding them, it was a cave that could be accessed through a long tunnel when the tide was out. But since then, the sea has claimed the cave and it's now permanently underwater. Which means that only one of you will be able to go there. Two, if you count Air as Macey's stowaway."
"No way. Macey is not going there on her own," Flint protested immediately. "The water is dangerous."
Macey put an arm on his shoulders, soothing him. "The water isn't dangerous to me. I've grown up underwater, I've spent more years there than above ground. Don't worry about me, I've always wanted to explore a proper sea cave."
She turned to Luch. "What will await me down there? What do I need to do?"
"The Staran is fueled by a jewel filled with the energy the gods provided for it," the woman explained. "It was supposed to be enough for thousands of years, so I doubt it's been depleted. Maybe there's something blocking its access. If it's something you can't fix yourself, just swim back up and we'll talk it through."
That sounded easy enough. Water was her element and she wasn't afraid of it. The cave didn't sound very scary either. If there was only a jewel down there, it couldn't be much of a threat. Unless there were selkies... Bradaigh had said that they frequented these waters. All Macey could hope was that she'd be able to avoid a confrontation with them.
"Good, let's do this," Macey announced, unwilling to lose any more time. The quicker they could get this over with, the quicker they'd be able to get some rest. And there was still a chat to be had with Nessie.
* * *
Luch led them back down to the beach and along a path that led to a high cliff. She pointed towards the sea.
"The entrance is about fifty metres that way. I hope it hasn't collapsed when it was flooded, but it should be fine. The tunnel itself will be narrow, so be sure to stay clear of the sharp rocks on the ceiling. It usually took me around ten minutes to reach the large cave in the centre. There you'll find the jewel. I hope."
Macey stripped, prompting Flint to growl at Izban and Bradaigh to turn around. She waded into the cold water until it reached her shoulders, shivering at the same time as rejoicing in the feel of the waves surrounding her body. Finally, she was going to be able to swim again. It had been too long.
She turned back to the others who were waiting on the beach. Jared gave her a cheery thumbs up and she laughed before shifting in one fluid motion. Once her gills developed on her neck, she let herself drop into the water, breathing in deep. She always felt like she got more oxygen underwater than up above. Her gills seemed more effective than her human lungs.
With a strong stride of her tail, she swam in the direction Luch had shown her. The ocean floor beneath her slowly turned from rocks and sand to a lively home. Tiny fish were zipping past her while large algae gently stroked her skin as she swam past them.
After so long without shifting, this was heavenly. She whinnied in delight and almost fo
rgot she had a task to do. She could have swum here for hours, if she'd had the time to do so. It was a beautiful world underwater, and the water was so much clearer here than in her loch back home. Intense pinks, greens and oranges were offset by the rich turquoise water. She couldn't take her eyes off the ocean floor and all the plants and fish living there.
Macey almost missed the cave entrance; it was that hidden beneath a dense kelp forest and carpets of iridescent jewel anemones, literally hundreds of thousands clinging onto the cliff faces and boulders. She smiled at the beauty of it.
With her front hooves, she pulled apart the kelp and squeezed inside. The stone tunnel was darker than the sea outside, but still light enough to see. The walls were covered with incredibly dense thickets of hydroids, who themselves provided shelter for what must have been literally millions of tiny shrimps. The ground was smooth, probably worn down by the effect of the waves reaching in and out during the tides.
Macey made a mental note to explore all the caves beneath St Kilda one day. She was sure there were more than just this one, and if even half of them were as beautiful, she wanted to see them.
She took her time, taking in the shimmering tunnel walls and the algae covering the ground. The kelp was only growing outside where it got some sunlight filtering through the water, but there was none of that in here.
Far too soon though, the tunnel widened and opened into a large cavern. The water temperature changed as soon as she exited the tunnel. Warm water surrounded her, making her feel as if she'd entered a giant bathtub. She shook her body, letting the warmth penetrate her scales. So comfy...
Kelpies didn't mind cold water, but she could certainly appreciate how lovely warm water could be.
The sea didn't fill the entire cavern, so to make it easier to survey the place, Macey took a deep breath and lifted her head above water. She almost gasped when she took in the sight in front of her.
At the end of the cave, a stone pedestal rose from the water, and on it was the largest crystal she'd ever seen. It was egg-shaped but almost as tall as a kelpie foal. And it was glittering in hundreds of colours.
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