John Lenahan - Sons of Macha

‘Where is Macha?’ Dahy demanded.

Oracle guy leaned in, letting the light hit his face for the first time. It was as effective as any lighting trick done in a Hollywood horror movie and I’m sure he did it for its impact. The next time I had to scare the crap out of someone I decided I would hire this guy to do my special effects.

‘The last time I spoke to a Lord of Duir, he had manners,’ he said, looking at Dahy, but then he turned to my father and said, ‘and the last time I spoke to a Lord of Duir, he spoke for himself.’

‘I have had reports of the reception you offered my son at his last visit,’ Dad said, ‘the time for manners was then.’

The Oracle cast an eye in my direction. I wish you’d leave me out of this, Dad , I thought to myself.

‘As for my general’s question,’ Dad continued, ‘I shall repeat it. Where is my mother?’

The Oracle started to smile and then sat back into the shadows and laughed. One of those bad-guy laughs that irritates everyone except the laugher. We waited.

‘I never thought I would see the day when the Lord of Duir would climb up my mountain only to say, ‘I want my mommy.’ He laughed again. I’m glad it was dark in there ’cause I smiled too.

‘Conor, welcome back,’ he said, wiping the smile from my face, ‘I see you have brought your Imp with you. But where are the archer and the Druid? Oh dear, did I kill them?’

‘No,’ I said trying hard not to let my voice wobble. ‘Not that you didn’t try.’

‘Impudent as ever,’ he said in a tone that almost had some warmth in it. ‘Someday that will get you killed.’

‘I would advise you not to threaten my son.’ Dad obviously had heard something different in his tone than I had.

‘Or what? Your Shadowwitch will cover me with sap?’ Oracle looked to Mom and Nieve. ‘Which one of you is the Daughter of Hazel that practises the forbidden lore?’

Mom stepped forward but didn’t say a word.

‘So who are you?’ the Oracle asked pointing to Nieve.

‘I am Nieve of Duir and I too want my mommy.’

That should have been funny, but the way my aunt said it made it sound menacing. Saying that, Oracle guy laughed – apparently he doesn’t menace easily.

‘Well, now that we are all introduced,’ the Oracle said rising, ‘it is time for you to go. Apologise to my Brownies on your way out.’

Dahy is not the kind of guy who lets emotions get in the way of his tactics but on this day, the arrogance of the Oracle and the anticipation of seeing Macha again got the best of him and he jumped the gun. He raised his banta and stepped towards the dais. All I remember of the next ten seconds was: G-forces, wind and pain. By the time I came back to my senses I saw that I, like everyone in my party, was pinned to the wall by a force of wind that made our faces scrunch up like astronauts during take-off. When I finally could force my head to move, I saw I was three feet off the ground.

Oracle guy was standing in front of his dais with his arms outstretched as dust and leaves swirled around him under the light from the ceiling discs. If before I thought that this plan was maybe a mistake, now, seeing Oracle guy looking so all-powerful, I wondered if this was actually a fatal mistake.

‘What arrogance,’ he said; his voice, carried on the wind, was so loud it made my head vibrate against the stone. ‘To imagine that sticks and swords – and even Shadowmagic are enough to defeat ME!’

I tried to speak and then yell but the wind seemed to push my words back in to my head. I wasn’t party to the entire plan for this campaign but I was pretty sure that getting pinned to a wall wasn’t part of it. I could only hope that we got back on schedule before Oracle guy killed us.

The pressure of the wind was so intense that I was starting to have trouble breathing. Now that would be one for the books – being suffocated because of too much air. I looked to my left. Not because I wanted to, it was just that I could no longer keep my head straight. As my cheek pressed painfully against the stone wall I saw Mom moving her hand into her pouch. I don’t know how she did it, I couldn’t move a thing. Her hand came out with one of those gold and amber balls that she had invented. It was a hybrid weapon made from Real and Shadowmagic. I had never seen it fail to kick the crap out of anybody she had lobbed it at. Ever so slowly she brought her hand to her lips and incanted directly onto the ball. The gold and amber glowed and then despite the force of the wind it started towards the Oracle – but not for long. I heard him laugh through the howl as Mom’s bomb came back at her and silently exploded as it reached her chest. Normally I would have had to turn my head or cover my face at the brightness of it but all I could do was close my eyes. When the flash blindness finally receded to small black dots I saw that Mom was out cold. At least, I hoped she was just unconscious. For all I could tell she might have been dead.

The horror of that thought hit me at the same time as all the noise stopped. Blessed quiet filled the room as the wind and pressure ceased and I slid down the wall onto my feet. Mom crumpled to the ground. As I ran to her I heard Dahy’s voice shouting the word that I had taught him, ‘Ninja!’ My training kicked in and I slowed to a crawl. Mom looked like she was still breathing so I slowly turned to see that the rest of my team had already gently flowed into action. Oracle guy looked very confused. He waved his arms and flicked his wrists but in the windless chamber he seemed powerless.

I breathed a small sigh of relief, making sure I created no air current. We had all been working on the assumption that Oracle guy’s powers came from wind. It seemed not to be such a stretch after seeing how the Mertain harvested power from ocean currents. Days before, Tuan in the form of a crow had carried a parcel of stuff that Mom, Essa, Nieve and Fand had come up with. I know it sounds silly but it was like magic expanding cavity filler. As a test they had set off a teaspoon of it in Castle Duir. It filled the room with an amber coloured substance with the consistency of light pumice. It kept going into the hallway and for a minute Mom was worried that it was going to take over the entire floor. There were people back at the castle who were still trying to dig out the room.

Tuan had reconnoitred the mountain and discovered two large holes at about the height of the Yew Throne Room. We figured that if we plugged those holes, the wind in the chamber would stop and Oracle guy would be powerless. The Shadowmagic baton Dahy threw off the mountain just before we entered the Yew House was Essa’s signal to ride Dragon Tuan up to the summit, detonate the parcels and draught-proof the throne room. If Dahy hadn’t jumped the gun maybe we could have done all this without so much pain.

Once the wind stopped, subduing Oracle guy was easier than any of us expected. He was still trying to figure out what had happened to his powers when Nieve came up behind him and pinned him with one of her paralysing specials. As soon as he was incapacitated Dad and Nieve went to Mom. Nieve placed her hands on both sides of Mom’s head. She was like that for a long time before she said, ‘I think she will be fine, but I would like to get her to your mermaid as quickly as we can.’ I didn’t like hearing Nieve using words like ‘I think’. I sat and held Mom’s hand, not knowing what else to do.

Dahy made us all jump when he shouted into the darkness, ‘MACHA.’ Just the sound of that one word spoke the decades of loss the old warrior felt. Dad rose and stood beside him.