Return of the Starchild (The Divine Inheritance Series Book 1)

by Catriona Murphy

  Seamus sighed at the memory of that meeting.

  A piercing wail exploded in the air like a firework.

  Seamus struggled to steady his horse; his keen blue eyes looked up to see a procession of women making their way towards him. Kevin walked alongside them. His youthful face showed two cheeks of blooming red and when he caught Seamus’s eye, he rolled his own.

  The Eye Wielders were an expressive group if nothing else. Their troupe usually consisted of clanking expensive jewellery adorning their slim arms, and wound in their curly, trussed-up hair twisted into an upstyle. A drunken politician had once joked to him that a few birds could nestle comfortably in there, and never see the light of day again. Stone-encrusted sovereign rings the size of eyeballs looped around nearly every finger, chunky necklaces heavy with sapphires, jasper, jade and lapis lazuli were adorned on their chests. The Eye Wielders were always beautiful, always young and always dramatic. From where Seamus sat on his courser, he could hear the clinking of their accessories jingling like they were attending a Homemead celebration. Silk garments hung from their theatrical slim waists of all fine colours: fuchsia pink, canary yellow, maroon, dusty purple to virgin white.

  Seamus for the life of him couldn’t understand how they could wear them with no furs in the biting cold air. They moved forward in a stupor, their eyes were clouded, squinting as if trying to see through a haze of fog. Expressions puzzled, they walked slowly, taking baby steps as they tried to get their bearings.

  ‘Oh, for god’s sake,’ grumbled Jamel. He stood in his stirrups. ‘Kevin! Tell them to get a move on. His majesty doesn’t need to wait on the dizzy damsels all bloody morning to stumble their way forth.’

  The woman who had wailed was scrambling back in fright, hands and knees raw red from the snow’s bite. ‘I-I-I don’t need to see this,’ she whimpered fretfully. She put her trembling hands to her head and shrieked again. ‘I don’t want to see! I don’t want to see!’

  ‘Is she new?’ Seamus asked.

  Jamel frowned, unsure.

  ‘No, your highness, she has been in service for the last five years,’ answered another of his guard. Jinx had been assigned the painful duty of organising the Eye Wielders, a task he took no pleasure in. ‘This would be unusual for her.’

  ‘Best go get her before she freezes to death,’ Seamus muttered.

  Jinx nodded and snapped the reins of his horse into a gallop, it spat up snow in its tracks as it went.

  The closer the group got to the wreckage, the more they appeared cagey, stirring in the depths of a shrewd premonition. The Eye Wielders stopped as if they had been whiplashed. One fell to her knees sobbing. ‘Black, black, black, it’s all black and black,’ she gibbered.

  Another raised her skinny arms as if warding something off, jingling bracelets glittered in the sunlight. ‘It’s a dark fiend,’ she hissed between her teeth, her dark eyes narrowing.

  Seamus watched them patiently. Getting details from the Eye Wielders was like trying to extract tiny golden nuggets from an ocean, questions needed to be precise, and consistently pushed upon until they were answered.

  ‘What do you sense the attacker is?’ he asked, starting off lightly.

  ‘A dark fiend,’ she went on.

  The other women appeared unaffected, glassy eyed and stared into space in a dormant-like state.

  ‘It’s hiding from me,’ the second woman continued.

  Seamus zeroed in on her. ‘Describe it, every single detail to the last.’

  Her eyes flew from side to side, watching a scene take place that was beyond the king’s sight. ‘The place is choked in darkness, then comes a fire, oh…how they’re all burning, they’re all burning!’ The woman dug her long fingernails into her cheeks and wept. ‘They’re burning.’

  ‘Who is it?’ Seamus asked, leaning forward in saddle.

  She closed her eyes and swooned. ‘The prison guards burn, so many men died this way but it was part of the plan, part of the plan, just part of the plan.’ Her elegant eyebrows drew together; her beautiful face a strain of concentration. ‘It’s killing too many, the prisoners...they don’t escape - there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to go. They’re suffocating, they can’t breathe!’ she shrieked. ‘It doesn’t want to free! It doesn’t want to free! It wants to kill, it’s looking, and it’s searching.’

  ‘What is it searching for?’ He pressed, the bitter wind rustling through his furs.

  ‘The Shadow Dancer was there,’ she rasped.

  Jamel exchanged troubled glances with the king.

  ‘What was it that broke into the prison?’

  The woman shook her head stubbornly. ‘It was a demon of fire,’ she vexed, eyes rolling.

  Seamus sighed, it wasn’t as specific as he would have liked, but that was the trouble of employing Eye Wielders.

  The Shadow Dancer...he hadn’t been seen for the better part of forty years. Seamus’s predecessor had pulled his hair out trying to catch the bastard.

  Seamus contemplated on the dependency of the information he received from the wailers, despite their dramatic disposition, he found them over the years to be relatively reliable.

  He glanced back at the Beast, but the mountain held no answers for him.

  ‘It’s your call here Terrence,’ Galfen pressed, ‘you can either try and reach Cherbourne before night fall, or follow us to the headquarters. Sires and I need to report immediately to Titan. The Xinger will find its way back one way or another, and the faerie guard need to be alerted immediately.’

  Iliana stood shivering to the gills in her uniform skirt and stockings, the cloak offering her little warmth.

  Terrence deliberated over Galen’s words. His thick brows set together in deep thought. He looked around at the party of five, who apprehensively waited for his decision. Iliana could see responsibility weighing on his shoulders like bags of sand.

  ‘Zelda,’ he started tiredly.

  She stood to attention.

  ‘Take Iliana to faerie guard headquarters with Galfen and Sires. Wait for me there.’

  Zelda’s expression was questioning but she nodded curtly.

  ‘Karen,’ he said to Zelda’s aunt, ‘you’re coming with me.’

  ‘Of course,’ she replied formally, placing herself discreetly at his side.

  He turned to the two faerie generals, the remainder of Galfen’s charge flanked around him. Terrence shook hands with them both.

  ‘Thank you, Sires. Your assistance will never be forgotten. I’ll make sure of it.’

  Sires shifted uncomfortably, he seemed to be caught between conflicting emotions. ‘You’re welcome Number One, next time though, a word of warning would nice. And no more car rides either.’

  ‘Galfen, I’m sorry I brought this mess to your doorstep. You lost many a faerie today.’

  Galfen returned him with a sombre stare. ‘There will always be dark forces Terrence, none of which are ever within our control. Titan will not be happy about this, but it ain’t your fault for trying to save a life.’

  Iliana’s cheeks burned, guilt washing over her.

  ‘It wasn’t your fault either,’ Zelda said to her, reading her look.

  She nodded but her words were of little comfort. She looked into the arch’s chamber, its image distorted through the ice. Even though it was difficult to see, she could just about make out the shapes of mangled bodies, tossed around like forgotten toys.

  She pulled her eyes away.

  ‘Even so,’ Terrence replied, regret in his eyes. ‘It will only get worse from here onwards, be on your guard.’

  He turned to Karen, and began to walk in the direction of a nearby white forest.

  ‘They’re just leaving us?’ Iliana asked Zelda, watching their retreating backs.

  ‘Don’t worry; they can take care of themselves.’

  ‘What about us? The Xinger will come again won’t it?’

  Zelda sighed. ‘Yes, it will.’


  ‘It will try to kill us.’

  ‘Yes,’ she repeated.

  Iliana glanced around the hill, then to far off lands appraisingly. ‘We need a plan, I don’t think we should just waltz off to faerie HQ just cause Terrence tells us to. And I want to find my parents.’

  Zelda was shocked into silence. ‘Iliana,’ she began delicately, ‘...I don’t think it’s a good idea to go down that road. Your family is back in England.’

  Galfen and Sires began their descent of the hill. ‘C’mon you two!’ Sires called back without turning, ‘we’re freezin’ our bottoms off out here!’

  Iliana glanced irritably at him, but her determined eyes rested back on Zelda. ‘I want to know who I am, I need to find my real family, where I really belong.’

  ‘Your identity doesn’t need to be marked by heritage, Iliana. Trust me,’ she sighed. ‘I know.’

  Iliana sensed Zelda’s ploy at distraction, but she would not be deterred in her search. Still though, something in her piqued with interest. The knowledge of finding her parents was nearly matched by knowing more of Zelda’s roots too. She decided to grab the low hanging fruit. ‘How do you know?’

  ‘If I tell you will you come with me?’

  She hesitated. She watched what was left of Galfen’s guard continue across the plains that stretched out beyond Sleepers Hill, and the river that wound around it.

  She took the direct approach. ‘Do you know where my parents are?’

  Zelda sucked in a breath, hands on her hips, and turned away uncertainly. ‘Iliana…’

  ‘For god’s sakes Zelda! Just tell me.’

  She turned, her eyes alight with alarm. ‘I don’t know where they are.’

  Iliana’s heart sank. Again, she could feel a connection to a past that was rightfully hers yet never given to her. Zelda was the only connection that tethered her to it, the line that extended into the obscurity of her past.

  Iliana’s jaw straightened. ‘Then help me find them. For god’s sake Zelda, they’re my family.’

  ‘You’re no use to your family dead.’ Zelda sighed. ‘Can we please just get to safety first, and then we’ll talk about how we can do it - together?’

  The faerie guard disappeared into a copse of trees.

  ‘Before we lose our only ticket to safety? Faerie HQ is heavily policed, and the Xinger wouldn’t be able to take that place on alone.’

  Iliana’s mind flitted through various possibilities. Zelda did have a point, if they didn’t find somewhere to shack up until Terrence’s return, there’s a chance they’ll both be killed.

  ‘Ok.’

  Zelda breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Let’s go.’

  The girls ran down the hill as quickly as they could, Iliana stole a glance behind her at the archway, it’s ice encrusted stones and frigid image shone like glass, casting it an air of desolation.

  ‘Tell me about your family.’

  Zelda muttered something angrily.

  ‘What was that Zelda?’

  ‘Remind me never to tempt you with information again.’

  ‘I deserve to know and you know it.’

  Zelda frowned at her as they waded through a particular dense part of the snow, angling toward the small wood. ‘Karen needed my permission to collapse the arch,’ she heaved, ‘because it requires the grace of someone who is a cabinet member or holds the crown. Myself, am the exception.’ Zelda smiled to herself now. ‘I am neither but anyone who has ever ran for monarch still holds certain powers, some of which I admit I’ve abused to my advantage as an agent.’

  The faerie guards trudging through the snow came into view ahead.

  ‘Wait, you ran for monarch? Like a Queen?’

  ‘I would have been, but I decided that there was a man much better for the job than me. I transferred all my resources over to him and backed him. My parents weren’t too happy, they had expended countless coin on me to be victorious. A Privilege like myself in Erp Surrel,’ she smiled ruefully, ‘with all the money and connections I would ever need, but my higher calling was the temple.’

  ‘Wow - you actually could of been a Queen here? Like actually the ruler of this world?’

  ‘Price comes with power, it’s one thing to fantasise something in one’s mind, it’s entirely another to experience it. I sometimes wonder how Seamus is doing.’

  Iliana wanted to inquire as to who Seamus was, but they finally caught up with the faerie guards.

  Sires grinned at Iliana. ‘Just you wait and see what our base looks like. If you thought you’ve seen everything - you’ve seen nothin’ yet.’

  Iliana felt every grain of what he said in her body, and groaned inwardly. Her shoes and stockings were sopping wet and her toes felt like mini ice pops about to fall off.

  ‘Thanks, but I’ve seen enough.’

  They passed through the land mostly unnoticed and avoided local villages.

  The hills surrounding Iliana reminded her of Santa’s grotto at Christmas time. She was still trying to compute the change of summer to winter - and her body wasn’t reacting too well. Her bottom lip jittered to the point it was having a fit and her legs and feet were numb.

  A bird with three eyes peered out at her from a snowy sugar-coated bush, and she heard the noise of what sounded like a cat meowing except it continued its noise mechanically like a cricket. The air seemed fuller here and it took less effort to breath in - like someone had increased the pressure.

  An alien sight of a celestial paradox displayed itself beyond all reason in the sky, and Iliana nearly tripped when she saw it. Her huge eyes gazed at something she might behold on a sci-fi movie poster.

  Two silver crescent moons hung on the icy illuminated horizon, one was clearly closer than the other, like a pair of dangling earrings seen from one side.

  ‘Zelda?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Erm, two moons?’

  She looked to the horizon. ‘Uh,’ she laughed a little self-consciously, ‘Yeah, the bigger one is Andraste and the smaller one, Brighid.’

  ‘I see…why are there two moons here?’

  Zelda gazed at her with worry. ‘Well, we’re sort of, y’know, in a different world. Another planet.’

  ‘Yeah, I know that,’ she replied irritably, ‘but where is it?’

  ‘Well, it’s not in Earth’s solar system.’

  ‘Then, where?’

  Zelda’s face pinched. ‘I would need a map to show you.’

  ‘What’s that? Like a star map? A map of the galaxy?’

  ‘Goddess girl, you’re full of questions aren’t ye?’ wheezed Sires from up ahead. He doubled his walking efforts to stop himself from being sucked into the snows cottony depths. His stumpy legs fighting through the snow.

  Iliana shot him a look. ‘I’m trying to get a grip as to where I am.’

  ‘You’re in the Otherworld, can ye not see that?’ He tried hacking at a snowman that stood ridiculously in his way, its stony smile mocking. He sneered at it and took a swipe at its head. It fell off cleanly and crunched into the snow.

  ‘Yeah. I know I’m in the Otherworld. But where is the Otherworld?’

  ‘Ah well, you see now you’re making things complicated for yourself. You need a map, like anything else, to know where you are and know where you’re going.’

  Iliana felt like she was going around in circles. ‘Can you show me on the map?’

  Zelda nodded. ‘I can and I will.’

  Conversation died as they continued on. They passed through a wood that was so still that Iliana was convinced taking one step on the ground would cause an earthquake. The trees were iced over and bare to the bone, icicles hung from their stripped branches.

  The whole land seemed to be in hibernation, and Iliana was glad for the peace that came with it. But every time she found herself enjoying it, the Xinger’s black humanoid shape would appear in her mind, dispelling any relief she felt.

  She noticed tall standing s
tones randomly placed around the land, jutting out of the Earth like broken teeth. Their surfaces were heavily scarred and marked with symbols she couldn’t understand. She asked Zelda about them.

  ‘They’re some carvings from the first few centuries of the Otherworld, they were more than likely from the early generations of seers. Or possibly were here before they ever arrived, they may come from another civilisation that existed long before the Tuatha de Danann. It’s an area still being researched.’

  ‘Who are descendants from the Tuatha De Dannan.’

  Zelda looked surprised. ‘Correct.’

  ‘The writings on them?’

  ‘Hmm, nobody can really understand them now.’

  Iliana nodded, peering at the markings with interest. She yearned for a radiator to glue herself to. Or a hot fire, whatever the substitute for heat was here.

  Galfen took out an unusual spyglass, and twisted it to adjust the focus. After a few moments, he shut it firmly.

  ‘There,’ he said, pointing at a dark wiggly line that wound away to their far right. ‘We can reach Morgan’s Pass by the Royal Way, and then it’s less than an hour from there.’

  Zelda inclined her head in agreement.

  When they finally reached The Royal Way, Iliana saw it was heavily scarred with wheel tracks and wide enough for three cars to drive on side by side. Another standing stone jutted out awkwardly on one side, like a leaning tower hanging over at a ninety-degree angle.

  ‘MMMMMMM.’

  Iliana snapped her head at the monolith that stood ten feet high. It was like hearing a drone of bees all buzzing in one chorus together. It had sent a strong vibration through her chest, reverberating into the deepest parts of her bones.

  However the stone stood silent in the oncoming night, wearing a snow top like a white hat.

  ‘Zelda, did you hear that?’

  ‘Hear what?’ Her hands moved in some practised gesture Iliana wasn’t familiar with.

  ‘It sounded like a humming noise.’

  She looked at her peculiarly. ‘I didn’t hear anything.’