"Please…" I whispered to her, walking closer. "What is her name?" I asked John, without looking back.
“Ghost.”
I whirled around, emotional and fed up. "Her name, John! I don't want her freaking nickname. We are going to save her life, I deserve to know her name at least."
His gaze softened as his SEAL facade faded a bit. He cared for her; I could see that, more than he cared for the others in his team. "Amanda. She's my cousin."
I sighed, holding back my emotion. “We are going to save her.”
He squared his shoulders, the Commander in him once again taking over. "I know."
I turned towards the monitor, and my gaze landed on a place it hadn't seen before. Cyn tensed beside me, his hand tightening on mine. He saw it too. "Kevan, please zoom in on the cell right behind Amanda's face. Make it as clear as possible."
The image moved on the screen becoming sharper by the second, Eisha and Seima gasped behind me while Art cursed under his breath.
"It cannot be," Cyn whispered, his desperation, shock, and agony poured into me, mixing with mine. Legs and shoes became entirely visible from the camera angle. I had seen those types of clothing and shoes long before I met Cyn, in my cherished Merlin movies.
“They are Druids!” Ralph said, shocked.
“They are still alive,” Eisha whispered at the same time.
The tears fell from my eyes as I looked at Cyn. “They’ve had them all this time.”
Cyn’s chest rose and fell sharply with his frantic breaths, and his body began to shake so hard, that I feared something would happen. He looked at me.
“Take me there.”
Chapter 12. Lost Prisoners
CYNWRIG
* * *
My gaze settled on the guards before me, the instant we appeared in the dungeon. It filled with over twenty Romans soldiers after Amanda risked her life to show us that part of my family was still alive and held here.
The cold, smooth leather of my Warrior suit moved against my skin like a caress, and truth be told, I missed it. I had changed out of my Priest robe before coming here.
Forgive me, Mother Goddess.
Time slowed to a crawl as I loaded my bow with multiple arrows, aiming it at the first four men to my left. I wasn’t a Priest at that moment. Pure Warrior blood coursed through my veins.
“Let it be. The time has come to save your family, my child…”
It was but a whisper, probably one conjured by my imagination, yet all I required. The arrows flew from my grasp as time resumed its pace. The men turned, alerted to our arrival, and their screams filled the cavernous room as they fell immobile to the ground. A toxin dipped arrow through their limbs, one that would paralyze them for several hours.
The fight broke out around me.
I jumped, reloading my bow while stepping on the wall to propel myself, and kicked another guard on the chest. He fell back as two more arrows sailed from my grasp. They hit their mark at the same time, and I stuck a third one in the soldier I kicked. I caught John from my peripheral vision, pulling two of the non-lethal guns from his suit, and shooting without pause at the men rushing towards him. Ralph, Slate, Shark and the others fought, leaving men on the ground as they advanced in unison towards the dungeon gates. I moved with them and turned gaining momentum, I slammed my forearm on another soldier's face, as his bullets flew towards my body. They clashed against the protection spell Brina had once placed on the suit, and banged against the floor.
My iron brace connected with his cheek harshly, the blow throwing him against the stone wall beside him, unconscious. I put an arrow through him too—for good measure—and continued forwards. I caught sight of my brother's swords spinning in the air. His blades slightly sliced the skin of the four different men surrounding him, he struck them with such precision, that the thin red lines on their bodies were the only testimony of his attack. The paralyzing toxin instantly made them crash on the grown.
"Get the three women in the back!" a soldier yelled, running into the mayhem. "They seem weak, and might be valuable if they are hiding behind the others."
My arrow flew through his shoulder the next second, as the three men he commanded rushed towards Seima, Lia, and Brina. I flipped my bow, and chuckled halfheartedly through the wrath I felt. Hitting another soldier on the back, he went down. They would soon discover how "frail" our women were.
“Did he just call us weak?!” Lia shrieked, outraged, while Seima rushed forwards, colliding with the guard, her daggers in hand.
* * *
She stepped back as he fell by her feet and whirled around, slicing the skin on the second one's arm, while the third soldier soared backwards with the force of Brina's light. She slammed him against the roof and let him go. The faint cracking of bones filled the air as he crashed on the ground. She walked towards him picking up her skirts, and bent down. Recognition filled me. It was the man from Amanda's moving images, or video, as John and Brina had called it. I could feel the pain waves still rolling through her as she thought of the woman. It had nearly destroyed Brina to replay the attack in order to decipher her message.
"Now, you know what it feels like to be thrown like a rag doll as you did to Amanda. How weak am I now?" She stood and left him there, struggling to breathe. I put an arrow through him.
“Shark!” John turned, directing his gaze to his men. “Take the teams upstairs and clear the building, while we get everyone down here out.” Shark, Slate, Ralph and the others nodded, rifles in hand and the seventeen modern-day Warriors began their ascent up the stairs.
Knocking the last man in my path unconscious, and leaving an arrow in his leg, I took hold of Brina's hand, needing to feel her with me, and rushed through the gates with John, our Court, Seima, and Cathair. We stepped into the hallway we saw on Amanda's video, this was where my family was held.
Brina's distress exploded through us. "Kevan!" She yelled, and I followed her gaze to see Amanda still lying on the floor, unconscious and bleeding at the end of the tunnel. Her body lay awkwardly on the ground.
I looked for Kevan, who only a moment ago ran behind me and stopped. He was struggling to move as he held himself against the wall. It was only then I recalled the potency of his ability.
“You have to block them!” I yelled, rushing back to him.
Kevan was a true Healer, a Master Healer, which meant he could feel everything others felt. Every symptom, ache, and ailment as though it was his own. At this moment, he was overwhelmed—paralyzed in a way—sensing everything the people in the cells were feeling. I gripped his shoulders helping him stand, and looked into his eyes urgently.
“You must block them all. I know it goes against your nature but you must, or it will weaken you and drive you mad.” I could already perceive how taxing it was on him. “Block them, Kevan, or you will not be able to help them.”
He nodded and closed his eyes, struggling to do so. His body trembled under my hold with the assault of pain he was receiving from the others. I prayed to the Goddess he was able to achieve it, or I would have to remove him from here. My heart beat thunderously as I waited; the others surrounded us, worried about him. My gaze connected with John in the distance, who was cradling his cousin's body to him, and talking to her. I pleaded once more, Kevan had to do this because she needed him. I would not be able to heal the level of injuries she endured. They were too severe.
Slowly, Kevan’s shaking began to subside, and he took hold of himself. His gaze settled on me and he nodded. “I got it. I’m good.”
I could feel the distress in him, and I knew he was struggling to maintain the block he achieved, but it would do for now. "Amanda needs you." He nodded once more and began to walk towards her with Eisha by his side.
We stepped into the hall of cells, and I halted as the faces I once thought forever lost stared back at me.
“Cynwrig!”
“Thank you, Mother Goddess!”
“Praise the Goddess!”
“We a
re saved!”
Their voices became louder as they spotted me, and my brother. Art began to open the cells setting them free, while cries and pleads floated all around me. My eyes settled on the small boy, his face was cut and dried blood stuck to his cheek. The dirt was all over his skin, but it was the look in his eyes that got to me. Even looking at us, and the possibility of freedom, he seemed like he had given up.
Something snapped inside me.
The magic rushed through my arms like blue thunder over my skin, as I called on my enhanced strength. I pulled the doors of the cells still locked, forcing them open. The people who poured out hugged me, and some even fell to their knees sobbing, while others touched me merely to confirm that I was, in fact, real and here to save them.
“You are safe,” I declared, my voice booming in the underground space. “We shall take you to our village, where you will never be hurt again. You are safe.”
Their relief, agony, and hope surged with such intensity from their essences that it took me a moment to settle myself. My eyes stung as I hugged them, my own emotions overwhelming me. The image of them on the boats, embarking towards a safe place as we escaped Anglesey after the attack returned to me, and I couldn't let go. My people kept pouring out of the cells, while Art, Seima, Cathair and the others helped free them.
"Cacia it is all right. I shall take you home once and for all," I vowed, holding the weeping woman in my arms, who had once been the baker of our village.
I crouched down and cupped the boy's face, he stepped closer looking all around him startled. "Everything shall be all right, Hayes. Where is your father?" He shook his head, appearing confused as to what was happening. He'd been merely five years old when we left the island. Did he remember his life at all, after being locked in a dungeon for centuries? "We will find him."
He stared at me as though trying to recognize me, and my heart constricted. His father, Llyr, had been a Bard; he'd shared his music and poetry with all, and spread his merriment unselfishly. I would do anything to find him.
"Stay by my side." The boy nodded finalize realizing who I was, and clutched the waistband of my pants fiercely. His hand trembled against me.
I raised my gaze to the others. “You are all safe now. I swear it.”
My attention refocused on the back, I noticed Eisha open a portal taking John, Kevan, and Amanda through it. She was still unconscious, and I knew Kevan needed solitude to work on her. He would help the others after he healed her, and I would assist him as I had done with the Mòr Sagart countless times.
My eyes settled on Brina, as she too hugged and reassured our people.
“Is Leigh here with you? Have you seen, Leigh?” She asked everyone she encountered, while she helped them walk towards me, but they shook their heads in response.
“We must take them out of here at once, my Goddess.”
She nodded. “I’ll be right there.”
Brina’s disappointment and anguish rushed through our link, while she made her way back, her Spear of Light glowed blue. Stepping away from my people, I gripped Hayes hand tightly in mine and threw the stones watching them connect with Brina's staff. They floated about us, the runes on them shining as the ray of light she projected covered our people one by one. It extended all the way to the back, Art nodded when it reached him and Lia, and I looked at Brina.
“To the village.”
It was these moments that were a testament to who our people truly were.
We had rescued forty members of our family, which we thought dead long ago. Yet today as they stepped foot into the village, it was as though they had always been here. The others received them with open arms, offering their homes and beds for them to stay… a warm bath, and a full meal for anyone who needed it.
Hayes clung to me, as I carried him in my arms, and walked through the multitude of people looking for his father. My hope was, the Romans had them in separate cells, but Llyr would still be alive. It was evident to us once we got here, that the Warriors assigned to guard these people on each boat were killed, and I sent another silent prayer to the Goddess, that Llyr had not endured their fate.
"Llyr!" I called his name, looking among my brothers and sisters as they began to disperse into the huts. My heart tore as I finished my account. Llyr was not among us.
“Have you found him?” Hayes asked. His small arms sat around my neck, his fingers gripped my hair tightly. I had seen him do that to his mother another life ago; before she was taken from us during the Anglesey attack.
"Not yet, little one. Nevertheless, my search is not over yet. I promise." He nodded and his lost gaze returned to me, he hid his face in my neck.
It took everything inside me to not let the rage explode out of me and return to the Rome location, talking everyone out in return. It took everything to be the man Mòr Sagart had instilled in me. It was a decision, one I kept making, especially in times like this.
Art and Cathair assembled one of the shield Warrior groups and took them back to Rome, to aid Shark and the others. It had not been my intention to abandon them in the middle of the mission, but I needed to take my people away from the Romans as fast as humanly possible, and I could not bring myself to leave them now that they were here.
My hand gently rubbed Hayes' back as I turned and began to walk towards Brina. The smell on him would have revolted any other, but I could not let go.
“Is he okay?” She asked in my mind the second her gaze settled on me.
I shook my head. “Will you come with me to the hut?”
“Can I come with you?” Lia asked as though she could hear us. Her eyes were locked on the small child I carried.
I nodded silently, and we began to walk to my hut. The door closed behind me, and Brina moved to the kitchen to prepare something for him, while I sat on the bed. Lia filled the tub and pulled a white shirt from the drawer. One of the ones my brother had given me.
“Can you bring him here so we can clean him?”
I nodded and walked towards her, kneeling next to the tub. My fingers grazed the water and I recited the warming spell until the steam rose from the surface.
"Hey, little guy. What is your name?" Lia asked, caressing his back, yet when his head lifted, his eyes focused only on me. He remained silent as though he wanted me to answer. Did he not remember?
I took a deep breath. “Hayes, your name is Hayes.”
“My name is Hayes,” he repeated looking into my eyes.
I forced myself to smile. “This is my friend Lia. She is going to help clean you. Is that all right?”
His gaze reluctantly moved from mine, and he turned his head towards her. Lia smiled winking at him then his eyes dropped to the warm water. He reached for it with his toes, and relaxed in my hold as the warmth traveled through him. He nodded but didn't answer. Lia and I exchanged a concerned glance, and I placed him on the floor, removing his clothes. To my relief, there were no other marks on his body, only the cuts on his face, which seemed to have happen over time leaving scars. Taking a small washcloth, I dipped it in the water and gently wiped his face. With each stroke, I allowed my magic to flow through him while I recited the healing spell. Soon, his cheeks were smooth and clean once again, as they always should have been.
The scars were gone from his skin, but I worried about the ones on his mind.
Once he was undressed, I carried him and placed him in the tub. He stood, unwilling to let go of me; his hands still clung to my hair.
"Hayes, do you like singing?" Lia asked, reaching for the soap. "I always sing while I bathe, I love music. Art tells me to shut up most of the time, but that's not really the point." Hayes looked at me and I shrugged. "I'm going to sing while you bathe, but you have to promise not to tell me to shut up, okay?"
Her voice rose in song, as she purposefully reached the wrong notes and Hayes eyes widened. He looked at her as she began to soap him up, pouring warm water own his back. His eyes returned to me. He cringed as she yelled. I made a face, and he repres
sed a smile. I breathed a little easier. His reaction gave me hope. "All right, time to stop, Lia."
"Hey! You promised you wouldn't tell me to shut up."
"I did no such thing," I rebutted, and a chuckle escaped Hayes. His body tensed with fear, as though he did something wrong. He shut his eyes and began to tremble, his fingers gripped my hair tighter. Tears gathered in Lia's eyes at his reaction, and I fought mine. "It is all right, Hayes. I swear it.” I hugged him to me, trying to comfort him. “You may not remember much, but we are your friends. You are safe here, and laughing is encouraged."
A few minutes passed until he relaxed in my arms again, and pulled back to look at me. “Gun aoirteas?”—No hurting?
I was forced to swallow before I could respond. “No. No one is going to hurt you here. You are safe, Hayes. I swear it.”
Nodding, Hayes eased his hold on my hair and sat down in the water, allowing Lia to wash his head and clean him thoroughly.
* * *
The moon shone through the window as we watched him eat.
It was his second bowl of porridge, and he was finally grabbing the spoon by himself. There was no denying the trauma this boy suffered, and once again I wondered if his father was still alive. Lia got him to talk to her, and to my relief, he had even laughed out loud once. My shirt covered his whole body, but Seima had gone to borrow clothes from the families in the village that had boys about his age.
“You know, I have a baby in my belly.” Lia said, and Hayes’ eyes widened looking at her stomach.
Absolute Magic Page 23
