by Tom Mohan
“Over here,” came Nidawi’s voice from the shadows in the back of the mill.
“Mathair!” Fallon said. “You’re okay!”
“For the moment. Hurry, this way. There’s a tunnel beneath this place.” Nidawi led them to an opening in the floor. A steel-rung ladder disappeared into darkness below. Without hesitation, Nidawi climbed down. Marcas indicated for Fallon to follow, and he and the Dadais came behind her. Liam pulled the trapdoor closed.
The air in the tunnel was dank, with a musty scent. It was cool but nothing like the unnatural cold above. Fallon expected it to be quiet beneath ground, but the pounding rain made its presence known even there.
“The river is a little way in that direction. That’s where I came in.” Nidawi pointed.
Eoin gazed toward the sound of the river. “That tunnel didn’t used to be there.”
“I found it a few years back,” Nidawi said. “Not sure how it got there, but I’m thanking the spirits for it now.”
Fallon could see a brightening in the direction Nidawi had indicated. Even in the storm, the sky was bright enough to see that dawn was upon them.
“What’s the other way?” Marcas asked.
“Something that may be of help, if it’s still there.”
“That was our thought as well, but we couldn’t get the trapdoor open from the other side,” Eoin said. “Could it still be there after all this time?”
Marcas turned on the flashlight and aimed it down the tunnel. “What are you talking about? I didn’t even know this was here.”
“You youngsters don’t know everything,” Liam said, humor in his voice. “We Old Ones still have a few secrets up our sleeves.” The three Old Ones started up the tunnel, leaving a bewildered Marcas and Fallon to follow. They had not gone far when an ornate door blocked their path. Fallon trained her light on it and saw that, though it appeared to be made of wood, it showed none of the age or rot of the rest of the mill. It could have been newly installed.
The door was covered in ancient runes that Fallon had never seen before. She felt young and naive being in this place with the remaining Old Ones.
Eoin stepped up to the door and placed one hand on it. He closed his eyes, and his body seemed to relax. He muttered a few words that Fallon recognized as old Gaelic, words meaning See me, Know me. There was a soft click, and the door swung inward. Eoin pushed it further open, and the three Old Ones stepped inside. Fallon and Marcas followed.
The room was bare except for a long table with eight chairs placed around it. At one of the tables sat an old man.
“Well, ’tis about time someone came along,” said Tobias Yoder. “I been wonderin’ if there was anyone still alive out there to get me out.”
Brianna and Paulie continued their trek along the path. Paulie chatted on about his friend, whoever that was. She hung back a bit, lost in her own thoughts of gloom and death. She knew that things could never be the same again. A part of her questioned whether she really wanted them to be.
Her life to that point had been static, unchanging. Her family, the Old Ones, all of them had lived like their purpose was already fulfilled. There had been no sense of urgency, no mystery.
Until Marcas left for California. Everything had changed then.
Her heart ached at the loss of her brother, and she had no idea if Fallon would recover from her injuries. She dearly loved the Old Ones who had been killed. Still, even without her powers as the Seer, she was actually seeing so much more now.
Brianna rubbed her arms. Was it getting colder?
Since entering this strange place she had always known as the Great Nothing, everything had been constant. Now she was certain the temperature was dropping quickly. Dread fell over her as though death itself were approaching.
“It’s okay, Brianna,” Paulie said. “We’re almost there. My friend said so.”
Brianna noted that the earlier confidence in Paulie’s voice was no longer there. He sounded afraid. Brianna felt her own tension rise. She could see her breath in front of her now. Strange how she had spent her entire life in a region in which harsh winters were normal, and yet this was the first time she’d ever seen her breath. Or been cold, for that matter. Never had she experienced anything outside the comfort of her little house. For the first time she was truly living, and it scared her to death.
It seemed they had gone no farther than a few yards when the path ended at a rough wood door. Brianna did not know what she expected, but somehow, she had thought the end would be more dramatic than the beginning.
She could not help but wonder whether this door would open onto a cozy house like the one she had left, or to a nightmare.
Paulie did not hesitate. He grasped the knob and pulled the door open as though he had passed through it a hundred times before. Brianna followed at a more cautious pace. They emerged in what looked to be a subterranean passage of some sort. The walls were rough stone, as were the floor and ceiling. Burning torches lit the corridor.
Without warning, four figures lurched from the shadows. Two of them grabbed Paulie by the arms, and two took Brianna. Brianna’s attackers shoved her hard against the wall and pulled her hands behind her back.
“Stop,” she yelled. “Leave us alone.” Something smacked her hard against the side of her head, and bright lights exploded across her vision. She stumbled, but her attackers held her upright while binding her hands. Beside her, Paulie appeared more resigned to his fate.
“Paulie, what’s happening?” She took another hit to the head for her trouble, this one not as hard but still enough to leave her legs weak. So far, their captors had done their work in complete silence. Brianna had not had a chance to get a look at them. All she knew was that they were tall and dark. And strong. Her struggles did nothing to dissuade them. A hand grabbed her hair and pulled her head back while another stuffed a coarse cloth in her gasping mouth. Another cloth wrapped around her head, holding the gag in place.
She tried to call out to Paulie again, but only muffled sounds escaped her.
Their assailants dragged them up the corridor. The passage was on an incline, and Brianna stumbled up it, fighting to maintain her balance with her hands bound behind her and her head still spinning from the blows.
A dull roar came from somewhere in front of them. Brianna thought she saw a light farther up the passage, and as they continued, the light became a doorway and the roar became the shouts of hundreds of voices. No, thousands of voices—all cheering something she could not yet see.
Brianna expected the light at the end of the passage to grow brighter as they neared, but the same dull glow remained constant. The cheering of the crowd grew louder. Excitement rang through the sound, an anticipation of something long awaited. Whatever it was, she had a strong feeling that she and Paulie were a part of it.
In front of her, Paulie stumbled and had to be held up by the two who led him. She could see him trembling and feel his fear. Though Paulie had not been gagged as she had, he made no sound as he was led up the tunnel.
Where is your friend now, Paulie? Where is he when we really need him? Brianna hated herself for the thoughts but could not help them.
All too soon they passed through the arched exit from the tunnel and into a vast opening. The cheering erupted, making it difficult to hear her own thoughts. The ground shook as the crowd stomped and jumped. Brianna looked up, expecting to be surrounded by a raucous crowd, but instead she saw thousands of lights dancing all around them, from ground level to so high up she lost sight of them. The lights were white and bright yet illuminated nothing. The crowd that held them remained invisible to her.
As though on cue, the din ceased. The silence was so deafening that the only sound was the ringing in Brianna’s ears. In front of her, Paulie looked around at the dots of lights that resembled stars in the night sky. She wanted to reach out to her trembling friend, to comfort him. She hated her own helplessness. Hated it with a passion she had never experienced before. If anything happened to Pau
lie, she would die trying to save him.
She might very well die anyway.
As their captors led them deeper into the mass of lights, the feeling of an arena was replaced by more of a sense of infinite space. Brianna could feel thousands of eyes on her. At the same time, it was as though nothing existed in all the universe.
Beside her, Paulie looked around, his eyes huge. He turned to her. “Don’t worry, Brianna. It will be okay.”
Brianna did not know how he could say such a thing. She did not see any way this could end up okay. At some point, their captors had slipped away, leaving Brianna and Paulie alone. An intense sense of anticipation surrounded them as they stood in the dark. The twinkling lights that filled the air grew dimmer, as though pulling away. At the same time, pressure built in Brianna’s eyes and ears.
High above, a light soared across the sky like a shooting star. Instead of fading and burning out, however, the light grew brighter as it spiraled toward the ground. As it neared, the pressure continued to build until Brianna felt like an ice pick was being stabbed between her eyes. Her fear intensified as the light continued toward them. The pressure became a physical force that pushed her to her knees. She could no longer raise her head but stared at the blackness that was the ground beneath her.
Her body trembled with tension and fear as she knelt, arms bound behind her, face almost touching the ground. If Paulie was still beside her, she had no sense of him. The silence around her was broken by the whispers of a multitude.
The Prince.
The words filled the air like wind rustling the leaves of a forest. The whispers continued for perhaps a minute before falling hushed once again. Brianna felt as if she were being crushed as she was pressed closer to the ground. She sobbed through the gag and closed her eyes. Never had she felt so small and insignificant.
“At least one of you is wise enough to bow before me,” a voice said. The voice was strong and rang with a tone of great authority. Since Brianna was on her knees, she had to guess that she was the one bowing and that Paulie had somehow remained standing. “All will bow before me. Even you, False One. Even you will bow.”
“You are the false one, Oberon. You set yourself up as lord, but you are nothing more than a pretender.”
Brianna struggled to turn her head. Those words came from where she knew Paulie to be, and the voice was his, yet it held so much authority she knew it could not be him. The pressure that held her down lessened as the creature turned its full attention to her friend.
Could this actually be Oberon? If so, she could no longer doubt that the fulfillment of the prophecy had come to pass.
“You of all humans should know the folly of your words,” Oberon said. “My Princess has come. You yourself have seen her and know this to be true. She comes to me now, of her own accord. Soon, you will be dead, and the worlds of both the fae and the humans will belong to me.”
“The prophesy is only one possibility,” Paulie said. His voice was low, closer to the sound Brianna was so familiar with.
Oberon laughed. “One possibility that no one can stop from coming to fruition. Your time has come, False One. Very soon the Gathering shall take place and the choice be made. And then, my feeble-minded human, Liza McCarthy will cut your heart out and send you to hell where you belong.”
William Miller woke to the crash of thunder. The sound shook the house but did not startle him. It did not startle him because it blended with the storm that had been his dream. William generally did not remember his dreams, but this one remained as clear as if he were still asleep. His temples throbbed with his pounding heart as the rain drummed on his roof.
William tossed the covers aside and sat up. He glanced at the empty space in the bed beside him, and his heart pounded even harder.
Damn her. Damn her to hell!
He slid out of bed and stomped to the bathroom to relieve himself. When he finished, he walked through the dark bedroom to stare out the window at the storm. His wife was out there, and he knew where. She thought she could leave him, but she was wrong. Her last words to him simmered in his mind.
You’re a loser, William. Weak and lazy. I don’t know what I ever saw in you to begin with. I’ve found a real man to take care of me.
She was right about one thing. He had been weak. He’d let her walk out on him, but his dream had shown him that it did not have to be that way. He did not have to be weak. He’d show her and her new boyfriend. He’d show them who was in charge.
Clad only in his underwear, William turned away from the window and wandered through the dark house to the kitchen. He stopped for a glass of water before opening the door to the garage. He stepped in and flipped the light switch. Nothing happened. He didn’t worry about it. He knew his place, even in the dark.
He wished he owned a gun, but he didn’t. To possess a gun would break his probation. Apparently, four DUIs meant you might shoot someone if you had the chance. That was all right, though. He didn’t need a gun. In the dream, he had used something else—and it had worked just fine.
He stalked to the storage closet and dug out the old ax. The head was dirty but the edge was sharp. The dream had shown him what to do.
Beth and her new lover would be there when he was ready, and then they would get what was coming to them.
• • • • • • •
“THERE ARE STILL four of us left, then. That will have to do, I guess.” Tobias Yoder paced the small room. After the surprise of finding him behind the sealed door, he had told them about the battle in his basement and the magic Liza had used that had killed the Rakshasa and somehow sent him here.
“She doesn’t know how to use the power that’s waking inside her,” Nidawi said.
“She doesn’t know much of anything.” Tobias crossed his arms. “And that’s going to be a problem.”
“Then Liza really is this fae princess?” Fallon asked. “That’s kinda cool, when you think about it.”
Tobias looked at her like she had lost her mind, but she did think it was cool. The legends were coming alive during her lifetime.
“A lot of good folks have died because of this princess,” Tobias said.
“Settle down, Tobias,” Nidawi said. “We all knew long ago that this day could come. We grew complacent and lazy. We let our guard down. None of this is Liza McCarthy’s fault. We still need to do our part with those we have left.”
Tobias turned to Nidawi. “I don’t know how long I was here before becoming aware. There was a time when I felt lost in total darkness. During that time, I had a vision, a true one my heart tells me.” He gave each of them a look that dared them to question him. “The fae king is the being I know as God, the true Lord. He is all of the gods that your ancestors looked to, Nidawi. The same God that St. Patrick brought to our people in Ireland. Whatever you want to call him, he is the creator of all things.
“This part I’m not so sure of, but it feels right. I think that when the fae doomed themselves to exile, they were going through much of what humans experienced in the stories of the Old Testament Bible. They rejected their true king. Now has come their reckoning, their time to choose who they will follow.”
“That almost makes sense, but what can we do?” Marcas’s voice was low and raw.
Fallon knew her brother was torn apart inside. She felt guilty that she was not feeling the loss of Conall more. For some odd reason, she felt more alive than she had in a long time.
“We do what we were made to do. We Old Ones use what power we have left to block any more outsiders from coming in.” Nidawi looked around the room. “That’s why we’ve come here, to where it all started so long ago. There’s power here. Power that can strengthen what we’ve lost by the deaths of the others.”
“Are ya sure, Nidawi?” Liam said. “The place feels dead, nothing like it used to.”
“I’m sure. I can feel it. It’s gone dormant, but I can feel it in the earth. Time grows short, and we have much to do.” She turned to Marcas. “You must g
o back to the farm, to the woods. It is up to you to turn those who seek Tír na nÓg away.”
“How am I supposed to do that by myself? Even with Conall, we could never deal with so many at once.”
“That is your purpose. It has always been your purpose. Even when things look impossible, your purpose remains.”
“Look to the true king, and he will guide your steps,” Tobias said.
“I don’t have the faith that you do, Dadai. I never have.”
“Don’t take much. He knows what you need. Trust him. Trust your purpose.”
Marcas nodded, though he looked less than convinced.
“What about me?” Fallon threaded her fingers together. “My purpose is to find a husband. I enjoy a good wedding as much as anyone, but I haven’t really had time to plan or order a cake or find a boyfriend, even.”
Nidawi took both of Fallon’s hands in hers. “You, my dear Fallon, have a much bigger purpose than simply to find a husband. You are the embodiment of love. You radiate it wherever you go. Your purpose this day is to keep Halden’s Mill from tearing itself apart.”
“Wait. What?”
“You must go back into town and stop the people from turning on one another.”
“She can’t go back there by herself,” Marcas said. “This is all wrong. We’re a family. We work as a team. How can any of us do this alone?”
“You’re still family,” Tobias said, his voice harsh. “Nothing’s changed. Yer folks are in the Mist, maybe in Tír na nÓg itself. Soon, Miss McCarthy will be there as well. I ain’t got any idea where Brianna’s gone off to, but she’s out there somewhere, doing what she’s got to do. We’re short Conall, rest his soul, but the family’s still there. Each one of us has a part to play.” His voice softened. “Ain’t none of us ever been in this position before. That don’t make it impossible, just unknown. We have to face the unknown, stand up to it and see where it leads. That’s the only way we find out what’s on the other side.”
