We stood above a battlefield in some long-ago yesterday.\u00a0 The world was washed-out, dim except for a few of the figures\u2014one here, one there\u2014scattered throughout the armies massing on the field.\u00a0 I thought I recognized some\u2014a certain red-haired man in leathers, a tall woman with a spear, a pair of dark-haired men with her.<\/p>\n
Beside me, Phelan sucked in a pained breath.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are you showing us this?\u201d he asked the Morrigan in a strained voice.\u00a0 \u201cThis is long ago and far away.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at him sidelong, one brow arching delicately.\u00a0 \u201cThere are lessons to be learned here,\u201d she said.\u00a0 Her voice was gentle, less frightening than it had been every other time I\u2019d heard her speak.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want us to be afraid\u2014not of her, anyway.\u00a0 \u201cLessons that you, cousin, have stubbornly refused to pass on to later generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrutality on this scale isn\u2019t meant to be passed on to future generations,\u201d he said quietly, moving around me to face her head-on.\u00a0 \u201cWe don\u2019t have to be monstrous to win.\u00a0 Brighid and Finn wouldn\u2019t want that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want that.\u00a0 They wanted better for tomorrow, for their children\u2019s children.\u201d\u00a0 His voice dropped to a bare whisper. \u201cFor their own immortal souls.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Morrigan regarded him with a long, silent look.<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard, easing past the both of them to get nearer to the edge of the rise we stood on, the one that overlooked the battlefield.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve seen this,\u201d I said quietly, trying to quell a queasy feeling in my stomach.\u00a0 I had<\/i> seen it\u2014whether in a dream, a vision, or some kind of memory from a past life I didn\u2019t fully remember, I couldn\u2019t be sure.\u00a0 \u201cI remember this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Morrigan titled her head slightly, studying me as she took two steps forward, drawing abreast of me.\u00a0 \u201cHave you, Seer?\u00a0 How do you remember?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I whispered.\u00a0 \u201cI just do.\u00a0 It\u2026it was a bloodbath.\u00a0 A thousand died, but the Imbolg and the Fianna won.\u00a0 Dirty tricks.\u00a0 Solid tactics\u2026my brother\u2026he said that we\u2019d face some kind of reckoning for what we did that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCiar said it,\u201d Phelan said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cHe was right.\u00a0 Brighid and Finn faced assassins for a decade and more after that.\u00a0 They kidnapped him twice before Brighid stopped letting him out of her sight.\u201d\u00a0 His gaze slid toward the Morrigan.\u00a0 \u201cI realize that Cariocecus and the Hecate don\u2019t necessarily have entire clans at their backs to send after us like that, but forgive me, cousin<\/i>, if that\u2019s a risk I\u2019ve no desire to take.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carolyn\u2019s fingers tangled in my sleeve as Phelan and the Morrigan attempted to stare each other down.\u00a0 \u201cMarin?\u00a0 Where are we?\u201d she asked in a bare whisper, her voice very small.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland,\u201d I whispered back.\u00a0 \u201cA thousand generations ago.\u00a0 Do you see that woman there, the one with the spear?\u201d<\/p>\n
She frowned for a moment, the nodded. \u201cShe seems\u2026brighter than the others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer name was Brighid in\u00edon D\u00fabhshl\u00e1ine,\u201d I told her.\u00a0 \u201cShe was chieftain of the Imbolg, and she was Phelan\u2019s friend.\u201d\u00a0 My lips thinned.\u00a0 \u201cAnd in this time, I was her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carolyn looked at me sharply, blinking for a moment.\u00a0 I met her gaze steadily, taking a deep breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously,\u201d I said, letting my gaze drift back to the battlefield.\u00a0 \u201cThis was a war against an invasion\u2014the invasion.\u00a0 The one that Phelan talks about sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one where he faced Vammatar?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd others,\u201d the Morrigan said, turning to us.\u00a0 \u201cMany, many others.\u00a0 There were so many,\u201d she said softly, those cold eyes focusing on something very distant and far away.\u00a0 \u201cBut we survived somehow.\u00a0 Moved on to another day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019ll live through this war, too,\u201d Phelan growled from behind her.\u00a0 \u201cTake us back, Morrigan, or tell us what your warning is and let us be.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got too much to do to dally here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goddess tsked softly, smirking as she turned to Phelan.\u00a0 \u201cSo demanding, cousin.\u00a0 It\u2019s unbecoming.\u00a0 All in due time.\u201d\u00a0 She nodded to the battlefield.\u00a0 \u201cWatch.\u201d<\/p>\n
He grasped her arm.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 Take us back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHush,\u201d she said, her voice firm.\u00a0 \u201cThere is something you never saw here, Wanderer.\u00a0 Something you must see.\u201d<\/p>\n
I saw it before he did\u2014the shadow that crossed over the field.\u00a0 My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hecate,\u201d I breathed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d the Morrigan said.\u00a0 \u201cEven then.\u00a0 Even then she was seeking this blood, seeking the Wandering One\u2014before he was who he became.\u201d\u00a0 Her gaze slid to Phelan.\u00a0 \u201cShe will come for you, daor chro\u00ed<\/i>.\u00a0 She will come for you and she\u2019ll come for Seamus\u2019s get.\u00a0 Do not ever say I did not warn you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan\u2019s voice was tight but quiet.\u00a0 \u201cTake us back, cousin.\u00a0 Take us back now.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a moment\u2019s hesitation, she said softly, \u201cVery well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shadows wrapped around us.\u00a0 When the faded, light almost left me blind.<\/p>\n
If we were home, I certainly couldn\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We stood above a battlefield in some long-ago yesterday.\u00a0 The world was washed-out, dim except for a few of the figures\u2014one here, one there\u2014scattered throughout the armies massing on the field.\u00a0 I thought I recognized some\u2014a certain red-haired man in … Continue reading