Celtic Rain (The Battle Raven Series)

by Isabelle Stewart

  “How are you going to find this Eion?” Lara asked.

  Aodhan reached down into the canvas bag he had with him and pulled out a round black velvet pouch. “I was a trained as a tracker. Druids leave a distinct trail if you know the right spell to weave.”

  Lara’s eyes narrowed. “A tracker? Aren’t they the ones hunting us?”

  She held out her perfectly healed arm and looked at it. “I would have thought you were something of a healer?”

  “Every side has trackers. The Firbolg call theirs assassins.”

  “You are a tracker too?” Kedryn said as he sat up in the back seat and stretched his arms and legs out the best he could.

  “I was first trained as a tracker until my mother found out. Boy my father got it. Her brother was a tracker and was killed while he was scouting. Father decided to get around it by sending Scanlon and me to visit my cousin during the summer. Her husband trained the soldiers at the barracks on his estate.” The thought of his mother, father and friends sent a jolt through him and a strong urge to get back to the portal as soon as possible.

  Lara turned the jeep off and took off her seat belt noticing that she had completely forgot to have Aodhan put his on.

  “Did your mother ever catch on?” she asked.

  “I think mother had an idea what was happening but as long as I kept up with my studies as a healer she said nothing. Mother was ok with Scanlon being a tracker when she recognized that talent in him and also knew she couldn’t stop him. He loves mother and father but is very strong willed. He also trained with Carrick as a scout.” Aodhan chuckled to himself. “He was always a sneaky little fellow.”

  “Scanlon? Is he a brother of yours?” Lara asked as she put her hand on the door handle ready to get out.

  “Close enough. He grew up with my family since his mother and father abandoned him when he was a child. My parents took him in and he stayed with Carrick and Eion every once in a while.”

  “It’s lucky for us that your mother was strict on the healing part. And that she let you go for the summer.” Kedryn said

  Lara glanced at Aodhan and at Kedryn in the rear view. “Both are handy talents to have. Especially now.”

  She grimaced when she thought again about the blood back at her house.

  Pulling on the handle and shoving her shoulder against the door it opened and she slid out of the jeep to stretch her legs. Lara grinned to herself as she watched as Aodhan grabbed his pack and repeated the same motions to open his door. That door, she grinned to herself, didn’t stick.

  “Kedryn can you grab your gear pack? I’ll get mine.” she said noticing Kedryn hadn’t moved out of the back seat yet.

  Kedryn shrugged and reached over grabbing the pack and got out of the jeep. Lara leaned over to the back of the jeep and grabbed her gear pack and shrugged it on. Kedryn lifted the gear pack in his hands and grinned at her.

  “Hey mom, now aren’t you happy that I left these in the car.”

  “Your procrastination got us through another jam.” she said and he rolled his eyes at her letting out a laugh.

  Lara stood still letting her eyes adjust to the dark and was thankful that there was a full moon. Kedryn rubbed his eyes and stepped away from the jeep following after Aodhan as he strode through the weeds to the building. Lara hurried to catch up with them. She stepped up beside Aodhan who had stopped before the front of the building studying it.

  “There are some windows around back that look into the dojo area where we trained. If he was keeping an eye on me. That’s the only place where he would have been. Sensei only allowed students and parents to watch.”

  He gave Lara a mock bow as he grinned up at her. “Lead the way, my lady.”

  “Chivalry isn’t dead.” Lara said and turned and leading the way.

  They had to navigate through some thick weeds, rocks and glass to reach the windows in the back. Lara noticed that some of the local kids probably had a lot of fun towards the back of the building where beer cans, cigarettes, empty cans, among other things littered the area.

  Aodhan pulled out a smooth bluish white sphere out of the black pouch. He showed it to Lara and Kedryn.

  “A rock is going to find him? It doesn’t look like much.” Kedryn said

  “It is not just a rock. It’s a Druids Lapisphere.” Aodhan said.

  Lara and Kedryn stood quite as they watched Aodhan whispered to the sphere. The inside of the sphere begun to swirl and ripple glowing a light bluish almost white color. A design started to form within the sphere into what looked to be a panther. A sparkling blue stream of mist started forming in front of Aodhan forming a slight trail that was moving its way out towards a line of houses.

  “Eion was in such a hurry to get to the portal before Faolan could follow he forgot his sphere. He asked my father to find it and bring it to him if it was thought anything happened to him.”

  “Couldn’t just any sphere be used to find him?” Kedryn asked.

  “No. The words do not work on just any sphere. It has to belong to Eion and no other Druids sphere would do the same for him. Eion wove a spell around it where father and I could use it for only certain purposes of course.”

  He glanced up at the mist as it stretched out before him. “It has gone out far enough to follow.”

  Lara studied the mist that looked to her like floating rain. She turned to Aodhan whose face had a bluish glow about it from the sphere.

  “Looks like we can’t use the jeep. The path leads straight to those houses.” Lara said glancing around at the surrounding area.

  Kedryn walked up to the mist and put his hand through it and pulled it back out. His hand took on a faint blue glow when he placed it in the mist.

  “Isn’t the lake somewhere around here? The one where we have been camping and fishing all these years?” Kedryn asked.

  “Yes.” Lara said and watched Aodhan walk away from them. Kedryn followed after and she followed up the rear to a street with only a hand full of street lights giving off a faint glow.

  As they walked up to a row of houses Lara looked them over and only saw one with a faint glow of light about three houses down most likely from a television. It appeared that everyone else on the block was fast asleep and unaware of them sneaking around. Her eyes moved to the mist that flowed through a high privacy fence surrounding one of the back yards. Aodhan stopped in front of the fence looking puzzled.

  Kedryn walked around him and to a very well camouflaged gate. He found the small latch and quietly opened the gate and stepped through. Aodhan followed behind studying the gate and latch for a quick second and moved on. Lara stepped through and shut the gate quietly behind them. Luckily the owner had not locked the gate or they would probably be climbing over it.

  The backyard was like an obstacle course strewn with all sorts of electric cars, plays sets and toys. The mist led them to the back of the yard. A couple of feet to the side of it Kedryn found another gate that opened up to a path beyond.

  “Let me.” Aodhan said as he stepped over to Kedryn. He examined the latch, lifted it up and the gate squeaked open. Aodhan hurried through followed by Kedryn.

  Lara looked behind her to make sure the sound of the gate didn’t wake anyone. She stepped through and closed it as quietly as she could behind her. With the street lights gone the only light to lead their way was from the Red Orange Harvest moon and the swirling mist that flowed out of the sphere.

  They followed a small path someone had made that led to a line of trees to the lake. She watched as the mist crept its way up the path. They reached the line of pine trees and started walking single file as the path became narrower. It wasn’t long until they stepped through the tree line and saw the beach with the lake reflecting red, orange, white and black from the moon and sky.

  “The stars are so much brighter out here.” Lara said.

  “Got to love fresh clean country air.” Kedryn said as he looked around recognizing some of the camping spots that they had stayed at so many t
imes before.

  Lara watched as Aodhan scanned the area there was not a soul in sight. Not much camping was usually done in September at the lake. It got too cold at night for most campers. Only the cabins were really put to use or the spots with electricity for campers. Those camping spots were set out over a hill hidden from their view.

  The mist veered away from the lake and passed over a camping spot just off to the side. It hung in the air between two tall pine trees. As the small group followed the mist through a couple of camping spots, Lara’s toe of her boot smacked right into the rim of a fire pit and she stumbled forward. Aodhan caught her arm and pulled her backwards before she hit the ground. The momentum of his pull sent her falling into him. Lara steadied herself against him and looked at the ground where her foot hit.

  “Thanks. I should have known that was there.” she said.

  “We have to quit meeting this way.” he said grinning at her as she gave him an annoyed look.

  Lara pushed away from him when she noticed his arms were still holding her up.

  “Look at that.” he whispered.

  Lara and Kedryn’s eyes followed to where Aodhan was staring at the mist which formed an intricate pattern of Celtic knot work.

  “It’s beautiful. Am I dreaming?” Lara asked.

  “Not unless we are having the same dream. It looks like a web.” Kedryn said.

  As the mist came to an end, the web started to grow brighter and a shadow became visible within. As the shadow darkened it formed the shape of a man.

  “Eion!” Aodhan made his way to the web stopping just short a few feet from it. The spheres light shone brighter the closer he got.

  Eion wearily raised his head looking relieved. “It’s about time. Blaine what took you so long?” His head dropped back down.

  Aodhan tossed the Lapisphere at the web. It floated for a second and streaked to the web catching itself by the Druid’s side. The web begun to glow and even brighter blue.

  Lara drew her eyes away from the web to Aodhan. “Blaine? Who’s that and how do we get him out? He doesn’t look too good. I’m not sure if he would make it back to the jeep.”

  “We will not be going back. Blaine is my father and the Lapisphere will give Eion enough Druids light to strengthen him.”

  Lara turned her attention back to Eion and was amazed that after a few short moments he looked better. She started walking toward the web. Her arm was suddenly snatched back. Lara ended up catching herself before falling back into Aodhan. Third time . . . not a charm, she thought.

  Aodhan pulled her to him and whispered “You risk being caught in the web yourself. That is why I have only moved so far. As soon as Eion gathers enough strength he will break out of it.”

  Just as he spoke of it the light of the web faded and Eion dropped to the ground. Aodhan ran to his side and carefully sat him up picking up Eion’s Lapisphere and handed it to him.

  “My Lapisphere, thank you for returning it to me. The descendant is with you Blaine?”

  Aodhan ignored the fact that Eion thought he was his father and answered.

  “Yes she is with me. Apologies for not getting here sooner. I was going to follow your trail first then sensed the others were behind me. Their goal was to get to the descendant. I decided to track down Lara through her parents and found her first.”

  Aodhan flashed back to the short meeting with her father pretending that he was an old friend from Ireland. He thought he could pull it off with her parents with the accent and he did come from Ireland, in a roundabout sort of way. Aodhan was still puzzled as to why her father so easily gave out the information. He’ll have to look into that later. He studied Eion to make certain he truly was recovering.

  “As soon as you are ready we have to leave this place. Faolan could still be out there somewhere.”

  Eion looked at the man beside him and tried to shake the bleariness out of his head. When his eyes were less clouded he rubbed his beard and studied the man next to him.

  “Your father? Aodhan? I suppose it has been that long. You have grown and look so much like him.” Eion rubbed his eyes and shook his head to clear out the cobwebs.

  “You were becoming a man when I left. It looks like your father ended up raising you as a tracker after all. I thought that Orla would have put an end to it.”

  Eion sat up straighter and brushed some of the dirt off of his cloak and looked at Lara and Kedryn.

  “I thought you would have had a harder time convincing her to join you.” He pulled his cloak tighter around him. “From what I observed she has the stubbornness of her ancestors in her.”

  “Didn’t have much choice.” Lara said.

  “I assume not. I have a few questions.” Eion said as he cleared his throat again. He looked to Kedryn who reached into his pack and grabbed some water out and gave it to Eion.

  “Thank you. I am quite desperate for a drink.” Eion turned his attention back to Aodhan. “Did you say Liam? As in Tormey’s son? What does he have to do with this?” he let out a frustrated sigh. “I have been gone far too long.” Eion tried to stand up, swayed and sat back down.

  Aodhan looked at him concerned “I will explain some now so that you can rest some?”

  Eion adjusted his cloak tightly around him. “What events have I missed?”

  “Lady Paili filled in for Lord Faolan when he disappeared. Whatever plans he had I am certain she followed through with them. No one would dare oppose her or she would send them to the altar. He knew what he was doing when he chose her.”

  “Why are you here instead of Blaine?” asked Eion.

  “I will give you the shortened version. Let me know when you feel you have enough strength to translocate and get Lara out of here.”

  Eion sipped at the water some more. “Do you have any food in there?” he asked and watched as Kedryn dug in the pack and pulled out a granola bar and gave it to him.

  “Thank you again.” Eion said as he tore it open and took a bite. He motioned for Aodhan to continue on.

  “Father was going to head through the portal to find you when he had not heard from you. That seems so long ago. You informed him that the descendant had been found and that you were watching her train. That he was not to worry about your Lapisphere. You were going to complete her training if the Seer’s vision came to pass. Knowing that you were ok he decided to hold off on going through the portal.”

  Aodhan reached over and grabbed water out of Kedryn’s pack. “Many things happened since that time that had taken his mind off of the portal, you and the descendant. When the war started he realized how many years had passed since he last heard from you.”

  “Many years.” Eion said pulling his cloak tight around him.

  Stretching his legs out Aodhan took a drink. “Around eighteen years to be exact. Devlyn, Scanlon, Father and myself devised a plan to leave the second day during the seven day peace negotiations. We were hoping that Liam’s trackers would be too busy to follow and knew that Paili would send the Firbolg if she found out about the plans.”

  Aodhan studied Eion “Are you ready? Or do you still need a little more time?”

  “Just a smidgen more. How did Paili’s spies find out?”

  “Scanlon took a little scouting trip and overheard that Paili’s spies had indeed found out about our plans. Her plan at that time was to send her Firbolg when we left. She wanted to make sure that Lara never came back through the portal and also to find out what happened to Faolan. All these years her main goal, besides ruling Laois, was to find his Druids Carnelian sphere and take it for herself.”

  Eion shook his head. “All she really wants is power. Paili could care less about Faolan or the land of Laois. The banshee does not understand. Only the Druid who the sphere belongs to is the one that receives and can use its ultimate power.”

  Eion chuckled. “I would ask how he found out about Paili’s plans however I could picture him sneaking through the palace. I remember him as a sneaky, bright, and wiry little boy.” />
  Aodhan laughed at that. “Whenever one of mother’s pies disappeared. I knew it was him, he was clever enough not to get caught.”

  “Yes, the pies. Orla knew it was him. It became a game between the both of them, and an inside joke with us all. I knew you would have a good influence on him.” Eion got to his feet and stretched. “I am almost ready. What happened next?”

  “We ended up leaving sooner than planned. Scanlon took one last trip to Laois and overheard one of Paili’s councilmen tell someone that she was sending out men right away to arrive at the cave before us. Father had planned on waiting but changed his mind. When we reached the cave he stayed behind to close it and if the others got there before he closed it he was going to stop or slow them down.”

  Eion interrupted “Why did Scanlon and Devlyn not come with?”

  “They were at the Duir Plain with General Ruark discussing our plan to leave at that time. Shortly after the war started father’s sickness escalated and no one, including myself, has been able to heal him. He was saving his strength for the trip and I stayed with him.” Aodhan had a look of anxiety that overwhelmed him that he quickly masked.

  “How are you feeling now? I really think it’s about time we get out of here.”

  Eion’s face filled with sympathy “I am disheartened to hear about your father. He is a good man.”

  “As for Faolan, I do not think we will have to worry about him until we reach the Druids cave. I felt him leave this place and if I am correct he headed to the portal as soon as he sensed it had been reopened. He probably wanted to see if he could go back through. Although, I am not certain what will become of him as he reaches the other side.”

  Aodhan picked up the pack Lara set down and handed it to her. “We have to get to the cave and risk translocating there. I was able to do it from Ireland to here to find Lara. No way was I going to stow away on a boat or one of those huge flying beasts.”