“No, you’re not. Your illusions were good. Your influence even better.”
She beamed with pride. “Lord Ewain agrees. In this short time, he’s taught me nuances of my power I’d never explored before.” After a moment of hesitation, she glanced at the pack beside the fire. “He said something about The Way before he left.”
“The gate I found in the human realm?” Munro froze. Surely Ewain hadn’t travelled to Colorado. That idea discomfited Munro.
“Yes,” she said. “He said its connection point wasn’t far from here.”
“It’s connected to the Otherworld still? How strange. It appeared broken to me.” He attempted to keep his tone light, but his mind was reeling. So The Way connected the human realm to Danastai, but why did it look so different from normal Otherworld gates? Ewain had held something back, but what? If Munro couldn’t get the information from Flùranach now while Ewain wasn’t here to shut her up, Munro might never find out.
She nodded. “I didn’t understand everything he said. He wasn’t talking to me so much as near me. He’s been alone a long time. I think the extended solitude of his imprisonment made him slightly eccentric.”
Munro thought eccentric too mild a word, but he didn’t say so. She clearly adored Ewain, and he didn’t want to discourage her from continuing her explanation. If he prodded too hard, she might close up. Instead, he waited. Most people needed to fill a silence, and Flùr was no exception.
“His stories fascinate me. The Way had something to do with time. He’s been delving into my temporal abilities to see if my exposure made me as strong as with a natural temporal faerie.”
“Has it?”
She beamed with pride. “You should see him. Since delving into my power, he’s regressed his own age. You’d hardly recognise him. He looks younger than my grandfather.”
“Impressive,” Munro said. Her accident with time had been a trauma she never spoke of, but the effects had haunted her. He didn’t realise she’d absorbed some of Tràth’s temporal power.
“Isn’t it? I’ve already learned so much. I had no idea a gate could connect several points in time as well as several locations. Of course, he said he would need to wait until Rory brought him the Cup of Cultus before attempting to use it.”
“I wonder why the artefact is so important,” Munro said. “I assume it’s druid work?”
Flùranach nodded. “He said he didn’t make it though. Someone named Juno did.”
Juno. She was a blood druid from Ewain’s time. The blood druid, one of the original humans who, according to some interpretations of ancient runestones, had created the Otherworld.
“Did he tell you what the Cup does?” Munro asked. When she looked at him askance, he added, “We’d appreciate anything that might help us find it. The rune Ewain gave Rory led him presumably to the sea fae. He had to abort his attempt until we could prepare to cope with being in the underwater kingdom. I told the others I’d talk to Ewain, learn what I could to help them. Since he’s not here, you’re my only hope.”
The explanation seemed to satisfy her, but she shook her head. “I don’t know what the Cup looks like or specifically what it does, just that he won’t try to open the gate until he has it.”
“Won’t open the gate without the Cup, or can’t?”
Flùranach tilted her head. “Can’t, I believe.” She narrowed her eyes as though trying to read Munro’s thoughts. Fortunately, her astral powers didn’t extend that far.
“Okay, thanks. That helps.” Munro had no idea what this information meant, but he recognised this was all he would wrangle out of her. If Ewain planned to be away for another couple of nights, Munro saw no point hanging around. “I should go. If I don’t head back soon, Leocort will probably send a search party.” He chuckled. “Unless you want me to stay and keep you company? I can come back after I check in if you want.”
Flùranach smiled. “No, I have work to do before Lord Ewain returns from the plains, but thank you.” She hesitated. “Would you tell Rory I’m sorry? I was angry when he left. I shouldn’t have said the things I did. Our relationship has always been difficult. He’s been hard on me, unforgiving of my mistakes. When I saw a way out, I…” Her voice trailed off and she didn’t finish the sentence.
“Of course,” Munro said. “You know, he does care about you, in spite of everything. He asked me to make sure you’re safe.”
“Thank you, my lord druid,” she said, addressing him formally for the first time since he arrived. Before he left, she kissed his cheek. “Goodbye.”
He had a sudden, irrational feeling something bad was going to happen, like he wouldn’t ever see her again. This kind of gut instinct had plagued him when he was a cop. With a sigh, he said, “Goodbye, Flùr. Take care of yourself.”
Chapter 11
Sheng’s hands jittered with excitement. After Munro returned from Danastai, he told Sheng and Aaron what he’d learned about the Cup of Cultus, which wasn’t much. They’d already guessed it was a druid artefact, but that the piece had been created by an ancient blood druid was interesting, if not helpful. What blood magic could have to do with Munro’s gate in Colorado, Sheng couldn’t guess.
Munro hadn’t learned where the Cup was, its purpose, or gotten a description. The keepers hadn’t offered much useful information about the sea fae either. They had, at least, given some suggestions about which runes Sheng should inscribe in their crowns to help them breathe underwater.
Munro used his talent with shaping metal to fashion bands of gold to wear around their temples, something like his crown, but more fitted. He said the iron of his crown took the runes better, but gold wouldn’t corrode in salt water. Then, with the keepers’ help and remembering what Ewain had taught him in Danastai, Sheng chose the runes and the configuration.
After a couple of tests in a stream down near Ceòthan, they’d decided they were ready to travel through the Mistgate again. Dressed in wetsuits they’d bought in London, Aaron and Sheng equipped underwater flashlights and strapped dive knives to their ankles before making their way to the garden.
They waited while Munro turned the dial and activated the gate, Sheng twitching with nervousness. He met Aaron’s gaze. “No more than an hour, right?”
“Yep,” Aaron said. They’d agreed to investigate the immediate area where the gate had formed, but no more before checking back in to reassure Munro their breathing crowns worked all right. If the first jaunt was successful, they’d return and venture a little further.
Sheng nodded sharply to Munro. “We’re off, then.”
“Good luck,” Munro said. “Be careful.”
Like he needed to tell them that. At least this time, they’d be prepared for the water.
Aaron gave Sheng a small bow, indicating the new druid should go first. Sheng liked that Aaron was giving him the lead on this project, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. With a deep breath for courage, Sheng stepped through the gate, bracing himself for the change in temperature and the resistance of the sea water.
He passed through without any problem, but the expected resistance wasn’t there. He’d planned to push away from the gate slightly this time, but when he reached back to do so, he fell onto a bed of kelp that squelched when he landed on it.
Aaron came through immediately afterwards. He saw Sheng on the ground, and staggered like a drunk, but managed to keep to his feet. “What the hell?” he said, looking around.
The place looked very little like the area where Sheng and Rory had first arrived, but after getting his bearings, Sheng recognised the place on the far wall where bioluminescent plants clung to cracks in the stone. The druids were in a domed chamber. Now that there was no water, he could see it couldn’t be a naturally occurring cave. Archways led in four directions, and beyond each was a wall of water.
“Guess someone knew we were here and anticipated our return,” Sheng said. He accepted Aaron’s outstretched hand and clambered to his feet.
“Look,�
� Aaron said, pointing to the ceiling. Through a hole in the dome above, the moon shone through the water. They weren’t as deep as Sheng had thought on his first journey.
The Mistgate glowed, casting light on their surroundings. Sheng walked to one of the arches. Outside, he saw many other domed pods. Some had glowing lights inside, others seemed dark. One, in the distance, was actually an enormous collection of these round pods of varying sizes. “It’s a city,” he said.
A school of small fish swam past, blocking his view for a moment. He was about to make a comment when a larger fish cut through the school, dividing it in half as the swarm of fish split in unison. “Did you see that huge fish?” Aaron asked, moving to the adjacent doorway to get a closer look.
“Holy…” Sheng pulled Aaron back. “That wasn’t a fish. Look.”
Approaching at fast speed was a group of larger creatures, following the first. They were headed straight for Aaron and Sheng’s chamber. The pair backed up.
“What should we do?” Sheng asked.
“Talk to them,” Aaron said. “They made this bubble for us, so we aren’t entirely unwelcome. This is what we came for.” Sheng nodded, and then Aaron added, “Keep your breathing crown on no matter what. If they can make the bubble, they can take it away just as easily.”
As the sea fae came closer, Sheng could make out their bodies in the moonlight. Their skin had a silvery tint, but for the most part, their upper bodies were human-like. Although he knew the sea fae lived underwater, he was surprised to see tails instead of legs. He understood why Aaron mistook them for fish on first glance. What had appeared from a distance to be hair turned out to be thin, membrane-like fins, curling through the water as the faeries swam.
But once they approached the druids’ pod, they moved in a way fish never would, turning themselves upright. Sheng watched in wonder as they began to change. Their muscular fins morphed before the two druids’ eyes, shifting into legs with webbed toes on the end.
Once they had transformed, one at a time, they broke through the water barrier and entered the druids’ pod. Each one spat up water with a weird retching noise. They did so casually, as though the transition didn’t bother them. Only then did Sheng notice the vertical gills on each faerie’s neck that flattened as they began to breathe through their mouths.
They had dark eyes set slightly too far apart and compressed noses, making them look quizzical and angry at the same time. Two males and three females stood in front of the druids, nude, their skin covered with shining silver scales reflecting a rainbow of blues and green. They stared at the druids.
“Do you understand English?” Aaron asked.
The one who’d led them in twisted her head in a peculiar flowing motion. She spat water on the floor again, clearing her lungs. “Yes,” she said. “Why do you venture below?”
At least she was direct, Sheng thought.
“We would like an audience with Queen Grenna,” Aaron said.
The leader turned her large eyes toward the Mistgate, which still glowed behind them. She clicked her tongue, making a chittering sound. The others responded with similarly peculiar noises. Were they talking? Laughing? Or just breathing?
“Queen Grenna does not speak with overlanders,” she said. Sheng wondered how often any of them went on land. Clearly, they knew how to breathe, so it mustn’t be completely foreign. Could they change their bodies even further, to look even more like the fae?
Trying not to stare at the leader’s silvery breasts, Sheng concentrated on looking her in the eye. “We are draoidh,” he said.
She twisted to meet his gaze. Her expression bordered on unfriendly, but perhaps smiling underwater wasn’t a good idea. “Juno told us you would return someday.”
The two druids exchanged a glance. “Are you blood fae?” Sheng asked. For some reason, he’d assumed they must have water talents or possibly air, but blood abilities were the only thing that might explain their extraordinary metamorphosis. Juno was the first blood druid. Could the sea fae have been her creatures?
She curled at the waist in what must have been a sort of bow. When she rose, she spoke. “We will guide you and breathe for you,” she said.
“No need,” Aaron told her. He stepped to one of the arches and passed through. Sheng found himself holding his breath as he watched. What if the crowns didn’t work? An air bubble formed around Aaron’s head, pinching inward where the crown met his skin. It wobbled as he moved in the water, wavering when he breathed in and out.
The leader watched intently as Aaron returned inside, his bare feet sinking into the kelp on the floor. She turned to Sheng, eyeing the gold band around his forehead. “Come, then.”
Without warning, the other four sea faeries went to Sheng and Aaron’s sides and gripped their arms, pulling them out into the water. Sheng had to focus to get his bubble up before his mouth filled with water. It took only an instant for the faeries to transform back into their fish-like forms. Before either of the druids could say a word, the faeries pumped their powerful tail fins and propelled them toward the city, away from the safety of the Mistgate.
∞
Lisle enjoyed the run through the Caledonian countryside from Canton Dreich to Eirlioc Falls. She’d longed to stop and visit Jago, but she couldn’t with Alyssa in tow. Such a diversion would look strange, and she needed to keep up the pretence of treating Alyssa almost like a prisoner.
Judging by Alyssa’s behaviour, the Mistwatcher didn’t believe her dismissal to be a pretence. Lisle assured her the druids would send for her sometime after the investigation was complete, but Alyssa remained stoic and withdrawn. It surprised Lisle that the girl hadn’t anticipated Munro’s rejection of her advances. Anyone could see how much he loved Eilidh. Like any couple, they had arguments, and both being in positions of power with different political aims made their arguments take on a larger scale than most. Still, they were bonded and they cared for each other deeply. Perhaps Alyssa couldn’t comprehend the human ideal of being faithful to one partner.
Lisle had little patience for Alyssa’s sulking, but she did understand the girl’s dread. As long as she kept up her side of the bargain and allowed Lisle to tap into her astral powers, Lisle would ignore the sullen mood.
Instead of running flat out to Eirlioc Falls, the pair took the journey at a loping pace. Lisle needed to practice touching Alyssa’s flows. Somewhere at about the halfway point, she ordered Alyssa to stop.
“Is something wrong, my lady druid?” Alyssa asked.
Able to move without pain in a way she hadn’t before coming to the Otherworld, still, she wasn’t accustomed to such a long jog. They’d been on the road for a couple of hours. “I need a short rest,” she said. Although that was true, Lisle revelled in her rejuvenated body. Even as a healthy young woman, she hadn’t run two hours straight in her life.
Alyssa nodded and stood at attention, waiting.
Lisle rolled her eyes. “Come rest on the grass with me,” she said, indicating a spot near some trees away from the road. “I don’t want you looming.”
Reluctantly, Alyssa obeyed. She sat cross-legged, and Lisle took a position across from her.
“Here,” Lisle said. “I want to practice touching your flows. Are you ready?”
Alyssa nodded. “You don’t have to ask permission every time. I’ve agreed to help.”
Taking up the small flute, Lisle exhaled through the tube. Colours danced as runes swirled around Alyssa, and Lisle began to delve. She touched Alyssa’s power, but the moment she did, the girl gasped. “Does that hurt?” Lisle asked. She hadn’t noticed the Mistwatcher’s discomfort when they’d been on the move.
“No, my lady druid, but your touch is…rough.”
Lisle grumbled. Munro made everything look so easy. Sorting through these ribbons of magic was like trying to untwine a spider’s web. The longer Lisle worked, the more Alyssa appeared to be completely composed of magical flows. Her skin turned to light and her blood runes sang. Within the Mistwatcher,
Lisle saw the tight bud of Alyssa’s potential to bond. The druid tentatively brushed the spot with her power.
Alyssa’s eyes widened and she sucked in her breath. “What are you doing?”
“Your bond,” Lisle said. “I spoke to Flùranach once of such things, and I have found the place exactly as she described.” The moment was a distraction from her purpose, but Lisle was entranced with what she’d accidentally discovered.
“My lady druid…” Alyssa’s demeanour changed, and she could no longer hold her stiff posture.
Lisle pulled back. “Curious,” she said. “We’ve been told we can bond with only a certain faerie, someone compatible. But I see the fertile ground of the magic within you, and I know how to plant the seed of my blood flows within.”
“You could bond with me?” Hope lit in her eyes.
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