Amerghin and Ruad were among the first to arrive at the city of Enna Aignech as they were on horses along with the other captains and deputies. When they arrived, it was a city in chaos. The soldiers who had stayed to keep order among the few original residents of the city had become violent, filthy drunkards. They treated the city folk like personal slaves and if they did not comply, they killed them.

Amerghin had these soldiers killed and appointed some of the captains to restore order to the cities four quarters.

Then they made their way to the kings palace. There was a captain there who grovelled up to Amerghin, having seen and heard his men being executed.

He was sitting on the throne of the late king Magach. During his time there he had convinced himself that the dark Lord would give him the rulership of the city.

“My Lord,” he said, “I tried so hard to keep order, but the other captains would not lis…” he fell dead, cut short mid-sentence, the sword of Amerghin wet with his blood.

Amerghin was in no mood for failures. Ruad warily kept his distance. He just wanted to go to Morann and their children.

Amerghin sat heavily on the throne and fumed, his eyes dark with fury and he muttered angrily.

It was slow to come at first, a pain behind the eyes and a mist that grew within the throne room, a dark mist like smoke. They began to choke and where Amerghin sat it was thicker. Amerghin stumbled out of the throne and fell to his knees choking and coughing, holding his throat.

Then the smoke cleared a little and, on the throne, sat Mac Roth himself. His hood and cloak dark blue with dark gold interlaced through it. He held before him a staff which had a glowing rock at its tip which smoked and popped, small flashes of black lightening came from it and touched anything that was within the area where he sat.

Amerghin was still on his knees and turned to look at Mac Roth. But only at the feet, he knew his place. He coughed to clear his lungs.

Ruad stood near the centre of the room, not daring to take a step closer.

“Come to me, Ruad,” he said with a resonant voice, raspy and harsh.

Ruad slowly took a step, it felt like lead, but he pushed himself to walk closer.

“You have done well my boy,” his voice becoming gentler. “I saw your bravery.”

“As have I,” said Amerghin.

Mac Roth’s staff lashed out and knocked Amerghin to the ground.

“Silence fool,” he screamed, “you are an irritation to me!”

Amerghin stayed on his face. No longer daring to look up but he was still fuming with rage and defeat.

“Ruad, my boy.” His voice gentler again.

“It has gone as I planned it.”

Ruad looked up at Mac Roth in surprise. He had expected some sort of penalty for the failure he had witnessed.

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“Yes, it has been my plan to get them to fight us on the plains of Sennol. They are desperately following us, thinking we are defeated, but we have a surprise for them, and they will not have their precious walls to hide behind.”

Ruad was hiding his doubt well. He was of two minds and the constant failure of their armies were weighing on his uncertainties. But he went along with Mac Roths words and made himself to look encouraged, standing taller and gripping the sword Mac Roth which felt hot in his grasp.

He felt pity for Amerghin, he did not want the power Amerghin craved. He wanted power, yes, to get what he wanted for him and his family. He was tired of war, he would take the side of whoever won this war, for his own gain.

“Now go to your wife,” said the dark Lord, “tomorrow you will bring the army to Sennol where will shall destroy the pathetic armies of these Deep Lands.”

Ruad first went to arrange the generals to prepare for another journey. Many in the army complained but after some public hangings, the soldiers were mostly compliant to the idea.

Ruad shook his head moodily, as he saw two of his best captains hanging from the noose. All they had asked was more rest for their tired troops.

But all was forgotten when he arrived in the arms of Morann and his children, Dare and Imchad.

Morann was delighted at the change she had seen in Ruad. He was no longer fearful and brooding but he was confident and seemed to be aware of his surroundings a lot more.

She had always been the first to hug him and leap into her arms. But he crept in and suddenly picked her up. She screamed and then laughed. He turned her around in the air and held her in a tight embrace. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, he allowed her to slip down in his arms till their lips met.

Dare and Imchad, were as surprised as Morann, they were shy and unsure as the last time they had seen Ruad they were afraid of him, the way he brooded and seemed to be on the verge of exploding in anger.

They were fearful because of their memory and his large form, now of a fully grown man with a beard. It would take them some time to warm to him. But they watched him wide eyed and with some awe.

Ruad sat and watched Morann tell them a tale of the Deep Lands and then he put them to bed. Then he took off his leather armour and sat in the still warm bath that Morann had prepared for the children and herself.

After a while she arrived at the doorway and shyly looked at Ruad dozing in the bath. He turned and smiled, detecting her presence.

“That was for me,” she said, “I have been working all day and I smell.”

“You do not smell as bad as me or the stink I have has around for the past months,” he said. She walked over to him and began to wash his shoulders and hair.

He put his head back looking into her eyes. “You smell like the freshly harvested Trias fields, to me,” he said. “You do not need one.”

They spoke well into the evening, Morann enjoying her new husband, Ruad appreciating his delighted wife, like he had only just met her.

The next morning Ruad stayed with Morann and relaxed. They watched the army slowly moving out and making their way back toward Sennol.

Then having all their belonging loaded on a horse drawn wagon they left the city, the cart horses galloping on the smooth road, they soon overtook the army and by morning they could see the smoking Mt Triune on the horizon.

The warm caves of Sennol were not a bad place to be. They had the luxuries of any palace built with hands. But they were dark, gloomy, echoing with distant quakes and eruptions.

The army was stretched out below the entrance to the caves of Sennol. They had established a front line to prevent attack. The upper caves were where the dark lord resided, and the caves below his were reserved for Amerghin and Ruad plus some other high ranked generals.

Ruad’s cave opened to a naturally formed rock balcony. And not far way he could see on another balcony the figure of Amerghin pacing back and forth.

“Still fuming,” thought Ruad.

Looking over the plain, he could just see the ocean in the distance and admired the position they were in as a defensive battleground. There was no way an army could get to them from behind as the rocky fissures and points were covered with sharp edges and dangerous ravines. The gate to the caves was at the base of a cliff, it had massive stone gates that were rolled open or closed by two Emim giants. The rock gates, Ruad noticed, were fastened inside by chains which were part of the rock, like the rock had been melted but had hardened around them. They were in fact the legendary magma gates of Sennol Uathach, made by the first witch Lord Sencha. Sennol Uathach was impenetrable.