We swam to shore, the waves pushing us under, forcing us to work hard to drag our sorry asses up and out of the surf. As my toes touched the sand I wanted to be relieved but all I felt was a twisting in my gut. We’d made it, but at what cost?
I stumbled up the beach, away from the water; I looked out on the waves, the black humping backs of the Fomorii filling the surf.
Luke grabbed me and pulled me towards a waiting helicopter where Darcy was already buckled in.
“We have to get out of here, right now. The Fomorii are about to flood the beach,” he said.
With a few quick movements Luke had me buckled in too, his face tight with worry.
“You aren’t even going to apologize, are you?” he asked me, as the rotors started to hum.
I shook my head, my body overcome with what had just happened. I’d lost both Ashling and Bres; I had no delusions about a second chance to go after either of them
“No. I did what I thought was right.” My mother was alive, though I hesitated to even call her my mother. She looked out the window, her profile in stark relief from the light shining in. “We need to drop her off somewhere; I’m not taking her with me anywhere.”
Darcy turned, her eyes hard. “Ungrateful, that’s what you are.”
My jaw dropped and I struggled to close it, choosing instead to stare out my own window.
The helicopter rose a few feet as the first of the Fomorii pulled themselves onto the beach.
Luke shook his head and reached for my hand. His fingers were hot. They warmed my skin, which was cold with grief. Everything I’d done had been for naught. Sure, Darcy was alive—but I’d trade her in a heartbeat for either Bres or Ashling.
“Quinn, we will have to face Bres now, as an enemy; Balor won’t let him go again. Ashling too, though I know how difficult that will be for you to accept.” He shook his head. “I had no idea she was his daughter.” Luke turned, and gave instructions to the pilot.
I lifted my eyes as Cora slithered out from under the seat and up onto my lap. We both ignored my mother’s squeak. Apparently she had just enough fae blood to see the snake.
“I will never see Ashling as my enemy. Never,” I said.
Cora draped coils around my neck. “I am sorry Quinn. Ashling knows you loved her enough to fight for her; that will have to be enough. Sometimes that is all you can do. We don’t always get a happily ever after. Do not give up hope.”
I put a hand on her muscular body and struggled not to break down, not to give in to the grief—because once I started I didn’t think I could stop. Balor did this. The only way I could make him pay for his crimes was if I was stronger. There could be no more tears. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, a plan forming in my mind.
“How can I learn to use my abilities?” I asked. If I was going to do this I would need help, training, like Bres had said.
Luke turned to face me, his blue eyes shadowed. I wondered at how he knew where to find us, how he was able to reach us just in time.
“You’re right, you need training Quinn. And the only place you can get that is from the Council,” he said, his voice just barely louder than the rotors.
The helicopter banked over the ocean, now frothing with Fomorians. Their numbers darkened the waves. I swallowed hard and thought of Bres, my heart confused at the attraction to both him and Luke; each man held a piece of me that warmed at his touch.
I stared out at the water—the crashing waves, the brilliant blue of the sky where it touched the horizon. I had only one purpose now. I would be trained, I would find a way to lead the Tuatha and I would find a way to get Ashling back for good. There would be no more wavering with me.
I thought to what Balor had done, how he’d made me face my greatest fear, thinking I would fail no doubt. Instead he’d only shown me that I was stronger than I thought, that fear wouldn’t rule me. In that, he’d done me a favour.
Luke sat back beside me. “We’ll drop your mother off, then we’ll head for Ireland. The Council will begin your training. Balor won’t get away with this. I promise you that Quinn.”
I nodded and leaned my head on his shoulder. “How long will it take—the training I mean?”
Darcy sniffed. “Your father trained for years before he was deemed able to battle the Fomorii. Years Quinn. You don’t have it in you, I’ve always known that.” She sniffed again. “You and Ashling, my two greatest follies.”
Her words should have stung, but I felt nothing.
Luke glared at her then turned and faced me. “You are special Quinn, it won’t take that long—I think a few months, a year at the most.”
A year. I blanched, thinking of the time apart from my sister, not knowing if she was being treated well, if they were hurting her.
Look after her Bres; please, look after her.
A distant, answering echo came back to me, the gentle Irish lilt soothing some of the pain.
Always—for you, and for her. Always.
~~
Sneak Peek
Coming Spring 2012, Emerald Isle Celtic Legacy Book II
1
Flames licked their way down my back and I rolled into the mossy green grass to put them out, then flipped to my feet to throw a counter attack at Luke.
I didn’t hold back. The bolt of pure energy that left my finger tips sizzled through the air before hitting the Barrier Luke threw around himself at the last second. My bolt came flying back towards me but instead of ducking I reached out and caught it, re-absorbing the power, and Threading it through my body.
Energized, I ran at Luke, Calling my knife to my hand though it was buried somewhere in the ground. That was the beauty of my knife. It was synced to me through my bloodlines and through the person who’d made it for my family. No matter where I went, no matter how far from my knife I was, I could Call it to me.
I swung hard, burying my knife to the hilt in Luke’s Barrier; could feel the power protecting him quiver as I pushed into it. Sweat rolled down my face as I clenched my jaw. The Barrier began to crack, and with renewed effort I leaned into the knife. The blade would never break; the edge would never dull, so I used it without any thought to damaging it.
“Enough Quinn.” My mentor for the day, Rev, I think his name was, stood on the sidelines, and called off the mock battle.
I pulled my knife out of the Barrier, and turned to face the Tuatha behind me. He was fair skinned, had sandy blond hair and grey-green eyes. This wasn’t our first session together, but still his name always seemed to slip my mind seconds after we’d finished our training. He turned his back and strode back to the castle. I watched him leave, his name already gone from my mind.
Of all the Fae here, I trusted Luke the most, but even so, I jumped when he placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“You are getting better at this every day. Pretty soon I won’t be able to keep you at bay.” Luke gave me a wink, a slow heat filling his eyes. Prophecy said that I would be with him, that we together would face down Balor at the battle that would end the fighting between the Tuatha and the Fomorii.
“Thanks.” I said and shrugged his hand off. The problem was, my heart was torn between Luke and Bres. Luke gave me a sense of comfort, filled me with heat; fire, but Bres made me smile and kindled a passion; a sense of belonging I felt nowhere else in my life. The only problem was, Bres was Balor’s son, and Balor was the enemy. He was the one I had to face down. I glanced over at Luke, took in his perfect jaw, lips and nose, bright blue eyes that, while they often held sadness in them, seemed to light up when he looked my way. It gave my heart a pang to see that, to know that he cared so much for me, and I couldn’t even be faithful to that.
Nor did it help that I was struggling with the fact that we’d left Ashling behind, in the Fomorii Kingdom.
My mind shied away from that, the thought of her smile was enough to choke me up; to stop me from learning. That was all I had left, the desire to learn, the drive to gain the knowledge I would need to ki
ll the Fomorii, the ones who’d stripped me of my family. Because although my mom, Darcy, was still alive, I kind of wish she wasn’t. My anger bubbled to the surface as Darcy’s callousness replayed in my mind. Her willingness to sacrifice Ashling.
I strode past my day’s mentor, and while he praised me I ignored him; headed for the practice field on the far side of the castle grounds.
After we’d flown away from the beach in Tofino, Luke had brought me directly to Tara, Ireland, the seat of the Tuatha de Daanan’s power. Their stronghold was set in the world as I previously knew it, but could only be entered by someone who had the blood of a Tuatha running through them. From the air, we’d circled in a helicopter, the ground below us indented as though some giant had taken to creating furrows in the soil. The grass had grown over the indents creating perfect impressions. Two large circles; in the middle of the larger one a standing stone said to cry out when a true king touched it. That had been the entry point to the Otherworld of the Tuatha.
It was there, that my training began. The mentors worked with me every day and were amazed at my tirelessness. My drive and ability to learn thrilled them, though I was supposed to be this chosen one they’d been waiting for three thousand years for, and they assumed that was why I excelled.
I wasn’t training to be their chosen one. I was training so that I could rescue Ashling; get her away from Balor. I knew that Bres would look after her, but that wasn’t the same. She didn’t belong there, she wasn’t like the others. That was what fuelled me, was what made me get up each day to face the emptiness in my heart, it spurred me forward and helped me do what otherwise I knew I would have fought. I embraced what I was, Tuatha. I embraced what my abilities were, and honed them to a deadly razors edge.
Luke jogged up next to me, his blue eyes dancing, brilliant blond hair catching the breeze, shimmering in the light of the setting sun. He again tried to put his hand on my shoulders, this time slipping it right across, his fingertips brushing the nape of my neck.
“Luke, I told you to stop that. I need space right now, not a romp in the sack.” I said. His touch made my blood heat up, and that felt like a betrayal, not only to Bres, but Ashling too. He was far too distracting, far too tempting. How easy would it be to forget, to just move on with life and pretend that Ashling didn’t need me? When Luke touched me, that line of reasoning suddenly seemed a possibility.
“Quinn, you’ve got to let it go. I know I said we’d make them pay, but this is a war you are in, have always been in though you didn’t know it. Wars take time, they can’t be won in a single battle, certainly not the first battle. ” He said, his voice soothing me as he tried to Charm me. Yes, capital letters on Charm. It was one of the abilities that all Fae had whether they were Fomorii or Tuatha.
I spun on him, anger blazing through me, but I tempered the anger with the control I had learned over the last few months. “Let it go?” I asked, my voice quiet, the fury building in me as I stared at him. Luke’s right eye twitched and he opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.
“You’d best listen to her Luke. One day she will be in charge and she will remember that you had no respect for her boundaries.” Cora slithered out from underneath a bush, her neon blue body and bright red head a startling contrast, particularly for a snake.
I bent and lifted the five foot long coral snake up and put her across my shoulders where Luke had been aiming to have his arm. Cora didn’t seem all that taken with Luke either lately, had in fact tried to bite him on several occasions.
Luke snorted and stalked away from us. He was beautiful, I cared for him, wanted him even, but it still felt like a betrayal. And damn it, he knew better than to try and Charm me!
“More training?” Cora asked as I started to walk again. I nodded. “Yes.”
Shifted her body across my shoulders, her muscles contracting and relaxing until she was more comfortable. “When will you leave?” She asked.
I stumbled to a stop, stared straight ahead at the training field in front of me. “How did you know?”
“Ha! Quinn, how foolish do you think I am? I have no doubt that you will strike out on your own once you feel you are ready to face Balor.” She said. Her tail flicked around, the red tip stinging my cheek.
“Hey! What was that for?” I asked, my hand covering the whip she’d given me.
“You don’t yet know how to kill Balor. So how do you think you will beat him, hmm?” Cora asked. There was a self satisfied tone in her voice that I heard all too well. But, I knew if I didn’t play our conversation right, she wouldn’t tell me what she knew. So, I held off on the questions that burned the tip of my tongue.
I took a step and then another, slowly making my way to the field and the dummy that hung from one of the trees. I’d been working with my innate abilities all day, the ones that allowed me to create power bolts, light fires and raise Barriers. Now it was time for the sword work.
Lowering Cora to the ground, I watched as she made her way to one side where she could work the dummy. Using her innate abilities, she’d make the dummy jump, swing and flip around in order to give me a more realistic workout. Magic, who’d have thought it even existed, let alone that a snake could wield it?
I slid my knife back into its sheath and pulled out the longer swords that rested in the double spine sheath at my back. The bigger swords were Tuatha made, the same as my knife and they too had great abilities and strengths. Though I couldn’t Call them as I could my knife, they were still good swords. One had flames crested down the edge of the blade, the other snowflakes, dainty and pristine in their design. No one would tell me how to use those abilities the swords were forged with. I grit my teeth and set to my practice. Either, someone would teach me, or I would figure it out, one way or another I would master what the swords had to offer.
For the next hour I hacked and dodged, parried and thrust, slicing the dummy from every angle. I imagined Balor in front of me and re-doubled my attacks, removing each of the dummy’s limbs until it was just a bulky torso. The tree from which it hung shuddered under my attacks, leaves falling down around me as I fought. It was in these moments that I let myself think of all the mistakes I’d made, everything that had brought me to this moment. My fears, how they’d crippled me, my mother and her lies, Ashling and her belief in me. Tears streamed down my cheeks, mingling with my sweat. And, then there was Bres. Though I’d done my best to try and forget him, my heart wouldn’t let go of the man who’d followed me into the Labyrinth, the man who saved my life and stole my heart. Even though it had been months, I couldn’t let him go. Nor did I want to. His violet eyes haunted me, but I would rather that then forget him. Even if I now had to call him my enemy.
My clothes were soaked with sweat as I finally dropped to the ground for a break, my body exhausted, my mind still racing with questions. After four months training, I knew I still had a lot to learn. What I’d managed before had been done on pure instinct, the need to survive. What I’d also learned was that Cora knew a lot more about the Tuatha then even the Tuatha realized. They had written her off as an old lady, one who didn’t have it in her anymore to face battles, and one who’d forgotten anything of importance.
They were wrong.
“So how am I going to kill Balor? I’m training, doing everything the council has asked of me and then some.” I said, I drove both swords into the ground and then wiped the sweat from my face with the edge of my shirt.
“You understand about the making of Tuatha weaponry?” She asked. I nodded then realized she wanted me to recite it for her. Damn history lessons.
I took a breath and began. “The Tuatha were the first to forge metal into more than what it was before. Using their abilities with earth, they were able to bind certain weapons to their owners, and even bloodlines like my knife. Many of the weapons created have been lost over the years.”
She bobbed her head up and down. “I’ll bet your mentors haven’t told you about the one weapon that will kill Balor.”
She shrugged, a rippling of her muscles, blue scales catching the sunlight. “It is part of your destiny to have the weapon, sword as it were. But there is a catch.”
Always, there was always a catch. I let out a sigh. “Tell me.”
“It’s missing. Has been for some years now.” She said. Her tongue flicked out to taste the air and she pulled her tail around to point the tip at me, if a snake could grin, she was. “Guess what sword it is.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “How the hell am I supposed to know about a missing sword?”
Cora snorted. “You young ones aren’t taught anything these days. You mean to tell me you know nothing of a legendary sword, one that a king held, that he pulled from a stone? One that went missing and was never to be seen again?”
Chills rippled through me, the breeze seeming too cold now on my sweat laden body. She couldn’t mean what I think she did. Did she?
I stood and leaned on my swords handles, feeling the groove of intricate patterns on my skin as my mind worked over the possibilities.
There had to be another sword, she couldn’t possible mean . . . I took another deep slow breath and slowly let it out.
“Please tell me you don’t mean that the legends are true?” I asked, the spoken denial all I had left. Too much had happened for me to truly believe that she would make this up.
She nodded. “Yes, Quinn, they are very real, not the myth that humanity has made of it.” If snakes could smile, she certainly was now.
“You need to find Excalibur.”
~~
Acknowledgments
Dark Waters has been an interesting ride for me, and as always, I know I wouldn’t have been able to complete it without a team of editors, beta readers, friends and family. Jessica Klassen and Melissa Breau have been the best two editors a writer could find, always pushing me to improve my craft.
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