They Mostly Come Out At Night (31 page)

As life threatened to leave his body, as Maedoc turned his dark head towards Lonan, Lonan thought of Branwen and her baby.

I’ll never get to know that child now. She’s not mine, but for a short while, I thought I’d be a father to her.

But I’ve got a different job now. I’ve got to protect that happiness, do what I can to take away the terror and threat from the people I love. I’ve got one last task to perform.

The Magpie King looked about in confusion. He lowered the pot, not understanding until too late why it was empty. Only at the last second did he turn towards Lonan.

The Magpie King screamed, this time in terror.

With his last available reserves of strength, Lonan raised his right hand. In it he clutched the black flower, hanging loose from any pot or soil, its white roots glowing brightly in the twilight.

Lonan stuffed the prize into his mouth, biting down hard on its bitterness.

Desperate, with claws outstretched, the Magpie King dived at his enemy.

Lonan was not there for the Magpie King to make contact with. Instead, he had leapt high into the air, his wounds not causing him any more pain.

At the height of his jump, well above the tops of the forest trees, it seemed to Lonan that he was suspended up there in the darkness, at once aware of his enemy beneath him, but also fully aware of the land all around. A family of squirrels squirmed together in a nearby hole, hiding from the noise of the forest outside. Further away, a young girl was crying in her sleep, locked in her cellar beneath a cottage. In the ground deep beneath Maedoc, an earthworm ate away at what used to be a rabbit, long since buried under generations of earth and grass.

As Lonan began his descent, he focused on his enemy again. Maedoc, mad though he was, was also a wielder of the Magpie King's power, and had considerable more experience with it than Lonan. By the time that Lonan’s feet touched the forest floor, the Magpie King had disappeared. Lonan's fist, intended for his quarry’s head, instead cratered into the fragile earth. Sensing the quickly beating heart of his enemy, Lonan raised his eyes to find Maedoc in the branches of a tree some distance from him.

"Now two of us are kings," Lonan shouted at his foe, mustering as much bravado as he was able to.

"No," came the gravelly scream back to him. "It is mine. All mine."

Maedoc leapt from his branch, again darting towards the villager, claws outstretched to make contact with the soft flesh of Lonan's neck. This time, Lonan was prepared for him and did not make to escape the conflict, but instead moved quickly to the side, reaching out to grab Maedoc's wrists as he did so. He made contact, fastening a firm, tree-root grip on his enemy. As he touched Maedoc, Lonan briefly took in the information his new senses gave him about his foe. The Magpie King's bones were thin, but strong. Lonan could feel Maedoc's blood pumping around his body, the thick oozy syrup struggling to push its way past Lonan's tight grip. He was aware of the Magpie King's skin folding, creasing in innumerable places as the old man in front of him struggled against the younger hands. At this moment, Lonan realised exactly who he was facing - an old man.

He had only ever viewed Maedoc's face in Adahy's memories, but of course Maedoc would now be as old as Adahy had been after sheltering in mother Ogma's cottage for so long. Maedoc had more experience with these powers, but Lonan was younger and stronger. Lonan's heightened senses picked up another interesting detail. Maedoc's sweat stank of fear.

"I have you now, old man," Lonan growled, sporting a grin that surprised him with its wickedness. 

Maedoc flinched back in response. He squirmed again, using his own incredible strength to break Lonan's grip. Then the Magpie King ran.

Adrenaline surged through Lonan's veins at the sight of a fleeing foe, and he dived after his prey, scrambling on fours through the forest floor to keep pace with Maedoc. Broken branches and smashed bark betrayed Maedoc's passage. Lonan allowed his new senses to widen out to the world around him. Birds flew away from the forest pursuit, having learnt long ago that such events in the forest were best to be avoided. A metallic taste in the air told Lonan they were close to Gallowglass, to the crying girl in the cellar. Lonan made a mental note to return here later, after his hunt, when he needed to feed.

Lonan stopped dead in his tracks, disgusted by the thought that had crept unbidden into his mind. His forehead crumpled. It was beginning already, the price he had known he would pay for taking the Magpie King's power. He was losing himself to madness, and quickly. He would have to deal with Maedoc swiftly, lest he lose control over his thoughts, as Maedoc had done so long ago. Resolved, Lonan dashed onwards, leaping up into the treetops to gain ground on his foe.

Up there in the twilight, Lonan allowed himself to revel in his new powers. He bounded from tree to tree, no longer scurrying along the forest floor, and he had the sensation of almost flying, launching himself into the starlit darkness above his home. He did not need to track Maedoc by scent or by sight now. The panicking man's flight through the undergrowth below was like a thunderstorm to Lonan, a trail of dark clouds marking his passage. It was also clear to Lonan where Maedoc was headed. Rising up out of the forest ahead of them was the steep cliff that housed the Eyrie. Lonan had to stop Maedoc before he reached it. He was not certain how much of the palace staff remained there, or how many Magpie Guard still existed to protect their ruler. Also, it was at the Eyrie that Maedoc was most likely to find any of his offspring, and Lonan's missing finger still ached at the thought of his last encounter with them.

An ant-like shadow crawling up the distant cliff betrayed Lonan's quarry. Lonan did not slow in his approach to the cliff, smashing into that smooth rock face with brutal impact. Luckily for him, most of that impact was absorbed by Maedoc, not able to manoeuvre himself out of the way of his attacker in time.

Not used to travelling at such speed, Lonan was dazed by the abruptness of the collision. This allowed Maedoc a moment of respite, and he used this advantage to grab Lonan by the hair and threw him upwards, aiming the young man like an arrow at the cliff face. Lonan took great satisfaction in hearing Maedoc's broken bones grinding together as this feat took a toll on the old man's shattered form, but then he himself smashed into the cliff. Lonan groaned, embedded in the stone by the force of the impact. He heard Maedoc laugh as he leapt upwards past Lonan. The villager reached out just too late to catch the escaping king.

That small failure did not deter Lonan, and he plucked himself out of his hole and threw himself upwards, snatching at Maedoc's heels, gritting his teeth in pain against his body's protests.

He did not catch with Maedoc until the cliff disappeared and the Eyrie's smooth walls were the surface that they were running on. It was Maedoc's feet that Lonan was able to grip, and the old man responded by turning on Lonan and slashing downwards with his filed claws. Lonan sensed the attack just in time and withdrew his grasp, losing his prey again and allowing Maedoc to make it to the Eyrie roof.

The Magpie King gave a bark of triumph and aimed himself for a dark opening into the building. As Lonan dashed towards him he was vaguely aware that this was once Adahy's window. The memory of those dreams was already dimming, being flushed from Lonan’s mind by the poison of the black flower. Lonan grabbed Maedoc by the scruff of his neck and threw him back onto the tiles of the roof with a wet crack. Maedoc made a weak effort to move himself, but Lonan was quicker and stronger. The villager landed with his knees on the Magpie King's chest, pinning down all hope the despot had for escape. With angry effort, Lonan grabbed a hold of the battered metal helmet attached to Maedoc's head, and ripped it off, breaking the leather straps and matted hair that had held it to the imposter's face.

For a moment, Lonan stood there, towering over his opponent, revelling in his success. Before him was the withering visage of Maedoc, a head that may well have been captive for decades inside that metal skull. His skin was grey and wrinkled, clammy in the places that sores had not spoilt it. The hair on his head and beard had thinned away to long, ghostly wisps that had entwined with each other to create a matted rat nest of hair. The only teeth that remained in his head were black stumps, and he now gaped at Lonan with an open mouth, dry tongue lolling out of it.

Then Maedoc began to cry. No tears were able to force their way through his tear ducts, but his body heaved with the strong sobs of someone who had forgotten how to do so properly.

"No, no, no..." was all the old man could mutter. Lonan remained unsure if whether or not this was a final repentance from a defeated man, or if Maedoc was simply in denial about what was about to happen.

The Magpie King suddenly did his best to sit upright, using the last of his strength to grasp Lonan by the collar and get as close to his face as possible. "You will not. You will spare me. You not like me. Not yet."

Lonan thought of Adahy, lying broken on the floor of the Lonely House. He thought of the queen, suffering through decades of lies and humiliation, only to take her own life after meeting the love that she had never known. He thought of Branwen and Clare and Aileen. He thought of his mother, and the bond that had been stolen from them because of a night time raid that would not have happened if not for the man lying in front of Lonan right now.

He thought of the little girl from Gallowglass crying in her cellar, and of how hungry he felt when he thought of her.

"I am like you," Lonan replied coldly, before easing Maedoc's chin upwards, allowing Lonan to sink his teeth into the weakness of the old man's throat.

Lonan gave himself a few moments to savour his victory. Then he became aware he was being watched.

His teeth still enjoying his red prize, he raised his head to see eyes peering at him from the darkness of the castle interior. Using his new heightened senses, he became aware of further movement on the castle roof. More figures were shambling towards him. The bedraggled cloaks and beak-like masks betrayed the identity of these onlookers. They were Maedoc's children.

The abominations slunk out of the shadows in the moonlight, surrounding Lonan. Lonan had the power of the Magpie King flowing through him now, but he did not think that it would be enough to stop all of these creatures - almost a dozen in total - if they decided to take revenge for their father’s death.

But something was holding them back. They were looking at the broken body lying at Lonan’s feet, and then at Lonan himself, inching forwards and then backwards in a circle around him.

Fear. They were scared of the man who had killed the Magpie King.

Lonan raised himself up to his full height, allowing the Children to see him in all his glory, chin and chest wet with victory. He threw away the body he had been worrying, and picked up the Magpie King's helm, holding it aloft for the Children to see.

"Done," he stated simply, and then smashed the helm once off of the Eyrie roof.

The Children stood still, unsure of how to act.

"Done," Lonan barked again, hitting the helm off the roof once more. This time the beak of the helm broke free and rolled over to the closest of Maedoc's offspring, who eyed it curiously.

"All done. Go. Go now. Now forest is mine." Lonan stated this loudly, and waited for any reactions from the Children. Some slunk back from his rage, but most remained standing, impassionate. To finally drive home his message, Lonan once again abused the helm upon the roof, this time smashing the headpiece repeatedly into the clay tiles. By the time he was finished, the helm and roof were in pieces. All of the Children had fled.

Lonan was alone.

A tale from the fireplaces of the Low Corvae.

This tale takes place in the spring, after a harsh winter for the village. The winter had been difficult because the villagers had lost two young men in a short space of time. This
had thrown a veil of sadness over them all, and sadness was not a good mindset with which to approach the long nights. However, the village survived, sheltering in their cellars, consoling each other in the darkness.

One of the young men had been put to death because he had been evil. It was a shame to have to do so, but none could deny that his removal was a good thing. However, the second young man had disappeared. The majority of the village believed the man had been driven mad, and had wandered into the forest at night. Like many who chose to do this, he was never seen again.