* * *
My magic flared to life, rushing through me and mixing with Kevan's. Just like he had done for me, I infused him with energy. Our lights glowed together, and he straightened, sending a fresh stream of healing magic into Max. The knee slowly filled up like a balloon and Max let out a loud sigh of relief.
"I'm done," Kevan said out loud, his light receding, and he squeezed my hand appreciatively before letting it go.
My gaze connected with Lia who nodded and shrugged, giving us the green light after assessing everyone on sight. Cheers and relief surrounded us, although Cyn and I could still feel the shock and curiosity coming from the crowd. We sat straighter while Peter helped Max sit up. He flexed his knee testing out and looked at us.
"You saved us…" Max whispered, still astonished by what had happened. His gaze shifted to Art, and he quickly kneeled, reaching for him. "Is Clark going to be okay?"
“Yes, he will be. He’s just resting his lazy ass,” Lia said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She was worried about him.
"Are you aliens?" Peter asked, and we all burst out laughing.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Max chided, leaning away from Art. “They are probably Witches, or Wizards, or something like that.” He looked at me a bit nervous. “Right?”
Cyn and I exchanged a glance. “It seems the time has come for the truth to be known, my Goddess.” I nodded and gave him a reassuring kiss. Cyn faced them. "We are from an ancient civilization believed to have perished long ago." The men around us sat down suddenly enthralled by Cyn's voice. "Brina and I are the High Priests of the last standing Order of The Druids, and my brother, Eisha, and Kevan are part of our Court. We are immortal, and possess abilities which have allowed us to remain secret from the rest of the human race for the last two millennia, and secure your wellbeing on this fateful day."
“Two thousand years?!”
“Druids?” Peter and Max asked at the same time.
“Yes,” Cyn answered simply.
"Dude, Druids, as in the Celtic civilization we saw on our History of Folklore and Mythology class, remember?" Max's words were directed at his friend, but I could see the wheels turning for the others, trying to remember.
“Wait. Weren’t Druids like wiped out by the Romans during the first century or something?” Peter asked.
Cyn let out a heavy sigh. “Most of us were.”
“I’m so sorry that was highly insensitive of my friend,” Max said glaring at Peter.
"No need for apologies," Cyn added. "I assume for you to understand fully, you must know our story…"
* * *
An hour later we still sat in the same spot as Cyn finished narrating everything that occurred, even what we have been through together. It seemed he finally found an outlet, and these lucky people were the ones to witness this moment. Everyone remained quiet while they mulled over the story.
“We are truly sorry,” it was Jason who finally spoke, breaking the silence. “Destiny didn’t hand you an easy life. But I think I speak for everyone here when I say we are glad you have fought to stay around. Your people sound like a remarkable race, and I wish there were more like you in this world, which seems to be driven by hate more and more each day. I think you are what the world needs, now more than ever. Your spiritualism, your beliefs… perhaps all of this is happening for a reason. I know it will sound like we are just putting more weight on your shoulders than what you already have, but maybe you guys are meant to help us too. Guide us.”
The weight of his words fell over Cyn and I but unlike we would expect, the possibility of a new world seemed refreshing and inspiring for us. As the idea grew inside us, it fueled us to end this battle once and for all and give everyone a new life.
“Is this city meant to be hidden too, or part of your new world?”
One of the other men who hadn't yet been introduced asked, and Cyn and I looked at Art at the same time. Multicolored lights glimmered around him as Kevan poured his healing energy into him slowly. Art was just resting he told us, and considering his body had stopped the four hundred pound flying beam from killing the guys, it made sense he was unconscious. Art had taken the brunt of the hit. Still, I could sense the worry in Kevan as he poured restoring energy into him.
Art's words resounded in our ears.
“A city where there are no divisions between us, and we all have the best of modern technology, where our spiritual beliefs reign true, and everyone is welcome. Not only Celts and Druids but everyone who needs a new beginning, regardless of where they were born. Where we can finally live in peace, without hiding and allowing those we love to be who they want to be."
Cyn’s gaze returned to the man. “It is part of a new world.”
“We want to live here,” Peter and Max said in unison, without even breathing.
We laughed. “Then you shall be welcomed among our Druid family. It is my brother’s dream.”
A strange sound suddenly followed Cyn's words and our gazes went up to the sky to see a drone flying over the area. The loud humming hurt my ears.
“What?” Lia said following my gaze.
"That was a military grade drone," Kevan added, removing his weakened hands from Art. He seemed exhausted, yet Art remained unconscious.
“The Brotherhood?" I asked, afraid of the answer, but Kevan shook his head.
"I don't think so. Ours look like miniature planes, and they are white. These are camouflaged to blend with their surroundings and look like they could turn into a Decepticon at any moment.”
Lia chuckled, but I was too concerned to laugh. "Why does it sound like that?” I said covering my ears before they started bleeding.
"You hear something?" Jason asked, confused.
I nodded looking at the others. “Don’t you? It’s grating at my nerves.”
"No.” Kevan answered. “It's absolutely silent."
I looked at Cyn confused, and he nodded. He could hear it too. “I believe what you hear is the energy radiating from it, my Goddess. It’s unlike anything I have felt.”
"Great, just what we needed. Is it possible it’s scanning us for magic? Like what The Brotherhood’s machines did to me?" Cyn’s jaw tensed, and I got my answer. My gaze shifted to Kevan. “Are you sure is not one of theirs?”
He looked at me with a calculative gleam in his eyes. "We should call John and find out. We should also take Art back home so he can rest properly." The drone circled back around the lake, flying over us again, and then left.
I nodded, as we stood.
"I’ve seen that drone before, but I originally thought it was just mapping the area," Jason offered, calling our attention back to him.
“How often?” Cyn asked.
“About once a week.”
"Is not mapping the area, is surveilling it," Kevan said certain, and my heart sank.
"Let's go." I raised my hand, and my Spear of Light materialized instantly. The Minastra GalIsacura Arthulis began to glow. I walked towards Art and Lia ignoring the gasps around us, and bent down placing my hand on his chest. "I'm going to take you two first, so that you can take care of him at home."
She nodded and turned around. “Hey, you! The one with the orange and blue vest.” One of the men stepped forward. “You should leave construction and go into acting. You’d be awesome in theater.”
The man smiled. “Really? I’ve always wanted to act.”
Lia winked. “Trust me.”
"Please keep our secret," I told all of them and saw them nod. The sincerity in their eyes calmed me before we left.
We appeared on her bed, Art laid on top of it, and it almost seemed like he was sleeping. “I’ll be back later to check on both of you. I’m going to get the others.”
She nodded sitting beside him, as I stepped down from the mattress and threw Cyn’s Blessed Passage Stones in the air.
When I returned to the site everyone around me was anxious. “What happened?”
"It was you!" Jason said excitedly.
“The people the tourists saw in Ireland. It was you guys,” Peter added, almost jumping from joy.
Cyn and Eisha looked at me worried, while Kevan came closer. "Apparently the last group of tourists on the site, the day we got our portal stones, saw us disappear into pure light. It was on the news. I think the secret is out."
LIA
* * *
"I swear to God, Art. If you don't wake up right this second, I'm going to smack the crap out of you!"
I threatened for the hundredth time, hoping it would work but nothing happened. I rechecked him, and everything was fine. He was breathing with ease, his pulse was steady, and so was the beating of his heart, but he still wasn't waking up, even after being back for two hours. I lay my head on his chest and closed my eyes as the tears fell onto his skin. My body wrapped around him in the way he always held me when we slept, and I began to pray.
To my surprise, my prayers weren't directed to God, but to the Goddess. I begged for him to be okay. I knew he could no longer die, or be hurt because of who he was to her, but then why wasn't he waking up? Had something happened to him while saving those guys that we couldn't see? I reached for his wrist, and my thumb graced his leather cuff absentmindedly. The tears in my eyes reflected the colors that glowed over his skin as his magic reacted to the touch.
“Please Mother Goddess, let him be okay. I love him more than anything. I need him.” I closed my eyes as another tear escaped me. “I can’t lose him now.”
“Then, when could you, my child?”
I gasped as the foreign voice reached me and opened my eyes. I gasped again when I realized Art, and I were no longer in our bed but on what seemed like soft clouds.
“What?” I whispered, looking at my surroundings. Nothing but white puffy clouds was visible for miles.
“You said, ‘I can't lose him now,' and I asked, when could you then lose him, my child?”
The woman's voice came again, and I whirled around to find a tall, slender woman looking at me amused. She was gorgeous, with dark, shiny skin; long, braided hair-strands that reached her hips, and wore a long white gown, which seemed molded to her curves.
"Never," I answered absentmindedly as she gracefully sauntered towards me. She reminded me of Iman, the African American supermodel, she looked like a Warrior Goddess.
"Good answer," she said pleased and sat down, just as the clouds floated underneath her to form a throne.
“Are you the Goddess?”
“Do I look like one?”
“You look like a freaking bad ass Warrior Goddess,” I answered with a one-shoulder shrug, and she grinned.
“Why, thank you. I thought this appearance would be fun for today. I needed a little change.”
I chuckled. “You are not like I imagined at all.”
“Well, that depends on your imagination, my child… and how bored I am.” She winked at me getting up, and a staff made of gold materialized in her hand. It was remarkably similar to Bri’s. The light bounced off of it as she began to walk around us.
“Is he okay?” I asked, my gaze returning to Art.
"Oh, he is fine. He is just… what did you call it? Oh, yes. He is just resting his lazy ass." She laughed. "I do love your sense of humor, Amelia." Walked closer to him she snapped her fingers over him. "Wake up, darling. You are scaring the poor girl half to death." Nothing happened, and she sighed. "I am afraid he might need his beauty sleep."
I chuckled. She was so strange.
She stopped in front of us and smiled tenderly at me. "The truth is, Arthfael used a great deal of energy saving those men today. He stopped much more than what you were able to see. Max’s leg being crushed was the least of what would have happened. He is all right, but he needs time to replenish his essence. He is still half human after all."
I nodded and looked down at him, kissing his lips softly. “I’ll wait, Chewie. Just, don’t take too long. Okay?” I leaned back, and looked at the Goddess.
Her eyes sparkled with love. “You shall have him back soon. I promise.”
My gaze went to the clouds that surrounded us. “Is this the Blessed Isles?”
She shook her head softly, her braided strands swaying with the movement. "This is." The Goddess extended her arm, and suddenly we were in front of huge golden gates, which seemed to glow softly. They stood closed behind her as I watched fascinated. "I am afraid you may not enter on this day, my child."
“I understand. If Art is okay, and I can’t enter the Blessed Isles, then why am I here?”
“Well, two reasons really,” she said, starting to walk around us again. “First, I wanted to meet the woman who stole the heart of my Soul Hunter.” She smiled stopping beside me. “Did you know that he thought of you when I claimed him as my Anam Sealgair? Not his parents, not his brother, you. Your smiling face was the last thought on his mind, as my spear went through his heart.”
“You put your spear through his heart?!”
She cringed. "I know. It is a bit of a technicality really. It was the only way. I am terribly sorry."
I sighed, and my heart warmed. "He thought of me?"
She hummed contentedly. "That heart of his, it is one of my most precious possessions. I hope it is yours as well."
I grinned. “It is.”
She nodded with a brilliant spark in her eyes. “Which brings me to the second reason.” She sat beside me, extending her hand to me. I took it, not knowing what to expect. Her skin was soft and warm. “I have made it a tradition to be the one who spreads the joyous news to my Soul Hunters, but since Arthfael is otherwise engaged, I want to show you instead.”
Suddenly, the sound of a heartbeat resounded all around us. It seemed magnified as though we were in a theater. It was strong, and faster than what I thought would be normal. My hand flew to Art's chest, but his heart was beating at an average pace, steady. My hand then went to my heart yet the heartbeat still didn't match. The Goddess’ lips curved into a dazzling smile and she lowered the hand she held to my belly.
A small gasp left me, as tears gather in my eyes.
“You are with child.”
I half laughed, half sobbed as the heartbeat of my baby boomed around us. “This is much cooler than peeing on a stick.”
She threw her head back laughing, and it sounded as though pure bells chimed around us. "I do love your sense of humor, Amelia." Her hand rested on mine, on my belly, and I suddenly saw it glow a soft gold. "That baby will be part of a very important destiny, promise me you will take care of it."
I nodded, shocked by her words. “Wait…” I whispered while my heart constricted. Another tear fell from my eyes as the happiness I felt mixed with sadness. “What about Seima?”
She arched a brow at me. “What about Seima?”
"Well, she wants a child more than anything, but she's devastated because she can't have kids. It stopped her from even seeking love throughout her life, and now that she and Cathair are finally together, don't they deserve to have a family and be happy?"
Her gaze softened. "Yes they do, my child. Yet their destiny has already been written, and it is not my place to intervene."
"Are you being sarcastic?" She laughed. "You are the Goddess. You answered Seima's mother's prayer, and that is how she was born."
“I did, only because that was part of her destiny. It is not my place to intervene in Seima’s.”
"If you are the Goddess and you can't intervene, then who can?"
Her lips curved into a tender smile and she leaned closer. "That is the question, is it not?"
Her breath brushed my skin with her whispered words, and my eyes closed as she kissed my cheek. When I opened them again Art, and I were in our hut. I lay beside him on the bed and curled my body around him once again. Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks as I remembered the sound of our baby’s heartbeat.
“Why are you crying, A chuisle?" Art's voice startled me as he turned me over wiping my cheeks with his thumbs. "I'm so sorry I scared you, but I'
m fine. I promise."
“I know. I’m not crying because of you.”
He frowned cradling my cheeks. “Then why?”
I smiled as another tear left me. “I’m pregnant, Chewie. We are going to have a baby.”
The shock traveled through him as he stared at me. The next second, his lips crushed against mine taking my breath away, and sharing my joy. He pulled back as tears graced his cheeks. His lips stretched into the most beautiful smile I've ever seen on him, and he kissed me again. Lifting my shirt, he bent down and began to rain little kisses all over my belly. I chuckled pulling his face up and kissed him.
“That kid is going to be so happy. I'm going to make sure of that." Art promised as his eyes sparkled with emotion. "I'll take care of both of you, and love you every day for the rest of my life, A rún mo chroí. I swear it.”
“I know.”
Chapter 10. Unexpected Allies
BRINA
* * *
"Did you find out if the Romans sent the drone?" I asked, walking towards John, staff in hand, once we landed at the grid.
"High Priests," he said, startled by our abrupt arrival, as the light disappeared.
He began to nod but must have changed his mind mid-way, giving us a military salute instead. It was amusing to watch him. He never knew what to do with himself in front of us. I guess he thought he should bow, but felt weird about it, so he ended up awkwardly nodding at us each time. I couldn’t blame him. Even though I knew people were bowing to the presence of the Goddess in us—through our abilities—it still fell uncomfortable. However, I learned that feelings got hurt when our people wasn’t able to express a tradition they had exercised for thousands of years, so I had to find a way to allow them that.
John’s eyes roamed through our group in awe, just as the first time he saw us. They went over Cyn and I first, as though admiring our Priests’ robes, and then quickly over the Warrior suits the others wore. I had the impression he wanted one. I couldn’t blame him. We looked badass.
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