There was no need to say “her” name; we all knew Gormley meant Chaos. I would take that chance.
The Fomorii shuffled forward and I tensed as she lifted her claw-tipped hands into the air. “I need to be close to show you.”
It took everything I had not to bolt or strike out as she came within inches. One claw touched Carnwennan. I glared at her.
“This is sword of power, like Excalibur?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Then it has power to lift curse on the Fomorii,” she whispered, her voice full of awe.
I hadn’t thought of that. “I suppose it might.”
She chuckled, “You are not surprised. You know of the curse.”
It seemed best not to try to explain my near death experience and the past battles I’d seen. “Yes, I know of it.”
Gormley grunted. “Okay, I teach you one spell, one magic, and then you try to lift curse.”
Shrugging I agreed. “Trying is not the same as actually doing it.”
“Yes, yes,” she waved a claw in the air. “I understand. You are not Silver hand.”
“She means Nuadha,” Bres said. “The curse has been in force for so long, I didn’t even know that he could break it.” His violet eyes were drawn with worry.
What’s wrong?
He shook his head. Gormley is old. She was at the battle where the curse happened, and she hates Tuatha, more than anything. This is beyond out of character for her. Be on your guard.
I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures, I said.
Gormley lifted her hand again to touch Carnwennan. “So pretty.” She tapped the gem with one claw. “Soul gem. It will capture souls if you know how to use it. That is your lesson.”
I blinked. “That’s it?”
She sat back on her haunches. “Yes, lesson I teach is that there is a spell to trap souls. I don’t know it, but it’s there still the same. Now you try to break the curse.”
“Wait, give me a minute.” I stepped back and took Bres with me. “If I could trap Chaos’ soul, that would free Ashling, wouldn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed with thought. “I don’t know, but it’s a possibility.”
Gormley snapped her claws. “Is not possibility, is truth. Now try to lift curse.”
I shook my head, “That’s not a lesson, which isn’t a fair trade. You said you’d teach me something, not tell me something. That’s a big difference.”
The Fomorii growled. “Fine. I teach you first lesson. How to heal.”
Bres was shaking his head. “She can’t, it isn’t in her, not those abilities.”
She blew a messy raspberry at him, spittle flying through the air. “Stupid, you all are so stupid. There is always a way to heal, just what you are willing to give to make it happen.” Scuttling forward, she put her face into mine. It took everything I had not to flinch.
“You are like your grandfather. You can heal, but every time you do, it will take a piece of your power. When no more power to take, it will take your mind until even that is gone,” she said, her breath rank like old rotting compost.
“Back up, you stink,” I said. Her eyes widened, and then she started to laugh, right in my face. Before I could react, her claws had gripped my head and she put her forehead to mine.
“Here, see what you must do to heal.” A dark wave seemed to roll over me.
In my mind, I could see exactly how I would heal someone, drawing off the actual source of my power, giving that up in order to mend a body. Gormley let me go and I stumbled back, my legs tangling; I fell back onto my butt.
“That’s not what happens to Ashling, is it?” Gods, I hoped not. I’d had her heal me twice. What if I’d caused her to be weaker, to be more susceptible to Chaos?
Gormley snorted and shook her head. “No, the other girl is a natural, first in many, many years. She heals like you kill, with no effort.”
Her view of me, and my abilities, struck me hard. “I don’t want to kill.”
She shrugged. “But still, you do.” Her black eyes bored into me. “Now, lift the curse.”
I got to my feet and brushed off my pants. Cora, a little help here would be fabulous.
My mentor stirred within me. You intend to try and break a curse that is thousands of years old, one that Balor has tried to break thousands of times over and failed? Arrogance will kill you yet, Quinn.
“I’m not being arrogant,” I snapped. “I’m going to try because I said I would.”
Bres’ eyebrows shot up. “You okay?” I waved him off. “Yeah, just trying to work things out.”
Carnwennan came free from the scabbard with a soft, sliding snick. I held my breath as my mind raced. How was I even going to attempt this? Everything I’d done with my powers had been based on instinct and need. I neither needed this curse to be lifted, nor was I in dire straits, being forced to survive.
Closing my eyes, I thought about how Nuadha had held Excalibur high, how it had flashed bright, and then how the curse had taken hold.
The sound of the surf was deafening against the silence as I tried to see what I could do, tried to figure it out. Fomorii were creatures of water, and I, Lir’s daughter, had stolen Card’s power over the water. Maybe that would be enough. I opened my eyes and climbed the dune, then jogged out to the water’s edge.
With a quick thrust I drove Carnwennan into the soft, wet sand, the waves washing up around the blade. I knelt in front of it in the surf and put my hands on the hilt, gripping the bone handle. I thought about my father, about how the powers he, Card and I had were connected to all the water, everywhere.
Fomorii were creatures of the water, born and raised with the ocean. All I could think of was how salt water was cleansing, how it could help a wound heal, and keep infection at bay.
Carnwennan began to glow and I let my power flow through the blade and into the water, through the ocean and through that connection to them into the people of the Fomorii. I could feel each one of them, could sense their living force as if they each stood next to me. Some, though, were afraid; they didn’t want what I was offering. They didn’t want what Gormley wanted.
I shifted the power and gave them the choice. A bright burst of energy spilled out of Carnwennan. I held on, not realizing that I was screaming along with Gormley, who writhed in the waters beside us, her body contorting and twisting as the curse lifted.
With a final burst of light and power, I slumped over the sword. My body felt wrung out.
Bres put one of my arms over his shoulders and helped me to my feet. Without a word, he pulled Carnwennan from the surf and slid it back into my scabbard for me. “Thanks,” I whispered. My throat was sore.
“We’ve got to go. Now.” He was dragging me away, and though I tried to get my legs to work, there wasn’t much I seemed able to do. A sob reached my ears. Someone was crying.“Where is Gormley?”
We half turned to see a wizened old woman, na**d as the day she was born, sitting in the shallows. Her skin hung off in wrinkled folds, but she was smiling. “You did it. You are the Chosen one! This is the prophecy coming to light, bringing our worlds back together!” She wobbled to her feet and, the best her old body would allow, and she began to dance, sending up sprays of water as she kicked and hopped.
There was shouting from Nuadha’s camp, and it was getting closer. “We’ve got to go,” Bres said again. “Gormley, you’d best hide yourself.”
She spun to face us. “Never again, boy.” Lifting one age-spotted hand, she waved to us. “If I die this night, I will die happy, and in my own body.”
I lifted my hand, waving to her as Bres half-dragged me down the beach. I really was trying to move my legs, but they just didn’t seem to get the message.
A snort and a splash off to our side made us spin around. Raising my hand, I prepped a power bolt. Or at least I tried to.
There was nothing left for me to use; I’d drained my powers. I looked anxiously for the source of the sound then hissed, “Bres, I can’t feel my power anymore!” I didn’t try to hide the panic that was filling me. How was I going to face Chaos without any way to defend myself?
“It happens to everyone, daughter.” Lir strode out of the water, the Aughisky at his side. “Only I suspect it is the first time for you. Breaking a curse that old and that powerful would have killed most.”
In two strides, he was at my side, helping Bres carry me out into the water. “Hurry, Chaos has sent her army, and we are not in the best of shape to take it on,” Lir said.
They helped me onto the back of the Aughisky that had brought me to the west coast. “Thank you,” I whispered.
He grunted, tossing his mane. “If you can break one curse, maybe you can break another.” There was a glint in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Hope.
Lir cleared his throat.“No time right now, we must hurry.” The Aughisky began to swim out into the ocean and within minutes, we were well past the breakers. Before I could protest, my legs were sucked hard against the Aughisky’s side, like some sort of magnet had taken hold of them, and he dove under the waves.
Bres’ words of warning whipped through my mind, but a light brightened beside me and I could see Bres on the other water horse with Lir swimming between us. Lir wouldn’t let the Aughisky hurt me, of that I had no doubt. My mind eased on that count. I peered around us, trying to see where we were going.
We dove deep, the waters around us black, strange shapes flickering through our scope of light here and there. The water was cold, but it felt good. We started to slow as we came to a rock formation that was more than a little familiar, one that I never thought I’d see again.
It seemed we were coming full circle. Bres dismounted from the Aughisky and I slid from the back of my mount with ease, floating in the water beside him.
Thank you. I mouthed. The water horse nodded, and butted his head against me.
Swimming was easier than walking, and I made my way to the Labyrinth’s entrance. Once more, Bres pulled me from the water and into the cavern that marked the beginning of the maze.