Day 14 of Midwinter, Sunrise

At Sea, Well of Wisdom

Annwn

Name: Bren Búachaill

Race: Síorláidir

Current Power Rank - Level 12

Current Progression Status:

Physical Progression +44

Mental Progression +37

Spiritual Progression +48

Domain Gained:

Chaos

Domain Classification: Battlesmith (Enhanced)

You have been gifted with the following boons:

Control Energy

Erratic Agility

Dark Vision

Pain Sponge

Spiritual Augur

Battlefield Forge

You have one blood-borne curse:

Mark of the Bodach (Permanent)

Innate Racial Abilities:

Rapid Regeneration

Advanced Identification

Magic Sense

We sailed away on The Whiskey Wind as quickly as we could. I was in a torpor of sorts, only half listening to The Dagda as I thought back to the death and destruction that had carelessly been caused by my hand.

I had been curiously watching my progression status in the last few power ranks and was starting to notice a pattern. I wished that someone had simply explained this to me earlier so that I would have had at least some idea of what was happening. But, from what I could tell, my deeds dramatically impacted my gains. For example, if I did a lot of physical stuff, my physical progression increased. If I masterminded a raid on the Tuatha, then my mental progression would go up.

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The spiritual progression was the one that took me some time to figure out. It appeared directly proportional to the amount of boon magic I used. I appeared to level more quickly in unique scenarios. If I repeated an encounter similar to one I'd faced before, my power rank was less likely to increase.

I shook myself out of my daydreaming haze and looked around the ship. Though I knew that Fomorians had enhanced healing, something they had apparently inherited from Neit, many appeared to be in dire shape. Some looked beyond healing. King Neit was the worst of these. The deep wound in his chest didn’t appear to be healing at all. Was it because a relic had caused that injury?

Though Cai and Tethra had bled from multiple wounds, only the stains on their skin and clothes now hinted at those earlier injuries. Both were clearly tired and stressed but appeared otherwise unharmed. That is, outside of what I now knew to be the constant grimace of pain beneath the surface on Cai’s face. I wondered if the injury from the woman in Hy-Brasil would plague him forever.

Ruadan stepped into my view. I hadn’t seen him at all on the battlefield, but suddenly here he was. Based on the visible burn marks on his clothes, it looked like he, too, had been injured in the battle. He looked exhausted. “Hello Runt,” he said somberly. “Don’t suppose you have a boon to raise the dead?”

I stood at his approach and shook my head. I looked toward where Neit lay. “Will he die?”

Ruadan leaned in closer. His voice was quiet. “The King will pass before we make it back to the island.”

“Who will become king?” I asked, thinking about the list of second-generation Fomorians that Tadg had told me about back in the Straits of Segais.

“Corb defied his father's decree by following Balor to Gorias. He is in the wind, and will remain that way.”

“Who does that leave?”

Ruadan pointed to the grieving giant of a woman kneeling by her father’s side. “Tethra will take up the mantle of Queen, or at least, that is the prevailing thought. Though she is just as likely to name Cai the king or to turn this ship around and seek vengeance on Nuada.”

“Are the changelings following us to the island?”

“No." I thought I heard relief in Roo's voice. "Muirdris has taken care of any ships dumb enough to trail our armada.”

I nodded. “Did you hear about the Stone of Destiny?”

“Hells, Bren, we all heard that thing pop. Even those of us that remained on the ships." He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Good thing there is another one out there somewhere on the blue.”

“Will Cai go after that relic now?” I asked, suddenly worried for Fern.

Ruadan shrugged casually. “Cai doesn’t know about the other half of the Stone.”

“What? Why not? You didn't tell him?”

He stared at me with a disapproving look. “If I had, Fern’s life would have been in danger. You think I’d do that to you? Or to her, for that matter?”

I thought about that for a moment. The whole time Ruadan had been missing, I had assumed that he had betrayed his people. But Roo had been the only one of his kin who had acted against King Nuada when the declaration of war had been issued against the Fomorian and Fae. And now he told me that he had protected Fern from harm, by hiding crucial information from his friend and commander. Clearly, I had misjudged him.

Roo shook his head at my expression. “You are just now seeing me for who I truly am, aren’t you, Bren?”

I reached out and pulled him into an embrace. “Thank you, my friend."

“Don’t get all touchy-feely with me, Runt. Just cause I’ve seen you naked doesn't mean I want to cuddle.”

I laughed and released him. A horn sounded from our ship. I turned to see Tethra facing the ships that surrounded us. She blew the horn a second time, the minor key sound hanging in the air.

“The king is dead,” Ruadan said, hanging his head.

I turned at a commotion in the water in the distance. The great sea serpent that had aided in the battle leaped up and out of the water before slashing back down to the depths, A tribute, I thought, to a man older than any of the Tuatha. A man who had fathered a prince who had, in turn, fathered the first King of the Tuatha. Who knew the depths of his influence in and on this world?

At that moment, I realized my place in this war. I knew the Fomorians to be menacing and harsh at times, but they had been forced into these realities by a jealous king who felt challenged by their patriarch. I knew that I didn’t believe all Fae were Unseelie. I knew now that the Slaugh Doctrine was an evil and unjust declaration. I knew my personal beliefs sided more with Gorias than they did with Falias. The question was, did Flamebright yet know that their former queen languished in a Falias prison?

My feet carried me to the duo standing near the body of their king. Cai and Tethra spoke in hushed tones. They turned at my approach. Ruadan had followed me, and we stood facing the adoptive siblings.

I got down on both knees and bowed my head, as I had seen Morias do to Brigid in Gorias. I didn’t know the correct protocol, so I decided to shoot directly from the heart. “My sword and my magic are with you, brother. I am with you, Queen Tethra, for as long as it takes to fix this world.”

“What sword?” cracked Ruadan. I could see a slight smile on Cai's face that turned to surprise as Roo sank to his knees beside me. “I’m not swearing allegiance to anyone. But it's awkward standing when everyone else is kneeling.”

I looked around the ship and saw that every Fomorian was also on their knees, heads bowed. Cai looked across the ship as if in gratitude, then slowly lowered himself as well. He kneeled next to Tethra, who stood tall. She looked touched and deeply saddened.

We sailed silently the rest of the afternoon, out of respect to the fallen. We each did our tasks on the ship while we contemplated our past actions and planned for the future.