The creature seizes the opportunity to run away and does so speedily. It disappears into the night and is met with yelps and cheers by her brethren, nearby.
Hopefully, they won't come back...
Thorun rolls over, thudding onto the ground; it becomes quickly evident that if the group wants to sleep elsewhere, they will have to either carry him or convince him to get up.
Daire waves at the departing creature.
He then looks down at Thorun, then seeks a blanket to put over the huge man.
"I think we are staying here for the rest of the night.", he says with a slight grin.
The rest of the night is uneventful, if not for the constant yelping in the distance, which constantly breaks their sleep. The fairies seem to be at times arguing, at times cheering and sometimes simply being a nuisance. In any case, morning comes and, with it, comforting quiet. They are tired and worn, but undoubtedly happy to be on their way.
They head south towards Trinity Well, up and around rolling hills. The light is dull and grey, and grass is dead and dry, and nothing of any of this reminds them of home... Their voyage leads them near Armagh. In their world, it is a place of great power and importance, a place of pilgrimage and prosperity. Here, there is nothing. Nothing to speak to the magnificence of God and His church.
Sister Cobhlaith sighs.
By then, the sun is setting anew. This is as good a place as any to set camp, and they come upon a perfect spot with cover behind large boulders – an easily defendable position that will permit them to build a proper fire.
"Pray with me," Sister Cobhlaith invites them all. But it is a silent prayer. A short prayer. Nevertheless, they all feel the Holy Light of God flowing through her unto them, cleansing their souls and healing their mortal wounds, reminding them that there is a whole world, up there somewhere, waiting for them to return.
She only barely whispers, "Amen," before opening her eyes and turning her attention to Thorun. She invites him to stay with her while the others tend to camp.
"Call upon Him. Pray to Him. And He will look upon you as his child, with great love and forgiveness," she urges the Dane, now her friend.
"You know I think this is the first time and likely the last that I'll ever say this but... I miss the kitchen." Aoife said sadly as they walked. "I feels like years since we've been home but it isn't even near that."
"We've had no real time to rest, and this place is set on killing us..." She pointed out as they settled in to their new camping spot. "Will it ever be over? Or will it end only with our own deaths?" Aoife muttered to herself. It seems she had been thinking the whole way here. "There better be something at the end of this... I'll not have friends bleed any more for nothing..." She said through clenched teeth.
'Especially when I can't ever do a g#+@$@n thing to save them...'
Thorun did not need much urging from Sister Cobhlaith. He had witnessed the miracles of God firsthand, and even before that he had always been the type to think there is something greater than mortals of this world. God, I don't know if you're listening. I know I'm just some madman running around cutting down your children with an axe, and probably don't deserve any of your mercy. But I'm trying to do better. I'm trying to protect these people and only spill the blood of those who are wicked. Please, allow me to continue serving them. Hopefully their goals are righteous and right in your mind, and although I don't think I can ever make things right, hopefully I can at least do some right before I go. But I'd like a little more time for that. Gonna take a lot more time to try to balance out all the bad.
Kneeling with Sister Cobhlaith, Thorun prays in silence. As he does, he feels a warm light flowing through his body, assuaging his aches and pains, healing his wounds, and infusing new hope in his battered spirit. God is with them. He is certain of it.
Sister Cobhlaith opens her eyes anew and smiles. In her eyes, Thorun sees love and forgiveness, profound wisdom, and... sadness? She nods and stands.
"Get some sleep," she urges him. I'll take first watch.
The night passes peacefully, and in the morning they are rested and on their way. A few more days to reach Trinity Well... As they head out before dawn, they feel certain that God will guide them safely to their destination.
Then, as the sun rises, they hear a woman singing in the distance. Her song is beautifully eerie, full of sorrow. Her voice, both sad and sweet, is captivating. It draws them forward...
Aoife paused and listened to the song. It was the most beautiful thing she ever heard. She wanted to move and find who or what was singing, yet something in the back of her mind told her not to go.
Dread filled Aoife as she remember creatures that filled these strange lands.
Ruadhan joins in the silent prayer, opening his confused thoughts of his wife in this place up to God, in the hope of some clarity. Whilst the others sleep soundly, Ruadhan's is disturbed as his mind battles with how religion sees his wife as a sinner and yet how he feels. Waking rested but not refreshed he takes the lead until the supernaturally fast Thorun is recovered. From his position at the front, Ruadhan is one of the first to hear the beautiful song, but it doesn't penetrate the churning cogs of his brain, except to raise his alertness as he scans for the source.
Thorun rises, fresh and new. His wounds are gone in their entirety and he stretches, checking the newly healed muscle and skin.
As they move, he half-turns his head. "Huh. Pretty singing." But doesn't seem any more enamored by it.
For a moment, Daire is utterly captivated by the song.
Then he snaps out of it, glancing at the Sister.
And tries his best to cease humming a version of the song under his breath.
Thorun, Ruadhan, and Sister Cobhlaith stop a moment to listen to the song, only to realize that Daire and Aoife are completely mesmerized. The two are just standing there, enthralled by the sorrowful song... Daire hums along with the melody while Aoife simply sways, but it is plainly evident that they have been enchanted somehow!
"Huh." Thorun pokes Daire in the face. "Neat."
A few moments later the group is continuing on, each of Thorun's shoulders considerably more weighed down.
Daire keeps humming, thinking the others can not hear him. And while the view sways without his legs moving, he does not quite fathom why that is.
Thorun carries his companions away from the song and soon enough the enchantment fades. Aoife and Daire awaken from their dreamy torpor a bit confused, but none the worse.
"Let not the lures of this cursed world draw you away from the light of God, Sister Cobhlaith urges them. Then, she prays, O God, set our minds on You. Let us not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove what Your will is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
Daire could very well be the only person who understands how profoundly the music affected her...
The enchantment has faded, but Daire continues to want to discover who was singing. He wants to know her, to learn from her, to make her his muse. As time passes, his desire will border on obsession...
Aoife could very well be the only person who understands how profoundly the music has affected him.
Saying little, each of them thinking upon their own pains and sorrows, they continue on their way south. The gloomy and gray sky seems somehow heavy. It's like the weight of the world above rests on their shoulders. The air is thick with the moist smell of decay. And the horizon is lost in a foggy haze. How they long to escape this nightmare!
Still, the day passes without incident, which is a blessing. They set camp near a lough and lay themselves to sleep, only to find the night once more alive with the yelps of fairies. The creatures keep their distance, but their presence out there, in the darkness, is unnerving. They sleep poorly...
Aoife's mind lingered on the voice she had heard. How she fought back the tears and had began to well up. Because of it once they had remained their minds Aoife was deathly quiet. She said nothing even while the Sister prayed and they made camp.
Thorun is no stranger to feeling the weight if the world on his shoulder. But here it physically manifests, and leaves him on edge. His new supernatural speed only makes him look jittery as he flits about. Still, he manages to calm his kind and get some decent sleep.
Daire drifts out of his trance and looks about.
"Thorun. Why are you carrying myself and Aoife?", he says in a still-calm voice.
*****************
Daire hums and mutters, starting to drift into an uneasy sleep...
Vocally bemoaning the missed opportunity to draw funny faces on Aoife and Daire's faces, Ruadhan is glad to move away from the enchanting song and see them come back to their senses and prays deeply along eith sister Cobhlaith for God's protection.
The day passes slowly and as they settle down to rest the yapping of the fairies keeps Ruadhan awake, conscious of their presence in the dark and what danger they may represent.
They spent a mostly sleepless night. The yelps and whines and screams of the fairies in the night allow for little peace and only Thorun, who stood at death's door at dawn, finds peace in the dim moonlight.
In the morning, they continue their southbound march despite their fatigue. And while the day passes uneventfully, they cannot but dream of home, of feeling the warmth of the sun on their skin, of laying on a straw bed by the hearth... In the afternoon, the rolling hills give way to wide open plains of dead grass.
They are headed in the right direction.
Come nightfall, they set camp wherever they can. The environment offers no cover, there is no wood nearby with which to build a fire, and the movement in the tall grass in the near distance puts them on edge, to say the least. They are cold and tired, and morale is low.
And then, they eat the last of the rations prepared for them by Amergin. If they cannot find food soon, they will all starve and all will be for naught! If all goes well, they will reach Trinity Well on the morrow, but that is of little comfort when the cacophony begins anew...
"We need food." Thorun says, trying to keep his strong presence up for the others. "Is it safe to hunt creatures here, or eat the plants?" With this uncanny speed I can probably just run something down if need be. He thinks with a hint of amusement.
Aoife simply fell into the grass. Tired and worn down she said nothing. She tried to think of a way to solve their food problem, as they would being to starve tomorrow, but she was just too tired and honestly still fighting internally. While she hid that before, now cracks where starting to show.
She just tried to sleep, and pretent this was nothing important till tomorrow.
"How would any of us know that Thorun?" Aoife asked finally breaking her silence that she held since yesterday. "None of us have ever been here before..."
Thorun shrugs. "Lot of people know a lot of things I don't. Figured I'd ask." Aoife's sharp rebuke rolled off his shoulders; he was not once to rise to words quickly, especially from somebody who he owed his life to. He's always valued actions over words.
In a drearier, more worn-out tone than the others have ever heard him use, Daire intones:
"What does it matter? Some other doom will surely befall us before we starve to death."
He chuckles mirthlessly.
Tired though Ruadhan is, the sharp comments of his companions make him shrug on the responsibility of pulling them back together.
"Come on you lot, we are all tired and that constant yipping is keeping us all from sleep. But look at what we have already survived here in this place. We are not done yet. Tomorrow, Thorun and I will see what we can forage or hunt and failing that we will have to just tighten our belts for a day or two. We found a meal in that first place where we sought protection from the howling, and maybe we can find something else again."
Thinking to raise spirits, Ruadhan tries to sing a merry song and encourage the others to join in, but his tone deaf singing voice and a bad memory for the words, cause him to quickly tail off into quiet.
Despite the constant cacophony, Aoife, Ruadhan and Sister Cobhlaith get some rest and recover from their fatigue. But Thorun is restless. His stomach growling at the mere thought of going hungry, he sleeps little and poorly.
Kept up the by the screams of the fairies and by the memory of the siren's song that simply won't fade, Daire doesn't sleep at all. Staring at the starless sky, he imagines a beautiful woman beckoning him to her... What sublime music he could compose with her as his muse!
In the morning, Daire is utterly exhausted as they eat the last of their rations. The day is darker than the previous, and cooler. They continue to spy movement in the tall grass – likely, it's the fairies who have been following them since their encounter near Lough Neagh.
If all goes well and they head out promptly, they should reach Trinity Well by day's end...
Aoife just looks at Ruadhán with dead eyes as he talked. However when he tried to sing a small bit of the old Aoife came out as she began to laugh. It was soft, but could be heard. "Ruadhán your singing is atrocious." Aoife told him as a failing smile pulled on her lips.
Thorun rolls over, groaning. He was a big man, and he ate a lot. He knew his body absolutely rips through calories. He needs to find food. "Continue forward, I will hunt ahead of us."
Daire staggers as a man nearly dead. He says nothing, barely even twitching or nodding in response to comments directed at him, if even that.
She...I must...she...
Keeping pace with Daire, they move slowly south. While Ruadhan and Aoife flank and carry their exhausted companion, Thorun, despite being fatigued, sprints ahead to hunt...
Running through the fields of tall grass, Thorun recalls happier days in the plains near Ferns when he would meet his beloved by the river Bann. He knew then that their bliss would be fleeting, but nevertheless, his heart broke when they were discovered. The sun never again shined as it did before...
There. Something in that grove...
Thorun approaches carefully, ever so quietly, until he sees it. In the thicket, there is a majestic tawny stag with a crown of wide ivory-white antlers. Oblivious to his presence, it is grazing on the dry leaves of the bushes.
Thorun recognizes the creature at once. This is an Emperor Stag – a fast and nimble animal that can run for days. But it is unlike any animal he has seen before. Its coat seems to almost glow, and there is a preternatural light in its eyes. It is peaceful and beautiful, and Thorun cannot but hesitate as he prepares himself to strike...
He comes up on the Emperor Stag, looking at it with a dead expression. But as he is about to run out he sees its peaceful expression and thinks of Aoife again. Simply at peace, wanting to be left alone with its own happiness. After a minute of watching it from the shadows, Thorun steps into the light. He doesn't make a ton of noise or announce his presence, but he stops hiding and lets it see him.
Seeing Thorun step out of the tall grass nearby, the Emperor Stag freezes, staring at the man with intelligent eyes. Then, it whispers a few words in an ancient tongue...
"A human hunting in the fields of the Otherworld?" the stag asks in the common tongue – surprising Thorun and reminding him that nothing here is as it seems.
Thorun looks surprised for a moment, then shakes his head and sighs. "Yes...well sorta. Friends are starvin' and I hoped some food would keep moral up. Or maybe just needed to get away from 'em for a bit. I don't know." He lowers himself to the ground, resting his back against a tree. "Guess I'm sick o' killin' when I don't need to. Feel like that's been my whole life. 'Oh look at this big ol' bloody bastard, he'd be useful for splittin' heads.'" He sighs. "Well, not wrong I suppose."
Thorun returns empty-handed from his hunt. Lost in his own thoughts, he stays quiet as he helps Daire along... His eyes belie his fatigue, but also gloom and sadness. The day is gray and this place is surely wearing on his morale as it is on all of them.
They make their way south and by the afternoon they reach the bogs north of Trinity Well. Navigating through the treacherous terrain and trudging through deep mud, they cannot but notice that the fairy goblins who followed since Armagh are no longer moving in the tall grass behind them.
Is it the bogs that are keeping them at bay, or something else?
Carbury Hill and the source of the river Boyne are mere hours away...
As they reach the bogs north of Trinity Well Thorun peers into the wilderness, glancing back at the grass. "Let's keep movin'. I'm sick o' tryin' to sleep here."
"Agreed." Aoife said as she followed after Thorun. "I am ready to be done with this place." She added.
"Mmm.", Daire mumbles with as much enthusiasm and energy as he can muster at the thought of being done with the place.
Exhausted
Exhausted
Fatigued
Eager to reach the Trinity Well come what may, they push on. At first, Ruadhan and Aoife literally carry Daire. When Aoife becomes fatigued by the forced march, Sister Cobhlaith takes her place and struggles to carry Daire's weight. When Thorun begins to falter...
Lumbering ever so slowly, weakened by the recent days and nights, they finally reach Carbury Hill. In the dying light of dusk, they see a low grass mound with a small copse of trees that has grown around a natural spring, which feeds a stream that is supposedly the source of the river Boyne...
It is deathly quiet.
Aoife, body worn and strength failing, still forces herself to make it up to the edge of the Trinity Well. This was it, the place they needed... Mind clouded from lack of sleep she makes a decision that likely could be the worst idea.
With shaking hands Aoife cups some of the water from the spring and drinks.
If Daire is still being carried, he stays upright.
Otherwise, he slumps to the ground, uncaring of whether he faces the earth or the sky.
Fatigued, Aoife plods to the edge of the pool, kneels, and drinks the pure, cool water. She half-expects the water to be poisonous but finds it to be most refreshing – clean and surprisingly sweet.
From afar, her companions fear the worst, wondering what evil fey creature could inhabit this pool. But nothing happens when Aoife quenches her thirst. Their throats are dry and their stomachs are empty, and it is near impossible to resist the temptation to throw caution to the wind...
They have come so far to find the Salmon of Knowledge!
"The water is good to drink." Aoife told then before she began to drink more. After a moment she looked to the group and asked "Does anyone remember what we're suppose to do to get the sword?"
Daire looks up, and whatever is left of his desire to go on spurs him to stumble forward. He kneels over the water and dunks his head in it repeatedly. Once sated, he flops back onto now sodden land.