Then from behind one of the stones, Trow appeared, and he beamed broadly at Alainn.
By this time no one was entirely surprised when the four druid dragons Alainn had freed from a mystical cave where they had spent many millennia came each from a different direction to land not far from where Alainn and Killian stood. The earth dragon placed his head toward the ground and butted her gently in greeting, the water dragon opened and closed her expressive eyes and the air dragon enfolded her graceful wings and nodded to Alainn in acknowledgement.
“What trouble have you managed to get yourself in this day, young witch?” The red fire dragon questioned in his deep gravelly voice as smoke wisped from his nostrils.
It was Dagda who replied. “The young magical witch regrettably has the misfortune of an evil being growing within her, the likes we have never sensed before. It is fated to cause much destruction in the human world and the devastation will be felt even in all your magical realms should it be born and grow to be a man. The combined powers of the gods have been employed in attempt to rid her of this evil, but it cannot be accomplished, therefore it has been voted upon and her life must be ended.”
The four dragons looked at each other contemplatively and although they did not speak a word it was clear they were communicating just the same.
“We were not included in the vote,” the fire dragon declared.
“It was a decision only to be made by the gods,” Dagda exclaimed.
“And was it the gods who decided that as well?” the fire dragon purposely sent thick black smoke through his nostrils toward the god, and Dagda coughed loudly.
“By your own admission either the evil being’s birth, or the death of this witch will affect all magical creatures in many, many realms?” It was the wise air dragon in her soft gentle tone who spoke to Dagda.
“That is the truth.” The god replied.
“Therefore all magical creatures should be summoned so that we might vote and discover a less drastic solution.” The beautiful dragon spoke again.
“That would be an impossible consideration to gather all magical creatures together in one location, one never dared to be considered much less accomplished.” Cythrawl scoffed and many of the gods agreed.
The fire dragon lifted his head and sent out a burst of fire toward the exasperating god and he jumped clear of the flames. The fire dragon then let out one long sharp expletive signal to all those with magical abilities.
Alainn and Killian glanced above them and found the entire sky was almost immediately filled with many more dragons of various description and sizes, fairies, winged horses, unicorns and innumerable flying creatures that Alainn and even some of the gods had never seen before. The entire realm was inundated with the sound of flapping wings. They each found a positon upon the ground or in the trees surrounding the area.
Soon afterwards, Dardangranov bellowed loudly and the rocky ground shook with the number of enormous giants who responded to his call.
The sound of waves lapping upon the nearby shore grew louder and when they looked beyond the stones, a large sea had magically formed and within it were hundreds of mer-people led by Kenisha and Coventina and their father. The twin mermaids smiled widely at Alainn as they sat upon the rocks. Coventina was the mermaid Alainn had rescued from the clutches the Celtic god of the sea after he’d held her prisoner for years. Soon the kelpies she had freed from the god surfaced as well and splashed playfully at spotting Alainn. Water sprites and aquatic fairies soon gathered as well, along with creatures Alainn had never looked upon before.
The hellhounds began baying noisily again and soon dozens of packs joined them.
“I thought there were only thirteen.” Killian observed as he whispered to Alainn.
“Thirteen in each pack,” she corrected.
Soon dwarves, elves, sprites, nymphs, and any number of creatures, some never seen by humans and seldom gods, poured steadily over the stones and across the glens. Even the gods were undeniably taken aback by the vast array of magical beings arriving in their realm.
When the small trow standing by Alainn, repeatedly slapped his long pointed shoe against the ground, an immeasurable amount of trows arrived through a crevice in the ground. One female trow beamed up at Trow and soon at least a hundred even tinier trows followed her to stand beside their father, Trow. Alainn looked on in disbelief and Trow whispered to her.
“We tend to multiply rather rapidly, much like rabbits in the human realm.” He grinned.
“I can well see that,” she replied with a smile.
“Now that you have competently summoned the magical creatures from surely a thousand realms, still I fail to see how it will work to the advantage of this young witch and her paradoxical dilemma,” Dagda observed.
“Now that all magical creatures are gathered we will vote again,” The fire dragon spoke in an authoritative tone and he blew a small stream of fire at Dagda to ensure his point was taken.
“Will we simply allow Alainn’s life to be ended as the gods have callously decided?” The dragon sarcastically asked in a thunderous voice so that all present could hear.
There was a resounding chorus of negative responses at that suggestion.
“Or will we do whatever is required to combine our many powers and to see to it Alainn is rid of the evil within her and that she is allowed to live?”
The exuberant cheers and shouts of ovation were nearly deafening.
“The gods have attempted it, as I have said.” Dagda calmly claimed after the noisy adulation had died down.
“And you believe the gods’ powers to be greater than all the mingled magical creatures of so many realms?” the dragon said with disdain.
Dardangranov laughed heartily at this, soon the other giants joined him in booming laughter and the ground shook once more, so that anyone standing near the giants had to hold tight to something to ensure they weren’t knocked to the ground.
“What can be done?” Killian stared at the fire dragon for he seemed to be who the others were looking to as a leader.
“We will find a way,” he said and he closed his eyes tightly and appeared deep in thought.
Alainn was startled to see the wizard and his son, whom they had recently united, suddenly appear before them in a mysterious magical mist.
“I apologize if we are a bit tardy in arriving. Our journey was long this day for we needed to retrieve others who might assist us.”
Alainn gasped when Teige O’Rorke and Kieran O’Brien appeared and they, too, both were clearly stunned to be there.
“Alainn?” Teige spoke.
Killian stared at his father and he at him. Kieran’s mouth hung open and then he rushed toward his son recognizing him though a dozen years had passed, and the last time he’d seen Killian he was only a boy. They smiled at each other in disbelief.
“How can this be, Killian? I saw you dead. I was heartsick for I witnessed you and your brother both killed.”
“I was only wounded,” Killian assured him, “Severely wounded, it’s true. Alainn healed me or sure I would have died.”
The man’s eyes still bore disbelief.
“This is Alainn, my wife.” He smiled at his father.
“And Alainn is my daughter,” Teige proudly declared.
“But how do you know of this, Teige? Have you known all along my son lives?”
“I only met Alainn earlier today and I swear on my life, I did not know of Killian or any part of this till this very day, Kieran. I assure you I did plan to tell you. I just hadn’t decided how or when I might do it without feeling the gods’ wrath when I was warned to keep it entirely to myself.”
Dagda stared accusingly at Aine and Lugh, the only two gods that might have allowed Teige to meet his daughter when it was forbidden. Both turned their eyes away and watched on as the humans spoke.
“Where are we? How did we get here?” Kieran asked as he stared up at his tall, handsome young son and held tight to his hand as though he might simp
ly be dreaming all of this.
“We are here in the realm of the ancient Celtic gods. It was my magical spell that carried us here,” the wizard happily admitted. “I’d heard the young witch was facing the direst of circumstances this day. It was rumored her father possesses uncommon druid magical abilities. I thought since she had united me with my son, the least I could do was to return the favor. I had no notion I would need to travel nearly five centuries into the future to find him.” He looked directly at Alainn then, as he spoke. “I reasoned if we’re not able to determine how to remedy your plight that the two of you could be together at the end at the very least.”
“At the end? What do you mean by this?” Teige questioned as he looked to Aine and then to Dagda. “I knew Alainn was to meet with the council of the gods today, but I thought it was only to learn more of when she would become searcher and assist us in finding Odhran. Tell me what in hell is going on, Dagda!”
The ever-unruffled god seemed mildly perturbed at needing to explain the situation yet again. “It has been decided that your daughter’s life must be ended for she carries an evil being within her that has been poisoned by a deadly cursed blade. She has already begun to suffer the beginnings of falling under control of the being. We have tried to rid her of the evil, but it cannot be accomplished. We fear it is an impossible undertaking.”
“Only the gods in their arrogant vanity have attempted it,” the fire-dragon slyly remarked. “They didn’t think to summon other magical creatures to assist in the deed, for as usual they believe themselves all-powerful!”
“Well, you’ll not end my daughter’s life this day or any other!” Teige barked with certainty.
Kieran had scarcely taken his eyes off of his son, but now he glanced at Alainn and noticed how tightly she and Killian held each other’s hands and the serious expressions on their faces.
“Do you with your powerful magical abilities and uncommon insight have another possible remedy, Teige O’Rorke, for this evil cannot be brought into the world? Indeed, it could be the end of humankind and reach other distant realms as well. It is believed Odhran will employ the child in the final battle of good and evil.” Dagda revealed.
“That cannot be true,” Teige declared.
“We will simply see it undone.” The fire-dragon confidently spoke.
“You think it is that easily managed, dragon?” Cythrawl angrily queried but he did back away as he spoke lest the dragon’s fire be directed at him once again.
“With the great combined magic in magnitudes never seen before, anything can be accomplished this day,” the gentle air dragon confidently replied.
“Alainn has saved the lives or assisted so many of us here… we dragons, the hellhounds, the giant, the mer-people, the trows, the winged-horse, the wizard and his son. Each time without asking for anything in return or to benefit her in no manner, and for that we will see her rid of the difficulty she now faces!” The fire dragon avowed.
“Carrying an evil within her, the likes we have never before imagined, that if born could stack the side of evil so the final battle will end in devastation is not a trivial difficulty young Alainn faces.” Dagda maintained a level tone, and a disciplined demeanor, even as he spoke of a baneful being that might eventually decimate many realms.
“We will see it rectified.” The fire-dragon insisted.
“I well see that you desire to assist the young witch and I concur that there is surely an unprecedented combined level of magic here this night, but I have heard nothing of how you believe it might actually be accomplished,” Dagda reasoned.
“We will simply see it undone,” the dragon repeated with certainty. “We will use our magic to ensure she does not carry this child or suffer the cursed blade.”
“Could you not simply see to it she never spends time with the king?” It was Danhoul who asked it of the dragon.
“But she needed to ensure Ciara, the dark witch, did not entice the king and carry his child. It was imperative she have contact with the king to place the suggestion within his mind to keep his thoughts from causing further harm in his own country and invading her own country for she would have been killed then at any rate, as she was a previous life,” Dagda insisted.
“Perhaps not such close contact!” Aine suggested. “You might plant the notion in his mind that she spent time with the king, mesmerize the man so he does not turn his eyes to Ciara, and see to it she ensures Ireland is kept safe from his tyranny and that Cromwell does not gain greater access to the king’s ear.”
“The latter shall happen in another century at any rate with Cromwell’s bloodline so easily influenced by evil,” Cythrawl reminded them and it was apparent he derived some devious satisfaction in war and violence.”
“Yes, that is truth, for it is likely Odhran and his demons will see the tyranny come to pass in one century or another at any rate, but perhaps we could ensure the king doesn’t actually mate with young Alainn or impregnate her,” Dagda wondered aloud.
“But if that is possible, then too, couldn’t the demon be eliminated earlier so that Lily’s parents were not killed?” Alainn offered.
“I am certain it must be entirely bewildering to comprehend, but we cannot change entire fragments of time, young witch. It is you we have come to assist, and assist you we will, but if we alter too many happenings the effects will be unfathomably long-reaching,” the fire dragon assured her.
“It was surely only on this night of Samhain on the anniversary of your birth, and at this the full moon that your powers were the strongest they have ever been. All those elements enabled you to destroy the demon and sever the immediate connection with the child within you and Odhran.”
Alainn nodded her head. “What if it were not simply undone, but done in reverse?”
Dagda looked at her attempting to understand but it was clear he didn’t comprehend her meaning.
“When the eternal witch removed the curse she had placed on the trows she reversed it, she spoke the words in a backwards manner.” Alainn glanced at Killian with regret in having to mention the eternal witch after all that had transpired with her. But perhaps the horrid incident with the witch would bring a small measure of positivity if this proved successful.
Dagda seemed only intent on listening to what needed be done.
Teige nodded. “Perhaps it could work!” His blue eyes filled with hope and Killian looked at the man who was his father-in-law.
“You truly believe Alainn might be saved?” Killian’s voice shook as he dared to allow himself to hope this day might end with Alainn being helped and not killed.
“We will all combine each and every one of our abilities, mental, physical, and magical aptitudes and dwell on reversing the events that lead to the child becoming filled with evil, and to its conception for the father was a man of little conscience. As soon as the king speaks the words agreeing to spare the lives of Danhoul and the witch’s husband, we will terminate the reversal. All other events will remain unchanged.”
“But the decrees were never needed to save Killian or Danhoul.” Alainn fretted in regret.
“That is truth, but the king did sign them of his own accord, which sealed the belief they were to be released by his authority as king.”
“But at two separate times he signed them,” she remembered.
“We will terminate the reversal as soon as the first of the decrees is signed, then there will be no doubt in the king’s mind.”
Both Teige and Kieran looked at their children and it was clear they still had many questions to the regal paternity of the child and what led to Alainn being impregnated by another man, but neither one of them spoke for it was obvious their children were very much in love regardless of what had transpired.
“Will the gods assist as well?” Killian queried.
Dagda looked around the circle of the council of the gods and they all, even Cythrawl and Mac Lir, nodded their agreement.
“This time she must stand alone in the circle, f
or it is only her who will be affected by reversing the happenings.”
“You had chosen to die with your wife?” Kieran questioned.
Killian simply nodded.
“I would have surely done the same for your mother,” his father said in understanding.
Teige looked at Killian with great respect and nodded to him approvingly, clearly won over with his chivalry toward his daughter.
Killian stared at Alainn and was reluctant to release her hand, but she smiled at him and stood on her tiptoes to give him a tender kiss. He squeezed her to him once more and then stepped just outside of the circle to stand with his father.
“Might I place her under the spell of slumber?” Aine asked.
“I believe she must be awake for this,” the fire dragon informed the goddess. “But you might wish to sit down, young witch for there is certain to be a degree of discomfort and the unborn child will possibly still attempt to prevent this from occurring.”
Immediately a chair was magically summoned and Alainn was grateful to sit for her legs were trembling and felt as though she might collapse. The evil being within her protested madly, and she placed her hands to her belly and sent out healing waves in hopes of stilling the frequent painful movements.
“The five of you must stand directly beyond the circle,” the dragon motioned to Aine, Lugh, Teige, Danhoul and Killian. They complied without question.
“The young witch’s three guardians offer protection, so their presence will benefit the ritual.” Killian, Danhoul, and Lugh stood taller knowing they would be there to assist Alainn. “Her father, Teige O’Rorke, a magical paternal connection, her great-grandmother, Aine, a godly mystical maternal connection, Danhoul the druid, you are bound to the witch by your powers of the mind, and as her husband, Killian O’Brien, you are her heart connection and you alone keep her grounded to the human world.”
Alainn and Killian’s eyes locked at hearing Dagda’s words.
“You must each take the hand of the one next to you and think of young Alainn and all she is to you. Call upon whatever might aid young Alainn, whether powerful magic or strong emotion, and direct it to her now. It is certain to offer her protection.”
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