Highland Dawn Page 19

  “’Tis the time between time when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. It is the time when magic flows freely and the elders that have passed this world visit us once again.”

  A shudder ran through Moira at his words. She had heard them every year of her life, but this time was different. It was as if Frang was trying to tell her something.

  He moved on and went to stand at the north of the fire. “The realm of the spirits is might and secret, it’s mysterious only for those who are deemed worthy.”

  The chanting of the Druids surrounding them in the forest grew with Frang’s words. Moira saw Dartayous to her left watching her closely. He stood straight and tall, but something was missing. It wasn’t his many weapons. It was something deeper, something not tangible.

  Hope.

  She swayed and only stayed on her feet by sheer will. There must be some way for him to regain his hope. Surely she could do that. Couldn’t she?

  Never before had she doubted her ability, but now that’s all that plagued her. Doubt and insecurity.

  “Powers and worlds mingle in the between time.”

  Her eyes jerked to Frang to find him watching her as well. She inhaled deeply and focused on what she was supposed to do in just a heartbeat’s time.

  Her hands linked with Fiona and Glenna’s. It was their time to open the veil between the worlds, to bring about the prophecy.

  Frang once again walked to her sisters and spoke to them. When he came to her he said, “The Otherworld is for the wise, but not all can bear its wisdom. Hold caution to your breast least the mysteries prove beyond you and the Otherworld driven reason from you.”

  She didn’t have time to question his words as the great fire was doused and Lugus took his place upon it. He faced her, a smile of reassurance on his face.

  The age old chants she had learned as a child filled her memory as her eyes closed. Magic swam through her, mixing with her sister’s. Their arms lifted to the heavens, the wind whipping her hair and gown about her. She didn’t open her eyes when Glenna gave a soft cry and a loud whoosh rent the air. A heartbeat later Fiona did the same.

  Moira cracked open her eyes to see a great line of red fire towering to the heavens coming from Glenna, and a line of blue water from Fiona. With a sigh she let loose her power and watched it soar with her sisters.

  Red, blue and white lit the night sky. Moira smiled. The prophecy had begun. No sooner had that thought flitted through her head than MacNeil walked into the nemeton and toward them, his eyes riveted on the column of their powers.

  She soon forgot about MacNeil as Lugus began speaking in a tongue she had never heard, his arms out wide and his head tilted back. A quick scan of the area and she spotted Rufina, Theron and Aimery, their heads bowed and eyes clenched tightly closed as if Lugus’ words hurt them.

  Her attention focused back to Lugus in time to see the column of their powers surge then disappear into him. She crumpled to the ground as weak as a new born kitten.

  “All will be fine,” Lugus promised as he knelt beside her. “You will feel better in the morning.”

  She looked over and found Conall and Gregor beside Glenna and Fiona. “What happened?” she asked Lugus.

  “’Tis the prophecy. Remember. You are bound to me.” He stood and walked to MacNeil.

  MacNeil bowed quickly. “My king.” He rose and his eyes sought out Glenna. He shook his head and put his hand to his forehead.

  Moira watched as MacNeil struggled with something. Her eyes darted to Lugus to find him standing with his arms folded as if he were waiting on MacNeil to do something. She found out what in the next moment when MacNeil drew out the dagger at his waist and ran towards her.

  Her mouth dropped open in a scream as Conall and Gregor unsheathed their swords. Beside her, Lugus didn’t say a word. He held out his arm, palm up, and Moira literally saw the power fly toward MacNeil. It hit him in the chest and he fell backward. Never to move again.

  Moira’s heart hammered in her chest. She knew he was dead. As shameful as it was, she was glad. He had murdered her parents, stolen Glenna to raise as his own and had just now tried to kill her. He deserved more punishment, but that was for God to meet out, not her.

  When Lugus’ attention shifted to Dartayous she knew true fear. She tried to rise to her feet, but barely had enough strength to raise her head.

  Nay, her mind screamed.

  She wasn’t going to lie there and watch Lugus kill Dartayous, the only man she could ever love, not after everything she had sacrificed. She managed to climb to her feet, but couldn’t keep her legs underneath her.

  Tears streamed down her face at her futile attempts to gain her feet. No matter how hard she tried, her body wouldn’t obey her. She dug her fingers into the earth as frustration like she had never felt coursed through her.

  “’Tis your time,” Lugus said to Dartayous as he raised his arm.

  Her irritation forgotten, she turned to Lugus. For a moment she thought he might not kill Dartayous because he hesitated, but then Lugus glanced to her. It was then she knew he would do anything to keep her next to him.

  She looked from Dartayous’ resigned expression to Lugus’ disappointed one.

  “Nay,” she screamed and ran toward Dartayous as the power left Lugus’ hand.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Dartayous caught Moira as she fell towards him. She gave him a small smile before her eyes closed and she went limp.

  “Nay,” he whispered. “Moira. Moira!”

  “What has she done?”

  Dartayous raised his eyes to see Lugus’ face white with shock. He walked toward Moira, his hand outstretched, shaking as he touched her hair.

  “She saved me,” Dartayous answered and looked back at his beloved Moira. He tried to blink away the tears that were quickly filling his eyes. He didn’t heed the moisture on his face or care that he was displaying more emotion than he had in hundreds of years.

  He had lost the only thing that mattered to him.

  This was what he had always feared. Moira was dead, yet he lived. And he hadn’t even told her of his love. He crushed her against him as he fell to his knees.

  “You should have let me die,” he said as he rocked back and forth.

  He didn’t look up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. All he wanted was to be alone with the one woman who had held his heart in the palm of her hand since she was but a small lass.

  “Dartayous,” he head Rufina whisper next to him.

  He never got a chance to answer her as a blast like the earth ripping open drowned out all sound. All eyes were riveted to the Fae mound and the black dragons that sprang from the earth.

  “We are doomed for sure,” Rufina screamed as she raced toward Theron.

  But Dartayous didn’t care. His world had ended the moment Moira had died.

  “I can help her.”

  He looked into Lugus’ blue eyes. “Haven’t you done enough?”

  Lugus looked down at the ground, then back to Dartayous. “You are right. I have done more than enough.”

  Before Dartayous could rise and take Moira into the stone circle, roars split the air. He knew that sound. More dragons. A quick glance showed him every dragon that had inhabited the land of the Fae were now in their world. But the ones that caught his attention where the magnificent white dragons that flew in front of the others, as if to protect them.

  Their long, broad bodies with white scales like plates of armor soared above them with close-set wings that ran from their shoulders to their hips. Their elongated limbs with three digits on each foot held long, sharp claws that slashed the death dragon’s scales as if it were leather.

  The white dragons captured his attention with their almond shaped mirror-like eyes that were the color of the afternoon sky. In contrast to their large head they had a small mouth. A row of bony spikes sprouted from the back of their head and two long

  horns extended from their forehead.

  “’Tis my dream,�
�� he heard Gregor tell Fiona.

  Dartayous had to laugh. Normally he would have had a weapon in each hand and been willing to fight any manner of creature, even the dragons. Now, he prayed that the Fae left him alone. He had given everything to them and had nothing in return.

  Lugus watched Dartayous rock Moira in his arms. Tears coursed down his face, but Dartayous didn’t seem to notice. Nor had he noticed the battle that was being waged in the sky. Lugus tore his gaze from Dartayous and Moira and looked to the sky.

  What he saw made his blood run cold. The almighty, ever glorious white dragons were being defeated by the Death Dragons. This couldn’t be happening. He thought the white dragons would have held the Death Dragons off longer.

  With a roar of his own, he got to his feet, his hands skyward. All of the magic within him raced through him and shot through his fingers toward the Death Dragons. One by one, he managed to capture them and once again lock them away.

  He watched as the other dragons returned to the land of the Fae. It was over. For now. There was much that had to be restored and a city rebuilt.

  A sob sounded behind him. He turned and found Glenna and Fiona gathered around Dartayous. They all cried for the woman who had given her life to save everyone.

  He walked to them and gently sat Glenna away from Moira. Lugus raised his eyes to Theron. “Forgive me, brother.”

  Dartayous didn’t know what Lugus was up to, and in fact didn’t want him touching Moira again. But when he would have pulled away, Rufina’s hand stilled him.

  He watched as Lugus reached a hand out and touched Moira’s face. A bright light flashed around them, and then the strangest thing happened. Dartayous felt Moira breathing.

  Joy and hope filled his heart. He turned to Lugus to thank him, but found him gone. Vanished. His eyes sought out Theron and Rufina.

  Theron stepped forward. Gone was the Fae who had been held prisoner by Lugus, in his place stood the king. “Lugus gave his life essence to Moira. She lives.”

  “Then why doesn’t she wake?” Glenna asked the question Dartayous couldn’t.

  Rufina knelt beside Dartayous and moved Moira’s hair from her face. “She is alive, but barely. Because of the betrayals she made, her mind won’t allow her to wake.”

  “She’s in Shadowhaven,” Theron said. “She will think she is in a safe place, but the longer she stays there the more of her soul it will claim.”

  “Is there any way to get her to wake?” Dartayous asked, afraid of the answer he would receive.

  Theron nodded. “But the price is high.”

  “There is no such a thing where Moira is concerned.”

  Conall stepped forward, his hand on Glenna’s shoulder. “How high is the price?”

  “It doesn’t matter the price,” Dartayous repeated as he gently lay Moira down. “Whatever the price, I will pay it if it will bring her back.”

  “The price could be your soul.” Theron’s words captured everyone’s attention. “If you go in after her, neither of you may return.”

  Dartayous stood. He tore his eyes from Moira and looked at Glenna and Fiona. They cried openly but didn’t wail their sorrow. That would be for the privacy of their chambers. He wished he could have some of that privacy himself.

  He turned his eyes to Conall and Gregor. They clasped arms and nodded. “What about your weapons?” Gregor asked.

  Dartayous looked over his shoulder at Theron. “Will I need my weapons?” Theron shook his head slowly. Dartayous turned back to his friends. “I’ll be back.”

  “Take care,” Gregor said.

  Conall wrapped his arm around Glenna. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

  When Dartayous turned to Theron and Rufina he saw the doubt shining in their

  eyes. “I don’t advise you to go after her,” Theron said. “In all of my days, I have never known anyone to return.” Dartayous looked the king of the Fae in the eye. “Just show me how to get there.”

  * * * *

  Moira basked in the warm sunshine on the hillside and stared out at the sea. How she got on the Isle of Skye she wasn’t sure. One moment she had been dying, her soul climbing toward Heaven, and then in a blink she was here.

  It didn’t make sense, but she didn’t care. The isle was special to her. It was where she and Dartayous had first made love, where she first realized he was her mate.

  She should be happy. She wasn’t dead, yet she knew she wasn’t alive either. There had been a choice she’d had to make. Return to the glen and face everyone or go... She couldn’t remember where she was, but it didn’t matter.

  There was no way she could return to the glen. She had failed to keep Lugus from gaining the power. Her world would be forever changed, and all because she had been weak. Her secrets had led to the demise of everyone she cared about.

  She laid back on the grassy slope of the hill, the sun shining on her face. She was happy, content.

  What about Dartayous?

  She watched the puffy, white clouds roll by and tried not to think of him, but it didn’t matter. He had always been in her thoughts and now wasn’t any different.

  At least she knew he wasn’t dead.

  Or was he?

  Had Lugus turned around and killed him after she had died? She hoped not. It didn’t sound like the Lugus she had begun to know. It was a question she would like an answer to though, but she knew it wasn’t forthcoming.

  “Dartayous. I miss you.”

  Instead of the usual heartache that came whenever she thought of him there was nothing. Nothing. No pain, no pleasure just...emptiness.

  Is that what this place did? Did it keep away all emotion so she could live without the sorrow and embarrassment?

  I’m far away from all of that. It doesn’t matter.

  In the space of a heartbeat she couldn’t even remember what she had been worrying over.

  Sleep.

  She closed her eyes and let the sun settle her into a dream free sleep.

  * * * *

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Rufina asked Dartayous as he was laid beside Moira inside the stone circle.

  “I would die for her.”

  “It just may come to that.” She shook her head sadly and moved to stand at his head.

  Dartayous looked around him. Gregor, Fiona, Conall, Glenna, Theron and Frang all gazed down at him. “I’ll bring her back,” he swore.

  The power that Lugus had taken was restored to Glenna, Fiona and the Fae when he had given his life force to Moira. When Dartayous had asked what happened to Lugus he was told Lugus was dead. Despite his hatred of Lugus, he had saved Moira’s life and that meant something.

  “Relax,” Rufina said and placed her hands on his temples. “Think of Moira.”

  He closed his eyes and thought of Moira, of holding her one more time, of finally telling her of his love. No matter what he would tell her how he felt.

  Moira.

  “Go to her,” Rufina whispered. “Her soul will call to you.”

  Dartayous’ body began to tingle. His heart raced, the blood pumping furiously through him. Then, just as it began it ended.

  Something had gone wrong. He knew it. With a sigh he opened his eyes and found himself alone. He glanced around quickly, not moving.

  He was no longer in the stone circle. The sound of waves crashing on the shore reached his ears. He slowly sat up and found himself staring at two tall pillars of stone.

  “I’m on the Isle of Skye.”

  Why would Moira go there?

  Then he knew. This had been where they had first made love. He sat up and gazed at the dark blue waters of the loch. This had been his favorite spot, the place he had wanted to return to and live out his life.

  Strange that Moira had chosen the same place.

  But then again maybe it wasn’t so strange. So much had happened here. Not just the sharing of their bodies, but where he had learned she thought him her mate. It had also been when they both discovered he was Fae.

&nb
sp; He got to his feet and looked around. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too far. He began walking toward the top of the hill when he caught a glimpse of something in the green grass. He walked slowly toward the object and found himself gazing down at Moira.

  His heart lodged in his throat as he gazed at her closed eyes. He was too late. He fell to his knees and took her hand in his.

  “What are you-”

  His head snapped up to gaze into her Druid green eyes. They widened as she looked at him.

  “Dartayous?” she whispered.

  He gave her a bright smile. “’Tis me.”

  She jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She hastily pulled back and stepped out of his arms just as he had begun to hold her against him. It was pure torture.

  “It cannot be you,” she said. “You should be at the glen taking care of the Druids.”

  “I am. I’m taking care of the priestess I vowed an oath to that I would see safely back with her sisters.”

  She shook her head and turned away. “You aren’t real.”

  He raked his hand through his hair. Not again. “I came here for you,” he said when he caught up with her.

  “I’m happy here, but you can stay if you want.” She refused to look at him, but he would bide his time. This time she would know he was real.

  He followed her into the forest and found a small cottage mingled in the trees. It looked just like Rebecca’s cottage. This was going to be tougher than he originally thought, though he had to admit staying here wouldn’t be bad. It was peaceful, calm.

  “Are you coming inside?”

  He found Moira standing in the doorway of the cottage and hurried toward her. The inside of the cottage was warm and inviting. A fire blazed in the hearth and the aroma of fresh baked bread filled his senses.

  “Sit,” she said and directed him toward the table.

  He smiled and took a seat as he watched her slice the bread. She placed the bread and an unusual pitcher on the table.

  “What’s this?” he asked when she had poured him a goblet of the liquid in the pitcher.

  She smiled and winked at him. “I think you’ll like it.”

  He brought the goblet to his lips and tested the liquid. A warm taste of the Faerie wine met his lips. “You always did like this wine.”