The fairy lights barely illuminated the mural on the wall that the Scribe indicated. Lugh rose and crossed before the faded images. His skin began to glow with the warmth of predawn, filling the chamber with enough light to see by.
“What is this?” He studied the circle drawn around the figure of the All-Mother. She appeared to be floating in the air. Small objects circled her.
“It depicts the story of how Danu created the Mounds.”
Lugh snapped his head sharply toward Willem. His slightly pointed elfin ears prickling he listened with such intensity. “Continue. Tell your tale, Scribe.”
“Few survived the collapse of the First Fey realm. The realm from which all fey creatures first arose. Unlike the Mounds, it was a true and separate realm of existence. Danu was one of the Sidhe who escaped. It was not long before the Fade began to set in.”
Lugh knew this much. And knew they faced the same peril now.
“She gathered together artifacts that survived the collapse. Items that were imprinted with the magic signature of the first realm.” Willem brushed his hand reverently across the image on the wall, painted with the practiced and skilled hand of a master fey artist. “She used them to create a surrogate realm, the Mounds, in a pocket of magic beneath the earth.”
“Like a womb,” Lugh agreed. Which was how the Sidhe whose focus of magic was procreation would manifest such a realm. “As she was the Creatrix of the realm, and tied to it, all who linked to the Mounds became tied to her. Becoming as her children.” Lugh moved closer to the images. “Do these artifacts still exist? Could this magicraft be performed once more?”
Next to Lugh, who towered well over six feet in height, the Scribe’s four-and-three-quarters feet seemed even more diminutive. With Lugh’s inquiry put to him, Willem fidgeted, scratching at his pointed ear. “The All-Mother left a journal, which we of her order have studied in as great a detail as we are capable of. There are unclear passages, which might become clear once the artifacts are collected. The artifacts she used were consumed in the creation of the Mounds. However, others still exist. Lost. Hidden. Stolen. Passed down from father to son. Put away and forgotten like all other bits and bobs. Their importance forgotten as they became misplaced.”
“Then how might we discover them?”
“There are ways.”
The faint ray of hope broke through the black depths of defeat and death, no matter how slim the chance or how impossible the task. Lugh leveled the full force of his determination at the Scribe. “Then let us begin anew.”
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Thank you for reading "End of the World" Champion of the Sidhe: Part 1! We hoped you enjoyed it! Would you like to show your support? Why not take a moment and leave a star rating or a few words on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Goodreads? It would mean a lot to us.
See what happens to Lugh next in "Champion of the Fey" Champion of the Sidhe: Part 2.
See what happens to Lugh next in "Champion of the Fey" Champion of the Sidhe: Part 2.
Following the optimal reading order, the next story is "Aftershock" Rise of the Unseelie: Part 1. We'll be bringing your that story in its entirety over the next few months.
Part 1/16 of "Aftershock" coming on 11/25/11!
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