Page 91 of A Celtic Memory
“Come.” She took his hand. “It’s our turn to do our part before we really do our part.”
He nodded, and they headed over the drawbridge, walking rather than riding their horses as it was best to connect with the land. Grass and trees. All wildlife. Even the ocean. Rather than question or doubt her, Cian remained by her side when she crouched in the field where she’d stood in her dream, clenched the soil, closed her eyes, and chanted in a language only they understood.
A very old language that called forth ancient magic.
She felt his hand rest on her shoulder. Felt his incredible love fill her. Their child’s love. Hope for the future. Ireland. For all lands beyond. She felt the pulse that stemmed out from them, covering their kingdom. Protecting it in a way his brothers’ kingdoms weren’t yet protected.
When she opened her eyes, it was to more animals than she could count standing at the forest’s edge. Animals who had come to her aid before, plus many more.
“B'fhéidir nach mbeidh tú ag teastáil mo cairde,” she whispered. “May you not be needed, my friends.”
Yet she knew each and every one would give their lives to protect her and through her Cian and their people. Something she made clear to their warriors when they returned. No matter what happened or who they fought, no animals were to be killed. To do that would be to shun the gods, and allwouldbe lost.
Cian joined her on the wall walk that overlooked both the drawbridge and courtyard and eyed the sky. How the sun splintered through retreating storm clouds. “It won’t be long now.” He perked a brow at her. “Do you think what we did will work? Whatyoudid?”
“We.” She nodded. “And I do.”
When their gazes connected, she knew he wanted to pull her into his arms, to kiss her one last time, but refrained. Now wasn’t the time for romance but to stand strong. Be the example their people needed to see. As it was, they were unsettled the gates had been left open, and the portcullis raised, but it was the only way. They needed to remain open to all around them. From the smallest insect to the mightiest tree. All mattered. Every last living organism, creature, animal, and plant.
She was about to say more when she felt it. A shift she couldn’t quite explain. A ripple in the air. “They’re coming.” She felt out where they stood. “This is wrong. We need to be down there.”
She raced down to the courtyard and skidded to a halt at the gates, where she could see both incoming portals from ground level. “Chant what I chant, Cian. Be part of my magic because I need your strength. The love between us.”
So he did when she raised her palms in either direction and chanted. Called on the magic she had just planted in the field. Called on Mother Nature to come to her aid.Theiraid.
Fortunately, it did.
And what a sight to behold.
When the air above the field wavered, creating the first of two enemy portals, and men leapt through, a harsh wind roared over the land, and trees bent. Leaves whipped off and sliced through the portal as the land beneath it undulated and thrashed the magical opening from underneath. The wavering air sputtered and grew smaller. So small that when the ocean tossed a great gush of water at it, it snapped away into nothing.
In the meantime, animals attacked those who had slipped through before they had a chance to make it to the drawbridge. Bears. Wolves. All sorts.
And it was brutal.
All the while, no arrows were shot from their side. All heeded her words.
So she refocused her attention on the courtyard portal and kept chanting. Reciting words that came to her out of nowhere. That came from magic that had been here long before her.
Though considerably smaller, the other portal was much stronger. But then, Siobhán tried to enter through this one. She could already see her wavering in the air. See the shock on her face that Madison was there fighting back.
“That’s right, bitch,” she ground out, edging closer like she had on the wall walk just yesterday.
Only now, she wasn’t afraid.
Not in the least.
Instead, she was raging mad. “Let’s see if you can hurt me now.”
She lost sense of time and space when she and Siobhán went head to head through highly charged, shimmering air. It felt like static electricity raced over her as their magic slammed against each other. Fought and flailed. As they beat at one another's power for all they were worth
Cian couldn’t get close if he wanted to because this wasn’t his kind of magic.
Sometimes Siobhán pushed her back a few steps. Sometimes, she pushed the enemy back until she simply got sick of her opponent’s stubbornness. This time, Madison would be sending Siobhán scrambling, not the other way around.
“Enough,” she finally bellowed with all the power of King’s Roar behind her. “I banish you from this land and these people.”
With that, she thrust out her hands.
