The Forest of Aisling: Dream of the Shapeshifter (The Willow Series Book 1)

by D. S. Elstad

  Bram and I scrambled back towards the ridge and searched the body of water for any hint of either the serpent or Quinn. Bram focused his vision to zoom in around the island where we had seen Quinn moments earlier, but didn’t locate him there.

  “Quinn, where are you?” I shot through my mindspeak but didn’t receive an answer.

  Bram took hold of my arm and pointed to the north side of the lake. Quinn had jumped into the sky and was diving back into the water. Not twenty feet from where he was landing, we could see the twisting tail of the serpent rising above the surface of the white-capped waves.

  Panic shot through me as I watched the serpent make its way towards Quinn. This thing was so massive I wasn’t sure if Quinn would be able to handle it alone.

  “I’m going out there,” Bram snarled as he positioned himself for the shift.

  I grabbed his arm. “What can you do, you’re like a fly compared to that thing!”

  “I don’t know, but I can’t just stand here and watch!” Bram shifted quickly and spread his wings and took flight. He was over the area of the serpent within seconds.

  Luckily the storm had subsided somewhat and it was only raining now. Obviously the energy from it had fed the growth of the creature.

  “What do you see, Bram?” I asked nervously.

  “This thing is incredible! It must be five city buses long,” he reported. “I see Quinn as well. He’s about half the size. The serpent is closing in on him.”

  I tried to channel my hearing to the surface of the lake in hopes of picking up something, anything, that might help Quinn. The only sound I could detect was the movement of the water. I remained standing along the ridge, eyes focused on the eagle flying above the serpent, when my ears honed in on the strange whispering sound I had heard earlier when Quinn and I were making our way to the lake. The sound came from behind me; I spun around and channeled my hearing back into what was left of the forest. A strange sense came over me so I immediately shifted. I let my auditory sense travel into the depths but lost track of the noise.

  “Quinn hit it twice!” roared Bram. “He made it coil back!”

  I ran to the shore and saw the monster retreating, pulling itself away from the strikes. Quinn dove above the surface and splashed down alongside it. He threw his body against the creature. A roar shot through the night as the serpent lowered itself into the lake. Quinn circled the area where it had just been, when in a flash, the monster rose straight up and latched onto Quinn with its tentacles. It lifted Quinn out of the water and screeched as it held him high. With unimaginable force it slammed him back into the surface of the lake with a sickening crack that sounded like bones breaking.

  A painful bellow came from Quinn as he disappeared below the surface. The serpent rose and then plunged into the depths with so much speed it created another tidal wave.

  “God, I’m afraid he’s really hurt,” Bram screamed. “See if he’ll answer you.”

  “Quinn, Quinn, p…please be ok!” I stuttered, trying to connect the three of us as I had done at Aaron’s house.

  There was no response for a full minute; then, finally, the muffled sound of Quinn’s voice came through.

  “I’m ok.” His voice sounded weak.

  “Mate, try and seek some shelter. Don’t fight that thing on the surface. It’s too bloody big. You must use your sonar,” Bram screamed in desperation.

  “Right, I will…” Quinn answered before the static wiped out the connection.

  Swirling clouds began forming overhead until the sky became white, with a sulphur smell to the air. The rain stopped and the wind grew still. The silence felt eerie after the tumultuousness of the storm.

  I looked all around and felt threatened by the inexplicable calm. Looking to the lake I saw Bram land on a tree on the small island. There was no sign of Quinn or the serpent.

  “This is weird,” I channeled to Bram.

  “I know. Why did everything get so calm?” His voice echoed the very thought in my head.

  I once again stared out over the ridge and let my hearing swoop the forest. The whispering sound was barely detectable but grew in volume as my auditory sense neared the area of the sidhe. My eyes narrowed and in the distance I could make out a faint glow near the horizon. I looked back over my shoulder and saw that the water was still…no sign of Quinn or the serpent.

  “Bram, something is going on over by the sidhe,” I related, keeping my eyes on the isolated glow.

  In a flash he was perched on the ridge by my side.

  “Eh, that can’t be good,” he warned. “I’ll check it out.”

  I watched as he took off in the direction of the sidhe. The sulphur smell was overpowering now and made me cough. I felt like I was at a tennis match as I switched my focus from sidhe to lake and back again. An unnatural quiet had encompassed the entire area. It made me wonder just how far these weather disturbances could be traced, so I channeled my hearing to Dublin. I was hoping that I’d hear normal city activity and not the uncanny silence that had settled here.

  At first I thought I was hearing voices; then with a tilt of my head, I made a clearer connection. I was making out voices, all right, voices in distress. Single words became impossible to discern in the chaos of sound. Cries and panic rippled in and out. My heart sank at the thought of what might be causing the grief in those people. I withdrew my hearing and shook my head. I had no idea how far the attack had spread but I knew it was definitely way beyond the area of Killarney.

  I looked back to the sidhe. The glow was expanding and moving up and out from itself. I shivered at the thought of what it may be a precursor to. I looked back to the lake and saw Quinn leap into the air and then crash into the surface of the water. I watched, waiting for the serpent to appear. Quinn leaped out once again and this time, right behind him, the serpent lifted its head. It yelled out in pain and when it turned its head, I saw why. Two of the eyes on its left side were gone. Hollow spaces oozing blood were all that remained.

  Yessss, I thought, Way to go Quinn! Excitement raced through my veins at the thought of Quinn defeating the monster.

  I rushed back to the shore and watched as Quinn resurfaced yet again and plunged into the depths. It was as though he was trying to get the serpent to follow him. He must have something planned, I realized as he led the creature further out into the water. The surprising thing was that the monster kept following him.

  Quinn soared up into the air again and this time did a series of flips before he crashed into the waves. The serpent was hot on his trail and lifted itself high into the sky. It threw its hideous head back and bellowed with such force it created an onslaught of waves that came crashing at my feet. It lunged its head back into the water and pulled up again, this time with Quinn firmly planted in its mouth.

  I panicked and let out an involuntary howl. I heard a tortured sound coming from Quinn and felt the most helpless I’d ever had in my entire life. I jumped into the lake and began to swim towards the serpent.

  “Willow! Stop!” Bram screamed, directly above my head.

  I hesitated and felt myself begin to sink. “Get back to shore!” he wailed. “Now!”

  I began paddling again and rose to the surface, then headed back to shore. I stepped on land and shook myself furiously, releasing the lake water from my coat.

  Bram had shifted and was his human self, standing in front of me. “Come over here,” he ordered.

  I followed him to the base of the ridge, then shifted human and stood there fighting back the tears. I was so afraid to look towards the lake.

  “Willow, he’s ok,” Bram said as he put his arm around me. “Look, he’s still fighting. Don’t write him off so soon. He’s a tough kid!” He pointed towards the lake; there, jumping from wave to wave, was Quinn.

  “Besides, we’ve got bigger worries, right here,” he motioned his head to the ridge directly behind us. “They’re coming, hundreds of them. The goat things you told me about as well as more birds and lizard creatures. Th
ey’re popping out of the sidhe like it’s some kind of a monster maker.”

  He stepped up to the ridge and reached his hand out to me. I took hold and held my breath. The glow had more than doubled now and I was able to make out the hideous shapes in the distance. They were whispering; they were the ones making the sounds I had heard.

  “I flew over the sidhe and they are literally rising from the mouth of it. I think they’re gaining strength from that thing.” Bram nodded his head towards the serpent as it closed in on Quinn.

  We watched Quinn leap into the air and pummel the monster in its midsection with his head. The serpent lowered and once again Quinn shot out of the water, spun in circles, and plunged into the depths. Huge geyser-like splashes kept dancing on the surface. A tremendous battle was being waged under water but we were unable to make out what, exactly, was happening.

  Bram tried to search the area visually but couldn’t focus on anything other than the turbulent waves. Our eyes were fixed on the middle of the lake in worried anticipation of what might be next. As we stared we suddenly became aware of a stillness taking over the surface of the water.

  Bram focused his vision in the sidhe and reported that, for some reason, the creatures had stopped moving, as though they’d been frozen. When I looked to the area I noticed the glow had diminished significantly. I channeled my hearing and could no longer make out the whispering sounds that had just been there. I nodded at Bram.

  “Something has happened, something good, right?”

  “Let’s hope so. Weird how they’re just standing there.” Bram narrowed his eyes as he scoped out the sidhe. “I don’t see any more coming out the opening either.”

  I looked back over to the lake. The water remained calm for the most part, but there in the middle I could make out a few air bubbles rising to the surface. I tugged on Bram’s arm and pointed to the lake. As we watched, more bubbles began to appear until the area resembled some kind of a spa, complete with jets.

  We made our way back to the lake shore when a huge spray of water shot out of the middle of the bubbles, in the center of which was the gruesome head of the serpent. Its eyes were dislocated from their sockets and dangling like some kind of bizarre costume jewelry. It crashed back to the surface of the water and raced towards us like a speedboat. We both turned and sprinted up towards the ridge in an effort to avoid attack from the monstrous creature.

  When we turned back around we could see the dark gray dorsal fin of the pilot whale dancing just above the surface of the water. Directly in front of the fin was the dreadful head of the serpent being propelled to shore. The head slammed up on the beach and embedded itself into the sand. The rest of the monstrous body was unattached and nowhere to be found.

  The dorsal fin lifted high into the air carrying with it the brave pilot whale. Quinn flipped multiple times and made a laughing sound before descending back into the water.

  Bram and I moved closer to the head and gagged at the stench emitted by its body, much like rotting fish. We covered our noses and mouth. Bram stepped right up to its eyes and kicked at it. The head began growing transparent, lifted, and morphed, just like all the other creatures had done before they disappeared. In a flash, it was gone. Just as it vanished, Quinn treaded water, then made his way next to Bram. He was back to his human self and, aside from a few surface cuts and scratches, looked surprisingly well.

  Bram grabbed hold of his friend and hugged him fiercely. The two held onto each other’s shoulders, then Bram patted Quinn vigorously on the back and nodded. “Amazing job, mate,” he praised, “just amazing.”

  I grabbed Quinn and held him tight, fighting back the tears that were welling up. I was beyond relieved to have him back. I looked into his emerald green eyes and kissed his cheek.

  “Ah, c’mon, Willow, don’t go getting all mushy on me now, eh?” He chuckled as he leaned his forehead into mine. His skin was cool and damp and smelled of the sea.

  While we stood there welcoming back our friend I could feel the weather changing again. Our celebration was going to be short lived. I looked to the skies and saw the clouds swirling and changing from the white color to a dark gray. The glow from the moon highlighted that same area in the middle of the lake.

  Bram raced to the ridge to check the sidhe. I explained to Quinn what Bram had seen in it. He joined Bram on the ridge as I watched the changing weather from the shore.

  “It’s still the same, they’re not moving,” Bram yelled down.

  I was beginning to fear the worst. The clouds were lowering. From where I stood it looked as though they were sitting on the surface of the lake. The moon reappeared, reflecting its yellowish glow off the water. Peals of distant thunder echoed throughout the area until multiple claps made it hard to discern one from the other. More and more booms sounded, and with them, flashes of lightning illuminated the swirling clouds. I raced up to Quinn and Bram.

  “You better get to the Causeway, Quinn,” I advised. “Something is coming.” I grabbed his hand and led him back to the water.

  Bram was already in the throes of shifting. Once he had changed he let out a cry and nodded his head at Quinn. In an instant he was soaring through the air in the direction of the sidhe.

  “Just when I got dry,” Quinn joked, stepping into the frigid water. I held onto his hand until he let my fingers drop.

  “You know how to get there. Bram and I will join you after we take care of the sidhe. We’ve got to close it up somehow to keep those things from returning to the surface.” A look of worry crossed Quinn’s face.

  “Hey, after what you just did, they should be afraid of us, right?” I snickered, hoping to remind Quinn of his strength.

  He smiled and looked to the water. “Yes, they should. I am one bad-ass pilot whale.” His eyes returned to mine as he grinned, smoothing back his hair.

  With a quick dive he was submerged, and within seconds he had shifted and was riding the waves. He looked back at me and laughed his whale laugh before jumping back into the water and swimming off. I watched his tail fin disappear into the distance as the lightning flashed directly above me.

  Chapter Thirty

  The storms had returned with a vengeance, setting off lightning strikes that ravaged the forest and ignited fires in their wake. The rain, ironically, did nothing but fuel the flames.

  In my mindspeak, Bram informed me that the creatures of the sidhe were moving once again. The death of the serpent had incapacitated them temporarily but the return of the lightning storms was stimulating them back into action.

  From his vantage point in the trees overhead, he determined that they were building an immense army. For some reason the Bird Women were not flying and the Goatmen along with the Lizardmen were moving very slowly. It seemed as though they were generating energy from the lightning. We had to attack them and seal the opening of the sidhe before they acquired all their powers.

  I’d shifted into my larger wolf self and kept watch on the storm building above the lake. Something definitely was stirring there and I feared for Quinn. I decided I’d better contact Aaron and let him know what was happening. When I finally channeled my mindspeak to him I was happy to hear that the storm in town had subsided. Aaron actually was able to leave the safe room and survey the area. The damage was tremendous and from what Aaron picked up by listening to his radio, freak, unseasonable storms were being blamed.

  He’d been able to decipher more of the ancient documents and felt confident that given a little extra time, he’d have all the answers we needed. Only that was the one thing I wasn’t sure we had much of…time.

  He asked about Bram and Quinn and was relieved that Quinn was learning to master his ability. He agreed with Bram and me that the Fomorians were drawing on the electrical storms to build strength – and their army.

  “The opening of the sidhe is the key. They’re coming out of there. Bram calls it a monster maker,” I said, keeping careful watch on the lake.

  “I agree. You’ll need to seal the
opening or else they’ll just keep pouring out more of the creatures as they recharge. It’s like a vicious circle. The storms create the energy needed to build the army and the army must be adding to the energy source through their destruction. It must be stopped. The sidhe must be closed.”

  A thought crossed my mind, one that hadn’t occurred to me before. “Aaron, how did the sidhe get opened in the first place?”

  Aaron didn’t respond right away. I’d thought I had lost connection with him when, finally, I could hear his muffled voice. “The sidhe is always susceptible to opening with the change of guardianship. I suspect that the gap left in the Triquetra with Lucy Mallory’s departure was enough to allow the Fomorians to create a small opening.”

  After that he faded out. I began to grow impatient, so I made up my mind to head to the sidhe to try and figure out what we needed to do to seal the opening.

  I stood and shook the rainwater from my coat and looked to the sky. Snow was now falling with a drastic drop in temperature that sent me running towards Bram and the sidhe. As I drew near I again heard the eerie whispering of the monsters. I stayed crouched behind a boulder and looked to the treetops in search of Bram. I could make out his silhouette in the cover of the pines.

  “Bram,” I began, “I’m here. What do you think we should do?” I stared directly at his shape.

  He moved his head a little, then spotted me below.

  “They’re waking up. They’re definitely gaining more power from the lightning. You go for the Goatmen and I’ll take the birds and lizards.”

  “How many do you think there are?” I asked, not really wanting to know.

  “Many,” was his answer, just before he dove down into the mass of Fomorians.

  I watched him glide into the area and heard his screech as he attacked. The Fomorians were caught by surprise. They just stood there and let him pick off three of them before they even reacted. I leaped into the mix and was surprised how quickly our plan had changed. I wasn’t just going for the Goatmen and he wasn’t just going for the birds and lizards. We were tearing into whatever came across our path. I backed myself up to Bram in hopes of protecting his back as well as mine. That worked well at first. We took out countless numbers of the stupefied creatures without so much as breaking a sweat.