In my killing spree I had definitely taken out a lot of Sluagh. I’d just not payed attention to anyone else.

As I tried to rise up from my knees the Dullahan and his black horse charged. I had no time to react as he lashed his spinal whip around me. The sharp bone of the whip punctured my clothing. As he dragged me over the rough terrain the edges of the whip stabbed into me.

No matter how much I struggled I could not break free. I tried to tap into my magic but the Dullahan made sure to hit every rock and pothole. The whip wounds weren’t deep, but they were painful enough to prevent me from focusing on anything else.

Finally the rodeo ended as the Dullahan came to a stop and released me. I groaned and rolled over in the fetal position.

I had just gotten owned.

Charice cried out snapping my mind to attention. Through bloodied and blurry vision I saw Nehemiah, Tain, and Rob all a few steps away from me. Behind my friends were the entire party of escapees whom the Dullahan was currently circling like a headless cowboy herding cattle. At the front of the group was Charice. Her eyes were wide and I traced her stare to see Donn the Red descending the steps of his fortress.

He looked at me, looked at Charice, smiled, and then said something in his ancient tongue to the Banshee. The she-devil turned and tried to claw Charice in two, but Nehemiah stood in the way. As the Banshee came at him he drew his .357 Magnum revolver and emptied four of the eight shots into her, ending the second of her three forms.

Then Donn backhanded the wizard and he landed in an unconscious heap.

Donn yelled at the Banshee, and she rose in her final form, the hideous old hag. She grabbed Charice by the arms and held her so that she was defenseless before Donn.

I tried to rise, but only managed two steps before collapsing on the ground in pain. Tain was at my side barking, dancing around me, encouraging me to rise.

Donn’s hands burned with a wicked glow. He raised them at Charice and began blasting her with some kind of Chaotic magic. She cried out in pain.

Scraping the ground I moved closer, inch by inch but I wasn’t going to make it in time.

Out of nowhere an orange tabby cat leapt into the air, claws extended and latched on to the Irish lord’s face. Yes Rob! Get ‘im Swellfellow!

But Donn ripped the cat away from his face and flung my hobgoblin friend to the ground. The lord of the dead towered over the cat and brought his foot down, stomping Rob.

Stomp.

Stomp.

Stomp.

Stomp.

With each stomp Rob involuntarily changed forms. Cat. Owl. Salmon. Hob.

Rob tried to get out from under Donn, but the stomping was relentless.

“Stop!” I cried out.

Finally Donn stopped and Rob lay there, his green cap and wool coat disheveled, his forehead and open mouth leaking blood.

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He defended Charice, and he bought me just enough time to rise to my feet and blow Donn away. My Mossberg was still attached to me thanks to the lanyard. I raised my shotgun and pulled the trigger, firing a shot.

With an outstretched hand Donn summoned a flat disk of Celtic knots that acted like a shield made of raw magic.

The magic shield rippled but was otherwise intact, completely guarding him from my shotgun.

Donn the Red came at me like a wrecking ball. I felt like a piece of origami paper.

Tain leapt in Donn’s path, but was kicked aside like a tumbleweed. Tain!

I cocked my gun again but he swiftly ripped it from my hands like a Black Friday shopper, casting it aside.

As if by its own volition my katana leapt into my hands. The blade danced before me faster than even I could register. But he produced his own blade that even Final Fantasy’s Cloud could not have lifted. He blocked my every attack and then parried. I raised my sword to block, but his blade broke mine like a plastic butter knife.

Gun gone. Sword severed. Sean defenseless.

Nehemiah was out cold. Tain was kicked to the curb. The Banshee had Charice in an arm lock, and Rob was battered.

I had acted foolishly and doomed my friends and all of the people we were trying to save. If I’d listened to Nehemiah we could’ve attacked them together.

This was all my fault.

Donn brought my attention back to him by slugging me in the face with one of his brick size hands.

Instantly blood filled my mouth. He lifted me with one arm in the air by my neck, and as if I wasn’t able to breathe already, he uppercut me in the stomach knocking all the wind out of me. I tried to reach the shotgun dangling below me from the lanyard, but he cast me to the stone floor like a football touchdown. I tumbled over and over adding new bruises all over my body. I rolled out of the way just as his fist smashed the ground where I had been. His fist made a crater under the point of impact.

Ebony brittle exploded, lacerating my face.

I was way out of my league here. All the odds were stacked against me. This guy had strength in numbers as well as raw power, and he’d only used his magic defensively so far. He hadn’t even attacked me with it.

I hadn’t even begun to use my magic. I’d only aimed the pathetic peashooter at him and swung at him with my butter knife. He was just toying with me and had yet to even bring out the big guns.

My short life played out in my head. If last week was bad this week totally sucked. My sister was dead and my dad was gone too. My mom and my brothers would have to throw the third funeral in way too short of a time span. I’d never get to be with Charice. We’d be dead.

I had bad luck.

No, I was out of luck entirely.

A raven landed next to me and croaked. But in my muddled mind I didn’t hear croaking.

Sean, remember. Remember.

Why wouldn’t my magic work?

Remember Sean.

The raven reminded me of the Oak tree back at home.

I remembered all the times my Good Luck had worked. First when I touched Nehemiah’s staff it had awakened. Then at my house I’d used it again after being slammed against the Oak tree, I’d uppercut the first Banshee. The third time was when I was in the Otherworld like I was now. So why wasn’t it working?

My head lulled facing the helpless people that the Sluagh kidnapped and I realized that they were hurting too. The group of escapees were hopeless now and their wailing echoed off the columns of the fortress.

I was wallowing. This wasn’t about me. It never had been. It was about saving my girlfriend and maybe the other captives and putting a stop to the Sluagh. Man my back hurt. Dang Dullahan. I hadn’t even gotten a hit on Donn yet. He’d knocked me flat on my back.

Wait a minute. My mind connected the dots. Nehemiah unlocked my power, but I was only empowered with Good Luck after I hit the tree. That’s why there was a dark patch where my bare back hit it.

The raven croaked in my ear, bobbing its head up and down.

My hand went to my pocket. The Oak leaf was still there and the natural oils rubbed off on my fingertips. Images of my father and my sister flashed in my head. I remembered that day in the Oak tree, the whole family together and happy. I could never have the moment back. But I couldn’t make new moments either if I didn’t move on.

The bobbing raven croaked one last time, then flew away.

When I realized that it wasn’t about me, the Luck magic came back. Beaten or broken, I needed to lead them to the threshold.