When the tunnel opened out some hundred and fifty metres in, it was lit with a softer light, the same blue as the weapons she'd seen the people carry outside, but she couldn't tell where it came from. The walkway wound around the outside of a massive cavern and she could see people moving down the bottom between classic little cottages.

"Aidan...?" Viv tried, but she couldn't land on what question to ask first so her voice trailed off.

"It's a long story, let's just get you inside and checked out first, OK?" He looked down at her, seemingly unconcerned about the massive drop at the edge of the walkway. "Are you hurt?"

Viv shook her head, "I don't think so. It barely touched me, I just," she swallowed hard and flinched when Aidan moved his arm against the back of her neck.

"We'll see when we get down."

By the time they'd reached the bottom of the walkway and were level with the little town, everyone had stopped whatever it was they were doing and had turned to stare at Vivien.

"Don't mind them, we don't bring visitors here. They've never seen a human woman in the sanctuary before."

This sentence made Viv begin to tremble and Aidan looked apologetic. She dropped her arm from around him and tried to step away. He let her, up to a point, but reached out and grabbed her hand... His fingers felt normal enough.

"Vivien, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that, it was stupid." He smiled reassuringly at her and she stared hard at his face. Behind his thick black beard, it seemed to be the face of a much younger person. "Please, come inside."

He gestured towards one of the little cottages and the door opened. In it stood Keary, the massive guy who'd held off the beast in the fight on the mountain. His eyebrow shot up at the sight of her but he stood back and held his arm up in welcome.

Aidan guided her in and was followed by the older gentleman who had moved the boulder. Once they were inside the small living space, Keary found that the only room to stand was back in the doorway. Or perhaps, Vivien thought, he stood there to discourage the obviously curious onlookers who had gathered outside without much subtlety.

The interior of the cottage was lit with the gentle glow of candles and the fire in the open hearth. As Viv looked around she realised that there was a bizarre juxtaposition of the modern world with the mediaeval. All the furniture was wooden and appeared to be handmade. The cottage itself was a mix of wood and stone. On the table by the doorway was a set of modern car keys and beside that, in a wicker basket, there was a pile of mobile phones.

On a side table next to an opening which led to a hallway she could see a tablet that had been dropped mid-use. Whoever had been on it before had been playing FarmVille.

"What are you going to do?" The older man asked Aidan calmly.

Aidan shook his head. "I don't know, father." He admitted, "but I can't turn her out knowing they're targeting her. Even if it does have nothing to do with us, I can't just..." He looked up at his dad apologetically, but the older man nodded slowly.

"Good lad." He said. "I'd have thought less of you if you did." He gestured for Viv to sit then crouched in front of her chair and looked up at her. "Where do you come from, girl? Who are your people?"

"Umm... I'm from the mainland. I was born in New South Wales, we moved here a few years ago." She said.

He shook his head, "No, I mean where are you from. Where is your family from?"

Viv blinked, "Well, my dad emigrated from England with my grandparents when he was about six. My grandmother's family was Irish and my grandfathers were Welsh. Is that what you mean?"

He nodded. "And your mother?"

She fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "I don't know... She's gone." When she saw the sympathy in his eyes she shook her head. "Oh, she's not dead. Not as far as I know anyway she just... you know. She just left. I was just a baby, I don't even remember her."

The old man tilted his head to the side and examined her closely and his expression softened. "Alright." He said softly. "It's alright." He put his hand on her knee and gave it a shake. "My name is Lud, we won't let anything happen to you, Vivien." He had just enough time to meet Aidan’s eyes with a serious expression.

A loud noise shook the cavern so dramatically that dust loosened from the roof and drifted down in front of Viv's face. She stared at it, stunned, but Aidan, Lud, and Keary moved instantly. Keary spun in place so that he was facing outward from the doorway and his shield appeared out of nowhere before him. Lud grabbed Viv's hand and hauled her to her feet. He shoved her behind him towards Aidan who pulled her against his side with an arm around her shoulders, his sabre had appeared in his other hand.

"Keary?" Lud asked tersely.

"Can't see anything, but there's fighting on the walkway, I can see the light." He glanced over his shoulder. "Do you want me to go?"

"No," Lud said. "Stay with Aidan and the girl. Let me through," Lud moved through the gap Keary had made and turned to look at his son. "Take Mitch, keep her safe, and run."

"What?" Aidan choked, "You can't be serious, we're not going to abandon the sanctuary!"

"You're going to do as you're told!" Lud growled, for the first time he seemed frightening to Vivien. "You take that girl and you keep her safe." He ordered, his eyes bored into Aidan's and the younger man swallowed hard. He glanced down at Viv where she was pressed against his side and his eyes widened. "Dad...?" He asked.

"Not now," Lud cut him off. "Get her out of here. I'll call you when it's safe, just go."

A moment later Keary had blocked the entrance with his body again and Lud was gone. Viv shook violently as Aidan moved them towards Keary's back. "Put your hand here," he placed his hand just under Keary's shoulder blades. When she complied he removed his hand and nodded, "keep it there. OK? It's how he knows where you are, whatever happens, you keep your hand right there and stick with Keary."

With a sob, she grabbed a handful of the back of Keary's shirt and the huge man nodded.

"Ready?" He rumbled.

"Go," Aidan said.

Keary led them out onto the street. He hugged the wall of the cottage around to the right and then quickly ducked across a narrow road to another cottage where Mitch had just finished buckling his weapons on.

"Dad's ordered us to get her out of here," Aidan said tersely.

Mitch shook his head. "I'm not leaving, my mum's up there, so is my brother!" He started to move past them out into the street but Aidan grabbed his arm.

"You think I don't want to go help them?" He demanded angrily. "We've got our orders."

Even in her stupor, Viv could see that none of them were used to Aidan talking that way. His eyes were hard and his mouth set in a grim line. He glared at Mitch until the smaller man lowered his eyes.

Keary remained still and Viv stayed up close behind him with her hand fisted in his shirt. When Mitch fell in behind Aidan, the huge man looked over his shoulder down at Vivien. "You ready?" He asked gruffly. She tried to answer but nothing would come out so instead, she put her other hand on his back and patted it twice. He took this as consent and turned back to face the street.

The fighting had moved down the walkway and with the action closer, Vivien could see that what the people fought were more beasts, like the one from the top of the mountain. The creatures moved in significant numbers down the ramp and the defenders carefully drew them in. A relatively small number defended the walkway and little by little they surrendered ground

"Move," Keary said, and led them back into the street and further around to the right.

Vivien kept her eyes down, but she couldn't block out the sounds. Somewhere higher than they were, people screamed. Some in defiance, some in pain. Even worse were the other sounds though. The creatures roared and howled as they fought, and their howls hit Viv like physical blows. Her fist still tight in Keary's shirt, and the feel of Aidan's hand on her back, shrank to nothing and she was back in the street. She was cold and alone and a terrifying monster tore the body of her best friend to bits like it was nothing, and she couldn't stop it. A deep growl sounded much closer and in terror, Vivien snatched her hand back from Keary, and tried to shrink into the wall beside her.

"Damnit!" Keary snarled and began to turn.

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"Keary!" Aidan yelled and surged forward, but was too slow.

From around the corner ahead of them, a massive arm swiped and tore into Keary's side. Blood soaked through his shirt and he cried out in pain. The momentum of the blow carried him sideways and slammed him back-first into a window, which shattered around him, cutting his shirt and back to ribbons. A heartbeat later Aidan had engaged, his sabre flashed and the arm came away from the creature's body cleanly. Vivien screamed, as the arm once removed from its owner transformed into an ordinary looking human arm.

"Help me!" Mitch demanded as he tried to pull Keary out of the window embrasure. "Snap out of it and help me!"

Vivien reached through the opening where Keary was caught and grabbed his shirt. She felt his hand close around her arm in return and whimpered as his grip nearly crushed her. Between them, they got him back on his feet, though unsteadily. Aidan had pursued the creature around the corner and Vivien didn't see what happened to it but she was glad of that as Aidan was covered in black, sticky, smelly blood when he returned.

"Aidan?" Vivien said weakly.

Aidan looked at Keary, then he straightened his back and put his sabre back in its sheath. "Alright, let's go." He put one arm around Viv's shoulders and beckoned the others to follow them before he pointed towards the far side of the cavern. "Avoid any fighting if you can. If they're looking for us then the faster we're out of here, the sooner the others will be able to get this under control."

Viv had no idea where they were going, but the others seemed confident and Aidan's arm kept her pinned to his side as they jogged towards the wall. Tucked behind another cottage was a hole reminiscent of the opening on a child's slide at a playground. Mitch went first. After a pause, Aidan helped Keary tip through the opening. It was a tight fit but he made it. Aidan gently urged Viv towards the opening but it was dark and she was frightened and this was all too much.

"No," she gasped and shook her head. "I can't."

Aidan gripped her upper arms and made her look at him "You have to. The others are waiting, and I'll be right behind you."

"I can't!" She sobbed.

He stared at her dumbfounded then he sighed. "Alright, OK, come here." He wrapped both arms around her and tucked her head in under his chin. "We'll go together OK? This is going to be a little tight, keep your elbows in. I've got you." Without waiting for her to reply he shuffled them to the opening and launched them in head first.

There was no light other than the faint blue glow from the sabre which was mostly obscured by Aidan's back and his scabbard. It revealed little but different shades of dark rock that flashed past them terrifyingly fast. Viv closed her eyes and pressed her face into Aidan's chest. Only the reassurance of his arms and the sound of his heartbeat kept her from total panic. The ride went on forever until finally their incline lessened and they started to slow. At last, Viv could see natural light illuminate Aidan’s features and she could hear Mitch helping Keary.

They skidded out of a low opening and onto a loamy forest floor. The stars above were clear. Mitch had Keary propped up against a tree and worked to stop the bleeding.

"You OK?" Aidan asked Viv as he struggled to pull them both to their feet.

She could only nod. Her eyes fell on Keary, whose face had gone pale and his eyes seemed glassy. "Oh my God..."

"How is he?" Aidan asked as he let go of her and moved to crouch beside Keary's legs.

"In shock," Mitch said shortly. "Blood loss mostly, nothing major hit but we need to get him someplace safe and warm and smother him in disinfectant. He doesn't have a lot of room for extraneous infection right now." Mitch pinched Keary's thigh hard and the big man grunted. "Stay awake for me big man."

"I'm going to have to go and get the car," Aidan said.

"I can do this on my own," Mitch said as he tore strips from his shirt to pack the worst of the gashes. "Justin knows where that tunnel comes out, so you better be fast."

“What?” Aidan asked.

“Justin, he came in through the water entrance with a dozen Firbolg and started laying waste to the sanctuary,” Mitch said between clenched teeth.

“Why?” Aidan demanded.

“Who the hell knows! Cuz he’s a weird kid that no one liked and he’s finally lost the freakin’ plot.” Mitch pinched Keary again and the big man growled at him.

“I’m awake!”

"I’ll have to double-time it,” Aidan said as he untangled his fingers from Vivien’s. “Justin also knows where we leave the car.” He turned to Viv, "I have to go. You stay here with them, I'll be right back."

Viv shook her head emphatically and whimpered.

"Hey," he took his sabre from its sheath and pressed the hilt into her hand. "Hold onto this for me, I'll be five minutes. Ten tops." When she tightened her grip on the hilt and the blade began to glow a soft blue, Aidan smiled before he trotted off into the darkness.

Keary groaned when Mitch shoved a jacket back against his side but he looked around, his dark eyes confused. "What happened?" He asked.

"You did the meat shield thing," Mitch told him. "You're going to be fine. It's just a little perforated, it's still good. Aidan should be back soon with the car. There's a medkit under the passenger seat. We'll get far enough away that nothing's going to jump out at us and then we'll get you sorted out, alright?"

"We should move," Keary said and gritted his teeth as he tried to stand.

"Whoa there," Viv gasped and helped Mitch hold him down.

"What did they want?" Mitch asked no one in particular.

Beside him, Keary started to shiver and Mitch swore under his breath. "I need a fire, now." He ordered.

"Is that a good idea?" Viv asked.

"They know where we came out," Mitch said without taking his eyes off Keary. “We might need the extra protection and he needs the warmth.”

"Here," Viv knelt and dug around in her small satchel until she found the silver Zippo lighter with a leaf etched into the side, then cleared a small space by Keary's legs and built a little pile of leaves and twigs in it.

The fire took quickly and Viv moved some rocks around it to keep it under control. Her hands were much steadier as she carefully perfected the circle of stones and added some larger twigs to the flames. She had just placed the first real piece of wood on it when she heard the car coming faster than was advisable along the bumpy track in the dark. Aidan left the lights on when he jumped out and crossed to them.

"How is he?"

Mitch nodded, "He's tough and huge. Hole this size in me I'd be half missing."

"I'm alright," Keary insisted, but his voice was slurred.

"Grab me the..." Mitch started, but Aidan pressed the first aid kit against his arm and he stopped mid-thought. "Ta. I'll stabilise him and we can get him in the car."

While Mitch worked, Aidan moved to squat beside Viv where she tended the fire, and looked at the side of her face. She didn't turn at all. Her eyes fixed on the flames where they danced in abstract shapes along the wood. "Who are you, Aidan?" She breathed.

"We are Tuatha De Danann... The old people. The first people." He said quietly.

"What does that even mean?"

Aidan leaned back and plonked onto his butt. "A long time ago, before my grandfather was born, we lived in what is now Ireland. We lived with the human beings there and everything was fine... but then a foreign king came and there was a terrible war. My people became disillusioned with men, or perhaps they were driven out, it's hard to tell. Anyway, we went 'under' to another place. Here, but not here, and left the surface world to men. At that time though, our leaders promised that if there were ever a cause just enough, we would come back."

"How did you end up in Tasmania? You're a long way from home."

"I'm not, I was born here." He smiled, "I'm 25, not 250. Anyway, we were gone, safe in our little hole as my father would put it, and everything was fine. We ignored the wars of men and were happy to continue to do so... But then a great war came. A terrible war, and the Royal family, the Battenbergs, you'd know them as the house of Windsor, they reached out to us. They said surely this cause was just enough? There were so many people dying, being killed for no reason, whole cultures being wiped out, surely we would come and help them stop it."

Viv's eyes widened. "You mean world war two, don't you?"

Aidan nodded, "That's right. For whatever reason, my people didn't want to come out. Maybe they didn't care about those people, maybe they were still angry with men, or maybe they were afraid that they'd lost their edge and couldn't fight anymore? Who knows? In the end, two small families defied the elders and joined the war." He gestured around him. "This is them. Two families of Dannan. My father and grandfather led them, and they joined with the British to end what was happening in Europe, but when it was over the elders wouldn't let them come home. They and all their issue were banished forever from our sanctuary and turned out into the world of men."

"My grandfather went to the crown and explained the situation. He was unwilling to become part of human society, we're not like you, but he couldn't take his people home either. This was the compromise. We were given a place, at that time pretty well removed from people, away from conflict or natural disasters... A place to be. We made a new sanctuary here, and we get along as best we can. Try to hold on to who we are."

Lud stood at the edge of the walkway that led down into the sanctuary cavern. Below him, Firbolgs rampaged through the narrow streets between the cottages. They tore at buildings and roared their ages old hatred for the fair folk. He looked to his lieutenant and sighed, "Is everyone clear."

"No. Three have remained behind to hold them." He said solemnly. “Meredyth, Thomas and Emlin.”

Lud shook his head sadly, "How many did we lose?"

"With those three, six, not including the children,"

"They're fine," Lud said firmly. "I ordered them clear at the beginning," he swallowed and took a step back. "They're fine." He said more gently. He held out one hand and narrowed his gaze until he could see nothing but the walkway where it twisted along the wall down and to the left. The muscles in his arm flexed and he pulled his hand back towards his chest. There was a great, terrible tearing sound and a huge chunk of the walkway fell free of the wall and tumbled down into the sanctuary. Several cottages were destroyed by the rubble and the Firbolg slowed their maddened rampage to look up in consternation as their only exit was denied them. Across the cavern, unnoticed by the great beasts, the small chute which led out into the forest also collapsed in on itself.

"We should go, Sir." The other elf said sadly.

"Yes," Lud turned and they walked back out through the tunnel. At the entrance, Lud passed his hand over the cover stone and it rolled back into place. Then he raised both arms to the mountain and brought them down slowly. The whole range shivered as though resettling itself, as though filling the space that was once unoccupied. "There will be no escape for them now. Gather the others, we'll take the boats around and make land outside of Dover."

"What then?"

"Justin was gone before the battle turned, I don't believe for a minute he was trapped in there with them. Whatever he wants, his first plan has failed, but he's a clever boy and he's sure to have another."