Cade shook his head. “Even if I lose my life here, another will come who will stop you—one who fears you no more than I.”
Arawn smiled, his expression gentle. “But you do fear death, Cadwaladr. All humans do. The cauldron might close, you may prevent me from releasing my demons, but me,” Arawn shook his head, “me you will never stop.”
“I must try,” Cade said.
“Yes.” Arawn heaved a huge sigh. “I suppose that is true. My friends, Cadwaladr is determined to sacrifice you.” Arawn gestured to Cade’s companions, prompting Cade to glance at Rhiann who stood on the far side of the unmoving Rhun. She’d clenched her fist around her bow which she held upright in front of her, and she had an arrow pressed into it. The others had their swords in their hands.
“We might as well get it over with,” Arawn continued. “I thought at least you’d bring one of your lesser gods, or perhaps that magician there, to be your champion.” Arawn pointed his finger at Taliesin, and with a sharp crack, his staff lay splintered at his feet.
“You can do this, Cadwaladr,” Taliesin said from behind him. “You don’t need me anymore: Cadwaladr will come from concealment; he will bring with him blood, battle, and strife. Far his armies will ride, a triumph to the Cymry.”
Cade stepped onto the narrow bridge that separated him from Arawn. As he paced along it, the others slowly circled the walls. Dafydd grunted as he navigated around an obstructing rock that hindered his passage. Arawn watched them, still an amused expression on his face, and then waved a hand. In a flash, a dozen demons leapt from the cauldron, landing in a crouch in the space in front of it. Each then prepared itself for another leap and sprang across the chasm to land on the ledge that hugged the wall.
Cade raised his voice so that it echoed throughout the cavern. “Are you afraid to fight me without the help of your minions? Are you as cowardly as that?”
Deeming that the time was right, he drew Caledfwlch. It lit like a torch in his hand and the sidhe power surged within Cade, feeding the brilliant white light than shone through it instead of him.
At the sight of the sword, Arawn held out both hands from his body and the demons stopped. It was as if he was a puppeteer to them, which perhaps he was. “So you carry Caledfwlch and it allows you to wield it. Mabon warned me you’d taken it. You are correct that it is the only sword that can harm me. But I think you have not reckoned on this.” Arawn reached down to his side to the hilt of his sword and drew out the brand. As he held it up, orange fire lit the length of the blade.
Cade took a step backwards, unable to help his reaction. What man didn’t know of Dyrnwyn, the sword of the white hilt? It could be drawn only by a worthy man, and a lesser one would find himself burned by it. That Arawn carried it was daunting to say the least, and Cade hoped that Arawn could carry it because he was a god, not because his cause was just.
Arawn smiled again. Drawing himself up, he seemed to grow taller, his shadow reflecting all the way to the cavern’s ceiling. “You think you can close the cauldron?”
“Yes,” Cade said.
He threw himself forward, heedless of the narrowness of the walkway. In two strides, he was close enough to strike at Arawn and brought Caledfwlch down upon Dyrnwyn. The weapons met with a sharp clang, white merging with orange as they clashed. Encouraged, deciding that the fire was merely an illusion meant to frighten, Cade pressed Arawn again. They fought around the cauldron and across the great rock that supported it, first Arawn giving way and then Cade.
“You’re quite strong, for a human,” Arawn said.
“You’re not as strong as I expected, for so powerful a god.” Cade brought Caledfwlch down hard with a sharp crack near the hilt of Arawn’s sword.
Arawn sneered, although a hint of concern showed in his eyes—far more than when he’d laughed at Cade earlier. Emboldened, Cade ducked under Arawn’s next swing and made a stab for his midsection. At the last instant, Arawn twisted out of the way, moving so fast even Cade nearly missed it. Arawn’s abilities, other than the flaming sword, were much like Cade’s.
With that thought, that sudden knowledge, everything that had happened to Cade over the last two years fell into place. He now knew all he needed to know about Arianrhod’s intentions and why she’d made him. This fight—this chance to stop Arawn—was the reason she’d called him forth to be her champion. Sure now that victory was possible, else Arianrhod would not have created him at all, Cade fought on. He and Arawn with their blazing swords drove back and forth across the platter of stone, first one gaining an advantage and then the other.
“Look to your footing, Cadwaladr,” Taliesin said from somewhere near the cavern entrance.
As if spurred on by Taliesin’s call, Arawn began to fight with a flurry of strokes. Cade parried his blows, but the power of Arawn’s assault forced him backwards towards the edge of the platter and away from the cauldron. Fire shot from Dyrnwyn, throwing sparks to the ceiling of the cavern, which then cascaded all around him and his companions. Although he tried not to allow them to distract him, it was hard to concentrate solely on Arawn and his constantly moving sword. Cade tightened his grip on Caledfwlch, knowing that he might not be afraid of dying himself, but he was very afraid for his friends.
“You have much to lose,” Arawn said.
“Do I?” Cade countered another blow, terrified that Arawn really could read his mind and it wasn’t just a lucky guess.
“The price to defeat me may be more than you’re willing to pay.”
Cade took a step back, feeling for his footing as Taliesin had warned. For a fleeting moment, his boot wavered on the uneven surface and with that instant of weakness, Arawn pounced. Bringing his sword under Cade’s guard, he shoved it through the left side of Cade’s belly. Cade heard someone scream and hoped it wasn’t him.
Rhiann.
Cade’s throat filled with blood and he couldn’t speak to reassure her that he was fine. He grunted and fell to his knees. Arawn released Dyrnwyn’s hilt and stepped back while Cade swayed and leaned forward. A cascade of fire like molten metal poured through him, filling him with an intensity of pain he never could have imagined feeling. Cade dropped Caledfwlch and scrabbled at Dyrnwyn’s hilt with both hands, trying to pull it from him.
“No!” That was Dafydd. He ran along the walkway that led from the rear of the cavern to the cauldron, slashing at two demons as he did so. He skidded to a halt in front of Cade while Arawn took several more steps backwards, laughing, deigning to give the boy room.
“My lord!” Tears streamed down Dafydd’s face. “What can I do?”
“Pull the sword from me,” Cade said.
“I am not worthy, my lord,” Dafydd said. “It will not let me.”
“Do it,” Cade said. “I say you are worthy of it. Don’t you dare fail me.”
His jaw set, the mental effort involved in reaching out his hand to Cade etching lines in his face, Dafydd grasped the hilt of Arawn’s sword. With a mighty heave, Dafydd drew the sword from Cade’s belly, staggered back, and dropped the sword to the stones. He held his hands out, palms upward. They remained unmarked. A moment later, Goronwy and Hywel reached Dafydd.
“Cade—” Goronwy stared at him as he took Dafydd by the shoulders and pulled him away—always the big brother, trying to keep his younger brother safe. Arawn, meanwhile, stood unmoving, gaping at Cade with one arm outstretched as if still trying to hold him off, although they were a dozen paces apart.
At first Cade thought Goronwy and Arawn were reacting to the amount of blood that had poured from his body. Then he noted Caledfwlch on the ground in front of him. And he knew. Its loss, coupled with his utter lack of control in this moment of extreme duress, had released the power within him. Light shot from every pore, unchecked, illumining him with the same grace that encircled both Mabon and Arawn—and Arianrhod when he’d seen her.
“It’s all right.” Cade tried to reassure his friends. His left hand in his wound, staunching the flow of blood that had already stop
ped, he reached for Caledfwlch. Cade grasped the handle, grateful for the rush of calm it brought him, and used the sword to lever himself to his feet. Cade’s power flooded from him into it, and the blade shone in his hand, a true counter to the flames of Dyrnwyn that Arawn had tried to use against him.
Arawn still hadn’t moved and because he hadn’t, Cade leaned down and picked up Dyrnwyn with his blood covered left hand. The sword stung his palm for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to accept its new master, but as Cade gripped it tighter, the sensation faded. Cade straightened and looked at Arawn. The god gazed back, his face drawn and so white he was nearly translucent. He pointed his finger at Cade.
“You are sidhe!” he said.
“Indeed I am,” Cade said.
“It’s not possible!”
“Isn’t it?”
Resignation crossed Arawn’s face, replacing shock, and with a push of his arm, he shot an arrow of light at Cade. Instead of dodging it, Cade blocked it with Dyrnwyn and it ricocheted off the blade, reflecting the light towards the wall of the cavern. The burst of energy hit just above a demon’s head and the rock shattered, sending fragments exploding outward.
“Try that again and I’ll bring the whole place down on you.” Cade took a step toward Arawn which the god countered by stepping backwards to match him. For the first time, the cauldron loomed behind Arawn. Cade turned all of his attention towards getting him into it. Below the ledge, Gwyn’s frightened face stared up at Cade, his brown eyes wide. Even Rhun was on his feet again not far away, riveted by what was happening between Cade and Arawn.
Arawn held out both hands now and sent a second force of light towards Cade. This time, Cade crossed both swords and felt the power move over and around him. A demon shriek came from behind him.
“You’re one of my people.” Arawn took another step away from Cade. “Why are you doing this?”
“I am not one of you,” Cade said. “You use your power to create chaos; for no other reason than because you can. You seek to please your amoral child and his evil friends.” Cade gestured with Dyrnwyn towards Teregad, who stood frozen on the edge of the plateau without even a sword.
“I can offer you anything you want,” Arawn said.
Cade shook his head. One more step and he would be able to send Caledfwlch through Arawn. “There is nothing you have that I need.”
A crafty look appeared on Arawn’s face. “If you’re sidhe, and yet still human, then you are without your soul. That, at least, I can give back to you.” He indicated a chest set underneath his throne. “I’m sure I could find it in there, somewhere.”
Cade hesitated and a grin spread across Arawn’s face.
“And what would you ask in return?” Cade said.
“That you leave this place.”
Cade swallowed hard. “You’d just let me go? I could turn around and walk out of here with my companions and everything could go back to the way it was except I’d have my soul back?”
“Yes,” Arawn said, “Along with all the earthly power you desire. I offer you that.”
“Your son already did and I turned him down,” Cade said. “What makes you think I’ll take your offer now?”
“Because I hold your woman hostage.” Arawn gestured behind him. Mabon stepped out from behind a boulder, Rhiann in front of him, a knife to her throat. Cade and she stared at each other across the cavern. Her chin was up because the knife was pressed against her skin, but she wouldn’t have been one to lower it anyway.
“Is that what we want, Rhiann?” Cade kept his voice even, despite the fear for her that clogged his throat.
“I love you, Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon,” she said.
“That’s all I need to know.” Cade dropped Dyrnwyn.
Arawn grinned and stepped towards Cade his arms spread wide as if to embrace him. Focusing not on Arawn’s eyes but on his chest, Cade took one step forward and shoved Caledfwlch through Arawn’s heart. Arawn’s eyes bugged out, stunned, and then he began a high keening wail that shook the cavern. At that same instant, Rhiann slumped out of Mabon’s arms as if in a faint. Mabon reached for her but Rhun whipped his knife across the cavern and caught Mabon in the throat.
Cade pulled Caledfwlch from Arawn’s body, picked him up, and threw him into the cauldron.
Arawn’s wail continued throughout his long descent to Annwn. Anxious to leave as quickly as possible, now that their task looked done, Cade turned to swing Caledfwlch at the chain that held Gwyn to the cauldron. The link split with one blow and Gwyn staggered forward onto his hands and knees.
“We need to get out of here, now!” Cade reached down to haul Gwyn up, onto the platform on which the cauldron rested.
Gwyn struggled to his feet and straightened. “I can’t.” Despite everything he’d seen and endured, his voice calm and matter-of-fact.
“What do you mean, you can’t?” Cade looked Gwyn up and down. Although his clothes were torn, his body was completely undamaged by his incarceration, with neither cuts nor bruises.
“I’ve worn the blue chain,” he said. “Whether or not you release me from it, I am tied forever to the cauldron.”
Cade gaped at him. “What?”
“You’ve given everything in service to your people,” Gwyn said. “Will you begrudge me anything less?” Again, Gwyn met Cade’s eyes, and Cade saw something there—something he recognized as acceptance of his fate. Cade, of all people, could appreciate the courage that took.
“Stay here, then,” Cade said. “You must ensure that Arawn never rises from the cauldron again. You are the Guardian of the Underworld now.”
Then, without even bothering with the walkways, Cade coiled his body and leapt across the pit that separated him from Rhiann. She’d not fainted, of course, but had taken advantage of Mabon’s inattention to twist away from him. Now, it was Mabon who lay on his back in the crevice from which he’d appeared, Rhun’s knife upright in his throat. He looked dead and Cade wondered if it was really possible for Mabon to die, any more than his father could.
Teregad had run to Mabon after Rhun had thrown the knife but when he saw Cade coming, he retreated into the crevice behind Mabon. Siawn was already on him, racing past Cade to follow his brother. Cade was glad to put thoughts of Teregad aside because he didn’t have enough interest in him to chase him anymore.
Instead, he wrapped his arms around Rhiann. “Are you sorry I turned down Arawn’s offer?”
“No,” she said. “You defeated him because of what you are. I know that.”
“I was hoping you understood what I was going to do.”
“You did exactly right,” Rhiann said. “You needed to make the choice you did.”
“I do believe Arawn would have kept his bargain, though,” Cade said.
“What are you saying?” Rhiann said. “He would have given you earthly power? You hardly need him for that.”
“No,” Cade said. “He’d have given me back my soul.”
“Cade.” Rhiann stroked a stray hair off his forehead and resting her hand against his cheek. “He wasn’t going to give you your soul back.”
“You think he lied?” Cade said.
“No,” Rhiann said. “I think you never lost it.”
Just then, Arawn’s wail ceased, the sudden silence weighing heavily on the air and hanging in the cavern for a several heartbeats, like an invisible fog. Then a drumming sound began, coming from deep beneath the stones. Cade swung around, seeing Rhun on his feet across the cavern. Goronwy had his arm around Dafydd’s shoulders, and Hywel and Taliesin stood side by side, each with a piece of Taliesin’s staff in his hand. A rushing wind swirled around them and as Cade spun to look back at the cauldron, it released a flash of light that blinded him. He pressed Rhiann’s face into his chest and tried to cover his eyes with his free hand.
His ears exploded with a sound of a thousand drums. And then all was quiet.
* * * * *
Cade opened his eyes. Above him, the moon lit up the night and the sky w
as free of even one cloud to block the diamond brilliance of the stars. He stared upwards for ten of Rhiann’s heartbeats before he realized that Rhiann was with him. Her head rested on his belly, just above the wound that he could no longer feel. She was asleep and breathing easily.
Cade pushed up onto one elbow to survey the area around him. They lay in a normal camp, with a central fire that burned brightly, newly stoked with logs. All about the fire sprawled his companions from the cavern, still asleep as Rhiann was. A slight mist hovered above the grass, making him think morning was not far off.
Something moved across the meadow, past the fire and his sleeping friends. He gently eased Rhiann off of him and onto the blanket. Thinking of the demons who’d left Caer Dathyl and still hadn’t been caught, Cade got to his feet. Just as he straightened, a woman appeared, coalescing out of the mist. She came to stand on the edge of the ring of light thrown out by the fire. At the sight of her, Cade froze.
Arianrhod. The triple goddess. Unwilling consort to Arawn. Mother of Mabon. Cade opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out.
Instead, Arianrhod held out her hands to him and smiled, her eyes lit with pleasure and joy. “Thank you.” The words seemed to come from all around Cade, everywhere at once. “You have done far better than I ever could have expected or even hoped. Thank you for doing what I could not.”
Cade cleared his throat. “You’re welcome.”
“You have banished Arawn,” she said. “You have closed the cauldron. You have given me peace.”
“I—” Cade began.
“I know you did not do it for me,” Arianrhod said, not giving him a chance to speak. “I know you have cursed me since I changed you in that cave. I do not ask for your understanding, or for your forgiveness. I ask only that you accept a small token of my thanks.”
Cade bowed, unsure of what she meant, but finding that his anger and questions had evaporated in her presence. “I’m sorry about your son.”
She smiled. “He too is at peace and has been returned to me.”
Song of the Pendragon (The Last Pendragon Saga Book 3) Page 10