A short one but an important one.
Hope you enjoy!
Teach Duinn - (chach doon)
Meaning: House of Donn/House of the Dark One.
In Irish mythology, it is a place where the dead gather before moving onto The Otherworld; ruled over by a possible God of the dead known as Don, or, the dark one
Chapter 14
My eyes fluttered open to see the night sky stretching on endlessly above, a hazy moon hanging amongst millions of stars. There was something strange about it though, more than the fact I didn't remember falling asleep outside. The longer I looked at the strange swirling clouds with purple hues, the more I came to realised I didn't recognise a single constellation.
Thick lush grass rustled in a warm breeze to tickle my skin, which was wrong for the time of year, it should have been cold. Snowing. And while I recognised the dress covering my skin, it sent my stomach dropping. It was the same soft, sheer white material that I'd worn the first time my soul had left my body.
Frowning, I sat up slowly, taking in the meadow I found myself in. This wasn't Náströnd. There was no oppressive force weighing down, nor signs of rot and decay, or cursed gods, and yet somehow, I knew sleep had once more brought me to Helheim. A gentler part, for souls deserving of peace perhaps?
Gentle sloping hills darkened the horizon while the sound of rustling leaves ushered from behind me like the rush of a small waterfall. All in all, it was almost. . .pleasant. . .peaceful in its dreamlike quality. Even the howling wolves in the distance sounded more beautiful than I'd ever heard, joyous calls of ringing sound that made the hair on my arms stand up as I resisted the urge to tilt my chin up and join in. . .
Wait. Wolves?
Throwing myself to my feet, I spun towards the forest of tall firs, scanning the breaks in the trunks for any movement. When I did, spotting a lone wolf loping through the long grass, the moon catching tones of brilliant silver in his fur, my knees buckled and threatened to give out beneath me. I shook my head in disbelief, rasping breaths tearing from my lips. Heart thundering in my chest, I backed away while the wolf drew closer, his dark eyes near black in the din, but as familiar to me as my own. Eyes that pierced right into my soul and made me stop in my tracks.
The male shifted to skin and gave me the same lopsided grin he always had; playful and confident. I'd nearly forgotten it. Nearly forgotten the way the lines around his eyes creased, making the scar left there from a boar appear all the worse. He looked much like I remembered. All except, his dark brown hair was a little longer, hitting broad shoulders in curls as wild as Niamh's, and he'd regained the weight he'd lost during our struggles. Yet, despite Vali having told me as much, and despite seeing him with my own eyes, I couldn't trust this wasn't more than a wishful dream. . .
"MÃ nas?"
His grin grew, dark eyes shimmering, voice cracking with emotion as he bowed his head slightly, "Halò, a phiuthar. My sister. I hear you've been causing quite a bit of trouble."
Sucking in a sharp breath, I flung myself forward with such force, MÃ nas grunted when we collided. He staggered back a few steps but managed to keep us both upright as he wrapped his arms around me so tight it crushed my ribs. His minty, fir tree scent filled my senses, offering the comfort I didn't realise I'd been craving until now.
MÃ nas was here.
I could feel his chest rise and fall, his skin warm against mine, his heart beating a rhythmic thud beneath my ear.
MÃ nas was here. Breathing. Real. At least, he seemed so. He even yelped when I pinched his arm to make sure.
"You're alive." Pulling back, I searched his face for answers, suddenly suspicious. Was this a trick? "I can hear your heartbeat. I don't understand."
A sad smile swept away the joy that glittered in dark browns moments ago. "It isn't real. I died, Eabha, there's no changing that. What you hear is only an echo. Just as what I hear of your heart is but an echo. The only difference is that your source is still alive." He glanced over his shoulder towards the trees he'd appeared from, his brow furrowed. "They didn't think I'd be able to touch you. . ."
A chill prickled over my skin as I followed his gaze, but I couldn't see the they he spoke of.
"Can others touch you? I was told that you'd been visited by Sköll, I don't know how much you know, but he's not be trusted-"
"I know. Do not worry. I could smell the darkness clinging to him as soon as he stepped foot here. He asked about you. I did not answer. He threatened to come back, but the pack that run here are old, older than him, all the skin shifters who died in belief of these gods, and when he saw them, his scent soured to fear."
"What if he does come back with a way to harm you?"
Shaking his head, he grabbed my hand and tugged me to sit with him in the long grass. "If he does, we will be ready, but I fear he has bigger things on his mind than anything I can say. Save your worry for yourself and our pack, Eabha. I don't have much time to speak, and nor do you. This may not be as bad as the land of the damned, but it is still no place for the living. Even one like you."
Once more he glanced back, and this time when I looked, I saw them. Glowing eyes in an array of colours flashed between the trees, along with the ripple of fur. A pack?
"Hel was already unimpressed with your last visit, sister. I held hope you would come again, but you ignored the pack, even when I called for you too."
So I was right. The tug, it was MÃ nas.
Emotions warred between relief and fear as I finally comprehended what he'd said. The fact I'd upset a goddess was deeply unsettling. "Hel. The Goddess Hel. You've met her?"
"Once," he confirmed, picking at a blade of grass to twist between his fingers much like I did when talking about something I'd rather not. "She and Macha both offered me a place in their realms when I died. I almost went with Macha to wait for you all to join me in Teach Duinn, but Hel told me if I went with her, I would be better able to keep a closer eye on you." His expression grew serious as he gripped my hand in his. "Be warned, you've wandered out of the sight of those in Tir Na Nog. Mother's gods can no longer protect you. However, I didn't realise quite how well I would be able to watch you from here. You'd run with me sometimes, at night as you slept. Then you suddenly stopped."
"I thought I was dreaming," I whispered, brushing away tears that fell freely. "It didn't feel like this feels. This feels real."
MÃ nas chuckled and ruffled my hair, his fingers getting caught in the knots. "This is real. But I understand what you mean. You weren't as strong or aware back then as you are now - that's maybe part of it - but I can only guess. There are a great many rumours about you flying among the dead. Rumours about what you are."
"What do they say?"
He didn't reply.
His lips pressed together as a muscle twitched in his jaw.
My reaction to his silence shocked us both.
Without thinking, my hand whipped out to cuff the back of his head as if he were one of the cubs, my voice stern as I threw out, "You kept one secret from me already, brother, do not keep more. Not if we might not get the chance to speak again."
His eyes flashed as he rubbed the spot I'd hit, but amusement broke through any attempt at a stern look. A look that once would have sent me running. Leaning in closer, there was a flash of fear in his eyes as he quickly glanced around before murmuring, "They say you are part of one of the oldest and most terrifying of prophecies-"
"I have something to do with fixing damage Sköll did and will do, yes, I know that."
"No," MÃ nas snapped.
Howls from within the trees began to ring out once more, and he groaned, his body swaying towards them as if being pulled. Frantically, I reached out for his other hand, and he grabbed it in a bone-breaking grip.
Voice growing strained, he bit out. "An older prophecy. The prophecy of Ragnarök. You must listen, sister, this is important. It isn't that you were created so that your blood attracts the Blood Drinkers, it's much bigger than that. In your blood they smell the power you wield, and that power will draw more creatures out of the dark looking for you."
Vali had eluded to as much.
"What do you mean?" Panicked and desperate, I rolled to my knees, yanking on his hands to get him to look at me. "No one will tell me, but you must. You promised to protect me. What am I?"
"It's a title Eabha. The prophecy is a title. The judgement of the Gods. It's you. They whisper that it's you."
The prophecy? Of Ragnarök? How could it possibly me? What did that even mean? Ragnarök was a series of events, wasn't it? A series of events Sköll had set in motion, not I.
"I don't understand any of this MÃ nas. I don't want it. This isn't me. I can't handle it. You could, you should have been in my place and I yours."
"No, Eabha. We are both where we need to be."
The ground beneath my feet began to shudder, the sky above becoming hazy, the stars blurring almost as if being pulled further away. MÃ nas growled in frustration, his hands ripping from mine, and got to his feet, slowly backing away even while he appeared to fight to do the opposite.
"Remember what I said. Tell that Alpha of yours, tell him I'm watching him, that if he doesn't treat you right, I'll know. I'll find a way to show him I know. If he doesn't save you. . ." He choked and squeezed his eyes shut. "Mamaidh and Dadaidh, tell them I love them. Niamh and Anndra too, and Fionnlagh and. . ."
A force of air to the gut deafened me to the last of his words. Pain exploded throughout my body as my body flew backwards. I clawed at the air in an attempt to get to MÃ nas so I could say goodbye, but he was torn from my grasp and the world went oppressively dark.
"Mate of my nephew," a feminine voice whispered, and I thought I caught a glimpse of a strange face, one side rotted away to leave bone and sinew visible, with a milky eye that blinked slowly at me. "Have no fear, I will keep your brother safe in my realm, he will run with the eternal pack in land ever on the cusp of summer. However, while the branches of Yggdrasil may reach into every realm, I ask you not to come again until your time. Not unless you come to return the souls that were stolen from me by Sköll."
A pale hand reached out to touch my chest.
"If the threads of your destiny come to pass, I will see you soon either way. I will be waiting."
With those last, horrifying words, she shoved me hard enough I felt my ribs crack beneath her icy fingers.
I fell further into the dark. Falling and falling . . .until my back hit Hati's bed and I startled awake, mouth flying open to gulp at the air as if I'd been submerged in water for too long.
"She's back."