The Forest of Aisling: Dream of the Shapeshifter (The Willow Series Book 1) (33 page)

“You better get to the Causeway, Quinn,” I
advised. “Something is coming.”  I grabbed his hand and led him back to
the water.

Bram was already in the throes of shifting. 
Once he had changed he let out a cry and nodded his head at Quinn.  In an
instant he was soaring through the air in the direction of the sidhe.

“Just when I got dry,” Quinn joked, stepping into
the frigid water.  I held onto his hand until he let my fingers drop.

“You know how to get there.  Bram and I will
join you after we take care of the sidhe.  We’ve got to close it up
somehow to keep those things from returning to the surface.”  A look of
worry crossed Quinn’s face.

“Hey, after what you just did, they should be
afraid of us, right?”  I snickered, hoping to remind Quinn of his
strength.

He smiled and looked to the water.  “Yes,
they should.  I am one bad-ass pilot whale.”  His eyes returned to
mine as he grinned, smoothing back his hair. 

With a quick dive he was submerged, and within
seconds he had shifted and was riding the waves.  He looked back at me and
laughed his whale laugh before jumping back into the water and swimming
off.  I watched his tail fin disappear into the distance as the lightning
flashed directly above me.

The storms had returned with a vengeance, setting
off lightning strikes that ravaged the forest and ignited fires in their
wake.  The rain, ironically, did nothing but fuel the flames. 

In my mindspeak, Bram informed me that the
creatures of the sidhe were moving once again.  The death of the serpent
had incapacitated them temporarily but the return of the lightning storms was
stimulating them back into action. 

From his vantage point in the trees overhead, he
determined that they were building an immense army.  For some reason the
Bird Women were not flying and the Goatmen along with the Lizardmen were moving
very slowly.  It seemed as though they were generating energy from the
lightning.  We had to attack them and seal the opening of the sidhe before
they acquired all their powers. 

I’d shifted into my larger wolf self and kept
watch on the storm building above the lake.  Something definitely was
stirring there and I feared for Quinn. I decided I’d better contact Aaron and
let him know what was happening. When I finally channeled my mindspeak to him I
was happy to hear that the storm in town had subsided.  Aaron actually was
able to leave the safe room and survey the area.  The damage was tremendous
and from what Aaron picked up by listening to his radio, freak, unseasonable
storms were being blamed.

He’d been able to decipher more of the ancient
documents and felt confident that given a little extra time, he’d have all the
answers we needed.  Only that was the one thing I wasn’t sure we had much
of…time.

He asked about Bram and Quinn and was relieved
that Quinn was learning to master his ability.  He agreed with Bram and me
that the Fomorians were drawing on the electrical storms to build strength –
and their army. 

“The opening of the sidhe is the key. 
They’re coming out of there.  Bram calls it a monster maker,” I said,
keeping careful watch on the lake.

“I agree.  You’ll need to seal the opening or
else they’ll just keep pouring out more of the creatures as they recharge. It’s
like a vicious circle.  The storms create the energy needed to build the
army and the army must be adding to the energy source through their
destruction.  It must be stopped.  The sidhe must be closed.”

A thought crossed my mind, one that hadn’t
occurred to me before.  “Aaron, how did the sidhe get opened in the first
place?”

Aaron didn’t respond right away. I’d thought I had
lost connection with him when, finally, I could hear his muffled voice. “The
sidhe is always susceptible to opening with the change of guardianship.  I
suspect that the gap left in the Triquetra with Lucy Mallory’s departure was
enough to allow the Fomorians to create a small opening.”

After that he faded out.  I began to grow
impatient, so I made up my mind to head to the sidhe to try and figure out what
we needed to do to seal the opening.

I stood and shook the rainwater from my coat and
looked to the sky.  Snow was now falling with a drastic drop in
temperature that sent me running towards Bram and the sidhe.  As I drew
near I again heard the eerie whispering of the monsters.  I stayed
crouched behind a boulder and looked to the treetops in search of Bram.  I
could make out his silhouette in the cover of the pines.

“Bram,” I began, “I’m here.  What do you
think we should do?”  I stared directly at his shape.

He moved his head a little, then spotted me below.

“They’re waking up.  They’re definitely
gaining more power from the lightning.  You go for the Goatmen and I’ll
take the birds and lizards.”

“How many do you think there are?” I asked, not
really wanting to know.

“Many,” was his answer, just before he dove down
into the mass of Fomorians.

I watched him glide into the area and heard his
screech as he attacked.  The Fomorians were caught by surprise.  They
just stood there and let him pick off three of them before they even
reacted.  I leaped into the mix and was surprised how quickly our plan had
changed.  I wasn’t just going for the Goatmen and he wasn’t just going for
the birds and lizards.  We were tearing into whatever came across our
path.  I backed myself up to Bram in hopes of protecting his back as well
as mine.  That worked well at first.  We took out countless numbers
of the stupefied creatures without so much as breaking a sweat.

The lightning began striking directly above us;
along with it, the Fomorians started to grow in strength.  The Bird Women
began flying, circling us like some misshapen vultures out for the kill. The
Lizardmen, which had all but destroyed Aaron’s house, were now coming out of
their languor with a vengeance.  They hissed, sticking out their bisected
tongues, their red and yellow eyes focused directly on Bram and me.

 Then there were the Goatmen. Even though
they were small, they were fast and ferocious.  They were now raising
their spears into the air, making a creepy “meh eh eh” sound, almost as if they
were laughing at us.  We held our positions and watched as the creatures
came to life.

“We need to act fast, before they get their full
strength.” I sent the thought to Bram.

Without a word Bram rose into the air and began
attacking the Bird Women.  Instantly he had two of them, one in each of
his talons.  He bashed their heads together with such force I could feel
the impact as I stood below them on the ground.  The two birds reduced to
transparent dust and disappeared.  Another had latched onto the back of
Bram’s neck when I became aware of that too-familiar stabbing sensation in my
upper left leg.  I looked down to see two Goatmen taking turns gouging my
leg with their spears.  I was able to fit both of the horned creatures in
my mouth and clamped down tightly.  Without even opening my jaws I felt
them fade and vanish.

A quick look up into the snowy sky displayed the
foggy image of Bram, with Bird Women attacking him from all sides.  There
were more than I could even count and their cries blended with the screeches
coming from Bram himself. 

My attention was drawn back to the ground when the
slithering tongue of a Lizardman struck out at my head.  He quickly
reached up and pulled himself onto my back, sinking his saw-like teeth into my
ear.  As I shook my head trying to discharge him, I felt stabbing in my
hind legs, along with awareness of more creatures jumping on my back.  So
much pain was shooting all over my body that it was hard to discern where it
was coming from.  I was able to shake the lizard off my back, releasing
his teeth from my ear, but felt more and more things crawling all over me.

I raised myself up on my hind legs.  The pain
grew worse as they plunged their spears and teeth deeply into my body.  I
tried to tune out the pain and let my wolf instinct take over, which it
did.  I immediately lowered myself to the ground and began rolling. 
I could hear some of the creatures moan as I reeled on top of them. Within
seconds, transparent images of a few of them morphed then floated away. 
Once I felt like I had the majority of them off of me, I stood and began to
run. 

I ran in circles around the perimeter of the
sidhe, trying to scope out the best way to close it up, but also in hopes of
confusing the Goatmen who were the most relentless in their attacks.  They
followed me obediently and it was almost funny to watch them grow dizzy running
in circles.  They stopped running, trying to regain their balance. 
That gave me the chance I needed to clamp down on several at a time, tossing
them into a pile on top of the sidhe.  One after another their transparent
bodies would morph and disappear.  I felt exhilarated.  These
creatures were definitely weakened compared to the ones I’d fought before and I
was more determined than ever to take them out before they got their full
strength.

I looked up at Bram and saw him easily reduce two
more of the Bird Women to dust by bashing their heads together.  He
repeated the tactic again and again until no more of the winged beasts flew
near him.  He glided down next to me and grabbed hold of one of the
Goatmen.  He bit into its neck and watched it disappear immediately. 

Just as we were beginning to feel we had the whole
scene under control, the lizards surrounded us.  Before I knew it one of
them had wrapped its tail around my legs.  I lost my balance and fell
over, trying to stretch my legs against the tight squeeze the reptile had
placed on me.  Bram’s legs were tied as well by another lizard, yet he
managed to spread his wings and lift into the air.  He smashed the reptile
against the trunk of a nearby tree, loosening its grip.  He then grabbed
hold of it with his beak and clenched down, sending the lizard into the
mist.  He jumped down and bit the one that had wrapped its tail around my
legs, causing it to loosen its hold.  Once it did, I pulled it away and
shook it violently, which tore it into pieces.  It disappeared just as the
others.  They came at us left and right but we were able to release
ourselves from their grips and do away with them.

 After watching the last lizard creature
disappear we looked at each other, then surveyed the area.  It was eerily
quiet. The only sounds were the breeze blowing through the ravaged trees and
the cracking of branches falling into the snow.  I took in a deep breath,
hopeful that it was over but certain that it wasn’t.  It was then I heard
the low whispering begin again.  I told Bram about it.

We placed ourselves in the back-to-back position,
getting ready for another onslaught.  A new supply of Goatmen began rising
from the snow, as well as the lizard creatures. They were motionless, almost
like they were toys waiting to be switched on.  Our eyes were drawn to the
sidhe opening about ten feet away from where we stood.  A sick, desperate
feeling took over at the sight of even more creatures pouring out from below
the surface. 

“How are we ever going to beat them all when they
just keep coming?”  I sent to Bram in mindspeak.

Bram let out a slow exhale.  “I don’t know,
it seems like –”

A massive clap of thunder echoed directly above
us, followed by a series of lightning strikes.  The volume of the thunder
dropped me to the ground, leaving me trying to cover my head and protect
myself. The lightning was so brilliant and blinding that I closed my eyes to
shield them from the intensity of it.  Even with my eyes closed, I could
make out the lightning strikes that seemed to be encircling us.  The
flashes and thunder went on for several minutes; then stopped. When I opened my
eyes again I looked around and was surprised to see that all the creatures were
gone.  Bram had shifted to his human self and was spinning around, a
stunned look on his face.

“Where’d they go?” he muttered aloud.

I walked to the edge of the sidhe, to the area
where the Goatmen had just minutes earlier been standing, and I pawed at the
snow.  Tracks were fresh and undisturbed yet all the creatures were gone.
I stared into the forest, then searched the sky above for a clue as to what had
just happened.

Bram stretched out his arms, shaking his
head.  “What’s…going…on?” he asked staring at me.

I walked over to where he stood and was just about
to shift to my human self when a beam of light began rising from the opening of
the sidhe. Bram stepped over and ran his hand through the beam before kneeling
down peering into the opening. 

I stood above him, uncomfortable with getting so
close to the “monster maker,” as he had called it.  I scanned the area all
around us, not completely sure that the fighting was over.  Looking back
toward the light, I nuzzled Bram’s back, then looked down to see what he was
doing.  He had a stone in his hand that he had moved from the opening and
was setting it aside when suddenly he was wrapped up in the light and pulled
down into the sidhe. 

“Bram!” I screamed in my head and tried to
position myself to look down the opening. I avoided getting close to the edge
but could see movement deep inside the cavernous room.  “Bram! 
Bram!” I screamed again, my heart lodging in my throat.

I heard shuffling from beneath the mound. “Willow,
run!”  Bram’s voice echoed in the chamber.

I backed away from the opening and felt panic take
over.  Bram’s voice echoed once again, “Willow, get out of here!” he
screamed before more shuffling sounds took over.

I stepped back, frightened and unsure of what to
do.  Blizzard conditions were beginning to take over.  The wind was
howling, swirling snow around the opening of the sidhe, like a tornado.

Panic-stricken, I ran back to a rock formation a
few feet away that offered some shelter.  I nestled back against the
boulders and lowered myself into the snow.  I needed to calm down and
think.  Small involuntary yips and whines made their way from my
diaphragm.  I closed my eyes and tried to contact Bram.

“Bram, Bram, please be all right…”  I sent
the thought to him, praying for an answer.  None came.

I watched the sidhe and saw nothing but a blanket
of white.  I closed my eyes once again and immediately the image of
Grandma came into view.  She didn’t do or say anything.  She just
smiled.  For some reason, seeing her calmed me right away.

 I inhaled deeply, then channeled my hearing
into the sidhe.   At first I only picked up static and weird
rumblings; then voices began growing in volume.  The language was foreign
at first but with a turn of my head I was able to understand it.

 “What are we supposed to do with him?” asked
an angry male voice.

“Nothing, we leave him here.” Another male voice
echoed as though it was near the opening.

“Why didn’t you let the creatures destroy them
both?  What are you doing, Cyril?” The first voice boomed, growing more
outraged.

“Calm yourself, Corman,” answered the man near the
opening.  “The creatures were commanding too much of our energy and taking
far too long to destroy Lugh’s disciples. After I witnessed that these three
followers of Lugh are nothing more than children, I saw before us a golden
opportunity.”