Welcome everyone. This is a collection of short stories, how much I'll do depends on how much I feel like doing. At the moment I've got three planned but I might do more than that. Enjoy this first story.

Brigid's Mother

Sitting beneath a tree, Brigid looked at the clay doll Kit had given here. Epona she had called it. Next to her was Balor, feeling a tad bit jealous of the doll.

"Brigid, what was your mother like?"

Brigid looked at Balor. "What?"

"What was your mother like? You've met my father, I've told you about my mother, you've told me about your father so what was your mother like?"

Brigid put Epona aside and held on to the single braid in her hair. She didn't know who her mother was. Balor until a few months ago didn't know who his father was, truly these two were meant for each other.

"I don't know." She muttered. "The only parent I've ever known is… was… my father. He never talked about my mother.

Confused, Balor raised an eyebrow. "Never?" Looking around at his surroundings, Balor sat in disbelief. How could Brigid have never known her mother, much less her father never talk about her? The only thing either of them knew was that Brigid's mother was a daughter on Indra, the Evabon Witch Doctor.

"Hey…" Brigid picked up Epona and stood up. "I just had a wonderful idea!" Balor looked at her. "Why don't we just go see Old Sweyn?"

"The records keeper?" asked Balor.

"Of course!" exclaimed the little beauty with joyful glee. "He's been around for so long, seen so many chieftains come and go, he must know who my mother is!"

Sweyn had indeed been around for a long time. About half as long as the likes of Gard, Zuvowang and Dalv but still a long time! He was also one of the few Evabon with a surname. "Iron Arm" people called him for his left forearm had been lost long ago and replaced by a motionless prosthetic made from iron. As records keeper, he was very serious about his job and would only let those with permission from the Chieftain of Evabon, the current chieftain being Piyamaradu. Lying to him was impossible because he had the ability to tell whether or not someone was telling the truth or not.

The thought of seeing Sweyn Iron Arm was not a pleasant one since he wasn't the most pleasant of people, no matter the race, to visit. Naturally, Balor who was always the optimist was happy about going Sweyn. As unpleasant as he was, Sweyn always had a story to tell and whether one wanted to hear it or not they would hear one.

()

Sure enough, the Little Beauty and the Boy Shaman went to see Sweyn. The records house, as wrecked as it was with tree roots growing from it, still served its purpose. It housed the records and kept them well with their keeper Sweyn Iron Arm always near!

As soon as the two children were at the doorway, they heard a voice that sounded rusty metal scraping against more rusty metal. It was Sweyn's voice.

"Who goes there?"

"Brigid of the Zuvowangidae and Balor of the Gardites." Stated Brigid. Balor wasn't feeling too talkative at the moment. Whenever he heard Sweyn speak he lost the nerve to say anything. Brigid however kept her voice. Even as the brown Evabon whose height was quite average stepped out of the low doorway, Brigid kept her voice even if she had begun to tremble, all while Balor having lost the nerve to speak stood absolutely still.

"What do you two want?" asked Sweyn as he twirled his mustache with his remaining hand.

"I want to know if you've ever met my mother." Replied Brigid. "She either is or was a daughter of Indra."

"A daughter of Indra?" asked Sweyn, no longer twirling his mustache. "Hmm, a daughter of Indra… Which makes you his granddaughter… Indra has many sons and only one known daughter in recent years. She must be at least twenty-four by now!"

"Do you know her name?" asked Brigid.

"Her name…" Sweyn started to tap his prosthetic arm. "Yes, not too different from yours! No… It is quite different from yours… Maybe… Oh, now what was it?" Finally, Sweyn finished tapping on his arm of iron. "Medb… It is quite different from yours but that is your mother's name!"

Brigid placed a hand on the side of her face. Her mother's name… She now knew her mother's name… Medb. And she was young… If Medb had left Casca so early then… Such thoughts were not for children to think of!

()

Hours later, Brigid sat with Balor at the river Zannanza. Well, Brigid sat at the river with her feet in the water, Balor was in the river completely. Brigid looked troubled, staring at her doll, and Balor could only look at her confused, not knowing what to do.

Had he known what to do, what to say, he still wouldn't have been sure if it would have helped.

He had gone through the whole bit with his father without telling anyone. The only reason anyone knew had been because Kit had been there when Balor first met Pwyll.

"Balor…" Balor looked at Brigid. That was the first thing she had said to him since she had learned her mother's name. He had talked to her but Brigid had never even replied. "If I were to go look for my mother… Would you come with me? I'd be lost with just Epona." Balor was sure if he just had a piece of clay to talk too then he'd start to go crazy.

Balor just nodded, looking at Brigid with eyes filled with support. He loved her, no matter how slow he was when it came to realizing this, and he would help Brigid find her mother. He had no one but himself to find his father, he wouldn't leave Brigid to find Medb on her own.

Still saying nothing, Balor swam over to Brigid, took her left hand and kissed it. For the first time, he had made tenders of his affection to her.