Rundimahair: A new hero for a new adventure by Larry Forkner (summer books .TXT) 📗

claws to work with. Sean had several nasty claw marks on him–especially on his mid-section. The infection was already deep within him when I arrived. Thank the Creator that Sean called for help when he did.”

“It wasn’t the giant brutes who clawed me,” Sean said, as he snatched a crispy piece of bacon. “It was the little cats who got me.”

“Little cats?” Ashling asked, confused. “I didn’t see any other dark magical creatures.”

“They looked a lot like a bobcat, only a bit larger. They were kind of cute if you don’t count the poisonous claws,” Sean said, now munching on an English muffin.

“Help yourself to some breakfast, Sean,” Eamon said, smiling. “It sounds like you earned it.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Sean said brightly.

“But I didn’t see any catlike creatures while I was cleaning up the mess you made,” Ashling said.

“To be fair, you made a bit of a mess yourself, when you arrived on the scene,” Sean said. “Not that I’m blaming you. I appreciated the help.”

Ashling rolled her eyes and said, “Still and all, I didn’t see any kitties roaming around your house.”

“That’s because they were invisible,” Sean explained. “At least they could become invisible at will. That’s how they got close enough to tear into me. I didn’t see them coming. When I was finally able to finish them off, they just disappeared.”

Eamon looked puzzled, as Ashling sighed deeply and asked, “Where are these deadly creatures coming from all of a sudden?”

“I wish I knew,” Eamon said. “We’ve seen variations on the giant beasties before, but I’ve not heard of the wildcat creatures in all my days.”

“How did these ugly creatures keep finding Sean?” she asked. I might understand it when he’s with me, but he should have been safe in Portland.”

“Aye, that’s a good question all right. With the spells we cast for his protection, he should have been safe as a baby in his mother’s arms,” Eamon said.

“It had to be Grainne,” Sean said thoughtfully.

“Faith and Begorrah! Don’t be speaking that name, Sean,” Eamon said, looking around nervously.

“You know about her?” Sean asked, surprised.

“Shush now before she hears you!” Eamon said in a fierce whisper.

“Calm yourself, Da,” Ashling said, putting her hand on his arm. “She’ll not be hearing us while we sit in our own home, in the midst of Rundimahair.”

“So you say, daughter, but I’m not so convinced as you be,” Eamon said.

“We’ve spoken her name in grand councils for many a year and she’s not found us yet,” Ashling said calmly.

Eamon looked as though he was about to respond in anger, but finally managed to calm down. “What you say is true, Daughter, but there’s no need in pushing our luck.”

She patted his arm and said, “True enough, Da, true enough. Of greater concern to me is how Sean knew the name at all.”

They both stared at Sean, waiting for an explanation. He was trying to recover from Eamon’s near panic at the mere mention of a name. Finally, he took a couple of deep breaths and said, “I saw her in a dream, not long before I was attacked in my home.”

“You saw a woman in a dream?” Ashling asked. “Please start from the beginning and tell us as much as you can recall.”

“That’s easy enough,” Sean replied. “The truth is that I can recall the entire dream with great clarity.”

“That’s not a comforting thing to hear, Sean,” Ashling said. “Please tell us both exactly what you remember.”

For the next twenty minutes, Sean held Eamon and Ashling spellbound, while he recounted his vivid dream of the ancient castle. He told them about the strange ruins, and then went on to explain all about the massive, beautiful castle hidden within those ruins.

When he explained his close encounter with the cold beauty, Grainne, Sean noticed that Eamon’s face went suddenly pale. Ashling held her composure, but he could sense the grave concern in her mind.

As soon as Sean ended his story, Eamon said, “Tis the dark queen he speaks of, and there be no doubt about it.”

Sean noticed that when Eamon was troubled, his Irish accent and word usage became more pronounced. This was true with Ashling too, but to a lesser extent.

“Aye, there’s no doubt of that,” Ashling agreed. Still and all, the news could be worse.”

“So you say, daughter. If the news could be worse then I don’t wish to hear about it,” Eamon said, shaking his head slowly.

“It’s clear that she now knows Sean is a person of interest to us, and that his powers are potentially troublesome to her evil plans,” Ashling said.

“And what could be worse news than that, may I ask?” Eamon asked.

“She could realize that he wasn’t just a man with a strong gift for magical power. She might also have realized he could be the one to foil all of her grand, dark schemes.”

“And how can you be sure the dark queen isn’t aware of that?” Eamon asked.

“She didn’t go after Sean herself, Da. She sent some dangerous goons after him for sure, but she didn’t go and make sure the deed was done right. If she truly knew who Sean could become, she’d have been at his house last night, along with her deadly creatures.”

Eamon appeared ready to dispute her logic, but then he paused. After a moment, he began to nod his head and said, “When you’re right, you’re right, dear Ashling. If she truly understood Sean’s great potential, she’d have trusted no one but herself to crush such a threat.”

After listening to their back-and-forth discussion, Sean wanted to dispute their conclusions. In the end, he realized they knew far more about Grainne than he did. Even so, he said, “I’ve got to say that the freaks she did send were bad enough. They were just about ready to finish me off when Ashling arrived to rescue me.”

“No argument there, Sean,” Eamon said. “You don’t have enough experience fighting such fearsome demons yet. Once we’ve helped you reach your full potential, you’ll handle