Day 1 of Midwinter, Sunset

Midlands

Annwn

I was in blackness again. This time, I think the darkness was perhaps less about some sort of semi-magical limbo, and more about passing out from shock. Wherever I was, the darkness didn’t remove the pain in my eye and shoulder. Then, I heard the same disembodied voice from earlier:

You have been gifted with the following boon:

Energy Surge

Two relics are in your possession.

You have acquired:

The Stones of Destiny

Relic abilities unlocked:

Shrink/Enlarge- Stones of Destiny

Return to Sender- Stones of Destiny

Telekinesis- Stones of Destiny

That’s strange, I thought. I have a boon? In role-playing games, a boon was a magical ability from a god or other powerful patron. Oh… I guess that made sense then. I was in the land of magic and gods, after all. How… original.

And the voice didn’t say anything about the Stone of Destiny being broken this time. Odd. And did I hear that right, that the voice mentioned “Stones,” plural? Very odd.

My vision started to return, as did the voices of my friends, Fíadan and Morias. We appeared to be in a small grove of trees well away from the battle. Fí moved among the horses, tending their saddles and brushing them down.

“Be honest,” I said to Morias, gently touching my swollen eye. “How bad is it? Are my modeling days behind me?”

Morias’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “He got you pretty good.”

“Did my last stand at least look as cool as I imagined?”

“Probably not.” He smirked. “But it was still very brave.”

“And stupid,” I heard Fí mutter under her breath, just at the edge of the firelight. Somehow, the sky was now dark, and the shadows of the trees only added to the black of the woods.

“That was pretty clever, what you did with the Stone,” Morias said. “I wasn’t expecting you to take back the Stone from Tadg.”

“Well… I’m a clever guy.” I winced as I tried to sit up. My shoulder throbbed.

Morias sighed. “Assuming Tadg survived his run-in with Balor, he will be tracking us.”

“There’s no question about that,” Fí called from her place by the horses. “This idiot somehow managed to end up on the captain’s horse.”

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“What?” I looked at the deep, smoky gray horse, mildly horrified. “I was disoriented! I just rode whatever horse you guys put me on!”

“The captain’s horse? How can you tell?” Morias asked Fí.

“The tackle is stamped…” She scanned the various leather bits and bobbles for the horse’s name. “Gaoth.”

Morias let out a loud guffaw and looked back at me with disbelief. “Gaoth was the steed Overking Nuada gave to Tadg when he joined the guard. He is one of the three finest horses in the whole of Annwn.”

I groaned. “Great! So far the day has gone pretty well. Let’s see… I was nearly blinded. My shoulder is likely broken. I nearly got arrested by some god’s son. And now you’re telling me that I accidentally stole the Overking’s horse?”

Morias shook his head, as if admonishing me for not paying attention. “No, the horse was given to Tadg.”

“Can you let me have my moment of hyperbole?!”

“Oh, get over yourself,” Fí snapped. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?”

“I’m leaning toward ‘yes,’ but then, I’ve never been dead before, so I’m not sure what to say.”

Morias pulled a flask from inside his cloak. “Let’s see what we can do about your sorry state.”

“What is that?” I asked. “‘Cause I’m not really in the mood for a drink.”

He ignored my snarky tone and thrust the flask in my direction. “Just drink it. Trust me.”

I grumpily took the flask from him, then held it between my knees while I used my left hand to unscrew the top. I sniffed. No smell. “So, it’s not your usual drink of choice?”

“No, it’s not whiskey.” I cautiously put the flask to my lips and took a swig. He shrugged. “I had to do something with the Pool water when I wrung it out of my britches.”

I almost spit the water back out, but it was sweet and a warmth immediately spread out from my mouth and into my eye. I could feel the swelling recede. There was a sharp pain in my right shoulder as I felt bones knit back together.

“Normally, taking water from the Heart-shaped Pool would be a no-no,” Morias continued. “But I figured it would just go to waste if I didn’t collect it from my clothes after our swim.”

I stared at the flask. “The Pool water has healing properties?”

“What’s it look like, ya dope?” Fí came to sit by the fire, still avoiding any eye contact with me.

“Okay, that’s a fair point. I do feel better.” I blinked my eyes and moved my arm around until I was sure that things were back to normal.

Many moments passed between us, where the only sounds were those of animal calls and fire embers popping. And though it sounds like a relaxing scene, there was something about the foreign sound of the animals here that put me on edge. Instead of the hum of the insects and flying nighttime creatures I was used to, the hidden animals of this world appeared to be calling to one another. There, was a chaotic strophe and antistrophe to the chorus of noises, and it freaked me out.

I finally broke the silence. “Do you know anything about boons?”

Morias eyed me. “Ah, did you receive your first boon?”

“I think so?” I said, not sounding very sure.

“What did ya get?” Fí leaned forward in anticipation.

“That’s a bit personal, my dear Fíadan, don’t you think?” Morias chided.

“That’s okay.” I waved my hand. “I don’t really know the rules here, so I’m not offended. It was something called “Energy Surge.”

“Interesting,” Morias mused.

Fíadan scoffed. “You think everything is interesting.”

Morias turned at her sharp tone. “Why are you in such a bad mood tonight?”

“Because!” she snarled. “I didn’t sign up for this chet!”

I wondered if Fí was swearing at us, but I knew enough, at this point, to try to figure it out on context clues, rather than asking. I’m pretty sure Fí would have just yelled at me anyway.

“None of us signed up for anything,” Morias said to Fí in a soothing voice. “Least of all Bren.”

“I know.” She crossed her arms, staring off into the fire.

Morias turned toward me and rolled his eyes slightly. “She doesn’t mean anything by it. Energy Surge is a ranged attack whereby you project a magical burst out from you, either through a body part or through an extension of your body.”

“Like a sword?” I thought of the huge hole in the dead Fomorian’’s chest.

“Exactly. You must have channeled your new boon through Fíadan’s sword and into the Fomorian.”

“Just like I planned…” I said sarcastically. Fí just shook her head.

“The curious thing is,” Morias continued, “I don’t know how you were able to use Fí’s blades without severely injuring yourself.”

“I was wondering the same thing.” Fí had finally looked in our direction.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t have any other weapon.”

Morias pursed his lips as if coming to some form of conclusion. “That is something we are going to have to remedy when we get to Gorias.”

I handed Morias his flask back. “Is that the last of your skivvy sauce?” He nodded. “Speaking of the Pool water, do you think it’s possible the water has some sort of healing properties on items, too?”

Morias cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

“Well… this time, when I got my notification from The Dagda, he didn’t say anything about the Stone being damaged.”

Morias turned toward me with a strange look in his eye, and before he could say the word, Fí beat him to it. “Interesting!” she mocked.