Brighid

The Realms

Fifthday, 3rd week of the 7th month, Godless Age 597

Morning

Mistvale Highlands, route from Ceallach Macht to the Starchaser Village

Brighid raced back through the mists as fast as she could push herself. The weight of her armor didn't help, but the centaur racial Trait Longwinded meant that she wasn't going to run out of Stamina any time soon, even at a gallop. She poured all of her energy into running; it would take her the entire day at top speed to return to the village, and she was Aidan's only hope for survival.

Her mind whirled as she ran; she hated herself for abandoning Aidan to die in Ceallach Macht, but he was right, her people did need to be warned, and she was the only one who could do it. She was also confused about what he meant by swearing they would see each other again. Hope fluttered in her heart, but she ruthlessly crushed it. There was no way Aidan could survive the evil she could feel emanating from the lost city, and pretending that his words were anything but a gentle lie to persuade her to do what she knew she needed to do would just cause her more pain and suffering in the end. Even with his last words, she thought, he sacrificed himself for the greater good; oaths are sacred, and there is no way he can keep that one. Maybe he thought his death would absolve him, but Brighid knew all too well that such an unkept oath could bind his spirit to the Realms as a spectral undead. She despaired at the thought and angrily scrubbed away at the tears she could feel staining her cheeks.

On and on she galloped, eating away at the miles between the cursed city and her village. She was soaking in sweat, her armor dug into her painfully, and her breath grew ever shorter, but she refused to waste any of the time Aidan had bought for her and her tribe. Her Stamina was nearly completed depleted, and the sun well past its zenith, when she finally thundered into the village, barely managing to pull herself up short before she ran down one of the guards.

"Mother! Where is my mother? I have to warn her! Where is she?" She gasped at the guards.

They glanced at each other and responded, "Brighid? What is the matter? We can send for her if you would—"

"Brigantia burn you, this is important. Just tell me where she is!"

"Peace, daughter. Dampen the flames of your anger before they burn you." Brighid looked past the guards, and there, of course, maddeningly, was her mother in all her petite serenity.

"How did you know—no, never mind that now. It can wait. There is something I must tell you," Brighid glanced back at the guards, "in private."

Ailis clicked her tongue, but beckoned her daughter to follow her into the nearby guard hut, empty at the moment due to the clear weather. "What is it, Brighid? What has you in such a state? I assume it has to do with that human trespasser and his quest?"

Green flames burned with righteous anger in Brighid's eyes. "Yes, mother, it has to do with Aidan's quest. The wards around Ceallach Macht are failing, or have already failed. Last night, we camped out of view of the city and both of us were tormented by nightmares the entire night through. Then, when we reached the city, the mists around it were swirling around the wards completely regardless of the wind. It was clearly magical, and it extended out for at least a hundred meters from the wards."

She looked into her mother's shocked face and ground out the next words from between clenched teeth, fighting against the tears returning to her eyes. "Aidan refused to let me enter the city with him, Councillor Ailis. He was compelled to enter by your quest on pain of death, but he convinced me to turn back and bring you this warning. He knew he was walking to his own death and still he put the well-being of his executioners above his own. It was not even that he refused an offer of help; I did not even think of leaving him to face that place alone, but he saw clearly where I did not. I say to you now: there can be no clearer proof in my mind than this that Aidan Lostlorn is a friend of the Starchasers. Lift the geas from him, Councillor. Let him leave Ceallach Macht—if it has not killed him already." With the last, the tears finally began to spill down her cheeks.

Ailis closed her eyes and bent her head. After several tense seconds, she said, "It is done, my heart, but he still will not be able to leave." She raised a hand to forestall her daughter's heated response. "I do not know if he yet lives or not, but his talisman was destroyed this morning, shortly after sunrise. He cannot pass back through the wards." Brighid clamped her jaw shut, barely biting back a wail; she was the one who told him not to let the talismans fall into the wrong hands, at any cost. He must have done it immediately after passing the wards, sure that he wasn't going to survive.

"I am sorry, deeply sorry, my little spark. I swear to you that I did not know that things had progressed to such a state. When we first raised the wards, we could feel fierce attacks against them almost nightly. Over time, the attacks diminished, and none of us have felt anything for at least a year. I thought that the evil within had been starving and withering away without contact with the outside world. I truly believed that with you at his side, the human—Aidan—would be able to finish cleansing the city and return it to its slumber." Ailis sighed and brushed a hand across her own cheek. "I was arrogant and wrong, and I am sorry."

"I am not the one you need to apologize to, Councillor. Not for that. I will consider an apology for manipulating me into escorting Aidan instead of just asking, though, were such an apology made to me."

Ailis winced and shook her head ruefully. "That manipulation was not meant for you, my heart, but I am sorry that you were hurt by it regardless. That arrow was aimed at Fionn and Anwn. I will not air dirty Council laundry, but I sent you to fetch Aidan to us because I knew that if you overheard that they wanted to send him off with Steffan you would intervene. I could not ask it of you openly because Fionn and Anwn would have objected, but I trusted you to do the right thing. And my trust has been rewarded, even though your trust in me has not. Be assured, daughter, that you did do the right thing even though I can see how it tears at your heart. I will talk of this more with you later, but now I must speak with the Council. We need to discuss where we will relocate to." Ailis turned to leave, but before she had even taken a step, Brighid's hand was clenched tightly around her upper arm.

"What?! You are just going to abandon Aidan—and even if you do not care about him, abandon our lands, our history—without even considering facing the threat?! No, Councillor. I will not permit it." Brighid raised her voice so that it would carry out to the guards standing at the nearby entrance of the village and spat, "I formally appeal this matter to the judgment of the full Council and demand my right to address that body on the merits of my argument." She lowered her voice to a hiss. "I swear to you now, mother: I am going back to Ceallach Macht. I am going to retrieve Aidan, or, Braihan help me, his body. He has acted in better faith and with far more loyalty than any of us deserve from him, and I will not let the evil of that place claim him. You can either watch me go alone, or help me present my case to the Council on why we should attack the city in force. Your choice. You know where to find me when the Council calls."

Brighid angrily pushed past her mother, ignoring the prompt which appeared in her head. She already knew what it said. She swore an oath, and she intended to keep it.