Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy (52 page)

She cast her hand around, gesturing to
wards
the plain
below.  "Do you have any idea the amount of power I've accumulated since this battle started?  I've given you every opportunity to join me and I am weary of this game.  You die today, Faelorah, you and your worthless brother and that pathetic son of mine.  You all die and I get all that power I
've
always wanted without the headache."

The Morrigan wiped the blood and sweat from her forehead, seeming to take pleasure in the act.

“Your words don't frighten me, Morrigan," I retorted.  "I have survived your murder attempts twice already, and you know
what
?  I learned something from those experiences as well.  I'm not the ignorant little
Faelorah
you once thought I was.  But Donn was right; you let your superiority get in the way of caution.”

I lowered my voice, though it was still hard to speak over the building wind of the storm and the continued percussion of the battle below.  "Just think about it.  You laughed at him for
believ
ing it unwise to leave Aiden and
me
alone.  Looks like he had a point, huh?  Makes one wonder what
else you've been wrong about."

The Morrigan’s eyes shifted, and for once I saw
something other than anger,
h
atred and
conceit
i
n their crimson depths.
I saw doubt.  And I saw fear.

"You may be the most powerful goddess in Eile, but everyone has a weakness, and I know yours," I said, my voice harsh and angry.  "Your arrogance has caused you to underestimate me, to become lazy on the details.  All I had to do was behave the way you expected me to behave and bide my time.  Well Morrigan, your time is up!"

I drew the immense ball of power closer, sending it spinning into a spiral just in front of me.  I could feel Aiden’s shield of glamour wavering.  He had done so well, considering how little he knew
about magic
, and I
understood
that it was now or never.  One shot
, I had one shot
to either end the Morrigan's reign or annihilate all that I loved.

“You cannot kill me!” the Morrigan screeched as she covered the last s
everal yards that separated us
, lifting her arm
as that dark power crackled along her skin
.

“No,” I said harshly, my voice not sounding like my own.  I could tell that my eyes glowed brilliant blue, like the magic I was building.  “No, I cannot kill you, but I can destroy you.”

The Morrigan’s eyes grew wide and she pulled in a deep breath, calling upon every last reserve of her own immense
glamou
r
as it condensed into a brilliant crimson blaze in her hand
.  But before she released it, I screeched at Aiden to pull the shield away and simply let the power I controlled pour forth, the great, spinning sphere surging forward as it continued to pull more magic from
my
self-inflicted wounds and every pore in my body.  It stung, the way a healing dose of medicine stings away infection, and the air was swooped from my lungs.  I felt suddenly like an empty shell and I collapsed to the ground just as my magic crashed into hers.  An explosion that rent the dark sky and sent shock waves rippling across the land rumbled li
ke the roar of the earth itself.  Above all the chaos and cacophony and pain from the magical explosion, a
primitive scream, filled with hatred, anger and anguish
,
rang out
.

It felt like my eardrums
would
burst and I recalled a few things before the darkness came.  One, I didn’t feel any pain anymore, which in its own way was a
blessing
.  Two, I could sense more than hear Aiden’s sob of realization when I crumpled beneath him.  Good, that meant he had listened to me and hadn’t let his flame of magic go out.  And the last thing I
experienced
before I lost all sensation was Cade’s anguished voice and his words splaying across my mind in brilliant red,
Meghan
!
NO
!

* * *

I floated in darkness for a long while, waiting to be taken to the afterlife of the Faelorehn.  Did we have an afterlife?  Or did we just
drif
t around in nothingness?  It didn’t seem fair, that we would have a consci
ous
and have nowhere for that conscious to go once our bodies died.  But maybe it was different for us because we were immortal; we weren’t supposed to die.

I inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, wondering why I was breathing if I was dead.  Maybe it was something that followed the spirit; something done more out of habit than necessity.

Time passed, how much though I could not say.  Eventually the darkness that surrounded me faded away and I was shrouded in mist.  Not a single sound disturbed the quiet, and as the mist swirled and unfurled before me, I saw something familiar.  A huge tree, its many branches and upturned roots tangled together to create a sphere.  The Tree of Life.  So, I really was dead, my spirit returning the
great
Tree.  It made sense and I had, after all, used up every last speck of my magic.  I only hoped that I had taken the Morrigan with me, or at least hit her so hard she wouldn't be solid again for centuries.

The Tree seemed to beckon me, but before I could so much as set foot on the first stepping stone, I glanced down and saw my reflection in
the water.  The mist had parted,
blown away on a gentle, indiscernible breeze, and the grey and white monotone of the glade became
suffused with a golden light.

What I saw in that pool was shocking.  The girl, no, the young woman, who stared back at me was absolutely beautiful.  True, she had the same color eyes as me, only they were a clearer, brighter hazel than my own, and my hair . . . that tangled, curly mess that had more than once tempted me into shaving it all off, fell in perfect, dark curls down my back.  A beautiful white, long-sleeved gown replaced the torn and bloody clothes I had worn when confronting the Morrigan, but my feet were bare.  I looked like some
little girl's
guardian angel
but
without the wings.

“Yes Meghan, that is you.”

The voice startled me, and I
jerked my head
up.  A tall man, a pair of many-pronged antlers protruding from his head, stepped out of the pale mist that remained and came my way.  Cernunnos.

“It is you, but it is how Caedehn
sees you.”

“I don’t understand,” I answered.

And I didn’t.  I was dead, lost in the spirit world, I assumed.  Cade was safe, I hoped, and alive in Eile.  Along with Aiden.  So why was Cernunnos here talking to me?  Had he died in the battle
too
?  Maybe because he didn't have his magic to protect him?

Cernunnos only grinned and gave a slight shake of his head.

“Not many of us ever know how lovely we look in the eyes of the one who loves us.  This is my gift to you; to know how Ca
de
sees you.  This image represents more than just physical beauty, but your spirit
also
.  As you can see, I chose well.”

I blinked at him, confused.

“I thought my gift from you was your magic, the magic of a god.”

“Yes, but that gift you paid for.  You kept your word Meghan; you didn’t tell a soul about it, except for Aiden, and you used it when it had the best chance of helping others.  When it could show you just how strong and great you could be.”

I tried not to feel bitter.  “And yet, I am here.”

Cernunnos’s brown eyes sparkled and became
almost
green.  “Yes, you are here.”

I gritted my teeth and tried not to regret my choice.  I had known this could happen, so I had to live with it, so to speak.  But now that this was all over, and now that I had the woodland god here with no one to interrupt, I took a deep breath and asked the
same
question
I'd asked him the day he bestowed his magic upon me
,
“Why me?  Why did you give this gift to me?  Of all the Faelorehn you, or the Spirits of Eile, could have chosen, why did you choose me?”

Yes, he had already given me an answer, but there had to be more to it.  And now that we were both in the spirit world, I thought maybe he'd be more honest with his response.

“Because you were the most innocent.  Of course, your brother would have been an even better choice, but he is far too young to understand.  You, Meghan, you who knows next to nothing of our world, who is not yet blinded by the power you possess, no one but you could have done this.”

“But to keep it secret from everyone, to let them live in fear for that long?  To have sacrificed so much when they could have known my gift of power would make things right in the end?”

“Ah, but what is a sacrifice worth if it is not given from our hearts?  It is worth nothing, Meghan, if there is nothing to lose.  That is what makes it a sacrifice; that is what allows it to hold its own power.”

I glanced at him once again, then at the
T
ree looming only yards away.

"I think I have to go now," I murmured.

As I took a step towards the
T
ree, Cernunnos reached out and grabbed my hand gently.

"Oh no Meghan, not today," he said, his own words quiet.

"But," I turned towards the Tree again.  "I think-"

"No," he said more firmly this time as he pulled me away from the stepping stones and deeper into the mist.  "The Tree can wait."

Slowly, the warm, fuzzy orange glow of the enchanted meadow faded away and an image of Cade’s worried face appeared before me.  I smiled, my eyes prickling as they filled with tears.  Oh, how I had missed him, floating around in this strange state of death.  But then my grin vanished and I felt a stab of pain.  This was wrong.  I had died so he wouldn’t have to.  Had my sacrifice come too late?  I bit my lip and choked on a sob.  Not fair.  Not only had Cade died too, but shouldn’t the afterlife be free of such painful emotions?

Then his hand found my cheek and he stroked my face gently.  His eyes shone and he released a great breath.

“Oh my love, oh Meghan.”

He sighed again and drew me close, pressing his forehead against mine.

“I thought I had lost you.”

I was confused.  What?

But you have lost me Cade.  I’m sorry.  I lied to you about my extra magic, all this time.  But don’t you see?  I did it to protect you, and Aiden and everyone else.  Please forgive me.  I thought it would be enough.  I thought I could save you.

I didn’t realize I had been using
shil-sciar
until Cade’s lips met mine as he answered me. 
No Meghan, no.  You did not die, but you almost did.  Gods, you were so close I nearly went crazy.  My
riastrad
is nothing compared to the state I was in when I found you.

His arms wrapped around me as he trailed kisses across my face.  It felt as if he would never let me go and I sighed, enjoying this comforting fantasy while it lasted.  There was no way what he told me was true.  I couldn’t have survived that fight.  My candle flame had burned out.

Eventually
,
Cade stopped kissing me and took a deep breath as he pulled me even closer, tucking my head in against his chest and under his chin, his strong hands splaying across my back.  I melted into him, barely registering that it was our bare skin that touched.  I sighed again and grinned, wishing with all my heart that what Cade had told me in this afterlife dream was true.

A moment later everything went dark again and I knew that the next time I woke, this bliss would be nothing more than a memory.

-Twenty-F
our
-

Consequence

I woke again to the sensation of someone stroking my face.  Blinking the blurriness from my eyes, I noticed that Cade was with me.

"Where am I?" I murmured.

"In our room at Erintara," Cade responded quietly.

"Am I dead?"

Cade grinned, his eyes filling with tears.
 
"No my love, no.  You are very much alive."

But what about the Tree of Life?  My conversation with Cernunnos?  Then I remembered the dream I
'd
had of Cade just afterwards.  Perhaps it hadn't been a dream after all.

I took a shuddering breath.  "Are you sure?"

Cade tilted my chin up and kissed me gently, his lips lingering on mine.

Very much so.

My voice was rough when I spoke again.  "How?"

And then he told me everything that
had
happened.

"I was halfway up the hill when your glamour hit the Morrigan, and the shockwave knocked me off my feet for a good thirty seconds. 
By the time
I made it to your side, Aiden was there, crying silently over you with his hands pressed to your skin."