Holding me against his chest, he smiled down at me. “It seems we’ve been here before.”
I held him tight, feeling the strength of him steady me. “I’m not letting go this time.”
Lir cleared his throat. “We don’t have much time to make a plan.” He beckoned to us to follow him. The walls of the Labyrinth parted before him, the twists and turns disappearing as he walked. Bres took my hand, linking his fingers with mine. Neither of us said anything, the memories of our time in the Labyrinth swirling around us, almost like flashes from an old movie reel.
This was where it had all started for him and me, where I’d found out that Ashling was Balor’s daughter, where I’d faced my greatest fear. It seemed fitting to be back here now, at what I was sure was the end of the journey.
“Can I save her?” I asked, the words blurting out of me before I even thought to stop them.
Lir paused and waited for us to catch up. His eyes were sad when he looked down at me. “I don’t know, Quinn. I just don’t know.”
“I have something to tell you,” I said then paused, not sure exactly how to say that I had killed his son and stolen his powers. It turned out that I didn’t have to say anything.
“Card was no longer right in his head. If you hadn’t have killed him, he would have killed you, then me, helping Chaos reign. You did what you had to,” Lir said. His voice was a monotone, flat and emotionless.
“I tried not to,” I said, my voice soft. “I tried to get him to stand with me, against her.”
“I know.”
While the walls still dripped with moisture, there was no other sound. All the booby traps and dangers were wiped clean, now that the Fomorii were gone.
The throne room was as I remembered it, minus the gaping pool of shark-infested water I’d had to swim across. There was a throne with tables beside it set up on a dais, and a side alcove that held the tools and instruments for a scribe. Dark, and full of unpleasant memories, it was not a place I would stay if I had a choice. It was funny to think that I’d seen it all before, yet hadn’t really seen it. My focus had been Ashling.
“We have to find a way to get you close to Chaos,” Lir said. “I believe you can beat her, that you can end this destruction —but not if we can’t get her to engage you.”
Bres walked over to the one table in the room and pulled a map out of a cubbyhole I didn’t even know was there. The two men started to discuss strategy and possibilities. They tried to draw me into the conversation, but I avoided it. My mind was wandering and, with it, my feet. Something drew me across the room and I followed the call of whatever it was.
There, tossed in the corner was an obsidian carved box, the lid half hanging off its hinge. Kneeling, I reached out and gingerly lifted the box up. It was heavy, the weight of the stone making it sturdier than it looked at first. There were no carvings, no markings. Just a plain black box.
That was the box we put her in. It held Chaos for so many years.
I ran my finger over the lid. Cora, please don’t leave me now. I need you.
I won’t leave you now, Quinn. This is the end game and I will stand with you.
Tears trickled down my face. I think I can kill Chaos and save Ashling, but...I’m afraid.
Fear is a tool, one that often tells us that what we are doing is the right path. The easy path is the one of least resistance, the one that is all light and goodness.
I trusted my instincts, trusted that what I was going to do. The boys would forgive me. Rising, with the box in one hand, I went to the scribe’s desk. I sat down and looked over at Bres and Lir, they bowed their heads as they tried to find a way to get me to Chaos.
What they didn’t know was that I already had a way. If I was brave enough to see it through.
16
Long into the next day, Bres, Lir and I discussed how we would get close to Chaos. I took part in the conversations, so they wouldn’t guess what I had in mind. If they knew what I was planning they would try to stop me—and I couldn’t have that. Ashling’s life depended on it.
“I still say that we meet her head on in battle, hiding Quinn at the back,” Bres said. “We can move her forward as the battle progresses, rescue Luke and then both of us can flank her.”
Lir shook his head. “It won’t work, Chaos knows that we have to get close and she will keep Luke by her side, using him as her shield.”
It was growing late and I faked a yawn. “I need to sleep. I trust you two to decide the best course.”
I kissed Bres goodnight, then hugged Lir. They went right back to their strategies. I watched them for a minute at the door, trying to take in everything they both were. Turning, I reached out for Cora.
Steady, Quinn. You are doing the right thing. They will understand one day.
As quietly as I could, I made my way back through the straightaway that had once been the Labyrinth. At the end of it, I slipped into the dark pool of water, feeling the cold settle into my bones. A head bobbed up beside me and my Aughisky stared at me.
“Where are you going?” He asked.
“For a swim,” I whispered.
He snorted. “Hmm. Need a ride?”
I smiled and nodded. “Thanks.”
Slipping onto his back, my legs snapped to his sides once more. I clung to him, grateful for the physical company on this last portion of my journey. Any tears I cried were swept away on the current of the ocean as I said my goodbyes in my heart. I’d left letters behind, in the black box that had once been Chaos’ prison, but I still needed to let my heart grieve.
Bres.
Ashling.
Luke.
Darcy and the three Smiths. Don, Fianna, and even Gormley. Each one had played a vital part in bringing me to this point.
Cora.
I am here. I will be here when it is your time to pass, Quinn. I will not leave you to cross over alone.
My heart clenched, then slowly the fear and pain faded. I’d made my decision. I knew that Ashling would be angry, but that was better than the alternative.
Quicker than I had thought possible, we were breaking the surface and nearing the shallows. Slipping from the Aughisky’s back, I put my hand on his nose. “Thank you. I’m glad you didn’t go back to the Smiths, that you are able to be free.”
He chuckled. “Until they come and find us. This isn’t the first time they’ve let us ‘escape.’”
With a splash and a quick flip, the water horse disappeared under the waves and I was left alone treading water in the pre-dawn light. Swimming to shore, I went over my plan once more.
There was still one part that might not work, one vital part. But I had no other option.
As I stood in the shallows I pulled Carnwennan from the scabbard and spun it in my hand so that the blue gem faced outwards, then I slid the sword back into the sheath with care.
The world around me fuzzed as if I were looking through a gauzy curtain. I started to walk, keeping my steps deep enough that I didn’t make any splash that would give me away.
Quinn, I did what I did, so that the prophecy would be fulfilled. That is why your mother went along with bedding both Lir and Balor. She knew that you would need to be strong, so very strong, to face the evil that would rise.
I thought about that a moment. But, if she’d married Wil, and had children with him, there would have been no need for us to be strong. Balor wouldn’t have searched out Chaos to save Ashling. None of this would have happened.
No, you don’t know that, she said, though I heard the doubt in her voice.
I backed off, not wanting to fight with her. It doesn’t really matter now. We must deal with this as it is. I’m not angry at you, Cora, just confused.
She was silent after that, but I could feel her there. She didn’t withdraw, and that was all that I truly wanted: someone to stand with me in these last hours.
The Tuatha camp was visible from a distance, but the guards did nothing as I approached. They couldn’t see me. I placed one hand on the hilt of Carnwennan, the bone warming under my fingertips.
With great care, doing my best not to make a single splash, I made my way onto the beach. My next concern was my footprints. Checking first one way then the other, I hurried up the sand, then pulled on the ocean, using the water to wash away the prints.
Good, that will buy you more time.
I wondered why Cora hadn’t tried to talk me out of this. Of course, all along she’d been encouraging me to follow my instincts, to do what I felt was best, even when it meant jumping out of a helicopter. That memory hit me and I paused. I wanted to savor each moment of my life as best I could, now that it was near the end.
Working my way through the camp, I searched for Luke and Chaos. There was no doubt in my mind that Lir was right, that she would keep Luke close as a bargaining chip, as a way to control me.
In no time, the sun had fully risen. It was hot, more so than any other summer I could remember.
It is Chaos’ doing. She is slowly cooking the world, for nothing more than the sake of wreaking havoc.
Sweat dripped down my face as I worked methodically through the camp, checking every tent for signs of Luke, hoping that maybe, maybe I’d luck out.
What I didn’t expect to find was Darcy.
She was slumped in the corner of a small tent, sobbing. Her fingers clutched the silver ring I’d given her.
“Oh Wil, I’m not a good woman, not anymore.” Her fingers brushed against the polished metal as she spoke. “My babies are going to pay the price for my cowardice. If only I’d been as strong as them, if I’d fought back maybe things would have been different.” Her words echoed my earlier ones and I felt Cora retreat from the truth.
No, don’t leave me! I said. I took one last look at my mother and stepped away from the tent, almost stumbling over Nuadha.
He brushed past me, the dark spot in his eye clearly visible. Pausing, he glared at my mother’s tent. “Oracle, stop your sniveling, at least one of your daughters is worth the time you spent in a man’s bed.”
My fingers clenched and I fought not to take a swing at him. It would do me no favors to break my cover now. But I knew that where Nuadha went, Chaos would be near. As he left my mother’s tent, I followed close on his heels.