Priestess Dreaming (An Otherworld Novel) (33 page)

We waited, but there were no aftershocks, and so we scrambled to our feet and hurried downstairs before the quaking could start again. In the kitchen, Hanna was staring at a plate of overturned hamburgers and a large tureen of soup that hadn’t quite made it to the table. I felt unaccountably angry at whoever had been doing the shaking. Damn it, I was hungry!

Nerissa led Morgaine in from the parlor, and Shade brought Myrddin in from Hanna’s room where the high priest had showered and was now wearing a pair of Chase’s jeans and a turtleneck. He looked oddly out of place without his antlered headdress. His hair, though, shone brilliantly red under the lights now that it was washed. Yeah, I thought as I ran my gaze over him. The Merlin cleaned up
quite
nicely.

“Where’s Bran?” I looked around.

“He stayed outside to talk to his men, then he was going to return to Talamh Lonrach Oll. But I think he’s still here.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “I didn’t have the psychic contact this time with Yvarr, but ten to one, it’s him.”

“You think so?” Smoky looked worried. “Even my kind hesitate to take on the ancient wyrms. Not only are they dangerous and crafty, but they are our forebears. Some among the Dragon Reaches think it heresy to even speak of fighting them.” He paused at my look, then blinked. “I will, of course. Make no mistake about that, my wife.”

That
Smoky
sounded so cowed made me want to break out in laughter, but I quickly sobered. This was no laughing matter. “Good, because we’re going to need every hand on deck. How do we find out if he truly escaped his prison?”

“I can answer that.” A voice from the front door startled us. The wards hadn’t gone off so it couldn’t be anybody meaning us ill will, but most of our friends were well-mannered enough to knock before entering. But the answer to that came when Raven Mother followed her words into the kitchen.

“I can tell you, yes I can, that Yvarr has escaped from his prison so tight. The two Fae Lords I spoke of? They have woken, and when they woke, their spell holding him was broken, and he comes now, to your house, to fight you.”

“Fucking hell, why not go after the Fae Lords who imprisoned him in the first place?” I wasn’t feeling particularly charitable, and I was getting tired of being the target of every creature with road rage. “And what the hell are the freaks doing, now that they decided to emerge from their self-imposed nap?”

“I have . . . taken them into protective custody, you might say. They are in my territory, I have a right to restrain them until we decide what to do with them. There is no need for others to know they’ve woken. But to Yvarr . . . destiny involves herself in this matter, Camille. You and the Moon Mother have much you have not discussed, and there are so many milestones that wait for you. But there is more—Yvarr sensed the unicorn horn. He comes to destroy you and take it.”

“But Eriskel will booby-trap it. He won’t be able to use it—that’s what these sorcerers don’t understand! The Black Unicorn gifts the horn. If it’s stolen, the spirit of the horn can prevent its use.” But even as I said the words, I knew that anybody looking to steal it wouldn’t believe me. They’d think I was trying to throw them off track. Which brought me back to Mistletoe’s warning. I needed to keep my eyes open because I had a gut feeling that I hadn’t seen the fallout from those rumors yet. Or, if I had, I hadn’t recognized the danger yet.

“Why does Yvarr hate the Black Unicorn so much? And you? Why is he after you?”

Raven Mother’s eyes grew darker and her lips curled into a luxurious, sensual smile. “It is true. Yvarr has a special hatred for the Black Unicorn. They fought, one time long ago. I have been hunting down information, I have. And I discovered that my love fought in the Great Divide on the side of the Fae Lords, and he helped to rip the worlds apart.”

“The Fae Lords in Darkynwyrd—did the Black Unicorn help them imprison Yvarr?” Things were becoming clearer now.

“Yes, that he did. Much to my dismay. I would have kept the worlds together but since I can travel between them, it matters not in the long run. But yes, he did, my love. He did . . . and Yvarr has held a grudge. And he holds a grudge against me because he believes that I helped the Black Beast. He smelled me on you, and he smelled the horn. So now he believes you are in league with us. The friend of my enemy is also my enemy.”

“So he’s coming here to avenge himself on us because he thinks we’re all cozy with you. And he thinks we hang out together. But where is he right now? How far away is he? We don’t dare let him enter Seattle.”

“He flies toward the Sovereign Nation. They will not be able to fight him on their own. You must hurry if you are to catch him. I will wing my way there and warn them. Bring the ancient one.” She nodded to Myrddin. “He has the magic needed to battle the great beast.”

And with that, she vanished out the back door and a huge black raven went flying off. I stared at the others. “You heard her. We have to get out to Talamh Lonrach Oll before Yvarr does. Because if he ends up
here
, he’ll destroy Seattle in one happy fireball.”

Hanna pulled out the bread and meat. “I’ll make sandwiches while you get ready.” She knew the drill. And so did we.

*   *   *

We headed out the door, food in hand, fully equipped. For this, we took everybody we could spare and left the guards to watch over the house. It was either stop Yvarr, or have no home to return to.

I brought Morgaine with us—we needed to get her back to Talamh Lonrach Oll anyway. I had no clue how Aeval and Titania would be able to help her, but there was nothing more we could do for her.

Iris had come up to the house to be with Hanna. The Duchess was still in town for another week. “I would help you, but I think I need to sit out this fight.” The house sprite gave me a tired smile.

“No, you stay here. If we don’t call by afternoon, take the children and get away from here. I’ve called Chase and told him what’s going down. He can’t leave, not if the city is in any sort of danger. So if things go south, take Astrid with you. He knows I’m telling you this.”

Nerissa cleared her throat. “I’ll make sure Iris, Hanna, and Maggie get to safety if it comes to that. I can’t take Menolly out of her lair, but if Yvarr breaks through and attacks the house, she should be okay in the basement, given the steel reinforcements to keep fire from burning through.” The look on her face told me how hard it was for her to volunteer to leave Menolly behind, to make sure the others were safe.

We’d fought demon lords, a dragon, and even a god, but we’d never yet tried to fight something quite like Yvarr. While he was from the dragon family, Smoky had warned us he was bigger, stronger, and far less connected to humanity than most of the Dragonkin. The wyrms were giants even among their kind.

“If it comes down to it and we don’t make it back, you know what to tell Menolly. We couldn’t wait for her to wake up and we love her, and did what we had to do. We have to go now.” I hated what I was saying, but we’d lost so many that I couldn’t bring myself to pretend everything was peachy-keen. The words barely came out of my throat, but I was able to add, “Tell her that Shamas is dead. I met him on the astral. He was fighting for King Vodox.”

Nerissa pulled me in for a hug. “I’ll tell her everything you need me to tell her, but it’s
not
going to come to that. You’re going to kick this wyrm’s ass to hell and gone. And then you’re going to come back here and eat dinner and go to bed and sleep for a week. After that, we’re having one fucking huge party for Yule. Do you hear me?” She gazed down at me, her limpid eyes catching the light. She really was gorgeous, and she loved my sister with all her heart.

“Yeah, I hear you. And we’ll start in earnest, teaching you how to fight. You can hold your own as a puma, but . . . it’s time we brought you into the family business, so to speak.” I laughed then. “We have to be able to turn you loose without worrying about you. Menolly would rather protect you. She’s like Smoky is with me—if she could, she’d set you up in an ivory tower and bring you presents every day. But Smoky’s learning—and Menolly has to learn—life’s not like that.”

I wasn’t sure why I said that, but it seemed appropriate, and Nerissa ducked her head, smiling.

“I’ve been telling her that for a while now. Thanks, sis. With you and Delilah on my side, she’ll have to listen.”

“Camille, get a move on!” Morio’s voice echoed from the foyer.

“I have to go. One more thing . . . if . . . if it goes wrong, find a way to get word to Trillian for me? Take the Whispering Mirror with you if you have to go. Menolly can use it. I’ll see you in a while. Wish us luck.” And with that, I gave Nerissa a quick kiss on the cheek and headed out.

The drive to Talamh Lonrach Oll took half an hour in a storm. While it was raining heavily, the temperature was just high enough so that it hadn’t iced over, and our cars ate up the miles on the freeway. Rush hour hadn’t set in yet, but it was growing dark. Here in western Washington, with the cloud cover ever-present except for sixty-odd days a year, it was always gloomy. Add in to it that we were still three weeks out from the longest night of the year and sunrise took her time, and sunset came early.

The freeway was relatively clear at 3
P.M.
though. Another hour and it wouldn’t be, but now we hurried to the exit that would lead us onto the winding road into the Cascade foothills.

We couldn’t all fit in my Lexus, so Morio volunteered to drive his SUV. I called shotgun; in the second seat were Myrddin, Morgaine, and Tanne. Smoky was hunched in the back. Delilah, in her Jeep, ferried Bran, Shade, and Vanzir, who we’d managed to dig up from where he was holed up in the studio. Áine followed overhead—dragons could cloak up when they didn’t want to be seen, but she wasn’t all that proficient and now and then I caught a glimpse of her, shimmering over the car.

I wanted to ask if there’d been any news of Trillian, but decided to wait. If he’d been hurt, I didn’t want to know right now—not going into battle. And if there had been no news, I didn’t want to worry even more than I was.

“At some point, my wife, you need to get a bigger car.” Smoky’s head grazed the ceiling in back. He wasn’t that thrilled to be stuffed in the back of an SUV, and he was also constantly grumbling about the height of my car.

“Buy me one for Yule.” I glanced over my shoulder, flashing him a smile.

“What kind do you want?” He was dead serious.

I snorted. “Right now, I’m focusing on how the hell we’re going to fight Yvarr. We’ll talk cars after we’re done. So, what can you tell us about the wyrms? Do you know anything that might be of any use? And the others should know, too, so put in a call to them and tell them to put you on speaker.”

Smoky sighed and pulled out a smart phone. He’d objected when I asked him to get one, but finally gave in because he knew I wasn’t going to give up on it. And when I chose to nag someone, I was a master at it.

He punched Shade’s number—Delilah and I had taken a united stand on the matter—and quickly told him what we were doing. When everybody was set, Smoky let out a grumbling sigh and spoke loudly enough so that everybody in the SUV as well as Delilah’s Jeep could hear him.

“Wyrms. We are taught about them when we are children, of course, but that isn’t saying much. Even among Dragonkin, they’re almost considered legends. I do know they are all fire-breathers, in a big way. They aren’t divided the way Dragonkin evolved—while they may have different colorings, they all have much of the same abilities. They’re more fighters than magic-users, though it’s said they can charm with their voices.”

“If Yvarr is the gold standard, his charm comes through fear—he’s mesmerizing, but in a terrifying way. And he’s huge.” I shuddered, flashing back on his up close and personal face. He wasn’t lecherous in the way of Smoky’s father, but he was greedy for power and revenge.

“Yes, they are huge. Their scales are stronger than those of the Dragonkin. Their fire is hotter, and their tempers are worse than even those of the whites and the reds.” Smoky seemed to hesitate for a moment.

Shade’s voice came crackling over the phone. “We have to tell them, Smoky.”

“Yes, of course, you’re right. This goes against all my teaching—but the Wing Liege will understand.” Smoky looked up at us. “There is a way to get them to tell you their true name. The Dragonkin bred that out of our strain, but it will work on the ancient wyrms. But . . . Myrddin, only you or the Fae Queens can do this. Only you have the innate powers needed to charm them.”

Myrddin let out a long breath. “The Spell of Naming.”

Tanne jerked his head up. “I know of that spell. Our greatest bards—our heroes—used that to gain power over the forces of the world. We have remnants of the incantation but no one alive has the complete reference to it.”

“Correction: Smoky speaks the truth. I know the spell. I do not know if either Titania or Aeval remembers the incantation.
But I do
.” Myrddin’s voice was soft. “It takes a great toll on the caster, and will not subdue the creature for long. You will have a short window in which to attack Yvarr after I cast it. And I won’t get a second chance. By the time I recoup my energy, he will have toasted me alive.”

“Then that’s our way to defeat him. You cast the spell, the rest of us pile on and rip him to pieces. What works against his hide? Smoky, you said his scales are far stronger than yours or that of other dragons?”

Shade interjected at that point. “Magical weaponry should work. Regular swords and daggers will probably just bounce off, his hide is going to be so strong. Fire won’t affect him, and neither will most magic, except for lightning. Death magic
might
have an effect, so you and Morio could prepare your most powerful spell and try it out, but have your weapons ready. Smoky and I can attack in our natural forms. Vanzir, don’t try to suck out his life energy—that won’t work on him and will just get you one hell of a headache.”

“Shade’s right.” Smoky glanced around the car. “Delilah, your dagger won’t be of much use unless you come in from behind. Tanne, what do you have in your repertoire?”

“I have no magical weapons, but I am Woodland Fae. I might be able to use my spell-singing to coax the forest to help us.”

“I doubt it,” I broke in. “Considering the entire area is under the dominion of the Fae Queens, I’m pretty sure it’s warded against outside influence. Just keep an eye out for what you can do to help the rest of us. I do have one weapon still. The horn is still two-thirds charged. And this is the time to use it. You said fire won’t work, but I can call the Master of Winds to call down the lightning. That’s going to pack one hell of a wallop.”

There was a brief silence, then Shade laughed. “Yeah, that will. Let Myrddin cast his spell and then use it while Yvarr is under his control. That way he won’t be able to deflect it. In fact, Myrddin, if you can get him to roll over and expose his belly, the underside is more vulnerable than his back.”

“Then we have a plan.” I glanced out the window. The rain pelted down in earnest, the afternoon shadows growing. I began to see a few flakes of snow mixed in. “We’re going to face a cold, gloomy battle. Our exit’s coming up.”

The exit ramp diverged onto a two-lane highway. We were northeast of Seattle, and here the forest crowded thick on either side of the road. Morio slowed down as the road grew narrower and bumpier. With the trees so flush on either side, it was darker than the freeway had been. Now, the rain fully turned to snow but it wasn’t sticking yet.

Another ten minutes and we approached the gates leading into Talamh Lonrach Oll. The Court of the Three Queens had been granted permission to create a sovereign nation within the state. They had originally bought one thousand acres, but recently had increased it by two thousand more. The government had set a limit—for now—on the size of the reservation at five thousand acres.

The land was covered with fir and cedar, vining maple and birch and cottonwood. In the past couple of years since they had purchased the land, they had worked ceaselessly to create a home for Fae who wanted to live among their own kind. No electricity was allowed here, but magic ran fast and thick, and the population had been steadily growing. The Talamh Lonrach Oll Warriors were headed up by Bran, and as much as I still didn’t trust him, I had to admit he did a good job of training them.

As we slowed, turning onto the road that led to a pair of ten-foot-tall, silver-plated gates, the energy crackled around us.

Myrddin shifted. “They have not forgotten their origins, that much I will say.” He glanced out the window. He’d adapted quickly to the car, after a couple of minutes, and I had a feeling that little could jar this man. He had to be able to hold his post in the most frenzied of battles. Something as simple as an automobile? No challenge. Though I wouldn’t want to see him try to drive one without practice.

The guards were waiting. There were at least twenty of them at the gate, and they were in full leather with weapons at the ready. As Delilah pulled in behind us, easing to a stop, Bran hopped out of the car and hurried forward to talk to his men. He said something. Apparently, one of the guards tried to contradict him, because the next minute we heard a storm of cussing. The guard immediately saluted and stood back, and the gates opened wide. Bran came back to our car and motioned for me to roll down the window.

“Normally you’d have to leave the cars here and go by buggy but we don’t have time for that. I’ve sent one of the men ahead to the barrow palace to let them know we’re on the way. Drive on through. The paths are wide enough to maneuver. Try not to take out the statues though, if you would. I don’t want Aeval hounding my hide for broken bric-a-brac.”

Before I could say a word, he hurried back to Delilah’s Jeep and hopped back in. Morio eased through the gates and jumped the curb at the parking area, following the cobblestone path. One of the guards had commandeered a horse from the stall where horses and carts waited, and he galloped ahead to clear the way and lead us in. By buggy it would take us twenty minutes to traverse the road to the palaces. By car, we could make it in five.

The houses along the path were single story, cottage-like and covered with moss roofs. Eye catchers shimmered, lighting the paths that intersected and crisscrossed. Along the route, we saw the Fae hurrying every which way, and loud alarms were sounding. At least they hadn’t been caught unaware.

The palace came into view as we entered the cobblestoned courtyard. The giant barrow mounds held three courts—Aeval’s, Titania’s, and Morgaine’s. The grass covering the mounds was rich and green, but a scattering of snow was beginning to accumulate, giving the barrows a shimmery look.

Morio put the SUV in park and turned off the ignition. We all piled out, except Morgaine, who sat there until I took her hand and drew her out with us. Delilah’s Jeep was right behind us, and they did the same, parking in back of my Lexus.

At that moment, Aeval and Titania appeared, both in battle gear. I’d never seen either of them wearing anything but gorgeous dresses, so to see them in full trousers and leather armor was disconcerting. But the leather—Titania’s was green, Aeval’s was black as night—was finely crafted and embellished with intricate designs. I would have thought the runes ornamental if I wasn’t tuned into magic, but even from a distance, I could tell the enhancements gave them extra protection and other abilities.

Behind them, Raven Mother stood ready. Her presence on the land was proof enough as to how serious the threat was. Aeval didn’t like Raven Mother, and the feeling was mutual.

I gave them all a quick curtsey, but there was no time for chatter. “Obviously you know Yvarr escaped and is on the way here?”

They nodded, then Titania looked over at Morgaine and Myrddin. “Myrddin!” Her shout rebounded through the courtyard. “You found him!” The Queen of Light and Morning practically bounced over to Myrddin, hugging him with a brilliant smile on her face. Titania was as effusive in her emotions as Aeval was reserved.

Aeval moved forward, nodding to the High Druid. “Welcome back to the land of the living. I wish we could have time to sit and talk before heading into war, but alas, we have no such luxury.” Then, her gaze fell on Morgaine. “What happened?”

I joined them. “Short version? Myrddin woke Arthur up. Arthur told Mordred the truth. Mordred killed Arthur, then ran off when he realized what he did. We had to leave them both—Arturo’s body, and Mordred—in the realm of the Elder Fae. Morgaine hasn’t spoken since she watched her son kill his father. We’ve tried everything we could to bring her out of it, but . . .” I looked into Aeval’s eyes, and for the first time, saw pity in them.

“And so it plays out,” she said softly, motioning for a guard to take Morgaine away. “Take her to my chambers. Tell them to tuck her into bed. Guard her well.” After he left, taking the Queen of Dusk and Twilight with him, Aeval turned back to me. “Yvarr will be here any moment.”

“We’ve asked Myrddin to use the Spell of Naming on him.”

Aeval turned to Myrddin. “I remember part of the spell. But I’m not sure I remember all that goes with it.”

“No worries. After this battle is over, I’ll refresh your and Titania’s memory on it.” He gave Titania a quick hug, like he might hug a sister, but his gaze landed on Aeval with respect and a touch of fear.