“But she didnae. She’s playing with me and I’m nae sure why, but I need to be prepared for anything and everything. She caught me off guard this time, and I let my fear cloud my brain. Once I calmed my mind, I was able to float down to the ground unharmed. Keeping a clear head and not letting fear in, I believe that’s what will help me defeat her.”
“You’ll need to draw her out. Make her come to you,” Richard suggested. “If you can keep her occupied, I might be able to get a shot off at her with my bow.”
Maggie shook her head firmly. “Nae. I told ye, I must do this myself. Nae matter what ye see, ye mustn’t interfere.”
The two men seemed ready to argue the point with her, but when they saw the determination on her face, they apparently thought better of it.
“Ye may stand with me in support, but that is all.” Maggie wanted to make it clear to them, and tried to sound as confident as she could. “I can do this. Believe in me.”
“I have faith in you, Maggie, but you have to understand how hard it is, to feel so utterly helpless in this situation.” Dylan grumbled, obviously not enjoying the position Maggie had placed him in.
“Richard?” Maggie wanted his assurance as well.
“I believe in you, Maggie,” he said.
“Okay. I have an idea. I’ll need the amulet and a minute or two to gather my thoughts,” Maggie entered the cottage, leaving Dylan and Richard standing outside, staring at her departing back in dismay.
***
“I don’t like this,” Dylan said to Richard. The two men had stepped away from the door of the cottage to avoid Maggie overhearing them, and they strolled towards where the horses were happily grazing. “I know Maggie is a powerful witch, but I think she’s at a serious disadvantage here with Brielle.”
“I agree. I think we need to have a plan in place, if things start looking bleak.” Richard whistled to his horse, Arion. The great beast cantered right up to him and lowered his head for a rub. Richard obliged him and when he stopped, Arion almost knocked him off his feet as he butted him with his head, seeking more attention. “Arion, I cannot stand here all day patting you, will an apple be a reasonable recompense?” Richard pulled an apple out from his pocket and offered it to Arion, who happily gobbled it up. The other two horses stood nearby, waiting for treats of their own.
“I don’t have anything for you,” Dylan apologized. The horses both snorted impatiently at him and he chuckled. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Both horses ignored him, instead focusing on Richard, who had drawn another apple from a pocket. He halved it with his knife and gave one piece to each horse. They happily munched on them as Richard and Dylan worked on a backup plan, just in case Maggie found herself in trouble. As they headed back to the cottage, the wind began to pick up and the faint sound of Brielle’s cackling laughter floated in on the breeze. The two men stopped dead in their tracks and spun around, trying to placethe direction the laughter was coming from. Strangely, it seemed to be echoing at them from every angle. Striding purposefully back to the cottage, they found Maggie waiting for them in the doorway. She held up the amulet.
“I’m hoping this will do the trick,” Maggie said, passing them on her way out the door.
“Wait, what are you going to do?” Dylan was desperately worried, but he hoped it wasn’t being revealed in his voice.
“Lure her with the amulet,” Maggie answered calmly.
Richard raised a questioning eyebrow and put a reassuring hand on Dylan’s shoulder as they both turned and followed Maggie out into the open field.
***
“Oh, my,” Edna whispered. She was back at her post, pacing next to the fire and she had a bird’s eye view of everything that was happening. Edna had finally found a spell that would allow her to get around the barrier Brielle had put in place to prevent her communicating with Maggie. She could clearly see and hear Maggie, Dylan and Richard standing together outside of a small stone cottage. They were going to face down Brielle together.The nightmares must have worked,she thought with a satisfied smile.Richard is there to help them, not to hurt them.As for Brielle, Edna would keep watch and remain an unseen onlooker.
***
“Brielle!” Maggie called. She searched the treetops, expecting to see the witch perched up among the branches and birds, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “Brielle! I have something I think you might want.” Maggie held the amulet up in the air, hoping that wherever Brielle was, she would be able to see it clearly.
“She’s not here,” Dylan said, standing right behind her.
“She is here. I can sense her.” Maggie continued standing on the spot, the amulet suspended from her outstretched fingers. “We’ll wait.”
Richard took a stance to her left and Dylan to her right. Minutes passed and there was still no sign of Brielle.
A sudden movement from the trees had them turning in that direction, to discover three large, cat-like creatures running straight at them. They were enormous in size, all black in color with the exception of a single white spot on each animal’s breast. Dylan and Richard pulled out their swords in preparation for being attacked.
“They’re Cait Sith,” Maggie shouted. She’d only heard of these creatures in folklore and hadn’t believed that they truly existed until this moment, but perhaps they weren’t real at all, merely something conjured up by Brielle to frighten them. If that was the case, it was working. The creatures were hurtling towards them with the clear intention of killing them, judging by their blazing eyes and the smoke emanating from their nostrils. Dylan used his sword to stab the first one, aiming directly into the white spot on its chest as it lunged at him. The Cait Sith dropped to the ground and vanished immediately. Richard wasn’t quite as lucky. His sword hit, but only nicked the Cait Sith’s shoulder, having no effect whatsoever on the great cat, other than to prevent it from reaching him. Maggie stood frozen in place as she watched the third Cait Sith draw closer and closer. She held on tightly to the amulet, not wanting to drop it. Dylan saw her dilemma and rushed to her aid, slashing desperately at the giant cat. He got between the Cait Sith and Maggie, effectively blocking it from reaching her as he continued to stab at its body. He finally managed a killing blow, once again to the single white spot on its chest and the cat flopped lifelessly to the ground and disappeared.
“Richard, aim for the white spot!” Dylan shouted. Richard was still fending off the assault, but hadn’t been able to kill the beast. With Dylan’s advice, he stopped for a moment and waited for the giant creature to come at him again. As it did, he saw his chance and ran his blade straight through, and watched as what had once been a massive cat, disappeared into thin air.
The Cait Sith were no sooner gone than the giant boulders, which lay strewn about the field began to rise, turning into stone behemoths before molding themselves into giant men. Maggie, Dylan and Richard started to back up as the ground beneath their feet began to shake with every step the giant stone men took. With each step, they tore enormous rocks from the ground and hurled them towards Maggie and the men, narrowly missing them as they sought shelter from the onslaught.
Maggie quickly recited a spell to try and stop them. She didn’t know if it would work, but it was all she had to work with, in an effort to stop the magical creatures. These giants would be impenetrable to the weapons that Richard and Dylan carried. “Giant men made from stone, back to boulders you must go, fight no more with us this day, back you go to always stay.” The giants had been closing in on them, but Maggie finished the incantation and they toppled to the ground, returning to harmless boulders before their very eyes.
