by John Lenahan
I wouldn’t mind a promise of Essa myself. I then had a panicky thought about seeing what our child would look like and then had another panic attack about receiving any vision of the future. Visions of the future were how The Land had gotten into this mess. Ona’s predictions had ruined countless lives. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know where the river of my life was to flow.
My gift was not a glimpse into my future. At least I think it wasn’t. In front of me I saw the Druids I had met in Connemara, Ireland – the group calling themselves The Grove. They stood there waiting. The vision was as clear as it was completely unfathomable. I tried to ask them what they wanted but nothing would come out of my mouth. Then, at the last second, Ruby came up beside me and they all freaked.
The pressure of the air evaporated and I stumbled forward into the antechamber at the back of the Chamber of Runes. I had done it, I had walked my Choosing. In front of me was the oaken table – I opened my hand and let my new rune fall to the tabletop.
My rune didn’t stay on the table for long. Before I even got a chance to look at it, an explosion shook the Chamber. I was thrown into the table, knocking it over as plaster and centuries of dust fell from the ceiling. I turned. This was supposed to be a proud moment, like a graduation. I had imagined my family and friends smiling and applauding – instead I saw them rushing out of the room. As she disappeared around the corner and up the staircase I saw that one of them was Essa – she had come. Another explosion rocked the room, the battle had begun.
I ran to join my comrades forgetting that Muirbhrúchts must be entered slowly and just like my father before me, I hit the backside of the barrier and bounced off it like it was a vertical trampoline. My body and head were thrown to the back wall and for a moment I saw stars. Then I pulled my wits about me, walked up to the archway, took a deep breath and began to slowly step in. I hesitated just in time to remember the rune. I picked it up, put it in my pocket and slid slowly past the barrier. Walking back through the Muirbhrúcht has all of the resistance without the mind games. It was still one of the most physically exhausting things I have ever done but at least my brains weren’t being haunted by ghosts of Christmases past.
I dropped into a Fili mind chant. It was a version of the same chant Dad had used on the day he had lost his hand. His chant was ‘Rowing beats Cialtie.’ Mine was, ‘Climbing stops Cialtie.’
‘Climbing beats Cialtie. I worried about my friends but then pushed that thought from my mind and chanted. ‘Climbing stops Cialtie.’ I wondered what kind of weapon could have caused such a violent tremor this deep inside the castle … ‘Climbing stops Cialtie.’ I should have spent this time trying to figure out what my Choosing gift meant. What did the grove of Irish Druids have to do with me? But instead I chanted, ‘Climbing stops Cialtie.’ I was so lost in my mantra that I didn’t even know I had made it through the Muirbhrúchts until I fell out into the Chamber on my hands and knees.
The Chamber was eerily silent. All around Leprechaun candles lay on their sides, burning where they had fallen. Several were scorching the base of the oak table and I crawled over and blew them out. It would be ironic to win a battle and lose the castle to a candle fire. I was completely drained. There was nothing I would have liked better than to have a beer and a nap but the time for leisure was not now and if my uncle got his way it would not be ever. I stood, took a deep breath and began the long sprint up the staircase to defend Duir.
Chapter Twenty-Four
War
The staircase back up from the Chamber of Runes has got to be the longest flight of stairs in any world. I had read reports of others, after walking The Choosing, being carried up those stairs on a stretcher. I initially tried to take them two at a time but after five minutes I was panting like a Himalayan mountain climber without oxygen.
Another explosion rocked the castle. I slipped and then bumped down half a dozen steps on my backside. Burning candles dropped on me from above, attempting to make me look like an illustration from a Jack Be Nimble rhyming book. I breathed a sigh of relief while I extinguished myself. If I had taken a full-blown tumble down these stairs … well, let’s just say when you look up broken neck in a Tir na Nogian dictionary you see a picture of a guy lying at the bottom of these stairs.
Regardless of how tired I was, I got up and kept climbing. I really needed to get out of here before this castle shook again. Barring falling all the way down and breaking every bone in my body, I was worried that if this place got hit again there might be a cave-in and I would have to change my name to Rubble. It was now pitch dark in many places and there was no handrail. I really must institute a Castle Duir Department of Health and Safety.
My legs shook every time I put weight on them. Every step became a little mountain. Without realising it I was moving on all fours with my hands in front of me like a dog. Climbing stops Cialtie … Climbing stops Cialtie … The chant popped into my head instinctively.
It was so dark at the top of the stairs I banged my head into the door. I almost swooned when I stood but managed to fall forward, blinking into the light of the east wing corridor. I was expecting the guard to help me up but even he wasn’t there. All hell really must be breaking loose if the Chamber guard had to leave his post.
I ran into the courtyard. All the activity was up on the battlements. I looked at the long flight of stairs up and knew that my legs wouldn’t make it. I wished I could fly and then remembered that I almost could. I wrapped my fingers around my staff, slipped my other hand into the new leather strap and then willed my staff to lighten. I shot straight up into the air and found myself directly in the path of a huge boulder that had been propelled by a catapult. I panicked and commanded my staff to become heavy. It became so heavy so quickly that my hands went straight down, almost pulling my arms out of their sockets. Screaming I commanded my staff to lighten again and this time I really did dislocate my shoulder. The boulder at least missed me and sailed over my head into the section of the castle that I had just come from.
A guard spotted me writhing on the grass in pain. I recognised him. He was one of the guards that I had assigned to guard Brendan when he first came to The Land.
‘Frick?’ I asked.
‘Frack,’ he replied with a smile.
My arm was completely unusable. I told him that I had dislocated my shoulder and without asking, he picked me up and then slammed my upper arm into a wall. I blacked out. When I came to, the arm hurt like hell but it at least worked again.
‘What is the situation?’ I grunted.
‘The Banshees have a catapult with an amazing range. They are alternately throwing boulders and some sort of explosive. Brendan has your mother and aunt conjuring up magic arrows. I cannot tarry any longer; I have been ordered to get gold from the infirmary.’
‘I’ll help.’
Frack ran ahead and I tried to keep up. He made it to the infirmary long before I did. Initially it looked like mayhem in there but I soon saw that my mermaid was coping with the injuries admirably. A guard told me that Graysea had just saved his best friend’s life when he was sure he was a goner. It seemed that Graysea had cleared all of her critical patients from triage and was now working on the less injured. Frack was having trouble getting her attention; she kept telling him she was too busy to speak to anyone. I jumped in and pulled her away from an injured woman before she could fish up.
‘Graysea, we need the gold my mother has stored here.’
She had that glow of a woman on a mission but I could also see the fatigue in her eyes.
‘I don’t have time …’
I didn’t let go of her as she tried to go back to the injured woman. ‘Listen. I need that gold. Brendan may have a way to stop other people from being injured by the catapult.’
That got her attention and she led me over to her store room and pointed to four small crates. I tried to lift one but my shoulder rebelled and I dropped the box screaming.
‘Oh my, what has happened to you?’
‘I dislocated it,’ I said holding my shoulder.
Graysea slumped down next to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. I saw those gills slit open on her neck as I felt her fin press against my legs. I noticed the wince of pain on her face as my pain vanished. When she un-fished again she sighed, and I saw on her face the effort her healing was costing her.
‘Thanks,’ I said, and meant it. ‘But you have to slow down, Graysea. This battle has only just begun. You can’t heal everybody. You have to let the other healers do normal first aid. If you go all fishy on every injured person that comes in here – you won’t make it.’
‘But it’s so hard to watch people suffer,’ she said.
‘I know but most will get better. You have to save yourself for the real life-threatening stuff. You’re already exhausted.’ I had a look around. Things here seem to be under control. ‘Let the Imp-healers take over for a while – you should have a swim and recharge.’
An Imp came over to help us up. She said, ‘Listen to him; we’ll be fine for a while.’
Graysea reluctantly agreed and I led her over to her little swimming pool.
‘I gotta go, thanks for the shoulder fix.’ I kissed her and she flipped over the side of her pool. I watched as her face went under the water then a fin popped up like a dolphin.
I picked up two of the crates and tried to follow Frack but two crates of gold were one too many for me. A Leprechaun repair team ran past and I commandeered one of them to carry a crate. When their commander saw me struggling he decided that one crate was one too many for me and gave me another of his men. The two of them jogged behind me like they were carrying feather pillows.
I reached Brendan and his archery team just as the Banshees had launched another projectile.
‘It’s one of the bombs,’ Brendan shouted.
The archers lifted their bows. The arrows were gold-tipped. Over in a corner I saw Mom and Nieve incanting over more arrowheads. Next to them were Leprechauns with a melting pot atop a blazing fire. The pot was streaked with overflowing molten gold.
It was way too frantic to ask what was going on so I just stood back and watched. The bomb that was shot from the catapult was as big as the boulder that had almost creamed me but it was rounder – more obviously manmade. Whoever did the aiming was having a good day ’cause it was coming right for us.
‘Wait … wait,’ Brendan was shouting. ‘Wait for it to break its arc … Now!’
Brendan’s archers were well trained. All but one arrow hit the bomb. I was expecting the arrows to make the thing blow up but when they hit they just bounced off. I turned to run but no one followed me; instead everyone just stared. That’s when I noticed that the bomb wasn’t falling. The arrows had hit just as it should have started on the downward trajectory of its arc, but instead the ball kept climbing.
I looked over to Brendan and said, ‘What?’
He was smiling. ‘The arrows make anything they hit lighter. It’s one of your mom’s spells. She said she got the idea from your yew staff.’
The bomb sailed well over the castle.
‘So it’s really my idea.’
‘Yeah, right,’ Brendan said. ‘Deirdre and Nieve have arrows that can make stuff heavier too. If we alternate, then whoever is aiming that thing won’t know what to do.’
‘You learn this at cop school?’
‘Nope, I’m making it up as I go along. I know it’s hard to believe but in the police academy they didn’t teach how to defend a castle from a siege.’
‘Doesn’t sound like a very good academy.’
‘At the moment, Mr O’Neil, I would have to agree.’
A call went up and we all turned. The Banshees’ catapult had let loose another one. This time it was a really big rock. Brendan ordered the heavy arrows and they fired as soon as the boulder was in range. The rock took a nosedive like a major league pitcher’s slide and half buried itself in the muddy earth just past the treeline.
‘You survived The Choosing, I see,’ a familiar voice behind me said.
I turned to see Essa all decked out in her battle leathers. I felt guilty thinking how fantastic she looked but then realised that I think she looks great in everything she wears. ‘You’re speaking to me?’
‘We’re at war, Conor. There are thousands of people out there who are trying to kill you. You don’t need to add me onto that list too.’
‘Who says no good comes from war?’
‘I’ll get back to hating you when this is over,’ she said.
‘Right. What have you been doing?’
‘I just came from a war council with Dahy and your father.’
‘What’s our next move?’
‘Nothing really. Fortifications are good but we can’t really plan anything until Cialtie shows his hand.’
‘Any guesses?’
‘Lots,’ Essa said. ‘Mostly it comes down to Maeve’s Shadowmagic. Your mom and Fand are working on that.’
So we just wait and play Scrabble until something happens?’
‘Scrabble?’
‘Oh, it’s a game with wooden tiles with letters on them.’
‘You play games with runes?’
‘No … well, I guess …’ I was saved a long explanation by the cry of a Pooka who was stationed on the wall to my left. He pointed to a dive-bombing hawk that was rocketing out of the sky. The bird extended its wings at the last second and landed on the Pooka’s arm. He then gently placed the bird on the ground where it transformed into a naked woman. Another Pooka threw a robe over her as she cocked her head quickly over her shoulder just like a bird. The bird/scout tried to speak but failed on her first attempt. Often Pookas, after a change, take a moment to get their heads back into non-animal mode. She dropped her head to compose herself; when she looked back up her jerky movements were gone.
‘They are coming,’ she said.
The Pooka/hawk informed us that a division of Banshee and Brownie foot soldiers were making their way through the oaks and seemed to be converging on the north face of the castle. Dahy sent troops to all of the other battlements and ordered scouts to check the other approaches to make sure that this was not some sort of diversion.
Dad stood next to me on the battlements as I waited for the first of our attackers to appear.
‘We’ll see now if your Irish stone minefield works.’
‘I guess.’
He placed his hand on my shoulder. ‘Gosh, I almost forgot. How was The Choosing? I’m so sorry we all had to leave you in there.’
‘That’s OK, Dad. War is pretty much as good an excuse as any.’
Dad didn’t laugh like I had hoped he would. ‘I guess,’ he said turning away, ‘but damn it, how much more of my life can my brother screw up? This has got to stop.’ He paused and I could tell he was thinking about what it was going to take to stop my uncle. Then he shook his head as if to drive away the mood. ‘So can you tell me what you saw in the Third Muirbhrúcht?’
‘Well …’
‘Hey,’ Dad said quickly, ‘you don’t have to tell me.’
‘No it’s not that. It’s just I don’t really know what it meant.’
‘Oh, that’s not unusual, son. Ona once said that the visions of the Third Muirbhrúcht are like when you are trying to remember someone’s name. You try and try but you can’t remember it – so you give up. Then it comes to you.’
‘I saw the Druids I had met in Ireland – the descendants of the banished Fili. They seemed to want something from me but I don’t know what.’
‘Well, maybe when this is all over we can go back together and find out. We’ll probably need a holiday.’
It was nice pretending for that second that we were a normal father and son planning a summer holiday and not two soldiers about to spin the coin on our futures with the fortunes of war.
‘I’d like that, Dad.’
A sentry shouted, ‘Invaders north!’
We ran to the parapet as a row of Brownies stepped out of the treeline and set
up long-range crossbows in the dirt. Unlike hand-held crossbows, these were the mortars of the arrow-shooting family. The strings had to be set while the archer was sitting, using his feet to steady the bow. Two hands were needed to pull back the bow strings, then they were aimed using a monopod. These guys were well trained and successfully got off almost a shot a minute. The arrows were big and had some sort of enchantment in them. As they approached their target they split into twenty or so smaller arrows, producing in the sky the same effect as an entire platoon of synchronised archers.
Still, we were behind a stone wall and it was just a matter of ducking to avoid getting struck. However, we soon found out that the shafts of the arrows were covered in poisonous thorns. Dahy quickly set up an arrow-sweeping team but it meant you had to watch your step. These things were everywhere.
Brendan set his best archers to the task of taking out the crossbows but they were pretty far away. Until we could come up with a plan it looked like we would have to live with incoming fire for a while.
Under the cover of the arrow artillery, about two hundred Banshees and Brownies advanced out of the forest. They walked behind siege ladders that had shields attached to them.
When Dahy saw the small size of the force he said, ‘Damn him.’ There was no disguising the revulsion on his face. ‘Cialtie is doing it again. How can he send so many to slaughter just to test our defences?’
As he had done on the attack of the Hall of Knowledge, Cialtie sent a small group on a suicide mission, just to see what kind of defences we had. I wanted to shout at them to go back but I knew it would do no good. I remembered what Cialtie did to the survivors of his last suicide wave. As they marched back to their own lines, Cialtie mowed them down like blades of grass.
Brendan’s elite archery team aimed arrows at the feet of the advancing soldiers. They were remarkably accurate. Don’t get me wrong, most of them missed, but they hit about one in ten. Not bad going considering the size of the targets. I didn’t feel bad for the ones that got hit – they were, in fact, the lucky ones. They wouldn’t have to walk into my minefield.
