Finn's Choice

T
HE
F
INAL
B
OOK IN
T
HE
A
DVENTURES OF
F
INN
M
AC
C
ULLEN

FINN'S CHOICE

DARBY KARCHUT

Copyright © 2016 by Darby Karchut

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by in any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher, except in cases of a reviewer quoting brief passages in a review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Use of any copyrighted, trademarked, or brand names in this work of fiction does not imply endorsement of that brand.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request

Published in the United States by Spencer Hill Press

www.SpencerHillPress.com

Distributed by Midpoint Trade Books

www.midpointtrade.com

This edition ISBN:
paperback: 9781633920705
ebook: 9781633920712

Printed in the United States of America

Design by Lorin Taylor

Cover by Lisa Amowitz

The Fourth and Final Book of The Adventures of Finn MacCullen

Darby Karchut

To Trish Wooldridge,
Vikki Ciaffone,
and Kate Kaynak,
who so long ago
decided Finn's fate.

Thank you.

The Adventures of Finn MacCullen series

(Spencer Hill Middle Grade, an imprint of Spencer Hill Press)

Finn Finnegan

(2014 IPPY Silver Medal for Juvenile Fiction)

Gideon's Spear

The Hound at the Gate

The Griffin Series

(Copper Square Studios)

Griffin Rising

(2011 Sharp Writ Young Adult Book of the Year)

Griffin's Fire

Griffin's Storm

Non-fiction with Wes Karchut:

Money and Teens: Savvy Money Skills

(2103 EIFLE Book of the Year)

Essential Money Guide: Simple
,

Sustainable Personal Finance for Real People

I am a wind on the sea
,

I am a wave of the ocean
,

I am the roar of the sea
,

I am a bull of seven battles
,

I am a hawk on the cliff
,

I am a teardrop of sunlight
,

I am a gentle herb
,

I am a boar enraged
,

I am a salmon in a pool
,

I am a lake in a plain
,

I am the vigor of man
,

I am the meaning of poetry
,

I am a spear on the attack, pouring forth combat
,

I am the god who fires your mind
.

Amandán
(AH-mon-dan): Goblin-like creatures

Aingeal
(ANG-uhl): Angel

Bodhran
(bow-rawn): Irish frame drum played with a double-headed stick

Bruja
(BREW-ha): Spanish word for witch

Céad mile fáilte
(kad MEEL-a FALL-sha):
A hundred thousand welcomes

Codladh sumh
(CUL-la sovh):
Sleep well

Éireann go braugh
(ERIN guh braw):
Ireland Forever

Fáilte
(FALL-sha):
Welcome

Faugh a ballagh
(FOW-an BALL-ah):
Clear the Way!

Gle mhaith
(glay moth):
Very good

Mo chara
(muh karra):
My friend

Poc sídhe
(poke she):
Fey, or fairy, stroke

Scáthach
(SKa-ha): Goddess of the ancient Celts who trained heroes and warriors

Sláinte
(SLAWN-che)
: Health

Triquetra
: a three-lobbed design used in Celtic art

Tuatha De Danaan
(tua day dhanna): An ancient warrior race of mythical beings from Ireland

The Journal of Finnegan MacCullen: Sunday, October 13

The problem with being an immortal Celtic warrior—okay, an
apprentice
immortal Celtic warrior—is that fate has a long time to mess with me. In a bad way. Ol' fate has sure been having some fun with me lately. In a cat and pet hamster kind of way.

Five months ago, when I turned thirteen and began my apprenticeship, my master Gideon told me (no, wait—make that
ordered
me) to keep a journal. He said it's a good way to practice my writing skills. And it'd help me remember everything I was learning. That it would be a record of the twists and turns in the path of my life's journey. (His words, not mine.) He also said that when I got older, I'd appreciate its magic.

At the time, I didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

But now I understand. He was right.

Of course, Gideon is right most of the time. Not that I would
ever tell him that. Because he'd use it against me, somehow, to do extra chores or more training or something like that. He's tricky that way.

But, in all fairness, he
is
right about a lot of things. Maybe because he's over three hundred years old. Age and wisdom and all that.

To the humans of our hometown, High Springs—about an hour south of Denver—Gideon looks just like your average blue-collar guy in jeans and work boots. He even drives an old pickup truck. Just like I look like an average teen. And we live in an average neighborhood. Just regular, boring folks. Nope, nothing special about us. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Yeah. Right.

Not only are we
not
average, we're
not
quite…human.

Like I said earlier, Gideon and I are immortal Celtic warriors. Well,
semi
-immortal. We can be killed—it just takes a lot to kill us. We're what humans would call Fey. The traditional and more correct term is Tuatha De Danaan. The People of Danu. High Springs has several clans of us living here, secretly going about our business of hunting the goblins, known as the Amandán, that live in the foothills west of town. That's why I'm here with Gideon. To learn how to hunt and finally become a Knight like he is.

Not that anyone could ever be the Knight that Gideon Lir is.

He's one of the most famous living warriors of our people, and a direct descendent of the legendary blacksmith Gideon Black Hand. The same blacksmith who forged a magical spear thousands
of years ago. A weapon capable of finally destroying those goblins for good. A weapon we thought was lost forever.

Except it wasn't a weapon. It was blood.

My
blood.

Because I'm half human, half Fey, my blood is like a poison to those goblins. We found that out last spring. Up until a few weeks ago, we kept it secret. Gideon didn't want certain people knowing about me. Not until he was sure it was safe. The only ones who knew were our friends. Possibly the best friends anyone could ever have. And as Gideon is always saying:
To be sure, fine friends are one of the great gifts of this round world, boyo
. Irish accent totally implied.

Like my two of my best friends: Rafe Steel and his twin sister, Savannah, who live across the street. Even though they're human, Rafe and Savannah, along with their dad and mom, helped me rescue my master from a sorceress who would've given a certain wicked witch a run for her money. Good times, good times.

But it's the Knight, Mac Roth—Mac Roth of a Hundred Battles—who wins the prize for being my master's and my oldest and closest friend. Gideon calls him “a brother by another mother.” He's almost as good a hunter and warrior as Gideon. Even better, Mac Roth is the master of one of my
other
best friends, Lochlan O'Neill. The two of them have saved our necks more than once. Although, in all fairness, we saved their necks, too. Because that's what friends do—stand with you when events go south like a flock of geese. With a tailwind, no less. And things sure seem to go
south a lot with me, especially at the Festival of the Hunt a few weeks ago.

What started out as a fun weekend of camping, games, and a goblin hunt or two with a bunch of other Tuatha De Danaan turned ugly. This huge pack of Amandán attached our camp. But we were able to defeat them. Barely. One of the main reasons we won was because of the Knight, Kelly O'Shea (she likes to be called Kel) and her apprentice, Tara Butler. Kel O'Shea is one wickedly skilled
bowman
bowwoman
bowperson
archer. She's as good with her bow as Gideon is with a dagger or Mac Roth with a hatchet.