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“We did not finish our introductions. Who are you?” he demanded.

I glared at him as much as I could. Pain made me want to drop into a ball. “My name is Aran O’Malley. I’m a daughter of The Dagda and the current keeper of the Dagda stone.”

The man looked at me and blinked several times. “I see,” he said, then laughed. “Actually, no, I don’t see, but this is obviously possible since you’re here. Is your body still alive? I’ve been diligently working to keep your body alive.”

“Well, I hope it is,” I said, feeling strange to be saying it. “Some flying man shot me with a metal arrow. It went straight through me.”

“Yes, I’ve been working many healing spells to counteract its effects. I cast those in a room that contains the regeneration magic of the fairy folk.” His hand reached out of the cloak to rub one side of his face. “Perhaps I brought you here with one of those spells. They are old magic and sometimes cause side effects. How very strange that you found us in the void. But then, you are the first to genuinely call on us in a very long time.

“Are ya one of the mages powering my Dagda stone?”

“I am,” he said.

“What is your name?”

“One of The Three. I know that’s odd, but I have no other. Perhaps I did at one time, but I no longer recall it.”

I blinked at his answer and inclined my head toward the two sleepers. “So the three of ya chose to power my version of the Dagda stone.”

“We were friends—are friends. In our time, we were accomplished mages. We thought we could challenge the gods and rule the people. Our foolishness cost us our humanity.”

I shook where I stood. “Is there a place I can sit down? I’m not feeling my best.”

“Almost dying will do that to a human. It fascinates me that your ethereal form retains your feelings. That must be from the connection you maintain to your physical form. Can you walkwith me? The healing chamber is much nicer. I only fight from this room when I need the help of Two of The Three and Three of The Three.”

“Do they wake up to help ya?” I asked as I stumbled after him.

“No. Only their minds wake to join with mine in battle. The two of them chose eternal rest rather than for one of them to live without the other. I bear the burden of constant awareness for all three of us. I haven’t minded this fate since the first century.”

I frowned at the dirt floor. “It’s been thousands of years since the Great War. It seems like The Dagda might have released ya from this burden by now.”

“My corporeal body is long gone. I appear to you only as the echo of it, frozen in time.”

“Like a computer hologram?”

“Yes. That comparison works closely enough. I’m surprised you understand that technology.”

I shook my head. “I saw it in a movie once. A friend and I watch a lot of science fiction.”

“Ah... I see,” One said.

I stared at him. He looked real to me. I felt real to myself. “So you’re not a real person then? How does that work?”

“I’m not real the way you are real. I exist in a way your limited human mind can’t yet grasp. I had to live this reality before I understood it.”

“Ya sound like this guardian I know.”

“The comparison does not insult me. I do not understand why those you call guardians feel superior. I share your philosophical questions about their attitudes and thinking. But they areverypowerful. ”

One of The Three agreeing with me about Rasmus and his kind made me feel better. However, I was still struggling toaccept the explanation of his fate. “Don’t ya ever want to escape this place?”

“No. There is no returning to what once was. Besides, I am happy here. I find discourse with you to be quite challenging. Your predecessors feared our magic too much to communicate. They issued the occasional command but weren’t talkative. You are the first to visit. I do not know how that is possible or even why you would do so.”

“I woke up in her stone hallway. Or rather, some part of me woke up. I don’t know how it happened. The last thing I remember is losing so much blood that I passed out in my bed.”

One of The Three guided me to a large, well-worn chair. “This furniture is old and unused because I no longer require the pretense of sitting. It’s solely made of magic but should hold your spirit form well enough.”

I lowered myself down with great relief. “The chair is fine. Thank you.”