Awen Storm

by O J Barré

  “Hear, hear.” Emily threw back her hood and shook out her curls. Water still dripped from the palm trees, but the storm had passed.

  She high-fived the water dragon’s pinky claw—something she’d taught them yesterday. “Thank you, Ooschu. Thank you very much.” She said it like Elvis, her Da’s all-time favorite singer, and felt a pang in her heart.

  Were Brian and her father still alive? She hadn’t been able to contact them in a while.

  a-Ur tutted. “Stop taking the blame for what’s beyond your ken. Have faith, little wren. I suspect you will all come together in the end.” But he sounded worried when he added in a mumble, “I don’t remember how I know this, but I am reasonably sure we all will.”

  A sudden vision came unbidden to Emily—of Brian and a woman running for their lives. A sharp pain shot through her head, and the world spun. Her knees wobbled. Then her vision went cloudy, and she collapsed to the sand.

  **

  “We must leave at once for Beli,” a-Ur commanded.

  “No way,” Khenko argued. “It’s too big a risk.”

  “One we must take.” a-Ur hunched forward, preparing to battle the medicine man if need be. He must get the Awen to Beli right away.

  “She’s not well enough to travel.”

  “Says who?”

  “Says her doctor,” the man fired back.

  “To delay is dangerous. The Awen must call a Dragon Meet. It’s the only way. And only from Beli can that be done.”

  They stared at the fallen druid. So fragile she looked, reposing in the sand as if asleep. But she had passed out and was still under.

  “I concur with the medicine man,” Talav weighed in. “She cannot be moved. Not yet, anyway. She needs time to heal. Plus, she has to master the essentials, a-Ur. She cannot travel between worlds confidently or without assistance. She’s just learning transfiguration and knows nothing of shape-shifting. Nor has she mastered the concept of environmental magic, much less the science of creating storms. And as you said, she must learn how to listen.”

  a-Ur groaned and turned his eyes to the sky. The storm had moved on, leaving an azure canopy dotted with fluffy clouds. A moderate trade wind swayed the upper branches of the tallest palms, those not broken on his landing. The wind called the air dragon to action. But the girl wasn’t ready. Or well.

  He snuffed the breezes, lifting his snout to the moisture-laden scent of salty fish, and something else. a-Ur’s dragon heart beat faster. Something was out there.

  And whatever it was, wasn’t waiting.

  Running on Empty

  Brian woke abruptly, pain echoing through his body. It took him a second to realize that the chute car had ejected them again.

  “Stop doing that!” he growled, leaping to his feet and patting schmutz from his pants. He followed a grumbling Ethnui to a directory etched on the stone wall. At least they were in a lighted station.

  “It’s warm in here.” He tugged off his jacket and tied it around his waist.

  The Fomorian turned to meet his eyes. “Please tell me it’s not the magma again.”

  “It doesn’t smell like magma.” He twisted to peer pensively down the tunnel behind them. “We must have traveled a long way by now.” He had no idea how far, but prayed it was enough. The car hummed quietly beside him on the tracks.

  “Hey! This spur leads to Blowing Rock,” Ethnui called. “Look!”

  He hurried to her and eyeballed the directory. According to the map, there was indeed a spur leading north and east out of the station.

  Giving her a high-five, Brian flapped his elbows and crowed like a rooster. Ethnui giggled and danced, too, though hers was more sedate and sexier. He stopped to watch, grinning wide.

  Hamilton interrupted them both. “Are you sure this place is deserted? And why is it so blasted hot?”

  Ethnui drew her cloak close and peered around. “Good questions, sir.”

  They searched the station and the halls outside the sliding doors. The place was deserted, save them. Brian breathed a sigh of relief.

  “The coast is clear. But if the magma is headed this way, we’d better hurry.” He boarded the northeast-bound car. “This one should get us to Blowing Rock, right?” Ethnui crowded in beside him.

  “It should.” She reached for the destination button and a clanging commenced. They both jumped, then laughed nervously. Until another, more ominous, rumble sounded and the lights of a chute car pierced the shadows far down the tracks.

  Brian nearly crapped his pants when a whoop of warning preceded the approaching car.

  Ethnui grabbed their packs and leapt to the platform, dragging Brian with her.

  “Hide!” She shoved him through the sliding door into the corridor beyond. “Which way?” she cried. Neither was the direction they needed.

  She consulted her handheld as the chute car rumbled into the station and squealed to a stop.

  “That way.” She took off running. Brian followed.

  They loped side by side as noiselessly as possible until they reached another junction and stopped to look back. Brian held his breath and listened intently, then let it go when there were no sounds of pursuit.

  Ethnui checked their bearings and pointed to the right. “I think we should stay away from the chutes and walk from here. Just keep that gun handy and watch out for Dracos.”

  Brian stared at her. “Walk to Blowing Rock? That’s a long way.” His feet hurt. He needed to take a dump. And it felt like days since they had eaten a good meal.

  “Yes, it is. But I think it wise. That station was well-used. If we’re in Draco territory, we have to be careful.” Ethnui didn’t sound pleased, which made Brian feel a little better.

  They left the well-lit corridor for a narrower, darker one that reeked of mold and decay. Finally, Brian could wait no longer. “Can we stop? I’m starving. And I need to use the john.”

  The Fomorian halted and stared. “John?”

  “Toilet,” he explained, massaging his forehead. He’d been nursing a headache ever since they’d leapt over the steam vent.

  “Oh.” She pointed back the way they’d come. “Go ahead, I’ll wait.”

  He walked a way for privacy and found a shallow alcove, grateful for the paper Ethnui had packed. He did his business and hurried back to her dreaming of bacon and eggs with crisp toast and salty butter and crunchy hash browns, or even the grits he had learned to enjoy in Atlanta.

  “I have got to eat,” he announced when he reached Ethnui.

  She handed him one of the hard biscuits and took one for herself. He could tell from the size of the bag there weren’t many left. Brian thanked her and wolfed his down. With water, it barely put a dent in his appetite.

  Ethnui resumed the lead, gobbling up the distance with her long stride. After a while, a buzzer sounded, and a door slid open behind them. They crouched silently in the shadows. A large being entered the corridor, speaking in an unfamiliar tongue. Several more followed. They moved in the opposite direction, toward the chute.

  “That was close,” Brian whispered. “Those didn’t sound like lizard-men.”

  “They aren’t. They’re Ceruleans. Some of them are harmless. But most have thrown their lot in with the Dracos. They are not to be trusted.”

  Ethnui consulted the handheld. She tapped it, jiggled it in a figure-eight, and looked again. “Seems we’re off the map. No GPS signal. But the compass indicates we’re heading due east.”

  He rubbed his temples and pinched the bridge of his nose. Ethnui’s thin eyebrows arched.

  “Headache?”

  He nodded, though he hated being a wuss.

  “Come ‘ere.”

  Brian sidled closer.

  Standing behind him, Ethnui spread her fingertips around his skull. Lightly at first, then with increasing pressure, she massaged his temples and the top of his head. Her fingers circled slowly, covering every inch of Brian’s skull, then hooked to perform a quick lift at the base of his cranium. Slowly, she bent his
head forward as far as it would go, then did the same in the backward position.

  As she worked, Brian felt the tension drain from his temples and behind his eyes. In no time at all the pain was gone.

  He swung around. “Wow. How’d you do that?”

  “Easy. Just find the right points, apply pressure, and voila.”

  “Good to know.” He eyed the Fomorian with growing respect. “Thank you. I feel a lot better.”

  “Good.” Her smile widened to a grin. “Let’s walk a bit further and find a place to rest. According to my handheld, we’ve been at it for thirty hours.”

  Brian groaned. No wonder he was worn out. He hadn’t stayed up that long in, like…ever. Much less, walking.

  He trailed her lean outline in the dim light, thinking about being in AboveEarth and sleeping for days in his comfy bed. Which made him wonder again how his Uncle Lugh had fared, and whether Emily was still with the dragons.

  Brian stopped short. How could he have forgotten? The earthquake seemed so long ago. Would they never get out of this nightmare?

  Project Start-Up

  Whatever had scorched them, Azi’s assistant had taken the brunt. Azi escaped with a singed face and earholes. Katar remained in isolation in the medical ward, with deep burns over much of his body.

  Still bandaged, Azi settled at the console to peruse the list of target candidates. He had gladly returned to the rarified atmosphere of the laboratory, assigning the search for access points to his best apprentice—a younger, more-dare-devilish version of himself.

  Each crew he sent out had similar experiences, reporting back burned, the search abandoned. On the plus side, four of the worldwide human targets were now connected and ready to go live. Soon they would perform their first trial run.

  If all went well, Azi would earn his family a seat on Shibboleth’s council. His parents and siblings would be happy to accept the honor. Azi planned to remain in the lab.

  Returning his attention to Nergal’s brainstorm, he memorized the coordinates and names of each of the four locations, the corresponding target, and the connecting being. Shalane and the Fomorian lying on the slab in front of Azi made five.

  He dictated a memo to Shibboleth, outlining his plan for the trial, and hoped the commandant would remain in Irkalla. The gruesome Draco gave Azi the creeps.

  Now What?

  Inanna checked Magdalena’s pulse. It was racing and thready. They had staunched the bleeding, but hours had passed, and the doctora had not regained consciousness. Inanna would have to wake her soon.

  The doctora claimed to have an ally in Araf—a loyal physician who would treat the Dracos and provide shelter and a place to hide. Magdalena had assured them he held no loyalty to Shibboleth. She had called him a miracle worker. They needed one.

  Nergal’s breath was shallow, and his face pale. He had passed out soon after they boarded, and slept next to the doctora on the floor. Inanna’s own pain had been in abeyance for most of their flight from Agartha. The doctora’s ministrations had worked wonders.

  But Inanna was beginning to have other difficulties. Her breathing was labored from the ribs she’d reinjured in the haste to escape Maw, and blood oozed from a few of the puncture wounds inflicted by the glass shards. Worse, fatigue sapped her vigor. She and the others needed food and rest.

  At least the electronics in the decrepit chute car had begun working. According to the overhead map, they were nearing the border between Agartha and Araf. Inanna moved to the panel and entered the code to stop the car at the next station.

  At some point, they had left the abandoned tracks and crossed into a more populated area. The car had stopped at a couple of stations, and a few beings had tried to board. On seeing the damage and the four Dracos inside, each had opted to wait for another ride.

  As the car approached the next station, Inanna spied two figures on the platform. They were fairly small and looked to be Fomorian. Or maybe human, though that was a stretch. Humans rarely frequented UnderEarth. Most ended up as food for the more barbaric Dracos. The beings slipped through the station door and disappeared.

  The car came to a screeching stop beside another that idled, doors open. It looked like the car that had roared past them earlier. They had encountered others, but all heading in the opposite direction. Inanna debarked to search for the beings and the facilities.

  Rendezvous

  Exhausted, Emily sank into the narrow bed and dragged the covers over her head. As mattresses went, it wasn’t half bad. She had slept on worse in remote areas of the world while a disaster specialist. But she sorely needed to talk to Lugh. a-Ur had arrived and was insisting the dragons take her to Beli at once.

  She scooted upright and propped against the wall, then focused on entering the Otherworld. In the fog, her mind wandered to Lugh’s celebratory kiss at Zoo Atlanta. It had rocked her world. Until the peak collapsed beneath them.

  She pushed away the horror and concentrated on how the kiss had felt. Her insides went all warm and gooey, until she realized she was surrounded by strange, shadowy creatures. They advanced upon Emily, intent on luring her away from the path.

  Out loud she repeated, “These are not real, these are not real,” and focused her attention on finding Lugh. She charged through the apparitions and hurried along the passage, searching for the place where they last met.

  Feeling a trifle silly, Emily called out loud, “Lugh! Lugh MacBrayer! Where are you?”

  She wandered a while, searching and calling, but got no answer. When the umpteenth apparition climbed up her leg, a phone jangled, yanking Emily back to the real world.

  **

  Lugh entered the house with Cu close on his heels. They were just getting home from another called meeting. Luckily for Lugh, Arthur Creeley had done the heavy lifting, standing in as Grand Druid pending Emily’s return. He’d taken most of the flak from the few dissenters, who were vicious and relentless.

  Despite the evidence to the contrary, they contended Emily was dead and demanded the clan appoint a new Grand Druid. Thankfully, their de facto leader, Mitchell Wainwright, wasn’t in attendance. He had crashed the first meeting, but as Emily had previously fired him as Order attorney, Arthur had kicked him out. Simon, the caretaker, had shown him the door.

  The druids were all weary of the debate. Arthur finally conceded to schedule a motion for the following week. The two sides agreed to let the Order’s vote stand, however it went down. Which worried Lugh, though Morgan Foster insisted the dissenters were a minority. Still, his trouble-radar was on high alert.

  His healing brain throbbed despite the pain meds, and he was too wired to sleep. He wandered to Brian’s room and half-heartedly folded a basket of clean clothes and put them away. A tear escaped, and he dashed it away, annoyed. He must get it together.

  Overcome by a sudden need to lie down, Lugh shuffled to his room. He shucked his shoes and crawled under the covers. Shivering, he dragged the wool blanket at his feet up to his shoulders. Cu bounded into the room and leapt on the bed, taking up more than half.

  **

  Emily came to in the small bed in the Atlantean Center. Down the hall, Khenko’s phone rang loudly and insistently. He’d stuck his head in earlier to say he was going to Settler’s Cove to service his boat. Had he forgotten to take his phone? Or had Emily been out of it when Khenko returned?

  When the phone kept ringing, she slipped out of bed and padded down the hall. The ceiling fans whirled, stirring the thick air. She lifted her heavy hair from her neck as she entered Khenko’s office. The phone buzzed and jangled on his desk, but Khenko wasn’t there.

  She hurried through the center, but couldn’t find him. Nor did he answer when she called to him from the back door or the front. Butterflies did loop-de-loops in her belly. Khenko wasn’t here, but his phone was. Dare she use it to call Lugh?

  She thought of the dragons and their dire threats. If Armageddon was coming one way or the other, what could it hurt? She hurried to Khenko’s office an
d punched the numbers Lugh had made her memorize. From the other end, a familiar, and sleep-drenched, southern drawl warmed her heart.

  “Hullo?”

  “Lugh, it’s me. Emily.”

  “Emily, omigod! Where are you?”

  “I’m still on Zephyr Cay, but I don’t have long. Khenko will be back any minute, and I’m not supposed to use the phone.”

  “I’ve been so worried.” Her heartstrings twanged.

  “I know. I’m sorry I haven’t called sooner. But, the dragons insisted all sorts of awful things would happen if I did. Still, I had an opportunity, so here I am. Have you heard from Brian and Da?”

  “No, not yet. Have you?”

  “Uh-uh. But I had a vision of Brian with a woman…” Her voice hitched and she swallowed hard. “Lugh, they were running for their lives.”

  There was a noise on the back porch and Emily’s pulse raced.

  “I have to hang up. But the Keepers are taking me to Beli. If not tomorrow, then soon. a-Ur says the dragons have scattered far and wide, and only I can bring them together.” Her heart thudded at the audacious undertaking. “They say the gathering place is the source of their power. But it’s fallen into decay and must be restored.” The weight of the world sat heavy on Emily’s shoulders. Her voice took on a high-pitched edge.

  “Can you bring Awen’s handbook and meet me there? I don’t think I can do this without help, Lugh. I need you. And Hope and Cu. Can y’all meet me in Beli?” Knowing how the druid priest felt about Wales, she added sweetly, “Pretty please?”

  Lugh didn’t hesitate. “Of course, Emily. Anything for you. The Elders and I will meet you in Wales and I’ll bring the handbook. Where is it?”

  She hastily explained, then a chill came over her, and she was standing on the face of a snow-covered mountain. Shivering, she blinked and was back in Khenko’s office with his phone in her hand. “Lugh, are you there?”

  “Uh-huh.” The back door slammed.

  “Gotta go,” she whispered. “I love you.”