My feet stayed rooted to the ground. She had just killed that man. Stabbed him right in the heart. I swear she was practically having an orgasm as his blood pulsed out over the blade and down her hand as she leaned into him. His eyes were still wide with shock, uncomprehending that his life had just ended at the hands of the goddess of DEATH itself. She had chosen, and carried out his sentence herself, and now was beckoning me forward. Did she expect me to take out the other?
I realized as I stood there, unmoving, that I had never killed a human. I had killed wolves. I had killed twisted monsters as they attacked me. But never looked into the eyes of another human being and killed them. I wasn’t sure I had that in me.
“Huntress, Come. Your first lesson that you asked for is before you.”
“What-” my voice cracked as I tried to ask her a question. “What is the lesson?”
“What may our power be used for? Surely yo
Morrigan stepped out of the flaming sigil and pointed to its center, the flames dying the instant she left its core. “Now, you enter. Let’s see what you can do.”I hesitantly walked to the middle of the charred ground and stared at the sigil she had conjured. “Now what?”Morrigan sighed, running her hand down her face. “Did your coven elders teach you nothing?”“They said we draw power from Gaia, the earth elemental. Stella mentioned Gaia when we first bonded.”“Yes, Stella would be more attuned to Gaia than most beings. Ok.” Morrigan stood with her black dress flowing and her legs spread in a fighting stance. “Find balance, then center your body. Our power does come from the earth but it is more fundamental than simply a wishy washy idea of nature. The earth itself it literally feeding your spell power by giving of itself. If you abuse that gift, you will kill the land around you. gr
“This is Amazing!” In truth, the dagger was beyond anything I could have imagined. I reached a hand out but hesitated, “may I?” Goibniu (GUV new) gestured for me to take the dagger, and I grasped the handle. A small tingle ran up my arm and I hefted the dagger. It was perfectly balanced, and the grip fit my hand as if it had been molded and tailored for me. “I- its incredible.” Kiara eyed the blade nervously and Goibniu gave her a knowing grin, “Don’t think I will leave you out lass. If you are going to be hanging around our huntress, I have something for you too. From what Morrigan tells us, this one tends to get herself locked up more often than is normal for a girl her age.” “Is getting locked up ever normal?” Kiara asked. Goibniu elbowed his brother, “It can be right fun, if you have the right lass with you!” They both burst out in a round of ruckus laughter. Kiara’s innocent stared stopped them cold, “Aye lass, one day you will fig
My hand hesitantly reached for the handle, my heart hopefully for who I might find inside. There was only one person I cared enough about for Brighid to even mention, and Morrigan had said he had been seen wandering this plane. Could it be that he was here? Was it really possible? As the door glided open on silent hinges, the familiar profile of long dark hair and tan skin greeted me. He was seated cross-legged before the fire, atop a mound of furs. Warmth flushed my face as I realized he was shirtless. I longed to run my hands over that smooth skin, and dig into those broad shoulders. “Makya?” He turned, those chocolate eyes locking on mine. “Eileen?” He rose smoothly and rushed to me, his hands cupping my face. I smiled as I looked up at him and then wrapped myself around him, burying my face in his bare chest. “Eileen! What are you doing here? I thought you were in Canada! Surely by now, you are back in the village. I don’t understand how you can b
I awoke sometime later, still cuddled against Makya’s chest. His warmth pressed into my back, and I sighed, content.Content but not satisfied. Here, with Makya, I had everything I had ever thought I had wanted. A simple life, with simple desires. Makya satisfied all of that. with Stella, my life was far more complicated now, but in many ways more complete, but that was not the whole of my need. Stella stirred in my mind then.‘Peace, my soul-bond. You are of the Triskele, the witch blood who is bonded by blood and magic to Tír na nÓg. It is not so strange to think that your heart is also triskele. the twisted spirals of triskele loop one in strange directions. But you will find the links in time. You are young still.’The image of the triskele with its three swirling spokes flashed in my mind. Morrigan had cast it over a Triquetra, our eternity knot. To think that so much of our system of magic, and faith was based on th
“Gaia guide me” I breathed as I closed my eyes and tried to remember the lessons Morrigan had shown me. Morrigan had gathered power from all over. She had directed that power to one spot in order to accomplish her goal of growing that tree and not killing the land around it.Then it hit me. The fae of this plane were here, in this grove. They were already channeling power from across Tír na nÓg into the pentagram along the lines of the spirals of ancient trees. I stood, determination straightening my back as I stepped through the wall of magic and across the knotted web of tree roots. Here, power was pulsing from across the plane, and being channeled by five of the most powerful Tuatha Dé Danann at the nexus of a huge sacred grove, fueling this pentagram. I reached my mind out to the earth, calling out for Gaia’s help.I moved to stand next to Kiara, and then stretched at hand toward one of the twelve trees. A vine rose from at my
As the world around us solidified, I felt us both tip forward, landing hard in the snow pack. I looked around and instantly felt weary as if I had run 100km, and my body demanded rest. I reached through the snow to try and touch the ground, but here in our own world, the magic of the land was feeble and weak at best. I didn’t dare take from the earth here, for fear of damaging this forest and sapping it of vital power. I would just have to give my body time to recover and learn to tap deeper into the earth.As I got my feet back under me, and tried to help Kaira to her feet, I was amazed at just how different our world felt compared to the pulsing power that permeated Tír na nÓg. There, every blade of grass tingled with so much power that the very leaves glowed with energy.Now, the winter wonderland around us looked exceptionally gray in comparison, with a few dull greens where the evergreen trees peaked though.“Eileen?” came a
Morrigan! At least I knew she was watching over me. My wrists ached from where the bindings dig in, but as my left palm connected with the dirt, I could feel power flow to my hand. It was a fraction of what I had felt in Tír na nÓg, but it was there. The crow flapped out of the tree, the men in the clearing oblivious to its passing as it flew over my head. A dull thud behind me told me Morrigan had dropped something in the snow. I reached back to find the dagger and sheath Goibniu hand made me. Somehow, Morrigan had gotten into my room and retrieved it. I drew the blade and freed my ankles, and worked on my wrists. The blade was awkward in my bound hands, and trying to keep hidden was a challenge. The men in the clearing were focused on the wolf and Kaira, but several kept glancing with leering gazes in my direction. Arvin continued his rant, pulling out a dagger that looked to be made of crystal instead of metal, “Since no one claims the omega, then we all
Out of the dense forest, wolves began appearing. We pulled up short as they surrounded us.‘Follow us if you want to live.’ We heard over the mental tether. It was a strange dialect, clearly not the same as that of the Clearwater pack. These must be members of the glacier pack Arvin had yelled about.‘Why should we trust you?’One of the larger wolves stepped forward. He had a gray coat, not the black I had seen in Arvin’s wolves. ‘For now, don’t. simply trust that we are more interested in causing the Clearwater pack issues that we care about you. Removing you from their care is simply the easiest way to piss them off.’We glanced at Sierra/Kiara and made our decision. We all needed time to recover, and so long as this other pack didn’t try anything right off, perhaps we would get the day or two we needed to be at full strength. The fact these wolves were not the solid