Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy (14 page)

“Are you alright Meghan?  I shouldn’t have let you go into your room without checking it first.”

“I’m fine,” I breathed, “Meridian zapped whatever managed to get in.”

Together, we ran down the stairs, Cade holding his sword in front of him while I slung the quiver on my back and readied an arrow in my bow.

The main hall was deserted, only a few torches and lamps burning to lend us light.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, my voice panicked.  Could the faelah have hurt them?

“Most likely outside,” Cade answered.

Something flashed in the corner of my eye and I breathed a sigh of relief when I
realized it was only
Fergus.  He crept up close to us,
a silent ghost with
his hackles raised.  Cade paused for a moment and then the wolfhound shot off ahead of us and through the open doors of the hall.  I assumed he’d given his spirit guide instructions to wreak havoc on the Morrigan's creations.

Meridian,
I sent,
do you think you can help Fergus?

Yes,
she
replied
eagerly,
attack!

Meridian took off from my shoulder the moment we stepped through the door and into the courtyard.  What greeted us was nothing short of
pandemonium
.  The people of Luathara had spread out, all brandishing swords, spears, bows and clubs.  Several torches had been lit and placed in iron sconces hanging along the walls
,
and someone had started a fire in a stone pit in the center of the courtyard.  I almost wished they hadn’t, for the flames cast a plume of bright light over the army of faelah.  Odd, winged atrocities that resembled mummified possums crawled along the castle walls.  Dark, rotten dog-like creatures snapped and snarled at someone with a battle axe, and some of the demon bats
I remembered
from the football game last fall swooped down
at us
, screaming and trying to whip people with their barbed tails.

“Meghan,” Cade growled, “see if you can’t take out some of the faelah crawling up the wall.  I’ll help with the others.”

I nodded, my mouth
going dry
.
  My blood felt chilled and my heart pounded in fear, but this was my life now.  I had a feeling that I’d never get away from the Morrigan's minions, so I would have to fight them instead.

Cade moved to leave, but before he leapt off the stairs, he grabbed me and pulled me close.  The air whooshed out of my lungs and I hardly had time to take a breath before his mouth pressed hard against mine.  The cold blood in my veins caught fire and I almost forgot about the monsters and the sounds of battle around us.  Before I could really enjoy it,
however,
the kiss was over and Cade released me.

“Be careful,” he whispered harshly before stepping away.

It took a few moments for my knees to grow
solid again, but once they did
I took a deep breath and jogged down into the courtyard and joined a group of people with bows.  I allowed myself a split second of delight when I found Birgit among them, her serene face cut in anger and concentration as she let loose an arrow, piercing one of the creatures crawling up the castle's side.  It shrieked and fell from the wall, slamming against the stone below with a sickening crunch.

I came to
a
stop several feet away from her and
breath
ed, “Nice shot!” before readying an arrow and letting it go.  To my relief, I caught one of the faelah in the wing, not killing it but bringing it down so that someone else could finish it off.  It would have been mortifying to miss on my first attempt.

The battle cries of the Faelorehn
combining
in the air with the angry baying and howling of the faelah
brought back memories I'd rather not revisit
, but I tried my best to
block the noise out.  The small group of archers I’d joined managed to pick off most of the creatures climbing the walls,
so they
turned their attention, and their arrows, towards the faelah that were
still
airborne.  When I
noticed
no more black shadows crawling towards the upper windows, I paused to see if I might be able to help those on the ground.  What little glamour I'd soaked up since arriving in Eile this morning burned in my chest, recognizing its homeland and clawing to be set free.  I ignored it for the time being, remembering what Cade had said about using too much.  I was still untrained, and the last thing I wanted to do was kill myself by letting my magic lose control.  Besides, I might hurt the people who were on my side.  It was frustrating, not being able to use my magic, especially knowing what it was capable of
, but I simply clenched my teeth and focused on the battle
.

I can’t say how long we fought the faelah, but it couldn’t have been very long.  Cade and Briant and everyone else wielding swords and spears seemed to be driving the remaining creatures out of the courtyard, and only a few demon bats were diving at us now.  I jogged to reach Cade’s side just as he thrust his sword into one of the half-dead dogs I’d seen before.  Not a C
u
morrig, to my utter relief.

I kept my bow in my hand, an arrow ready just in case.  We drew closer to the open drawbridge, pushing the monsters out so that we could close the gates, but then something
bizarre
happened.  The handful of faelah who were still fighting us
simultaneously froze.  A heartbeat or two later they
turned
and darted
under the newly built portcullis, over the drawbridge,
and then disappeared
into the night.  I stopped and let my arm drop.  What the hell?  It was as if someone had broadcasted a silent command, telling them all to flee in unison.  Luathara’s defenders, covered in sweat and some sporting bloody cuts, lowered their weapons to their sides and grew still.  I glanced around Cade
's large form
and caught sight of what had silenced the
monsters
.

Just outside the gate several torches
flickered, casting just enough light to reveal
something horrifying, something familiar.  I gasped and dropped my bow, covering my mouth with both hands.

The creature opened its mouth, revealing sharp, rotting teeth and spoke in a voice that conjured up images of deep, dark chasms and skeletons rattling in the wind.

“Hellooo Meghaaan, spaaawn of Danuaa
a,” it hissed, drawing out its words.

Despite the brav
ado
I’d
displayed that
night, I reached out to Cade and pulled myself against his body.  The horrible thing chilled me to the bone and its fetid stench burned my nostrils.

“Puca!” someone growled nearby.  It sounded more like a curse than
a
statement.

So that’s what this particular faelah was called . . .
T
he last time I’d seen this creature I had been running for my life down my street, trying to reach home before it caught up to
me.  Luckily, that was before I'd
broke
n
the geis my mother had placed on me.  I’d been terrified then and I was terrified now, especially since it had taken up the gift of speech.  The faelah, the puca, resembled a
twisted
molding of
a hu
man and
a
goat.  It had the torso and arms of a man, but the head of a demented goat, complete with burning eyes and long curved horns.  The pu
ca made me think of a satyr who'
d visited Hades
but
had managed to
somehow
escape by swimming across the river Styx.

The creature lifted one cloven foot and slammed its hoof down while letting out a terrible wail.  I gritted my teeth when its call was answered by similar screams from the hills and trees surrounding Luathara.

“My Queeen wishes to seee you, Meghaaan,” it continued, its eyes burning with dark magic.

"No!"
Cade
growled, squaring
his
shoulders and mov
ing
so that he stood more solidly in front of me.
 
“I’ll give you one chance to turn and walk away
.  You know what I’m capable of
puca, and you know I will not hesitate to kill you and any other faelah that come within ten yards of Meghan.”

For several moments, all I could hear was the whispering of torch flames and the slight noises of the shifting feet of the people around me.  The faelah, wherever they had
disappeared
to,
remain
ed eerily quiet.  Then the puca started to laugh.  It began as a light chuckle and soon grew
into an echo that played
across the expanse of Luathara.  I had never felt so cold in my life.

“So, you dooo live, after aaalll Caeeedehn MacRoich.  There waaasss taaalk you had risennn from the deaaad.  My Queeen will waaant to know of thisss.  For nooow, Caeeedehn, I shall not haaarm the little Faeloraaah.  But youuur mother is ooowed a debt, and sheee’ll be wantiiing payment sooon.  There isss nowheeere to hiiide.”

The puca opened its mouth, the lower jaw dropping further than what would normally be considered possible.  A deep, horrifying rumble rose from its throat and a black, swirling cloud poured from its mouth.  In one moment the puca was there, gaping as if it meant to swallow u
s whole, and in the next second
the swirling black cloud engulfed it and
the nightmare
was gone.  The magical backlash hit me like a sudden headache, but the pain soon passed.  I hadn’t realized how tense I’d been until I collapsed against Cade.

“Meghan!” he hissed, turning to support me as several others rushed forward to help.

“It’s okay lass,” a gruff male voice said, “evil magic like that can knock you off your feet if you’re not expecting it.”

I turned to see a huge bear of a man, black hair and
silver
eyes regarding me.  Despite their
fierce
ness, there was kindness in those eyes.  I remembered spotting him working on hot iron when I’d explored the grounds earlier.  The local blacksmith maybe?  His appearance certainly fit the
stereotype
.

“Thank you, Torec,” Cade murmured as I gained my balance.

“What do you want us to do for the remainder of the night?” the giant called Torec asked.

Cade’s face grew grim and I wondered what he thought, but the look vanished as he said aloud, “I thank all of you for your help, and I can’t express how sorry I am that you had to fight my mother’s abominations tonight when you should
have been
heading home to your families.”

A woman, tall and with the build of a warrior
,
held up a gloved hand and shook her head.  “Lord MacRoich, you have given us a castle and a home to defend once again.  We are happy to help you.”

“I agree with Liadan,” Briant spoke up from further back, “let us set up a guard and keep watch in shifts, just in case the Morrigan’s minions decide to return.”

There was a general murmur of agreement and Cade relaxed a little.  I leaned into him and put an arm around his back, hoping to add
my own form of
comfort.  He returned the gesture and nodded.

The guard was posted in pairs, one couple for each wall of the castle, and four people to stand guard on the tower of the drawbridge, which was now
shut tight
.  The rest of us filtered into the great hall where Melvina used her glamour to get a roaring fire going in the massive fireplace.  It shouldn’t have been cold out, since it was still summer, but the faelah had left a nasty chill we couldn’t seem to get out of our bones.

Once inside, Cade pulled Briant and me into his study.  The room was dark, but after lighting some
candle
s, I took note of more bookshelves, an oak desk and thankfully, a window that hadn’t been smashed.

“We can start cleaning up in the morning, and I’ll send a message to the glazier to start making replacements for the glass that got broken.”

Cade stepped up behind his desk, placed both hands on
its smooth top
, and released a deep sigh.  I quietly took a seat in one of the stuffed armchairs
by the fireplace
, waiting to see what Cade had to say.

He glanced up at me, his eyes sad and his face grim.  My heart quickened.  I did not like seeing Cade like that, and if it wasn’t for Briant’s presence, I would have walked over to him and done my best to erase that look from his face.

“We’ll be leaving as soon as possible,” he said quietly, so quietly I almost didn’t hear his words.

Cade glanced at his steward, and the man merely blinked at him.

“Meghan and I.  We’ll have to forego our stay at the Dagda's and go directly to the Weald, but I’ll need to contact my foster father and the other Tuatha De to find out how much they know.”