Dark Isle (Celtic Legacy Book 2) (13 page)

There was a
second flash of light
and I found myself
almost within reaching distance of Ashling. Her face was contorted with a rage
I’d never seen before
. She didn’t look like my Ashling.
I watched mutely as, with a
thrust of my sword, Ash was gutted, her hands grasping the edge, slicing her fingers.
I screamed and fell to the wet sand
,
burying my fingers into it as the air rushed out of me.
“No, I don’t want to see this!”
My voice rang out even louder than the battle that ranged around us.

Excalibur whistled as
it was
swung towards Ashling’s neck. I closed my eyes
.
T
he
re was a
terrible “
thwack
”
as the sword severed
flesh, bone and muscle. I didn’t have to see it to know what was happening. The battle slowed around us
;
the steady thrum of weapons rattling against one another faded
as
Ashling’s body
slumped to
the
wet sand
.

None of the combatants cheered.

Water rushed around me,
but didn’t
soak the sundress
; it
washed
over my hands
, but didn’t get them wet
. The slosh of the ocean
was icy cold
—
I could feel that at least
—and
the scent of salt
mingl
ed
with the coppery
tang
of blood
as
the waves
c
laimed Ashling’s body
;
her hair brushed against me before
she
slid into the depths. I couldn’t make myself open my eyes, couldn’t bear to see her body, what was left of her.

“That won’t happen. I won’t let it happen
,
”
I said through gritted teeth. Bile rose up the back of my throat, coating my tongue. “Never! I won’t, no one can make me.”

And if it’s your destiny? If you must
do it
to save the rest of the world? What then? An old evil rises, Quinn. Older than any other. You must be ready to do whatever it takes to destroy it.

I jumped to my feet and ran with my eyes closed.
As t
he sand turned to pebbles
,
I
opened my eyes
and
found myself staring out at a mix of forest and ocean, the line between them a thin strip of beach. “I won’t kill her.
I can’t
;
I’d rather die myself.
”

“You will see, Quinn. It will be the only way. Balor has made the mistake, but Ashling will pay the ultimate price.”

Pain lanced through me, striking through my shoulder and down into my stomach.
Clenching my hands, my nails dug deep into the flesh of my palms
.

“No.”

Denial was all I had.
A
nother shot of pain ran the length of my
body,
forc
ing
my muscles
tighter and tighter.
Agony
now held me in
its
sway. Flash after flash of searing
, invisible daggers
ripped through me, but I welcomed it.
It was f
ar better than the
wrenching of my
heart.

I let out a groan
, my eyelids sticky as I
opened
them
.

Trees swayed above me,
the leaves heavy with moisture that I could see even
at this distance
. A few birds sung in the branches and the ground below me was soft, but none
of it was
a comfort. Not now
, not after what I’d seen
.

B
ile
rose
up once more. The taste of rotting flesh and thick dark mud from the deepest swamps filled my mouth.
Turning my head to the side, I puked up black sludge till I was dry heaving. Hands held my head and wiped my face.

Shaking, unable to
do anything but
blink and adjust my head, I tried to mumble a question.

Luke came into view, his face haggard, his eyes ringed with purple as if he’d lost a boxing match. “You’re through the worst of it, believe it or not.” He stroked my forehead with a damp cloth then dribbled something into my mouth. The sweet taste of lavender and honey erased the last of the sludge. Fairy
H
oney coursed through my veins and
I
gave Luke a smile.
He put his finger to my lips. “No, just
listen, don’t talk
.”

“Aednat has been guarding us
,
and she helped draw out the worst of the poison from the bite in your shoulder
. There has been no contact from
Nuadha, though I suppose that’s a good thing.” He frowned, the crease between his brows deeper than I would have thought possible.

“Ashling
,
”
I whispered, surprising myself with the hoarse quality of my voice.

“Nothing
new
. But
I’m sure
she’s fine
;
Balor
wants to make her happy
.”

I wanted to sit up
.
T
he
urgency filling me had nothing to do with the
Banshee
s. The voices had said that there was an evil coming, an old evil.
They must have meant Chaos. But w
as it going to use Balor? Or would Balor try to use it?

Struggling, I forced myself into a sitting position
,
and
,
though Luke
grumbled about me doing more damage,
he
help
ed
me
.

“Where’s Aednat?” I whispered, resigning myself to the fact that at least for now, my voice was not up to snuff.

“She’ll be back in a bit.
”
As he spoke, h
is hands never left me.
When
they weren’t tucking a strand of wayward hair back behind one of my ears they were rubbing my good shoulder or just touching one of my hands. I’d judged him harshly, thought he was arrogant and unkind
,
when maybe he’d been just as freaked out about
the
prophecy as I was.

The pain in my shoul
der
was easing, thanks to the Fairy Honey
.
But i
t didn’t ease the heavy ache in my heart.

We sat there, not talking while we waited for Aednat to come back. Luke didn’t seem all that upset by the fact that I wasn’t speaking.
But the silence bothered me
.

“Cora was my grandmother
,
”
I blurted
, wincing at the pain
that
the sudden outburst
cost me.

Luke blinked slowly, as if the words I’d spoken were in another language. “What? How would you . . .
that can’t be possible.”

“When I was out of it, the voice of my grandfather showed me things, in the past. And I saw Cora as I passed through.”
I chose my words carefully.

“You’re the line of the snake, but you can’t be her granddaughter
,
”
Luke said
.
“
T
hat
would make Darcy her daughter. But they didn’t act like mother and daughter.”

I frowned up at him. “Darcy and I don’t really act like mother and daughter either, so why would it be so strange for the two of them to act weird?”

He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, stopping when the bushes in front of us rustled.

Aednat
tentatively
stepped into view, a woven basket full to the brim with berries in her arms.

“Aednat hear
s
you
r
words, Quinn. You walked on the other side, where death waits, didn’t you?
What did you see?
”

Luke snorted. “I don’t think that’s true. Or I’d have heard about it.” And
there
was that arrogance again.

Aednat’s blue and green eyes met mine and she gave a slow nod. “Look at her Shining boy. She is different. She has seen the other side and returned.” Luke met my eyes, then shrugged.

“No, I don’t see anything different. I’m happy she’s alive, that’s enough for me.” His fingers stroked along the tops of my hands.
“No more talk of dying and souls, she’s had enough
for one day.” He glowered at Aednat
over my head.

With a move so swift I wasn’t sure if what I was seeing even happened, Aednat pushed a small mushroom into Luke’s face and
crushed
it
in her fingers
. A puff of spores exploded out of the plant
;
Luke took one breath and slumped to the side
,
his breathing settling into a deep sleep in less than a second
.

“Now
, Shining boy sleeps
, and
we talk about the other side. You an
d Aednat
,
”
she
said
,
as she slid down into a cross-legged sitting position
. She offered me the basket and I picked a handful of berries, mostly salmon berries that squished pleasantly in my
mouth
.

“Okay
,
”
I mumbled around a large berry. “We’ve already agreed to be allies, right?”

She nodded, but that wasn’t enough for me. I needed her sworn oath, something I knew she wouldn’t break. But what?

Ask her to swear on the souls of those she met on the other side.
Banshee
s have a reverence for the dead that you and I cannot begin to grasp.
Cora’s voice echoed through me and I gasped, choking on the berry I’d been eating.
My mind raced
;
h
ow, how was that possible?

Aednat started to laugh. “
Aednat sees your face, someone speaks to you, yes?
The other side always sends a guide back
for a time
. You earn it if you strong enough to fight off the peace of death.”

She’s correct, Quinn. As you fought to live, I fought to be your guide.

I covered my face with my hands
;
struggled not to break int
o great heaving sobs of relief.
Finally, keeping my words soft I said, “I’m happy you wanted to be my guide, though surprised after
. . .”

Bah, I was old and stupid. I should have known better than to take on that bloody rat
Banshee
. Now, get her to swear
on her ancestors, we’ve got things to do
.
I felt like saluting Cora, but restrained myself. Almost giddy, I did as she suggested.

“I want you to swear on the
souls of those you met on the other side that we are allies
,
and you won’t lie to me, nor turn on me
,
”
I said.

She sat up straighter;
clenching her hands in her lap
.
“
Aednat
swear
s
on those souls
she
met on the other side that you and
she
are
now
allies, and
that
she
will not lie to you.”

That will do nicely.
Cora seemed to fade into the background of my mind.

“I saw things from
the
past and something from the prophecy
,
”
I said, my heart pounding.
Aednat looked excited. She watched me intently, her hands clenching and unclenching.
“The souls I spoke with, they told me that an old evil arises. Any ideas?”
I already knew it was Chaos that they spoke of, but I couldn’t tell Aednat without breaking my trust with Luke.

Aednat visibly paled, her eyes widening. “There is only one that they could speak of.” She made a strange figure eight motion with her left hand, something I could only assume was to ward off evil.