Chapter 13 #2
I see what looks like a dick carved into the wall. I roll my eyes. Men. Apparently, they stay the same throughout all of history. I keep my eyes on the wall as I make my way around.
A carving of what looks like a raven catches my attention and I stop, leaning closer to the stone. On closer examination, it appears to be a raven in flight, but if I turn my head at just the right angle, it changes into an image of a woman.
“Lach—come here.”
Boots crunch against the onyx chips as he makes his way to me.
“What is it?” He asks holding his torch closer to the wall.
I bend down, distracted by the raven stone that has been pulverized into sand, and collect a handful before dumping it into the leather pouch tied to my side. There wasn’t any of this in the capital when we had mined the stone for the sword.
Lachlan watches me as I grab a few more handfuls, but says nothing about my peculiar action. Standing, I brush the dust off my hand and face the wall again.
“Stand here and look at this raven and then take a step to the side and look at it from this angle,” I order, pushing him into position.
“Ahh, it’s the Morrigan,” he whispers, moving back and forth between the two places.
“Was she a shapeshifter, too?”
“Aye. She works similarly to the Valkyries, choosing the slain and bringing them with her. That’s why some warriors worshipped her as well. But she also has the ability to stir chaos on the battlefield, turning the tide of war. Among other things.”
“Other things?” I ask, still studying the petrifying but beautiful face of the goddess.
“It is believed that the Morrigan created the banshees. And that their wails could not only kill you but far enough away from their screams you would hear prophecies, or the names of the fated to die.”
“Wait, so there are prophecies from her?”
“Aye, I remember seeing a book of her prophecies come in from the cave.”
“There was prophecy carved on the table we brought in, too. Luna thinks it’s about me.”
Lachlan freezes, his eyes narrowing on me. “What did it say?”
“A ruler of two worlds shall rise up and lead.”
Relief settles across his shoulders, lowering them. “Well, that’s already come true.”
Even though his words reflected my own, I’m unsure now. “That’s what I had told Luna. But she said there’s always more to it and that they’re never that short. I just feel like I’m missing something…vital.”
I close my eyes, feeling like I’m missing half the puzzle as I struggle to put the pieces together. Behind my closed eyelids, I see a flash of feathers turn into rippling waves. Back and forth, they flash over and over again.
Feathers, waves.
A soft, lilting voice sings and my mouth drops open. I’ve heard that voice before.
Warmth envelops me and my eyes flash open to see Lachlan’s hand holding my face, staring intently into my eyes.
“Are ye alright?”
“Yes,”—I clear my throat—“I zoned out. Sorry.”
He doesn’t let go, his eyes continue bouncing between mine.
“You’re lying,” he whispers. “What did ye see?”
I inhale sharply through my nose. “A while ago, when you met Evander and I at Badb’s temple, I had zoned out like this and heard a voice calling to me. I think I heard it again. But this time I saw black feathers and waves flitting back and forth.”
A divot forms between his brows as he frowns.
“What does it mean?” I ask softly.
“I dinna ken. We’ll have to ask Luna if she read anything about it when we get back.”
“Should I be worried?” I ask once more, not understanding his hesitancy.
“I wish ye woulda told me about this sooner, Lena.” His tone creeps towards agitation. The use of my name instead of my nickname has me bristling.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t even remember it until right now,” I whisper, twisting my hands together.
Lachlan nods and steps away, going back to checking his side of the room.
We walk in forced silence around the cave, fully inspecting every inch. My stomach growls loudly.
“Let’s make camp here, and we’ll drag the stone inside the cave in the morning. I dinna want to sleep in here with that poison,” Lachlan suggests, and I nod.
“Good idea. I’ll grab our packs from the horses and bring them in here for us to set up camp.”
Lachlan doesn’t respond other than a dip of his head and I get the feeling he’s still upset with me for not telling him about the voice. I stalk from the cave and toward the horses.
He’s mad at me? For keeping one slight incident from him on accident, but he kept my existence from me on purpose?
Seriously.
I’m so lost in my growing frustration that I don’t pay attention to the silence around me, or the plummeting temperature of the medallion pressed against my chest.
The smell of mottled flesh creeps its way up my nose and my muscles seize.
Something hard slams into me from behind, but my scream is cut off by a familiar hand on my mouth.
“Shhh,” Lachlan whispers into my ear.
His hand still covers my mouth, but he snakes his other arm low around my waist as he backs us against the trunk of a tree. Hiding us in the shadows.
My heart beats out of my chest, but I relax into this hold. The adrenaline coursing through my veins narrows my sight.
“Slow your breathing,” he whispers again, feeling my shoulders rise and fall rapidly against him.
He strokes his thumb against my cheek as he slides his hand from my mouth, down my throat, and rests it on my chest.
Howls sweep through the trees all around us and a creature with mottled gray skin and black pits for eyes clambers towards us on four legs.
A demon.
Lachlan releases me. The cold instantly replaces his warmth. He steps around me, placing himself between me and the demon.
His sword whines as it’s drawn from the sheath, and he swings, decapitating a demon as it stalks past us. The mottled skin reminds me of death and the grotesque face is straight from my nightmares.
“What the fuck?” He spits as the head squelches onto the ground, elongated limbs collapse in a heap. “Where did it come from?”
“I don’t know, but there are more. I heard them in the trees,” I pant, resting my hands on my knees and struggling to calm my racing heart.
“How is it possible they can come here, but our bridges aren’t even open?”
Rocks tumble from the side of the mountain, and I glance up to see several demons climbing down. “Do you think they’ve been here all along? Like since the asphidra began impersonating Odessa?”
“Ye think these are the creatures Boudicca said roamed the forests at night?”
I nod my head while swallowing down the bile that burns my throat.
Lachlan watches as the demons advance. “Grab your axe and sword,” he growls. “We’re going hunting.”
I follow Lachlan as quietly as possible through the thick of the forest. He moves like fog on the water, not making a sound. I pick my foot up and glance at the stick I almost stepped on and internally groan.
How is it possible that he’s twice my size and doesn’t make a noise through all the leaves and sticks?
“Lach,” I whisper.
He holds one hand up, palm away from me, and clenches it tightly into a fist. Before crouching down and covering his lips with one finger. From our position, we’re practically invisible in the shadows cast by the large branches of the oak trees.
A demon tramples by and the noise from its careless stomping is loud enough I should have heard it coming. Lachlan eases up silently, but holds a hand out, instructing me to stay.
He takes one step forward and the demon halts, turning its hideous face to the sky and sniffing.
Shit. They can smell us?
But before it can locate us, Lachlan is upon it. With one mighty swing, he cleaves its head from its shoulders.
In slow and controlled steps he walks towards me, only half his face illuminated by the light of the full moon.
He looks wild. Savage.
A glowering brow kissed by the shadows.
His shoulders fall in relief as he steps over the corpse of one less creature to endanger our people. I’m horrified and aroused simultaneously.
When he nods his head toward more leaves crunching. I no longer feel.
A killing calm settles over me.
I will be swift and deadly, everything I was trained to be.
We both move silently as wraiths now towards the crunching sounds.
The demon snarls as it comes around a tree, obviously picking up our scent, but it’s too late.
Swinging my axe in one swift motion, I strike it down, cleaving its head from its body.
It crumples onto the ground and I step over it, heading for the next one.
I feel nothing.
Not relief, or fear, or even anger.
The only thing I can feel is Lachlan’s lingering presence behind me, covering my back.
On and on I move, decapitating demon after demon. My muscles fatigue quicker than I would like with no magic here.
Yet still I move, killing.
Hours pass. Corpses of our enemies litter the forest floor.
The forest falls silent, but alive once more.
With the silence and the first rays of morning light, the killing calm slips, freeing my mind from its grip and the reality of our situation comes crashing down onto me.
Had Lachlan not come out of the cave after me, I wouldn’t have noticed the demons before it was too late.
I was close, mere seconds away from being killed.
Lachlan wipes his blade off on the silver and green moss that grows on some of the tree trunks and I watch him.
My heart pounds almost painfully in my chest. Thankful that we’re both still alive.
Dark spots of demon blood splatter his leathers. His jaw clenches as he works, and the rugged beauty of him enraptures me.
Bugs chirp, and an earthy breeze winds through the trees, washing away the stench of death. The sun crests the horizon as it replaces the moon’s claim on the sky. Its light chases away the shadows, both real and in my mind.
I nearly died.
Died without ever being with him.
His words from earlier ring through me like a note held too long. Tomorrow is not promised.
My breathing quickens, pants slip through my clenched teeth.