Jewels from the Dark

“What about Darach?” Lorcan whispered, looking back at Luan as they ran.

“We will find him,” Luan started to say. His words were cut off as a soft light grew steadily in front of them. Out of nowhere, a cabin appeared.

“Quickly – get inside!” the woman urged.

All four of them clattered through the door. The main room was cozy. A warm fire softly provided light and heat. The air smelled inviting, with a hint of spice and baked bread still lingering. It was a home, here in the dark of the Wilding Woods.

With the door shut tightly and shadows drawn around the cabin, Laoise and Meirleach finally turned around, catching their breath. Luan and Lorcan were facing them, looking ready for a fight.

“Peace,” Laoise said as she breathed deeply. “Peace… We – I – mean you no harm,” she glanced at Meirleach, unsure if she could speak for him. She took in all three men, standing in her own main room. She rarely had visitors and didn’t quite know what was about to come next.

Meirleach held up his hands slowly, reiterating what Laoise had said. He turned to her now and said, “Peace to you as well. I’ve been helping from the shadows for many yesterdays. Since you were in the Waste and won against the Void…” He let his voice trail off.

“Are you the one who hides me in the umbra nihili?”

Meirleach nodded and kept her gaze. “You angered the Void when you broke free and walked out of the Waste that day. The Wind placed a bounty on you with the Nefas. We’ve been hunting you since.”

At that, Laoise stepped back and instinctively, Luan and Lorcan moved forward ready to intervene.

“No…,” Meirleach said. “I no longer stand with the Nefas. Especially after today.”

Laoise nodded. “If you have used your shade and shadows to hide me, you will be an outcast from them. They do not take kindly to those who betray the family. I may be able to get you to the Shadowlands, to the Liminal. What are you called?”

After a brief hesitation he answered, “Meirleach.”

Laoise let out a soft gasp. The other two men remained blank. The name meant nothing to them, but for Laoise, it meant war. “You are correct – the family will not take kindly to the future leader of the Nefas choosing Líadan over them.”

Luan started at the name. “Líadan?!” He glanced at Lorcan, who nodded, and then looked at Laoise anew. Laoise lifted her chin. The firelight highlighted the silver flecks in her grey eyes and danced along the scars on her face.

“Laoise?” Luan’s voice broke as he said his sister’s name. She nodded and all three siblings collided in an embrace.

“Luan, Lorcan – how are you here?” Laoise asked, tears brightening her eyes. She had long given up the thought or hope that she would ever see any in her family again.

“Darach – he never stopped looking for you. Every day he would go into the Wood, leaving bundles for you. Even if he couldn’t go deeply in to search, he would put bundles in different places as far as he could manage. For many yesterdays he kept trying. We finally decided to come in and not leave until we found you. But today, he fell…”

“Darach?” Memories came flooding back. “That was Darach?” She paused, fresh tears filled her eyes. “I found a pack so long ago. It had a small box of embers in it, and the bag had an oak tree stitched into one corner…”

“Yes – we found it earlier and Darach was convinced you were still alive. He found the empty box with an owl carved into it.”

A smile played on her lips. “The Owl and the Oak…That seems like forever ago. Those embers kept me alive for thousands of yesterdays. Until…” She stopped and looked at Meirleach. Laoise had never understood what had happened.

“Until my family made a deal with the Waste Wind, servant of the Void, for the Grey Lady,” supplied Meirleach. They all turned toward him, Laoise’s mouth fell open with evident shock.

“I am sorry. My uncle and mother had seen you saving the Lost Ones and could not have that. We have a long history serving the Waste and driving the Lost into it. The Void is hungry and feeds on fear and apathy, until it devours all light and hope. We had seen your light – those embers – and how you used it to help the Lost Ones move away from the Void. We could not let that stand.”

Laoise’s voice was harsh as she spit out, “You keep saying we. Do you stand with the Nefas or against them?”

Meirleach’s jaw tightened and his voice was tense. “If you still have to ask that after today… After all the yesterdays where I’ve offered shelter and help…”

“It could’ve been a trap,” Lorcan offered, shifting his stance again.

“Yes,” agreed Luan, also moving in front of Laoise. The protective nature of brothers was certainly something to behold, even after all this time. Laoise put her hands up, halting her brothers.

“I do not believe it is a trap. Not unless he is playing the incredibly long game. It has been 3000 yesterdays since I was lost in the Waste. Many times since, the Nefas have almost found me. Yet at the very last second, the umbra nihili seems to wrap around shielding me from their sight. I’ve always wondered how and why it works.” She looked again to Meirleach.