by Audra Hart
Morna is trying to decide whether or not to give Brigid a heads up about the quandary of their uncertain loyalties. But that worries Morna as well because Brigid is a Spell Weaver and Neurosurgeon, not a warrior. What would become of Brigid if they turned on her? But Morna is confident that George is truly in love with Brigid and he would never hurt her, even if he is a traitor.
“Please stay and help Brigid watch this gate. We cannot leave it undefended.” says Morna.
“Morna, I am capable helping Brigid defend the gate. I cannot run like you can to cover long distances, but I am a good fighter and have strong protective magic. We could hold the gateway entrance by ourselves for a long siege if we needed to. My grandson should go with you. No offense, Breena, but you are not a trained warrior like Morna and Damian doesn’t understand magic. You need my George.” Morna continues to look pensively at Maria and George.
“Ah,” says Maria. “I see. Ari or Almeda must have supported our involvement in this struggle, now you are doubting your own instincts about us.” Maria looks over at George.
George shrugs. “Well you can’t blame the lady, she just realized someone she has been genetically programmed to trust and look up to, has possibly been out to destroy her for centuries. Give her a minute to decide whether or not she wants to trust her gut again.”
Carrick reaches over and takes his friend’s hand. “Morna, now is not the time to start doubting yourself. Go with your gut. Your instincts are good. They always have been. You know that.”
Morna nods and then says, “George, Maria, please forgive me. George I would be grateful for your help, brother. Maria, please keep an eye on Sammy.”
No sooner had Morna mentioned Sammy, than they hear her scream from her quarters. Damian gets to her first. They find her in her quarters. It appears as though she has been sleeping in bed but something disturbed her. “Luca! Oh Morna, they are sending Trolls to attack Luca at some cottage in a little valley. I don’t recognize the place. He is alone and outnumbered, there are so many of them. Morna, Ari and Aideen were there, too! They are both acting crazed! What does this mean?”
Bronwyn looks at Morna, “Could Ari and Almeda have blocked her visions while they were here?”
Morna shrugs, “I don’t know, but if anyone can do that they probably could. Elves are certainly more powerful than we are. We have to go now to help Luca! Carrick, Elias, get Enya and go find my father. I think they are searching near the Coral gateway near the Great Barrier Reef. Use your finder spell, it should take you straight to him. Meet us at my cottage near Airendell. Be careful! Maria, watch the gateway. Brigid, go relieve Enya.”
Elias lightly grabs Morna’s shoulder. “I think I could be of more use with you Morna. I am no longer a child. I am a man fully grown, trained as a warrior, by you I might add. Let me stand by your side. I have fought Trolls before. Damian, Breena and George have not.” Morna nods and heads out to the arsenal.
Everyone follows except for Brigid who has gone to get Enya. As Morna is handing weapons out to Damian, George, and Breena and the other warriors are arming themselves, she instructs Maria. “Keep Sammy safe. Any who attempt to pass through this gate who are not part of our group that you know, must be held off until we know what is going on. Can you handle that?”
Maria nods. “I can keep anyone from using this gate. And I will protect Sammy like my own child.”
Morna hugs Sammy quickly and takes off at a run for Airendell. Maria calls out to her, “Are you sure Luca is in his right mind?”
“Yes, I believe that Ari will only be able to confuse him. At most, plant seeds of doubt in his mind. I am confident of that. Luca is too strong for anyone to assume control of his mind. You don‘t understand the precision with which his mind works,” calls Morna over her shoulder.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They have been running for a couple hours now and Morna‘s fear is growing. She has been unable to link with anyone using the Elvish mind link. She is fearful that they will reach Luca too late. She wonders why she has been unable to get through to warn him. But now they are nearly there. She lets the others know this, and warns them to be on the lookout for Trolls because they are entering a bad area for them.
George struggles to catch up with Morna and asks, “How are we covering more ground in less time?”
“I’ve used spells and short cuts. I wasn’t able to do this the other night, I didn‘t remember how until now and I am stronger than I was then. It’s complicated,” Morna says when she sees George’s confusion. “Look George, with the spells I used today we have all been running much faster than you realize. It takes a toll on my aura‘s power, but it’s worth it. We must make good time. Luca may be in danger at this very moment!” She starts running a little faster as she says that.
Damian looks at George and Breena and catches up with Morna. “Easy Morna. Luca is a powerful and smart vampire, a potent Spell Weaver and Warrior. He’s fine.”
Morna is thankful for the calming influence of her protector and holds up her hand to indicate they should slow down. She can see the familiar green glow of her home gateway. Archer or someone under his command should have challenged them by now. Damian and Morna snarl at the same time. They have both picked up the scent of Troll. “Dammit! Trolls are attacking the guard at the gateway!”
George smells the Trolls now too, he looks at Breena, “You ever fought one these things?”
“Nope, fraid not.” Breena admits. “But in my experience, anything dies if you take its head off.” She draws her sword like someone who knows what they are doing and keeps running forward.
But George thinks she looks a little worried just the same. “Well I haven’t either, but fighting vicious creatures is something I have some experience with, so let’s watch each other’s backs, okay?” George offers.
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Breena agrees with a small smile.
Morna looks back at George and Breena. “Do not let them separate you from us. That is one of their favorite battle tactics. Elias, Damian isn‘t used to this kind of fighting, watch his back. I am sure he will be watching Breena instead of his own back.”
When they burst into the gateway room they see three men fighting about twenty huge Trolls. George and Damian have never seen Trolls. They are monstrous. Each creature is over seven feet tall, and very, very solidly built. They are incredibly hairy, and have scaly armor over much of their bodies, with a mouth full of vicious looking teeth, short tusks and savage yellow eyes. George thinks they look a lot like an armadillo on steroids. Each creature is armed with either an axe, a sword or a pike.
“Oh yeah, their hearts are in their lower abdomens, so don’t waste blows to their upper chest. Striking them there only pisses them off,” instructs Morna as she takes the battle axe from her back and brings the nearest Troll down with a single blow between its massive, hairy legs. George and Damian have never heard anything like the screeching sound the dying Troll emits. Elias takes one out cleanly with his sword.
Morna sees Archer across the huge room, “ARCHER! My brother!” she screams.
He doesn’t look up but says, “Morna is that you?” He brings a Troll down with a vicious blow to the lower abdomen with his sword. Elias takes out a Troll that is coming up behind Breena, he smoothly decapitates it.
“Yes,” she yells back at her half-brother. “Did any get through?” She brings another down with a blow between his legs. She looks over in time to see Damian strike at a Troll and miss with his sword. “Here, try this, Son.” She tosses the battle axe to him. He catches it as Morna slides her sword out of her sheath. And stabs one through the middle chest, it keeps coming and screaming. She whacks it again with her sword between the legs and it falls down screeching as it dies.
“Aye, bout fifty of the beasties! They caught us off guard. I think someone had put some kind of spell on us.” Archer shouts back at Morna. “Morna, Magdrid has disbanded the Airendell Warriors, there would have been no one to stop them when they left the ga
teway unless someone just happened to be in the area.”
“Shit!” Morna mutters, “What the hell is wrong with Magdrid? Why is she leaving Airendell so vulnerable?” Morna has a sick feeling in her gut that leaving Airendell vulnerable to attack is just what Magdrid intended. She prays she is wrong about her mother.
George and Damian take a Troll down working together, then Damian swings around behind Breena and gets one on the head that was coming up on her blindside quickly. Breena swings around neatly stabs it through the lower gut. It falls with an agonizing screech. She neatly whacks its head off. “Yep, just as I expected. Any critter dies when you decapitate it.” She smiles her gratitude to Damian who swiftly takes her in his arms for a quick kiss before they both return to the battle.
“Has Luca been through here?” Morna shouts her question at Archer above the screeching and sounds of battle.
“Yeah, day before yesterday. He was going to your cottage to think, he’s been doing that for years.” Replies Archer as he takes another Troll out.
Morna hears George tell her to watch out. She jumps straight up and as she comes down she decapitates the Troll with her sword just as Elias neatly stabs it in the abdomen. George laughs, and says, “Taking a beastie’s head off, now that I can do.” And he proceeds to prove it by decapitating a Troll on his left. He laughs exuberantly, and says, “Hey, they chop easier than vampires!”
Morna laughs wildly. Battle always exhilarates her. She looks around quickly at George, Damian, and Breena. They seem to be able to hold their own, and work well together. In fact, Breena seems to be taking out more Trolls than either George or Damian. Since she doesn’t have to worry about her sister Morna calls over to her brother. “I am going to help Luca. Elias you are with me, you know the area. Archer, these Trolls have been sent after Luca. Watch out for my friends, and the vampire is like my son, so be nice!” After she says this she runs out the doorway into the realm of Airendell.
She can hear Archer laughing behind her, she can’t help but laugh a little herself as she takes off in a desperate run to help her mate. She doesn’t have to look to see if Elias is with her. She knows he won’t let her down and she can sense him following. Elias catches up with her quickly. Morna smiles to herself, her favorite godson is definitely all grown up. “Morna, what’s the plan?” he asks.
“I want you to go in from the back of the glen, I will go in from the front. Just around the bend up here I need you veer off the path and cut through the woods so they won’t see you going around to the back of our little glen. I will wait about a minute to give you time to get around to the back before I go in. They will be able to see me coming, I will hopefully draw them away from Luca’s position. I am counting on you to surprise them. I don’t know what kind of shape Luca is in, but I can hear the sounds of battle, can’t you?”
“No, but I don’t have vampy hearing,” he laughs. “Be sure you give me a little time to get around to the back Morna, don’t be impatient!” he calls as he veers off in the woods.
By now she can smell the Trolls too. She wrinkles her nose at the nearly overpowering stench. Ah, there he is! Now she can smell Luca too. She starts running faster. She tops the rise near the entrance to her glen and sees a hoard of the beasts converged on one spot about 500 yards from their cottage, their gleeful grunts echo in her ears. Panic grips Morna’s heart because she cannot see Luca!
Some the beasts are carrying torches. Since when do Trolls fight with fire? They have always seemed to fear fire in the past. The sight of all those torches when Luca might already be at their mercy fills Morna’s heart with terror. Stone Cold vampires are very flammable. She forgets all about her promise to Elias to wait for him to get into position. She lets loose with a battle cry. About fifteen of the attacking Trolls break off from Luca’s position and head for Morna.
Elias swears under his breath. Morna didn’t give him enough time to get into position. He cuts through the woods, hoping that he will come out in the right place. He is afraid he may charge right into the small river that runs through Luca and Morna’s glen. Just before the river gets to their cottage it veers around to other side of the house. If Elias has gone far enough the river won’t be a problem, but he’s pretty sure he is going to get wet. “Damn, it will slow me down even more.” He mutters.
He can hear the Trolls screech as they are wounded and those evil grunting and squealing sounds they make when they have their quarry cornered. Elias wonders who they have pinned down, Luca or Morna. The trees are thinning out. Damn there’s the river! He tries to leap over it, but he knows he won’t clear it. He lets loose with a battle cry too, hoping to distract the Trolls from whomever they have pinned down.
Luca hears Morna’s enraged battle cry. For some reason that he can’t even imagine now, he had been about to give up and just let the nasty creatures tear him limb from limb and set him on fire. Now he knows that will never do. He has to stay in one piece. He has to stay alive! Morna needs him!
Morna sees Luca stand up with a roar in the middle of the throng of torch and sword bearing Trolls. He sends three of the beasts flying through the air, and seizes a sword from one of them. They land with thuds, but two get up and come back for more. Morna leaps into the air screeching her battle cry at the top of her lungs. She takes one Troll out on the fringe with a sword through the neck. She lands three feet behind Luca.
They assume defensive positions shoulder to shoulder, and start hacking their way forward. Luca and Morna hear Elias’ battle cry. Morna calls over her shoulder, “That’s our godson.” Luca grunts and decapitates another Troll with a satisfied grunt. “Awwww, just like old times!”
“Mo ghrá, I can’t even say how happy I am to see,” Luca grunts as he separates a torch bearing Troll from his head.
The ones who had charged at Morna when she first entered their little glen are back in the middle of the fray. She can hear a couple of them growling and fighting with each other. She prays they turn on each other. She brings her sword up in between the legs of the nearest attacking beast. She hears Luca decapitate another.
Morna knows the fire is a bad sign. They are definitely being coached by someone, even controlled by them perhaps. Trolls are very weak minded creatures and anyone with a modicum of psychic ability can influence them. Morna suddenly feels very much afraid that they may have another enemy nearby. She looks around and sees two figures at the top of the waterfall at the end of their tiny glen. “WHAT!?!” Is that who she thinks it is?
She drags her focus back to the Trolls who are hell bent on killing her and her mate. She hears Luca take out two creatures with one blow. She hears Elias’ battle cry again, this time it is much closer, and several of the beasts break off from the main assault to deal with Elias. She takes the heads off two Trolls by slashing to the left and then back to her right. She grunts in satisfaction.
Elias’ battle cry gives Luca the opportunity to press forward. Morna follows, keeping her back to his. She realizes she is being charged from both sides simultaneously and says, “Oh damn!” Luca figures out the source of her distress and reaches behind himself to pluck her up in the nick of time. He catapults her out of the center of the fray.
Morna lands between Luca’s and Elias’ positions. She glances at Elias, he is battling three Trolls, but two of them are bearing down hard on him. He nearly stumbles over the body of one he has just killed as he backs up under the onslaught of two Trolls. The nearest Troll senses victory and moves in for the kill. Morna jumps onto his back and drives her sword into his body at the base of the beast’s squat neck. She knows it is probably not a killing blow, but it gives Elias a chance to strike the fatal blow.
Her sword is stuck in the Troll and she doesn’t have time to retrieve it before the beast falls. She jumps off his back and lands a few feet from Elias. He saw her lose her sword, so he grabs the battle axe from his back. “Here Morna, catch!” he yells as he tosses it to her. She looks up just in time to snag the deadly implement before it strikes
her. She laughs wildly and turns toward Luca.
When he threw her out of the fray there were eight Trolls attacking their position. Now Luca has the numbers down to five. Morna comes in swinging the battle-axe and screaming her rage at the beasts attacking her mate. She knocks the legs out from under the closest one and then she swings the axe around and lands it directly on the fallen Troll’s gut, right where its heart is. The screeching death keen is short lived.
She doesn’t have time to enjoy the kill because something hits her hard on her left side and knocks her down. She draws the flat side of the axe next her body and rolls to the left, assuming a killing blow will be aimed at her head. She narrowly escapes, and counts her blessings as she feels the wind off the blow on her face as a battle ax is buried in the dirt where her head had been. “That was too close!” She hears a screech and one of the beasts fall on top of her with bone crushing impact. She is pinned in place, she cannot even draw a breath.
She hears Luca’s enraged roar! And the heavy beast is suddenly gone from on top of her. And she sees him standing there, beautiful and strong. The wind has been knocked out her and she can’t move, but she sees a Troll coming at Luca, swinging a pike for his head. She tries to scream. Luca reads the look in her eyes and jumps ten feet straight in the air, he flips and comes down behind the beast and takes his head off with his sword.
Morna turns her head slightly to check on Elias. He has just dropped the last Troll and looks around quickly for another Troll to battle. He is satisfied there are no more. He leans over and puts his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
Luca has also looked around and realized all the enemies are either dead, or have run away. He can hear other warriors in the distance chasing them down. He rushes to his mate. He kneels beside her and asks her if she is okay. She tries to talk, but barely manages a wheeze, she still hasn’t been able to draw a breath. Morna hears someone coming, but she can’t make out who it is. She’s losing consciousness.
