Dark Isle (Celtic Legacy Book 2) (8 page)

Cora remained quiet
as we walked
, her tongue tasting the air but otherwise she barely twitched up on Luke’s shoulders.

Cora, I can almost see you thinking. What do you think is going on?
I sent to her, grateful for the ability to speak without everyone hearing.

I think that Balor still wants
a kingdom on land
, and if can’t have the Emerald Isle, he’ll make his own.

Her words literally stopped me in my tracks. I met her eyes and she gave a slow nod. It made a horrible, twisted sort of sense.

“The earthquakes?”

“I would lay odds that he is tunneling to
bring
his people
over
.
But
he
can’t
do it on his own, he
must have found someone to help him
,
”
Cora said.

“What are you two talking about?” Luke asked.

But it was Aednat that answered. “They speak of Balor making new Emerald Isle
, a Dark Isle
. That is what he told the good
Queen
. New place, just like old
,
but better, no Tuatha.
”

Luke snapped his fingers. “
It all makes sense
.
Without the Tuatha here to balance him, he’ll have complete power
, and with him giving the Banshees what they want, their own forest, they will back him up in any fight
.
”

“Not to mention if he unearths . . .” At the looks both Cora and Luke gave me, I close
d
my mouth.

Do not tell Aednat about Chaos. She is a child, she doesn’t need to know.

I gave a slight nod, embarrassed by my near slip up.

Aednat skipped over to me, and took both my hands. “
Aednat
know
s
you.
She
dreamed of you once.”

My eyebrows lifted of their own accord. “You did? What did you see?”

Aednat began to recite the prophecy in her
sing
-
song voice
, the words chilling me all over again
.

“The line of the snake will bring forth a saving light at the darkest hour. Binding all the realms as one—her sword will strike down the evil that haunts the land and she shall lead the Fae to victory. Filled with power, her heart will remain pure. Through a union, peace shall reign and the world will know the Fae for all that they are and her sword will forever be at her side.”

“Wait, th
at isn’t the prophecy
,
”
I said, relief flowing through me. She hadn’t really seen me in a dream
;
she’d
probably
read the prophecy somewhere and just gotten it wrong.

Aednat
nodded. “Yes it is. I was there when it was spoken, I forget nothing.”
Cora gave her a strange look, tipping her head sideways, tasting the air with her tongue.

I do not remember seeing Aednat there when the prophecy was spoken, but then . . . my mind isn’t what it used to be.

Aednat’s
voice
grew cold
. “
Aednat is
not a child.”

Luke shook his head. “No,
it says
her heart was filled with compassion, not power. And she is destined to be with the Shining one.”

Our
Banshee
guide let out a burst of her trilling laughter that we did our best to shush. “No, that isn’t the prophecy.
You Tuatha
change
d
it
to suit
your
selves
.
You
should know that.” Her eyes flicked up to Cora
.
“
Especially y
ou
,
old goddess.”

There was an uncomfortable silence, one that Aednat
finally
broke.

“So, you think that Balor is evil that you will strike down?”
She asked
, her left eyebrow raised high. I shrugged, “That’s what everyone is saying.”

“Be sure before you kill. Death is final. That mistake cannot be undone.”

Cora slid forward, down Luke’s arm. “Be careful little
banshee
. Your words are slippery, they could land you in a nest of snakes.” Her tongue flicked out and Aednat paled.

“Wise words
,
old one
,
”
s
he
whispered, inclining her head a fraction of an inch.
As f
ascinating
as it was to watch the interplay between the two of them, there was an itch at the back of my shoulders.

“I think we’d better keep moving
,
”
I said.

The crack of a branch behind us was all that gave them away.
Luke and I spun to face two Fomorii

“
Please
run Tuatha, we love to chase.”
Despite their words the two Fomorii didn’t wait to see what we’d do
;
they
propell
ed
them
selves
across the ground at high speed
with their heavily muscled arms
. A single bulbous eye protruded from each of their
forehead
s, the whites
of them
dripping a milky substance down the edge of their faces.

Aednat let out a scream
as the first Fomorii jumped over our heads and slashed at her tiny body.

“
No!
” I
shouted
.
I leapt toward the closest Fomorii, his eye looking as if it was going to pop out of his head
, then a wide grin split his face, his triangular teeth glistening
.
He
dropped Aednat and made a grab
for me, but he was too slow.
Calling my knife, I slashed upwards,
his
hulking body towering over me
, gravity working in my favour as he bent to meet me, unable to stop his headlong rush into my dagger
. The blade bit deep into
his
throat and
only
a low gurgle
escaped him
as I yanked the knife
out of
the tough gray-green hide
.

A quick glance showed me that Luke had easily dispatched the other Fomorii.

“That was easy
,
”
I said, wiping off my dagger on my pants.

“They were young, cocky and untrained
,
”
Luke said
.
“And we were very lucky there weren’t more of them. Now t
hey’ll know we’re here
, a
s soon as they find the bodies.”

Crap, I hadn’t thought of that minor detail.

“Aednat can help.” She started to sing, her voice a soft whisper that grew with each bar
,
and the world around us felt hypnotized
, frozen with her song
. The very trees and grass leaned into her words, the birds sang soft harmoni
es that blended through the music
.

“Look
,
”
Cora said, the tip of her tail flicking towards the fallen Fomorii. The moss crep
t
over their bodies, grasses springing out of their hides. Even a small sapling burst forward off the chest of the one Luke had killed.

In moments, they were covered, and all that was left
were two rolling mounds spotted
with a smattering of wildflowers, grass, moss and a single tree.

“You saved Aednat. Now we are sisters.” She reached
out, her eyes serious.
I
took her small hand with a nod and again she led us forward. The
deeper
we got in
to the coastal forest, the
more the
sounds of the birds
overtook the rushing of the ocean
across
the sand, and even our footsteps were muffled by the
he
avy growth underfoot
.

Grumbling behind me, Luke finally spoke up. “How much f
u
rther?”

Our guide skipped ahead and twirled in a circle, her dress spinning out around her. “We are here now.”
She clapped her hands as she twirled
and laughed
,
and what I can only call her energy rose up around us, creating a protective shell about ten metres wide. I
t was
as
if everything was caught in a gauzy curtain.

Aednat led us to a recess against a rock wall
,
where a spri
ng flowed
into a small
pool
surrounded by wildflow
ers. It was all very pretty, but none of it fit with the forest here;
that bothered me.

“
Banshee
tricks.” Luke whispered, his words only reaching me and Cora
,
who bobbed her head in agreement.

Aednat motioned for us to sit around the pool
’
s edge.

Keep your wits about you, Quinn. The
banshee
may have helped us, but she will have a reason. We just don’t know it yet.

Cora’s tail flickered against my upper arm, her nervousness apparent. If she was nervous, I should have been downright scared. Crossing my legs under me, I sat at the pool
’
s edge. “Alright Aednat, what do you want from us? No lies now between . . . sisters.”

With a thump Luke sat beside me. “Great subtlety.”

Pursing my lips I sat up straighter, stretching through my back. “Aednat.” Was all I said. She flounced across from us and all but flung herself to the ground.

“You don’t know all of the prophecy. I will tell you it. I will help you fight in big battle.
If
you help Aednat
first
,
”
s
he
said, her eyes glittering with a feral awareness that matched her tiny
dagger
-
like teeth.

“Maybe
,
”
I said. “Tell us something first, something so that we know it’s worth it.”

Aednat pursed her lips
mimicking me
, and her eyes narrowed. “Card has taken his father’s seat.”

A long low hiss erupted out of Cora
,
startling all of us. “The little bastard! I should have known when Lir went missing it wasn’t of his own volition.”

The little
Banshee
smiled, her teeth glinting. “
Aednat
know
s
where to find Lir
; al
so know
s
what Card i
s
doing.
Maybe how to stop it.
Aednat knows where to find missing people
.
A
ll of prophecy you need
, Aednat knows
.”

I wondered how she could
know so much
.
I shared a look with Luke, wishing
this time
that he and I could converse
telepathically
. Motioning for Luke to stand, I excused us and we stepped outside the bower that Aednat had made.
She watched us go, but didn’t move from her seat, her eyes tracking our steps.

“How do we handle this?” I asked in a low voice. Even though we were a good distance away, I didn’t want to take the chance Aednat might hear us.

Cora stretched her head out between Luke and I. “We hear her out. But if she can truly help us with these things, then almost anything she wants will be worth it.”

Luke snorted. “Hardly. She could be lying Cora, how do we know?”

An idea had begun to form as I listened to Aednat. “What if I Called Lir? I could talk to him, find out if what she is saying is true, at least on that
account
.”

They shared a look, one that clearly stated they didn’t think it was a good idea. Cora slid her head back to my shoulder. “
You may not be able to truly Call him. He is stronger than you, so you may be drawn to where ever he is. That could be dangerous.” She shook her head. “But I do not think there is another way.
You will
try to
co
ntact Lir
. Then we will proceed.”