the effect he had on animals, but even the most stubborn beast would run till its heart gave out for him.
“Aeden, I need you to carry a message to Lord Donegal tonight. He will need to know what to expect before sunrise if his force is to be ready. I can’t be sure that the enemy doesn’t already have an advance force on this side of the river, and anyone else I send might not be able to break through their lines” Riordan said.
Aeden suspected that he was being patronized, but there was also some truth in what his friend said. Riordan took a moment to scribble notes to both Donegal and Kian, the senior druid in charge of those attached to the northern army. Sealing them with wax into which he pressed the signet ring he now wore, he handed them to Aeden along with a ring that identified him as a druid messenger.
“This message instructs the druids to follow you until I arrive. I intend to force the Sorginak to face us in mass and we will need you and your sword if their power is even half of what the pompous mayor claimed” he informed Aeden.
“I’ll see it done” Aeden said relieved to have something useful to do. Swinging easily up onto his mount, he galloped off in the night. It shouldn’t be hard to beat the rising sun to Lord Donegal’s camp, but he would take no chances.
He had noticed that his senses were far more acute sense his near death experience. He seemed to be able to see in darkness, and it seemed he could feel the animals of the forest moving all around him, but he hadn’t had time to explore these senses with all that had been happening. He was less than half a mile into the forest his newly awakened senses brought him to a halt. Confused by this new feeling he eased himself from his mount and moved forward slowly. At the edge of the forest he could just discern a figure in a dark robe. He could feel a thrum of intense power coming from the figure and he knew that the stranger could sense his own power as well.
At first he had only felt the power when actively in use and while holding his sword, but lately he had begun to feel it with or without the weapon in hand. Whoever was here was powerful in a way that even Riordan could not match. If this was one of the Sorginak, then the druids and their allies were outmatched, for the power that he sensed was vast.
Dropping the reins, Aeden crept forward, thinking that if this creature had not yet noted his exact location he might get one chance at a surprise attack. He’d gone no more than ten paces, his sword still sheathed, when the robed figure turned to face him.
“That’s no way to be looking at your grandmother” the Morrighan said, laughing.
Her comment brought him out of the strange state of turmoil his mind had wondered into, but her appearance did nothing to help him formulate a response. The Morrighan was enjoying his discomfort and took the opportunity to make him squirm.
“It’s ok; I’m not really your grandmother, at least not in the usual sense, so there would be no familial barriers. If it’s my age that worries you I’m older than the race of men but can appear to be any age you might desire” she said, making Aeden more and more uncomfortable.
As if to illustrate her point, the Morrighan transformed effortlessly into a stunning girl of approximately Fianna and Teagan’s age through immortally beautiful to behold. Before he even finished drinking in the beauty of the creature in front of him she changed once more, this time into a visage like that of an elderly wise woman. The transformation was startling and abrupt, and it passed away just as quickly to be replaced with the appearance he had first recognized as the goddess of war.
Aeden shook his head slowly, focusing his mind on the task he had to perform. “I’ve got work to do grandmother” he said.
“You do indeed. I’ve come to claim my Champion.”
“But, grandmother, this is important!” Aeden exclaimed, fearful of failing his friends. He had to get the message through to Donegal.
“You will get to deliver those messages that have you so worried in the course of doing my bidding boy” the Morrighan said, her irritation growing. “You will also deliver one for me.”
“What message would you have me deliver grandmother?” Aeden asked, willing to do whatever she asked, relieved to know that he would get to complete the task he had been asked to do.
The Morrighan looked cold and commanding. “No mortal can lead the armies of the north to victory in this fight. Donegal and Riordan must withdraw as soon as the king’s army takes the field. You will face the armies of the king and the Sorginak alone, and anyone who remains upon the field when you meet them will perish. The true sons of Eire must not fall. Tell them both this and meet your destiny Aeden son of Aine.”
As the Morrighan’s meaning soaked into his weary head, Aeden accepted that his fate was sealed. He was to sacrifice himself for the good of all Eire. “Will my friends be safe and our land be made whole once more if I do this?”
“Yes lad” spoke a new voice from just behind him as a big hand came to rest on his shoulder. The Dagda himself was clapping him on the back.
“Then I will do it” Aeden said, sad that he would be leaving his friends, but with a sense that this was what he was intended for from birth.
“Good lad” the Dagda told him, handing him a small ornate cauldron. “When you go forth to meet the enemies of our land, place this cauldron upon the earth, and stand before it. To invoke its power simply place the tip of your sword within it and call upon the gods of this land. When you have done that, the necessary magic will be wrought. Make certain the Sorginak are upon the field before you invoke the magic, and victory will soon follow.”
“I will see it done” Aeden vowed turning to find his horse already within arm’s reach as though the beast was anticipating his need.
As Aeden raced off once more through the trees the Dagda watched him go, his expression forlorn.
“You allowed him to believe he was a sacrifice?” the Morrighan asked a hint of rebuke in her voice.
“He needs to believe that” replied the Dagda. “It will strengthen his resolve and make the power that much easier to invoke. Even if the mistress of these Sorginak breaks the laws of our kind, we may not. We cannot enter into open war with men, but these Sorginak are the offspring of gods and they and those who serve them we can fight. We need the boy to open the way so that we can come against them to save Eire.”
“I understand that, but why not tell the boy?” the Morrighan asked, her tone now suggesting curiosity more than concern.
“Because I need to know if he has the strength for what will come after. This is not the last battle that we face in this war, and he alone among us can take the fight to our enemy” the Dagda said, and as he said it both of these gods of Eire faded into the night.
Aeden had little time to concern himself with how to convince Lord Donegal of the need to follow the plan the Dagda had described. His first thought was to avoid the risk of failure in that regard, and go straight to the Sorginak, assailing them himself without ever putting friend or ally in harm’s way, but considering what he knew he realized the Dagda was right. The best way to concentrate the Sorginak in one place was to make them think victory was one battle away. He needed them all in one place to unleash this weapon upon them, and the combined might of Donegal’s army and the druids was the only sure way to make that happen. Even with the numbers that he had slain, admittedly with help, the Sorginak were sure to underestimate him and send only a portion of their forces against him if he tried to take them on singlehandedly.
Riordan’s ring got him past the pickets and he was taken immediately to a short stocky druid named Kian, who read the message from Riordan and led him straight away to Lord Donegal. Donegal was a bear of a man, who shook his head repeatedly as he read and reread the note.
“If times weren’t strange enough already” he muttered. Looking at Aeden appraisingly he asked, “are you aware of the contents of this message?”
“No sir” Aeden replied, “but I have another message to deliver from the Dagda him
self.”
“According to this you are the Morrighan’s Champion, so you also serve the Dagda now?” Donegal said his tone neutral.
“I serve the people of Eire sir” Aeden replied, instinctively recognizing that this was the response that would most please Lord Donegal.
“Well, I can say that had not young Riordan the full support of every druid of the north I would not even consider the instructions contained in this letter. It is not my habit to turn over my command to anyone, much less a youngster no matter his patronage. I trust our young High Druid enough to know that you are no untried pup, but this request still borders on the ludicrous. These men gathered here are my responsibility and I am loath to relinquish it” Donegal informed Aeden and Kian.
“Sir, if you will hear out the Dagda’s message, I believe that you will find that the High Druid’s message has become moot” Aeden told him.
“I’m listening” Donegal replied, clearly eager to have an alternative to turning over his command to Aeden or refusing the High Druid’s request.
When Aeden finished explaining the message and the particulars of what was required, Donegal stared at him for quite some time, pondering the young man before him. He wondered what Aeden might have become in less trying times, and decided that man or godling; Aeden was someone worth