Invaded
From Murias was brought the Dagda’s cauldron. No company ever went away from it unsatisfied.
- CATH MAIGE TUIRED
“The Second Battle of Mag Tuired”
“My King. Lorde Bres is here to see you.” A very thin, milky skinned Elf bowed before the giant in front of him.
“Of course he is. Send him in.” The King sneered, sucking putrid rat meat off the bone in his hand.
The giant wooden doors to the King’s chambers opened up and Bres appeared in the doorway, flanked by Pyewacket and Syris.
They each in turn paid their respects to the king before Syris and Pyewacket took a knee and left Bres to speak.
“You wanted to see me, sire?” Bres didn’t make direct eye-contact with Balor; no one did.
“I did. There was something I wanted to speak with you about. As you know, since I only have one eye that does nothing but wreak pure havoc on whatever it sets its sights upon, I have a lot of Fae out there as my eyes and ears in the Otherworld. It has come to my attention that a Halfling woman, no less, bested you in your own castle. She apparently took a captive of the Spriggan that you were also involved with. Tell me about all of this.” Balor lounged back casually on a bed made of bones and spongy Earth, picking at his teeth with the splintered femur of his dinner.
“Well—my liege—Syris made me aware of this Halfling woman who, according to him, smelled like the rawest, most pure energy he had ever encountered and he had to have some of it. He already had a little taste and needed more, but he assumed that she could possibly be of some use to us as well. We came to a compromise: Syris could use my castle to hold his captive in, and we would get to have the Halfling when he was done with her. Syris followed the one that she loves out into the city, but was mistaken to think that she was with him. All the better, of course; it made it much easier to kidnap the man.” Bres tried to sound confident as he spoke. Balor was terrible to behold, even for another Fomorian.
“So, Syris brought the man back to your castle. I was also told that he was a Halfling too?” Balor bit into a curdled cream-filled pastry.
Bres nodded before Balor went on, “She came for him, just as you planned. But where did it all go wrong? How could one Halfling best you, Syris, and an army of the finest Spriggan warriors?” Bres could hear the irritation rising in Balor’s tone.
“She was not alone, sire. She had a Mortal with her and the Unseelie embarrassment, Tam Lyn. She came in the guise of a mercenary with captives to trade, but she kept expressing interest in the man. Before I knew it, she revealed herself as the Halfling that Syris had been pursuing and all hell broke loose. I didn’t have time to do much because the man came at me like a troll and took me out of the fight.” Bres answered reluctantly. He knew that he was going to be punished severely for this.
“Then she left with the captive and your Spriggan servant, leaving you effectively with nothing.” Balor snarled, flicking a piece of his snack at Bres’ beautiful face.
“Not nothing, necessarily. Pyewacket encountered her at the Mound of the Aos Sì with another Imp and pierced her through with one of Lugh’s spears... she’s dead now.” Bres rebutted, thinking that the knowledge of her death would relieve some of the punishment that weighed on him.
“She’s dead? Meaning that the precious essence that she held, that deliciously, raw energy is GONE! So you fucked up even more than you thought by letting her get away the first time!” The agitated laughter of the huge Fomorian king echoed through the hall in response.
“Sire, I—I didn’t know who she was when she got to the castle; she didn’t smell anything like Syris had said. She just waltzed in, announced herself as Danaye, and wanted to make a trade. I—” Balor’s head snapped to Bres, cutting his babbling off immediately.
“Danaye? Did you say her name was Danaye?” Balor’s voice was so low that it was almost inaudible.
“That—that’s what she told us, but she could have been lying.” Bres fumbled his words; he couldn’t tell if the mention of the name was a positive connotation or not.
“You three are so godsdamn lucky.” Balor wiggled a warty finger at the unlikely trio that was before him, “She isn’t dead. There was word that she was in the Otherworld recently and overcame the Trials.”
“The Trials? They haven’t implemented that since—since—” Bres stuttered.
It had been a very long time since they had needed that much magick to protect the Cauldron.
“They obviously need them now that we are after the Cauldron, especially since the Gods aren’t nearly as daft as you. Either way, she passed each and every test according to my sources, and made it back to the Earthly realm alive.
If this is true, then she is probably back where it is safe; along with the Cauldron of Dagda and one of Lugh’s Spears. Bravo, idiots.” Balor barked as he lobbed a troll leg at Bres who skillfully ducked.
“But she is just a Halfling, what is she going to do with tools of the Túath Dé?” Bres may have been talking out of turn, but he didn’t see what the real concern was. Sure she smelled wonderful, but was she really that important?
“You moron; does the name Danaye not ring a bell with you?” Balor grunted out of disgust.
Pyewacket’s eyes shot up to the king, “Danaye. I do recognize that name.”
“As you should. Syris over here has an excuse to be ignorant because he is young and they don’t teach about this sort of thing anymore.” Balor snapped his fingers as he spoke, summoning one of his handmaidens to bring him something to quench his thirst.
“I don’t remember a lot still; this energy within me seems like it fights me tooth and nail every day. I have beaten it down, but it still keeps me foggy on certain things.” Bres returned. He wasn’t lying; the soul inside him wasn’t originally his own, at least not the energy any way, and it had a tendency to work against him at times.
“If she really is who she says she is; we need to find her and take her. Where does she reside, Syris?” Balor pointed to the Spriggan for him to speak.
Syris spoke up, “In a little village just inside the West Wood. I know exactly where it is.”
“You four stay in here; I don’t need any of you getting hurt.” Liam instructed the women that were huddled in the back hallway of his cottage. Dani, Cassia, Nissa, and LeAnna were all confined to close quarters soon after the siren sounded, alerting them to an imminent attack.
“Don’t you think it would fare you better if I went with you?” Dani protested. She was squished between LeAnna and Cassia; the proximity of the former making her very uncomfortable.
“No, Dani. You know that you can’t go out there.” Liam narrowed his eyes at her.
She opened her mouth to protest again when Liam held his finger to his lips for silence.
“We have sent out the proper people to ensure the safety of the rest of the Hedgerow and I expect that you ladies will obey me and stay out of the way. They can’t get into the Hedgerow, but they can make things a living hell for us.” Liam sounded like he didn’t quite trust his own words.
“Remember that not all Fae are adverse to iron, Liam.” Dani warned him.
“The fact that we aren’t already on fire should prove that we have implemented further magickal precautions for this sort of thing.” Liam cocked his revolver before holstering it; he was hinting that the magickal beings in the Hedgerow had put extra measures in to place for added protection.
There was going to be no way that Dani could convince him to let her go, so she settled in to her unpleasant situation.
“I will send someone back to check on you. If for some reason anything goes wrong, I want you all to flee to the stables and escape with the horses to the North if everything is clear. Brighid said she’d be able to find you.” Liam had a strange look on his face as his gaze locked with Dani’s. She nodded along with the rest of the women, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from his.
“Dani, can I talk to you for a second.” Liam waved his hand for her to exit the hallway and took her just out of sight before he started talking.
“I’m sorry that this had to happen right as you got back.” He stood awfully close to her, his body rigid as he spoke.
“It’s my fault; they came here for me.” Dani shook her head as she spoke. She figured it had something to do with the rescue of Evan from the Fomorian castle, but she couldn’t be sure.
“All the more reason to keep you safe. You have to promise me that you won’t leave here and come looking for a fight; we are going to try and handle it as amicably as possible.” Liam tried to make her promise that she would stay put.
“Amicable is not something that the Fomorians do, Liam. They won’t leave here without a fight.” She protested as she felt herself getting riled up at just the thought of it.
“Please, Dani.” Liam closed his eyes and swallowed hard. She could sense some irritation coming from him, but there was another emotion entirely.
Dani didn’t want to make a promise that she wasn’t sure she could keep, but the pleading in Liam’s eyes made her concede.
Without another word, Liam leaned in to her and put his forehead to hers. It was warm, the hot energy of battle radiating off of him.
“Please, don’t do anything stupid?” He asked before taking Dani’s mouth in his, gently stroking her jaw as he sweetly kissed her. He pulled away slowly, still focused on her before nudging her back to the hallway.
“I’ll come back when the coast is clear; stay put until then.” Liam pointed at all of them before exiting out the door to the front gates.
“Are the towers fortified?” Evan called out to Pete as he came up from the gates at the West end.
“Everything down there is secure with no sign of Fae life. It seems that they are only at the South Gate.” Pete jogged up to where Evan stood behind several dozen men and a few women that were prepared for battle if it were necessary.
“Good. All tower guards have reported here then?” Evan shouldered his rifle with the question and marched off to the South tower.
“Yes. Everyone is present and accounted for. Has Liam gotten here yet?” Pete asked. He knew that Liam had stayed back to ensure that Dani kept herself in the cottage.
“He’s already in the tower, waiting on us. No one has addressed the army yet.” Evan answered as he climbed the wooden ladder to the top of the tower with Pete right behind him.
“There you are.” Liam saw Evan’s head appear at the top of the ladder and waited for the two men to stand beside him before speaking.
“Wren and Wesley are positioned with iron tipped arrows out of sight. We haven’t addressed anyone since they requested that the leader of the village speak with them first.” Liam had been filled in by the tower guard and informed the rest.
“Then let’s give them what they want.” Evan nodded before he knelt at the base of the railing and positioned his rifle at the being that rode atop the largest boar that any of them had ever seen. At least a hundred or so Fae of all kinds stood silently behind the beast, ready to take orders when it was time.
Pete positioned himself on the other side of Liam and waited for him to address the creatures outside the Gates.
“You have requested the leader of this village and I am he.” Liam called out from the tower and the great man atop the boar focused his attention in that direction, but he wasn’t the one that spoke. He bowed his animal out of the way as the most beautiful man they had ever witnessed strode forward on a white stag.
“I am Lorde Bres of the Fomorians and former King of the Tuatha Dé Danann. I like to execute things in a professional manner, so I figured I would request that you give us the Halfling known as Danaye, lest we take her by force. Balor insists.” Bres smiled, his teeth glinting in the sun.
Evan’s trigger finger was itchy as he stared down the scope on his gun that was focused right on the Fomorian’s face.
Liam confidently responded, “I will do no such thing. She is a ward of ours and we will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
Evan was still focused on Bres, waiting for a response. The Fomorian must have known that he had his sights on him, for he turned to stare directly at him through the scope.
I see you, Halfling. You have much power in you; you should bring me Danaye and I can teach you everything there is to know about magick. Bres’ silken voice echoed through Evan’s consciousness.
He shook his head, pulling his eye back from the scope to get himself together.
“Whatever it takes, hm? Does that mean sacrificing your entire village to keep her from us?” Bres’ voice had an acidic quality to it as he spoke.
Liam didn’t hesitate, surprising Pete and Evan when he said, “Whatever it takes.”
“That’s a shame. I was hoping that we could handle things amicably, but you had to go and make things difficult.” Bres’ voice was silken as he raised his jagged sword in to the air and dozens of Goblins appeared, running alongside Giants who pushed well-crafted catapults into the middle of the army.
Liam hoped that it wouldn’t come to this, but the citizens of the Hedgerow were well prepared for such an attack. He signaled down to everyone with a quick gesture as they readied little satchels full of a mixture that Ipswich had concocted.
Bres organized his first plan of attack as the Giants loaded the catapults with a single goblin each and prepared to send them over the gates.
“Now.” Evan mouthed down to the Hedgerow army and they all simultaneously lobbed their spell packets up and over the Hedgerow wall.
As the little bags struck the ground, they erupted in bright bursts of light and a bang that sounded like a thousand rifle shots. A commotion arose on the other side as anyone who was in the first quarter of the army was blinded by the magick cast in front of them.
“Aim for the head!” Evan quipped, pumping a few shots into the battlefield. He struck each and every target he aimed at as Pete blasted off a few rounds himself. Liam had left the tower and went to instruct Fae who were aiding with the magick on what to do next.
“We can do our best to cast and try to hold them back, but if they get in here—” Brighid was trying to be positive, but their Fomorian army far outnumbered the defenders of the Hedgerow.
“You just have to do what you can.” Liam assured her with a hand to the shoulder.
“Or you could let us Fae go out and do some fighting.” Ipswich ground his meaty fist into the palm of the other as he spoke.
“No one is to leave the commune. We all stay on the side that is safe.” Liam warned him not to stray.
Tam Lyn shook his head as he wielded a staff in one hand, “This isn’t going to end well.”
“Be optimistic. I need to get back to the tower to give further instructions to our defense.” Liam ended the conversation and set off towards the tower.
Screaming erupted from the other side once again as Ipswich lobbed an orb full of swarming bees in to the Fomorian crowd upon his exit.
“They are retreating to the back, but they still look like they’re going to launch those goblins over the walls. If they get in here, it’ll be chaos.” Evan knew how ruthless they were and made it known.
Liam bellowed in return, “Then aim for the goblins!”
Arrow after arrow began to rain from all directions in to the Fomorian army. More goblins were quickly executed, but where one was slain, two more appeared from the brush.
“So many goddamn goblins!” Evan cursed, picking off a few more.
“This isn’t working, Liam. You need to send Ipswich and some of the others out there. Styxx would slaughter a bunch of them.” Pete hollered as he blasted one of the Giants in the middle of the forehead and it went down like a fallen tree. A disgusting three armed creature emerged from the mass of Fae then and took its stance by the catapult, picking up a goblin in each hand.
“They’re going to fire!” Evan noticed the Giant raise a blade in the air to cut the rope on the weapon and called out in a panic.
They shot feverishly into the battlefield, but the opposition’s numbers kept multiplying and they couldn’t keep up.
Crack!
The rope to the catapult snapped and a singular goblin sailed through the air, cackling the whole way. It landed smack dab in the middle of the Hedgerow soldiers and panic broke out as it began attacking the nearest mortal it could find. Liam turned his attention to it as the three armed creature on the other side of the gates pitched one goblin after the other, over the Hedgerow walls. It was total chaos as no less than five of the diminutive creatures began to tear their way through the small army of the Hedgerow.
Evan reloaded his gun as he screamed, “They have a battering ram, Liam; looks like it may be made out of some sort of stone. They’re going to ram the Gates!” He began popping round after round into the trolls that carried the heavy ram to the main gates.
“Everyone get out of the way! Back away from the Gates!” Liam hollered down into the crowd as he fired off his revolver at a goblin, dropping it instantly.
However, no one could hear him through the commotion of battle confined within their own walls.
Bam!
The trolls rammed the gates; Evan had run out of rounds and Pete had gone to retrieve more so there was nothing they could do for the moment.
Bam! Bam! BAM!
Three more strikes with the battering ram and they could hear the splintering of the wood that held the gates closed. Liam had jumped into the crowd, trying to take down the goblins that were still sailing over the Hedgerow walls.
Bam! CraAaack!
The gates groaned as they bulged inward; the trolls had almost finished their job. Evan had now leapt down off the tower to assist Liam in pulling people back and killing the goblins that had made it into the commune.
A horrible crunching sound like shattering bone and lightning strikes exploded around them as the gates caved in and the battering ram sent a goblin sailing into the top of the giant Oak. Immediately, the opening in the gates flooded with Fomorians and Unseelie of all kinds as they began to lay waste to the peaceful community of the Hedgerow.
“Did you hear that?” Cassia’s face was plastered with fear as she leaned into Nissa for comfort.
Dani was standing by the window, training her ears to listen in on what was taking place, “That was the Gates. They’re in.”
“Oh, my God. What do we do?” LeAnna looked around her frantically for an answer.
“Liam said we are to take the horses and ride to the North.” Nissa replied as she helped Cassia stand and even offered her hand to LeAnna.
“Then you need to do that. Sneak out the back and get to the stables. It will take at least two of you to open the gates there, so you have to do it quickly. Take the trail and ride it till you see Whitmore.” Dani instructed, extracting her golden quill from her bag.
Cassia noted her noun usage in her commands, “Why do you keep saying you instead of we?”
“Because I’m staying here. You all need to take the Cauldron and get as far away from the Hedgerow as possible.” Dani lifted the relic from the table by the hall and slipped it carefully in to a wooden crate that had previously held mead. She sealed the top and passed it off to Nissa.
“Dani, we aren’t going to leave you.” Nissa fought with her, but she knew that it was going to end up this way.
“I can protect myself; you need to keep the Dagda’s waters safe. If they know I possess it, and I am sure they do, that will be the first thing they will come for. It cannot fall into the wrong hands.” Dani’s dominant side was showing as she demanded that Nissa and the others listen to her.
“Let’s go then! If we wait around here any longer we will be goblin food.” LeAnna interjected as she stood by the back door, waiting for Nissa and Cassia to come with her.
“Be safe, Danaye.” Nissa kissed her Guarded’s cheek as she crept out the back of the cottage and to the stables.
The sounds of screams and strange war calls met Dani’s ears as she hurriedly ran to the front gates. A goblin fell from the giant Oak and even though it was already dead, Dani cut it in half with her quill for good measure and kept charging forward.
All of her friends were mid-combat as she finally came to the battlefield. Tam Lyn and Ipswich were tag teaming two dwarves as they spun around each other, striking the Fae with their magick. Liam and Pete were cutting down goblin after goblin while Brighid and Styxx fought off a group of Night Elves.
Dani cut through Fae that she didn’t have time to identify when she saw Evan with Lugh’s spear, trying to force a three-armed Fomorian back outside the Gates. She rushed to help him, brushing past Liam as she did so.
“Dammit, Dani.” He cussed, signaling for Wesley to come assist Pete while he tried to keep her from sudden death.
Dani yelled out as she came down hard with her quilled sword on the top of the Fomorian’s head. It faltered for a second, leaning dangerously close to Evan, before straightening itself up and extracting the blade from its skull. Dani blasted the weapon from one of its hands and willed it back to her before preparing herself to strike again.
“You are not supposed to be out here!” Evan hollered over the roar of battle, striking the Fomorian in one of its arms.
It wailed loudly as Dani replied, “I couldn’t let you all defend me alone.”
She struck the Fomorian with her sword, piercing it up under the ribcage. It gurgled as she ripped it back, now mortally wounded by its magick.
“Dani!” Liam pulled her out of the way as one of the gigantic arms of the Fomorian slung hard into the ground; the impact creating a good sized crater in the packed earth below them.
“Where are the others?” Liam questioned her as he thrust his short sword into the face of the creature, finally downing it for good.
“I sent them off with the Cauldron; we can’t let it fall in to the wrong hands!” Dani returned while striking enemy after enemy, keeping her circle tight.
Screaming erupted from the West side of the Hedgerow as panic stricken citizens ran up one of the main paths, Spriggan chasing them the whole way.
“They’ve breached the West Gates!” A voice called out from the chaos as more and more Fomorian and Unseelie flooded into the Hedgerow.
“Dani, you have to get out of here.” Evan tried to convince her as he kept her close, back to back as they hacked and slashed their way through the enemy.
“I can’t leave you—” Dani paused in her statement and reworded it, “I can’t leave any of you.” She ducked as a Spriggan launched a spear at her, just missing the top of her head.
“Not her! Don’t harm a hair on that Halfling’s head!” Dani heard Bres’ voice echo from the field outside the Gates, alerting her to his presence.
“He’s here.” She breathed. Dani hadn’t expected him to do his own dirty work; he must have been taking orders from someone higher up.
“You need to go—now!” Evan yelled as he pulled her away from the fighting and grasped for her hand before the two ran back towards the stables and hopefully safety.
“You’ve got to leave; find Cassia and the others and get as far away as you can. We won’t let them come for you.” Evan ordered Dani as he fit her rucksack on her back and entered the stables to get her a horse.
“There are no horses.” He exclaimed, surprised to find the stalls completely empty.
Dani was breathing heavily as she replied, “Maybe they escaped in all the chaos.” It seemed that she may have to go out on foot.
“This isn’t possible. There were at least six horses in here.” Evan was starting to panic a little as he looked around him for something that could whisk her to safety. Dani couldn’t just walk out the gates and expect to be safe. He had to find some sort of transportation that could take her far away from there.
Ask and ye shall receive. Merlyn’s voice echoed in both their heads as if he had been somehow listening in the whole time.
In a flash of pale blue light, the silvered unicorn from Dani’s Trial of Wisdom appeared just outside the open gates.
“Is that—is that a unicorn?” Evan was gob-smacked as he stared on at the majestic creature. He shouldn’t have been surprised that they existed too, but he was none the less.
“Yes. We’ve met before.” Dani acknowledged him as she walked quickly over to the unicorn and began stroking its hide. Evan watched as it whinnied, snorting as she explained to him the dire situation they were in.
“He said he’ll take me wherever I need to go.” Dani informed him. She now had transportation away from the battle, but it didn’t make her want to leave any less.
“Good. Get on and ride as far away as you can. You hear me? Take her out as far as you can and don’t let her come back. We will find you when it’s safe; we’ll send Brighid.” Evan locked eyes with the unicorn as he spoke; its own swirled with silver as it jerked its head up and down in agreement.
Dani mounted the steed and prepared herself for the intense speeds at which the unicorn traveled, but she was still hesitant about leaving everyone behind.
“Find the others and stay close to them. Bres wants you badly and if he got his hands on you or the
Cauldron—” Evan seemed to be coming apart at the seams, unable to finish his sentence.
“I’ll be alright. Just make sure that you take care of everyone left behind.” Dani extended her hand to him, their fingertips touching. This was the first she had really gotten to speak to him since she came back from the Trials and she was already having to leave him again. She wanted to tell him about her final Trial with the Cauldron and try to convey how she felt, but the words just wouldn’t come. Fear had her frozen in place, her fingers slowly slipping away from his.
“I will. Now go. Go!” Evan smacked the flanks of the unicorn and in a bright flash, it and Dani were gone.
“This does not look good.” Dani whispered to herself as she and the unicorn, who had finally introduced himself as Amarith, had been following the scent of her friends when they came to a very dense wood.
The unicorn whinnied and pulled back from the edge of the tree line; he wasn’t any keener on going in there than she was.
“We have to go in there, though. That’s where Cassia and Nissa are.” Dani had hopped down from Amarith’s back and began carefully leading him into the forest as she spoke softly with encouragement.
It was almost completely dark under the canopy of Spring foliage that sprouted meters upon meters into the sky. Dani didn’t want to stay in there any longer than she needed to, but they had to find the women and keep themselves safe until Brighid came for them.
Amarith nudged her with his nose back onto the trail as her eyes adjusted to the darkness around them. She caught the scent of smoke up ahead, curling into the sky where the trees broke. Dani could smell that it wasn’t just a bonfire, but someone’s indoor cooking fire.
“You want me to follow the smoke?” She asked. Amarith had prodded Dani again, directing her towards where the smoke was coming from.
She looped her fingers in his mane and followed him as he hopefully led her towards her friends.
Amarith directed Dani to a beautiful log cabin adorned with creeping ivies and Morning Glory vines along with a garden ripe with fresh flowers already. The smoke still curled from its chimney; the scent of cooked venison washing over that side of the forest.
“Do I just knock, or—” Dani turned to Amarith for an answer, but he had stayed put near the creek that ran between the path and the cabin. She shrugged and crossed the little bridge over the water, walked casually to the front door, and knocked. She prepared herself for several scenarios, but wasn’t expecting who answered the door.
“Dani, you made it safe.” Merlyn reached out and hugged her tightly as he stood at the threshold of the door.
“What are you doing here?” She sounded winded as she asked while Merlyn kept his tight grip on her.
“I came to visit a friend and we happened to run across some people you may know.” He backed away from the door to reveal Nissa, LeAnna, and Cassia sitting around a crude wooden table.
“Oh, thank Gods!” Cassia vaulted from her seat as soon as she saw her friend and tugged Dani to her in another tight embrace.
“What are the odds that she found us?” LeAnna sounded like she was less than pleased to see her, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary.
It was Nissa’s turn to hug her Guarded as she answered the rhetorical question, “Pretty damn good odds apparently.”
Coincidence was nothing to Dani now; she knew that there were far more complicated things than that.
“Let me take you to see my friend; I think you’re really going to like him.” Merlyn interrupted the hug and led Dani out back of the log cabin into the lushest backyard that put the one at her old house to shame. Any and every herb, flower, and tree seemed to sprawl out all around the house in row after row of raw, organic life. She could even see all kinds of fruits and vegetables planted far off in the distance.
Dani could have sworn that there had only been trees right behind the home, but now all she saw was rolling green hills and plenty of flat land to plant whatever a person desired.
“We’re obviously not in the Earthly realm.” Merlyn chuckled at Dani’s slack-jawed look.
“Of course we aren’t.” She uttered dumbfounded as she walked forward, sniffing a white rose that was easily the size of her hand. She could have gotten lost out there: snacking on blackberries, crushing lavender buds between her fingers, taking shelter under a willow while she took in a good book. It was like heaven on Earth.
“I see you must’ve found her, Merlyn.” A man spoke as he emerged from a peach grove, wiping his hands of moist soil.
He was built like Dani thought a God would be: his thick waist and shoulders were bare as they tapered down into long muscular legs that peeked out from underneath a kilt. His hair was even fierier than Tam Lyn’s; if that was even possible. The beard on his face was kept short and manageable, while the rest of the hair on his head was braided back at the ears and pulled into a bun.
“She found us. I knew she would; she had Amarith after all.” Merlyn smiled at the statuesque figure that finally came to a halt in front of them.
“That unicorn is something else.” The God smiled. The orange stubble of his face glinted in the sunlight as he turned up the corners of his mouth. Dani couldn’t help but wonder what was with all the ridiculously attractive Fae that she kept encountering.
`“Dani, this is Nuada.” Merlyn introduced her. She absentmindedly extended her hand for him to shake, but he held her hand instead and gently kissed the top of it.
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’ lady.” His voice had this slight gruffness to it that Dani thought was rather arousing. He was quite possibly one of the most attractive men she had even seen; even more beautiful than Bres. Dani couldn’t find the words to respond and instead made an odd throaty sound and averted her eyes to the green grass below her.
“Shy and humble; I do love those qualities in a person. You don’t have to feel so awkward, by the way. I promise I am just a man, like the rest of you.” Nuada winked at her before he wandered off to pick fat, ripe blackberries from a nearby bush.
“Your garden is just magnificent.” Dani breathed, reaching out to touch the thorns on the blackberry bush.
“Why thank you. This area is prime soil in the Otherworld.” Nuada returned, plucking a berry before he handed it to Dani to taste. She bit into it; the dark juice running down her chin before she licked it up. It was quite possibly the sweetest, ripest berry she had ever had the pleasure of tasting.
“This is incredible.” Dani popped the other half in her mouth and finished savoring it as she spoke.
“Dagda taught me a thing or two, plus he let me have access to the Cauldron’s waters from that creek in the front. No one is any the wiser either; I’m pretty much left alone out here, save for the visits from good ole’ Merlyn.” Nuada clapped the wizard on the back with his broad hand.
“We can grow food like this at the Hedgerow?” Dani was amazed that the Cauldron’s waters had birthed all of this and made it known.
“Yes. That Cauldron is capable of amazing things.” Nuada confirmed before he led them up a hill to a naturally formed bench under a gigantic Oak. The scene struck a chord in Dani; the tree seemed oddly familiar to her.
“Are we still in England?” Dani queried, looking quizzically at the tree that enveloped a large expanse of the hilltop. She turned around to look back down the hill; the house wasn’t familiar, nor the garden, but the sprawl of land was.
“No; not on this side. Most of the front half, yes—but the back is on Emerald Isle land. I liked the tree coverage on that side, but this area has nostalgia for me.” Nuada smiled, sitting down on the sturdy bench made of tree root.
They were in Ireland…
Dani’s dreams had been there too; she could tell by the landscape around her. Was this the field that she ran through in her sleep; the tree that she would climb to just so she could view what was on the other side?
She never got to see the other side, though.
If anyone had been talking to her, Dani sure didn’t hear it. Something inside of her took over and pulled her towards the very peak of the hill where she would finally be able to see what was on the other side. Surely it wouldn’t be the yawning cavern of anguish that she had seen on more than one occasion. What was trying to keep her from getting to the answers?
“Dani? Where are you going?” Nuada turned in his seat as he watched the woman slowly climb to the ridge, her eyes focused forward.
“She’s going where her soul leads her.” Merlyn craned his neck, making sure he had a good view of Dani’s ascent.
The peak was right there; a few more steps and she’d be at the top where she could finally figure out what she was missing out on.
Her booted foot hit the very summit of the hill, and as she brought her other foot in to rest beside it, she could finally see what lay at the bottom of the other side.
