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

by D. S. Elstad

  “Finally!” he shouted.

  I picked up a rock and threw it his way. He instantly caught it which ticked me off even more.

  “I could so take you in a foot race!” I grumbled, as I joined him on the sidhe.

  “I should hope so, considering you have four!” he laughed as he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me near.

  I broke out laughing as well. We wrapped our arms around each other’s waists and turned to the opening of the sidhe. It was sealed. There were no longer any rocks lining the edge. In fact the only rock now on the mound was the one I had just thrown at Bram. It was impossible to even distinguish exactly where the opening had been.

  “Well that’s good,” I said, kicking the dirt. “It’s sealed.”

  “Yeah, let’s hope it stays that way.”

  We shifted animal again and scoured the forest. A lot of damage had been done. It reminded me of the time a forest fire had wiped out areas of New Mexico. Dad and I had gone to see it. This was similar. We toured the forest for several hours and ended up at the lake where Quinn had his first shifting experience and where I had battled the creatures of the sidhe. It was in pretty good shape. The small island in the lake had burned trees along the shoreline.

  We sat on the same boulders we’d sat on when we came to the lake with Aaron. That seemed so long ago. Bram took hold of my hand. I scooted in closer and rested my head on his shoulder as we gazed out at the lake. The sun was setting and the colors were muted. It wasn’t a bright orange and red sunset but a subdued one, with shades of lavender and blue taking dominance. The interspersed clouds passed over the sun, causing beams to shoot out above the horizon and lose themselves in the passing haze overhead.

  It was beautiful in its restraint and fit the mood of the day perfectly. A bittersweet feeling came over me at the thought of saying good-bye. I held tightly onto Bram’s hand and watched with wonder as the darkening sky squeezed back the last bit of remaining sunlight from the day.

  Bram turned and reached over, taking hold of my chin. He leaned in and kissed me, a soft gentle kiss, lasting longer than any kiss I’d ever had before. I didn’t want it to end.

  The screech from a passing seagull caused us to pull apart. Bram held his hand to my cheek and looked deeply into my eyes. Sadness was there that I hadn’t seen in him before and it tugged at my heart. I fought back the tears and leaned in once more for another kiss.

  We rested our foreheads together and sat quietly for minutes.

  “I guess we should get back,” I said, not wanting to move.

  “Yeah, Da wants us to meet him at his office. He wants to say good-bye. Quinn will be there too.”

  I laid my head against Bram’s chest and listened to his heartbeat. That was becoming one of my favorite things to do.

  “I wish you didn’t have to leave,” he said in mindspeak, wrapping his arms tighter around me.

  “I know,” was all I could get out before the tears started falling.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  We stepped into the crumbling building that housed Aaron’s office, dodging debris and pools of water that still littered the space. Bram led us down the steps to the safe room. Aaron and Quinn’s voices echoed up the staircase. We walked in to find them standing at the table in the corner, backs to us, engaged in conversation.

  “I understand that, Aaron, but my question is, how do we prevent anything like that from happening again when Willow’s going to be halfway across the world?” Quinn asked, unaware of our presence.

  “I’d like to know the answer to that also, Quinn,” I interjected before joining them at the table.

  Quinn spun around and immediately began signing to Bram.

  “Hello, Willow,” Aaron said reaching out for my hand. He pulled me in for a hug. “Feeling well?”

  “Yes, but I’m confused about a lot of things, Aaron.”

  Aaron nodded and pulled one of the chairs out and motioned for me to sit. He signed “Hello” to Bram and pulled out the other chair.

  “Quinn, be a good sport and run upstairs and bring the bench down here that’s by the door,” he asked before going over to the safe. He entered the combination and pulled out folders full of papers regarding Lugh and the Fomorians.

  Quinn returned with the bench and sat it alongside the table. He sat down as we all watched Aaron close the door to the room and slide the lock in place, securing our privacy.

  He joined us at the table and carefully opened the folders, arranging the contents on the table. We exchanged stares back and forth among the three of us while Aaron mumbled to himself, placing the papers in a specific order.

  “Ok, this looks right,” he said as he put the last page on top of one of the piles.

  “I understand your confusion and need for answers. All three of you were thrust into this so quickly that there was very little time for explanations. I lacked sufficient knowledge to advise you until just recently. So, with that in mind, let’s get our facts straight.” Aaron looked over the top of his glasses at each one of us. “Fortunately I’ve been able to translate even more of this since the attack; that is, with the help of Kelleigh. You were right, Quinn, she certainly is beneficial. She truly has a knack for research. With her help I was able to make copies of all the fragile documents and elaborate on the information contained in the original pages,” he said, narrowing his stare to the stacks of information.

  “So, with that being said, perhaps the best thing is to let you ask your questions and we’ll go from there.” Aaron rose, went to the coffee maker, poured himself a cup of coffee and then sat down. He leaned back and searched each of our faces. “Anyone?”

  “The big question for me is what I think Quinn was just asking…how can we withstand another Fomorian attack when tomorrow I’ll be going home and there will only be two guardians here. I mean, isn’t that what caused the whole problem to begin with, Lucy leaving the Triquetra vulnerable?” I watched as Quinn signed my question for Bram.

  “Yes and no,” began Aaron. “Yes, Lucy’s leaving is what led the Fomorians to be able to create the opening in the sidhe, thereby allowing them access to the surface which then, in turn, left Shannah vulnerable to their attacks – but that alone didn’t cause the problem. As you yourselves noticed, the Fomorians gain strength through chaos and destruction, whether it be environmental or the physical destruction of the guardians or the disruption of the Triquetra. That was the only way they could secure any power; that is, until they could take control of the Eye of Balor. The Eye is the earthly object that would give them unlimited power.”

  “Ok, so when Lucy took off, the Fomorians gained power because she left the Triquetra vulnerable?” I asked, getting a clearer picture in my head.

  “Exactly. If she’d have turned over the water pendant to a successor instead of just abandoning it to Shannah, this most likely could have been avoided. Shannah was unable to take on the duties of two guardian’s; no human can. The Triquetra is, well, just as the name implies: tri meaning three. It takes three humans to make the Triquetra whole, which is how Lugh set it up.” Aaron pulled a primitive drawing from his stack of papers. It showed the three sections of the Triquetra joined together as one.

  “Then the Fomorians started coming out of the sidhe?” asked Quinn, with a confused look.

  “Yes, in a way. They are very limited in their physical manifestations until they acquire more power. The first form they assume is that of the mist. It’s shown here,” Aaron grabbed another paper and pointed to a vaporous shape that seemed to be literally draining the life out of a dazed human.

  I looked at Bram. “A mist; that explains all those weird run-ins I was having,” I said in mindspeak.

  “Right,” he answered aloud then directed himself to Aaron. “So the mist was going after Willow. Is that what hurt Shannah?”

  Aaron pursed his lips then frowned, “Hard to say for sure, but considering how many times you encountered the mist, Willow, I’d say it’s very likely that’s what weake
ned Shannah. That in turn strengthened the Fomorians and enabled them to work on the opening of the sidhe. Of course that, along with Lucy Mallory’s departure.”

  Just then a knock came at the door. Aaron rose quickly and slid open the lock, letting Kelleigh in.

  “Hi, everyone,” she shrilled, carrying an attaché in her left hand. She slid up next to Quinn on the bench, moving him aside. He rolled his eyes and pressed himself against the wall in an effort to get away from her. Aaron returned to the table and sat next to Kelleigh.

  “More translations, boss,” she said matter of factly and slid the attaché across the table to Aaron. He opened the case and quickly skimmed the dozen or so papers inside before nodding at Kelleigh.

  “Nice work,” he said as he placed the new pages on top of the documents already lining the table.

  I smiled at Kelleigh and reached my hand across, grasping hers for a split second in hello. She smiled back and winked.

  “Now where were we?” Aaron asked before sipping his coffee.

  “Well, I understand now how the Fomorians came into power and if I’m getting this right, they became more powerful with Grandma’s death, which then allowed them to leave the sidhe and begin stirring up the storms, which gave them even more power?” I said, more as a question than a statement.

  “They were already leaving the sidhe in the form of the mists, but yes, when Shannah passed away they were able to begin creating powerful storms, which fed them even more power.” Aaron’s hazel eyes darted from mine to Bram’s then to Quinn’s.

  Quinn stopped signing to Bram for a minute while he scratched his head. I could tell by his expression he had more questions.

  “Ok, well, I get all of this, where they got their power stuff. What I still don’t get is, how do we keep them from coming back when the Triquetra will be split up tomorrow when Willow goes home?” Quinn asked vocally, then signed his question to Bram.

  Aaron grabbed hold of several of the pages he had just removed from Kelleigh’s attaché case. He laid the three pages in a neat row in front of Bram and me and motioned for Quinn to join us on the other side of the table.

  “This is where your sister has truly excelled. I completely misinterpreted this document that spoke of the power of the Triquetra.” He took hold of a sheet we had seen before at his house that showed Lugh on some clouds looking down on three guardians with their hands raised, each holding a piece of the Triquetra and uniting it in the air. “I believed this was saying that the power of the Triquetra was its ability to call on Lugh when the three pieces were joined,” he pointed to the drawing which showed that very thing, “which is, in part, accurate. The joining of the three pieces will summon Lugh. However, there’s even more to this picture than that. Go ahead; tell them, Kelleigh,” Aaron urged, sitting back on the bench.

  Kelleigh smiled and cleared her throat. “Ok, well, what this is actually saying,” she began as she pointed to the ancient language barely visible at the bottom of the page, “is that the power of the Triquetra is within the three guardians. Lugh can be called upon when the three pieces are joined, but it also says here that the three carriers of the Triquetra have the power to call upon each other from wherever they are. The picture here is showing this as a final blessing from Lugh.” Kelleigh tapped her finger repeatedly on the photocopied print of the drawing of Lugh on the clouds.

  “What do you mean, a blessing?” I asked, staring at the picture.

  A sly smile stretched across her face. “What I mean is that each of you has, in that garish little piece of jewelry you carry around, the ability to open up a…hmm, what did you call it, Aaron?” Kelleigh teased looking over to Aaron.

  Aaron leaned forward and kept his attention on Bram as he signed, “You each have the ability to open up a gateway with your piece of the Triquetra.”

  Bram looked at me then Quinn. “A what?” he asked with a perplexed expression.

  “A gateway,” I answered in mindspeak.

  “A gateway?” Quinn mumbled and signed simultaneously.

  “A gateway? You mean like some kind of doorway?” Bram asked.

  “Yes, exactly… a doorway. So, if Willow needs to return here to Ireland quickly, her capacity to do so lies in this primordial piece of jewelry,” Aaron answered while he reached his hand to Bram’s neck and lifted the silver chain from under his shirt, resting the pendant in the palm of his hand.

  Quinn and I both took hold of the chains hanging around our necks and stared at our third of the Triquetra.

  “How does it work?” I wondered, running my index finger along the silver curves of the piece.

  “Ah ha, now this is where it gets interesting,” Kelleigh chimed, pointing once more to the paper lying on the table. “See this writing here?” she directed us to a miniscule area on the corner of the page. A picture of the Triquetra filled the two-inch-square space, with practically invisible writing running along the top of each section.

  I held the paper close to my face but could only make out a few of the letters.

  “Here,” Kelleigh said, offering me a magnifying glass.

  Bram snickered, “You really come prepared.”

  “If it weren’t for that magnifying glass I never would have seen this writing,” she replied.

  I handed the glass to Bram who was able to make out more of the letters. “Can’t you just tell us what it says?” he asked impatiently.

  “Very well,” Kelleigh huffed, grabbing the paper and holding it up.

  “This says GAOTH DORAS O Lu TOSAIGH, translated, means wind doorway of Lugh initiate. DOMHAN DORAS O Lu TOSAIGH means, earth doorway of Lugh initiate and UISCE DORAS O Lu TOSAIGH, translated is, water doorway of Lugh initiate. See, above each section of the Triquetra are these words – Gaoth, Domhan, and Uisce – which, translated, are Wind, Earth, and Water.” Kelleigh pointed to the small writing directly above each curved section on our individual Triquetra’s, then continued, “This writing here, Doras O Lu Tosaigh, translates to doorway of Lugh initiate.”

  Kelleigh then rummaged through the papers she had brought with her and pulled out another photocopied sheet. The original paper had been a page-long handwritten note with scorched edges from what must have been a fire. I recalled having seen the original at Aaron’s house. The handwriting was elegant and seemed almost too perfect to have been done by a human hand. At any rate, Kelleigh laid the paper in front of us and began translating the text.

  It had been a water guardian’s accounting of how they opened the gateway and for what use. It depicted a tremendous battle with the Fomorians and the death of one of the guardians. Another candidate lived in England and the guardian needed that person to come and fight the Fomorians. The water guardian described how he recited the passage that Kelleigh had just shown us, and how a black hole appeared before him. The water guardian said aloud the name of the candidate and stepped into the void. Instantaneously he was transported to the candidate, nearly giving that person a heart attack. The candidate agreed to take on the role of guardian and took possession of the third of the Triquetra. The water guardian returned home by reciting the passage, bringing forth the gateway, and saying the name of his town. He was immediately taken back home, and the new guardian returned to England the same way.

  I stared at the silver, curved Triquetra in my hand, in awe of its power. I looked at Bram, who was looking right at me with a big grin. I didn’t need mindspeak to know what he was thinking. This would be a great way for us to stay in touch after I’d gone home. Aaron must have picked up on our expressions because he began shaking his head no.

  “Sorry, you two, but the gateway can’t be used for leisure travel.” He grunted as he pulled out another page laying it in front of us. “This tells of another guardian who did just that, tried to use the gateway to travel all around. She had gotten in the habit of using the doorway to transport herself back and forth between here and Switzerland, where her brother lived. After about the tenth time, she ended her visit with her brother,
called upon the gateway, bid her brother farewell, and stepped into the void. Instead of returning her to her home, the gateway exploded and shot the Triquetra out of the eruption into the hands of the brother as he stood there. He never saw his sister again.”

  I swallowed hard at the thought of disappearing into complete oblivion. “Wow, so much for any fringe benefits on this job,” I said, looking up at Bram.

  Aaron shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it’s Lughs way of ensuring his gifts are used only for what he created them for.” He then stood up and refilled his coffee cup for about the tenth time.

  Kelleigh excused herself and left to help her parents get ready for dinner. They were nice enough to invite Bram and Aaron, and Dad and myself, over to have a good-bye dinner with them and Eagan.

  Bram and I joined Quinn on the other side of the table.

  “Do you want to give it a go?” asked Quinn, tossing his pendant into the air.

  Bram caught it mid-air and handed it back to Quinn. “Not after that bedtime story, no, I don’t, and you shouldn’t either.”

  Quinn glared at his friend, then joined Aaron for a cup of coffee.

  I sat with Bram rehashing all the things we’d just discussed, feeling more in control over my fate and future. It was comforting to know that Bram was as close as reciting a passage and stepping through a doorway. Aaron seemed confident that there wouldn’t be any more attacks from the Fomorians anytime soon, and that we had done substantial damage to them by destroying Carissa.

  “It will take them years to replace her, not to mention restore their own energy and replace the creatures that do their dirty work. No, I don’t think we have anything to fear from them for a long time,” Aaron theorized as he began to pick up the piles of papers and place them in their folders.

  I flashed on the faces of the human Fomorians and cringed at the thought of Cyril and the power he possessed. The thought of him brought up one last question.