Into the Mists

by Laura Greenwood

  Reveal the second and be cursed,

  The third you shall obtain,

  When Seven Wardens shall reign.”

  She shrugged. "Any idea what that could mean?"

  Nessie whispered the words again, and Amber looked like she was repeating them in her head. Luch was the only one who seemed bored. She was staring at the pint of ale longingly, but Macey wasn't about to give beer to a mouse.

  "That's all very mysterious," the beithir finally said. "Should we even be talking about that one? We don't want to accidentally reveal the second name and be cursed. Whatever that means."

  "Why did you come to me?" Nessie suddenly asked.

  Macey shrugged, giving her aunt a smile. "You always know an answer to everything. You're old, you've seen a lot."

  Nessie's hair took on a green glow. "Did you just call me old?!" she thundered, but there was a twinkle in her eyes.

  "You are old," Luch confirmed. When Nessie looked at the mouse, the twinkle disappeared.

  "And you're even older, so be quiet."

  Amber cleared her throat uncomfortably. "How do you two know each other?"

  "We've crossed paths once or twice before," Luch said with a grimace that spoke of her distaste for the kelpie. When she stayed quiet and all Nessie did was glare at her, it was clear neither of the two was going to expand on that. Macey made a mental note to ask one of them in private at some point in the future. Or preferably both; it sounded like a tale best heard from both perspectives.

  "I'm flattered that you think I know everything, dearie, but I'm afraid this time, I'm not quite sure what to tell you," Nessie finally said, ignoring the previous exchange with Luch. "I don't know what's wrong with the world or why we currently need Wardens to fix it. I believe the last time the Wardens appeared, there was a clear reason. This time, it's not as simple."

  "So far, all we've found out is that the Staran is ill," Macey explained. "Malan said nobody is attacking it and that it isn't hurting itself, so there must be another reason for it. But so far, we've not really found an answer. Unless my men discovered something while I was held prisoner."

  Suddenly, a strange feeling came over her. A longing, a tugging. Something deep inside of her. Then, voices appeared in the quiet pub, very familiar voices. She jumped up and ran towards the bar, where her three guys were standing.

  Finally, she had them back. She was never going to let them go again.

  6

  She collapsed into Flint's arms, feeling both Jared and Cam reaching out to touch her. The warmth was welcome. As was the press of their firm bodies against hers.

  Another sob escaped her. But this time, she didn't hold back, and the tears began to flow. While it hadn't felt like a couple of months during her time with the Voice, it sure felt like that now.

  "Hey, no crying, we're here." Flint smoothed her hair back as he whispered the words to her. But it didn't help.

  "Let's get her back in here," Cam said, and she imagined him gesturing back towards the hall she'd just left. That was probably a good idea. Then again, her waiting for them to get in there also would have been. But going on another moment without them just wasn't an option.

  "Here, let me." Jared scooped her up in his arms, pulling her away from Flint. She let him do it, despite not liking that she was only touching one of them. She just hoped the other two would make contact again once they were back inside the room and comfortable again.

  Macey snuggled into Jared's chest, the smooth and easy rhythm of his heart soothing her in a way she hadn't expected.

  "It's good to have you back in my arms, little kelpie. I've been feeling your absence."

  Her eyes shot open, and she sniffed loudly. "You've been suffering? I'm sorry." She lifted a hand and pressed it against his cheek.

  Jared smiled down at her while he walked. "A little, but not as much as before I met you. The others suffered too."

  "I know. But you..."

  "Macey, it's okay. We managed, and we found you. Or you found us..."

  "Or Fedelm found all of us?" she suggested with a weak smile.

  "Yes, thank goodness for interfering ghosts." Jared's smile widened, and she felt him relax. "You look thin."

  "I've been a captive for two months, what do you expect?" she answered instantly, almost demanding he set her down so she could prove just how fine she was. But she refrained. Realistically, she didn't want to leave his arms, or his touch. She'd missed them all far too much for that.

  "I'm sorry."

  "For what?" She cocked her head to the side, but even this close together, he managed to avoid her gaze. "You're not to blame for me being caught. No more than Izban's to blame for Amber's capture," she told him, thinking back to the beithir's story. From what she'd said, there was almost no way Amber could have avoided being caught, so she assumed the same was true for her.

  "We should have been more careful though. If we'd taught you to strengthen your mental walls more, then maybe none of this would have happened..."

  "And maybe it would have just happened a different way," she replied softly. "Whatever the cause, the outcome is the same. But we're here, we're safe now, and we're now only one Warden short. I'd say that’s pretty good going really. Despite it all, we're further forward than we were." As she spoke, the words embedded themselves in her mind too. It was true. Despite it all, they'd come out of it with more allies, and more Wardens. Everything was further forward than it had been.

  "I suppose, but we lost two months with you." Jared's voice cracked, and she began to understand the true problem. It wasn't that their mission had been side tracked. It was that they'd missed her.

  "What's two months when we have forever." She turned his face towards her so he had to look her in the eyes.

  "I hate to break it to you, but we're long lived, not immortal."

  She laughed, the tears finally clearing. But it was a relief, especially with amusement in Jared's eyes. He was relaxing already. Being back with them was a relief.

  "An incubus, Macey? I'm impressed." Aunt Nessie's laugh boomed through the room, gaining everyone's attention.

  Macey wiggled slightly, and Jared listened, setting her down on the floor so she could stand on her own two feet.

  "Auntie, this is Jared, Flint and Cam." She gestured to each of them as she introduced them. "This is my Aunt Nessie," she added, perhaps needlessly. None of her men had confused expressions on their faces.

  "Meaning you must be Izban," Nessie addressed the blue-haired mage, who was hanging about and trying not to look at Amber.

  Macey rolled her eyes. Were the two of them seriously going to ignore whatever it was between them and just dance around one another?

  "Hi," Amber squeaked, stroking her tail in a move that reminded Macey of when she wrung her own hands. It was nervousness all over.

  "Hello," Izban replied.

  "I'm sorry," they both blurted at the same time, before going back to their shy nervousness.

  "Should I mention the sexual tension I can feel emanating from them?" Jared whispered in Macey's ear, causing her to giggle.

  "Behave."

  "With you around? Never."

  She smiled wider than she had in days, glad to be back in their comforting presence.

  "There's a quiet room just off to the left," Fedelm piped up. "If you want to use it," she added hastily, probably sensing the tension in the air.

  "Thanks," Amber said. "Izban, do you want to talk?" She didn't look like the same confident woman Macey had come to know already. She hoped she didn't come across quite the same when she was around her men. The last thing she wanted was to come across as useless when she was with her partners.

  "Sure." He seemed just as nervous as she was, for which Macey was glad. Even if it did put his personality completely at odds with everything she'd come to know about him already. Gone was his snark and sarcasm. Even his eyes had softened. Amber was definitely his soft spot then.

  She supposed she was Flint, Cam and Jared's s
oft spot too, so she couldn't blame the Ice Warden.

  Amber and Izban disappeared into the other room, and Macey hoped they'd talk about their feelings for each other. Even she could feel the sexual tension between them, and she wasn't an incubus like Jared.

  "If I was polite, I'd leave too, but I'm not," Aunt Nessie cackled. "Sit down, boys, and let me find out if you're good enough for my favourite niece."

  Macey cringed. This was going to be terrible. Nessie was not known for someone who minced her words. And even though she was not the monster everyone thought her to be, she could have a nasty verbal bite.

  Luch was rubbing her tiny hands in anticipation of the coming interrogation. That's what it was going to be, Macey was sure of it. Her aunt was going to make sure they were worthy of her niece.

  They all sat down around the table and Nessie waved to the bartender to get them some drinks. Five glasses of ale arrived a moment later; it was as if the landlord had already prepared them in advance.

  "Now tell me, boys, who of you is the strongest?" Aunt Nessie grinned widely, while Macey wanted to sink into the ground. Luckily, her men were taking it in their stride.

  "I usually win in arm wrestling," Cam said cheerily, knowing exactly what he was evading the older kelpie's question. "But we're all pretty well matched."

  Nessie smiled patiently. "And what are your weaknesses?"

  "Water." Flint cringed, but then hurried to add, "Not Macey, though."

  Jared chuckled. "I'm an incubus, I think you can imagine what my greatest weakness is."

  Cam was frowning, obviously trying to come up with a good answer. "Boredom," he said eventually. "It's like a windless place, no movement, no energy."

  "Good answers," Nessie admitted. "But if you're all so strong and wise, why didn't you rescue my niece?" Her expression turned serious. "Why did she have to escape herself rather than be freed by the three of you?"

  "Auntie, I'm not a damsel in distress," Macey protested. "I didn't need rescuing."

  Nessie looked at her with a piercing glance. "Can you honestly tell me that your imprisonment did not hurt you? That it would have been less painful if you'd been rescued earlier?"

  Macey averted her gaze, unable to lie to her aunt. She was right. It had been a terrible experience. She could feel the scars inside of her, waiting to burst open in a quiet moment. She was going to have to work through all that happened. But not now. She had work to do. They all had. She just hoped that Amber could leave the past few months behind as well. The beithir had been in captivity for far longer than she had, and she was surprised at how well Amber was taking it all. Too well, almost. The big crash was going to be terrible, if it happened.

  "We were searching for her," Cam said quietly. "But Izban's tracking spell didn't work, so we had nothing to go on. We tried all sorts of things. Izban stayed behind to research spells, but the three of us travelled on the Staran, asking them to bring us to Macey. They never did. So, we asked around."

  "We went back to the fir na ghorma," Flint continues their story. "And to Malan, of course, and even to the sìth. But they were hesitant to talk to us, being men and all."

  "Wait, what?" Macey asked in confusion. She didn't quite see the logic behind that statement.

  "The sìth are matriarchal," Jared explained. "Their women are the ones in power, and men are commodities at best. So, three men wandering into their queendom to ask for help didn't go down well. They did make a few comments about the Staran though, as if they know something. We should definitely go there again, but this time, with you and Amber. They're more likely to talk to you."

  "Sounds like a plan," Macey agreed, glad that they had a new lead. If the Staran were no longer letting people travel as before, time was running out for all of them. They needed to find a solution, fast.

  "I hate saying this, but you should also talk to the selkies," Nessie said with a grimace. "I've heard rumours that they've started coming on land more and more because they're having trouble at sea. Maybe that's something to do with the same mess you're trying to fix."

  Macey shuddered. She really didn't feel like talking to a selkie, or several at that. She'd never met one in person, but with all she'd heard about them, she didn't want to. They were the ones spreading bad rumours about kelpies, and after meeting Mhara, it seemed the same was true for the ceasg.

  All in all, visiting the sìth sounded a lot better than going to the selkies. Macey knew it wasn't very grown up to do the easy option first, but she felt like she deserved it after being imprisoned by the Voice. The universe had a lot to make up for.

  "I've been wondering," Nessie suddenly said. "When you take your men to bed, do you take all of them at the same time?"

  "Auntie!" Macey called out, mortified. "That's none of your business."

  The old kelpie chuckled. "Indulge me, darling."

  "No way."

  Luckily, Amber and Izban chose that moment to come back, walking hand in hand. Macey smiled in relief. It looked as if they'd had a proper chat. And judging from Amber's red lips, they maybe did even more than just talk.

  Good. Now they had a couple and a quad in their Wardens relationship. Where did the seventh Warden fit in though? Macey didn't really feel like adding another person to her strange harem. Three men were enough work. She knew that they were all aching to spend some time with her, and so was she. Not just all three of them together, but some one-on-one time with each of them. But there was likely not going to be a chance for it in quite a while.

  They had a world to save.

  Aos Sìth

  7

  Leaving her Aunt was hard. There was something about her that made Macey feel safe and secure. Probably just the blood connection. And she was missing it already.

  On the other hand, not having her Aunt about did mean that the awkward questions wouldn't happen anymore.

  Hopefully.

  Even so, telling Luch and Amber about her love life seemed far less weird than telling her Aunt. More like telling friends, even if she wasn't sure if that's what Luch was.

  The seven of them were expelled from the Staran with a great thump, resulting in Macey sprawled on top of Jared. Not the worst place to be, but she'd much rather they be up to something different.

  "Well, hello there." He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she smiled suggestively in return, before winking at him.

  Now wasn't going to be the time for anything fun like that, but she didn't want him thinking she'd lost interest in the past few months. Maybe her men would get the wrong idea the first time they saw her new mark. She mused over whether it would be fun to let them think she and Amber had been up to a lot more than pretending to kill each other when she got it or not. It would certainly be interesting to discover how they felt about it. There was no telling whether they'd come down on the side of it being hot, or if their jealousy would get the better of them.

  Not that it mattered anyway. She wouldn't do anything with Amber even if they didn't have their own men each. The beithir wasn't really her type.

  From the way she was giggling and leaning into Izban, he was hers though. Even her tail was getting in on the action, as she'd curled it around his waist.

  Macey frowned and cocked her head to the side, briefly wondering what it'd be like to have a tail while in human form. Weird and annoying, was her guess. But Amber didn't seem bothered by it. And it actually kind of suited her. An evolutionary trait of beithirs no doubt.

  "Are we in the right place?" Macey asked Cam as she got to her feet. She wasn't sure when he'd become their resident compass, but he always seemed to fill that role.

  "We sure are." He swallowed nervously, looking up at the slightly imposing building before them.

  "It glitters," Macey blurted.

  "Yes," Cam replied. "But don't be fooled. Not everything in the queendom is what you expect. The sìth are master magic wielders, and conjuring is their pleasure. What looks like one thing, may in fact be something very, very different. Be prepared for
that."

  "Sounds ominous." Macey considered back through all the stories she'd heard about the sìth, which admittedly, wasn't many. She'd learned more of the different races since meeting her men than she had before that. And if her men said to be wary, and that not everything should be taken at face value, then she was going to listen.

  "Izban, if you'll do the honours," Flint instructed.

  The blue-haired mage unentwined himself with Amber and held out his palm flat. He twisted what looked like a wooden ring, and after a moment, a small blue creature appeared.

  Macey let out a squeak of surprise. She really should be used to the weird things that happened when she was around her men. This entire adventure had been a crazy ride. And yet, things just kept taking her off guard.

  “Is that a baby Gollum?” she asked in confusion but Izban ignored her.

  The blue creature made a series of chirping noises, leaving everyone but Izban looking a bit bewildered.

  "Yes, I know you haven't had long to recover. I'm sorry about that, but we're at the sìth queendom now, I'll find you a great offering," he said with a sigh.

  The creature chirped again.

  "Yes, the others will find you an offering too."

  "Hold on a minute," Luch butted in for the first time. "You're not making me beholden to an aos sìth."

  The tiny blue fairy put its arms on its hips and glared at Luch. It was about the same size as the mouse shifter, who was riding in Macey's shirt once again. It looked humanoid, except that it was blue, had long pointy ears and limbs that looked a little too large for its body. And right now, it was very, very annoyed.

  "Fine, I'll find you something," Luch gave in when the aos sìth began to shout angrily. "Now, can someone explain how that blue-haired mage got himself one of the Folk?"

  Izban shrugged. "I inherited him, he's been with my family for a long time. I gave him the chance to leave when I got him, but he decided to stay. He comes in handy, and all I have to give him to make him happy is milk and bread."