The guys waited in the bedroom, each looking a different shade of distraught. I lowered Keira onto the bed, and gently tucked the blankets up around her. I looked over to the fireplace; there was wood set in it. I sent out a small blast of power, and the logs ignited with a low woosh, as a steady flame started to burn.
The feelings running through me were strange, and foreign. Keeping my inside as mysterious as my outside was my default state, which had the side effect of rendering me unable to realize or label my emotions when they did arise. This new sensation, these roiling emotions, they were overwhelming, almost dizzying. Attempting to quell the swirling in my mind, I turned my attention to the other men. “She’s doing better now. We must keep watch over her in shifts, in case there are any remnants.”
“Remnants of what?” Orin asked.
“Any pursuers from the initial attack party, or perhaps, any magical side effects.”
Orin was quick to make an offer. “I’ll watch her first.” He then gave me a most unusual expression. Compassionate, you could say. “You look like you need a moment, Brann.”
“Do I?” I was legitimately surprised. Was my normal calm surface rippling? If a right proper Charlie like Orin could read it, it must be several standard deviations out of the norm.
“He’s spot on, Brann,” Keegan nodded. “You look more flummoxed than knackered, all right.”
“I’ll go back to Keegan’s house with him and pick up our stuff,” Weylyn offered. “It looks like we all might be staying here for a while.”
Keegan nodded, adding “In the meantime, Brann, don’t forget to take care of yourself, all right?”
“Ah, well… thank you,” I stammered, looking away. All this… kindness, I suppose? It was a bit overwhelming to me. It was the fatigue, I had to assume.
“We’ve got a bit of a workout today,” Keegan groaned as he rose from a nearby chair. “I’m going to crash as soon as we get our things.”
“Off we go, then,” Weylyn said, taking a few long strides toward the door. “We’ll be back soon. Orin, do watch our princess carefully, okay?”
“Hey, I’m the one who calls her princess around here,” Orin growled. “But I will. Of course, I will.”
With a nod, Weylyn made his exit, with Keegan close behind. I sighed and took a few steps towards the door. “I... suppose I’ll take my old bedroom.”
“Go right ahead.” Orin pulled a chair closer to the bed. “It’s weird to see you looking like this, but you did get in a fight.”
Right, I thought. Let’s say it’s because of the fight. “Mm-hmm. Good observation. I may have cashed an overdraft of my own inner magic reserves, to avoid disturbing the environment, of course. Thank you for your concern.”
“Oy, mate. We’re all Edna’s boys, innit? Might end up being Keira’s boys, too. We’ve got to look out for each other.” Orin sat down and placed his hand on hers. “See you later.”
Curious. Orin may appear to be excessively concrete-thinking, and a bit of a blockhead, but he does have a good intuition, deep down. The thought put a small smile on my face, as I went into my old room for a much needed rest.
What a royally fucked up night.
Meet the Morrigan
- Keira -
“Keira... Keira...”
I heard a woman’s voice calling to me. Low and far away, muffled, as if it was coming through a fog. At first, I tried ignoring this phantom voice... All I wanted was to sleep in.
But the voice came again and again. No louder than a murmur, and yet traveling across a great void. “Keira... Wake up little bird.”
I grumbled and groaned, as a cool breeze ruffled my hair. Slowly, I blinked into consciousness. My first coherent thought was “Who left the window open? It’s chilly.” But as my mind cleared, I realized I was staring at a perfectly matte black sky, dotted with thousands of bright specks. I was jolted by this flip of reality, and sat up quickly. I was about to call for one of the guys, when I realized I was outside. I heard the sound of waves crashing violently on a shore, and caught the scent of salt water. I saw that I was a couple of yards from the edge of a cliff, and beyond, as I viewed an endless sea. Something about the setting convinced me I was on an island, which means I was nowhere near the house – or my sturdy Praetorian Guards. So it had to be a dream... Didn’t it?
After all the weirdness and fluid reality I’d been experiencing, even if this is a dream, I might as well act like it’s real. Because who knows what’s real or not at all at this point?
I shook the fogginess out of my head and stood up, pulling the hair tie off of my wrist and throwing my hair up in a ponytail as I looked around. I couldn’t see anyone around, so where had that ephemeral voice come from?
“Hello? Who’s there?” Nothing. I looked around, wanting to explore my surroundings, but in this deep darkness, I ended up stumbling over some stones. I’d never been scared of a lot of things, but being alone in complete darkness definitely did not make me feel badass.
Thankfully, I heard that mysterious feminine voice again, from somewhere off to the right. “This way, Keira.”
I walked toward the voice. Just as my confidence began to wane, I heard it again. “Keira...” Directly ahead of
