Page 10 of Fence

5

Fence

“It would be so much easierif we could just shift.”

“If you don’t stop harping on that…”

“I know,” Gate grumbled as he hiked behind me. “I’m just saying.”

I shook my head. “Yes. I know. It would be easier to make it to the mountain if we could shift and fly through the storm. We’d be there in no time at all. Would that we could—I’ve never been overly fond of hiking.”

Especially in the rain. And not just rain, either. Pouring rain. Big, fat raindrops. I wasn’t overly fond of rain, either. Especially while hiking, when there was little chance of finding shelter until we made it to the mountain.

I could see it up ahead, and just having it in my sight brought back a flood of memories I hadn’t visited in ages. When I first learned to fly, and I’d circled that arrowhead-shaped peak, I’d felt like I was on top of the world, literally. I’d felt as though I couldn’t be any higher than that. The rush of pride had made my chest puff out. I hadn’t known my father was watching from a distance until I’d heard his good-natured laugh.

I was so sure I’d never come back here. I had no reason to, after all, not until the heartbeats went away. I’d been unhappy when we were assigned our mission. It had meant leaving the only home I’d ever known. And it had taken a long time to accustom myself to our new home, too.

It wasn’t until roughly a century after that long journey across the ocean that I’d finally stopped thinking of Saighead Uaine as the place where I belonged.

The woods were still the woods, however. Some things never changed. I knew better than to expect the area around the mountains to be built up—the land had been enchanted from the early days, ensuring humans never settled too close. Even so, we’d had our close calls. Hunters, mostly.

Times were different back then. People had respect for that which they didn’t understand. They only knew a clan made their home in the big mountain and gave us space. There were always stories in the town about our mysterious doings, and we never bothered silencing those stories when we went down for supplies. Those stories were what kept us isolated.

I wondered if the stories still existed, or if there were other ways of keeping people out of the clan’s space.

“Here we are.” Miles turned to me with a disbelieving smile. “I can’t believe it.”

I caught up to him and found what he was talking about.

We’d reached the clearing.

There was Saighead Uaine, just the way I remembered it. And the semi-circle of stones in front, where the old ones had performed rituals which were considered ancient, even in those times.

Without saying a word to my brother or cousin, I walked up to one of the stones and touched my palm to it. It was warm, though there was no sun.

“It looks the same. It’s hardly changed at all.”

Gate turned in a slow circle, mouth half-open in surprise. “I had expected… I don’t know what. Something different. Something to show the passing of time.”

“The stones have worn down,” I pointed out. Though, not nearly as much as I’d expected. I’d thought we’d find little stumps in the ground, something to stumble over. The enchantment must’ve had something to do with it.

It took a moment for me to remember why we were here. It wasn’t to reminisce or marvel at how little it had changed.

The mouth of the cave was dark, foreboding. Or perhaps that was my imagination working overtime.

I walked toward it, feeling as though it were drawing me in. For what purpose? To reveal its secrets, of course.

“We need to be careful,” Miles announced, as though it needed to be spoken aloud.

I didn’t bother answering, focusing my attention inside the dark cave. Something was in there, waiting for us. No, for me. Waiting for me. My dragon felt it, prowled around inside my head and ran its claws along the inside of my skull. There was no ignoring it, though I wished I understood its frenzy.

I kept my ears tuned for any sudden noises as I flipped on my flashlight. Its beam was soon joined by two others as the three of us made our way down the dark, empty tunnel. “I wonder how much further we have to go before we reach a fuse box or generator or something,” Gate mused.

I did my best to remember the length of the walk to the interior of the cave, where we’d once lived. Things had more than likely changed by now, but I recalled a large, round room between the entrance and then, our living quarters.

The elders would meet in the large room to discuss clan business. It wasn’t more than three minutes’ walk from the outside. When the tunnel widened, I knew we’d found it.

“Still here. I wonder if they use it for meetings,” I murmured, looking around before focusing my flashlight further down the tunnel. If we had made it this far, it wouldn’t be long before we hit something worthwhile.

---