Day 6 of Midwinter, Nightfall
Lough Dearg, Emain Ablach
Annwn
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. I staggered back. Tethra took a step forward with her wicked blade. Cai put out a hand for her to stop. “Give him a moment,” he said to the Fomorian.
What he said was true. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that our appearance in the Pool on the same night wasn’t a coincidence. But brothers?
“I don’t understand what is happening here.” My eyes found Ruadan in the firelight. “What game are you playing?”
The boy-faced godling looked unusually tired. “For once, I’m not playing a game, Runt.”
None of this made sense. Ruadan aligning himself with the man that killed his father. Ruadan leading these Fomorians to our camp. For what purpose?
“But the game is playing us, Bren.” Cai’s voice was calm. He stepped closer. I raised my dagger again, stopping him from coming nearer. “For too long the Tuatha have kept my people down.”
“You aren’t even a Fomorian!” My brain had downshifted into fight or flight mode. It was too busy processing the moment to form cohesive thoughts. “How can you not see what you are doing is wrong?”
Before Cai could respond, a single black bird landed on a rock just outside of the firelight. Then another landed next to it. Then another.
“SHE has come,” Tethra said, tossing the wrapped spear to Cai. He caught it with one hand and began unwrapping the weapon.
“She won’t be alone,” Cai responded.
Ruadan nodded. “We should get out of here.”
Cai shook his head. “Lugh will want blood for the theft of the spear.”
I didn’t know who they were talking about, but the golden glow of the spear caught my eye. It was impossibly thin compared to what I thought a spear should look like. I instinctively activated my Rings.
Spear of Victory, Relic
This unbreakable spear is made out of an unknown material. It grants the wielder a battle fury that reduces pain and damage. The spear has the “Armor Piercing” and “Return to Sender” abilities.
So, Cai also had a relic. I made a mental note to ask Morias about these relics the next time I saw him. I reached inside my mind and attempted to activate my own relic. Nothing happened. I began searching my pockets. It was gone.
“Sorry, Runt,” Ruadan said when he saw me looking for the Stone. “I kinda thought you’d say no to the whole team-up thing.”
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I saw the Stone, suddenly floating in front of Cai. He began flattening it into a shield and took up a throwing posture behind it with the spear. Tethra and Ruadan stood at his back in a similar fighting stance.
That’s when my Power Rank notification decided to kick off.
Name: Bren Búachaill
Race: Undetermined
Current Power Rank - Level 6
Current Progression Status:
Physical Progression +7
(currently bound by Power Rank Level)
Mental Progression +5
(currently bound by Power Rank Level)
Spiritual Progression +7
(currently bound by Power Rank Level)
You have been gifted with the following boons:
Control Energy
Erratic Agility
Minor Cavern Vision
Five magic items are in your possession.
You have acquired:
The Rings of Identification
Urias’ Meshmail of Adaptation
The Dagger of Transmogrification
Fernawen’s Shell of Promise
Caoránach’s Brood Bone
You have no relics in your possession.
The last notification confirmed that the Stone of Destiny was, indeed, no longer in my possession. It also let me know that during the battle with the oilliphéist, I had somehow earned two additional boons: Erratic Agility and Minor Cavern Vision.
I shook myself out of my internal thought process and focused on what was happening around me. There were 20 to 30 black birds now. Were they ravens? Whatever they were, they took flight and began to spin in a tornado of wings and feathers. Then, in their midst, I saw a form emerge.
She was unmistakably female. She wore black leather head to toe, and her long, black hair spun around her in the murder of ravens. As soon as she took in the scene at the campsite, she extended her arms. The ravens shot toward us in a flurry. The woman sprinted forward with a length of chain trailing behind her. I quickly shielded my eyes from the beaks and talons.
I heard the spear strike before I saw it, and I opened my eyes just enough to see Tethra holding the shaft of a long spear protruding through her right shoulder. She grunted as she attempted to push it through her shoulder to the other side.
Cai, still holding the relic spear, stood next to Tethra. The woman in black spun and sent the chain whip snapping forward at them. The blade on the end of the chain connected with the Stone of Destiny, protecting Cai and Tethra. Where was Ruadan?
Cai threw his spear, but the attack went wide. The woman drew back for another whip chain attack, but somehow the relic was already back in Cai’s hand.
I dropped to the ground and continued to cover my eyes to avoid the tangle of attacking birds. Even so, I managed to see movement at the opposite edge of the campsite. A young man stood there. He was clothed in a green toga-like garb with a thick golden belt that protected his abdomen. He recalled the bloody spear Tethra had just dropped to the ground, and to my surprise the spear returned to him.
Cai reduced the size of the Stone and approached the scary swirling whip chain lady. Cradling her right arm, Tethra switched her blade to her left hand and approached the young man in the toga.
I heard a voice behind me whisper “You need to go.” It was Ruadan. He pulled me to my feet, then pushed me to the edge of the darkness, pointing to the southern hills. “Go!” he said, looking like he wished he could say more.
I felt no compulsion to be a hero. I was scared, injured, and didn’t know what to think about the people involved in the current melee. Ruadan seemed to be a traitor. The Fomorian leader was apparently my brother, and I had no idea who the two latest arrivals were. I was in over my head and I just wanted to be somewhere else.
Ruadan watched as I hurried into the darkness. When I knew he couldn’t see me anymore, I stopped for a moment, not ready to say goodbye to someone I’d thought of as a friend. I heard him quietly say, as if to himself, “I wouldn’t have left you in that cave. I hope you know that.“
When he turned back to the battle, I headed deeper into the night, unsure where my journey would take me next.