The Forest of Aisling: Dream of the Shapeshifter (The Willow Series Book 1)

by D. S. Elstad

  “Come now, Cyril, the girl has a point, cease your endless chatter and let’s be done with it,” replied the blonde Fomorian. I remembered him from the sidhe. He was called Corman and was impatient with Cyril even then. “Let us get on with this. Where is the Eye?” he asked, stepping away from the group, heading towards the sea.

  Cyril’s glare shifted from me to Corman, which relieved me greatly. I relaxed my shoulders and looked over at Bram then Quinn. I went into mindspeak.

  “What do we do?” I asked directing my question to my two friends.

  The female Fomorian joined Cyril and leaned in close to him. The two of them kept their focus on Corman who was still looking out to the sea, as they engaged in a private conversation. The other male Fomorian, who was dressed in the suit of armor, seemed as disinterested in the whole process as Corman. His hand rested on the handle of a long sword that was sheathed and attached at his waist. He never even looked at us and was more interested in the sky above.

  “We only need to take one of them out, right? Then they won’t be able to complete the square and raise the Eye,” offered Quinn telepathically.

  “Right, by removing a piece of the square they are lost until they can secure another Fomorian, and that’s something they would need to return to the sidhe to do. Our concern now is, which one do we go for?” Bram replied, keeping his eyes clearly focused on Corman.

  Cyril headed towards Corman, but then he stopped. He removed his belt and held it up into the air. He raised his other hand and, in a twisting motion, stretched out the belt without touching it and sent it spiraling to where we stood. Instantly it wrapped itself around our waists and arms drawing us all together. It bounded us in such a way that escape was impossible. Cyril was looking back at us now, as was his female companion. She grabbed hold of his hand between her own and held it to her lips. These two obviously were involved with one another on a deeper level. I channeled my hearing to where they stood.

  “My darling, I realize Corman can be quite impossible at times, but he and Ezron are all we have. We do not want to wait until another opportunity like this presents itself. So many times we came close but there was always a guardian who had superior skills and knowledge. Never in the history of our banishment have the stars been so aligned. They are three children with no appointed leader, without complete knowledge of their own abilities. We must move quickly lest they discover the one shortcoming in our occupation.”

  Cyril placed his right hand on his companion’s face. She held it tight to her cheek. “You are right, Carissa, my queen. After that eternal entrapment in the shadows of the depths I must remember that unity is the key to our victory.”

  I quickly reconnected with Bram and Quinn. “Ok, it’s like you were saying, we only need to remove one of them from the equation, and considering the tension between the two big guys, I’d say we need to focus on them.” I watched Cyril and Carissa approach Corman.

  “I’ll keep an eye on smiley over there,” Bram volunteered, nodding his head toward the knight in not-so-shining armor.

  “Ok, which one should we try and get rid of?” Quinn wondered, his eyes dancing wildly between the Fomorians.

  We exchanged glances. “The knight,” began Bram, “he’s sort of out of the picture. It’s like he doesn’t want much to do with the others. If we can keep these three fighting or arguing that would allow us to zero our energies on him and…” he trailed off.

  “And what?” asked Quinn, “Um, just how are we going to kill him? Do we shift or what?”

  “Guys…Carissa, the woman, said something about us not having complete knowledge of our own abilities. Quinn, you discovered that. Until you tried it out for yourself we didn’t even know that we had the power to increase our speed.”

  I suddenly became aware of the freezing temperatures and felt really uncomfortable. The bitterness from the night air was closing in and making it hard to think.

  Being stuck between Quinn and Bram allowed me to fidget around enough that I was able to pull my hands up to my chest and blow on them in an effort to draw some warmth. I stared at my fists and remembered my father’s tactic for whenever I complained about being too hot or too cold. He would simply say, Think hot or Think cold – in other words, focus your mental energy on changing your physical condition. Sometimes it would actually work, if I really focused on it. Like, if it was hot, I’d picture myself lying in the snow and it would help. Good old mind over matter.

  I directed my attention to my hands and willed them to warm up, picturing them soaking in a sink full of hot water. Within a split second, they did. I grabbed hold of Bram’s and Quinn’s hands and let the warmth from mine rush over their fingers. They both stared at me in complete disbelief.

  “Just visualize it, just like the speed thing. That must be what Carissa was talking about. Our abilities are much larger than we realized. Maybe we’re only limited by our own imagination!” Excitement flooded over me at the thought we may actually stand a chance against the Fomorians.

  “You are being very quiet over here,” Cyril’s voice boomed as he treaded through the snow to stand in front of us. “You aren’t planning anything, are you?” He laughed and bent down to pick up some snow. He rolled the handful of white powder into a ball and threw it into the air. As it descended to the ground it transformed into a beautiful crystallized dove that then flew straight up and off into the distance.

  Bram sent his thought, “You’re right; remember, my da said the Tuatha and Fomorians were on the same level as far as their abilities. Lugh gave those abilities to us. In other words, anything they can do… we can do better.”

  I laughed out loud and quickly covered my mouth once I realized what I had done. I seriously needed to get a handle on when I held my thoughts inside and when I let them out.

  “What is funny, lass? Do I amuse you?” Cyril stood directly in front of me now. I was surprised by the fact that when he spoke I couldn’t see his breath which reminded me…he wasn’t human. His face was contorted in an angry expression and that helped me again remind myself he wasn’t my father. My father would never look at me with so much hate in his eyes. But still, I couldn’t get past the resemblance.

  “No, you don’t amuse me,” I mumbled focusing my attention to the ground.

  “Enough! Let us retrieve the Eye and do away with these misfits. Why do you waste your breath on them?” yelled Corman. He stood next to Cyril now, and as I looked at his face I saw some familiarity there as well. I couldn’t place my finger on it but I felt as though I had seen him before. In fact, as I looked at the three Fomorians in front of us, they all looked familiar in one way or another, even Carissa. The only one who didn’t was the knight, but that was only because his face was covered with his helmet; we had no idea what he looked like.

  “Patience, my brother, patience. You’ll have all the time in the world now. Do not trouble yourself so.” Cyril returned his stare to us. “Let us allow these children to witness true warriors in action. Alas, a sight they will never see again.” He turned to his companions and motioned for them to follow.

  “The Eye is here. How kind of the humans to mark its place so clearly, is it not?” He waved his hand over the boulder Bram had dusted off.

  “If you’re so smart, why’d it take you so long to figure out it where it was?” asked Quinn, jumping on the speak first, think about it later bandwagon. Our increasing boldness surprised the Fomorians as well as Quinn himself; he inched back a few steps pulling Bram and I along with him.

  Carissa gasped slightly and then stepped forward, inches away from Quinn’s face. This time she was the one getting annoyed. Tiny snow crystals emanated from her body and rose into the air as her expression turned into one of pure hatred. “How dare you speak to Cyril that way, boy? You are not fit to be anywhere in his presence, let alone question him. I ought to remove the very tongue that uttered such disrespectful words towards the ruler of the new world.”

  With flashes of anger in her eyes she po
inted her index finger at Quinn and raised him up from where we stood, drawing him close. She grabbed hold of his ear as he dangled off the ground and threw him into the center of the Fomorians. Quinn lay on the snow, his head hanging as if in deference to the queen.

  Cyril laughed and knelt down to face Quinn. “Ah, young man, lucky for you I am in a pardoning mood. If it were up to my queen she would have tossed you to the sea to be food for the fishes.”

  Quinn looked up at Cyril with an astonished look in his eyes. He then looked to me and winked. I channeled his thoughts, “Food for the fishes? Do they know what I am?” He smirked, then lowered his head.

  “I have always appreciated a curious sort of human so I will answer your question boy.” Cyril reached down and took hold of Quinn’s chin, holding it up. “I have always known where the Eye is… that is not what took the time. What took the time, young man, was finding your families… and sending them to the otherworld.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Cyril’s words still burned in my ears. I felt unsure what he was talking about. What did he mean, otherworld? Was he talking about the sidhe?

  I had to tell Bram what had been said. “Bram, Cyril just said he sent our families to the otherworld. Does that mean what I think it means? Did he hurt our families?” I felt an intense tightness in my chest.

  Bram was silent.

  I looked over at him. He wouldn’t return my stare. He was still focused on the knight. I wondered if he had heard my mindspeak. I tried again, “Bram, did you hear me?”

  “I heard you, Willow. I don’t believe it. He’s trying to rattle us. Stay focused.”

  “On what? What am I staying focused on?” I was losing all concentration and completely consumed with the idea that our families might be hurt. I had to remind myself that I’d spoken to both Dad and Aaron, that Bram was right. Cyril was toying with us.

  “Channel Quinn,” Bram ordered.

  When I did, Bram reminded both of us to target the knight with whatever power we might manage to come up with. Shifting wasn’t an option now and seemed it would be more of a burden than anything else. Before Quinn would even have a chance to get to the sea the Fomorians would put an end to him.

  If we could channel and take charge of our powers, we stood a fighting chance. The thought that Cyril was lying to us about our families stirred up a rage in me that felt almost uncontrollable. I wanted to attack them as they stood there, but knew I had to wait.

  Carissa grabbed Quinn and tossed him aside like he was an old hat. He crashed at our feet. Bram and I helped him up and he took his place alongside me once again. I reached around his back and pulled him close. I knew he was thinking about his family.

  The Fomorians moved to the Giant’s Eye, each staking out an adjacent corner, and then held up their outstretched hands. Cyril began chanting in the ancient language and everything grew eerily silent. The breeze and the snow had stopped, as well as the sound of waves washing up on shore. It was as though the world as we knew it had come to a complete and sudden halt.

  After a few minutes of chanting, Cyril raised his arms straight up into the foggy sky. His voice rang out loud, the only sound that was heard. “Olc Mogall Suile, Olc Mogall Suile, Olc Mogall Suile.” He dropped his head as if he were in a trance, then raised his voice again, “Bailcbheimneach, Onoir me.”

  Simultaneously I heard the chant in the old language and in English. He had been saying, Evil Eye, Evil Eye, Evil Eye. Balor, honor me. He repeated this four times; then each of the other Fomorians chanted it as well. Individually they all recited the command; then the four raised their arms into the darkened sky.

  My mind flashed to the picture we had seen of this very ceremony at Aaron’s house. I held tighter onto Bram’s and Quinn’s arms and directed my stare to the knight. Nothing was happening with him.

  I could see the early stages of lightning forming at Cyril’s fingertips and watched him slip into a trancelike state. “Look at Cyril’s hands; he’s calling on the lightning. Maybe now’s our chance while he’s distracted,” I channeled to Bram and Quinn.

  The lightning shot forth from his hands and connected to Carissa’s on his left and Corman’s on his right. They both jerked their heads back as though they were having some sort of fit. Corman’s right hand then began to glow from the charge; small electrical currents discharged from it.

  “Visualize this thing off of us,” Bram ordered, looking down at the belt still attached to his and my waist. We both stared at the leather strap and within seconds watched it fall off into the snow at our feet.

  The electrical currents flowing from Corman’s hand were now making their way to the knight. The armored man reached out and was ready to make his connection when sheer panic shot through me.

  “No!” I yelled as I sprinted towards the boulder. Cyril quickly snapped to attention and shot a charge of electricity through his eyes that hit me squarely in the chest. It sent me reeling. Once I landed I was unable to move. My legs were pinned to the ground with a bolt of lightning that was springing from the boulder itself. I struggled against the charge but that only caused my legs to be forced down deeper.

  Bram watched in horror as I flailed against the current. He grabbed hold of Quinn and pointed; then the two focused all they had on the knight and Carissa. Amazingly, charges of electricity shot out of Quinn’s eyes and were connecting with the current from Carissa. She screamed and fell back but quickly recovered and was close to uniting the current with the knight. Bram had his hand pointed at the knight and was actually moving him! It looked like some kind of bizarre game of chess.

  I stared at the lightning that had forced me to the ground. I centered all my energy on the bolt and felt a burning from my eyes. My vision was blurred but I could still make out the flash holding me down. I directed my stare at the static and felt energy building up inside. I narrowed my eyes and concentrated everything within me on that bolt. In a flash its hold was broken and, like a light bulb burning out, it flickered and then vanished. My vision cleared.

  I stood and looked over towards Cyril. His face was warped and looked like a negative from a photograph. His eyes were glowing at me, sending a small charge. I lunged into the air to avoid the second hit he’d directed my way. I somehow had managed to land on the cliffs, which stood a good thirty feet above the boulder. I looked down and saw that Corman had closed his connection to the knight. Our only chance now was to prevent the link attempted by Carissa.

  Quinn was losing ground in his attempts at holding her back and Bram was starting to lose control of the knight, allowing him to slide back to his position on the square.

  Cyril then bellowed out a loud cry and reached his arms even higher which brought more lightning to his hands. I could see him sending it through the Fomorian receptors. The connection with Quinn was cut, forcing his body into the air, then propelling him into nearby boulders. His head rammed back into the stones with a sickening crackling sound that echoed up to the cliffs where I stood. He lay there motionless.

  “Quinn! Are you ok?” I asked in mindspeak. No answer.

  Bram had attempted to regain control of the knight but was now caught up in a bolt directed at him from Cyril, who still managed to maintain his link to Carissa and Corman. The bolt had Bram dangling in the sky like a ragdoll, unable to move or do anything.

  I looked to the Fomorians and saw the light show that was taking place with the connection of the three corners. I panicked when I saw Carissa just inches away from uniting forces with the knight. I knew when that happened the Eye of Balor would be in Cyril’s possession and all would be lost.

  Then I heard Dad’s voice in my head. Do what you gotta do. I couldn’t be sure if Dad was safe or not –or Aaron or Kelleigh or any of the other wonderful people I had met on my trip to Ireland –but I had to believe they were, and that the only way they were going to stay safe was what we were doing right here and now.

  A new strength built inside of me as I stood and jumped down from the clif
f. I raced to Bram’s side and raised my hands, willing the electrical force of nature to travel through me and stop the evil that was holding Bram in the air. Charges shot out of both of my palms and blasted through the bolt that held him captive. It immediately burned out and disappeared. Bram fell to the ground but quickly recovered. He nodded at me and without a word we simultaneously blasted the knight who now, quite literally, was becoming the pawn in our chess match with the Fomorians. We managed to hold off Carissa’s connection by diverting it to the cliffs. Boulders shattered like glass and came pouring down in a huge landslide.

  A shot from Cyril connected to Bram, causing his charge to fizzle out and dropped him to his knees. Carissa was now screaming and trying to create another charge from her eyes. It wasn’t working. She was weakened.

  I held the lightning and prevented the knight from connecting with Carissa’s bolt that was now making its way back to her hands. She screamed with each inch that was lost. I held firm and sent my own bolt to the knight, which pushed him back farther. I felt strong until a tremendous discharge came from Cyril and Corman’s unified force and connected with my side. It sent me flying back to the wall of the cliff where I crashed, unable to move.

  Paralysis kept me from turning my head but from my peripheral vision I could make out magnificent flashes and charges that resembled a Fourth of July fireworks show. I prayed that my friends were ok, that we were able to do what we were born to do. Then I passed out.

  When I came to, there was no longer any electrical storm or lightning bolts or fireworks display. I opened my eyes to the night sky and looked straight up, seeing nothing but stars. The clouds and fog had passed and the night was clear. I tried to sit but had to roll over and ease myself up since my back felt like it had been run over by a car. I slowly lifted my head and looked towards the Giant’s Eye. It stood there alone, in the distance, intact and in the same place.