THE MORRIGAN CHRONICLES

WE WALKED IN silence. Well almost silence, Emrys had opened up a link between our minds and I relayed Cian’s dreams.

Neil pulled us away from our conversation. “Are we sure we’re headed in the right direction? We’ve been walking for what must be half a day and still there’s nothing. I can see for miles and nothing. The damn sun doesn’t even move in this place.”

I expected Emrys to answer Neil, but Cian spoke up, “You really aren’t that bright, are you? There are no Gods here. The sun stopped in the sky where it was when the Gods were killed. The realm is frozen in place.”

Emrys couldn’t help smiling as he said, “I’m sure we’re going in the right direction. We’ve been traveling almost a full day, by the way. We might as well stop here and rest.”

We sat and I stretched out my tight muscles. Cian had acted his normal smartass self but he hadn’t looked me in the eye all day. I’m sure he, like me, wondered what I had seen in his dreams.

“Can I have a drink?” I asked Cian.

He closed his eyes, waved his hand over the tattoo of the cup, mumbling some words, and opened his palm. He handed me the Cup.

“This is the Cup of Plenty?” I said, observing the ornate knot work on it.

“The one and only.” He winked

I lifted it to my lips and tipped my head back. Water flowed from it and I drank until I was quenched. I passed it to Emrys.

“And how did you say you came to be in possession of it?” I asked, smiling, knowing he wouldn’t tell me.

He smirked. “Oh Red, your charms won’t work on me.”

He was a slimebag and maybe it was the empathy I felt for him, but I laughed.

Emrys decided to join in. “Come now, she has no charm.” Then he kicked at my boot playfully.

I couldn’t resist. “Apparently you’re the one with all the charm. Why, I had no idea you’ve had a love affair going on for what? Centuries? You’ve been holding out on me,” I teased, remembering him and Druantia.

He gave me a look, warning me not to reveal too much. I knew better than to do that, but I rarely had a card to play against him and it felt good for a change.

Emrys passed the Cup to Neil then stretched his arms above his head. “So Cian, now that we have a bit of time to kill why don’t you fill us in on how you came to be friends with the Vampire King.”

We all looked at Cian. He looked calm as ever and started, “See, so what happened was—”

“Stop,” I said. “Cut the bull and tell the truth, or by the Creator I will end you this instant.”

“Simmer down, Red.” He smiled as he took the cup back from Neil and pushed it against his forearm, returning it to the tattoo. “Okay. Cards on the table, I suppose.” He sighed and his face became serious. “Long story short, after you were put to sleep, Artaius turned on us. There was a team of us away on a quest. An unsanctioned quest actually. When we returned all of our people were dead. There are only thirty-seven Fomoire in existence now.”

Emrys and I knew this to be true from the dream I had seen. But it didn’t make sense so I asked, “Wait… now? If that was over a thousand years ago why haven’t your numbers grown?

Cian shook his head. “We’ve never been able to reproduce since. I don’t have an explanation, other than the damn Gods, possibly. Anyway, we went into hiding. We feared a large number of us would attract the attention of the Gods and we wanted to stay hidden so we dispersed into groups of no more than four together at any time around the world. We only met once a year on Samhain.”

Emrys and I nodded in understanding a great loss of your people. Neil acted as though he were listening to a fairy tale. He couldn’t begin to know what it felt like.

Cian said, “For some reason or another, since the day of our battle

there have been few demons. We led quiet lives, trying to gather information on Artaius. It was nearly impossible. Centuries went by. No demons to interrogate, no sign of any of the Gods or any other supernaturals. We began taking turns traveling to the different realms but found nothing. Oddly enough, I was walking home one night in Rome. This was probably five hundred or so years ago. I heard something behind me a human wouldn’t be able to hear. I kept walking and a person jumped down from a building right in front of me. He landed on his feet, uninjured, and smiled. He had fangs.”

“That was the first time you ever saw a vampire?” I asked.

“Yes. Turns out there were four of them behind me. The one in front was supposed to distract me as his buddies came up from behind to drain me. They like to play with their food first. It didn’t work out for them, to say the least. That month Kate, another Fomoire, and I ran into a dozen more. Also came across six werewolves.”

“They’re hellhound-human hybrids, by the way,” Emrys interjected.

“Yeah, I figured that out,” Cian replied. “We got together with everyone that Samhain and the others had come across vampires and werewolves as well. The humans were even aware of them to an extent. Not many that had seen them lived to tell. A few had witnessed attacks though, and so the lore began.

We decided to begin meeting at a different location once a month. The others observed only, while Kate and I went to see the Ogre King. He has a seer—”

Emrys interrupted, “Yes. She’s a real bitch, by the way.”

“Well, she is an ogre.” Cian shrugged. “She told me that she saw the realm being destroyed. That was the path. I would have to find a way to change the path. That was all she said. Not very helpful and nothing about vampires or werewolves.”

He wiped his brow then continued, “We figured out that the vamps and wolves were highly organized.”

Neil cut in, “Yes we know. Kings, a Prime—”

“Sure, act like you know what’s going on, kid.” Cian turned away ignoring Neil. “The Prime is Artaius. He created them.” “You’re sure?” Emrys asked.

“Very sure. He cut some kind of deal with the demons in Hell and created the vamps and wolves. They’re loyal because he’s told them they’re part of an army. That Hell is going to open up, and that when it does they are the ones that will have to fight the demons in order to save the realm. Then they can rule over the humans. I’m assuming he told the demons the same sort of thing. Playing both sides. Or maybe he said it so that they would let him use their blood in order to create his hybrids. Who knows?” He paused for a moment. We said nothing.

“About a hundred years ago I heard of a Hoodoo priestess that lived deep in the Bayou. She must’ve been a descendant of a very strong Druid. She knew when she saw me what I was. She told me I had to awaken my enemies. She did some spell and put whatever she mixed up into a jar. Said to sprinkle it over the Earth where they slept and that one of ‘her people’ would rise up. He’d take care of the others.”

“She had more than Druid in her. She’s a seer of some kind. Even I cannot see the future,” Emrys said.

Cian nodded in agreement. “Strange times we live in. I didn’t question it. She told me that my path wasn’t to cross with yours until the Creator needed it to. That you would have to go on your own journey before we intersected. She told me I would need to leave the ‘story of the sword’ for you and to leave a message that when the Creator brought you to me, you would know I was a friend and not a foe. I was to get the Cup of Plenty and stone to the Godless and keep them on me at all times… then wait.”

“Okay, so you woke Emrys up. How did you end up with the vampires? A vampire King no less,” Neil said accusingly.

Cian didn’t even look at him. “It took me almost eighty years to find and get the Cup of Plenty and the stone. It was not an easy task to say the least. Afterwards, I went to New York. I heard rumors in Europe that the vampire King of North America lived there. I’ve been there ever since. I finally found the king but kept my distance. This past year rumblings began about entire nests vanishing without a trace. I figured Emrys had finally found a way to awaken the Tuatha and you were the cause of the missing nests. I went there to tell the king I knew who and what was taking out his vampires and werewolves.”

“You were selling us out?” Neil yelled.

Cian smiled widely. “Well it was hardly selling you out. Werewolves spotted a couple of redheads: one, a massive hulk of a man that I’m assuming is Daur, in New Orleans. Artaius knows it’s Tuatha that are hunting his creatures by now, surely. I’m assuming the king was curious as to what I knew and how I knew of the Tuatha. I was meeting with him when it was announced you had arrived and I asked if I could greet you in order to verify my suspicions. Though I was trying to get my, ‘I’m a friend’ message out before you did anything, I obviously wasn’t expecting you. I went there to get in front of the king and was hoping to get some information on how he contacts Artaius.”

Cian wiped his forehead with his arm. His face became very stern. “I’ve waited a long time to track down Artaius. He took everything from me. I’m not opposed to saving the realm, but I will not rest until Artaius is dead.”

Nobody had anything to say after that. We lay down and shut our eyes.

We would be facing the Godless before much longer.