Day 11 of Midwinter, Nightfall

Outskirts, Brú na Dallta

Annwn

The camp arose before dawn, but since I no longer slept, I was actually up well before most of the others. The great perk of the morning was reuniting with Tadg’s horse, Gaoth. As soon as he saw me, he pulled free of Tadg’s squire and came to affectionately nuzzle me. While the squire was horrified, Tadg thought it hilarious, and I found that seeing the formal princeling in stitches brought a much-needed smile to my face.

We rode hard most of the day, heading northwest for hours until we were looking almost directly into the sun as it descended into the Well of Wisdom.

Up ahead, I could see the port town that everyone referred to as Brú na Dallta, or Fortress of the Blind. Apparently, the town had sprung up around a military building resting on a river called Abhainn Dallta, or River of the Blind. It occurred to me that whoever was in charge of naming this part of Annwn needed to take some marketing classes. Then again, there were probably some ancient reasons behind names like these.

The section of town closest to our riders was centered on a large building. It reminded me of Boston’s City Hall, built in a blocky architectural style called Brutalist, I think. It was a rectangular building, that highlighted the various angles of its design. You could easily see the pillars and brickwork that made up the building.

Beyond the section of the town on this side of the river, I could see myriad naval ships in the harbor. Beyond that was the western shore of the river and more of the town. I couldn’t see any bridges or structures that would allow for easy travel between the east and west sections of town.

Brú na Dallta seemed about the size of Port Cóelrenna, only this place was overrun with soldiers from the capital. Ships came and went from the open water. Whole companies of men marched in from the north. The taverns and inns were clearly filled to capacity. And at the center, the big fortress-like building loomed over it all.

Luminescent soldiers wearing tabards of gold and others wearing blue busily directed carts, reminding me of ants coming and going from an anthill. I attributed the glowing to my new racial ability, Advanced Identification. Their items and armor must be imbued, I realized, and it occurred to me that I had never seen this much magic in one spot—not even in the treasure vault in Gorias.

Empty carts arrived at the angular building and came out filled with supplies and weapons. There was so much congestion that our company paused amid the chaos to evaluate our next move. Ethadon broke from our group and rode proudly to the fortress, while Tadg began circling us like a Shepard dog.

I watched the people, trying to discern who was a local and who was there preparing for war. I saw no fae, only those who I guessed were changelings, even among the locals. A knot began to form in my gut as I thought about the effect the Slaugh Doctrine was having amongst the citizenry of Annwn. A great divide was forming, and there would likely be a reckoning in the not-too-distant future. But how could the fae compete with the might of Hightower and her sister cities?

My eyes fell on a woman leaving a tavern to my left. She was far enough down the street that I couldn’t quite make out her features, but from a distance, she looked very familiar. She had dark hair and a dark cloak made of a form-fitting black material. Several of the soldiers whistled at her as she walked farther away.

Was it Fern? Every part of my body suddenly woke up at once. I signaled to Tadg on the other side of our company, and he followed my gaze to who I was now certain was Fern. A heartbeat later, I was off my horse and weaving my way through the crowd, trying to catch the woman who had given me her one and only Shell of Promise. While I jogged, I thought of all the things that were hopefully still with my dead body back in Gorias, her shell included.

Stolen novel; please report.

Actually, what did happen after I died? Did my body disappear or remain behind, even after my regenesis? It must somehow dissipate, otherwise there could be hundreds of bodies of a single god if one were to consistently die. And the ogre did say he was still hungry after he had just eaten me… I decided for now to go with the dissipation theory.

I shook myself out of my own rumination, as I bumped by countless people in the crowd. I kept losing sight of Fern in the sea of strangers. I would catch only glimpses of her now and again as I hurried after her toward the river. I tried yelling her name a few times, but that just made the pedestrians lining the streets stop and stare at me, which inevitably just slowed down my forward progress.

I came to a street on the periphery of the main thoroughfare. I was only a few blocks from the docks, but heading in a direction away from the central fortress. I passed a few people here and there, but none took any interest in me. It had been a few minutes since I had last caught a glimpse of the black-haired beauty, and I started to worry I had lost her. Then I caught sight of her again, turning down an alley toward the water. I ran after her.

When I turned the corner and entered the alley, I saw Fern standing in a doorway talking with someone. The other figure handed her something that looked like some form of currency. She glanced my way, with a smile.

“Fern, is that you?” I asked, suddenly unsure. I walked slowly toward her, as it dawned on me that perhaps I should be more cautious when traversing an unknown town in an even more unknown world.

She didn’t say anything, but she neither moved away nor closer. I continued to close the distance between us. “I have missed you.”

No response. She simply reached out a hand to me, as if inviting me to come closer. My heart pumped faster, and I moved forward more quickly. My primitive brain had overruled any cerebral function. When I was within reach of her, I noticed something strange…her freckles were missing. My hand lowered. She lowered her own hand, and then smiled, her features beginning to shift and change.

Before me stood a young, blond woman with a scar running the length of her face. She laughed at my expression, then turned to run out the other side of the alley. I was too stunned to chase her. I heard the sound of feet pounding from the end of the alley where I had entered. I turned to see Tadg running toward me. He was panting. Sweat dripped from his forehead.

A huge hand, at least the size of the ogre’s, grabbed me from behind, wrapping around my neck. My visual world went from a vibrant wide-screen view to what looked like some sort of pin-hole camera. The periphery of my vision receded as the hand around my neck squeezed.

Tadg drew his sword and charged. He was yelling something and his face was full of disgust and anger. I had a momentary fear that he was charging me, but realized quickly his angle was off. A huge crate flew from behind me. It crashed down on top of Tadg, knocking him to the ground.

I reached for the dagger on my belt that I had sharpened to the point of endangering myself just by wearing it. The person holding me like a rag doll turned me to face them. It was a woman…a familiar one.

“Tethra…” I croaked. I felt like I had barely enough air to stay conscious. I fumbled for the dagger. It slid through my fingers, falling to the ground.

“You pick a poor company, Little Béstin.” I found myself staring at the silver bracer sheathing her arm, marveling dizzily at how easily she held me with only one hand. My feet dangled off the ground. Her voice was calm as she considered me. “Do you think he would not betray you given but a word from his father?” She glanced at Tadg’s form on the ground, then back at me. “Do you think he hasn’t already?”

I tried to shake off my habit of ruminating on things like loyalty and honor. Tadg was my friend. I could hear him beginning to stir behind me. I knew he was a sitting duck, and if I wanted to save him, I would need to do something fast. I looked again at her silver bracer, then placed both hands on it as I began to funnel energy into it.

Tethra grimaced as she realized I was superheating her bracer. “Not this time, little godling.” Without another word, she flung me into the building next to us. I heard cracking sounds and felt the weight of the building crash down around me.

When the dust settled, I found myself in darkness. I could hear nothing except for the close echo of my own labored breathing. Something sharp poked into my right ribs and my left leg was broken sideways. I could feel myself lying diagonally, my appendages stretched in strange positions. Fortunately, there seemed to be some free space that had saved me from the worst of the collapsing building.

It was hard to breathe under all the rubble and the little air that was left was filled with dust, but my heart raced and pumped my blood full of life. I closed my eyes and could see the energy dissipating around me from the demolition of the structure. I reached out and called it all back to me. It amassed around me and sheathed my broken body. It began to push back against what was left of the building. I could see the darkness change to a glowing light even behind my eyelids.

And then, as I began to formulate a plan, I let it all go…