by Che Golden
‘You are a brave doggy, aren’t you?’ said the dark-haired elf. ‘We caught one of you the other day. He was brave too, even though it took him such a long time to die.’
Nero said nothing, just carried on snarling, but Maddy could hear his growl get deeper. She reached out and put a hand on him to calm him – the elves were trying to make him angry and she didn’t want him to do something that would get him killed.
‘We didn’t think there would be much left in the forest worth hunting,’ continued the elf. ‘Yet in two days we find two wolves and a Hound. And as an extra treat, two humans. I normally do not like to hunt children – the chase is over far too quickly and you really do not have the strength to last long once we catch you. But it’s been so long since I hunted a human that I’ll take what I can get.’ The other elves laughed.
‘Liadan won’t like it if you kill me,’ said Maddy.
‘True enough,’ said the elf cheerfully. ‘That is a pleasure she wants all to herself. But she said nothing about your companions, so they’re fair game.’
Roisin whimpered, and Maddy heard Danny curse softly under his breath, his voice high with fear.
‘She’ll be happier if you bring us all in together,’ said Maddy, slipping her hand into her pocket and fingering her little iron knife.
The elf smiled again and shook his head. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘I think she will be happy enough with just you, little Hound. That means we can have some fun before we bring you in.’ All three elves tightened their grip on their reins and licked their lips. The mounts stood up straighter and became more alert as they felt the new tension in their riders’ bodies. ‘You know we like to chase,’ he said. ‘So start running. I like a fair fight, so we’ll give you a head start.’
‘If we don’t run?’ asked Danny.
The elf shrugged. ‘We’ll kill you where you stand. And where is the fun in that?’
As soon as the words left his lips there was a flurry of white behind him and a sword arced through the air, gleaming bright even in the dull smoky light. The dark-haired elf’s mount screamed in agony and collapsed to the ground, scrabbling desperately with its front paws, its back legs lying limp and useless. Nero leaped at the second mount, going straight for the throat. The beast reared up on its back legs, tumbling its rider to the ground as it tried to rake at Nero’s sides with its front talons. But Nero hung close to its chest, twisting in the air as he gripped tight, and the pair of them were soon stained with the mount’s blood.
The third rider yelled and spurred his mount forward straight at Maddy, reaching out a hand to grab her, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. Maddy slashed at him with her knife, and even though she was reeling to one side to avoid his clutching fingers, she still managed to slice open the skin of his palm. The elf screamed and toppled from the side of his mount, which bolted further into the forest. The stricken rider writhed from side to side, clutching at his hand, the skin turning black around the cut as the iron poisoned him. Steam rose from the wound and the elf’s screaming hit higher and higher pitches as the iron ate into his flesh.
Maddy turned and saw the other two elves closing on their attacker, swords drawn. She was seven foot tall, a faerie, as slim as a ballet dancer. Her white hair was stiffened with lime into a Mohican and her bone-white skin was completely covered in pale grey Celtic tattoos. Muscles rippled through her body as she swung a silver great sword two-handed and her eyes glowed red. Her pale lips bared teeth filed to shark’s tips, and smaller silver knives were belted around her narrow hips. When Maddy recognized Fachtna, Liadan’s chief, she felt as if she had jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
Danny grabbed her arm. ‘We need to get out of here, while they’re all distracted.’
‘But why is Fachtna fighting elves?’ asked Roisin. ‘It doesn’t make sense – they’re on the same side.’
‘I’ve no idea, but I’m not sticking around to find out,’ said Danny. He called over to Nero, who was still worrying at the body of the mount he had attacked, even though the beast now lay completely motionless. ‘Nero, we need to go. NOW!’
Nero looked up, his face covered in gore, and then he bounded to Roisin’s side and pressed close to her legs. Roisin was frozen to the spot as she watched Fachtna and the elves fighting – Danny had to run back and start dragging her to make her move.
But while they were hesitating, they lost their chance to make a run for it. With a flick of her wrist Fachtna spun the sword from the dark-haired elf’s hands and opened his forehead with a slice across the skull. As the blood poured down his face, he collapsed to his knees, blinded. Fachtna flung out one sharp elbow into the face of the other elf as he tried to attack her from the side. As he stumbled back, she hooked a foot around his ankles and brought him crashing on to his back. She turned to Maddy, pointed her sword at her face and hissed, ‘Don’t move,’ before bending to take the prone elf’s sword. He glared up at her.
‘You’re going to die for this, Fachtna,’ he said. ‘Liadan doesn’t tolerate traitors.’
Fachtna shrugged as she stood over him pointing two swords at his face. ‘Maybe, maybe not,’ she said. ‘A lot of us are going to die soon and perhaps my time is close. But it might not be Liadan who accounts for me in the end.’ Then she bared her gruesome teeth. ‘However, if you keep annoying me, I will be happy to dispatch you now.’
The elf spat at her. ‘Go ahead! If you can live with the shame of killing an unarmed foe.’
‘Oh, I could live with that,’ said Fachtna, ‘because I don’t really consider you worth calling a foe. Too much bark, nowhere near enough bite. But that doesn’t mean you’re not useful.’
She lunged forward and drove the sword points into the earth, millimetres from the elf’s handsome face. The blood drained from his cheeks and he cringed as she bent close enough to kiss him. ‘Listen close and listen well,’ she said, her deep, gravelly voice a dark undercurrent to the sound of the other elves’ whimpering and groaning behind her. ‘Tell your mistress: my bonds are broken, and now that I have the Hound there’s no limit to what I can do to cause her harm.’ She stood up and wrenched the swords free. ‘Now go.’
He got up and ran, leaving his stricken comrades behind. Fachtna watched with a curled lip as the blood-blinded elf and the one with the injured hand painfully climbed to their feet and staggered away, holding on to each other for support. Keeping their eyes fixed on her, Maddy, Danny, Roisin and Nero tried to sidle away, clinging together like a parody of a three-legged race. But they couldn’t be subtle enough – Fachtna’s head whipped round and she raised her sword again and growled, ‘I said. Don’t. Move.’
One of the mounts was still alive and, as vicious as it was, Maddy couldn’t help but pity it as it moaned softly and paddled at the ground with its paws. With its red eyes half-lidded and its mouth closed it almost looked like a beautiful white horse and not a monstrosity.
‘What did you do to it?’ she asked Fachtna.
‘I cut its hamstrings, so now its back legs are paralysed,’ said Fachtna.
Roisin gasped. ‘That’s so cruel!’
Fachtna looked at her and raised an eyebrow. ‘Better than it being able to turn and claw me open from throat to belly,’ she said. ‘And in case any of you wants to come back with a clever remark, just remember they were about to attack you.’ She pointed at Roisin, Danny and then Nero. ‘None of you were going to come out of that situation healthy and whole.’
The mount let out a long, low moan. ‘It’s suffering,’ said Danny.
‘Yes, it is,’ said Fachtna, unsheathing a wicked-looking silver hunting knife with a serrated edge.
‘What are you doing?!’ asked Roisin.
‘Putting it out of its misery,’ said Fachtna as she bent down. They all turned their eyes away quickly just before Fachtna drew the blade across its soft white throat. The beast choked for a moment on its own blood and then died with a sigh.
‘So why are you killing elves?’ a
sked Roisin, as Fachtna hunted for a piece of moss or some greenery to wipe the blood from her blade.
‘I’d forgotten how many questions you ask, child,’ said Fachtna. ‘I’m amazed no one has cut your tongue out yet.’
‘You’ve left Liadan, haven’t you?’ asked Danny.
‘We heard that elf call you a traitor,’ said Maddy, as Fachtna’s face set in anger.
‘Liadan no longer requires my sword,’ said Fachtna stiffly. ‘Since she has declared war, her husband has assumed his place as the leader of her war band and her general, as is his duty.’
‘Cernunnos?’ said Maddy. ‘Are you trying to tell me that the one Tuatha we thought we could count on to help is now fighting for the enemy?!’
‘Well, he’s a Tuatha, and under their customs a husband has to fight on behalf of his wife, even if he didn’t pick the fight,’ said Fachtna. ‘Something he would have known when he married that war-crazed demented little elf.’
‘You’re calling Liadan war-crazed?’ said Maddy.
Fachtna paused in cleaning her blade to glare at her. ‘I am perfectly sane.’
‘But we need Cernunnos,’ said Danny, while Maddy rolled her eyes. ‘He’s the only Tuatha that has ever been on our side, even if he hasn’t ever actually been much help.’
‘We thought he cared about us,’ said Roisin. ‘Why did he always spend so much time in the mortal world, living among us, pretending to be one of us, if he didn’t like mortals?’
‘Well, he doesn’t care,’ said Fachtna, as she ran her hand down her blade to test its edge. ‘He’s not going to do a thing to help you, so you might as well get used to that idea. He’s a Tuatha – he’s not going to choose you over his own kind. He cannot ignore bonds of marriage and family that existed centuries before any of you were born. And let’s not forget that war is a game changer. Now that it is upon us, he has a different role to play. As do I.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Maddy.
‘Well, as fate would have it, I am now the closest thing you’ve got to a friend, little chicks,’ said Fachtna, as she smiled her cold, shark’s smile.
CHAPTER NINE
They looked at Fachtna open-mouthed while she gazed back at them, the smile playing about her bloodless lips. Roisin was the first to break the silence. ‘We’re doomed,’ she said. Fachtna threw back her head and roared with laughter and they all jumped about a foot backwards to get away from her. None of them had ever heard Fachtna laugh before and it was quite scary. They had no idea what it meant when she laughed, and they also got a better view of her hideous teeth, which made Maddy shudder.
‘It’s really not that bad, little chicks,’ said Fachtna. ‘Now you have a friend with a strong sword arm who is not afraid to get into a fight over you. When did Cernunnos ever risk anything on your behalf?’
‘See, that’s the key word right there, isn’t it?’ said Maddy. ‘You’re happy to fight “over” us, not “for” us or “with” us.’
Fachtna sneered. ‘You’re not good enough to fight with me, and I’m not desperate enough to be a servant and fight for you.’
‘But you make us sound like we are things,’ said Danny. ‘Like we’re prisoners.’
Fachtna tutted. ‘Prisoners,’ she said. ‘That’s such a harsh word.’
‘So we are free to say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” to your offer of help and walk off?’ asked Roisin.
Fachtna grinned. ‘Oh no.’
‘I knew it!’ said Danny.
‘This is a better offer than you realize,’ said Fachtna, her face cold and hard now and all pretence at humour gone. ‘If you thought Tír na nÓg was dangerous before, you have no idea what it is like when it is at war. You’ve been here five minutes and already you’ve run into a raiding party that could have killed you or dispatched you back to Liadan. A raiding party, might I add, that was made up of inexperienced young warriors who were easily beaten by one swordswoman.’
‘How do you know how long we’ve been in here?’ asked Maddy.
‘I was tracking you the whole time,’ said Fachtna. ‘Not even the wolf spotted me.’
Nero had the good grace to look ashamed.
‘You won’t last any time at all with all four courts on the rampage,’ said Fachtna. ‘You need help. I want the Hound and I am willing to take her useless companions under my protection at the same time, in return for her cooperation. I think that’s a good bargain.’
‘Why do you need me so badly?’ asked Maddy, her voice sharp with suspicion.
‘I have a plan, little Hound, and you are right at the heart of it,’ said Fachtna.
‘Pray tell,’ said a familiar voice somewhere above their heads. Startled, they all looked up to see Queen Meabh perched in a tortured tree, its branches raking the sky around her in agony. In a world of black and grey she burned as bright as a ruby. Her red hair tumbled around her like a cloak, thick and heavy and snarled in knots and tangles. Her tall, slim figure was dressed in red plaid, while a gold torc gleamed against her milk-white throat. Gold armbands curved around her muscular biceps and her eyes gleamed fresh and green. She stood up on her perch, held her arms out to her sides and leaned forward. Everyone except Fachtna yelled as she tipped out into space, expecting her to plummet toward the ground, but instead the Tuatha simply walked down the trunk of the tree, bits of burnt bark crumbling at the touch of her leather-booted feet, as if she was out on a stroll. Her familiar, a gigantic black dog with huge yellow eyes called the Pooka, padded toward her as she reached the ground and rubbed himself against her leg.
‘Not impressed, Fachtna?’ she asked as she rearranged her plaid.
‘Not really,’ said Fachtna. ‘I’ve seen that party trick before.’
‘My, my, my,’ said Meabh. ‘How sharp your tongue has grown since you have no monarch to curb it. Did it hurt terribly, Fachtna, to be cast aside for another?’
‘I left of my own free will,’ sneered Fachtna. ‘It feels good to have it back again.’
‘Does it really?’ said Meabh, circling the war faerie, a little wake of dust stirred by her heavy skirts. ‘You surprise me – you always struck me as the kind of faerie who likes the leash and chain. But why leave Liadan just as the Winter Queen gives you exactly what you want? All that blood and death and agony – I would have thought you would have been slavering in anticipation and kissing her icy feet for the chance to draw that sword in a proper battle.’
She stopped, her blood-red lips inches away from Fachtna’s cheek as the faerie stared straight ahead. ‘Unless, as you say, you have another plan. Something that will deliver you a little more.’
She walked around Fachtna and behind Maddy and placed a long, triple-jointed hand on her shoulder. Idly, she picked up a strand of Maddy’s wavy brown hair and rubbed it between her fingertips.
‘But what puzzles me is why you think you can simply steal what is mine to help you achieve your goals,’ said Meabh. ‘You know full well the Hound has sworn allegiance to me. You cannot use one of my subjects for your own ends without asking my permission – nor can she give her services away.’
Still Fachtna said nothing.
‘But if these plans were to suit my own aims, perhaps I might be persuaded to be generous,’ said Meabh.
Fachtna’s eyes flickered toward her.
‘Ah,’ said Meabh, her lips curving in a sly smile. ‘Now we are negotiating. You want my little pup here and her feeble companions – to what purpose? What would you want, Fachtna, more than anything?’ Meabh thought for a moment, drumming her spider fingers on Maddy’s shoulder. Maddy swallowed and glanced at Danny and Roisin, who looked back at her with white, worried faces. ‘Would it have something to do with a travelling island and its sole occupant?’
This time Fachtna looked straight at Meabh and held her gaze, still keeping her white lips firmly clamped together.
‘Perhaps you would like to see this occupant meddling in our affairs once more?’ said Meabh. ‘Say I were to help you, send you on your w
ay with some tools necessary for the job and the help of the little Hound here and her friends – what do I get in return?’
‘Silence,’ said Fachtna. ‘Your subject returned to you. And a debt to be paid.’
‘That’s good enough for me!’ said Meabh brightly. ‘Come, come, let’s send you on your way.’
And with that she simply walked off, back in the direction they had come from, Fachtna striding behind her.
‘What just happened?’ asked Maddy.
‘It sounds as if we’ve all been volunteered for something,’ said Roisin.
‘Whatever it is, I bet we’re not going to like it,’ said Danny. ‘And why couldn’t they just come out and say whatever it is Fachtna wants? Why all the cloak-and-dagger stuff?’
‘I think I know what they are up to,’ said Nero. ‘Fachtna is going to wake the Morrighan.’
They all looked at him, hope making their eyes sparkle. Maddy actually felt giddy with relief for the first time in a long time. The Morrighan could finish Liadan once and for all. The High Queen of the Tuatha de Dannan, it was her magic that brought Tír na nÓg into being. She was the channel for all the hopes and dreams of the mortal world, the nightmares, the feelings and thoughts. She used it all to create a magic that kept Tír na nÓg alive and the Tuatha away from the mortal world. She dreamed, and Tír na nÓg thrived. She also had the power to crown and dethrone monarchs and had intervened to put an end to wars in the past. There was no way Liadan could stand against her.
‘We’ve been saying this right from the beginning,’ said Danny. ‘Wake the Morrighan up and let her sort the mess out.’
‘I’ve heard it’s dangerous,’ said Nero. ‘There is no telling what the Morrighan will do if she is woken.’
‘But she wants balance,’ said Maddy. ‘She wants Tír na nÓg to carry on as it is, locked away from the mortal world, the four courts balancing each other out, none more powerful than the others. Surely, if Fachtna manages to wake her, all she’s going to want to do is put everything back the way it should be. That will mean getting rid of Liadan, seeing as she is determined to mess everything up.’
