Age of Druids (2 page)

“Looking. Waiting. I know Huck disappeared before, when he went to live with y’all. He’d changed.” She nodded at Munro. “He looked like you. I guess you’re one of them?”

Munro nodded. “Yes, I’m a druid too.”
How much had Huck told her?

“And them?” Her gaze flicked toward the two faeries.

“Their names are Alyssa and Joy.” He didn’t explain further, despite the obvious questions in Anna’s expression.

She shifted uncomfortably. “So where’s Huck?”

“I don’t know,” Munro said. “I’ve been searching for him almost as long as you have. This area is the last place he came. He told someone at his hotel that he and Demi were coming here, but they never returned.”

“Did he?” Anna knitted her pale eyebrows together. “The police said nobody knew where he went.”

Munro gave a bare shrug. “Alyssa has ways of loosening people’s lips.”

“What is that?” Anna gestured to the ruined columns. “It feels…” Her voice trailed off, but if she sensed something about the ruins, that only confirmed what he believed.

The druid turned his attention back to the stone pillars. “It looks like it used to be a gate of some kind.” He ran his hands over the surface, then once more blew silently on his runic flute. In fact, it reminded him of a polished version of the impromptu gate he’d fashioned a few months before to escape from a shadowy realm. Ewain had told him standing stones were early druidic gateways, but he didn’t know any existed in the Americas. Of course, Munro had never been to the States before Huck and Demi vanished.

“A gate?” Anna’s eyes narrowed. She stepped forward but seemed disappointed when she found nothing but rubble. “Did Huck and that woman come here?”

“I don’t know,” Munro said. “It’s been too long to track them. They didn’t leave any signs we could detect.”

“So you’ve been wandering aimlessly in the woods for three months?”

“No,” Munro said flatly. “Sometimes I go home and sleep.” What was he going to do with her? When they found druids, they always invited them to the Otherworld. But now wasn’t the time to think about bringing someone new into the fold, especially if that someone would likely interfere with his search for Huck. He turned to Joy. “Do you detect anything that might help?”

Joy shook her head sadly. “Some light. Some runes. Nothing from friends.”

He sighed. The ruin was a fascinating artefact, but he didn’t find any indication Huck and Demi had been near this place. He brought Joy here hoping her spirit vision would show her something he missed the first time.

Alyssa looked at the sky. “My lord druid, the night is at its darkest. The Mistgate will reopen soon. We should return.”

“Aye,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Joy said, reaching to touch his hand.

“It was a long shot.” Running his fingers over the stone, he added, “I don’t know many of these runes.” With a slight hesitation, he asked Joy, “Do you mind if I touch your spirit?”

A corner of her mouth tilted upward. “Of course. Isn’t that why I’m here?”

“Seems polite to ask,” he said and approached her. With the help of the flute, he saw strands of her magical flows. They weren’t as strong here as in the Otherworld, but they were still more than he would ever touch on his own. The faerie acted like a conduit. He plucked the fibre of her power, and a flash of light shone like daylight around the ancient gate. Runes floated in the air, but they froze as he focused on them. One by one, he touched the runes, reading their essence.

Joy’s breath came in shallow pants as Munro manipulated her magic. “Alyssa,” he said. “May I?”

“I am at your service,” she replied with a bow of her head.

Twisting his fingers in the air, he grasped the blue light of her astral magic. Something was interfering with his ability to draw from her.
Curious
, he thought. One by one, he took off the talismans he wore around his neck until he found the offending piece. He placed it carefully on the stone in front of him.

Resuming his hold, he pulled her magic inward and expanded his mind, committing as much as he could to memory. The runes responded to the new influx of energy, separating and moving into a different configuration like words unscrambling. No deeper meaning came to him though. He felt the raw power in the carved stone, but its purpose had been obscured when the artefact crumbled. Slowly, he released Alyssa’s power and then Joy’s. “Thank you,” he said to both of them.

“Did you learn anything, my lord druid?” Alyssa said, wiping a sheen of sweat from her face, despite the cool breeze in the night.

“Only that this is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” he said.

“Was Huck here?” Anna asked, sounding as though she didn’t
want
to hope.

“If he and Demi came near this place, the runes may have drawn them as they did me.”
And you
, he thought.

“Could they have gone through the gate?” Anna asked, a doubtful frown marring her pretty features. Even if a seed of druidic power did exist within her, it had never been activated. Munro didn’t know how much Huck had explained to his sister about magic and how gates worked.

“No. It’s broken. Give me access to the power of a thousand faeries and a thousand years to work, and I still don’t know if I could repair it. If Huck and Demi left the human realm, I don’t see how they could have gone this way.”

Raw sadness filled Anna’s eyes. “Where will you go next?”

“Home,” he said.

“To the Otherworld?”

“Yes,” he said.

“I’m coming with you.” Anna raised her chin, daring him to deny her.

He paused a moment, then shook his head. “I’m sorry. But no. Alyssa?”

Munro delved into Alyssa’s power, guiding it to alter Anna’s memory. They made her forget about having seen them and persuaded her to go back home. She’d be safest there. As tempting as it was to take her to the Otherworld and have Flùranach unlock her powers, he had to make a choice. Like most of the decisions he made lately, he didn’t have a lot of confidence that he was making the right one, but he felt fairly certain this would at least be easier.

∞

Douglas climbed the wide, stepped road which had been cut into the mountainside by stone faeries. The stair-like path was broad enough for fifty men to walk abreast, but Douglas ascended alone. Long before he reached the top, he heard the echoes of Aaron and Lisle’s voices. Hurrying to meet them, Douglas took two steps at a time.

The road ended at the mouth of an immense cavern carved into the side of the mountain. The sheer size of the place made Douglas shiver. He couldn’t help but envision the mountain crumbling in, despite the massive stone columns supporting the high ceiling. What might have taken humans years to construct, stone fae built in mere weeks.

Aaron nodded to Douglas when the other druid approached, and Lisle smiled. “How good to see you,” she said. “Is Prince Tràth well?”

Douglas nodded. “As well as can be expected, considering he’s getting married soon,” he said with a grin. Even though the match was a political one and Tràth was bonded to and in love with Douglas, the temporal faerie was becoming the life-mate of the crown-princess of Zalia. The event was of great importance to both their kingdoms. The weight of responsibility bore down on the prince, causing him noticeable strain.

Aaron gestured around the room, indicating several dozen gateways, all standing empty. “Paeter and his crew finished the last of them a few days ago. When will Munro be back from America? We really need his help to carve the runes to open them. I’m useless with stone, and he has more experience with gates.”

“Tonight,” Lisle replied.

“So what are you working on?” Douglas asked. “I was surprised when they told me you’d be down here. I thought you’d be repairing the Source Stone.”

“We are,” Aaron said. “Every day.” He sounded tired and his voice betrayed his testiness.

“Well, I’ll do whatever I can to help,” Douglas said.

Lisle stood and brushed some dust off her clothes. “We’re getting so many requests streaming in. We can’t keep up.” She sighed. “There aren’t enough of us to do all the work that needs doing, and every fae queen thinks her transport gate should be the first one finished.”

“Where’s Rory?” Douglas asked. “Is he helping out?” He felt guilty for having spent too much time in Zalia with Tràth. Douglas’ work there seemed important at the time, but he also knew his fellow druids were being pressured from all sides to construct individual gates for the queens, to build this huge transport hub to improve trade between the kingdoms, to investigate runes, to create magical artefacts and tokens, and any use the queens could think of for the druids’ creationist talents.

“Usually he does. Today he’s fighting with Flùranach.”

“Again?” Douglas asked.

Aaron answered with a roll of his eyes.

“How about you, Lisle?” Douglas asked. “How are you holding up?”

She looked at her hands and shook her head sharply. After a moment, she said, “I’m going down to the city to meet Sheng. I promised we’d put some protective runework around the new healing centre.” Over the previous months, hundreds and thousands of faeries had flocked to the Halls of Mist, wanting to serve the druid lords. Turning their talents to industrious use, the fae had begun building a city at the base of the mountainside that housed the Druid Hall.

When the druids called, these faeries would come work on whatever project was required. But otherwise, they devoted themselves to constructing their new city. Within a short time, they had erected homes, public buildings, shops and markets, a healing centre, a school, gardens, and farms. Every day, more faeries and loads of supplies came from around the Otherworld. In the centre of the new city was an immense but still empty palace. The druids didn’t even know what to say about the project. They hadn’t been consulted, so they likely couldn’t stop it if they wanted to. The people called the place
Rìoghachd nan Ceòthan
, Kingdom of the Mists.

Douglas lightly touched her arm. “Munro will find Demi. I know it’s hard, but she and Huck will be home in no time.”

Lisle forced a smile. “I’m sure you’re right,” she said and clapped more dust off her hands. “If you see Munro, will you tell him I’ll be back at the Hall by morning?”

“Sure,” Aaron said. “Do you need help?” Lisle was over eighty years old, but since coming to the Halls of Mist, she moved and acted more like a vibrant fifty-year-old. She had an energy about her that made Douglas think she could outlive them all by sheer willpower.

This time her smile was genuine. “You’re a sweet boy,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I want to walk alone for a while.” Demi’s disappearance had taken a toll. Lisle was just as determined as before and worked hard every day, but the sparkle in her eye had dimmed.

The two men watched as she left the cavern that would someday be the central transport hub for the Otherworld. She moved slowly, as though lost in thought. When she’d begun the descent to the city below, Aaron asked, “Do you really believe Munro can find them?”

The question rang across the high, stone ceilings. “Of course I do,” Douglas said, knowing Lisle could still hear him. “He’ll never give up.” That part, at least, he felt certain was true. Munro was like a dog with a bone sometimes. Once he had his mind made up, he wasn’t likely to change it.

Aaron nodded. “Come on. Let’s find Rory and see if we can’t get him to work on the Stone today.”

He and Douglas made their way to a smaller stair that wound up the mountainside toward the Druid Hall. Their responsibilities weighed on them both. Too much needed to be done, and the druids were weary and overworked.

Chapter 2

Huck held Demi and ran his hand over her hair, comforting her as he had so many days before. Or nights. In this dark, cold place, he had no way to tell the difference between the two. She tried to be strong. She was, in many ways, braver than him. But when she let herself think about Jago, her heart ached and the tears would come. “I’m sorry,” she said, drying her eyes.

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” He liked those moments, holding her, that when she grew sad and vulnerable, she trusted him.

“I just don’t understand what they want,” she said. “I miss my baby. Do you think they’ll ever let us go?”

Huck didn’t know how to answer these questions they’d asked so many times. They’d been round and round already. The creatures that captured them were hardly rational. Their strange nightmare began when they were taken at dusk after spending a day hiking on the Colorado Plateau. The creatures appeared to want something, as though they were waiting for one or both of the druids to give them
something
. If only either of them could figure out what.

“How long have we been here?” Demi asked, leaning her head on his shoulder. Another question they’d asked before. Huck tried to stop thinking about it.

“A couple of months, I think. Maybe two?” With no light to tell the time or regular schedule of sleeping or eating, it was getting difficult to keep track. Sometimes the creatures brought the druids raw meat every couple of hours, and other times their stomachs would ache and rumble. They learned to put some aside in case they were forgotten, cooked with the little fire magic Huck managed in their prison.