Chapter 7 – Le défi

"The Challenge"

(I'm going to keep the ratings at T for now, mainly because I know what's coming and not because there's anything particularly wild about this chapter. Anyway, hope you're all still enjoying the journey! - Nas)

The fire had already spread to three adjacent buildings before the two ghostly figures made their escape through the gathering crowds.

"What was that?!" Ailith shouted as Nuala pulled her along through the chaotic back-streets of the Brightwood neighborhood. "Nuala! What's going on!?"

They paused for breath along a dusty brick wall in an alley not too far beyond the madness coalescing out of the air. "Dream Speech." The Princess answered tersely, still looking back and forth along the causeway, checking and re-checking that they had not been followed.

"Dream Speech." Ailith deadpanned.

"Yes. Dream Speech." Nuala sighed, only slightly confident that they had not yet been seen. "It is the gift of all Elves to speak across known distances while under a reverie."

"That really was Nuada then." Ailith breathed, still doing her best to come to terms with the insanity of the last few hours.

"It was." The Princess scowled before indicating the fire in the buildings down the street. "And so is that! Ailith. Did you Challenge him?"

"What?"

"I said, did you Challenge him?" Nuala faced the smaller woman with growing tension. "When you met Nuada in the Dream, did you set the task by which he might claim victory?"

"I…I don't think so? I mean, I don't even really understand what that means but, no, I didn't tell him to do anything, if that's what you're asking. How does that even work?"

Nuala took ahold of Ailith's arm to begin hurrying her along before responding, "I told you, Nuada has called the Great Hunt, but as the quarry, the rules of the pursuit are actually up to you. That is the nature of the Geas. He gathers the hunters and sounds the call; you decide the pursuit. But, Ailith, once you do so, you have accepted the Geas; the bond that will tie you to him should he meet the challenge."

"Well I didn't!" She half-shouted, stumbling beside the Princess.

"Good. Then we might still have time. Quickly then, we'll take the old trade passages down to the dockside. If we pass through the Troll Market, we should be able to get there without drawing too much attention."

"How do you we get to the Troll Market?"

"Easy. Any bridge will do."

Ailith and Nuala rounded the corner and skidded to a mutual stop, barely in time to avoid the two Corvid guards striding confidently up the margins. The Princess yanked her back harshly, just as the first Raven Guard closed on their location. It didn't seem as if they had been noticed but Nuala wasn't taking any chances and pressed the smaller girl behind her into the concrete niche. A second later, Ailith's jaw dropped in terror and astonishment at the great beast rising up before her. It was both dog- and wolf-like, balanced on four massive legs tapering to wide paws with yellowish, thick, talons. A covering of shaggy grey-green fur obscured most of its discernable features but did nothing to cover its steady, terrifying, gaze. Eyes as wide as the moon hanging in the sky behind it panned back and forth as the Hound searched the empty street. It's tail, a versatile whip-like mass of overlapping braids, flicked around in a kind of circular motion as the creature meandered up the way. Ailith heard as Nuala drew in a breath and held it. Everything seemed to slow and there was a momentary stillness as Fate awaited the next move. It came when the Hound huffed once before raising its cumbersome head and baying loud and long into the darkness.

"Cŵn Annwn!" Nuala cried. "Ailith! Run!"

Like a white hart facing Death itself on horseback, Ailith did precisely that. Tearing away from Nuala, who for her sake, turned to face the Great Hound and lead it astray, Ailith bolted down the side street and into the nearby gardens of a housing development less than half finished. Fire and smoke still choked the escapes routes to her right but she pressed forward into the gloom of the abandoned construction site. Having little else to go on, she made for the taller shapes in the background and hoped that she could reach a hiding place before the monsters came breathing down her neck.

Panic clouded her judgement and she quickly found herself turned around, unsure as to which way was what and no longer certain that the Hound, and whatever those Raven elves had been alongside it, was, in fact, even behind her. She turned around and around again, both searching for any glimpse of Nuala or any less than obvious avenue of escape. The baying call came again, this time far to her left. She uttered an inarticulate scream of frustration before pausing her flight to begin an awkward, and more than a little dangerous, climb up some nearby scaffolding and onto the carpenter's platform two stories above.

The city looked like mayhem. Fear and confusion were everywhere; from residents and the fire department scrambling to contain the blaze in the alleyway to people and animals desperately trying to avoid getting trampled as vehicles and crowds raced about in the commotion. She craned her next towards the sound she had heard earlier, finally spying the Princess's pale skin and clothing as Nuala stood her ground before the members of the Hunt; all who had assembled in the middle of the road. There were now four Corvids, in elongated black masks, and she had succeeded, at least momentarily, in catching the Hound's attention such that it had broken off pursuit and remained fixed on her position. The Corvids moved to surround her, though none attempted to approach and then turned, swords held high, as though signaling to someone beyond. Ailith caught her breath and clasped a hand to her mouth when, then, she saw him.

Nuada approached from the south, walking up the center of the of the wide lane with the Silverlance extended but at his side. He called to the Hound and it began to back away from the Princess, taking up position near the Corvids whose weapons remained drawn and ready. Ailith watched breathlessly as Nuada came within a few feet of his sister before addressing her. At least, that's what she guessed he was doing, since she could neither hear them nor make out what they were saying through ad-hoc lip-reading. But if one thing was perfectly clear, even from this distance, Nuala was not in the least bit pleased to see him.

The twins exchanged words, some quietly, some with heated expressions and angry gestures. But Ailith did take note that, at no point, did Nuada attempt to lay a hand on his sister nor did he seemed overly concerned with restraining her when she shouted and all but lunged at him. He kept the spear with its blade safely pointed at the ground but did, as the Princess advanced, turn to his side so that he could try to avoid whatever blows she might decide to inflict on him. Nuala, however, did not reach out to strike him. Rather, Ailith watched, perplexed, as the Princess took ahold of the Prince's collar and almost made as though she intended to shake him; pulling at the heavy fabric in the manner of a woman offering an impassioned plea. Nuada, for his part, did not appear to be unmoved by this. He raised his free hand to steady his sister and then to loosen her grip from his shoulder. He said something to her once more, in a manner that was even somewhat gentle, but again, Ailith could not understand what it was. Regardless, tt did not seem to placate the Princess in the slightest.

As Nuada spoke, however, the Hound became restless and once again began to cast its burdensome head about; sniffing the air and letting out three sharp barks. Ailith froze. Had it noticed her scent high on the wind?

She observed as Nuada turned to the Hound and cocked his head, as though listening for something just out of earshot. Nuala shrieked, but it was too late. Nuada gave a curt nod and the Hound bounded away, leaping across the entirety of parked cars, streetlights, and street in a single motion. It took the street after that in a similar surge before running up the side of a low brownstone and leaping, easily, to the rooftop facing it. She choked. It was coming straight for her.

There was no time to think. Ailith clambered down the scaffolding as fast as she was able, nearly slipping several times on the metal bars holding the structure together. But as soon as her feet met gravel, she took off. She didn't have the slightest idea how fast this thing could run, so she dodged and weaved as much as she could. Running through puddles and small streams, backtracking across parks and playgrounds, ducking into corner bodegas where possible, Ailith did everything she could think of to throw the beast off her trail. But finally, after what must have been an hour or more, she was forced to stop and catch her breath. Even then, she only did so because she had not seen or heard the Hound in quite some time. As such, despite her panting, Ailith strained to listen over the sounds of her pounding heart and frenzied lungs.

She was on a neighborhood street somewhere in the midst of the city. It was quiet, save for the soft buzzing of the overhead streetlight and the hum of occasional activity out of the convenience store across from her. The bright lights angling out through the large display windows illuminated the sidewalk and small parking lot out front as an older couple emerged from the doorway carrying bags of groceries. A single car lazily rolled past and she happened to catch a sign in the headlights that read: Rock Creek Park. Ailith peered further into the darkness but she was only able to make out a hill, heavily wooded, just on the far side of a gate at the end of the block. But she still didn't hear the Hound, and for that, she was momentarily grateful.

In fact, she wondered if it might even be further behind her than she thought. Taking the opportunity, Ailith took stock of herself. She didn't have much with her. Still the same small shoulder bag she'd taken from her room at B.P.R.D., filled with a few odds and ends. There was a book she'd haphazardly grabbed, a shirt and socks, part of an old notebook, and a blue coin purse. She glanced up at the corner store, took one more look around the street, and finally walked briskly towards the little oasis of light.

The bell chimed and she stepped in. The rows of toilet paper and gum were suddenly oddly comforting and Ailith breathed a heavy sigh as she finally allowed her shoulders to relax and drop. Immediately, she made her way to the coolers in the back, pulling out two bottles of water and a cheese stick. She glanced back down at the coin purse. Ok, only one bottle of water.

As she was perusing her other options, a man in a stained flannel suddenly appeared next to her, pulling open the next cooler door to retrieve a case of beer. He shouldered the six-pack and turned, stopping to look her over from head to toe. Ailith stared back at him, only slightly more aware of the fact that her rough-spun clothing and unruly hair not only looked rather out of place among the florescent lights and linoleum but that humans often did not perceive her in precisely the way she saw herself. She had been told, more than once, that her crackled skin, which had the look of broken porcelain to most Fae, often looked like bruising or scarring to the uninitiated. She had also been told that she was something of an albino, though her eyes, rather than pink, looked grey and her hair, while snowy white, tended to have a rusty stain along the ends. Furthermore, it didn't help that her small stature, thin limbs, and angular face meant that she was routinely mistaken for a teenager rather than the considerable age she was starting to suspect might actually be behind her.

"Hey, Princess." The man grinned widely, scratching at his stubble as he took a step closer. "You waiting on Prince Charming?"

Ailith almost laughed. Almost.

"Yes." Was the best she could come up with under the circumstances. "But I wouldn't exactly call him charming."

The man laughed. "Well," he shrugged the beer from one shoulder onto the other. "You can come hang with me tonight. I'm charming."

"No." She responded distractedly. "I'm not…available."

"Hrn." He took another step closer. "Look, baby, it's fine. Ok? We can just…"

Ailith tensed as her would-be suitor suddenly stopped mid-sentence, swaying on his feet, his eyes glazing over, and a dribble of spit rolling out onto his chin. She turned in the aisle, expecting to see some manner of terrible creature, or even Nuada himself, bearing down on her unheard. She made ready to attack.

"No worries, no how." Came the belabored voice of the attendant clerk as she sauntered towards Ailith and the man now clearly in a complete stupor. She appeared to be an older woman, in her mid-60s perhaps, dressed in printed blouse and black jeans covered over by a blue apron emblazoned with the store logo. To Ailith, however, she was also a gnomish-looking Boggin woman. Short, stout, and predisposed towards household and domestic work, her hands looked calloused and rough, with a long knot of greyish-black hair tied in a bun on the top of her head.

"He's a regular here, I'm afraid." She continued, poking at the comatose man who gurgled and nearly fell over. "Always tries to chat up the young ladies even though I've told him not to."

"What…. what's wrong with him?"

"Wrong? Oh, nothing. Just a little glamoury between friends, right?" The clerk smiled and motioned for Ailith to follow her back towards the counter. As she did so, the man appeared to come to, looked down at the floor for a moment, and then over at his beer. He then walked in a circle rather dumbly for a second before seeming to come to some sort of conclusion about his present circumstances. He then casually dropped the six-pack down onto a nearby kitchen cleaner display and wandered out the door.

"Bye, Jack!" The clerk called after him, sighing and shaking her head. "Every time he does that, I just slap him with a little chicanery and he goes about his business. Never remembers it though, so he just keeps coming back and doing it all over again. Is that all I can get'cha?"

Ailith startled. "Huh? Oh! The water and cheese. Yes, please."

The Boggin-woman eyed her suspiciously. "You Ok? You sure you don't need anything else?"

"Well, I don't know." Ailith shrugged, placing a handful of coins on the counter before picking up the cheese stick and taking a deep drink from the water bottle. "Can you…" She stopped and looked conspiratorially around the otherwise empty store. "…can you tell me how to get to the…Troll Market?"

"Honey, there is nothing in the Troll Market you could possibly need."

Ailith sighed. "I know, maybe, I mean…can you tell me how to get there anyway?"

The clerk pulled up the barstool behind the counter and sat down, crossing her arms and regarding the small girl with consternation.

"You in some kind of trouble?"

"I…."

"My name's Barbara, by the way. Barb is fine."

"Boronia." Ailith corrected, immediately and without even thinking before she spoke. But just as soon as she said it, she regretted it and cringed as the clerk's face shot up, eyebrows raised clear to her hairline.

"What did you say?"

"Sorry." Ailith offered as she deflated next to the counter. "It's a terrible habit, I didn't mean to do that. It just…comes out sometimes. Usually when I don't want it to."

To her surprise, the clerk actually chuckled and rocked back on the stool with obvious amusement. "Well, then. No fooling you, I guess. Hell of a trick. Where'd you learn to do that?"

Ailith giggled in relief, happy to see the jovial woman hadn't taken offense. "I don't know."

"You don't know where you learned your magic?"

"No. Not anymore." She peeled open the plastic package and took a bite of the cheese stick. "I mean, I know the memories are there, I just can't seem to reach them. It sounds dumb."

"Nah, not dumb. So, tell me. What are you doing then, out and about at this time of night? And don't think I'm one to be fooled here either, ok? I know what it looks like when someone's running."

"Yeah." Ailith glanced out the window, still unsure if it was safe to remain this long. She really needed to get moving again, but the clerk was so kind and the store was warm. She wondered if that might be the Boggin's magic; they were, after all, the Fae of the Hearth and Home. "I, uh…was trying to get to the Troll Market and get a ship there? I think?"

"You think?"

"Well, there was someone with me before and she knew the way but…we got separated. And, I don't really know how to get there."

"Ship at the Troll Market, huh? This wouldn't have anything to do with a Hunt going on right now would it?"

Ailith nearly spit her cheese out onto the counter, looking up at the woman with alarm and dread.

"Oh, don't give me that. I'm not going to tell anyone. You're safe here. In fact, here, have one of these candy bars. Walnuts and hazelnuts, they're really to die for and you look like you could use a few." Ailith hesitantly accepted before Barbara continued. "Anyway, I wouldn't recommend you getting into the Troll Market right now. I'm not the only one and everyone knows there's a Hunt on. Down there, likely to get into more trouble than you think. Now eat that."

Defeated, Ailith opened the chocolate and began to nibble at it. Walnuts weren't her favorite thing but she was quite hungry and the gift was appreciated. Moreover, it actually even made her feel less tired and more energized to accept it. Hmmm. Boggins.

"So, now what I am going to do?" She asked. Barbara nodded knowingly.

"Huh. As I see it? You've only really got a couple of options."

"Like what?"

"Let's see. You don't have much of a memory, don't know where things are, and, I'm guessing, don't really have much money or any place to go. And, let me tell you, D.C. is not the place for a pretty girl to be wandering around by herself in back alleys and homeless camps at midnight."

Ailith looked down at her frayed clothing and muddy shoes. Barbara was right, of course. She had only a few coins left in terms of funds and essentially no idea where she was or where she was going. Nuala had sacrificed her own escape to divert the Hound, but to what end? True, Nuada had not caught her just yet but he would soon enough if she was left to wander aimlessly on her own. She nodded in acknowledgement of Barbara's assessment.

"That pretty much means you can either finish the Hunt. On **your** terms," Barbara noted. "Or, you can give up now and hope the people looking for you take you in somewhere decent."

"What do you mean, on **my** terms?"

"Well, it's up to you, isn't it? What do you want out of all this? Ask for anything. Want your memory back? Get it. You want a nice home? Get that too. You want your friends taken care of or money or, hell, a nice vacation. Just say so. If he doesn't agree or doesn't hold up his end of the Bargain, well, then, nothing to worry about anyway."

Ailith chewed the last of her chocolate bar pensively. "You make it all sound so simple." She mumbled through a few hazelnut crumbs. "But let's not forget, at the end of all this I end up…. betrothed."

Barbara laughed again and shifted on her stool. "What's wrong? You don't like him?"

Ailith rolled her eyes. "I like him just fine. He's just…. well…"

"Difficult?"

"Difficult."

Barbara straightened her apron and nodded a greeting as the door chimed and an elderly man in a wool coat shambled past the counter towards the soda machine.

"So, don't do it then. Maybe he finds you, maybe he doesn't. But unless you agree to the terms and send out the Challenge, ain't nothing gonna come from any of it."

The soda machine roared to life, spurting out nearly half a gallon of cola into a cup the size of a small bucket as the man went about gathering a few snacks. Ailith watched him for a moment before turning back to the clerk as she punched in the codes for the drink.

"You seem so sad." She observed.

"Sad? Nah. Things are what they are. Nothing promised, nothing expected, right?"

"I don't understand."

The man shuffled quietly up to the counter and laid several bills down in front of Barbara. From beneath his hat, Ailith made out the subtle tips of pointed ears and one eye that had gone cloudy with age and infirmity. Barbara, however, whipped through the transaction, handed the man his change, and bid him a fond good night in less time than it had taken to fill the cup. The man turned, smiled, and nodded towards the two women before gathering his things and disappearing back into the night.

"See that?" Barbara crossed her arms and shook her head. "That's Elijah. Sweetest person you will ever meet. Not much left of him though. Lost sight in his one eye some years ago, then went mute after that. Hasn't said a word in five years. His daughter tries to look after him but ever since she had that second kid, not a lot of time. Comes down here twice a week, gets himself a big old cup of Coke, some chips and crackers, and heads off home to his cat and his bird. All he's got left now."

"What happened to him?"

"Life, honey." Barbara sniffed. "Life happened. All the banal little things that build up over time happened. All the little failures and then the big failures and then getting sick and then people dying and leaving and life. Depression and debt, that's where it's at. It's what does us all in. Didn't used to though."

Ailith stared at the door where the old man had just been seconds before. Beyond the glare of the ATM sign, she could still see a little of his coat, fluttering against the wind, as he slowly made his way down the darkened street.

"Didn't used to?"

"No, way back when, there used to be enough to go around. And I don't mean money and that shit. I mean hope. Light. Laughter. Joy. Magic. All of it. Yeah, sure, get old, get crotchety, have limbs fall off, and decay with the best of them but goddammit we did it all with sheer delight. You might be an old crone but you sure as hell weren't spending the last bit of enchantment left in the world stunning greasy perverts in a convenience store so they'd stop mackin' on every woman unfortunate enough to be in the same room with 'em."

"Barbara, I…I can't change that." Ailith pursed her lips, picking anxiously at her fingers.

"I know, honey." She answered softly. "No one's saying you had to. You're stuck here with the rest of us and it's all gonna go down like it always goes down. But, please, sweetie, seriously, don't be grubbing around looking for the Troll Market and all that. Nothing but problems down there and none of those problems need to be your problems."

"Ok. Can I ask you something, though?"

"Of course."

"If you thought that there was someone who could change it all, could somehow make it better, but in order to do it, you had to had to, like, basically marry this person, even though this person was really…. really…"

"Difficult?"

"Difficult. …Would you?"

"Full truth?"

Ailith nodded.

"I don't know. That's the honest answer. It would really depend on whether or not I had any say in how things went down, you know, in how it was all going to play out. But if I thought I could really do something, I mean, really make a change out there for a whole lotta people, then yeah, I think I might. Then again, it's not like I have a lot of other options, you know what I mean? Store's nice and we got a nice community around here but, uh, it's not exactly springtime and sunshine."

The florescent bulb over their heads flickered in and out ominously.

"Well, looks like you better get going, honey." Barbara smiled, slipping two additional chocolate bars into Ailith's bag while she glanced nervously out the plexiglass door.

"Yeah." She breathed. "I guess I should. Thank you, Barbara. Thank you for being so kind to me."

The elder woman nodded, patting her hand reassuringly. "Whatever it is you choose to do, it will be the right choice, Ok? You do what you think is right and if you just keep doing that, then nothing that comes after it is going to be something you truly regret. And for the rest of it? Eh. It'll all shake out one way or another."

Ailith nodded and smiled. She then readjusted the strap of her shoulder bag, took a deep breath, looked back at the clerk and counter one last time, and walked out of the store.

The street was oppressively silent. No cars. No people. Almost no sound at all. The lights of nearby apartment buildings had all gone out and the only remaining bastion of safety and solace was a convenience store in a broken-up parking lot, advertising two-for-one bread and milk specials. The only lights still holding out against the inevitable encroachment of night were an ATM ten years out-of-date and a neon sign still mostly green and pink where it wasn't a corroded mess. Ailith set her jaw and looked out into the starless murk. She imagined she could see a hulking figure of a monstrous dog there, its heavy breathing the sound of the generator kicking in behind the ice machine. She imagined there was someone already waiting there for her, weapon drawn, out in the darkness and in the silence. She could almost feel it and it was the last moment of indecision she would experience that night.

She pulled the strap of the shoulder bag over her head and dropped it onto the concrete curb. Ailith then strode out into the street, where the last remnants of light ended in a pool of washed-out yellow before meeting the first shadows of the hill and woods beyond. She planted her feet there, daring the night to move her; balled her hands into fists and felt the stutter in her throat as she willed her voice to work without falter. From this moment on, there would be no going back. But, if she was being honest with herself, there had never been anything for her to go back to either way. There was only forward which had only ever been forward. Resolute, she addressed all that lay before her.

"For I am bound by gratitude," She called out, loud and clear. "Bound by blood, by fate, by love, to he; the very one not yet subdued. To kin and clan across the sea, whose hope may now stand renewed. Therefore, my Geas, is made tonight." She paused to let the quiver in her voice pass. "Not from force but choice, as is my right."

The night itself held its breath and the world stopped to listen.

"Nuadha Airgeadlámh, macBalor, mac Gíallchad, Llaw Eraint. Who is called Finn Fáil, I Challenge you. Prince of Éirinn, Heir of Bathmoora, I Challenge you. Tiarna an Claidheamh Soluis…. I Challenge you."