Ch 1: A World of History

Sionn looked into the mist in the direction one could normally view sea. He stood atop the Ben that towered over Dunvegan Castle and inhaled the wet salty air as he scanned the thick clouds. Visibility was down to 5 meters at best and he squinted his bright green eyes as the wind lashed at his face.

He crouched and sniffed the air as he crept forward. He knew these hills well and the cliff was around here, he could only hope that the beasties hadn't found it the hard way. Hearing was nearly impossible, the wind was so fierce it was pressing the cold against him and cutting to the bone. He moved along as slowly as he could but he had to make as much distance as possible and find the two lost cattle before night set in or they would be done for certain.

There were some standing stones ahead, he knew the paths like the back of his hand and if by chance the cattle had managed to find them he hoped they would shelter up. A small break in the wind gave a tiny window of hearing and the bay of the female pierce the air and found his ear. He smiled reassuringly, knowing they were ahead. It took about three minutes but he was at the standing stones and sure enough, mother and calf were huddled behind the larger of the dozen or so standing stones at the top of the hill, "All right ya bloody beasties, time ta' get ya back to the shelters."

As he walked towards them the mother recognized his voice and remained calm, the calf hooved the ground and Sionn talked in a soothing voice, "There now ya wee fella, everythings alright."

He gently put the leader around the mother's neck and a second, tighter one around the calf's. He inhaled deeply and grabbed the small radio on his belt, clicking the button and speaking, "Torri, I found 'em. Meet me back at the house."

"Aye." He laughed softly as he shook his head at the radio, he could hear it in his sister's voice, she was done with this duty for the day. She was tough for certain, but she had her limits when it came to tending the families cattle, 'a job for the humans' she always would say, but the humans were on holiday and they were all that were available. With their father and mother off attending the "Conclave of Nine" they were the only two available on such short notice to take care of this situation. This storm had rolled in very unexpectedly, too unexpectedly if Sionn has his mind about it, and they did what had to be done to save their beasts.

After Sionn locked the two in the pen area so they could find shelter and be reunited with the herd, he made his way into the house and got out of his weather gear. He could see that Torri wasn't back yet but expected her any moment. He stripped, hung his gear, and headed for the warmth of the kitchen, specifically the tea pot. It was 7:30 and as far as he was concerned time to call it a night.

He poured two cups of tea with milk, one lump for his sister and none for himself, and set a plate of sweets out for them to share. He could hear her mumbling softly to herself as he rain gear came off violently and finally heard the jacket hit the floor. He chuckled softly to himself, 24 years old and she still couldn't find the hook on the wall in front of her nose.

As she walked into the kitchen Sionn spoke as he brought the cup to his mouth, "This heat wave will be the death of us all."

Torri looked at him with furrowed brows and he laughed, "Oh come now sis..." He slid her tea across to her and she took it more than willingly. Sionn smiled as he watched her and spoke again, this time more seriously, "I don't know that nature of this storm, but it doesn't seem typical Skye weather."

Torri wasn’t one to call upon when livestock needed tending to. Oh she could do it with no problem but she didn’t LIKE to do it. Especially in weather that was better off dealt with beside a warm fire and some hot tea to warm the innards. Thankfully her brother, Sionn, was more adept at handling the beasties than she was. Still, for her to be searching around in fog so thick it competed with pea soup and wind so fierce she felt like a flag being whipped around in the middle of a hurricane at sea. And the biting cold was the icing on the cake.

She detested being separated from Sionn during these moments. There was something about this storm that just didn’t feel right to her and her gut feelings had never let her down yet. But they HAD to separate in order to try and find the wayward cow and wee little one. While Torri didn’t like to deal with the livestock, she didn’t want them to suffer either. Torri may lack many things, but compassion isn’t one of them for those who deserved it.

Like a lost cow and her babe.

When she heard Sionn’s voice break through the radio, she felt a huge relief wash over her and immediately turned back towards the house. Torri knew the area like the back of her hand and could navigate the land blindfolded easily. She and Sionn had spent so much time out here growing up it was impossible to not know it that well.

Finally trudging in the house, Torri heaved her weight against the heavy, wooden door and shoved it closed against the gusting, biting wind. Shucking off her rain gear as she groaned about the weather and lost cattle, she tossed the coat towards the hook and heard it hit the floor, like always. All her life she could never seem to find that silly hook. Ever.

As she entered the kitchen and saw Sionn there and sipping tea with that bemused look on his face, she gave him a grumpy look. At least she was grateful for ONE thing this evening. Gladly accepting the tea as he slid the cup towards her, Torri brought it to her lips and sipped, feeling the heat instantly fill her. Inhaling deeply, she set down at the table and looked over at him as she let it out slowly. As his face turned more serious, she heard his words then looked at the window over the sink and furrowed her brows again.

”Aye….I tend to agree with ya, brother. The weather should be turning cooler, that’s for certain, but I never have felt it this cold so early in the season. Even with the hurricane season in full bloom. Usually by the time those storms reach us, they’ve taken out their fury on the states and all we get is nothing more than a puff of wind and barely enough rain to say we had any at all.”

She looked over at Sionn again and there was a troubled look in her green gaze that matched her brother’s.

”What do ya make of it?”

Sionn looked out the window and stared into the fog. He looked back at Torri and shook his head, "I don't know sister, I hate to speculate that something is being done to manipulate the weather, but you never know what those bloody Druids might be up to, especially after what they did in Japan and the Eastern United States in the last few months. The Council called their emergency meeting to deal with it..."

He paused and looked back out the window as he sipped his tea. Inhaling deeply he spoke again, "...The problem is when things like this start happening it is easy to immediately assume there's mischief about instead of seeing that it could just be an unseasonable storm."

He reached across the table and gently squeezed the back of his sister's hand. He looked into her matching eyes and spoke, "At least the house is warm..."

He stopped suddenly and his glance shot to the window, Torri's movement was identical, they had both felt it at the same time. He turned and looked at her and without a word they were on their feet and dashing for the door. Torri grabbed her bow and Sionn's hammers as they ran into the small courtyard and to the fence. Sionn's face stared in horror as the fog began to clear off the side of the hill. It still obscured things for the town below but gave visual clearance for the lumbering creature to make its way towards them. The creature was still several hundreds meters away and seemed to be made of the sea bottom. ribbons of plant and animal life clung to the body which seemed to be made of sand and rock. The face was a twisted array of garbage and natural materials one would find on the bottom of the waters. It howled ferociously and at the visual sight of them quickened its pace. Torri threw Sionn his hammers and as he caught them he hissed a word. A blue glow flared to life around them and he shook his head, "Bloody hell..."

Torri scoffed at Sionn. It was a reaction he was quite used to now.

”It will always be mischief, Sionn. Nothing is as pie in the sky as you think it is. As soon as you bring yourself to that reality, the better off you’ll be. And don’t give me that look, brother. You know I’m always right.”

Torri glanced down at Sionn’s hand as it squeezed her own and she squeezed his in return. It was there way of nonverbally acknowledging they disagreed on how things were in the world. Neither tried to impose their outlook on the other but they both had their own opinions they shared frequently.

Torri was just getting ready to say something to his comment about the house when she snapped her gaze towards the window the same time Sionn did. As though they worked from the same brain, they both looked at each other, shared a knowing look and in the blink of an eye were on their feet.

Torri grabbed her compound bow and quiver of arrowsfrom the wall over the fireplace, sliding the quiver over her shoulder, and Sionn’s hammers from the mantle. As she ran out to join Sionn in the fenced courtyard, her eyes fell upon the sight of the creature that was now visible to them. Her hand tightened around the bow instinctively and she looked over at Sionn tossing him his hammers.

”I’m not going to say it brother….”

As Sionn hissed the word that activated his hammers abilities, Torri whispered a similar word and her bow took on that same blue glow. She pulled a bolt from her quiver and notched it on the string. Obviously the reason for the storm was as plain as the nose on her face. Now they just had to do something about it.

Pulling the string of the bow back until she felt it lock in place, Torri pulled the bow up and felt the feathers rest against her right cheek as she drew a bead on the creature’s left eye. If the thing saw them then the thing could be blinded. Waiting for the perfect time for Sionn, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. As soon as she saw Sionn was close enough, she released the bolt. It hadn’t struck yet when she pulled the next arrow from her quiver and had it ready to go as well.

The thousands of hours Sionn and Torri had spent training and fighting together became obvious in moments like these. When there was no time for thought or planning and the two of them simply responded. Using the magic of water Sionn was off like a flash in a blinding burst of speed, he closed the gap and lept into the air as the creature reared back with its massive hand. Just as his feet left the ground and he flew through the air the arrow missed his head by inches, not because Torri had misplaced her shot, but because she had put it precisely where it needed to go.

The instant the broad head pierced the eye socket Sionn hissed a word of magic and the hammer in his left hand blossomed with blue light. The arrow came through the back of the head and Sionn's hammer hit it dead center, using the shaft as a conductor to flash freeze the target from the inside out. Then not a millisecond later his hammer smashed into the back of the creatures head and the entire left side exploded into frozen shards. Sionn came down and landed with cat like grace as he spun and came to a ready stance. The creature teetered slightly and fell forward as it crashed into the wet ground. Sionn looked over the top of its back at Torri and quirked a brow. As she approached Sionn spoke, "That seemed a little too easy..."

The two of them looked at the massive body of twister material and saw one of the fingers twitch before all the frozen pieces began to wiggle and squirm, rebuilding the gaping hole in the left side of the creatures head. Sionn shook his head and whispered, "...as I said."

”Bloody hell….”

Torri’s brow furrowed deeply as she saw the thing twitching and starting to put itself back together. And standing this close meant her bow would be pretty much useless, but she wasn’t exclusive with the bow. Like Sionn, she had her own tricks she could use. And right now, she needed them.

Slinging her bow over her shoulder to join her quiver, she took three backwards handsprings to put quick distance between herself and the creature. Once she was far enough away, she crouched in a ready stance and whispered strange words. Using the magic of plants, Torri lifted her hands slowly wiggling her fingers. From beneath the creature roots began to arise. The ground squished and crackled slightly as the roots rose from the saturated dirt.

The roots began to entangle around the creature in an effort to keep it held down to the ground. The roots curled around the creature’s arms, hands, legs, feet neck and torso then began to tighten their hold. Torri was using the roots of the plants to try and not only hold the creature in place but to also try and dismember the creature as well hoping the roots hold would be strong enough. She also tried to call upon the plants within the creature’s body to aid in her spell.

In the back of her mind Torri hoped the plants that helped make the creatures body didn’t turn on her and start attacking her and Sionn. Not knowing the origin of the creature, she didn’t know what magic had helped create it. Still, she had to take the chance. Besides, it wasn’t like she and Sionn were defenseless if that should happen.

It would all depend on the timing of both of them to get them out of a sticky situation.

Sionn moved back and let his sister do her magic. He watched, hammers in hand, as the vines snared the creature to the ground. It struggled and attempted to move but was held fast. He heard a noise and turned to look. On the top of the hillside he saw a lone figure dressed in all black. Knowing Torri was vulnerable as she was channeling her magic and making the vines grow he sprinted towards the person. There was a cackling laugh and Sionn brought the hammers out as he closed the gap.

A blinding green light flashed from the man and Sionn hit the ground, rolling as the spell sailed over his head and burned his back. Gritting his teeth as he rolled and sprung back to his feet he ignored the pain, but if Torri was looking she would see the clothing on his back was burnt and smoking, Sionn had narrowly escaped death. The figure only stood there but his voice echoed through the mist, "My pet was merely the diversion siblings... now the real show begins!"

Torri had the creature held tight and was cinching the vines to completely dismember it when she saw the lone figure appear on the hillside. She couldn’t stop what she was doing now or else the creature would somehow reanimate itself. She had to trust Sionn was capable of handling the figure, whoever it was.

Until she saw the blast of green come so close to destroying Sionn. Torri screamed at the top of her lungs.

”SIONN!”

As Sionn smoldered from the blast, she felt her anger rise and with a final gesture of slamming her hands downward, the vines ripped the creature apart. Gritting her teeth, Torri quickly slid her bow from her shoulder and notched an arrow on the string as she whispered the word that activated her bows abilities. As she heard the voice echoing across the distance, she drew a bead on the figure as she drew the string back.

”Here’s an opening act for ye, ya son of a goat whore!”

Letting the arrow fly, she watched it close the gap between herself and her target a lot faster than any normal arrow flew. Torri was so confident in her aim and her abilities with her bow, she didn’t even bother to see if the bolt hit the target. Instead she ran as fast as she could to close the distance between herself and Sionn. She had to help him up. He was too vulnerable if she let him stay there.

As soon as she reached him, she knelt down and grabbed him by the arm with her free hand, still holding her bow in her left. Practically dragging him to his feet, she yelled at him.

”Get up, Sionn! Hurry!”

Sionn was just starting to stand when he felt the arrow go over his head and seconds later the grip as Torri grabbed his arm. He got to his feet and immediately reacted as his ice shield was up and then exploded with the impact of the druid's second spell.

As the ice cleared Torri and Sionn looked on in horror as the druid was holding the area Torri had fired loosely in his left hand. He looked crazed, like most Druid's did, and his hair hung in greasy tangles down the front of his body. He was older than the two of them, by at least 20 years, which gave Sionn pause. Unlike humans, those of the underground cultures understood that with age came wisdom, and power. Sionn knew that fighting someone twice their age was not wise, at best they would be able to hold him off unless he made an unlikely mistake. Though Druids constantly walked the line between insanity and stability, they were more than formidable in combat since it was truly all they lived for.

The druid snapped the arrow in half and dropped it to the ground as he spoke to the siblings, "Mommy and Daddy are gone away, now the cat has come to play..." His eyes glowed and his hands thrust forward as an eruption shot forth along the ground, ripping the turf up in two exploding lines, one heading for each of them.

Sionn lept to the side and he could see Torri do the same in the opposite direction. He rolled and got to his feet quickly as the druid was now turned to focus on Torri, understandable since she was known for incredibly deadly accuracy from distance. Sionn came off the ground like a shot and his hammers once again flared to life as he closed the distance. The Druid merely flicked his hand up and a spell erupted from the ground below Sionn as the earth spike spell brought up a massive razor sharp piece of rock to impale him. Sionn's natural agility allowed him to compensate quickly however and he squirmed sideways to kick off the rock and sail through the air towards the black figure.

With his hammers in both his hands he brought them up to smash the druid in the skull but only came into contact with the second rock that sprung up in the way. He hit the ground and moaned as the Druid's voice cackled from behind the stone "wall", "Silly children, do you not think I have studied your every moves? One does not move against their enemy unless they know how to counteract their threat!"

Torri had the same moment of pause when she saw how much age the Druid had on him. There was no doubt the Druid was powerful. Especially when she saw the arrow in his hand she’d just fired at him. No one had ever done that to her before. As Torri heard his cackling voice again, his words echoed in her mind like thunder across the water from a distance.

As the exploding lines headed for them, Torri reacted just as Sionn did and quickly jumped out of the way of them. As soon as she got to her feet, Torri had another arrow ready to go. She could see the Druid focused on her as she pulled the string to her bow back and locked it in place. She whispered a word of magic and the arrow changed its normal, black metal look and took on the look of what appeared to be wood. The arrow was now petrified wood as hard as any diamond knowing she would have to use some tricks to make sure the bolt did some kind of damage. Even as unlikely as that may be, she had to try.

As she saw Sionn move out the corner of her eyes, Torri let the bolt fly. What she didn’t expect, though, was the razor sharp spike of earth come up at Sionn. She held her breath as she watched her brother kick off the rock. She waited for the sickening crunch of Sionn’s hammers against the Druid’s skull but at the last minute another spike came up and blocked his move. As her brother dropped to the ground, Torri went into action yet again.

”Sionn! You still with me brother?!”

Again she loaded a bolt and whispered the same word changing the bolt to another petrified wood bolt and fired it off. As soon as she fired off the bolt, Torri called upon the plants with her magical abilities to aid her. A large tree bent its lower branches low, placing them between Sionn and the crazed Druid in an attempt to give her brother some kind of protection while some other plants reached out in an attempt to grab a hold of the Druid and prevent him from doing any more damage.

Torri was getting pissed now. That was twice this screwed up Druid had hurt Sionn and no one hurts her brother. Expect her, of course. But how did this Druid know so much about them? So much that he even knew when their parents were gone?

Before Torri could answer any of those questions, she felt the ground literally give way beneath her. She fell a few feet before she called upon the plants once more and felt roots grasp around her wrist and hold her suspended above a deep cavern that just opened up under her. Her bow fell from her hand leaving her without her beloved weapon as she grabbed a hold of the roots with her other hand.

She dangled precariously like some strange cats toy on the end of a string. Seeing stars from the way her arm snapped when the root grabbed a hold of her, she blinked several times and shook her head to try and get herself back on track. She looked up at the opening and she struggled to gain her footing to climb back up the earthen wall.

”Stupid……ignoramous……will…pluck….his…..eyes….out….”

Torri would hear the muffled sound of booted feet as the Druid walked up and looked down into the cavern at her. His face was twisted in a maniacal smile and he spoke, "Well, well, well... The ginger haired lass hangs on for dear life. One might wonder if those plants are truly aligned with you, or will they save themselves should an outside force put pressure on them to make a choice?"

He saw Torri's eyes bore into him and he shook his head, "A fun little experiment for us to try aye?" He looked up at the roots that were coming from the ground and lifted his hand.



Sionn rolled off the rock and held his side as he coughed from the impact. He then saw nothing but leaves and bark as the massive tree bent to shield him. He was not expecting it and was lost in the puzzle of the foliage. He got out as quickly as he could and reoriented himself. The ground all around him was open like a mouth that was lusting to swallow him, the gap was far to wide to jump and he could see the Druid over by where his sister had been. He was speaking into the hole and Sionn could only imagine that she was down there, but still alive. He grit his teeth and reached up, the mist in the air allowed him to gather the water to himself and he thrust his hand down. A bridge of ice formed and he sprinted as quickly and silently as he could towards the occupied Druid.

As the Druid lifted his hand Sionn spoke words of magic and thrust his left hammer forward, a dagger of ice shot out and pierced the Druid through the shoulder, causing him to whirl in pain as he brought his hand about to redirect his spell. Sionn caught him in the opposite shoulder with the second hammer and the distinct "pop" of the dislocation echoed out through the mist. The Druid howled again and whirled as he hit the ground.

Sionn was so focused on the attack her didn't take time to consider his landing and his feet barely hit the very edge of the chasm. The slick, wet grass combined with the crumbled and broken dirt caused him to tilt forward with his momentum and he fell head first into the massive hole. He released one of his hammers so he could grab some of the roots and it fell thirty feet, hitting the mud beside Torri's bow. He moaned in discomfort as the strain of instantly stopping his whole bodies momentum with one arm plus the impact with the wall played themselves out. He hung there, hammer in his left hand, almost eye to eye with his sister.

They heard the Druid grunting and moaning but surprisingly his footsteps took him away from them, not towards them. Sionn held his hammer tightly and his gaze went from above back to his sister. He looked at her as they remained silent a moment to see if they would hear him approach but after a moment he whispered, "Do you think he's gone??"

Torri instinctively reached out with her legs to try and stop her brother’s fall when he grabbed a hold of a root that stuck out from the earthen wall. She was younger than Sionn by two years but she always had a motherly protection over him, no matter what. It’s what made them so close and so distant at the same time. But there was no doubt her love for her brother ran as deep as the blood running through their veins. Even when he pissed her off with his antics with women that got him in so much hot water she loved him.

So now that he dangled in a precarious situation with her, covered in mud, leaves and barely clothed, Torri couldn’t help but laugh at him when he whispered and asked if she thought the Druid was gone. When he gave her that look as though he thought she had lost her mind, she kicked at him and gave him her grumpy look again.

”Seriously, Sionn? Did the blow knock ye daft? If he was still there, he’d kill us for certain. We’re like helpless sheep right now, bleating for the shepherd to come rescue us and put us back with the rest of the heard. Now quit speculating and climb your arse up there and help me up after I get my bow and your hammer, will ya?”

Bending her leg so he could use her knee like a step, Torri called upon the roots once more to create a make shift ladder for her bother and herself. While Sionn climbed up, she climbed down to gather up their dirt and mud covered weapons. Securing the bow over her shoulder and hooking Sionn’s hammer to her belt, she used the root ladder to climb up out of the cavern the Druid had made. Once she reached the top, she felt Sionn’s hand grip hers and help pull her up. As soon as she was up, she handed him his hammer then motioned for him to turn.

”Let’s have a look at ye.”

When he turned and she saw the burns on his back, she grimaced and raised both brows when he turned back to look at her.

”Ye might wanna tell the ladies ye fell asleep while sunning yourself. It would be far easier to sell than ‘I almost lost my life to a head case Druid.’ Know what I mean?”

As they walked away from the area, Torri turned to look over her shoulder and clucked her tongue, furrowing her brows as she looked over at her brother, thumbing in the direction they had just come from.

”How’re we gonna explain this ta mum and da?”

Sionn made his way out and as he grabbed Torri to help her the last meter they headed back to the house. When she thumbed over her shoulder and spoke Sionn half laughed and spoke, "I say we go with the truth, a daft nutter of a Druid showed up and bloody well blew the place ta hell."

He shook his head and then reached, across himself to stop her as he looked at the back door. It was kicked open and smeared with blood. Muddy footprints were on the tile and he looked over at Torri with an exasperated look on his face, "Now we gotta explain to mum why there's mud on her floors."

He grabbed his hammers once more and gently pressed the door open. He could hear Torri remove her daggers and he turned to look at her with a silent nod. Together they came in and looked down at the floor, the mud prints making a clear track towards the kitchen and then around the corner. Furrowing his brow he looked back at his sister and she could see what he was saying before he even whispered it, "Not too concerned about being discrete was he?"

Together they crept into the main room and the footprint went into their father's office and then out the wide open front door. Sionn noticed that the mists were clearing and he turned to look at Torri, his face a little more relaxed now that they knew the Druid had come and gone. They walked into their father's Den and Sionn shook his head as he spoke, clearly puzzled, "What a mess..."

Looking around he picked up a few of the things that had been knocked from the desk while Torri started picking up books. After taking in the whole scene he looked over at Torri as he clasped the hammers to his belt once again, "Clearly we know why he was here, but what he was after is the question... I don't come in here enough to know what might be missing..."

Torri was ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Fighting out in the wide open was one thing but fighting where the enemy could easily hide behind a wall or piece of furniture was something entirely different. It brought things to a whole new level and a whole new height to the senses. Torri used the enhanced hearing of her heritage to listen for any sound that might be out of place but all she could hear was the sound of paper rustling as a result of the breeze blowing through the house.

As she relaxed slightly and looked around, she was equally as puzzled as Sionn at the mess the Druid left behind in his wake. Still, it didn’t make sense as to what he was doing in the house or why he was in their father’s study. Putting the daggers back in their sheath, Torri started picking up books that had been tossed aside.

As Torri studied the mess the Druid made, she realized the man was looking for something in particular. As she replaced another book, she looked at her father’s large desk and furrowed her brows even more. Looking around at the scattered paper all around the room and what Sionn had already picked up, she knew something was not right, but she couldn’t quite place what it was. She ventured to the study quite a bit to speak with their father but she’d never really studied what was on the desk or in what order it had been in. Still, Torri had been in there enough to know SOMETHING was missing…..but….what? She looked over at Sionn and shrugged her shoulders.

”He was obviously looking for something and my guess he found it or he would have torn the room up worse than he did. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for da to get home to let us know for certain. Why don’t you go get a well deserved shower and I’ll start cleaning up mum’s house for her. Maybe by the time they get home, I’ll have the worst of it done.”

She walked over to Sionn and picked up a lock of her brothers mud caked red hair that laid over his shoulder. Her green eyes studied the hair for a moment before she looked into his own gaze.

”That scared the bejezus outta me, Sionn…..I thought you’d used up all those lives da says you have. If anythin’ happen to ya……”

Torri took a deep breath and let it out then and turned away from Sionn calling to him over her shoulder as she started putting the study back together again, using the pet name she called him because of his use of water with his magic.

”Dun use all the hot water, Fish.”

Sionn was as confused as Torri was. As she told him to get a shower and then spoke to him he smiled with a sense of ease to his features and placed his hand gently on her shoulder, "All is well sister."

When she asked him not to use all the hot water he quipped a response, "Maybe that's what you get for letting me shower first."

She stuck her tongue at him and he winked with a laugh.

---

A few hours later when the house was back in order the two of them sat in the main room sipping their tea. Sionn was going through the pictures that they had taken of the rooms before they had been cleaned and Sionn spoke, "You know T, it seems awfully convenient that this fellow showed up when he did. I know you are probably already piecing things together, but clearly he knew mum and da were gone. It is disconcerting that he struck knowing we were out matched, if it hadn't been for that little slip he made we would be dead."

She looked over at him and he stared back at her. She was always better at piecing these sorts of things together, figuring out the puzzle and locking things up in a tight little picture. He looked at her as she sipped her tea and he spoke again, "I just hope that whatever he took da can recover, it must have been important to have gone through so much trouble."

”There’s no doubt in me mind he struck at exactly the right time he wanted to, brother. It’s was too precise. And well calculated. He knew what sort of action we’d take against him and he was able to counter them. And he did it when mum and da weren’t here because he knew the four of us were way too much for his goofy mind to handle. No, Sionn….this guy had been planning this for some time.”

Torri looked at the scattered pictures again and studied them hard. One in particular kept nagging at her and she picked it up giving it a closer look. Her brows furrowed slightly as she focused in on something in particular. Looking at the picture a little more, she sat up a little straighter. Sionn saw her and he furrowed his brow.

“What?”

Torri set her tea down then got up and motioned for Sionn to follow her. As they stood in the doorway of their father’s study, she held the picture up and compared it to the desk. They had put everything back pretty much the way it had been prior to the Druid’s attack and she pointed to something in particular in the picture then to the desk.

”Where’s this? I didn’t come across it while cleaning. Did you?”

She let Sionn look at the picture and saw him shake his head. She studied the room a little closer and now knew what it was she couldn’t quite put her finger on earlier. On the right side of her father’s desk was always an old looking piece of paper. Torri had gotten so used to seeing it she overlooked it anymore when she entered the study to talk to her father. And she had overlooked it when they were cleaning.

It wasn’t until now that she saw it in the picture but no place in the study she realized it was gone and the Druid must have taken it. Looking over at Sionn then, she gave him a quizzical look.

”What was on it? Do you know? I never saw what was on it. I only know it was an old piece of paper that smelled funny.”

He looked at the piece of paper and thought a moment before slowly shaking his head, "I don't know. Da has so much stuff in here though it's hard to say."

He walked over to the desk and ran his finger along the place where the paper was originally at. He turned and looked at her and spoke, "I remember it now too, it has been sitting here since I can remember, but you just start to overlook things after a while. I remember it had an image on it, faded, looked like it might have been quilled with an old feather instead of a proper pen. There was writing below it, like a description."

He looked at her and then turned, stepping over to an area on of the shelves where a big book that was bound with leather straps sat. He brushed the dust off and set it gently on the table, opening it carefully. He slipped through some of the pages and pointed to one in particular, "It was like this one. I mean, obviously not THIS item but it was done in this manner."

Torri looked and her face went suddenly more serious. Sionn looked at her and spoke, "What... what is it?"

She looked at him with an almost annoyed glance that he had completely missed the obvious and she closed the book and pointed to the title on the cover, it read;

Ancient Artifacts, Items, Relics
Compiled 22A.D., revised 1898
Order of Stormborn

Sionn furrowed his brow and looked at Torri, "Ah, shite... that was a page out of this book... but why didn't he take the whole book."

Torri looked at him with no answer. He inhaled deeply and sat heavily in one of the the high back leather chairs, "Clearly he wasn't after the book, just the one page. Obviously it would be easier to leave with just one page but why not take the whole book?"

Torri shrugged again.

"Who knows, Sionn. It's a friggin old book. Maybe he was worried it'd fall apart before he could get anything out of it and the one page was just enough to satisfy him. Maybe it was proof we have it and he was just testing the defenses so he could come back and get the whole damn thing. There's a thousands reasons we could think of as to why he didn't take the whole book but do you want to try and figure out the mind of a deranged Druid? I sure as hell don't."

In truth, it bothered Torri to no end. Why DID he take just the one page and not the whole book? It wasn't like the book was all that difficult to find among all the other books., It was much large and had a leather spine unlike all the others on the shelves. It stuck out like a sore thumb from the others. So what was significant about that one page? So much so even their father had separated it from the rest of the book?

Torri walked back over to the main room of the house and frumped down in the overstuffed couch. She was sore and tired and her head hurt trying to figure all of this out. Standing up suddenly and walking over to the dry bar, she spiked her tea with a shot of Jameson's, stirred it with her finger then walked back over and frumped back into the couch and took sip of the tea. Feeling the added bite of the whiskey, she set the cup in her lap and looked over at her brother again.

"Guess we'll have to wait for da to tell us what the bastard wanted. Besides to kill us in the process. Ya know, the more I think of it, the more I hope to meet him again. I'd love to put a bolt right through that crazy brain of his. At least then we wouldn't have to worry about him attacking us again. Will we?"

Erich touched his son gently on the shoulder, "Sionn, up with ya son, it's a new day."

Sionn inhaled deeply as he squinted and looked up bleary eyed into the face of his father. He sat up and looked around, Torri was still asleep on the other couch, her hand dangling off and her finger wrapped through the finger hole of the tea cup. Erich knelt down and ruffled his sons hair, "I hope you two are sleeping because ya stayed up late and not because ya got into the Fiddich."

He chuckled and Sionn shook his head as he laughed, "No Da, but there was a wee incident while you were away."

Erich nodded and spoke, "Aye, we could tell by the condition of the hillside."

Sionn stood and looked out the window. The area where the Druid had cast his spells looked like a massive dinosaur had clawed deep gouges into the peat and he furrowed his brows as he looked back at his father, "What? Is it that obvious?"

Erich's face was friendly but turned a little more serious, "We'll talk when your sister awakens, for now I need your help with the beasties, Lon and Heather aren't back until tomorrow so it's up to us to see them fed today."

Sionn nodded and responded, "Aye."

The two walked into the kitchen on their way out. Annette smiled warmly and walked over as she hugged her son, "Did ya sleep well son?"

Sionn nodded, "Aye mum, well enough to get through the day."

Annette touched his face warmly and spoke, "Torri and I will have some breakfast ready in an hour when ya get back."

Sionn and his father walked out to the pens to tend the beasties as Annette watched them through the window. Once they were out of sight she turned her eyes back to the shredded hillside and her brow furrowed. Her thoughts lingered on the scene before her and the obvious danger her kids were in last night.

Turning and looking at her daughter, who snored ever so lightly, the furrow in Annette’s brow deepened. Torri was so different from Sionn. Her son was such a trusting, loving soul, and Torri was almost polar opposite. She loved them both equally but she worried about both of them constantly. She was so afraid Sionn would trust the wrong person and Torri would NEVER trust anyone outside her immediate family.

With a sigh, she walked over and ran her fingers through Torri’s red locks. Torri stirred slightly and Annette smiled. It was times like this Annette remembered the cheeky lass her daughter had been. Especially when she smiled like she was now. Whatever the memory she was having was a good one and that gave Annette some comfort. But, as with all good things, this too had to come to an end. Gently shaking her daughters shoulder, she saw Torri’s eyes blink open and knowing her daughter like she did, Annette stepped back just as Torri sprung into a sitting position immediately.

Annette could see the bleariness in her daughter’s eyes. The tea cup in her hand was a wee bit strong last night. Reaching down and taking the cup from Torri’s hand, Annette spoke softly as she made her way back into the kitchen.

”Ya best be finding the shower, lass. Your Da and brother will be mighty hungry when they come back inside.”

Torri ran her hands through her hair and looked over at her mother’s back. Her hair was as red as flame and it had the same lazy waves to it like Torri’s. And when her mother turned around, it was almost like Torri was looking in the mirror a few years from now. Stretching as she stood up, Torri walked over to hr mother and kissed her cheek before she turned and made her way up the stairs so she could be ready to help her mother.

By the time Erich and Sionn returned, the house was once more very much alive. The smell of breakfast was the first thing they noticed and the next was the roaring fire in the fireplace. The morning air was chilled and Annette insisted Torri start the fire to chase the chill away. Torri knew darn well it was her mother’s way of getting her moving so her head would stop hurting.

As Erich came in he walked over and smiled broadly at Torri as she set the table. He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. Torri hugged her father back and Erich chuckled softly as she started setting the table once he released his hold.

”Well, look here. The little lady has decided to be a part of the living once more.”

Torri gave half a smile and quipped back at her father.

”Even the dead have to eat something, Da. Brains get old after a while.”

Erich laughed heartily and clapped Sionn on the shoulder as they walked to the wash room to wash up.

“I told you there was something odd about your sister, son. Now we know the truth.”

Annette chuckled softly as she turned and handed Torri the plate of meat to set on the table.

“Best we get ya fed before you try to eat our brains then, hm?”

Giving Torri a wink, she chuckled softly again as she saw her daughter make that grumpy face of hers.

When Sionn and Erich returned the ladies were just sitting down at the breakfast table. Erich set grace and looked at his two children as he reached for the blood pudding. Sionn half smiled and glanced at Torri who shot him a glance back and Erich cleared his throat before speaking, "Well, now that we are all together and awake I believe there is an obvious bit'o news that needs tellin."

He looked at Torri and then to Sionn. Sionn nodded and spoke, "We were mucking the barn when a ferocious fog blew in. It was unseasonably cold and wet, and in the swiftness we were two head short after bringing the beasties in. T and I went looking, after a half an hour or so we found them by the standing stones. It wasn't but ten minutes after getting in that a Druid appeared on the hillside. He was clearly hell bent on getting into the house and it didn't matter that we were in the way. We fought him off but clearly we didn't defeat him, though I did put a shot into both his arms he won't soon forget."

Erich looked at Annette who then spoke, "Did you identify him lad?"

Sionn shook his head, "No mum, no idea who he was."

Annette looked at Erich and then to Torri, "Mighty convenient that he managed to appear when all the four of us weren't about."

Erich nodded and looked back at his children, "What happened next?"

Sionn spoke, "We ended up in the new chasm on our hillside and when we managed to make our way out we figured he had turned tail and run. When we got to the house however there were muddy boot prints in through the back and out the front...," he paused a moment, "...but he went into your den first Da."

Erich's face turned slightly and Annette stood in unison with him as they both went immediately to the Den. Looking around Annette turned to her children who had followed, "What did he take? He didn't come for naught."

Sionn pointed to the end of the desk, "We had gotten a photo of Da' working so we could rearrange his desk back proper, but they piece of parchment that was on the corner there is unaccounted for."

Erich walked over and traced his finger on the corner of the desk and turned to look at Annette with a deeply furrowed brow, "Bloody hell."

Annette turned and looked at her children, "You both did well, there isn't much that could have been done to avoid what happened...," she looked back at Erich, "As the Lore Keeper you need to get that parchment back before he pieces it all together."

Sionn and Torri were both looking at her dumbfounded, completely unaware of what their mother was talking about. Annette turned to look at them, "That parchment had the operating instructions for the Black Horn, an artifact that can NOT get into the hands of the Druids... I only hope that it wasn't someone from the House of Raven."

She turned and looked at Erich who furrowed his brows deeply at her words.

Torri listened to Sionn as he recounted what happened the night before. Her brows would furrow deeper at times as she remembered the battle with the crazed Druid. As they walked into the Den, she looked around again at the room and her eyes once more fell on the book they had opened last night. As she l istened to her parents discuss the parchment, she gave Sionn a puzzled look and was given an equally puzzling look in return. She turned to look at her parents and in unison, she and Sionn as the same question.

”What’s the Black Horn?”

She glanced over at Sionn and raised her brows giving him a slight grin. Looking back at her parents, she asked the next obviopus question.

”it was only the operating instructions. So that means they may not have the thing yet. Right? Or is it one of those things where they have to get the different parts from the four corners of the globe in order to get it to work?”

Annette looked at her children then to Erich and sighed heavily. She walked over to the shelf and pulled the ancient, leather bound book off, opening it again.

“As Lore Keeper, we’re responsible for making sure certain artifacts and items don’t fall into the wrong hands. And House of Raven is the wrong hands for this particular item to fall into the hands of. The recent disasters plaguing the globe is proof of that. Just look at the States right now. Raging wildfires in the south west and torrential rain and flooding in the north east. If they get a hold of the Black Horn….”

She glanced at her husband with a worried look. Torri was still a little confused and she glanced from Erich to Annette and back again.

”What exactly is the Black Horn capable of doing? And how do we go about getting that parchment back from the deranged Druid? We don’t even know who he is. The only thing I can tell you about him is that he was powerful. Very. He knew you two were gone AND he knew Sionn and my every move. He even said he had studied us so he knew how to deal with us.”

Twilight was never a good time for fighting. There were too many variables that could go the wrong way. For both sides. But sometimes, you didn’t get to choose when you fought. Or who. It just….happened.

Like now.

Eiji had been looking at the hotel the young Aribiter was going to be staying at while in New York for some big meeting taking place at the United Nations trying to find a place she could access the floor without having to get a access card from one of the help when she came face to face with the Sentinel. She had not met him before but she knew him well by reputation. And she’d studied him for hours. Well, at least the photos that had been taken of him and read reports of his fighting techniques.

From what the reports had in them and from what she’d heard from first account by others who had met up with him, he wasn’t to be toyed with. But….Eiji couldn’t believe the man was flawless. No one was infallible. Not even her.

She quickly changed her plans when she saw him. At first he thought her a passing guest but something must have nagged at him as he turned and said something to her. She should have kept on going like she didn’t know what he said. It would have been easy for her. She could have easily played it off like she didn’t understand English, but it was WHAT he said that made her stop dead in her tracks.

Now, she was facing off against Jericho Lake. Not something one really wants to do in tight quarters of a hotel hallway. She had to hurry and get outside where she could use the city streets to aid her in her fighting.

The only thing she could find to help her fight against him with that damned blade of his was the fire extinguisher. Not the most impressive weapon for her, but it kept her from being skewered by it. Not to mention get in a few hits on his dominant arm to hopefully cause muscle cramps and reduce his strength.

Again he came at her and she felt the wall of the hotel pressed against her back. She made a quick move to the left and used the fire extinguisher to knock the blade out of the way. Hearing voices, she knew she had to hurry and get out. Pulling the pin, she activated the fire extinguisher aiming the cone directly at him and showering him with a blast of CO2. As the hallway flooded with the thick, noxious fumes of the fire extinguisher, Eiji dropped the metal cylinder and darted for the stairs.

Erich stepped forward and touched his daughter gently on the shoulder, "It was just the operating instructions, that is true, but we have heard rumors that the House of Raven is gathering lore data. I am the Lore Master of the factions of good, a position granted me when I married your mother, the Head of the Stormborn. I have always kept this one piece out of the book in particular because it is a rather nasty little artifact... but none of us know for sure what it is capable of."

He inhaled deeply and walked to the window, looking out at the torn up hillside, "All I can tell you right now is that whoever came for it wanted it pretty bad if they were willing to risk the wrath of the Stormborn, I know how I feel but I can only suspect what your Mum would have done if something had happen to you," He turned and looked at Annette, she finished his thought, "There would have been an all out war Erich."

She turned and looked at her two children and they could see the resolve in her eyes. Annette was known for her ferocity in battle, she was one of the finest swords women on the planet, and when she enhanced her blades with the wind she was a whirlwind of death. Even though she was getting older she seemed to only get faster, not slower. With a small smile she closed the large leather bound book and traced her finger over the embossed symbol of their house on it's cover, "My feeling is that this will get worse before it gets better."

Sionn looked at his Torri and then back to the book before settling his eyes on his Mother again, "Well, it seems that Torri and I have some work to do then doesn't it?"

Annette smiled softly and nodded, "Aye lad, you will need to depart first thing in the morning, both of you, and get back to us with whatever you find." She walked up beside Erich and looked at the hillside before turning to look at them, "I would start in New Orleans."

”New Orleans?”

Annette looked at her daughter with a raised brow.

“Aye.”

Torri made a face that told the world just how she felt about that particular piece of information.

”That place is like…the bottom of the cesspool. It’s no wonder the place is constantly getting flooded out. Ya have to get rid of the worst of it from time to time or it will really smell.”

Torri saw the disapproving look her parents gave her and held her hands up in surrender.

”Fine, fine. I’ll be quiet about it. I’ll get my things ready to go with Sionn so we can head out first thing in the morning. But just for the record, I dun like having to go there during peak hurricane season. First hint of any sort of storm blowing in and we’re out of there until it’s safe for us to go back in.”

Turning on her heel, Torri departed the den. Her heavy foot falls letting the whole world know she wasn’t all that happy about going to New Orleans. As their daughter left the room, Annette looked at Erich then at Sionn and sighed frustrated.

“The lass tries my patience on a daily basis anymore. Hopefully she will be rid of this infernal negativity she has one day.”

She smiled as she looked at Sionn then.

“Mind yourself while you’re there, Sionn. There’s plenty of beautiful women there. And plenty of influential fathers to go with them.”