by M. D. Massey
“Just what am I supposed to talk to him about? That guy kind of scares me, by the way. He’s way too powerful, and the last thing I need is another ancient fae stirring things up in my life.”
The Dagda chuckled. “Who said he was fae? Now, go. Maeve’s anger will boil over if you tarry any longer. And when you’re surrounded by enemies on all sides, without an ally to turn to or a place to rest your head, plant the acorn I gave you.”
“Um, alright. But what does it do?”
The old Tuatha winked. “You’ll see.”
Then he pushed me through the gateway.
As soon as I realized what the Dagda was doing, I reached a hand underneath my tattered trench coat and inside my Craneskin Bag. When I emerged from the gateway, Maeve was no more than a few feet in front of me, arms crossed and brow furrowed. She’d shed her human disguise, and was floating a few inches off the ground with her back to the misty pathway beyond. Fae magic and power pulsed off her in waves, buffeting me with such force that it shook me down to my bones.
And if I had any doubts as to how pissed she was, she was flanked by a half-dozen fae hunters, dressed in leather armor with bows drawn… and pointed at me.
“Hiya, Maeve. Nice to see you, too.” I gestured at the fae death squad. “Don’t you think the guys with the bows are overkill, maybe just a wee bit?”
She frowned, an expression that was altogether out of place on a face that beautiful. I’d only seen her in full-on faery queen mode once before, when I’d showed up drunk at her house throwing insults. She was even more frightening in her beauty at the moment, radiant with magic and barely restrained anger, golden hair flowing out from her like a great billowing halo. Her diaphanous gown barely concealed her figure as it snapped and whipped about, driven by the magic she emanated rather than natural winds.
Her eyes shone bright—first a brilliant sapphire blue, then a deep sea-foam green, of a shade fully befitting a daughter of the Celtic sea deity, Manannán mac Lir. I’d figured out who she was based on hints that the Dagda, Lugh, and Fuamnach had dropped while I’d been in Underhill. Like Queen Galadriel in that Lord of the Rings adaptation, she was both terrible and beautiful. I could easily see how my ancestor Oisín would have been absolutely gobsmacked by her.
I waited patiently as she attempted to intimidate me with her presence, yawning and scratching my balls. It was crude, but I was beyond caring about offending the fae queen. I was tired of being manipulated and used like a piece on a chessboard in the games she played with Fuamnach and the Dark Druid. Instead of focusing on her, I thought back to Jesse’s death, and Hemi’s. I did it to remind myself of why I’d chosen this path. While Maeve seethed I bided my time, heartbroken but full of resolve.
Maybe she saw that I’d been broken, or that a part of me was, at least. Her eyes softened, and she motioned for the hunters to lower their bows.
The Dagda had been right. She did have a soft spot for the “Sons of Milesius,” as he called us humans. And that was a weakness I’d use against her.
“Colin, I’m sorry for the loss of your friend. But no matter what happened while you were in Underhill, I can assure you that whatever plan you’ve devised is both ill-conceived and ill-timed…”
I cut her off, barking my response with a sneer. “Is it, Maeve? Or should I say, Niamh Golden-Hair?” I paused to see what her face might reveal. It may as well have been made of granite. “Guess you figured I’d find out during this little trip. Well, no one told me, not outright. But it wasn’t hard to put two and two together, after what you’d told me and the way the other Tuatha spoke of you.”
-Is it time, Colin?-
Almost, Eye. Be ready.
I knew that the glamour the Dagda had cast on me wouldn’t last forever. Lugh had told me as much when he’d shared his plan with me. If Maeve saw through it and realized I’d shifted into my Fomorian form, I was screwed.
I just needed her concentration to falter for an instant. Then, I’d make my move.
“This changes nothing between us,” she said. “I am still your ancestor and your benefactor. I’ve done as you asked, and sent the children and your friends away, somewhere safe.”
“Are they free?”
“They remain unharmed, and are not under guard.”
That could mean anything. Maeve might have been keeping them under lock and key in a dungeon somewhere, or in suspended animation for all I knew.
“Show me.”
Maeve waved a hand, and an image shimmered into view on the wall of the cavern. First, I saw Guts, deep underground and back with his tribe. Then I saw Sabine and Crowley standing with Luther in his apartment. Hemi’s shrouded body was laid out on Luther’s dining room table, and they were staring at it, mourning his passing.
“As you can see, they are safe,” she said. “What happened to Jack?”
I sniffed and scratched my nose with my free hand, keeping the other hand hidden inside my Craneskin Bag. “He’s been delayed.”
She pursed her lips into a moue of annoyance, or perhaps disappointment.
“Is he dead?”
I tongued a tooth, trying to look bored. “If I thought he could be killed, I’d have done it. Unfortunately, he’s still alive.”
“Did you happen to see my father?” she asked.
“No, he never showed his face. Why would he? To send a message to you?”
“Perhaps, but it is of no consequence.”
Her gaze wavered for a second. She was genuinely hurt at that.
Oh, Maeve, you’ve become much too human over the centuries, I thought. Now, Eye. Do it.
-I am satisfied to comply with your request.-
The Eye unleashed the full force of its true power, releasing it in a cone of incendiary death that enveloped both Maeve and her hunters.
My eyesight held out long enough for me to see the kill squad burned to ash, and Maeve being blasted out of the small chamber and into the mists that shrouded the pathway beyond. I screamed in agony as my eyeballs boiled out of my head and incinerated. The pain was unreal, but I only had seconds to do what had to be done.
I turned and felt for the archway behind me.
Eye, help me out here. This has to be perfect.
-I will ensure the task is done correctly. Have no fear.-
I pulled the Spear of Lugh from my Craneskin Bag, thrusting it deep into the stone threshold of the archway at a slight angle.
Where’s Maeve?
-Still recovering. Continue.-
I reached into the Bag and pulled out the Dagda’s Cauldron, threading the handle over the Spear’s shaft and holding it in place. Next, I drew the Sword of Nuada from the Bag, thrusting it into the stone floor next to the Spear, so both blade and shaft would create an “X” in the archway. Where they met, the Cauldron now hung suspended, as if hanging over a cooking fire.
Is it good, Eye? Will that do?
-Yes, but hurry. She will soon recover.-
Last of all, I grabbed the Stone of Fál out of the Bag, then I fumbled around until I found the lid and lip of the Cauldron.
-Hurry Colin! She approaches!-
I lifted the lid and tossed the Stone of Fál inside. It dropped into the Cauldron as if it had been made to fit.
Maeve’s voice was a wail of fear and despair behind me. “Colin, no!”
Fuse it, Eye.
-Gladly.-
I felt the Eye’s power rocket out of my skull as it blasted the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann with the heat of a hundred forges. I gripped the sides of the archway, staggering with the absolute agony I felt as the Eye heated the Treasures with enough magic and flame to weld them together for all eternity.
In an instant, it was done. A shockwave tossed me away from the gateway, and I was thrown across the cavern. I collided with the wall and bounced off, landing on my hands and knees. In my Fomorian form, the impact was a mere nuisance—although if I’d been in my human form, it would have crushed me.
All was still for a mom
ent, then it felt and sounded as though a huge vault door to eternity had slammed shut.
The Eye’s voice echoed in my head.
-It is finished.-
With that one, defiant act, the gateways to Underhill had been closed, permanently.
All of them.
Maeve’s scream pierced my ears. “Fool! What have you done, Colin? What have you done?”
I placed one hand on the floor, and the other on the wall of the cavern, then pushed myself to my feet. Still blind, I swayed unsteadily.
“I evened the odds, Maeve, that’s what. Now, you’re just like the rest of us. No more drawing on Underhill’s magic. No more unlimited power. No more treating humans like pawns. No more.”
“You have no idea what you’ve done. You’ve destroyed us all.”
I swung my head around to face the sound of her voice. My eyes were healing, but slowly. It’d take several cycles of shifting to repair the damage that had been done to my eyesight.
“All of us, Maeve? Or just the fae? We’ve been your playthings for millennia. Did you think I’d let that stand, after all that I’ve been through because of your stupid games and power plays? You, Fuamnach, the Rye Mother. Pfah! I’m done being your butt boy.”
Her voice dripped with venom. “I’ll kill you.”
“Maybe. I mean, you could, right? But how much of your rapidly diminishing magical reserves would that use up? The dimensionally-displaced path that leads to this cavern alone must be eating up your power at a tremendous rate. Never mind all that crazy shit your house does. Oh, I’m sure you have some power sinks tucked away, just in case. But you sure in the hell don’t have them on you, or I’d sense them. No, it never occurred to you, because you never saw this coming.”
“Petulant child. My people will curse your name for centuries to come.”
“Those who survive. Admit it, Maeve. I’ve bested you.”
The anger in her voice gave way to despair and regret. “And to your own detriment. Nature abhors a vacuum, Colin. You’ve weakened a major power that has existed for millennia here on earth. Do you not think something else, something worse is waiting in the wings to fill that void?”
“Oh hell… really? You’re still trying to make me believe that you’ve been protecting me? That you’ve only had my best interests at heart, all along? Please. Fucking assholes like you think you can do whatever you want to those weaker than you—you, the rest of the Tuatha, the Dark Druid, and even Finnegas. But that’s going to change, from here on out.”
I heard her gasp in pain. It appeared that healing magic was just as expensive for her to cast now as it was for human mages. “It was the Tuatha who helped you devise this plan. And they’ve betrayed you, although you fail to see it.”
I laughed. “That has to sting, that they screwed you so badly. But you should have known that the Dagda, Lugh, and the others wouldn’t allow you to steal every bit of magic that was keeping Underhill alive, any more than they’d allow Fuamnach to take it and invade earth. Now, all that magic is stuck on the other side. The Tuatha and fae in Underhill get to live, and they’ve no choice but to leave us alone. Those of you who remain on earth are weakened, and from here on out you have to scrape by like the rest of us mere mortals. Sounds like a win-win, to me.”
Maeve’s voice was thick with disappointment as she responded. “Gloat if you wish, but your monumentally foolish act has sealed your fate. The pathways back to my manse from here are closed, thanks to you. I’ll leave you here to rot and consider your many mistakes.”
I heard and felt a magical portal open and shut nearby, then all I heard was silence. When I was certain I was alone, I spoke aloud to my only remaining companion.
“Eye, what’s on the other side of the door that leads out of this cavern?”
-Nothing but rock, Colin. The pathway beyond has disappeared. It now appears there’s no escape from here.-
“Any chance of blasting us out?”
-None. From what I have determined via magical probes, this cavern is buried a thousand feet or more below the earth’s surface. Doing so would drown you in molten rock. It appears we are trapped.-
I laughed and leaned back against the wall of the cave. I slid down the wall and fell hard on my rump.
“Well. Fuck me after all.”
22
I spent the next several days shifting, healing, and resting. I’d brought enough food and water with me in my Craneskin Bag to keep me alive for weeks if I rationed it. While I healed, I conversed with the Eye, and it gave me some ideas on how to improve my ability to shift and stay shifted. After my eyes healed, I spent my time practicing using my shifter magic, mostly focusing on holding my shifted form for extended periods of time.
I became very good at controlling my ríastrad.
I also found a pack of playing cards inside the Bag and taught the Eye how to play Solitaire, then we moved to Blackjack. The Eye turned out to be a natural at counting cards, and since I always played as the house, I lost a lot. I devised elaborate plans for sneaking into Vegas casinos in my shifted form, so I could use the Eye to clean up at the tables.
On the fifth day, the magically-powered lights inside the cavern went out.
The light sticks and flashlights I’d brought with me provided light for a few more days. I lost track of time after that, and stopped asking the Eye what day it was, because that just made it worse. I slept; I meditated; I practiced what little magic I knew.
An indeterminate amount of time later, I got the bright idea to dig around inside the Bag for another source of light. I found a flaming sword, but it would only remain lit while it was in my hand. I ended up carrying it around like a torch, and nearly burned my eyebrows off a few times. I tried sleeping while holding it in my hand, extended away from my body, and caught my clothes on fire.
But it was better than being in the dark.
My food eventually ran out, and I was down to my last few bottles of water. The cavern smelled like a sewer, and so did I. I cut back my water rations to a few sips a day. Hunger gnawed at me like the monsters who haunted my dreams.
Dreams. I also dreamed of Jesse, Bells, and Hemi. In my nightmares, they died in a multitude of horrible, painful ways. The Dagda also came to me once in a dream—told me to hang in there, help was on its way. I was beyond caring at that point, because I was so weak from malnutrition. Plus, I kept getting sick due to the poor sanitary conditions, so I was dehydrated as all hell. I became plagued with infections and sores, both from poor nutrition and not bathing.
The only thing that saved me was shifting. It allowed me to talk to the Eye, who tried to keep me sane, and it helped my body heal so it didn’t break down completely. But even the Fomorian metabolism needed calories, so the amount of healing I enjoyed when I shifted was limited.
I was dying, and at some point, I stopped caring. Thankfully, someone was still rooting for me.
“Hiya, slugger.”
I cracked an eye open that had nearly become welded shut with pus. “Jesse? What’re you doing here? Am I dead yet?”
She smiled and caressed my face. It felt like warm sunshine. “Almost, which is why I’m able to talk to you like this. You’re right on the edge of death, champ, but you need to hang on just a little longer. Finnegas is searching for you—and he’s close, so close to finding you.”
“Fuamnach said Finnegas knew about my ríastrad. He knew I was going to pop someday. And he still sent us into that cavern together to face the Caoranach.”
“I know. He warned me it might happen.”
I lapsed into a coughing fit, which wore me out. My voice was whisper as I replied. “You knew? Then why? Why didn’t you run when it happened?”
She looked at me with sadness in her eyes. “I thought I could calm you down, bring you back from the edge. But I accidentally got in your way. Maybe I should have run, but I didn’t. So don’t blame it on Finnegas, and don’t blame it on yourself. It was my choice to stick around, Colin. Mine and mine alone.”<
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Hot tears ran down my cheeks. “I’m tired, Jesse.”
She smiled sadly and kissed my forehead. “I know, but you can’t give up yet. We still have shit to do, you and I. Sorry, but it looks like you’re stuck with me.”
“That’s the hardest part. Knowing you’re always near, and not being able to touch you or speak with you.”
“It kills me, too, but that’s just the way things have to be.”
“It’s lonely in here. Do you ever get lonely, Jess?”
“Not really. There are other ghosts to talk to when I need companionship. I’ve made friends.”
“That’s good. I worry about you, all the time.”
“I know.”
“I’d be with you if I could.”
“I know that, too.”
“I love you, Jesse.”
“I love you too, Colin. Now and always. Go to sleep, my love. Help will be here soon.”
It might have just been another fever dream, I wasn’t sure. But sometime after that, a blinding light woke me. It shone into the cavern, so bright I had to shield my eyes.
“Found you,” I heard Finnegas say.
I struggled to raise my head. “Finn, is that really you? Sorry for the mess. I haven’t had time to clean lately.”
“I’ve smelled worse. You look worse than this place smells, by the way.”
I tried to laugh, but it turned into a coughing fit. “Can you turn the lights down? Hurts my eyes.”
“Sorry, it’s daylight. If I shut the portal, it’ll be days before I gather enough energy to create another one.”
“Ah, no worries. How long have I been down here?”
“About a six weeks, give or take. You ready to go home?”
I shrugged. “I guess. How bad is it?”
He paused, stroking his beard. “It’s bad, son. I’ve had to double up on the wards at the junkyard, to protect the workers. Despite their lack of magic, the fae have been trying to cast curses on the place on almost a daily basis.”
