Authors: Shannon Mayer
Fianna tugged on my hand. “Hurry, the creatures here are no longer mine to command.
If you are right, your brother is near, and that does not bode well for any of us.
”
Bres sloshed through the water to my side, asking the question I wanted to. “Why is
it that you cannot control your own forest
?”
“Quinn destroyed
my staff. It held the key
to controlling the forest.
Without it, I can only control my Banshees, nothing more.
”
Right, there was
that
minor detail
. “I didn’t know that at the time. I was just trying to stay alive.” I said, feeling the need to defend myself.
Fianna shrugged. “It is the path you walk now
, ta
king Bres and
me
with you
.”
The swamp seemed to close in around us, blocking out the sun and sky
,
even the sounds of the birds were muted under the low hanging branches
.
“Quinn
,
”
Bres said.
I paused, wait
ing
for him to catch up rather than look over my shoulder at him. I couldn’t meet his eyes
;
there was too much between us
.
F
or all that
,
we’d only known each other a short time.
“What?” I asked when he reached my side.
“Before we get there, I have to tell you something. I need to say it before I lose the chance
,”
Bres said.
I was shaking my head before he finished speaking, still not willing to meet his eyes. “No need to confess, Luke told me that you’d Charmed me.”
The silence lasted for a split second. “WHAT?”
Cringing, I turned to face him. “It will wear off, right?” His eyes were wide and his jaw was hanging open. With a shiver that ran through his body, he seemed to wake up. Brushing past me, he changed the subject completely.
“There will be a choice when
we get
to where ta Cauldron is. Only one of us will be able to go through
at a time.
”
“Fine, then I’ll go through.” I said
, letting him change the subject. I didn’t want to rub it in that I knew he’d tricked me
. The swamp reluctantly let go of my foot with a slurp, as I stepped over a downed and rotting tree.
“No, Quinn, do you not hear what Fianna is saying? You could very well die if you go through t
a
gateway, if that’s
still
what you must step through?” He aimed the question at Fianna who lifted her hand.
We stopped
,
and there ahead of us was the gateway to the Cauldron. Or should I say,
gateways
.
Two large arbutus trees
were
mirror images of
each other
. One
was
the brilliant gleaming red skinned trunk that stood out even in this darkened swamp, the other, though the green leaves and twisted
growth
were the same
.
T
he trunk
was blackened as if by a fire or bolt of lightning.
Fianna pointed. “There is your choice, Quinn. The gateway of gleaming bright represents the fae who have only good intentions, those who seek to do what is right, the ones who will give up their lives for the greater good.” Shifting ever so slightly
,
she pointed to the blackened tree. “There lies the gateway for the dark fae, those who have seen that which is good and turned away, those who would murder to achieve their goals, the ones who will only do what is best for themselves, forsaking the greater good.”
My eyes flicked back and forth
between the two trees
. “And I have to choose what? The one that I think the Cauldron is in?’
“No, you have to choose the one that you believe yourself to be. If you choose correctly
,
the Cauldron will wait for you on the other side. If you choose incorrectly, you will die
,
”
s
he
said.
Bres touched my forearm, the heat from his fingers made me jerk away from him. “That is why I should go, Quinn. I know what I am
.
I am one of the dark fae
;
there is no question.”
I shook my head, “No, that’s not true. I know you.” Even as the words slipped past my lips, the truth of them hit me. I knew him as if I’d known him my whole life. He was no dark fae, no matte
r that we were at times on opposite sides
.
Even if the bugger did Charm me.
Reaching out, I touched his hand, tentatively at first. “This is something I have to do. It is not on your shoulders
.
I
t isn’t your fault that Luke is hurt so badly.”
“
If I go first, and fail, you still have a chance.
You are the one ta
prophecy speaks o
f, and
if
it’s right, you are ta
only one who can save us from Chaos.
” He brushed his fingers along my jaw, his eyes softening. “I’m doing this for you, Quinn.
I’m sorry
,
”
h
e
said as
his hand dropped
. I didn’t understand what he was about, not until it was already happening. He
grabbed m
y hand
,
and
then spun
me around.
Pushing me, he sent me into the deeper water,
and I tripped over a submerged log, my body getting sucked under by the swamp. Fighting to reach the surface, I pushed off the mushy bottom.
“Bres!” I screamed,
as I broke the water’s surface,
already knowing that I was too late. A flash of light and the dark gateway swallowed him whole.
Damn him and his heroics!
I struggled forward, tangling once more in unseen roots under the mud slurry of water. Fianna stepped in front of me. “Give him a chance to be your hero, Quinn. It’s what all men want.”
She c
ame to my side and helped me to my feet. The water and muck clung to me as if it were a second skin. “I’ve yet to decide if you are twice blessed or twice cursed
,
”
s
he
said.
Wiping my face, flicking the mud off my fingers I shivered. “What do you mean?”
“To be loved by not one, but t
w
o men of strength and heart. It is a blessing to have one, but two? I’m not so sure I’d want that even for myself.” She stared at me, then cocked her head to one side, so like her little sister it gave me a chill.
“He doesn’t love me. He Charmed me
,”
I said
. The
words
sounded
hollow even to my
own
ears.
Fianna laughed. “Bres is many things
:
warrior, guide, teacher
, Fomorii and Tuatha
. But even I know he is not a Charmer. It is the one thing that wasn’t passed on to him by his father. Bres can’t Charm
I
t isn’t one of his abilities.”
I
tried to tell
you.
The water dripped off the tip of my nose and chin; I was too stunned to even try to wipe it away. My brain couldn’t
handle this new information. No
,
I
wasn’t being honest. It was my heart that was struggling with it, not my mind.
“Come, let us stand on higher ground
while we wait
.”
Fianna
led the way to a tree that was downed in some long
ago
windstorm, but it was not submerged as so many of the others were
. Climbing up, I stood with one hand braced on
a
branch that jutted up to the sky.
“The Cauldron
will test him, to see if he is worthy to bring it back to the realm of the humans. It has not ventured o
ut for many, many years
,” she
said.
I glanced over at her, the white dress dry and unmarked as if we
hadn’t
just sloshed through miles of swamp. “You say that like it
’
s alive.”
Fianna didn’t look over at me, but continued to stare at the two gateways.
“It is. Like all objects of power, it lives and has a will of its own. Even Excalibur carried with it consciousness. It is how Arthur did so well in battle
.
”
She said this as if everyone knew what she was talking about.
“How will we know if Bres . . .” I wanted to say live
d
or died, but I couldn’t. I had a hard enough time thinking about Luke dying
.
I wasn’t sure I could handle the thought of losing them both.
“One hour. If at the end of that time he has not emerged, it will then be your choice. I would ask you for the sake of our world to not go through with this.” Now she did look at me, her brown eyes wide with her pleading. “You are our one chance at ending Chaos’ reign
before it begins in earnest
.
I
n that
,
Bres was correct
. You must believe me when I say that these two men
of yours
, no matter their love for you, are not worth throwing the world away for.”
“I need Luke, I need him at my side if I’m to face down Chaos. It says so in the prophecy, and more than that, I feel it. Here.” I put my hand over my heart. “I will do whatever it takes to save him, even if that means putting my own life in danger.”
“And if you put the world at risk?”
I gripped a
branch, the flaking bark crunching under my fingers.
“If I need Luke to save the world, then I need to save him first. Period.”
Silence reigned between us for some time after that.
A thought had been rolling around inside my brain, ever since I’d faced down Aednat, and
I
broke the uneasy silence
by
chang
ing
the subject. “How could you face your sister knowing that you’d have to kill her?”
She let out a sigh.
“We were not always enemies. I loved her more than anyone
—
would have died for her even.”
The words were so like my own when I spoke of Ashling I wanted to put my hands to my ears and tell her to stop
,
b
ut I had to hear this
.
I
needed to if I was going to face Ashling, even if it was just her body and no longer her heart and soul.
Fianna swirled her hand over the swampy water and a foggy image rose up
:
a miniature picture of Aednat and Fianna. They were holding hands, walking along, smiling at one another.
“Aednat was seduced long ago by Chaos. Long before Balor ever came to her with a plan to release the demon. Chaos will always seek out those who are afraid, those who seek to control the world around them. Aednat was one of those. I begged her not to listen.”
The foggy image shifted and the two girls broke apart; Aednat lashed out at Fianna and then disappeared. Waving h
er hand over the picture, the queen
wiped it away in a swirl of mist.
“I couldn’t save her, Quinn. Chaos poisoned Aednat’s mind, and I couldn’t stop it.” Her voice dropped low
,
a tear slipped from her eye. “If I could have changed things, I would have, but Aednat . . .”
The screech of an owl broke through Fianna’s remembrances
.
W
e both turned towards the huge bird that sat across from us on a large deadfall.
“Bres does not have much more time
,
”
Fianna said.
I shivered, my skin rising in goose bumps all over my arms. “What happens if I go in now?”
“I do not know
,
”
s
he
said, her face not giving me even a flicker of emotion. “I doubt anything good.”
Fantastic.
I rubbed my arms. “I can’t wait any longer.”
She bowed her head, her shoulders slumping. “I will not stop you. I believe you are the Chosen one, and as such, you must be free to do as you see fit.”
What did I say to that? I didn’t want to tell her I didn’t care, didn’t want to say that the world could go to hell. Ashling was gone, Luke was dying
,
and I would lose Bres if I didn’t act now. The only one who would maybe miss me if I didn’t make it back was Lir.