Chapter 27
Sacred Blood
Eoghan and Haley woke to loud snarls, followed by explosions. They rushed outside with their weapons drawn, but the scene paralyzed them. Their sacred, peaceful nemeton had transformed into a gory vision of devastation and death.
Balls of fire flew over their heads and crashed into tents made of leaves and wood. The whole nemeton blazed. Druids desperately tried to smother the flames before they spread through the forest.
A giant grey and white wolf jumped into the middle of the clearing, followed by a man shooting balls of electricity into attacking soldiers. Eoghan recognized him instantly. It was Eversor, accompanied by his pet-weapon, Lupa.
Lupa jumped from soldier to soldier, effortlessly tearing limbs from their bodies. Lupa, a trained, merciless killer, was too quick for them to use their swords or magic.
When a group of warriors without magic tried to attack Eversor, a giant gold eagle swooped down and slit their throats with its razor talons.
A group of archers positioned themselves in a tree house, raining arrows dipped in hemlock down on Eversor. He tried to block them with a shield charm, but one slipped through and lodged itself in his shoulder. Eversor roared in pain and pitched a ball of black liquid at the tree.
The black liquid sprayed itself to cover the tree and men. Agonizing screams filled the air as the bubbling liquid spread, disintegrating the soldiers’ flesh. In a matter of seconds, everything the liquid touched was gone: the tree, the structure, the weapons, and the men. The ground absorbed most of the black substance, leaving nothing but scorched grass and soggy ground of black liquid mixed the blood of the fallen.
Haley tried to lunge into the fight but Eoghan grabbed her arm. “You can’t, Hale. Did you see what he did to that treehouse? Not to mention what Lupa is doing to the ground soldiers. I can’t watch you die like that.”
Haley ignored Eoghan as her mind surged into attack mode. “Where are Nemetona and Druantia? They should be here protecting the grove! And where are my brothers?”
“Damn it, Woman, listen to me! We need a strategy. Obviously random attacks are not working. We must regroup!” Eoghan screamed at Haley.
“Caedmon!” Haley called out, finally locating one of her brothers.
Caedmon dodged a man’s leg that Lupa had torn off and whipped over the crowd. He finally made it to Haley and Eoghan, luckily without a scratch.
Haley rubbed his back as he hunched over, trying to catch his breath. “Where are Cadman and Druantia?” Haley asked frantically.
“Druantia woke in a panic and told us to get out of here if we wanted to live. Then she snapped her fingers and disappeared. Soon after she left we heard explosions and screams. Cadman left to join the archers,” Caedmon replied.
“Oh the gods.” Eoghan’s stomach did flips as he recalled the awful scene they witnessed and briefly looked at the scorched grass.
They had unknowingly watched Haley’s brother, Cadman, die a gruesome, agonizing death. One scream among the many that echoed through the nemeton was Cadman, and there was nothing any of them could have done to stop it.
Tears swam through Haley’s rage filled eyes. She stared at Eversor and a thousand attack scenarios ran through her mind. Wind whistled as Haley glided her long yew staff through the air. Soon, the air was charged and everyone’s hair stood on end. Trees all throughout the grove creaked as they swayed and the ivy vines unwound themselves from the trunks.
“Haley, what are you doing?” Eoghan asked as the wind picked up speed, blowing over tents.
“Don’t get in her way, MacBeatha,” Caedmon warned as he grabbed Eoghan’s shoulder and pulled him away from her.
Suddenly, the wind and the creaking of the trees stopped. Everyone in the nemeton stopped moving, including Lupa and Eversor. The gold eagle settled itself on a branch of the Great White Oak. Dead silence filled the grove until, without warning, the Great White Oak snapped a branch into the eagle.
The bird fell to the ground with a thud where the black liquid had been absorbed. The bird let out a pitiful gurgling noise before it was disintegrated by the soggy ground infused with Eversor’s deadly, black liquid.
Haley whispered as if speaking to a lover, “Scriosann ár naimhde.” The forest burst into action with vines and trees lunging at Lupa and Eversor.
Eversor tried to slash at the tree limbs but the vines ensnared him. Lupa jumped, bit, and rolled away as the vines surged through the forest, hoping to strangle her.
The Great White Oak swung a branch, knocking Eversor to the ground. Eversor tried to shoot a ball of black liquid at the giant tree but an arrow with hemlock poison shot through his hand. The ball of liquid fell out of his grasp and almost landed on his head. He rolled out of the way as much as the vines would allow. However, as the black liquid spread towards his body, it burned away the vines that restrained him.
The vines grabbed hold of Lupa and pinned her against a tree. Haley let go of her staff, but instead of falling to the ground, it stood upright at Haley’s side and followed her. She raised a hand in Lupa’s direction and slowly formed a fist. As she closed her hand, the vines around the wolf tightened, causing Lupa to whine and whimper.
“Haley, no! You cannot hurt the wolf. She is a victim here, an innocent demigod. It is not her fault. Elpis and Eversor have enchanted her. I saw it myself. This happened to her because she saved my life. Please, let her go,” Eoghan pleaded with Haley, but she was too focused on the enemies who destroyed her family and nemeton.
“Victim?” Haley said, eerily soft. “You call this murderer a victim?” She clenched her fist tighter and Lupa howled in pain.
“Haley, stop!” Eoghan grabbed her shoulder, but Haley whipped around and twisted his arm. Eoghan fell to his knees, gritting his teeth from the awkward angle at which she held his wrist.
“Look around you, MacBeatha. Look at the carnage your beloved wolf has done. Look at the dead bodies strewn about my grove, the people I swore to protect. Look at how many limbs have been detached, how many chunks of skin and muscle are missing, how many necks snapped in her lethal muzzle. There is nothing left of my nemeton. The people are gone; the Nemeton of Arras is no more, and you want me to spare the cause of its destruction?”
Eoghan pleaded with Haley through gritted teeth, in pain as Haley applied more pressure to his wrist, tempted to snap it. “Please, it is my fault she is like this. Let me fix it.”
Haley let go of Eoghan and he clutched his wrist to his chest.
“Hale, don’t do this. Bre needs Lupa,” Eoghan begged.
Hearing Bre’s name sent a fire through her soul. “Arrgh!” Haley screamed, tears in her eyes. “I hate her,” Haley said, her lower lip trembling as she tried not to cry. “I hate her for always having you.”
Haley wiped away a tear that fell loose from her eye and clenched her fist, deciding to kill Lupa and end the discussion. Before the vines crushed Lupa, Eversor grabbed her around the neck. He held her straight up the air, where she saw the trees and vines she had sent after him burning to the ground.
“Yes, yes. You will do well indeed, Druidess,” Eversor said and rubbed Haley’s belly.
Eoghan and Caedmon pointed their swords at Eversor. “Let her go.” Eoghan growled.