been fulfilled, but the debt she owes you does not permit me to do so. Therefore, I have decided to let you all go. My debt to you is paid, in full. You had best leave now, before you become trapped. Fare well, Eile Chica, until we meet again." And with that, Nyarlathotep turned his attention back to the high priest.
Another chunk of ceiling fell only a couple of feet in front of her. The chamber was coming apart, and she understood her business was finished. Turning, she headed for the tunnel mouth, but paused as she passed a fallen acolyte. She glanced back at the avatar, who toyed with the priest like a cat would toy with a mouse it had caught. Bending over, she stripped off the acolyte's cloak and bolted down the tunnel.
Shadow-stalker burst out the temple entrance and down the steps into the courtyard; Cremedevoyager kept pace beside her. They skidded to a halt when they reached the zebras, and turned to look for the others. Teehar'owan appeared next, winging out and high above them, followed closely by Sunny, who held Conaed in her arms. A cloud of dust poured out of the entrance, and Medb emerged from it, seemingly unaffected. The two humans ran up to the zebras as Teehar landed on the bridle of the closest. Creme began to purr as he stood to greet them, but Shadow continued to watch the temple.
"I don't see Eile," she said, as Sunny set the Zoog on one of the packs.
Creme flicked his head around. "Madam, where's Eile?"
Both females jerked around to stare at the temple.
"Eile?" Sunny cried. "Oh, my god, Eile! Eile!!"
"Stay there!" Medb ordered as she raced towards the entrance, but she only got as far as the foot of the steps when the walls fell outward and the roofed collapsed. Another cloud of dust, larger than the one before, erupted from the doorway as the front facade fell backwards into the interior, leaving only the arch that formed the entrance. Medb raised her arms to shield her face from the flying debris, but she went no further.
"Eile!" Sunny screamed as she dashed for the ruins. Medb caught her as she passed her, stopped and held her as she struggled to get free. "Eile!! Eile!!!"
"It is too late! There is nothing we can do! She is gone."
As if to prove the former queen right, the rubble shifted and dropped into the caverns under the structure with a deep rumble. A third cloud of dust and debris rose above the ruins like a cenotaph before spreading out over the temple complex.
Sunny's struggles grew weaker. "Eile! No! No, please. Please, Eile."
Medb let her go. She staggered forward a couple of steps, then collapsed on her hands and knees.
"Oh, Eile." She covered her face as she wept uncontrollably.
Medb knelt down beside her and held her shoulders. Creme moaned in a sorrowful tone while Conaed and Teehar remained silent. Shadow felt too remorseful to react. She was shocked at how sad she felt. She didn't think she could ever feel so aggrieved for a human. If Eile were a cat, Shadow knew her soul would live on through the rest of its lives, and then as a servitor of Bast, but she had no idea what happened to human souls. For all she knew, Eile was lost to them forever, and that hurt her more than she believed it could.
Then her ears swiveled as she caught a faint sound. Concentrating, she strained to pick it up again, and heard coughing coming from inside the ruins. Medb lifted her head; she must have heard it too. It became louder, closer; Sunny lifted her face as she stopped crying. Creme pricked his ears, and started purring again.
And then Eile rose up from below the threshold and stepped through the intact arch. She paused for a moment as she coughed hard to expel dust from her lungs. She had been covered in dust from head to toe, giving her a ghostly appearance, but Shadow knew ghosts didn't cough. She then started down the steps, carrying a bag over one shoulder.
"EILE!!" Sunny sprang to her feet and rushed up the stairs. She collided with her and wrapped her in a bear hug as she rained kisses all over her face. "Oh, thank you!" she said between pecks. "Thank you...thank you...thank you...thank you..."
"Hey!" Eile objected in a laughing tone. "Settle down, ya spaz! There'll be plenty of time for this later. We've got our whole lives ahead of us."
"I thought I lost you! I thought I lost you. I'm so happy." Tears started to flow again. "I don't know what I'd do without..." Wrapping her arms around Eile's shoulders, Sunny buried her face in her partner's arm and started bawling again.
"Aww, cripes." But Eile's tone sounded affectionate and gentle. She shifted her hold on the sack and put an arm around Sunny before she guided her down the steps.
Medb had stood as soon as Sunny ran up the stairs. She waited for the Girls to come down to her. Eile stopped in front of the massive woman, for once seemingly unembarrassed by her nudity.
Medb reached out and laid a hand on the side of Eile's face. "Thank you for coming to our rescue."
Eile smiled as Medb patted her, then the former queen turned and headed back to the zebras.
Sunny stifled her weeping with a few sniffles as she lifted her head. "Yes, thank you." She spoke in a tender tone and kissed Eile on the mouth, placing a hand behind her head.
By the time the Girls reached the zebras, Medb had retrieved a spare dress from a pack and slipped it over her head. She had tied it closed at her shoulders when she noticed the downcast look on Sunny's face.
She frowned and narrowed her eyes. "What is wrong now?"
She moaned as if in physical pain. "We failed."
Shadow knew Medb tried to be forbearing with Sunny's moods and whims, but sometimes she exasperated the hell out of her.
"What do you mean?"
"We have nothing to show for our adventure, no reward or anything."
"We have our lives." Medb's tone sounded stern. She had little tolerance for Sunny's whining.
"Oh, yeah, I understand that, but to go home empty-handed--"
"Well, now, I wouldn't say that," Eile said. Swinging the sack off her shoulder, she dropped it at her feet. It fell open, revealing itself to be a cloak. It also revealed a large pile of gold and silver coins, gemstones, and jewelry.
"Oh my word!" Sunny looked as astonished as she sounded.
Shadow perked as she focused on the treasure. Creme yowled and Teehar chirped in surprise, and even Medb stared at the haul with wide eyes. Conaed seemed nonplussed, but his nose tendrils quivered in an excited fashion.
Medb came around the zebras as Eile and Sunny squatted beside the pile. "You went back for this?" The displeasure in her voice was unmistakable.
"Not really." Eile looked up at the massive woman. "I collected it as I went. A handful here, another there--"
"You could have been killed."
"Yeah, I know, but it's funny, the whole time it felt like Ubasti was there with me, protecting me. I wasn't being greedy, I stopped before it got too heavy ta carry, and I only took small stuff, but I really believe she wanted me ta have it, as a reward for saving her life."
"Saving her life?"
"Yeah, we had ta get past this demon called Apep. It almost ate her, but I was able ta kill it first."
Medb actually looked impressed. "You will have to tell us the whole story tonight."
"Well, anyways, I didn't take the treasure for myself, but for Sunny. I knew how disappointed she'd be if we took nothing back, and I think that made the difference."
"How so?"
"When I first encountered Ubasti, she offered to grant me a wish. She told me about all the things other people wanted, things for themselves, but all I could think about was rescuing Sunny. So she appeared to help me. And when Apep had her on the ropes, she told me to abandon her and save Sunny, but I couldn't, not when she was risking her life to help me. I think the treasure was the same kind of thing: offering something she thought I might want, but I accepted it for someone else's benefit."
"Hrrm. Nyarlathotep is a master corruptor of innocence, but he is powerless against true devotion and selflessness. That may have been what saved you."
"Well, I don't care what the reason was," Sunny said, her voice full of pride. "Not only did Eile save us, s
he saved the whole expedition. I'm so proud of you, partner!" She threw her arms around Eile's neck and smooched her on the cheek. "Thank you for everything." And she laid her face against Eile's cheek.
"Yeah, yeah," Eile said, blushing, but Shadow saw adoration on her face. Looking up at Medb, the cat saw her smile, from amusement certainly, but she could swear she saw pride in the former queen's eyes as well.
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For more information on Medb hErenn, see the official site [https://www.medbherenn.com/].
For more information on Eile and Sunny, Team Girl, see the official site [https://www.teamgirlforever.com/].
Back to TOC
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About the Author
Kevin L. O'Brien was born with a pen in his hand.
Well, not quite, but he has been writing for as long as he can remember, at least since First Grade. Writing has always been his first, true love, but it hasn't always been his career. He worked for 15 years as a biomedical researcher, then for 3 years as a web designer. However, after 30 years of trying to be published in print with little success, he has decided to try his hand at self-publishing. Most of his works will be sold as ebooks through various online retailers, but he also plans to make some available for free exclusively on Goodreads.
He writes primarily speculative fiction--fantasy, science fiction, horror, and their sub-genres--but he also likes to try his hand at thrillers, suspense, mystery, and even westerns. However, his stories tend to have a fantasy element, no