Authors: Shannon Mayer
“What about your pa? Could he help?” Now there was a thought. Of course, Lir wa
s off on his own quest, hopefully having better luck than
we were
. The only way I knew how to contact him involved taking a
nap
,
and I didn’t think that would happen any time soon.
Bres put his hands on his hips and dropped his chin to his chest. “You took Card’s powers
.
C
an you use them to seek out t
a
Smiths?”
I opened my mouth to answer him that I didn’t know, then snapped it shut. The birds had gone silent around us, even the air seemed to have stilled. Bres’ head turned slowly, and he pulled his sword free of his scabbard.
Lifting his hand, he pointed for me to stay behind him. Trusting his judgement, I followed a few feet back, far enough that if he swung his sword
,
I wouldn’t be in the way,
but still
close enough that I could help if need be.
He pointed
a
t
a thick bush
, one that was heavy with foliage.
Ever so slowly, he slid his sword into the bush, then stopped. “Come out. Before I slit your throat.”
H
is sword follow
ed
our stalker
’
s movement
.
I couldn’t believe who it was
on our trail.
Balor.
Bres dropped
the tip of
his sword and his jaw. “Pa.” Then as if realizing just who it was, his sword snapped back up. “You’ll not be getting past me to her.”
Balor shook his head, his arm clutching his middle. “I’m not here for that. I’m . . .dying.”
He held his hand out and a gush of blood flowed
from
his side through a wound I couldn’t have spanned with both my hands.
He gripped his
body
once more, barely staunching the flow. But Bres, surprising me, didn’t go to him.
“Chaos
,
”
I whispered, knowing it to be the truth. Balor nodded
,
and sunk to his knees.
“Yes, she stole Ashling from us. I was so wrong to fear you, Quinn, when it was me who brought Chaos on us all.” His head drooped
, yet I still
didn’t know if I could trust him, or if it was some sort of sham he was pulling on
us.
“Bres, can you do anything to help him?”
I asked.
Bres shook his head, his jaw tight.
I crouched down so that we were eye to eye.
“Can you help us find the three Smiths?” I asked. “That is all you can do now to help us stop her
, to right the wrong you loosed on this world
.”
Again he nodded. “There is a rhyme
of sorts
that
I remember from when I was a boy. You have to understand, it was a silly rhyme, one that meant nothing to me then, but perhaps now it might help you find your way to them.
”
“Over the hall,
Through
the fall,
Cross
the vale,
Between the shale,
There the Smiths of three
prevail.” He let out a cough
, and the only thing I could think of was how bad a rhyme it was. But if it helped us find the Smiths then it didn’t
matter how bad or how corny it seemed
.
“Thank you
,
”
I said.
“You will try to save her, won’t you?” Tears streamed down his face as he lifted his eyes to mine
,
a
father’s tears for his only daughter.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do all along
,
”
I said, my voice gentle. “I will do everything I can to save her from Chaos.”
A hiccupping sob escaped him and Bres
finally
dropped to his knees
.
H
e
helped his father lay down. “Pa, what happened?”
“Chaos attacked me and took control of the Fomorii. I couldn’t kill her. Not even now.” He turned his head to me. “I love her, she’s my daughter. Tell her that, when you save her.” I nodded, unable to speak past the catch in my throat.
His next words chilled me. “And don’t go to Nuadha, if you can help it. He’s out for your blood, Quinn.”
Lifting his
hand to Bres’ face
,
he whispered
,
“I was always proud of you
,
my boy, even when you rebelled.
You are a better man than I could ever be. Don’t let anyone change who you are.
”
I put a hand on Bres’ shoulder as Balor’s violet eyes closed, his breath hitched once, twice and then his body went still.
I wanted to give Bres time
,
time
to say goodbye,
time
to make his peace. But there wasn’t any left for us. No time, no peace,
and
no more chances.
“Bres.” I sat beside him and hugged him, holding him as tight as I could. “I’m sorry.”
He said nothing, just held onto me. I leaned back so I could see into his eyes. They were dry
,
not a single tear had fallen. “I cannot cry for him, not after all he’s done.”
Pushing up, he pulled us both to our feet. “We need to go. If Chaos
has control of ta
Fomorii, I’ve no doubt that she sent some
one
to watch where Balor went.”
And just like that, our fortunes shifted again.
A Banshee swept into view, her skirt swirling around a pair of cloven hooves instead of feet. “Fomorii have breached the forest outskirts.”
Bres grabbed my hand, and I put on the brakes. “Wait!”
I waved at the Banshee. “Over the hall, through the fall, cross the vale, between the shale, there the Smiths of three prevail. Does that mean anything to you?”
“The
H
all of
the Dead
is
the
place where we rest our souls. It’s that way.” She pointed to the northeast.
That was all we needed. Sprinting, we followed her directions, fear driving us. While we were both strong, I wasn’t
fully
trained
,
and the Fomorii were no longer ruled by someone who loved Bres.
The
deep
-
throated howl of Fomorii
’s undead
hounds spurred us on faster.
If we get to the three Smiths . . .
I let the thought hang between Bres and
me
.
He answered
,
and it was what I was hoping.
If we get to them, t
a
Fomorii won’t be able to pass their gates.
It was all I needed. We burst through
a thick patch of huckleberr
ie
s
and right into the
H
all of the
D
ead. Calling it a hall did not give me the true understanding of what it was
—
a graveyard. The land
had been
stripped as if cleared by hand
,
and then burned to the ground, the dirt beneath our feet
—
ash and bone. Everything within the hall was black
,
and
our feet left little puffs of smoke as we ran the length of the Banshees
’
final resting pl
a
ce.
A screech behind us made me look over my shoulder. Hound
s
of the undead skidded to a stop at the edge of the hall, sniffing the ground.
Heads on bodies that didn’t match, limbs protruding at weird angles, they snapped and snarled at each other. Even at that distance
,
I could see their teeth, razor sharp like all the Fomorii. I
n a
sudden
boiling mass
,
they pushed forward
,
only to
have the forerunner
sucked downwards into the graves with barely a yelp.
“They’re undead
;
they can’t get through t
a
hall
,
”
Bres said
.
“They’ll have to go around.”
Another glance showed me that
,
indeed, the hounds had figured out that going around was their way to us.
It bought us a little time, not much, but more than we had.
Now, w
e only had to look for the fall. That
is if
what
Balor had told us was right.
Leaving behind the blasted ground of the hall, we had
a
short lead on the hounds. Their howls though, were growing ever closer despite them losing members to the Banshee
s
’ graves.
Unable to spare breath for talking, I question
ed
Bres mind to mind.
Fall, what the hell is a fall?
It could be falls, like a waterfall
,
h
e
answered.
We need to stop then, I can’t hear anything over my heart
beating,
and breathing.
Skidding to a stop, I held my breath. In the distance, the rush of water falling over rocks reached my ears. Bres
tipped his head. “There
. See
ta mist curling over ta
tree tops?”
In the far distance I could see what he was pointing at
—
the gauzy film above the cedars and fir
was just
discernible
.
It was all we needed. Bolting in that direction, we were
again
running at full speed, dodging trees and leaping over stumps as fast as we could.
But ou
r
stop had cost us.
Thirty strides into our
run the hounds were on us, teeth snapping at our heels, lunging
in
their
attempts
to hamstring us.
I spun
,
and held my hands out
, Called my
F
ire to my fingertips and unleashed it on the hounds, knowing it would roast them
,
bu
t
I hadn’t counted on Card’s power flowing through my veins.
Blue flames enveloped the pack in a mushroom cloud
y
fire, bigger than anything I’d ever even thought I could do. Their howls lasted a split second before cutting off in mid cry. Shaking
,
I lowered my hands
.
T
he
power rushing through me made
my skin crawl
,
as if it were too much for my body. I didn’t like it
;
it felt as though the power was in control and not me
. The flames continued to lick along the charred bodies of the hounds, their flesh crisped black like the ash we’d only just come through.
“Quinn, are you alright?” Bres asked. A quick bob of my head was all I could manage.
He touched my arm. “We’ve got to go. There will be more than that behind us.”
Again we ran,
this time
towards the growing sounds of the waterfalls. At
certain
moments I wasn’t sure if what I was experiencing was real, the running
drew
me into
an
almost
trance
-
like state. My body was doing the work, keeping me moving, but my mind wandered.
A week ago, I’d been a normal
twenty
-
six
-
year old. A week ago Ashling had been safe
.
L
ife
had been good
.
I’d understood my place in the world.
Now I was running through a forest from creatures that I
hadn’t
kn
o
w
n
existed
.
I couldn’t stop
wondering if I would wake up, if this was all some sort of bad dream that had sucked me into another world
. Bres was breathing hard beside me
,
and I knew that except for Ashling, I would take
on
all the monsters in the world to have Bres at my side.