Awen Storm

by O J Barré

  Talav cut in. “Remember what I told you the other day, Emily? What I encountered in UnderEarth?”

  “The lizard-men?” Emily’s throat clogged. She tilted the insulated tumbler to slurp water.

  Khenko chuckled. “They can’t be much worse than the war-mongering goons we have up here.”

  Emily snorted, spewing water from her nose. Sputtering, she anchored the tumbler in the sand, and mopped her face. “True dat.”

  Khenko wiped water from her chin. “Hubba hubba.”

  “Huh?” She blinked at the medicine man. “What did you say?”

  “That they can’t be much worse than the war-mongering goons we have up here?”

  “No, after that.”

  Khenko’s face reddened. “I didn’t say anything after that.”

  “Not hubba hubba?”

  He looked at her oddly.

  Ooschu growled. “Can we get back to the veil?”

  “Yes, please,” Khenko said.

  Emily eyed the medicine man. Was she hearing things?

  “The Ancient Ones placed a forgetfulness curse on the dragon race. It was designed to do two things. Make the races forget about one another, and about us dragons. This made the job of keeping you apart easier. But unbeknownst to us Keepers, our minds and memories were being affected, too. Which was not part of our agreement.” Ooschu paused for effect.

  “With each passing decade, century, and millennia, more and more of our ancient knowledge slips away; first from our thoughts, then our memories, then our minds altogether. This is happening to us individually, and as a race.”

  Emily and Khenko glanced at one another.

  “And the same is happening to humans, too.”

  This Emily believed. People kept getting dumber and dumber, or so it seemed. The fringe blamed it on fluoridated water and vaccinations, along with chemtrail poisoning, and sensationalized news media, among other things. After studying the evidence, Emily had tended to agree. But was this the real reason?

  While Ooschu talked, Draig Talav preened, as obsessive about her jewels as Ralph and Hope about their fur. Sudden grief tore at Emily’s heart. She missed her cat Ralph something fierce, and was grateful that Mary and Simon, Wren’s Roost’s caretakers, would be feeding and keeping an eye on him and Hope.

  Blinking back the tears, she asked again, “But what about Tienu? And Draig a-Ur?”

  Ooschu snapped her head around to glare at Emily, though the caked-on sand dampened the effect. “You have no patience, do you, deary? Our brother, Tienu, was the official Fire Keeper. Until an awful thing happened.” Emily perked up.

  “He became bitter and even stooped to colluding with the wicked Reptiles. This, and his precious fire, overwhelmed his senses and consumed his every waking thought. The Awen found out and reduced Tienu to a harmless, mortal version of himself. As penance, she relegated him to a place where she could keep an eye on him until his powers were needed once again.”

  Talav swished her newly-cleaned tail. Emily noticed budding fins that hadn’t been there a few days ago. Like Ooschu’s longer, scarier claws.

  “And then there is the airy-fairy a-Ur,” Talav said. “He developed an attention deficit disorder and was constantly drawn to the currents upon which he rode. He, too, forgot our duty to Earth’s races.”

  “From what we have pieced together,” Ooschu interjected, “the Awen set a-Ur in stone to keep him flightless. By the way, there is a powerful secret hidden in that cemetery where you found him, little wren. Not even the Keepers know this secret. Well, a-Ur might. But we don’t.” The two dragons exchanged a furtive glance.

  “So where are a-Ur and Tienu now?” Khenko asked.

  The dragons eyed one another.

  “We do not know.” Talav’s sour expression softened. “But the good news is: every Keeper and dragon is programmed to return to the Awen when she calls. As soon as Emily is ready, we will take her to the gathering place in Beli and call a dragon-meet. There we expect she will regain Awen’s original powers and memories. Then she can restore ours as well.”

  “Why don’t the animal Elders know about this?” Emily wondered.

  “Because they, too, are blinded by the veil. But the Awen has the power to see between the worlds, and even beyond them. We are trying to help you remember this skill. Soon we will enter the Otherworld. There you can look for a-Ur and Tienu, and maybe contact the companions about whom you worry.”

  Emily levered herself out of the director’s chair.

  “I’m ready,” she declared. “Let’s do this thing.”

  Connecting Worlds

  Lugh stretched on the sofa in the Wren’s Roost library and rolled to one side. Hope meowed at his feet, eyes flashing yellow in the afternoon light that slanted through the tall, leaded windows. He petted Cu, beside him on the floor, then pulled the handmade throw over his shoulder and secured it with a tuck.

  Soon, he fell into a lucid dream. He and Emily Hester were on their first date navigating a bamboo-lined path at Zoo Atlanta. They weren’t walking, but floating above the ground, like his parents’ ghosts. Only it didn’t seem odd. Or strange. Or unnatural.

  One by one, the zoo population—birds, animals, and reptiles alike—declared fealty to Emily as Awen, Queen of the Druids. Then the earth heaved and cracked open at their feet. Lava spewed and they clung to one another as the ground shot into the air, propelling them high above the zoo.

  Next thing he knew, Lugh was stumbling through a hole. He fell a long way, for a long time until he was in a cave of some sort. And there was Emily! He reached for her, but she slipped through a corner of the rocky vault. His stomach lurched. Once again, his love was gone. In the absolute darkness, he crawled toward the corner, recoiling when he encountered the clammy scales of what had to be a snake.

  Now, Lugh MacBrayer was not afraid of snakes. But he didn’t love them either. Shuddering, he squeezed through the passage Emily had taken and found himself in another chamber. Her energy filled the room. Unlit lanterns ringed the ceiling. A large four-poster bed towered against the far wall, bedding piled in the center, pillows fluffed against a vast headboard.

  And there was something else. Something disturbing. He was in a dragon’s lair.

  Lugh wasn’t sure how he knew, but the dragon had held Emily here. He sat back on his heels. If so, where were they now?

  Perplexed, Lugh followed Emily’s energy through a labyrinth of tunnels, barely able to see the path. But that no longer mattered. He was one with the dark.

  Soon he came to a wall that shimmered like blue liquid. Water, maybe? But what magic kept it from flooding the tunnel? He eased through the osmotic barrier, finding the water warm and wonderful against his skin.

  He rose to the surface, where he floated on his back and squinted at sunrays peeking through a cloudy firmament. In one of the beams, Emily danced. Her thick, curly hair formed a red halo around a face that glowed with the light of a thousand hearts.

  Then the clouds let go, and crystal rain fell. At first, it was a few droplets, then sheets and torrents pounded Lugh’s essence into tiny shards. In joyful abandon, he rode the turbulence until an enormous crane plunged from the sky. With one mighty gulp, it scooped Lugh into its delicate beak and dumped him, unceremoniously, on a beach in front of a rambling structure.

  He opened his eyes to see Emily kneeling beside him. She cradled Lugh’s face with loving care, then kissed his forehead, nose, chin, eyelids, and cheeks, before lingering on his mouth. Drowning in Emily’s sweetness, Lugh floated beyond time and space.

  **

  “Wake up, Lugh.” Emily shook the druid priest’s shoulder, happy to have found him on her first venture into the Otherworld with the dragons. His black eyes opened, dreamy and vague.

  “Can you hear me?” The sleepy eyes fixed on Emily’s face, and Lugh nodded. That would do for now.

  “This is not a dream. Well, yeah, it is. But you, me,” she pointed to the druid priest and then to herself, “we are in the Oth
erworld. I called, and you came. You found me, Lugh.” Stray curls clung to Emily’s face. Even here in the Otherworld, the heat was oppressive. She peeled them off.

  “Are you alive?” she asked. “Did you survive the quake?”

  Lugh nodded and reached both arms toward Emily.

  Relieved, she crowed, “Me too!”

  A wraith curled around her leg. Heart pounding, she remembered the dragons’ instructions and resisted the urge to panic or knock it away. The snake wasn’t real. Unless she gave it her attention.

  “Focus, Awen, focus.” It was Talav’s voice in her head.

  Ignoring the phantom snake that had slithered hip-high, Emily blurted, “I am in the Bahamas on an island near Nassau. I’m with Talav and Ooschu, two of the Dragon Keepers.” The snake wavered, tongue flickering in front of Emily’s face. She looked past the apparition, and it disappeared with a poof.

  “You’re in the Bahamas with the dragons?” Lugh’s voice sounded garbled.

  Emily strained to remember what they had told her to say. But the Otherworld was tricky. Hard to master. Focusing was difficult. Too many eerie things vied for her attention, each begging Emily to follow. But the dragons had been adamant. She must ignore all but her mission. Or else.

  “I’m with the dragons. Draig Ooschu and Talav. The Keepers, remember?”

  Understanding flickered in the priest’s eyes. He sat up. “Em, I’ve been so worried. Is this real? Are you truly okay?”

  Joy coursed through her. “I am now, but I almost died. Talav caused the earthquake and the volcano, though she swears it wasn’t on purpose. She rescued me and brought me to the Bahamas to an Iroquois medicine man named Khenko Blitherstone. But what about the others? Have they made it home yet? Are they okay?”

  Lugh hung his head. “Cu died.” Grief tore at Emily’s heart, and she almost missed his next words. “But he came back to life, Em. Just like the legend says. Which made us believe that you are alive. You are, aren’t you? This is real?”

  She laughed, relieved. “Well, duh. Here I am.”

  “I’m not dreaming?”

  “Nope. Well, yes. But in the Otherworld. I’ll explain that when I see you again.” Emily swallowed hard. “I’m glad Cu is okay. I talked to Da the other day. He’s with Brian, Lugh.”

  “I wondered.” Relief gladdened the druid priest’s words. “Brian’s mother said he was alive, and Hope insisted they were both okay. But I feared the worst. Do you know where they are?”

  Emily shook her head. “If they haven’t come home, they’re probably somewhere inside the earth.”

  Lugh brows drew together. “Still trapped?”

  She shook her head. “Remember me telling you about ‘seeing’ a lizard-man when I checked Shalane’s pulse at the park that day?”

  Lugh nodded.

  “The lizard-men are the Darkness, Lugh. They are what the Elders warned us about. There’s a whole race of them living beneath the earth. And they’re trying to get out. They plan to kill us humans and take over our world.”

  Lugh’s brows arched. “And you know this how?”

  “Talav told me. The Keepers are supposed to keep them contained. But the dragons are all missing. And they’re being hampered by a memory veil of some sort.”

  Lugh’s eyes turned vague, like he was thinking or something.

  She pulled her hair back from her face. “Da told me that he and Brian were captured by those monsters.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “But they were rescued by some other breed of alien, a Fomorian I think. They’re looking for a way to get back home. That’s all I know. Would you tell Hope and Cu? And the Order? But don’t tell them I’m alive. The dragons will be moving me to Beli soon.”

  “And when will that be?”

  Emily wagged her head. “I don’t know. They say there are things only they can teach me—like communicating in the Otherworld. And they won’t let me use the phone or email. They want the world to believe me dead.”

  “Ahh.” Guilt and self-loathing colored the priest’s single syllable.

  “This is not your fault, Lugh. If anything, it’s mine. I know you want to come after me, but wait until I get to Beli. And please don’t tell anyone but the Elders we’ve spoken. Okay?”

  “We haven’t,” he said solemnly. “I’m dreaming. Right?”

  “Right,” Emily chuckled. She yearned to wrap her arms around him and hold on tight. But she was losing her tenuous grasp on the Otherworld. She didn’t want either of them to get stuck inside.

  “Something’s wrong with Morgan, Lugh. Something dark and evil. She was with you earlier when I tried to reach you.”

  “Emily, get out of there,” Ooschu roared inside her head. She caressed Lugh’s face.

  “The dragons are calling. I have to go. Don’t look for me in Zephyr Cay. Meet me in Beli. And don’t tell anyone but the Elders that you know I’m alive.”

  Lugh faded from the beach, and Emily was staring into Ooschu’s silver orbs.

  Narrow Escape

  Dawn came late to the grove by the cave. The wind had changed, and the stench of burnt flesh and electrical components thickened the air. Ishkur relieved his bladder and slurped water from the spring, before climbing the hills to spell Inanna.

  A thick cloud covered the valley. Ishkur’s keen eyes could detect little else. He wondered about the fire squad. He had seen nothing of them since arriving in Agartha. They should be battling the blazes, knocking them down to save what was left of the charred city. Maybe they’d given up and aimed their efforts toward containing the creeping magma.

  Greeting Inanna, Ishkur traded places and settled on the hilltop beneath the towering trees. The frilly leaves were newly green, a welcome contrast to his bleak view. Unclipping the flask from his hip belt, he tilted it up and let the alcohol course through him. His hands ceased shaking. He took another slug and clipped the flask to his belt.

  Sighing, Ishkur retrieved his dead handheld from its pocket in his pack. He should have charged it before leaving the compound. But he'd been bent on getting out of there to find a drink. Which was probably a good thing.

  Shibboleth’s goons would be tracking Ishkur. He thought of the two Ceruleans and the way Inanna had come to his defense. A warm feeling settled upon him. Her loyalty almost made his wanted-status worthwhile.

  At least Nergal had chosen an excellent hideout. Looking back toward the cave, Ishkur could see no hint of the willow grove or the cave entrance. After his shift, he would investigate the cave’s depths.

  The doctora had traversed parts of it searching for outlets before they arrived. She’d found a section of abandoned chutes that she thought might be serviceable. Should they need to make a run for it, the chutes would come in handy.

  Besides, they couldn’t stay here forever. There was a ready source of water and supplies the doctora had previously scavenged, but they had no other provisions. And finding enough to feed four grown Dracos without drawing attention would be nigh to impossible.

  A movement in the city caught Ishkur’s attention. He stared at the spot from whence it came. The smoke roiled, thick and dark. Is that what he had seen? He watched a while longer, then slowly rose and slipped behind a tree.

  Through the smoke haze, he could barely make out a thin line of Dracos in full battle gear marching toward the city gates. Ishkur counted eleven guards. Leading the procession, strode the Draco that Ishkur had seen in Xibalba IX. Shibboleth’s henchman. Not the intellectual one, but the one with the red claws. The one called Maw. The Punisher. Ishkur’s stomach lurched.

  He watched until they halted outside the city gates. The evil Draco Maw consulted his handheld, then peered up toward the mountains straight at Ishkur, who tucked in tight behind the tree.

  When he ventured another peek, they were moving again. The warriors trailed behind Maw, heading straight toward Ishkur and the line of hills protecting the cave.

  Of all the rotten luck. Trembling more than he would care to a
dmit, even to himself, Ishkur left his post and scurried down the hill to the willows. Time to make use of those abandoned chutes.

  Ishkur shook Nergal awake in the dark cave, and together they roused Inanna and the doctora.

  “We’ve been compromised,” Ishkur barked. “Which of you used your handheld?”

  The doctora and Nergal shrugged. A sheepish Inanna held hers in the air.

  “Get rid of that,” he snapped. “Smash it or douse it in water. But disable the damn thing. Maw, Shibboleth’s henchman, is headed this way with ten Dracos in full battle gear. We must hurry. They will be here soon.”

  Inanna scuttled the fire and rushed from the cave. The doctora and Nergal collected the provisions and medicines, while Ishkur erased evidence of their presence. When Inanna returned, the exiles shouldered their packs and weapons and retreated into the depths of the cave system.

  Heir Unapparent

  Lugh woke on the sofa in Wren’s Roost library. The fire blazed. Someone, probably Mary or Simon, had added wood while he slept. Maybe that’s what had jarred him awake. Cu lay spread-eagled on the rug, eyes fixed on Lugh.

  “Hey, boy.” Reaching over to ruffle the wiry head, Lugh sat up and disturbed the cat at his feet. Hope stretched and leapt to the floor, meowing.

  “Well. Did you see her?”

  Lugh blinked. “See who?”

  The cat laughed, that deep, throaty rumble Lugh would never get used to hearing from a cat. But Hope was no ordinary cat. She blinked solemn eyes.

  “Emily. Did you see her?”

  His heart lurched. “Emily’s here? At Wren’s Roost?” Fully awake now, Lugh stared at the cat. Cu barked noisily and pranced in a circle around Hope.

  Her throaty laugh bubbled out again. “No, Emily’s not here, Lugh. Of course, she’s not. She spoke to you. In the Otherworld. Don’t you remember?”

  He lowered his aching head to his hands. The vivid dream came rushing back. The events at the zoo, falling into the cave, waking with Emily’s hands on his face in a druid kiss. Emily alive in the Bahamas on an island called Zephyr Cay. He sprang from the sofa and danced the wolfhound around the room.