The Shadowmagic Trilogy

Fergal freaked. He screamed, ‘No!’ and tried to stand.

Mom reached through the fire and grabbed him by the collar. ‘It is dangerous to leave before we are done.’ Her voice meant business.

‘Please,’ Fergal cried. His face was soaked with tears. ‘Don’t make me watch this.’

‘I don’t want to see any more either, Fergal, but we must. The Shadowmagic would crush us if we broke the casting. We are almost finished.’

I wasn’t sure if I was allowed or not, but I had to go to him. I got up and sat next to Fergal and put my arm around him. Araf did the same on the other side and Essa held him from behind. Sobs racked Fergal as, together, we watched to the end.

In the vision we saw Cialtie pick up an oil lamp and walk to the entrance of the tent, then without emotion he smashed the lamp on the ground. He turned and exited, leaving the tent aflame. Breithe came to before the flames reached her. I wish I had met her – she must have been a remarkable woman. When she saw what had happened to Mná, she allowed herself only a second of horror – then she pulled a knife from her sock, jumped on the bed to avoid the flames, and went to work. Breithe performed a Caesarean section. She made a careful incision in Mná’s midriff and gently removed Fergal from his dead mother’s body. Just as swiftly, she tied off the umbilical cord, cut through the side of the tent and escaped into the night – leaving the evidence of Fergal’s birth to burn behind her.

‘It is done,’ Deirdre said, her shoulders slumping with exhaustion.

Fergal collapsed, shaking, on Araf’s lap. He was beyond weeping, he was, as the Irish say, keening. A soft, constant wail came from his throat. There was nothing to say. What could I say? I remembered a friend who was adopted who had hired a detective to find her real mother. She told me that all of her life she had dreamt that her real parents were some sort of aristocracy and she was really a princess. She told me how much it hurt when she found that her mother was just a poor, uneducated woman who had tried to forget her. I saw how much pain that caused her; I couldn’t imagine what Fergal was going through.

Fand left to prepare a sleeping draught. We got Fergal to his feet and by the time we arrived at our room he was amazingly calm. Araf and I offered to help him get ready for bed, but he shooed us away. He said he wanted to just lie and think, and he promised he would take the sleeping draught in a little while.

Outside, a voice came out of the dark. ‘How is he?’ It was Essa.

‘Who knows? I’m freaked out after seeing that stuff,’ I said. ‘Fergal won’t get over this in a hurry.’

Essa nodded. ‘I too won’t be able to sleep. Would you like to walk for a bit?’

‘Go on,’ Araf said, ‘I will keep watch here until Fergal sleeps.’

The night had gotten so dark, walking was actually dangerous. The first thing I did was trip over a small boulder.

‘Are you alright?’ Essa said, with a tone that sounded like real concern.

‘Ow, I hurt my leg, but hey, I only need it for walking.’

‘Let me have a look,’ she said as she crouched down.

‘How are you going to look? If there was any light around here I wouldn’t have smashed into the damn rock.’

Essa turned her palms face up in front of her and closed her eyes and whispered, ‘Lampróg.’

A light twinkled in the distance and came at us, and as it got closer I actually had to shield my eyes. It was one of those nuclear-powered fireflies. Another came from behind me. They landed on Essa’s fingers as she looked at my bruised shin. ‘It’s only a little bump, you baby.’

‘Hey, you’re the one that’s making the big deal out of it. I just said I hurt my leg. You’re the one who went all Florence Nightingale on me.’

‘Florence who?’

‘Never mind, why don’t we just sit here for a while.’

She sat opposite me, cross-legged. A firefly landed on each knee, she whispered to them and they dimmed.

‘Can you teach me the firefly trick, or is it a chick thing?’

‘I don’t know what a chick thing is but you have to be a bit of a sorcerer to do it. Since Deirdre is your mother, I think you could be taught.’

She smiled at me, her face bathed in firefly light. She was beautiful and I desperately wanted to kiss her, but the last time I kissed her – she decked me.

Like she was reading my mind, she said, ‘I’m sorry I hit you back there in the Reedlands.’

‘Don’t worry about it. It was a learning experience. Next time I’m in a life-or-death situation with a beautiful woman – I’ll ask before I kiss her.’

‘I didn’t hit you because of the kiss. I hit you because you sounded like you were giving up.’

‘So you liked the kiss then?’

‘I didn’t say that,’ she said, smiling a Mona Lisa-like smile that I couldn’t quite read.

I returned her smile with a swashbuckling grin. ‘Let me put it this way – if I were to kiss you now, would you punch my lights out again?’

‘I’m not sure, that is just the chance you will have to take.’

I looked deep into her eyes. I had to make sure I was reading this right. The girl packed a serious punch and I had had enough concussions for a week – hell, for a lifetime. I held her gaze and her eyes gave it away. She wasn’t looking for a fight. I was sure of it. At least, I think I was. If I got this wrong, I decided I was going to become a monk.

I leaned in and so did she. There is nothing like a first kiss. When I was a kid I remembered complaining about how slow the first kiss scenes in the movies were – now I know that that’s exactly what they are like. Seconds take forever and the anticipation is exquisite.

So what was that first kiss with Essa like? I didn’t find out. Araf came bounding up to us, shouting our names in the dark. We were both on our feet in a second.

‘Araf, what is it?’

‘Fergal’s gone,’ he said, ‘and he has taken your sword.’

TWENTY-ONE

AUNT NIEVE

‘Where could he have gone?’ Essa asked.

Araf shrugged.

‘I know where he’s gone,’ I said. ‘He’s going to kill Cialtie.’

‘That’s madness!’ Essa said.

‘I don’t think Fergal is thinking all that straight at the moment.’

‘I’ll head south,’ Araf said. ‘He might try to get out the way we came in. May I borrow a firefly?’

Essa mumbled. One of her fireflies danced into Araf’s hand and he was off.

‘I’ll talk to the Fili and see if they can help,’ Essa said, and ran off, leaving me alone and in pitch darkness.

‘Hey!’ I shouted into the black. I couldn’t see a thing and I had no idea where I was, so I did something I had always wished I could do. I shouted – ‘MOM!’

Deirdre was there within the minute. ‘Are you alright?’

‘I’m lost and can’t see a damn thing.’

Deirdre spoke quickly to a nearby tree and picked up a pinecone. She smeared it with a bit of sap and ignited it. When she handed it to me I was half expecting to be burnt, but the Shadowfire felt of nothing.

‘Fergal is missing and he took my sword. I think he is trying to get to Castle Duir.’

‘Oh my gods! He will never get past the blackthorns.’

‘Will they hurt him?’

‘They will kill him if he tries to cut through.’

‘You have got to stop them.’

Mom whipped out her wand and touched it to the ground. A small plant pushed through the grass. Mom touched it with a finger. After what seemed like an eternity, she stood.

‘He’s this way,’ she said, pointing west.

‘Is he OK?’

‘I don’t know. He is contained. We had better hurry.’

We found him in the same area where Dad and I found the Pooka. Unlike the Pooka, Fergal wasn’t on the other side of the blackthorns, but then again he wasn’t on this side either. He was in the thorn wall. He had tried to climb the thorns at the same time that Deirdre had spoken to them. Instead of stabbing him, the thorns encircled him. He was off the ground and trussed up like a smoked ham in an Italian supermarket. It must have hurt like hell. The only thing he could move was his head. And let me tell you – he was not happy about it. He was beyond words, thrashing his head, cursing and ranting with sounds that were before language, like a high-pitched mad dog. His mouth was foaming to match.

Mom took some sap out of her satchel and spoke to a nearby tree, then threw the sap into the air. The top of the tree exploded into flame and light – Shadowfire.

‘Fand will be here in a few minutes,’ she said.

‘Can you let him out?’

‘I think we should wait till he calms down. Fand will have something.’

‘Can I climb up to him without the thorns perforating me?’

Mom placed her hands on the thorn wall and said, ‘Go ahead.’

The spikes turned away from me as I climbed. Fergal was still raving when I reached his eye level. He noticed me and his head whipped in my direction – there was murder in his eyes. Mom was right – if we had let him go, I think he would have attacked us. His mind had snapped.

Fand and some other Fili appeared out of the darkness. They had run without any lights – amazing. Upon seeing Fergal, Fand put away the vial she was holding and took out some greenish sap. She lifted the cuff of Fergal’s trousers and rubbed the stuff on his skin. Fergal snarled at her but then started to relax. Mom released him enough for me to get a hold of his shirt and lower him down to the throng of waiting Fili hands. Fergal winced but didn’t fight. I jumped down, and the blackthorns creaked back to their original position. Fand sat Fergal up. She was just about to give him something that would knock him out when he opened his eyes and saw me.

‘Conor?’ he said. The mad dog that had taken over his face was gone. He was Fergal again, without the smile.

‘I’m here, Fergal.’

‘He’s my father,’ he said. His voiced quivered and his eyes welled with tears.

‘Yes,’ I said. What else could I say? It’s OK, Fergal, don’t worry about it? That would be a lie. One thing this was not – was OK.

‘Oh, Conor.’ He sounded like he was five years old. ‘He killed my mother.’

I put my arms around him. His head shook on my shoulder with silent sobs, his warm tears fell down my neck. I don’t know how long we stayed like this but when I looked up, everyone else was there: Essa, Araf and my father. Dad leaned down and stroked Fergal’s hair.

‘Nephew,’ he said. Fergal looked up, confused. Dad smiled at him. ‘That’s right, I am your uncle.’ He wiped some of the tears from Fergal’s cheek. ‘Listen to me, Fergal, I know what it is like to lose all and I know despair, but I promise you – it will get a little better every day. I know you feel as if you can’t go on, but it will be better tomorrow and the next day. The pain will never go, but it will get easier. You can do it. You are a son of Duir.’

I saw hope enter Fergal’s eyes. I loved and admired my father at that moment more than I ever had.

Then Fergal’s eyes went dark again. ‘What about Cialtie?’ he hissed.

‘He will be dealt with soon,’ Dad said, ‘but we must not seek revenge. Revenge is an evil motive that corrupts the soul.’ Dad grabbed Fergal under his arm and helped him to his feet. He looked his nephew in the eyes, and then looked at me. ‘We shall seek justice.’

Fergal wanted to walk back to the village but Fand wouldn’t hear of it. He didn’t fight. He drank what she gave him and the Fili carried him unconscious on a stretcher. I was a bit jealous – I could have used a lift myself.

I didn’t fall asleep as fast as I thought I would. One reason was the lump I was sleeping on – I had stashed the Lawnmower under my mattress. I didn’t think Fergal would run off, but if he did, I didn’t want to lose my sword again. The other reason I didn’t drop off was because I was afraid to. This was my first undrugged night in the Fililands, I could sense the power in the place and I had a feeling the dreams here were going to be intense – I was right.

This dream was big. It was a full-blown battle. I watched from the ramparts as Castle Duir was under attack from an army made up of not just Leprechauns and Imps but all manner of beings. The odd thing was that the soldiers around me weren’t even looking at the invading army. At first I thought they couldn’t see them, but then I realised that they just didn’t see this attack as a threat. They knew something I did not.

Cialtie showed up with a big red button, like you would see in a crappy movie about a nuclear war. He smiled as he pressed it. I tried to stop him but like all good nightmares, I was moving in slow motion. I reached the edge of the wall in time to see a golden shockwave hit the first group of attackers. To my horror I knew them all: first was my mother and then my father, followed by everyone I had ever known, even Sally was there looking at her watch wondering why I was late for the movie. I saw the flesh being torn from their bones. I was forced to watch the pain and horror of every person I had known and loved, die – die slowly. The guards on the tower didn’t even notice what was happening. Cialtie walked away, whistling. The guards only noticed me when I tried to attack my uncle. They grabbed me and threw me over the wall. I awoke screaming on the floor.

Dad was the only person up in the breakfast room. He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Dreams?’

‘Yeah,’ I replied, ‘intense.’

‘Me too. When I left The Land I missed the dreams terribly, but I forgot what the nightmares were like.’

We swapped dreams. His was much more vague than mine but we suspected they were both similar. Dad thought we should talk to Nieve about it.

‘How can you trust her?’ I asked. ‘She tried to kill me – twice!’

‘That’s one of the reasons I know I can trust her.’

‘Huh?’

‘Look, Nieve is my sister and I love her. I know it caused her much pain to try to kill you, but she did it for the good of The Land. She places duty above all else.’

‘So why isn’t she stabbing me in the back as we speak?’

‘Your mother and I have a plan, and the Shadowrunes have told us it might work.’

‘I thought Aunt Nieve didn’t believe in this Shadowmagic stuff.’

‘She’s coming around.’

‘So, Pop, what’s the plan?’

‘Cialtie is using my hand, that’s how he got the Duir Rune.’

‘What, you think he carried your hand through the Choosing?’

‘More probably he got someone else to do it, but yes, he practically admitted it when we were in the dungeon, remember?’

It took me a second to think back that far. ‘I do.’

‘Well, that proves my hand is still working, and your mother thinks she can reattach it.’ He flashed a cheeky grin worthy of Fergal’s uncle.

‘You’re joking.’

‘No, she definitely thinks it can be done and so does Nieve. There are just a few difficulties.’

‘Like what?’

‘We have to break into Castle Duir, find my old hand and perform an unauthorised Choosing ceremony in the Hall of Runes.’

‘That doesn’t sound easy.’

‘It is not.’

‘How are you going to do it?’

‘That I haven’t figured out yet, but we have time.’

‘Can we take Cialtie out at the same time?’

‘Getting in and out of the castle and reattaching my hand will be hard enough without adding assassination to the plan. One thing at a time, Conor. If I get my hand back, the Runelords will follow me. Then we deal with my brother.’ He looked away, trying to contain his hate. Despite what he said to Fergal, revenge was an emotion he was struggling with too.

Fand came to the door and said, ‘Our Pooka guest is awake.’

‘Will he live?’ Dad asked.

‘No,’ Fand replied. I could feel the compassion and pain in her voice. ‘He has asked to see Deirdre.’

‘Deirdre?’ Dad said in surprise.

‘Yes, she is on her way.’

She led us to the room of healing. The Pooka we had brought through the blackthorn wall was propped up in bed. The last time I had seen him he had been covered with blood – the Fili had cleaned him up but he looked bad. His skin had no colour and his lips were blue. Fand was right, he wasn’t going to last very long. Mom arrived right behind us.

‘Do you recognise him?’ Dad asked.

‘No. Poor thing.’

Mom went to the Pooka’s side and held his hand. What life there was left in him sparkled in his eyes when he saw her. ‘Are you Deirdre the Shadowwitch?’ he said in a high, pathetic voice.

I thought for a second that Mom was going to be insulted by that question, but she simply replied, ‘I am.’

‘I was sent by Lorcan.’ I could hardly hear him. He was using every ounce of his strength to speak, maybe even his last ounce of strength. ‘We need your help.’

His voice became so faint that Mom had to lean in and turn her ear to his mouth. From the expression on her face I could tell it wasn’t good news. She took a tiny piece of gold out of her pocket and placed it in the Pooka’s mouth. He instantly changed into a wolf again. Mom stepped back – so did I, and I was on the other side of the room. He let loose a mournful howl and died – then changed back into a man.

‘What did he say?’ Dad asked.

Mom covered the Pooka with a sheet, and faced us. ‘He said Cialtie is going to kill us all.’

TWENTY-TWO

THE ARMY OF THE RED HAND

‘Before he died,’ Deirdre began, ‘the Pooka told me that Cialtie had the power to destroy all of The Land.’ We were back in the breakfast room. Everyone was there except Fergal, who was still asleep.

‘Do you believe him?’ Essa asked.

‘I do. He also said that Lorcan needed my help, immediately. But I don’t know where Lorcan is or how I can help.’

Araf, Essa and I looked at each other, but Dad looked at me with one of those Dad looks. I was going to have to break my solemn vow. I opened my mouth and waited for the lightning bolt to hit me. ‘Lorcan has an army of Leprechauns and Imps,’ I said, with resignation in my voice. ‘They call themselves the Army of the Red Hand and they’re in the Hazellands. They are planning to attack Cialtie. Just don’t tell Lorcan the Leprechaun I told you. I don’t want that guy mad at me, he’s mean when he’s angry.’

‘I don’t think he will mind you telling,’ Dad said, holding up his handless arm, ‘after all, he named his army after me.’ Dad stood and put on his serious face. ‘It has begun. I knew it would, I had just not expected it to be so soon. I fear we are going to war with Castle Duir. Deirdre and I shall leave to join Lorcan’s army immediately. This fight is ours and I will not force anyone to come. If you choose to go home, I will not think any less of you.’

Fand was first to speak. ‘Neither I nor the Fili will go into battle with you. The memory of the last battle of Castle Duir is still with us. However, I support you. Remember, the freedom of the Fililands is yours. There is always refuge here for you.’

Dad bowed low – the bow of a king to a queen.

‘I am with you,’ Araf said, standing. ‘This battle is not only yours. I would have joined my fellow Imps even if you had not returned.’

‘I am with you, and so is my father,’ Essa said as she got to her feet.

‘You can speak for Gerard?’ Mom asked.

‘I can. At this moment he is making his way to meet with Lorcan.’

‘How do you know this?’ Mom asked, her eyes narrowing a bit.

Essa reached in her satchel and produced a sheet of gold framed in dark wood. It looked like an old school slate to me. Everyone else gasped in awe.

‘Is that an Emain slate?’ Araf asked with awe in his voice.

‘It is. My father has its twin.’

‘What’s so special about this?’ I said, picking it up and casually looking at it.

My father snatched the slate from my hand and gave me a look like I had just scribbled on the wall with a crayon.

‘That is probably the most expensive item you have ever held. I imagine it took a roomful of gold to set the spell onto this slate.’ Dad placed it gingerly back in front of Essa.

‘Sooorry. What does it do?’

‘Whatever is written on this slate appears on its twin slate, no matter where it is.’

‘Cool, like magic email.’

Everyone as usual looked confused. Dad rolled his eyes but nodded yes.

‘Gerard seems to have all of the cool stuff,’ I said. ‘Your dad is like a Tir-na-Nogian James Bond.’

‘Who?’ Essa said.

That was one of the many times I wished I was back in the Real World, just so people would get my jokes.

‘Essa, would you send a message to your father for me?’ Dad asked.

Essa nodded yes.

Dad turned to his sister. ‘Nieve – sister, are you with us?’

Nieve was looking down at the table. When she looked up I could swear she was close to tears. ‘I remember you both as babies. I played with you and Cialtie when you were infants. Now you want me to choose between brothers and go to war with my home.’ She paused. ‘The decision is difficult but I have made difficult decisions before. Choosing to attack you, Conor, was the hardest, and now it seems it may not have been the right thing to do.’ She stared at her hands for a moment and then slapped them on the table. ‘I can no longer blindly follow the prophecies of the past. I must be guided by my heart and mind. Cialtie must be stopped.’ She stood. ‘I am with you, Lord Oisin.’

Dad’s eyes were shining when he bowed to her.

‘Well,’ I said, ‘I think I’m just gonna stay here and work on my tan.’

Everyone looked at me, completely stunned.

‘Hey, I’m kidding, for crying out loud. Of course I am in. Mom, Pop, I’m sticking with you.’

‘Thank you all,’ Dad said. ‘May the gods be with us. We leave at dusk.’

‘Great,’ came a voice from the doorway. It was Fergal. ‘Where are we going?’

We waited until it was pitch black before we left the Fililands. The arrow that we found in the Pooka was a Banshee arrow and we didn’t want to tangle with those guys again. The only light came from the tiniest sliver of a moon. Sorley, our Fili guide, led the way. I swear the Fili can see in the dark. The horses had ribbons in their tails that Fand said were visible in the dark only to horses’ eyes. It must have worked. Acorn was perfectly happy to follow behind Essa’s horse.

We didn’t stop until the sun came up. I was beginning to realise that here in The Land I was capable of feats of stamina that would have been impossible back in the Real World. Still, I welcomed the break. It was the first time I had a chance to talk to Fergal since our journey began. Mom, Dad and I had all spoken with him before we left, and we were surprised at how sane he seemed. We all agreed it was probably an act and that deep down he was a seething mess. There was talk of leaving him with the Fili but Dad said he had as much right to see this through as the rest of us. Fergal promised he would do as he was told. By the time we left, his smile was almost convincing.

He was sitting on a rock eating a packed lunch the Fili had made for us.

‘How you doing, cuz?’ I said.

‘I wish people would stop asking me that.’

‘It’s a rule – when someone freaks out like you did yesterday, you have to ask him how he is. So how are you?’

‘I’m alright.’

I looked at him.

‘I really am,’ he said. ‘OK, when I start thinking about it I feel myself tensing up and going crazy, but then I take a few deep breaths and clear my mind, like the Imps taught me to do, then I can go on.’