Chapter Twenty-Two
Branna was back at the Chapel as usual. She left the mound before I woke up and took all of her Inker tools with her for the day.
It was the middle of breakfast when Onora rushed into our home, not even bothering to knock on the door or announce her impending arrival. The ancient seer hobbled into the room, ignoring Bridget who tried to offer her a cup of tea. Something was wrong.
Onora came within inches of my ear. “The boy is in danger,” she frantically whispered. “The Leanan is after him, and he’s being kept inside of a mountain that is protected by some powerful magic. You must perform the second Keen today. Before it’s too late. If he falls under her control, there will be no way to ensure the safety of the Northern Gateway. The boy is our objective.”
I nodded, aware that I had a duty to fulfill. Quietly I asked, “Is Hector ready?”
Onora stepped back and looked at me as though I said something crazy. “Hector is needed for other things. The keening is your responsibility and not his.”
“Well,” I searched for how to explain myself, but decided to just come out and say it. “Hector and I were hoping to get more practice in the water, and there are several lakes where Aidan is right now.”
Onora sighed and sat down on a chair. “That would be most unwise. For you to travel on horseback would take half of a day, even with his supernatural speed. But should you fly, you can make it in hours. Hector will travel north after you once he’s finished up with the Ring. Besides, you won’t come back here till all of this is over. There is a place I have arranged for us to stay, and I will accompany you there. Hector will join us tomorrow, and then we can have all of this nasty business come to an end.”
We stood there looking at each other. Our task’s weight hung over our heads.
“So, do you think we’ll be able to fix everything with the Gateway?” I asked. “I don’t even know what we are supposed to do once we’re there.” I finished my last spoonful of oatmeal and carried the bowl to the sink.
“You will know what to do when the time comes. Such things are not in stone. I trust in your success as much as I believed that you would successfully transform during your Incantation, and I know it with more certainty than when I believed that you and Hector would be able to connect. Go pack what you’ll need, and I’ll wait for you out here.”
I rushed to my room, grabbing the carpetbag which Father gave me. It belonged to his mother and she had carried it over from the mother land to the New World. I started shoving changes of clothing inside, trying to keep myself from thinking about family. I threw in an extra cloak, just in case, and soon I was finished.
As I sat on my bed taking one last inventory of my room, I watched the coin floating on my nightstand.
I grabbed a long strip of leather on which I usually strung an old talisman. I took off its normal charm and reached into the orb, gingerly taking hold of the coin. Effortlessly I wrapped and tied the leather around the coin, finished it off and made sure my knot was secure, and then tied the ends of the leather strap behind my neck. I tucked the coin under my cloak and the neck of my blouse, letting its cold surface rest on my sternum.
I bound out of the door with my bag in hand and a part of Father next to my heart.
The flight north was a nasty cold trip; Onora flew higher in the air than me, her peregrine wings gliding in the uppermost winds as I followed shortly behind her in crow form. I preferred a lower altitude where I could leisurely flap and soar. It was also a bit warmer than the ungodly heights which Onora took in her flight.
She used her skills before we left and shrunk our bags down to the size of matchboxes. My satchel was tied to my left foot, and while the drag took a little getting used to, I managed with both the conditions and the difficulty of flight.
“There!” Onora yelled, her voice thundering over the blustering winds. She bent her wings and pointed her body to a slight opening in the rocks below. Its appearance was obscured by scrub which clung desperately to the mountainside.
I knew the area. On the other side of the slight rocky hill was the lake where I confronted Holly about who or what she really was. Holly told me to stay away and never come back, but for me, that wasn’t an option.
I should have stayed, I berated myself for leaving Aidan after the first Keen and not remaining to make sure everything else would be okay. But he wouldn’t have listened to me anyway. In his mind, I was some kind of freak creature, or just thought to be a hallucination.
That’s what I would have thought if I were in his place.
Toward the caves we soared, heads down against the rain which began to pelt our wings.
“Careful, Morgan!” Onora shrieked. Her body quickly folded into a dive. Then she was gone from sight.
I arrived in the cave shortly thereafter, unable to keep up with the falcon’s speed. Onora already lit an orb she stowed in her satchel, heating up the dank cave which must have once been occupied by a bear. It was much too large for other creatures that I imagined would have sought shelter in the rocks.
Onora hunched over her own black sack, rummaging and jangling about in search.
Having transformed on the way in through the doorway and untied my bundle, I walked up to the orb and thawed my frigid hands over its glow.
“Have any hot cider in there?” I teased.
Onora’s eyes twinkled as she turned to look at me. “Be careful for what you ask! I’m not so talented a cook!”
I settled on the ground, staring at the miniature version of my carpetbag. I tried to think of the words which could reverse such a spell, but I didn’t know what to say to undo what Onora had done.
“A little help?” I asked. I held up the bag between my two little fingers as though I was holding a dirty rag.
Onora cackled. She beat her arthritic hand against her thigh, trying to hold back her hacking laughter.
When she was finally done with her temporary amusement at my expense, she pushed up her sleeves and whispered two words under her breath, too low for me to hear. The bag instantly grew in size until it reached its full form. The embroidered fabric, which was a design of flying Sidhe, was able to tell its story once more.
“Thanks,” I said. I took off my soaking cloak and slung it over a large rock near the orb, carefully smoothing out its creases to ensure it dried completely.
I opened my bag and pulled out the extra cloak. But as I heard the crackling thunder outside the cave, I knew that keeping dry outside would be a near impossibility. I swung the dry, grey wool cape over my shoulders, fastening the hooks right over my collarbones, the hood down and resting on my shoulder blades.
“Here.” Onora held a vial over her shoulder, not even turning to look at me as she continued searching the bag with her other hand. “Drink this and you’ll feel a lot better. But we don’t have time for dilly-dallying, eh? Time for a second Keen before the daylight is gone for good.”
I grasped the vial filled with dark green liquid. It appeared thick and almost chunky – far from appetizing after a long, cold flight. I opened the stopper and took a whiff at the viscous liquid, but rather than the moldy smell I expected to assault my nostrils, it smelled of fresh herbs like oregano and tarragon.
“The whole thing?” I eyed the vial with suspicion.
“Yes,” Onora replied. She pulled blankets from her black bag and flung them over her shoulder.
I downed the mixture, one slimy gulp after another, and felt my core warm before the last swallow was even complete. I handed the vial back.
“Now you are ready to go.” Onora stood from her bag and turned, one arm pointing to the door while the other one actually shepherded me out by my back.
“Can’t I wait just a—”
“No-no. No time to wait. You must go now. If you are not back in two hours, I will come find you.”
I was already at the doorway of the cave, staring out at the rainclouds which released their drops faster than
on our way into the cave.
“But can’t I just—” I thought of a warm cup of tea, but Onora pushed me through the arch of the entrance.
“When you get back! No time to waste!”
Onora was right. After all, whenever Onora gave me advice, she was usually correct.
Better now than never. My kind needed me. And if it was better for Aidan to die than be under the power of a Leanan, then I knew I could find a way to deliver his second call to death.
I flung my body off the edge of the overhang. I plummeted for one second before a flash, and I was crow once again, soaring above the tips of pine boughs.