A cold numbness rushed to the tips of my fingers and toes. How ironic that the people at the Dagda’s party had been telling stories of Cuchulainn only a few hours ago. But how could Cuchulainn, the Hound of Cullen, the seemingly invincible warrior hero of Celtic lore, be Cade’s father? I couldn’t recall ever reading or hearing about the Morrigan hooking up with Cuchulainn, but there was the time she’d tried to bait him in one of the epics I’d read.
“Wait,” I glanced up at the Morrigan, ignoring the brewing hatred on her face, “you tried to seduce Cuchulainn, but he knew what you were up to.” Or so the old legend had implied as much.
She crossed her arms and snorted. “Didn’t keep him from pretending to take me up on my offer. He only used me and cast me aside when he was through.”
“Just as you are trying to use and cast aside Cade?” I braved. Hey, we were cornered and most likely done for. Might as well get everything out in the open.
The Morrigan turned burning scarlet eyes on me. “Don’t you dare judge me you pathetic fae strayling! I can’t believe how you cling so pathetically to my son, knowing what he is and what he’s capable of.”
I ignored my blush and grumbled, “What are you talking about? I’m only now finding out about his parentage, and as surprising as it may be, none of it matters to me.”
Cade stiffened next to me. I gulped. Had I given myself away; confessed what I’d been holding secret for so long? And, in the midst of all that was happening, did it matter anymore?
The Morrigan darted her eyes between us. For once, she seemed utterly befuddled. Then her composure melted into pure, malicious humor.
“What is this? Caedehn! Have you kept everything from the poor girl? No wonder she doesn’t run from you in disgust, like all the rest.”
I bristled. What did she mean, all the rest? I glanced up at Cade and, judging by his averted eyes, the anger must be clear on my face. It only lasted a few moments though. If he really was the son of Cuchulainn and the Morrigan, then he was very old, despite how young he appeared. Of course he’d had girlfriends before me. I couldn’t hold it against him, but from what the Morrigan just said, there was more to it than that.
“So,” the Morrigan continued, her voice sickly sweet, “you’ve never seen his ríastrad before, his battle fury?”
Cade blanched and I froze. Ríastrad, battle fury . . . A memory flashed through my mind, of me dying beside the dolmarehn and Cade contorting into something terrifying and grotesque. My face must have given me away because the Morrigan cackled with glee, her features momentarily faded into those of the crone she sometimes depicted. I shook in disgust.
“Oh, this is too much! Oh Cade, dearest, I think I shall prolong your girlfriend’s death, so she can get a good last look at you; see what you truly are.”
“No!” Cade shouted, cutting his hand through the air and stepping in front of me. “No, you won’t hurt Meghan.”
“But Cade, my pets are so lonely and they wish to play.”
She lifted her arms and the earth on either side of her cracked and rumbled. Fear rushed through me like an icy poison in my blood. Apparently, negotiations were over.
The five hellhounds on opposite sides of her whined and started writhing as the goddess took up a chant, one that seemed to incite the magic of the earth and sky around us. I watched with revulsion as the Cúmorrig broke apart in front of me and grow into something far more terrifying than what they were. I clung to Cade’s arm, peeking around him as the horror unfolded. The other faelah must have been nervous as well, for they began keening as they crawled over one another. I got the impression they desperately wanted to flee, but the Morrigan’s spell held them in place.
The chanting deepened and the hounds grew in size. Their snouts elongated, the rotting skin stretching completely away to reveal bloody bone and long, wicked canine teeth beneath. Tangled, shaggy black hair sprouted behind their ears and down their necks, like a dark lion’s mane. Their hind legs lengthened, pushing their new, massive size skyward, and their forelegs grew even longer as a set of long, curved claws replaced their hands.
When the transformation was complete, they stood around seven feet tall, their eyes glowing violet, their faces caught in a continuous snarl of hatred and agony. I glanced down and the reason for their cries of pain became apparent. Where their rib cages should have been were great, gaping holes dripping with blood, gore and what looked suspiciously like maggots.
I couldn’t take it anymore. Still clinging to Cade, I turned my head and almost threw up. If by some miracle I survived this, I would need therapy for the rest of my life. Cade turned and kneeled down beside me, pushing the hair away from my face and speaking the calm, foreign words he always did when trying to comfort me. I felt foolish. Losing my cool wouldn’t help in my attempts to prove to Cade I could handle the Faelorehn way of life.
“Come now Caedehn. I grow weary of this little game. Simply hand the girl over to me so you can get over your irrational little infatuation.”
“Why, so you can steal her magic as well? Tell me Mother, how many had to die in order for you to complete that nasty trick?”
Cade inclined his head towards the new monsters, the ones that used to be the Cúmorrig.
I studied them through the curtain of hair Cade had failed to brush back with the rest.
“Unimportant creatures, all of them,” she hissed, her fists balled at her sides.
“Your greed and disrespect for Eilé’s bounty will one day come back to haunt you,” Cade retorted.
“Maybe, but not before I get that delicious magic from your little half-breed. Now hand her over!”
Cade stood, pulling me up with him, then tugged me close and wrapped his arms around me, as if trying to make me a physical part of him. A heartbeat passed and the first drops of the storm’s rain pelted the back of my neck. Not a good omen.
“No,” Cade said, his voice rumbling through my core, making my dormant magic tingle to life. Oh, if only it would cooperate for me!
“No?” the Morrigan boomed. “You have no right to refuse me, a queen of the Faelorehn, goddess to the Celts. You don’t stand a chance. I’ll have my creatures fight you Cade, and ríastrad or no ríastrad, you are no match for them.”
Cade relaxed a little and nodded his head.
“I know, but I’ll not give her up.”
Finally, Cade released me and put me at arms’ length before turning to his mother. “I’ll fight your faelah, and if I win you will forfeit your claim on Meghan.”
The Morrigan snorted again.
“If they win, I offer you all of my glamour in exchange for her safety. After all, I too am the product of a volatile combination and my magic is rather potent as well.”
“No!” I shouted.
The rain was coming down harder now, chilling my skin to match my emotions.
The Morrigan’s eyes lit up. “Now that might be enough to tempt me. You do realize the price of your sacrifice, don’t you my boy? There is only one way for me to get to your power.”
Cade nodded again, his face unreadable.
“I know. I’ll swear a blood oath to seal my offer if I must.”
Several creatures hissed and the Morrigan gave a small scream of triumph. “Very well my dearest. Do give me your oath then.”
I glanced between the two of them, fear and confusion fluttering around in my head. I heard the restless chatter of the faelah, the snort and rumble of Cade’s horse behind me, the whine of Fergus and the screech of Meridian somewhere far above. The wind had lessened, but it still drove my hair into my face, and now I had the freezing rain to contend with. However, none of that was important.
“How will she get your magic Cade? What must happen? Can you fight ten of those things?”
I was babbling, but I had to have some answers.
Cade turned his face to me, and for the first time since stumbling into this hellhole I noticed just how dark his eyes had grown; how pale his skin had become.
; “Cade?”
“Your safety is all that matters right now. My magic is only slightly stronger than yours at the moment. You are a greater source of power Meghan, but it’s untried and unknown. Let me do this before she discovers the potential of your own power; before she changes her mind.”
That didn’t answer my question and, in fact, only stirred up more of them. Cade released my shoulders and turned towards his mother.
“I’ll fight your ten transformed Cúmorrig to the death. If I stand alive at the end, you will no longer hunt Meghan, nor will you harm her family. If I am defeated, you may take my power before it is returned to Eilé and leave Meghan alone.”
I stood, rigid in shock. No. No!
“Cade! No! You will not sacrifice yourself for me!”
I yanked on his arm, trying to get him to look at me. He pulled away easily and drew his long dagger out of its sheath, dragging the blade across his left hand. I gaped in horror as blood welled up.
Cade held up his hand, the red slash running diagonally from the bottom of his index finger to his wrist, for all to see. “I fight this battle, and win or lose, you don’t touch Meghan.”
The Morrigan crossed her arms and sneered. “You are truly willing to risk your life for some worthless half-breed faeling?”
Her son said nothing, only glared at her with the same grim look on his face, his palm held up to the sky, the blood dripping down his arm to be washed away by the rain.
“If she is so worthless, then you wouldn’t go to such trouble to have her. No, she is important, and I will forfeit my life to save hers if need be.”
“Fool!” the goddess spat, moving forward aggressively. “You utter fool!”
She was now only a few feet away from him, and although he towered over her, her very presence made her larger than the rest of us. Reaching into her bodice, the Morrigan pulled out a long, thin knife and drew it across her own palm. She and Cade clasped hands, both looking as if they were trying to break each other’s arms.
I could only stare and gape. How could this be happening? Even the mere thought of Cade dying, of not having him by my side, of no longer feeling his presence, made it close to impossible to breathe.
Cade stepped away from the Morrigan and moved closer to me. He placed his hands on either side of my face, pushing his fingers into my hair and letting his thumbs rest against my skin. My pulse quickened and the numbness suffusing my nerves began to fade away. I didn’t even care that one of his palms was sliced open and probably leaving blood on my face.
“Meghan, there is something I need to tell you, in case this doesn’t work out the way I hope,” he said softly. “Something I should have told you a long time ago.”
I held my breath, waiting for his words, but he simply gazed at me, his eyes so intense they were unable to settle on one single color.
What? I thought. What do I need to know? Something about how to defend myself against these things you’re about to fight, in case you fail? Some trick to get my pitiful magic to work so I can help you? Another shocking secret you’ve kept from me? What? Don’t you dare tell me you are going to die!
The moment stretched on forever, and I started to think of all the things I needed to tell him. Only problem was, all my words wanted to come flooding out at once and they got jammed up, like pebbles trying to pour from a bottleneck.
Finally Cade spoke, his voice calm, quiet, serious. “I love you.”
Before my brain had a chance to register his declaration, it was thrown into a whirlwind of jumbled thoughts and emotions as he leaned down and kissed me as if the world were about to crumble to pieces all around us.
-Eighteen-
Ríastrad
The kiss began as something gentle but soon deepened, and for a moment I forgot all about the chaos that was moments away from unfurling like a black cloud of death. Cade dug his fingers further into my hair, lowering one hand to my back as he pressed me closer. Of their own accord, my arms wrapped around him and I kissed him back with fervor. What had he said before all of this? Oh, yes. He loved me. That only made my stomach flip over again and I swore I sensed my stubborn magic burning fiercely through my blood.
Before I was ready, Cade broke the kiss and pulled away, leaving us both gasping for breath. He placed his right hand against my cheek and kissed me one more time, this one without all of the passion of the one before it. He let go of me, then turned and walked away, not bothering to glance back, as if he had already lost the battle and couldn’t see me anymore.
A sob broke free from my throat, and only then did I realize how close to breaking I was. I hurried towards him, reaching my hands out, but some invisible barrier blocked me, knocking my hand aside. What the heck?
“Ah, ah, ah little faeling,” the Morrigan crooned as she stepped away from her mutated Cúmorrig. “No interference from outside parties allowed.”
The goddess reached up as if to caress my hair, but her fingers also met with the invisible shield, this one administering a slight shock. She hissed and drew her hand back, cursing in the language of Eilé. She sounded bitter and angry, but I was too intent on Cade to care what she said or thought. If she somehow managed to drag me off by the hair at that moment, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even notice.
The circle of various faelah closed in around us, creating a dark ring of monsters. Speirling had finally found an opening and had trotted off, as far away from the battle as possible, and Fergus and Meridian were nowhere in sight. I didn’t care. The only thing I cared about was Cade and the ten Cúmorrig he was about to fight. Cade was tall and strong, but the grotesque hellhounds were taller and appeared stronger.
“How are you going to defeat them Cade?” I whispered as the tears fell down my face.
The cold rain lashed at me and the wind chilled me even further. As the creatures circled around Cade, I began chewing at my fingernails. He didn’t stand a chance. Suddenly a surge of anger hit me and the burning next to my heart heightened. I cried out in pain, wondering if the shock of everything that was happening would cause heart failure.
I glanced up to check if the monsters had attacked yet, only to fall back down on my rump in surprise. The beasts had made a circle around Cade, but he stood absolutely still, his arms held open at his sides, palms facing out, his head bowed in concentration. I could almost make out the rage and aggression pouring off of him, like heat waves rising off a road in the desert.
With sudden violence, one shoulder dislocated with a tremendous CRACK, then the other. His hair grew and formed into spikes and something that looked disturbingly like blood gathered at their points. The rain pelted down, making it run in crimson rivulets down his pale face. One of his eyes swelled to an unnatural size and I was sure it would burst out of his head. His clothing tore as he grew larger and more like one of the Morrigan’s monsters.
There was one last crackling of joints and Cade stood transformed, slightly taller than the creatures surrounding him, but exuding a fury that terrified me. I gaped at him, my eyes gone wide, my tears long dried up. So this is what the Morrigan had been talking about. This transformation that had made Cade a pariah among his peers. This is what I’d witnessed when I nearly died a year ago.
I blinked up at the Morrigan, standing only a few feet away from me. She looked smug, eyeing me with condescending dislike.
“Who would want such a monster?” she crooned. “It’s clear you’ve never seen my son overcome with his battle fury, this warp spasm. It’s a shame he’s sacrificing himself for you.”
She sighed, having the nerve do sound like she cared. “If only I had convinced him to go into ríastrad before making the blood oath, it might have saved me so much trouble. You would’ve seen him in this form,” she waved at her newly transformed son, now carefully eyeing the creatures that circled him, looking for a weak spot, “and like the others, you would have run away screaming. Eventually, he would have gotten over you and then I’d be free to seek you on my own, taking what I wanted. Now I�
�m going to lose a very useful tool.”
My anger blossomed and spilled over. “I don’t care about the ríastrad.” I turned my eyes on her, my voice raw with emotion. “I love Cade. I would never leave him for something he has no control over. He cannot help who he is; who his parents are.”
“Too bad,” she snickered, nodding her head in Cade’s direction, “because after tonight he will certainly be leaving you.”
I shouldn’t have looked because the battle had begun. I cried out when the long, clawed arm of one of the monsters swung out and made contact with Cade’s own arm. But the move had been meant as a block and he quickly twisted the limb of the creature until it broke free of its body. The Cúmorrig howled in pain, and I swallowed back bile. Cade, in this horrible form, was brutal, fighting like a feral animal. His grotesque appearance almost made it hard to distinguish him from his adversaries.
The Morrigan yawned in a bored fashion as the battle raged on. A gust of wind and a sheet of rain slammed into us, driving me to the ground once more. I had long given up trying to keep my knees from getting muddy and the cloak I wore was already drenched.
“Such a shame, really,” the Morrigan said above me. “He is far more useful to me alive than dead. Who is going to fetch back my dear little pets from the mortal world when he’s gone?”
I swallowed, the lump in my throat proving to be an obstacle. No. Cade would not die. He could not.
“He won’t die,” I whispered, my head down.
I tried to ignore the sounds of the fight. The last time I glanced up, Cade had destroyed two of the monsters. I had no way of distinguishing between his shouts of outrage and their cries of pain. I guess I should try finding solace in knowing that if I could still hear them fighting, then the battle still continued. And if the battle still continued, Cade was still alive.
Dolmarehn - Book Two of the Otherworld Trilogy Page 21
