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Three more ofMebd's champions. Cú Chulainn slew them each with ease.

Only one more... he was ready.

Before she arrived, I appeared to him a last time, washing one of the fallen warrior's blood-stained armor in the river. He nodded at me. It was meant to be a warning. As a bard, he'd know what the omen meant. I did not want him to be careless. It was meant to encourage him to fight with care, to rely on the power I'd granted him by the aid of the heifer's milk.

A howl echoed in the distance. It was her. Not as a human. She appeared in the ríastrad.

Cú Chulainn heard turned to me and smiled before grabbing his broadsword and raising it overhead.

"Come at me, Aife! You've always wanted vengeance! Now is your chance!"

In full wolf form, Aife continued to charge after him.

She stopped as Cú Chulainn prepared to swing his blade.

The one who stood there transformed again, now in human form. It wasn't Aife. It was not a woman at all!

Cú Chulainn couldn't believe what he saw... a young boy, not much older than Cú Chulainn had been when he first learned he had the ríastrad. His hair was short and red. His body, though, was built like Cú Chulainn's had been in his youth. He was young, tall, virile, and strong. The age was right. Could it be hm?

"My son?"

"My name is Connla. I am the son of Aife... and of a man who abandoned us before I was born."

Cú Chulainn dropped his blade. "I cannot fight you, my son..."

Connla shook his head. "You cannot call me son... and I will not call you father... even if it is your blood in my veins."

"I will not fight you."

"Then you will die!"

"If vengeance is what you seek, it will be yours today, Connla." Cú Chulainn unwound the wrappings he'd placed on his feet—it was what he preferred to wear when in battle—and seeing a large boulder proceeded to tie himself to it.

"What are you doing?"

"I will bind myself so that I might not, even if the wolf overtakes my form, fight back against you."

"Mother said you were weak..."

"Like I said, my son. I will not fight you."

"You must fight me, Cú Chulainn!"

"I am your father... please refer to me as such."

"I will not!"

"Then you can kill me however you see fit, my son."

"Fight me like a man!"

"Will my death makeyoumore of a man, my son? I've lived a life I never wanted. The life of a hero, of a champion, a man destined for battle. But it is a fool who thinks by afflicting others with death he might come to live."

"Mother was right," Connla said. "You are pitiful!"

"Then it is within your right to end my life. For you are correct. I wronged you by abandoning your mother. I should have been there for you."