Day 16 of Midwinter, Sunrise

  Cruachan, Midlands

  Annwn

  I surged to my feet, the dead woman’s sword in one hand, Vowkeeper in the other. The two swords flashed, decapitating Deichtine before she could harm Sétanta. The boy breathed shallowly, but he lived.

  The remaining fianna had fared worse. None of the newly risen Abhartach had managed to free themselves. I found and killed them all. I didn’t know what lay before the boy and me, but I now knew that there would be none behind us that wished us harm.

  After freeing me, the voice in my mind had been silent. But the walls continued to give off a faint light as if Aillén were guiding me where he needed me to go. Sétanta was still unconscious, so I slung him over my shoulder, carrying him as I moved deeper into the temple. I had left the mundane blade behind. With my uninjured hand, I held Vowkeeper at the ready.

  I shuffled deeper and deeper, fighting to remain conscious with every step. The toxin of the Abhartach’s claws had invaded my body, and now even the injuries that had not been caused by the creature refused to stop bleeding. Jagged pain ripped up my side with every inhalation, and every few minutes I had to pause to cough up blood from what had to be a hemorrhaging lung.

  I stumbled through the labyrinth of passageways. At each fork, the proper tunnel lit up, showing me the way. A few times, it was a hidden passage that I needed to find in an otherwise unremarkable hallway. If I hadn’t been guided by Aillén, I would have never found his prison.

  After what felt like hours, I came to a tiny entranceway to a tunnel that required me to crawl. I sighed. This was going to hurt.

  Before long, I had gotten into a rhythm, but my body was beginning to shut down. I pushed on, only by the force of my will. Reach and pull. Reach and pull. Reach and pull. After every third pull, I hooked my feet under Sétanta’s arms and dragged him behind me. The pain was agonizing. I found myself floating in and out of consciousness. Each time I awoke, I spat the blood from my mouth and began again. Reach and pull.

  Eventually, I made it to a huge pyramidal room with other crawl spaces littering the walls. Between the small, dark tunnels were symbols in a language I didn’t recognize. In the middle of the room was a massive dark shape. I couldn’t tell whether it was a rock formation or a collection of some other sort of objects. The dark mass glowed with a reddish-orange light that radiated out at random intervals.

  WARDING RUNES. MEANT TO KEEP SCRYING EYES OUT OF THIS PLACE.

  This time the voice was not in my head. The creature was in the room with me, though I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where. Its voice was deep and masculine.

  I raised my voice to speak into the cavernous space. “Aillén… or is it? You say that is not your given name. Who are you really? Where did you come from?”

  A cackling laugh echoed through the room.

  VERY CLEVER. BUT IF YOU WISH TO SEE MY TRUE FORM, YOU HAVE ONLY TO ASK.

  The large dark mass at the center of the room began to rise into the air. It wasn’t hovering, as I had initially thought. At its base, I could now see scaly black structures that reminded me of bird legs. The structures lifted the black mass high into the air, where it began to unfold and extend six thin, feathered wings.

  Deep, guttural grunts and roars came out of the creature’s three bird heads as it rose up and up. At the end of the heads were beaks that reminded me of the hideous hornbills found in the marshlands of the great Wells. The beaks were long and curved downward, coming to a razor-sharp point at the end. Where the beast’s three sets of eyes should have been were pits of glowing embers, giving the appearance that the creature was burning from within.

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  Aillén stood five times taller than a man and easily as wide. Even at a distance, I could tell that the creature dwarfed me. I glanced back at the small passageway that I had come through and where I had left Sétanta just inside.

  IF YOU ARE THINKING OF GOING BACK ON OUR ARRANGEMENT, I WOULD CAUTION YOU AGAINST IT.

  The creature didn’t make a move in my direction. It continued to stretch out its limbs like it had been years since it had moved them.

  YOU WILL NEVER FIND YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS FORSAKEN TEMPLE WITHOUT MY ASSISTANCE.

  “I will not let you harm the boy.” I rested my hand on the handle of my sword, wondering how quickly I could draw it in my condition, wondering if I even had the strength left to wield it.

  The three heads of the bird-like creature laughed.

  I DO NOT WISH HARM ON EITHER OF YOU, TADG MAC NUADA. I MERELY WISH FOR YOU TO FULFILL YOUR PROMISE.

  “To free you?” I asked. My vision seemed to be fading, and I felt myself start to list to one side. It took all my strength to remain standing.

  INDEED.

  Then, as quick as a bowshot, it launched itself toward me. Aillén landed a few arms lengths away with a loud crash. Dust rained down off of the slanted ceiling.

  I feigned courage by standing my ground, but the truth was that his movement had happened so fast I didn’t even have time to react. I drew my blade and held it at the ready. The sword felt too heavy in my trembling hand.

  FREE ME NOW, AND I WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE.

  His words convinced me of two things. First, he knew exactly how badly injured I was, and second, he didn’t feel the need to try to convince me to uphold the terms of our arrangement. His tone was matter-of-fact, the cold amusement from earlier gone.

  I shifted uncomfortably. No matter what he said, this was not the place, and he was not the creature from which to expect a healing boon. I would likely die in this buried temple, forgotten and unmourned by even my own family.

  And after my passing, Sétanta would never find the light of day again. I had to try.

  “What must I do?” I asked.

  NOTHING. AND EVERYTHING.

  The creature lowered itself onto its birdlike legs. Its words made no sense.

  My body finally reached its breaking point. My saber slipped from my fingers and struck the floor with a hollow clang. The room had begun spinning. My ribs felt as though they were caving in. “Speak clearly,” I rasped. “I can feel my heart failing me.”

  YET IT IS STRONG AND RESOLUTE, EVEN NOW AS YOU DIE. I HAVE WAITED A LONG TIME FOR SUCH A HEART. WILL YOU ACCEPT MY GIFTS?

  I fell to my knees, my legs unable to support me. What kind of gift waited in the dark for a man at the edge of death? What kind of creature could be so evil it was sealed in such a place and yet survived for thousands of years? I had no answers, nor any other choices. “Yes,” I breathed, “I accept.”

  Aillén rose again to his full height. His six wings flared open. The three heads craned back, and from each jagged beak, light began to spill. It was a yellowish-white fire, tinged with red at the edges. The three heads bent forward, and a torrent of living flame erupted from their mouths, converging on me.

  I screamed in agony as the fire burned through me.

  I felt as though I were being split apart. I felt my ribs shatter under the force of the flames. My lungs collapsed. My right arm, torn by the Abhartach, sizzled and split, flesh cooking and melting away in molten ribbons. The pain permeated every sense and stole my breath and voice. I felt myself creeping closer to death.

  But beneath the pain, I felt…something else. Something was happening. The flames did not fully consume me. I felt a change in the fire as it began to remake the parts of me it had burned away. It shot through my body, remolding all of me. I felt each shattered rib snap into place, the bone healed and reshaped beneath heat and pressure. My newly forged lungs filled with fire, and then with a gasp, I felt myself begin to breathe again. The torn muscles of my arm knit together, reinforced by something stronger than sinew.

  I felt myself rise within the fire that still burned around me. I had been broken down to the point of near death, then newly formed. I was…something whole. Something other.

  Stillness came, and the flame receded. I looked wildly around the room, only to find Aillén gone. I collapsed on the still-warm ground. I had been healed, but exhaustion still crept over me, and I found that I could barely move. I needed rest.

  Before I gave in to the darkness, the god of magic regaled me with facts that I already knew in my heart were true.

  Name: Tadg mac Nuadat

  Race: Corrupted Tuatha Dé Danann

  Current Power Rank - Combined Level 96

  Current Progression Status:

  Combined Physical Progression +101

  Combined Mental Progression +98

  Combined Spiritual Progression +96

  Domains Gained:

  Judgment and Light

  You must choose one domain classification…

  Children of the Cold Moon is out now in paperback, ebook, and in audiobook format!