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The village came into view as the first bolt of lightning struck from the tumultuous clouds. A resonant rumble of thunder shook the grounds, skating up through Epona’s legs. She whinnied, shaking her head in distaste before barreling forward in pace with Nott. Shaye’s urgency to reach the village, to warn his people, fed his continued kicks to Nott’s flanks, his barks in Gaelic. Finally, they reached the village outskirts.

The storm loomed heavy overhead. Dark, swollen clouds filled with threatening sparks of lightning followed their path. The usually calm wildlife fluttered and scurried about, high-pitched squeals and squawks filling the air.

Their pace slowed and they trotted through the streets, splitting through an unnerved crowd who watched with apprehension. The sun no longer shone down on the land. Clouds cast their world beneath a veil of shadows, cold and elusive.

Foreboding.

They reached the village square, followed by a thick crowd of Talaenian people eager to hear what Shaye would pronounce. They surrounded the raised platform in the center of the square, holding tight to dear ones or nervously playing with their hems.

Shaye dismounted, dropping the leather reins to dangle from his steed’s head. His expression was one of unwavering determination, solemnity, and concern. Rihanna followed him to the ground, leaving Epona beside Nott to graze on sparse chunks of grass that grew up through the cobblestones. Behind them, Liam led the pair of High Fae who agreed to accompany them behind Shaye and Rihanna as they climbed the stairs to the platform.

“What has happened to youranam cara? Is she well?” someone yelled in the tangible silence. “We’ve been worried over her and your son.”

Shaye raised a hand, silencing the hushed murmurs that followed the man’s inquiry. “Worry not. Moira is well and healing. Due to unforeseen circumstances, our son was birthed prematurely to save the lives of mother and babe. Both are doing well. However, I come here today to ask each and every one of you to seek refuge.” He glanced up at theimpeding storm, his hair whipping about as the wind picked up. “’Tis not safe here. Not now. Whether it be in a safe partition within your home, within the mountains, or within the realm of the mortals, I beg you to heed my warning now. Delay not, for I can’t say how much time we have.”

An older man stepped to the front of the crowd, his face hard and his finger jabbing the air toward Liam and the other High Fae climbing onto the platform. “’Tis these men who bring this curse upon us! They’ve brought the Talaenian people naught but strife and misery!”

A jeer of agreement rose through the crowd.

Rihanna frowned toward Liam as he approached, but the High Fae merely lifted his chin, unaffected by the accusation.

“They have not deceived us,” she announced, stepped up beside her brother. “They are as vulnerable as we. Tuatha dé Danann or Talaenian, matters not. We are all at risk from a single enemy who seeks vengeance upon each and every one of us.”

“Where is King Dagda? Why is he not at his men’s sides?” a woman demanded from within the throng. Several murmurs of agreement rose.

“King Dagda has fallen victim to a threatening force. One we are diligently trying to thwart,” Liam answered, stepping to the edge of the platform. His voice boomed, a powerful force that silenced the crowd. “I suggest you take the advice of your leader to heart, for it may be the last warning you receive.”

“For those of you who decide to assimilate with our human cousins, remain discreet. You shall know when ’tis safe to return home,” Shaye added. Lowering the commanding tone of his voice, he continued, “For decades, you have trusted in me. Believed in me. I ask you not to loseyour confidence in my instructions, my warnings, now. Trust in me still, for I wish no harm—”

The air sizzled, an electrical current that skated over Rihanna’s arms and brought everyone to attention.

Blinding light struck down from the clouds, followed by a thunderous boom that shook the land. Rihanna exchanged a worried glance with Shaye as shrieks and shouts from the crowd mingled with the continuous rumble.

’Twas not thunder. Could not be…

Following her brother’s gaze, she scanned the immediate grounds, then the mountainous backdrop. Over the forest trees—

“Sweet Goddess,” Shaye gasped.

She saw it. Saw what sent him into a dead sprint, cursing magic and power because for some reason he could not sift, grabbing her arm and pulling her to their horses. Liam and the two High Fae with him bellowed warnings to their people, encouraging them to flee into hiding.

High up on the sloping grounds leading to their mountain home, billowing plumes of smoke and dust plumed high into the stormy sky. The thunderous rumble wasn’t thunder at all, but the sheering of the castle, theirhomefrom the side of the mountain. Piercing shrieks rent the air, the land, the mountain, as the spirits screamed their pain and anguish, wrenching tears from Rihanna’s eyes.

Epona flew across the grounds, tight on Nott’s flank. Black clouds swirled and sparked, raining bolts of fire and white-hot lightning on the mountainside. Turrets, terraces, towers. She watched the horror unfold as they cracked, crumbled, caved in and disappeared into the heaping pile of debris that grew higher and higher, until it became too much. Earthy mountain, pristine marble, and glinting gold plowed down thehillside like an avalanche, cutting through the acres of immaculate gardens, demolishing everything in its path.

Rihanna whimpered, the destruction of the gift of the spirits causing her visceral pain. But her fear for the safety of her cousins and their children inside the castle drove her heels deeper into Epona’s flanks, her urgent commands for more speed turning harsh, demanding.

Sweet Goddess, don’t let harm befall our family. Protect them. Protect the children.

Ignoring a cleaving grief,Shaye jumped off Nott’s back, landing on a small patch of grass that had been spared by castle and mountain debris. A dull throb escalated in his chest as he released burst after burst of magic, flinging heavy chunks of what was left of their home aside as he searched, begging the Goddess to have spared his family. The High Fae who found refuge within his walls. The castle had sheared off the side of the mountain, but he found relief in the pulsing gold bond that thrived inside his body. Moira was safe, but if he hadn’t acted when he did, if he hadn’t forced them into hiding earlier today…

Ice cut through his soul. He could have truly lost her and his sons.

But his cousins…

“Aspen! Killeny!” he bellowed over the rumble of thunder and tumbling rock. The storm clouds thickened, casting out all daylight, leaving his world in a nighttime madness. A nightmare. “Can you hear me?!”

Rubble blasted aside to his left. Liam and the two High Fae who’d accompanied them to the village made their waythrough the destruction, calling out for other Council members, family members, any survivors.