THE MORRIGAN CHRONICLES

BRIAN AND DAUR accompanied us on the ride to the Great Oak. Daur kept us entertained with his lively stories. Without him we surely would have ridden in silence.

We dismounted and I handed the reins to them.

“Brian, I’m not sure how long we’ll be. Pray the Creator we’re back in time. Continue trainings and counsel the King in my absence,” I said then turned to Daur. “You keep my children ready. You hear me?”

He laughed and kissed my hand. “Anything for you, my Queen.” Then he picked me up and hugged me.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Emrys said, standing next to Neil.

I took the lead and walked through the Great Oak. Emrys took Neil’s arm and led him through.

We exited into New York City. We were in a park. It was dark but still there were people about.

“Emrys, mirage,” I barked.

“Done,” he replied.

“What’s that all about?” Neil asked, turning to me.

“We’re decked out in leathers and swords. The humans will see us as just three forgettable figures walking through the streets. I can create my own mirage but Emrys needs to create yours,” I answered.

We walked to The Blood Moon, less than a mile away. I was amazed at how vast the city seemed. I had seen it on television of course, but experiencing it was a wonder I wasn’t prepared for. Standing across the street we could see a line of humans waiting to get in that wound around the building. It seemed a seedy part of town to have this large a crowd. There were no other businesses open in the area. From the outside it looked to be a large warehouse. The Blood Moon sign was in neon, offering the only color on the grey façade.

The music could be heard from the outside. Techno. It was awful. I dreaded having to walk in and hear it at full volume. Hopefully the smell would be better, because the street reeked of garbage, urine and filth.

We walked to the doorman, cutting in line. There were some yells from the crowd but Emrys got us in without incident.

Inside the music thumped. Years of alcohol being sloshed onto the floor and rarely cleaned permeated the air. It was dark with only red lights illuminating the large space. The place was massive. There was an area with a long bar that had at least twenty bartenders. In front of the bar, couches and chairs were filled with people partying. The dance floor was the size of our great dining hall and was elbow to elbow with people dancing.

Emrys shouted as loud as he could to me, “How are we going to find a person we don’t even know in this crowd?”

“Let’s go to the bar and get a drink. I’ll figure something out.” I winked

We made our way through the crowd. The closer we got to the bar the more it became apparent. Emrys and I shared a glance.

Neil noticed. “What? What’s wrong?”

I answered, “The bartenders are all vampires.” Neil mumbled. “Now what?”

“Like I said, let’s get a drink.” I shrugged.

Of course Emrys had to know I knew the answer to his question so I assume he asked for Neil’s sake. “You realize the mirage won’t work on

vampires. They will see us in leathers and with swords.” “Uh huh,” I replied.

“Sometimes I ask myself why I always come with you on these quests.

I suppose I’m a glutton for punishment.” Emrys rolled his eyes as he spoke.

“It’s because I’m great fun.” I smiled.

My head pounded with the bass. How anyone could spend hours in this place on purpose for fun was beyond me.

One of the vampire bartenders saw us before we could get to the bar. He said something to a couple of the others. One scurried off and the other two came out from behind the bar to meet us.

The shorter of the two vampires said, “We know who you are. You’ve been hunting our kind for the past year. You’re fools for coming here.” Before I could reply there were eight other vampires surrounding us.

The smug short one spoke again, “You’re outmatched this time. Our King has told us what you are. Tuatha? Is that what you’re called?”

They all laughed. I kept my face placid, as did Emrys. I could see Neil seething but he followed our lead and kept calm.

“There are only three of you. You won’t make it out of here alive. But before we kill you I’m going to take you to our King. He may want to question you first,” he said with a smug grin. Then he leaned in and poked his fangs out. “Once he’s done with you, I will drain you personally.”

We still said nothing. I enjoy the witty banter between two rivals in movies, but in reality it’s best to say nothing. Take their head when you can.

“Don’t make a scene, and follow me. If you make one wrong move we’ll kill you,” he said, looking at Emrys this time.

Emrys played with his fingernail and nodded.

We wound through the crowd to the back where there was a staircase roped off. Two werewolves guarded it.

I raised an eyebrow at Emrys. He spoke in my mind. “Well I guess you got us the audience with their King that we’d been looking for. Still doesn’t get us any closer to finding the clown we need to meet in order to get us to the Godless. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I was winging it, of course. Praying that whomever we were supposed to find might find us. Hopefully we would live long enough for that to happen.

The werewolves kept their eyes trained on us. Though they were in human form I could see the hair on the back of their necks rise. They wanted to take our throats but showed restraint. They followed orders.

We climbed stairs that opened up into a waiting room of sort. The carpet was red and the walls gilded, covered in Baroque artwork. At the other end were large double doors, the golden handles shaped like serpents. It was ostentatious and gaudy.

The short one turned and ordered, “Remove your weapons. And no

tricks.”

“No,” I replied.

He looked stunned. They looked at one another, unsure of what to do.

I could feel the challenged ego of the vampire flare. He stepped closer, baring his fangs at me. “Bitch I said remove your weap—”

Before he could finish his sentence I unsheathed one of my shorter swords and took his head. The others hesitated. Before they could react and this ended in disaster, I placed it back into the sheath and said, “We will not remove our weapons, but as guests we will wait to see your King.” I took two steps to the black leather couch and sat.

Emrys nonchalantly sauntered over and sat next to me, grabbing a magazine off the table. Neil shook his head, gathering his wits, and walked over to the couch, tripping over his foot once.

One of the vampires went through the double doors. The rest stood on the balls of their feet waiting for us to attack. Occasionally they would look at the pile of ashes their friend had disintegrated into.

I kept my face blank but was on alert. I knew Emrys was as well, but he was flipping through the magazine. He broke the silence by ripping out a page. I looked at him as if he were insane.

He shrugged. “It’s a recipe for jambalaya and it looks really good.”

I looked over at Neil to gauge how he was holding up. He looked tense and was forcing himself to remain still. I could sense he wanted to draw his sword and start fighting. He was young and inexperienced, he needed to learn patience.

The double doors opened. When I saw who walked through, my blank mask dropped for a second and I struggled to replace it. Cian, son of the King of the Fomoire. My ultimate nemesis.

Emrys was folding the recipe he had torn out and placing it in his pocket. His eyes bugged out for a moment then he looked at me. I only shrugged.

He spoke into my mind. “What the frak?”

I couldn’t help it, a small smile pulled at one side of my mouth.

Cian strode across the room as if he were greeting dinner guests. He was as tall as Emrys. I’ve known him hundreds of years and faced him many times in battle. He was smart and fierce and arguably better with a sword than me. I’d never been able to defeat him, only escape, hoping to live another day to take his head.

He wore black trousers that flowed down his long legs and a black shirt that covered his lean muscles. The last time I saw him his black hair came to his shoulders. The day of the great battle before we were put into our long sleep. It was now cut short, making his sharp jawline more prominent.

He smiled warmly as he approached. We all rose from the couch. Cian extended his hand to me, his ice blue eyes bored into mine as he said, “Hello there, long lost friend. Long lost enemy. I am nothing more than a memory.”

The words. The words that were there when Emrys had been released from the long sleep. The words I had memorized and poured over hundreds of times. The words left by the person who awoke Emrys. The words from the one who had saved us. He was the one we were to find.

I felt Emrys open a communication connection between us. I let him.

Cian shook my hand, and in it placed something. I needn’t look. I could tell what it was. It was a stone. It was the stone. The one that would get us into the land of the Godless.

I took my hand away and put it in my pocket, keeping the stone safe. I could feel Emrys and Neil staring at me. I couldn’t peel my eyes from Cian’s. I couldn’t move.

“Morrigan, does any of this make sense? Is Cian helping us or helping to kill us? He’s the guy we’re supposed to find? Does any of this make sense to you?” Emrys said into my mind.

I was still recovering from seeing him. I couldn’t reply to Emrys.

I felt Neil sense something was off, but he remained poised.

Cian said, without looking away from me, “Please come in. The King would like to speak with you.”

We followed Cian. The remainder of the vampires followed us in.

The King sat at a desk at the far end of the long room. Like the garish décor of the lobby, it was large and ornately carved. Shelves were lined with rare artifacts and it looked more like a museum than an office.

Four werewolves were on each side of the King. They looked like statues flanking their master. The King stayed seated. He was handsome. His olive skin, dark hair and sharp features made me think him to be of Italian descent. He had on an expensively tailored grey suit with a blood red tie that stood out against his crisp starched white shirt. He looked like one would imagine a vampire King would. I wondered to myself if he poured over every vampire movie ever made to make sure he looked the part, or if he created this look of his own accord.

He spoke and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t in an Italian accent. “You have killed many, many of our kind. Why do you come here today? Are you here to kill more of us?”

We stood four feet away from his desk. There were no chairs between

us. Cian leaned against a shelf next to one of the werewolves. The vampires stayed back by the door. There were no windows. Emrys, Neil and myself were trapped in a room with a vampire King, seven vampires, eight werewolves, and the greatest Fomoire warrior that ever lived. The situation was bleak, to say the least.

“We came here for a drink, actually,” I answered. “We were unaware that this was your place, or that vampires and werewolves would be crawling all over it.”

His dark brown eyes were furious, though he showed no expression on his face. He might be a very old vampire, but I wagered I was older. He was not as practiced at masking his thoughts as I was.

His smile was disingenuous. “You say you came here for a drink? I think you came here to kill me. My Prime has taught me all about you Tuatha. You are arrogant and think yourselves to be better than us, but that’s where you’re wrong. There aren’t that many of you, and we are many. More than you can imagine. We were unprepared before, but now we are not. You will no longer hunt us down.”

The King paused before continuing his seemingly well-rehearsed speech. Cian pulled two samurai swords off the wall, one with each hand, and took the heads of the four werewolves he was standing next to in two fluid slashes.

He looked at me and yelled, “Get the wolves before they shift! Emrys, wall!”

Emrys created a magical wall between us and the vampires that had guarded the door. They dashed forward and smacked into it. I pulled my shorter swords and was on the wolves, Neil at my side.

I slashed through the neck of the werewolf closest to me. Black blood squirted out all over me as his body turned to ash. The wolf next to him lunged at me, beginning to shift. I stabbed both swords into his chest, keeping him from reaching me, as Neil used his sword to behead him.

Though Neil and I worked well as a team, we were not quick enough. The two werewolves remaining had time to shift. They were as massive as I remembered the ones in New Orleans to be. The lifeless, blood red eyes looked at me as their lips curled up over the large canines. One let out a howl. A warning to the others.

The larger of the wolves jumped at Neil and me. We parted. The wolves were smart. They were trying to separate us. Neil now stood next to Emrys. I found myself next to Cian. The King stayed out of the fight but did finally get out of his chair. He had his back against the wall.

I aimed one sword at Cian and the other at the werewolf.

Cian rolled his eyes then readied his swords at the wolf. He grinned as he said, “Really Morrigan? You couldn’t fight both of us at the same time. You know I would win.” He paused and grinned even wider. “Lucky for you I’m here to save you.”

My anger swelled but I fell in beside Cian. The wolf leapt at us. Cian and I separated so the wolf was between us. We drove our swords deep into its side. The wolf didn’t react. If he felt pain he didn’t show it. His large mouth seemed to unhinge, making it abnormally wide, and bit at me. I swung one of my swords through his neck. I misjudged how tough he was. The sword only made it halfway through and stuck. I used the other sword to stab through the other side. He moved quickly so it barely pierced him. His teeth steadily gnashed at me. My right hand was on the sword lodged halfway through his neck and I was working the sword in my left hand trying to get a shot, any shot, at the other side of his neck. I needed leverage but I couldn’t get far enough back without letting go with my right hand. The second I did that, he would have his teeth in my neck.

I looked back to see if Emrys could be of any help. Neil was steadily landing shots with his long sword into the wolf they were battling, but like this one, it didn’t slow nor show any pain. Emrys had his sword out, making no more headway than Neil.

Cian appeared on the back of the beast I faced. He stood as if he were king of the mountain looking down at my struggle. The teeth were getting closer as I was losing ground. The heat from the beast’s breath radiated onto my face. It smelled of rotten flesh.

Cian seemed to enjoy the predicament. “Would you like my help now, love?”

“Yes, now would be good,” I answered impatiently.

Cian twirled his sword a few times then winked. His cocky grin melted into the hardened lines I was used to seeing. He gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and swung with all of his strength. The head was severed. Gallons of black blood gushed over me as I fell onto my back. My hands were still on my swords. The body of the wolf turned to ash.

I was about to stand up when Cian appeared, standing gallantly in front

of me. Not a drop of blood on him nor a hair out of place. He extended his hand to help me up.

I was about to accept it, worn from struggling so long when he said,

“I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress.”

I put my hand on the ground and kicked my leg out, sweeping his legs from beneath him. He landed hard on his back. Right in the ashes.

I stood and muttered, “You’re a douchebag,” to Cian. He laughed and sat up, dusting himself off.

I turned to help Emrys and Neil to see them standing above a pile of ash as well. We had defeated the werewolves.

The vampire King stood motionless. I’m sure he was hoping we had forgotten about him. The other vampires, still behind the invisible wall Emrys had put up, pounded helplessly, trying to save their King. Or just to kill us. Probably a little of both.

I was soaked in the black ooze and the smell of sulfur and death curled my nose. Emrys walked up to me, shaking his head.

“I know this is the only reason you ask me to come on these outings with you,” he said, snapping his fingers, returning me to my clean self.

Cian walked up next to me and said, “Brother how about a little help for me? I’m covered in werewolf ash. It’s disgusting.” Emrys glared at Cian and retorted, “It suits you.”

Neil stood next to Emrys. He only had a few drops of the blood on him. He looked at me. “Are you okay, Morrigan?”

“She is, thanks to me,” Cian answered for me.

Before Cian could unnerve me I turned my attention to the vampire King and raised my sword to his neck. “Emrys, can you take his memories?”

“Let’s see,” he answered, walking to the vampire.

“You will die. You will all die. You have no idea how powerful the Prime is. You can kill me but he will defeat you in the end. We are his creation.” The vampire was beginning to panic.

I had both swords to his neck crisscrossing each other, one on each side. Emrys placed his hands on the vampire’s head. Both of their eyes went white. No matter how many times I’d seen this done it gave me the creeps.

Cian looked at the invisible wall holding the other vampires back. The door that we entered into the room was now open. Werewolves and vampires were piling in. The arrogance had left his voice as he said, “We need to hurry and get out of here.” He turned to me. “You still have the stone?”

I nodded, looking between Emrys and the invisible wall. Hoping that he could manage to hold it while sifting the memories of the vampire.

The seconds dragged but the color returned to their eyes and the connection broke. Emrys stepped back and nodded to me.

Without hesitation I removed the vampire’s head.

Neil let out a small involuntary gasp. I suppose he wasn’t expecting it. The vampires and werewolves were in a frenzy and were piling on top of one another from floor to ceiling trying to get through the wall.

Cian broke the silence. “We need to get out of here. Emrys, any chance you can blast through this back wall? It will open up to the outside of the building. We can hoof it from there.”

Emrys looked insulted. “You know damn well I can blast through this wall. But the better question is why in the hell do you think I’m going to let a Fomoire come with us?”

Cian’s temper danced around the edges of his icy eyes as he said, “By the Creator I saved you, Emrys. I found a way to raise you so that you could raise the Tuatha. We don’t have time to go into all of this right now. I’ll tell you what I know when we don’t have a few hundred vampires and werewolves waiting to rip us to shreds.”

Emrys was close to losing his temper as well, gauging by the steel in his voice. “You might have saved us, but I know you, Cian. It was for your own gain. I don’t know what it is yet that you want. But I know with everything that I am that you have an angle you’re working. You gave Morrigan the stone. Give us the Cup of Plenty and we’ll be on our way.”

Cian’s cocky grin returned. He rubbed his hands over the stubble of his square jaw. He unbuttoned the cuffs of his sleeve. His eyes twinkled as he said, “Geez, Emrys I’d love to do that and all but oh wait…”

He rolled his right sleeve up to his elbow. On his forearm was the tattoo of a chalice.

He continued, “Looks like the Cup of Plenty has been magically tucked away, to be released by me only when I see fit. And I think I will see it fit when we’re in the land of the Godless.”

Emrys’ eyes bugged out of his head. “Who said anything about going to the land of the Godless?”

My swords were drawn in an instant as were Neil’s. We stayed ready.

Emrys said, “We knew we were to find someone here who had the stone and the Cup of Plenty. But how did you know our plan? We only just came up with it.”

Cian had perfected the half grin he gave. I’m sure every woman he met melted at it. I wanted to smack it off his face. He acted as though he didn’t have swords within inches of his neck. He answered, “You have your ways, I have mine. You think Druantia is the only enlightened one in all the realms? While she may have told you to come find the person with the stone and cup. I have my source that said I would need to free you. By the way, why did it take you so long to awaken the Tuatha?” He shook his head for effect. The asshole. He went on, “And that when all the pieces were in place the Tuatha would seek me out so that we can go on a great adventure

to the Godless. That way we can get the swords and build an army and defeat the evil and all live happily ever after.”

The man made my skin crawl. He was condescending and above all else, I didn’t trust him. He would betray us and kill us at his first opportunity. But we had no choice.

I ordered, “Emrys blast a hole in the wall. We make a run for the Great Oak and enter the land of the Godless. He’s coming with us, apparently.”

Neither Neil nor Emrys protested. Cian looked defiantly at Emrys as if he’d won.

I stepped so close to Cian that an outsider might think we were about to kiss. I looked up into his eyes and quietly vowed, “I will not hesitate to kill you, Cian. Do not give me reason.”

His face appeared genuine, with no smugness present as he answered, “I swear to you Morrigan, Queen of Tuatha, I will not betray you or your people. I am at your service.”

The fact was, he appeared to be telling the truth. His being so genuine unnerved me. I couldn’t tell when the man was lying.

Emrys blasted a hole into the wall behind the vampire King’s desk. He grabbed Neil and jumped out of the second story into the ally. Cian and I turned to see the vampires and werewolves leave the invisible wall and race out the door. We jumped into the alley.

“We’re gonna have company in a minute. Can you give Neil speed to keep up?” I asked Emrys.

“Done.” He said in a flick of his wrist.

The four of us raced towards the Great Oak. The streets were empty except for a few people and we no longer had our mirage. Though a few hundred vampires and werewolves barreling behind us I suppose would draw more attention than the four of us.

I was thankful Emrys had given Neil increased speed. I only hoped it would last. I was pushing myself past my own limits. I didn’t risk looking back. I didn’t need to. I could feel them close behind us.

Cian yelled between his gasps for air. “Emrys, one more favor to ask. Think you can recall what my battle gear looked like and could help a fella out now?”

Emrys boomed, “You are out of favors today but seeing as how we may need to fight our way through this, I’ll do this for us not you.”

He flung his hand and Cian was dressed as I had always remembered him. Gone were the modern clothes and shoes. He wore the strange mixture of black leather with the darkest blue fish scales. I knew the Fomoire all wore this, as an homage to the seas in which they ruled. Cian like most Fomoire had the blackest of hair and blue eyes. The coloring complimented him, and he knew it. His boots were black and lined full of knives. His long sword was fastened to his back and his whip curled onto his hip. Besides his hair being shorter and his stubble at the perfect length due to modern beard trimmers, he looked the way I remembered. Lethal.

Cian spoke as we ran. “Morrigan, you have the stone. You will need to go in first. We all need to be holding hands to enter the land of the Godless. If we break contact, even for a second, anyone other than Morrigan will be lost between realms.”

Neil tried unsuccessfully to keep the concern from his voice. “What does that mean?”

Cian’s sense of humor had returned, “I just told you dumbass. Where did you find this guy?”

“Shut up!” I ordered.

We were nearing the Great Oak. We should have been relieved to see it but our hopes were sunk in an instant. In front of the Great Oak were at least a hundred vampires. I glanced back as we ran. Though there were more vampires than werewolves, the werewolves were all behind us. They were far more deadly.

I formulated a plan. “Emrys, can you put a barrier up behind us? Cian and I will fight through the vampires to get us to the Great Oak.”

Emrys didn’t look insulted I was asking about his skill and ability. He was calculating if he could do it. “I can’t put up a wall but what I can do is create a bubble. A cage around us and the vampires in front of us with the Great Oak inside as well. I will have to focus on keeping the bubble intact. Neil, you will have to fend off any vampires that get near me while Morrigan and Cian take out the rest.”

We were getting close, this was going to have to work. Neil spoke up, “Morrigan and Cian can’t take out that many vampires. I’ve gone on dozens of missions to clear vampire nests. Two can’t defeat that many. I need to help.”

Cian spoke up, “You haven’t much faith in us have you boy?”

We were only yards away. I put as much firmness into my voice as I could. “Neil, do as you’re told. Protect Emrys. Do not let any vampires that may get past Cian and I live.”

“Morrigan you’ll die!” Neil pleaded.

My heart ached for half a beat. I didn’t know if his concern was really for me or for us all to get out of this situation. Once, I would have thought it to be because he cared about me.

Cian laughed as we slowed down and turned to me, “He’s never seen you fight has he?”

“I’ve seen her fight plenty asshole. This is a suicide mission.” Neil spat.

“Easy boys I need to focus.” Emrys said. His face held determination and calmness. I was enamored at how he was able to put himself in such a state when there was so much chaos around. He threw his hands up and electricity hit the air and sparked. A large bubble enclosed us. Emrys stayed at the farthest point away from the Great Oak, holding up the shield. Hundreds of werewolves and vampires hit it but it held. They clawed, bit and kicked at it. I knew Emrys was working hard and that this wouldn’t hold forever. The vampires in front of the Great Oak were confused but only for a moment.

I turned to Neil, “I mean it. Anything that gets past us you kill it. Emrys can’t take his focus away for a moment or we’re all dead.”

Neil’s eyes were soft as he looked into mine. A look I’d seen so many times and never took for granted. It hurt to have him look at me now. He nodded and spoke, “I promise Morrigan. I promise I will. But you…”

“Oh God…this is absolutely awful and pathetic.” Cian interrupted. “Sit

back and watch how the grownups do it. She’ll be fine. She’s got me!” He shot Neil a spectacularly white toothy grin.

Neil’s eyes slanted but before he could say anything the vampires started to advance.

“OK Cian, let’s see if you have gotten rusty over the years. I was only asleep. You have been sitting around getting fat and hanging out with vampires.” I said pulling my swords.

“Red, try to keep up.” He winked.

The vampires stopped short of us. One in the center spoke. “You will pay for what you have done!”

I looked to Cian with a puzzled expression on my face. He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “These days your enemy wants to trash talk first before a battle. I blame Hollywood. I miss the days when you just went into

battle. No pressure on having to match wits.”

I nodded and stifled a chuckle. Ok I didn’t stifle it but I tried.

The enraged vampires rushed us at once. I pulled upon all the magic I had and prayed to the Creator he would gift me with even more. I could feel Cian doing the same. Fomoire and Tuatha are cousins. We were created with the same strengths and skills though ours favored the land while the Fomoire favored the sea.

The vampires had speed but brought no weapons. They only had their fangs. Cian and I spread out a bit further, giving one another room. The first wave descended upon me. Not having to block swords I was surprised at how fast I was. I sliced through necks the second I had the opening. I didn’t check on Cian, I knew he would be fine.

I wasn’t having to move too much since the vampires were coming to me. I saw five rush past me towards Emrys and Neil. I knelt down and jumped as hard as I could doing a backflip landing in front of Neil and between the vampires. I took their heads and rushed back to the mass.

I heard Emrys, “Morrigan, I can’t hold it much longer. Hurry!”

I was making progress as was Cian but we weren’t half way through the vampires. There were still about fifty left.

“Cian!” I shouted. “Emrys doesn’t have long. We need to join.”

I didn’t trust Cian and joining was rarely used. Once we did, we would be bound to each other’s emotions for about a day and completely drained of energy. Essentially we would have to rest a full day, feeling what the other felt, in the land of the Godless. I knew it was a terrible idea but we couldn’t take on two hundred more enemies, especially the wolves if the bubble failed.

Cian and I kept battling the vampires slowly making our way to one another until we were side by side.

“You ready?” He yelled.

I wasn’t. He saw the hesitation. “You are worried you will fall in love with me aren’t you Red?”

My stomach churned. He was extremely handsome and knew it. He was slimy like the black seaweed he came from.

“You’re an ass! Let’s do this.” I said as I grabbed his hand.

We pulled our magic and bound it together. Our other hands had to momentarily drop our swords and aim it at the vampires. A deep boom, like the sound barrier being broken sounded and our power shot out in front of us. The gold and blue light we created in our joining radiated into each vampire turning them to ash.

We both fell to the ground. I held Cian’s hand, mostly trying to hold onto my consciousness.

I felt Neil pick me up. I knew it was Neil by how I fit. I let my head fall against his chest. I soaked in his smell. I was awake still. But barely.

Emrys was holding the bubble walking towards us. Towards the Great Oak. Making the bubble smaller with each step, keeping us safe inside.

Emrys spoke, “Neil, get the stone out of Morrigan’s pocket. You hold her, I’ll hold your hand, and I’ll carry Cian over my shoulder. We need to step through the Great Oak quickly. I’m about to lose the shield.”

I saw Emrys throw Cian over his shoulder. The scent and warmth of Neil. Of being in his arms. Feeling that familiar comfort, I drifted off to sleep.