Page 72 of Broken Veil
“Know this, daughter of two worlds, if there was ever a riper time for the Morrígan to take over your world, I have not seen it,” Angus said. “She aims to break the gates, let the old gods rise in power again, and assert her sovereignty over a land that onceworshippedher.”
Carys finally met Angus’s eyes, and her heart began to race. “I can’t stop her. You said it yourself—I’m not a warrior.”
“No, but part of you is.” Angus lowered his head to look into Carys’s eyes. “Light, dark, and beast. Like the goddess you face, you are also three, but you don’t seem to know it. Haven’t you heard her yet?”
A shiver creeped down her spine. “Heard who?”
“You know who I mean.”
Break the enchantment.A voice on the battlefield, whispering in her mind. You end the battle.
Ogwen Valley.
“Ogwen Valley.” Why had she shouted Ogwen Valley? What did it mean? “What is Ogwen Valley?”
“Ask your dragon, young hero.”
“Are you saying…” Carys shook her head because the possibility was too much. Too confusing. Too… impossible. “Are you saying that Seren?—”
“You and your sister were the gifts of a powerful goddess to one of her most devoted acolytes. Your mother was so beloved by Epona that she granted Tegan the gift of creatinglife.” Angus shook his head. “Do you really think Epona would simply let your Shadowkin die?”
Carys’s heart raced. Tears started to fall down her cheeks. “What are you telling me?”
Angus’s voice took on an unearthly timbre. “There are worlds, pocket worlds, shadow worlds, and underworlds.”
“Pocket worlds?” Carys looked around the strange unearthly cave that seemed to come and go from nowhere.
“There are realms of the old fae and the new, of demigods and demons. Before all this is over, you will have to learn how to walk between them.”
Her stomach dropped. “I can’t do that.”
“Don’t be foolish, child.” He put a hand on her back. “You were born to do that. If you couldn’t, you would have drowned moments after I pushed you into the pool.”
“But you knew I wasn’t going to, right?”
Angus shrugged. Then, without another word, he pushed her back into the water, and Carys was falling again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
She surfaced with a gasp to two hands reaching for her own as Laura and Duncan pulled her up and out of the water.
“Seren is alive!” The words burst from her mouth. “Seren is alive!”
She blinked the water from her eyes and saw Duncan fall back, his face pale as the moon, his eyes wide and dark.
Laura shouted, “What?”
The clip-clop of Angus’s cloven hooves sounded on the stones, and Carys turned to see him emerging from behind the waterfall. “I didn’t say that.”
“You did,” Carys sputtered. “You said?—”
“I said she was in another realm, Carys Morgan.” Angus clip-clopped over to Duncan and stared down at him. “She needs a guide on this journey. I won’t be able to work at the forge for a while.”
Duncan was still sitting on the ground, his elbows braced on his knees and his eyes staring into the distance. “Do you really think I care about the forge right now?”
“Perhaps not, but it would be irresponsible to not give you notice.” Angus threw a twisted grey wrap over his shoulders. “Now what have you to offer me, Tegan’s daughter?”
Carys reached out her hand, and Laura helped her to her feet. “What do I… I already gave you the milk.”
