~Atticus! What's going on? I smell blood!~ Oberon whipped his head up, similarly alarmed as I was.
I know. Okay, think, don't panic, probably just a small vein that popped in her airways from the harsh coughing. There wasn't that much blood for it to be anything worse at the moment. But it could get worse. Much worse. Damn I wanted to take the last 48 hours all back, more than ever.
Skip the late night training session in the cold, pay more attention to her health, take her to a doctor the moment she suggested it. Or better yet, just get over my hypercritical high-horse and ask Colorado – the elemental of this area (they are usually referred to among druids based on the region they oversee and we were currently on the Colorado Plateau that stretched across large parts of four states, including Arizona near Flagstaff) – to heal the druid along with his initiate.
Yes, that was exactly what I was ought to be doing. I had thought of this before, dammit, and honestly this was hardly a joking matter anymore. Not that it ever was. A sense of dread filled me at the prospect of losing her to something as banal as the flu. I muttered the bindings for the strength enhancements, praying that the remainder of my magic would last until we got outside where I could juice up again. I got out of bed in haste, gathering Granuaile in my arms and making my way quickly towards our backdoor.
"Where are we going?" she asked in a startled small voice, but she put her arms around my neck nonetheless to help me as much as she could with supporting her weight.
My magic ran out wee two steps from the bare earth off our porch and my knees almost buckled under me but somehow I managed to make it there with the both of us without dropping Granuaile. The midmorning air at this elevation was still a bit chilly, maybe 45 degrees or so it being early December, and both of us shivered violently as it hit us.
I yanked my slipper and sock off of my right foot after setting my apprentice down on the bottom step, her feet touching the ground too. Being as sharp as she was she followed suit in baring her feet so that she could have a direct connection with earth too, since the elemental would need that to heal her.
The moment the tattoo on my right heel touched the earth I felt the loving caress of Gaia and felt much better instantly, despite the fact that no healing had been done on me yet whatsoever. The serenity it provided merely eased my woes until I could contact the elemental.
I called out to Colorado in my Latin headspace, communicating through a syntax of images and emotions about the urgency of our situation, since they didn't use human language. It translated to something like this:
/Druid calling Colorado / Druid and initiate need healing / Please/
A few short moments later the answer came.
/Colorado comes / Healing Druid and Druidchild/
I smiled fondly at the title. Sonora, another elemental, started calling Granuaile that and it seemed that the others have caught onto it. I instantly felt the infection lessening, the bacteria and viruses plaguing my immune system getting destroyed. My apprentice sighed in appreciation, no doubt feeling similar effects. She would still be coughing up a bit of phlegm for the rest of the day, but she was practically good as new, or at least she would be in a few minutes.
/Gratitude / Harmony/ I relayed to the elemental.
/Harmony/ he… she – Granuaile fought me hard to refer to them as females though they were genderless – replied.
"Oh, shoot, I don't have her marble with me," my apprentice exclaimed in realization as she fumbled around her pajama and robe pockets. Since she wasn't bound to the earth yet she needed a piece of the elemental, a little sphere of rock from the area, to speak with them. She usually kept the ones she already had in her jeans at all times so that she could communicate with them if the need arose.
/Druidchild wishes to thank Colorado/ I told the elemental for her.
A new ball of stone formed at her feet and she picked it up with a huge smile on her face.
"Remember, use your Latin headspace," I instructed. She had been learning the language for a few months now, her progress was really remarkable. Dividing her consciousness into headspaces was a necessity as a druid, so that she could compartmentalize and do several things at once, even when pain or other distractions were… well, distracting her… in battle for instance. It could very well mean the difference between life and death. Not to mention if she used Latin solely for this purpose, she could avoid accidentally calling out to elementals and thus annoying them.
"I know," she threw me an irritated glance, not needing the reminder. She concentrated and relayed her message with a sense of wonder and appreciativeness on her face.
While she did that I quickly recharged my bear charm, just in case. The earth was so good to me. I'm not sure what I would have done without it.
/Contamination in lake / Query: Help?/ Colorado asked me after they were done, Granuaile letting the extra sphere to sink back into the earth.
/Query: Where?/ I knew there would be some sort of payment required in exchange for the healing, but thankfully this seemed like a simple matter to sort out.
She showed me the image of the area and I knew exactly the place near Colorado City she was talking about, just short of three hours of drive away.
/Druid help / Harmony/
/Harmony/
Granuaile chuckled with a shake of her head.
"We really could have just jumped to this yesterday," she said, but there was no accusation in her tone.
"Sorry," dammit, guilt ferrets everywhere.
"Don't worry, I understand. You don't want to call on the earth if it isn't absolutely necessary," she mused, looking into the distance, very much at peace and in harmony with the earth. I hoped she would never lose this profound giddiness she felt. She was breathtakingly beautiful in that moment. But unfortunately being a druid was more than just a serene connection to Gaia. Sometimes there was battle and gore, and that had an annoying habit to kill positive feelings.
Healthy or no, the air was still cool around us, so after a few minutes I beckoned Granuaile inside.
"Take it easy for the rest of the day, I have something to take care of for Colorado," I told her. She stood with ease, her energy fully restored now that the fever wasn't bothering her anymore. Her breathing was still a bit heavy from the fluid buildup, but the linings of her lungs should be all healed up, including that popped blood vessel that scared us so.
"I think I will continue memorizing Whitman," my apprentice declared, determined to make up for lost time, since this she could do while relaxing in bed or on the couch in the living room.
That was the body of work she chose to commit to memory for her English headspace. For each language she learned she could chose a purpose, Old Irish for bindings, Latin for speaking with elementals. Memorizing the entire works of poets or writers in others would allow her to bring along other people with herself when she shifted planes. Provided she knew the person well enough.
She went inside and I pondered on my options. I could take the car and drive up there, or shift into an owl to make my way there faster, but that had certain drawbacks. Given that the lake was fairly close to urban area and I couldn't take my clothes with me in that form I decided to stay as is. I could have camouflaged myself, tying my pigments to those of the background, after shifting back to avoid flashing the good people of the city with some frontal nudity, but it wasn't really worth the trouble.
Want to come with me? I asked Oberon after blowing my nose one last time. Oh, how happy I was that the experience didn't last any longer.
~Where are we going?~ he got excited instantly.
Just to a little lake up north, you could run around while I finish my assignment.
~I'm in!~ my hound replied enthusiastically, wagging his tail.
As I walked to our car I spied a large crow taking to wing from one of the trees lining the estate. Could it have been the Morrigan? If yes, what was she doing here? The thought chilled me to the bone. Had either of us been in danger of dying had I not had Colorado intervene? As the Celtic Goddess of War and Death she would have been the one to come escort our souls over to Tír na nÓg. By the time I thought of turning on my "faeryspecs", as I liked to call the binding that allowed me to see the magical aspects of my surroundings, the bird was long gone over the horizon.
Banishing the possibility of that dire outcome from my mind I opened the back door for Oberon to hop in.
~Can I get that bonus sausage now for my spectacular pun from three days ago?~ Oberon's tongue lolled out and he started salivating at just the thought of it.
That was only this morning, I chuckled. But sure, buddy.
We stopped by a butcher shop in Colorado City to fulfil my promise of succulent meat products to my hound, and also for me to get a quick lunch, then we set off towards the edge of town where the source of Colorado's worry was.
After carefully examining the water I came to the conclusion that a few barrels of toxic waste were dumped into it, threatening the local wildlife now that the containers started to rust, the chemicals slowly filtering into the water. After identifying the exact make-up of the materials I started to unbind them into harmless chains of carbohydrates and water that the environment could utilize. It would have taken decades for the lake to recover from this pollution otherwise, if at all.
Before I did the same with the barrels, I bound the wall of one to the rocks on the shore and inconspicuously noted the stamps of the company, then unbound those too. They were in for a little surprise from me. I saw a massive drop in shareholder value in their future. I sent a message to the elemental of the job well done and she thanked me earnestly.
A few people milled around the park like area near the shore, giving me weird looks for walking around barefoot in December. That or my lack of coat. I've cast a binding that the Morrigan had taught me to raise my core temperature so I wasn't feeling the chill. The socks and sandals combo wasn't much better either after I finished but I wasn't aiming to be a fashion icon. Thankfully no one noticed anything of my ministrations, the large Irish wolfhound running around tended to draw all the attention.
Some old ladies came to pet Oberon after they discerned that he was friendly and he gladly threw himself on his back to grant them access to his stomach for a good belly rub.
~Yes, yes, I'm a very good hound!~ his exuberant thoughts in response to their cooing leaked into my consciousness.
I was so caught up in the bucolic scenery that I almost jumped out of my skin when someone spoke to me from my right side.
"Aren't you getting a bit unmindful, Siodhachan?" the goddess looked at me suggestively, a bit of sadistic mischief playing around her eyes. She was wearing a thick robe that doubled as a coat if you weren't looking too closely over her milk white skin. But she wasn't wearing anything besides that, not even on her feet.
"Morrigan," I acknowledged her presence as calmly as I could, wondering where my sense of paranoia went, for I should have noticed her before she snuck up on me. I had no idea if she was referring to my momentary lowering of my guard or my massive mess up regarding Granuaile's training that potentially endangered her. "Were you by any chance at our farmhouse earlier?"
"I was."
I thought so.
"May I ask the purpose of your visit?" I gulped, fearing her answer.
"I needed some further advice on befriending the iron elemental," the raven-haired goddess replied. I wasn't expecting that. More like prophecies of death and doom. "But I saw that you were a tad busy."
"Did you feed it faeries like I suggested?" I happily hopped on the subject before she could comment on either Granuaile's or my own health.
"Yes, but then I got impatient and that scared him away," Morrigan sullenly confessed, her brows furrowing.
"I see. All I can really advise is patience and kindness," I reiterated our earlier conversation when she first came to me to help her with achieving a similar protection against magic that I had with the necklace around my neck.
"I am not kind by nature, Druid," she snapped at me, those spooky minor harmonics creeping into her voice, her eyes flashing red that spoke a great deal of her irritation with me. Though I had to wonder if she was more irritated with her own lack of ability to accomplish the seemingly simple task.
"I'm well aware, you are the most terrifying of them all," I tried to placate her, and it worked like a charm, no pun intended, her eyes returned to their natural dark brown shade and she smiled at me in a cruel, perverted way. Being perceived as frightening turned her on! Good to know, even if I didn't intend it that way. "Still the only way to bind that cold iron to your aura is with the help of an iron elemental, and he will only help if he sees you as a friend."
"How am I supposed to act… friendly?" she batted her lashes at me, every way the svelte seductress that she was. I almost leaned in to inhale the alluring scent of her hair when my cold iron necklace thudded against my chest, effectively knocking me out of my haze. I just loved the fact that it protected me from all sorts of magic directed at me.
"Khm… for one, don't threaten it if it's not ready to help you yet," I said after I got back some of clarity in my thoughts. The Morrigan turned her seduction spell off and considered my words with a faraway look in her eyes.
"I will… try," she spoke after a while, unsure if she could actually manage it. It was going against her nature.
"Second, maybe smile without the promise of painful death or sex once in a while, and lay off the red flashing of your eyes," I suggested.
"Ah, but where is the fun in sex without some pain?" the battle crow actually laughed out loud at the idea. Kinky. I knew as much already.
"Steer clear of promises of death and sex all together then. Not like you could do it with the elemental anyway," lucky for the elementals. I tried to sound nonchalant, but truth be told the Morrigan always scared the bejesus out of me.
"I suppose," the goddess shrugged. "You on the other hand..."
"I'm afraid I'm still recovering. I wouldn't be able to keep pace," I protested quickly before she got too attached to the prospect. It wasn't too big of a lie I hoped. One time was well enough with her nine or so months ago. Even though I was grateful that she grew my demon-mangled ear back, that incident led to Brighid, the First of the Fae almost incinerating me because she thought I was in league with the Morrigan against her.
"I am aware. The pestilence in the area has claimed the life of a couple of elderly in the past few weeks. Good thinking in asking the elemental for help," yet again I felt a shiver creep up my spine at the insinuation. "Which reminds me, how is your hand? Are you ready for the tattoo to be touched up?"
I took my right hand out of my pocket, examining the back of it where my marred tattoo was. The tissue and skin was fully healed now, but the process to repair the tattoo required us to connect with Gaia, which took at least a week, in an area with living thorn bushes. I really didn't have the time to be away that long at this point in Granuaile's training. However inconvenient my lack of healing ability was.
"It will have to wait some more," I informed her of my decision. She made a face, but didn't argue with it.
"As you wish, contact me when you are ready," she slinked away between the trees without another word, taking to her crow form and flying away without anyone noticing.
~Was that the scary lady?~ Oberon entered my thoughts. While I wasn't looking the old ladies had moved on to adore someone else's pet.
Yupp. Scary wasn't even beginning to cover it.
On our way home, after I took care of the lake polluting company, we happened to pass by a hospital, and sure enough there were signs posted everywhere warning the populace about the flu epidemic and visiting restrictions.
Oberon had thoroughly enjoyed my shenanigans while we visited the company sites. They will find that many of their manufacturing equipment won't be functional at the start of the next shift. If I weren't camouflaged through the whole endeavor I would have probably looked every bit the environmental activist hippie people sometimes imagined me to be.
The Morrigan's visit had shaken me up quite a bit and only Oberon's unintentional yet very well timed comments were able to pull me back from the downward spiral of mental acrimoniousness. I could practically hear my former archdruid's berating about my recent shambles. 'Ye piece of shite, Siodhachan, how ye managed to fecking cock up this time, for me life I will never know…' or something similar he would say in that condescending, annoyingly high and mighty voice.
~So… I was wondering… is Clever Girl wanting to stick something up your butt part of the human mating rituals?~ he cut into my self-imposed vituperate.
As I said very well timed. If I'd been drinking anything I'd sure have chocked on it, but it effectively made me forget the guilt ferrets for a while.
Where did you get that idea? I raised my brow at him.
~I mean it's natural for us canines to go sniffing around buttholes, but I don't see the appeal in actually getting something in there…~ my hound went onto explain his perplexion.
Me neither, buddy, believe me… I mean not into my own… Gods below, few things were more bizarre than discussing anal with your dog.
~Oh, so is this one of those male shovinistic things?~
You mean male chauvinistic? I interrupted him to correct his pronunciation, even if only I could hear him at the moment.
~Give me a break, non-native speaker here,~ Oberon stared at me flatly in an unimpressed way.
All right, concession given. Where did you hear that word anyway?
~Granuaile said it once, when she complained about her former boyfriend. Apparently he believed that somethings were only meant for men to do. She proved him wrong by pinning him to the ground in a chokehold. He ran away screaming like a little schoolgirl afterwards,~ he revealed in a matter-of-fact manner.
Serves him right, I could imagine the scene clearly in my mind and had to chuckle. Rule number one: Don't mess with the druid initiate. Not that the poor lad had any idea about that.
~So is this one of those things? That only guys can poke around in girls' buttholes and not the other way around?~
That's an interesting way to put it…
Uhm… it's more complicated than that. Depends very much on individual preferences. There, that was quite diplomatic and politically correct.
~See this is why I say human mating rituals are weird. For us it's pretty straight forward. Both of us just take a whiff and know instantly if it will work out,~ Oberon shrugged, already fantasizing about sniffing some black poodles.
Sometimes I do envy you, I relented with a sigh.
As we pulled up to the house, for some reason dread filled me. Maybe I was just jittery from all that's happened, but my sense of paranoia had me sinking my hand into the earth to check on my wards, as soon as I let Oberon out of the car.
Everything seemed to be fine, every binding in its rightful place, the only person inside presumably my apprentice since she was the only human beside me to whom the protective spells won't react.
Do you hear or smell anything out of place? I checked with Oberon just to make sure. His senses were much keener than mine in human form.
~Cookie dough, lots of it,~ he wagged his tail, a good sign. ~Chocolate chip and cinnamon.~
Huh? Was Granuaile baking? I told her to take it easy. Not to mention that Coyote would have a field day with this. He had tried to goad her into baking in the past, and chose her current alias exactly for this reason to further tease her about her protests.
Okay, let's go inside, I told him since seemingly nothing was amiss.
I stepped through the front door, but it was awfully quiet in the house. Maybe she finished already and was taking a nap? Oberon went right past me, and disappeared into the kitchen.
I checked the bedroom first, but she wasn't there, neither in the living room. Now that we were inside I could smell the sweet aroma of baked goods too. I spied a plate of cookies on the counter, then my heart nearly stopped when I saw Granuaile's prone form on the ground behind the kitchen island. Why didn't Oberon say anything?
"Gods below, please no! Fuck, fuck, fuck…" I panicked as I rushed to her side, checking her vital signs if she was alright.
And then, she snorted, chuckling, unable to keep the pretenses up any longer.
"Not funny!" I exclaimed in dismay, but let out a huge breath of relief as I sat back down on my heels.
"Sure damn is! You should have seen your face!" Granuaile laughed hysterically now.
And you! Were you in on this? I cast a piercing gaze at my hound. He chuffed at me.
~Clever Girl shushed me after we came in,~ he revealed. ~Said it's a prank.~
I got punk'd all right… Ashton Kutcher had nothing on this. When the momentary anger left me fully I buried my face in my right hand, concentrating on my breathing, and reminding myself that history wasn't repeating itself, that this wasn't Cibrán, and we hadn't just traveled more than a thousand years into the past. He was slain just before I could have bound him to the earth.
"Hey, are you crying?" Granuaile inquired, her merriment instantly gone, apprehension taking its place. When I didn't respond, she embraced me in a warm hug. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you would react this way."
~Nice move, playing up the pity card. She'd do anything for you right now,~ Oberon praised me.
I'm not playing up anything, I told him, a bit miffed.
The hug was nice though, I had to admit it. Her perky breasts pressing against my arms were very adept at distracting me from my anguish as she stroked my hair soothingly. Oh, for the love of gods… Baseball! Innings! Home run, or least getting to second base… Argh, this is not helping!
"Khm… I'm fine, really," I pulled away from her with the help of sheer will.
"It brought up some bad memories, didn't it?" she appraised me with watchful eyes.
"Yeah, but I really don't want to get into it right now," I shook my head. I really didn't.
"Okay," Granuaile said finally, getting up from the floor. There was just a hint of hurt in her tone, but she accepted a while ago that sometimes I just wasn't ready to discuss the depressing aspects of my unnaturally prolonged life. "Want some cookies? Cookies make everything better."
"Sure," I gave her a small smile as I pushed myself up too.
We spent the rest of the evening with her reciting Whitman to me, most of it from memory, which was good progress. Meanwhile we enjoyed the fruits of her afternoon labor with some milk. Whether she like it or not, if Betty Baker were to open a bakery with these yummies on stock, they would sell in like two minutes.
And I would be a dead man if I ever voiced those thoughts out loud to her. Before you ask, no, it would be no wonderland. Damn we need to watch some anime. It's been too long.