Chapter Nineteen #2
Ailith was immediately overwhelmed by visions that danced across centuries.
Images of fae dancing in the moonlight, blood spilled on the ground, battles over centuries, bargains struck between enemies.
She recognized them as the same visions she’d experienced when Laird MacGibbon had taken her hostage and locked her in his cellar.
The sheer number of them overwhelmed her mind, causing her to drop the reins of her horse and put her hands over her head, wanting the horrific views to stop.
Edan chased after her and grabbed the reins of her horse just before her father came on the other side of her, bellowing her name. “Ailith!”
She leaned toward Edan and he barely caught her before she tumbled off her mount. He deftly scooped her off and deposited her in front of him on his lap, tossing the reins to her sire. “Lass, what’s wrong? Tell me what is troubling you.”
He turned his horse around and headed toward the hill, slowing his mount as he did his best to comfort Ailith. The same wee lass he’d seen on the ship appeared out of nowhere and was now standing in front of the hill.
A hill where the grass never moves and never grows.
A hill that could change shape and turn different shades of green.
A hill surrounded by faery rings.
“Get her down! Do not approach the hill on horseback,” the lass called out and Edan stopped his horse, cradling Ailith as if she were a bairn.
“Ailith. What’s wrong?”
“The visions. There were too many, of past events on the hill, of evil spirits. I didn’t wish to see them again, but I know something important. The bairns. They are nearby. Somewhere. I can sense it.” She couldn’t put all the pieces together, though she felt their presence.
The wee lass in the green gown approached and said, “Set her down and then step away, Edan. Your blood is something we don’t understand yet. You could be causing her visions.”
“Me? How could I cause anything?”
“Just set her down!” Alasdair’s bellow echoed across the moor.
Edan stopped his horse and gingerly handed Ailith down into her father’s arms, but she wasn’t there for long. She pushed against her sire and ran toward the hill, her hair loose and flowing behind her. Tears covering her cheeks, she ran until she stopped and held her head again.
Lia followed her. Dyna raced after Ailith, and Lia called out, “Dyna, get her to come back here! I’ll help her to understand her visions.”
Dyna caught up with Ailith and wrapped her arms around Ailith’s waist. “Slow down and tell me what you see. We’ll help you. Lia is here to help. This is a formidable faery hill. I can feel the power simmering under the dome of dirt and grass. It is begging to get out but something is stopping it.”
Ailith listened, trying to make sense of what was happening. Her visions changed so quickly that she could barely see what was there for her to interpret, yet she knew she had to. What filled her mind could be key to freeing the poor bairns.
She saw them in a glimpse. A score of bairns held together inside a holding cell, all sleeping. Guards surrounded the cell, carrying various weaponry and shields.
What was happening?
She whirled around to face Edan. “They’re in there. So many of them. And your daughter is in the front with a wee lad, holding hands. They’re both asleep.”
“Milo,” he mumbled.
Catrina caught up. “Is it my son?”
“The lass has red curls, holding a wee lad’s hand with brown hair. They are cuddled together in front of many bairns, all sound asleep. Guards stand before their cage. They’re holding hands like they know each other, like they belong together.”
Catrina fell to her knees, Roger helping her back up. “We know they’re alive, Catrina. You have to think on that.”
She let out a wail as she fell against her brother, one that nearly drove a knife into Ailith’s heart. “My sweet bairn. Oh please help us. Bring my laddie back to me.” She clutched her brother and sobbed into his shoulder, her entire body trembling.
“They’re caged?” Edan asked. “How do we get in? Just tell me, Ailith, and I’ll bring them out.”
Lia said, “Stand back. All of you. I’ll speak with Ailith. You need to listen unless you know how to deal with faeries.”
“I’ll figure it out,” Edan declared. “My daughter is in there!”
“Do you even know how to get inside? She’s the only one who can tell us that. You need to give her a chance to settle. She’s in shock from everything she’s seeing in her mind.” Lia approached the group but jumped back when she nearly ran into Edan. “What in blazes? Who are you?”
“Edan MacRuari. Why do you keep asking me that and no one else?”
“Something about you. Stand back. You carry a power that is unknown, unbidden. Who knows what is affecting her vision?”
“That is preposterous.”
He reached for Ailith, but she held her hands up to him, grabbing her head again. “Nay, I have to see. Please just leave me be. Everyone, leave me alone.”
Lia said, “Dyna, push him back.”
Dyna did as she asked, though Edan stepped back on his own. “Ailith? Is she telling the truth?”
Ailith didn’t know what to think. “Something powerful is nearby, causing problems with the hill. It’s shaking. It’s angry. I have to see why.” Visions of hundreds of blades, blood spilling on the hill, dead bodies, red streams running down the grass, a woman’s scream clouded her mind.
“It’s the hill making it worse. Whatever he carries, the hill is amplifying it through you,” Lia explained.
Maitland approached Ailith and said, “Come with me.” He led her a distance away from Edan. “I’ll help you figure this out. We’ll all help you. Don’t panic, Ailith. Lia will help you too.”
Maitland’s voice calmed her, so she moved with him, surprised that Lia was right. The visions in her head slowed when she walked away from Edan. Or was it because she was walking away from the hill? How she hoped that Edan was not the source of her troubles.
“Maitland, it can’t be so. Edan is not causing my problems, but something is inflaming the hill. Why won’t it open?”
Maitland said, “Close your eyes and see what you see.”
She did, but the vision of the bairns she’d had before was gone.
Instead, she saw a man kneeling in front of an evil creature, holding an infant in his arms. Then the man turned and ran.
And a mountain behind them spewed an odd liquid.
It ran down the side of the mountain, covering it in what looked like blood.
The evil creature shouted, “You’ll regret this, Reginald.
You’ll pay with the blood of your loved ones. ”
“Who is it?” Maitland asked, ushering her farther away from Edan. Her visions disappeared.
She whirled around.
“What happened, Ailith?” Dyna asked.
“Someone was kneeling in front of an evil creature. He had a bairn, but the vision disappeared as I walked away.”
They both turned to stare at Edan.
Lia whispered, “What exactly is he?”
Ailith strode boldly toward him, her gaze locked on his. Slowly she approached, and the closer she came to Edan, the more visions appeared in her mind. “His name is Reginald. The man holds a bairn.” A sharp pain shot through her head and she cried out.
“Nay, don’t go any farther. Please,” Edan cried out, holding his hands up.
Suddenly, the hill opened up and a disfigured man stepped out, and the look on his face was far from friendly. It was the face of someone who had been patient and calculating, one who knew exactly how to force people to do his bidding. The condescension dripped from his pores.
“I’ve waited a long time for this, MacRuari. It’s time for a reckoning.”