Day 8 of Midwinter, Sunrise
Outskirts of Findrias, Emain Ablach
Annwn
We left before the sun had fully topped the horizon. With the Minor Cavern Vision boon I could see well even in the dead of night. At sunrise, it was as easy to see as it would have been in the middle of the afternoon.
Near the end of the first hour, I noticed a definite change to the landscape and the incline. We were walking uphill…a lot.
“You didn’t tell me it was going to be uphill,” I muttered.
“I didn’t say it WASN’T going to be uphill. The city is nicknamed Cloudfair. Clouds work the same on Earth as they do here, yeah?”
“Yes, clouds are generally up in the air,” I admitted grumpily. My legs (and lungs) were screaming.
After a few hours of traveling northeast, we began passing occasional groups of Fae coming from the city. The first few eyed us strangely. As we got closer to the city, it became increasingly clear that we were not entirely welcome.
“Are you feeling the love?” I asked Nemain sarcastically.
“I am…something is not right here.” She looked troubled.
“Do you think this is because of the High King’s declaration of war?” I asked.
Nemain nodded. “They are calling that part of the declaration ‘The Slaugh Doctrine’…and yes, I definitely think that has something to do with it.”
We came up over a rise, and I saw the city for the first time. I stared up at the glorious buildings in all of their grandeur.
The city itself was built up on a promontory overlooking Cloudfair Bay. I knew, based on conversations I had with Ruadan and with Nemain, there was a descending, wooded area on the other side of the city that came back to meet something called The Well of Secrets. Bridges connected various parts of the elevated city. In the distance, I could see stairs and lifts designed to take goods from the sea and materials from land up into the city.
Crowds of people clustered around various lifts and gates. Strike that…as we walked closer, I could see that those were mobs made up of all manner of Fae. The throngs of angry Otherworldly beings had their hands raised and were yelling at changelings on the other side of the retracted lifts and closed stairwell gates.
“How are we going to get into the city?” I asked Nemain. I eyed the growing mass of people, who seemed to be just noticing us. They didn’t look friendly.
“A better question is how are we going to escape this throng without murdering everyone?”
Monty poked his head out from under my cloak. His opinion of The Morrigan hadn’t changed much in the few days we had traveled together. But now that he smelled the Fae approaching, he looked intrigued. The little guy was bigger already, likely the size of a full-grown garden snake back on Earth.
Several of the Fae now approaching us appeared humanoid. Others looked like fairies, but I knew from a Fíadan rant that looks could be deceiving when it came to stereotypical fairy-looking creatures.
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Nemain stepped forward to meet the first group of advancing Fae. With each step, she appeared more regal, larger in stature. I wondered if that was some sort of boon. I could see she had palmed her athame in her left hand, while keeping the pommel of her chain accessible on her belt.
“Hail citizens,” she began, before being cut off by a particularly large Fae. The Fae had bulging biceps and a nasty scar running down the side of her face.
“It don’t seem like we are citizens any longer, your majesty.” A mob of citizenry had joined the huge Fae, and, riled up by her words, they began to call out as well.
My mind chose this inopportune moment to wander. Were there such things as male fairies? I had only seen females. Could some of these other Fae be the male equivalents? Are there male equivalents? What about leprechauns? Were they a thing here in Annwn?
“I have been away for a time,” Nemain continued. “I have heard that things have come out of Falias that are cause for alarm…”
Again, the buff Fae interrupted her. “The only thing alarming is that we’ve been kicked out of our houses and jobs!”
“I have lived here for 200 years!” I heard another voice shout.
More angry voices called out, and the throng pressed closer. Monty began to sway back and forth in excitement. A line of people was suddenly between Nemain and me, and I tried to push my way through, not wanting to be separated. I stopped suddenly when the weight of the oilliphéist suddenly disappeared from my shoulder.
I turned quickly to see where my new friend had gone. The crowd had grown bigger than I had expected, and I couldn’t see Monty. I searched frantically, my eyes landing on a burly man with three eyes as he jumped back holding his hand. The crowded parted a bit, enough that I could see the red serpent lying on the ground with his stinger exposed.
The mob had surrounded Monty. They began to strike at him with various weapons and everyday objects. I saw at least one angry Fae connect with a walking stick. I knew that behind me Nemain was beginning to lose her crowd and it would likely turn bloody before long, but my eyes were fixed on my minion. Several of the Fae in the area drew back with wounds, but this only seemed to fire up those that remained. They lashed out in renewed vigor and rage.
In desperation, my mind landed on a newly found use of my Control Energy boon. I had learned in my recent training sessions with Nemain that I could protect myself with an energy shield, but now I wondered if I could protect others as well. I concentrated on the little oilliphéist, and a blue glow began to shine around him. The Fae grew increasingly more frustrated as their blows landed short.
I pushed my way through the circle of Fae to find Monty laying beneath a thin, blue transparent shell. He saw me too, and the outside world fell silent as our eyes met. A voice pushed its way inside my mind. The voice was reminiscent of a higher-pitched André the Giant.
The little red serpent looked up at me from under the blue sheen of the shield. “Friend!”
“Is that you, Monty?”
“I can understand you!”
It was incredible how quickly you could communicate things at the speed of thought. It was as if time stood still for the others, while Monty and I were having a full conversation.
“Hey buddy, what just happened?”
“I saved your life and now you have saved mine. We are bonded.”
“This is awesome…remind me to cover the three rules, though.”
The small serpent cocked its head. “Can you eat the rules?” His tongue flicked out.
“What? You know, maybe this isn’t the best time to have that conversation. Do you want to get out of here?”
He looked at the mob. “Will I get to eat one of them?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Can I eat the one about to hit you?”
I looked to my left as the world sped back to normal speed, and sure enough, there was a horned goat creature attempting to stick a dagger in my side. Monty was on him in a flash. Instead of following through with his stab, the man tried to bat the little oilliphéist away. As if suddenly realizing that I was aligned with Nemain and Monty, the mob turned on me.
I reached for my dagger and…a dagger actually manifested out of the sheath! In my mind, I could feel an energy source nearby. I realized that it was the shield I had placed around Monty when he was at the center of the mob. Suddenly, I had a crazy idea…
I faced the mob. “This is your first and last chance to lay down your weapons.”
The rage-filled mob was past the point of listening to anything I was saying. As they mustered the courage to charge me, I reached out and connected with the energy of the shield still in their midst, willing it to dissipate. Though perhaps “dissipate” is the wrong word. I made it go BOOM and tried to scatter as many of the mob as I could.