So, I kinda had writer's block again so that's why it took me awhile to post the last chapter. That and I was working on my other fanfic. Anyway, let me know what you think so far. Fav, follow, review, and thanks for reading.
Chapter 50: The Nuckelavee
The group ended up renting a room at the local inn, which had a nice rustic feel to it. Lilly and Arthur sat down on the bed with their child, The Morrigan was in a chair, and Adair was pacing back and forth between them. Lilly noted how much apprehension was in Adair's face, so she was being patient. Arthur, however, was not in the mood for it.
"Come on, Adair. You're gonna wear out the floor if you keep doing that," said Arthur.
Adair stopped and spared a glance at the man. "Sorry. This is just very hard to talk about." The goddess let out a sigh and looked at the couple. "Carman...was my lover."
Lilly's jaw dropped. "What?"
"Yes. She and I met after her husband had left her with child. He'd found out she was a sorceress and just...left her. And we fell in love, and then Olena was born. And I loved that little girl like my own, so I stayed in this realm to be with them both. And we were all very, very happy. But then...then..."
Adair paused to take a shaky breath in. Lilly knew how hard it was to talk about past trauma, so she got up and hugged Adair tightly. "Just breathe, Adair."
"I was supposed to be watching Olena, and...a kelpie got her."
Lilly gasped as she looked at Adair. "Oh no. A kelpie?"
"Yes."
"Remind me what a kelpie is?" Arthur asked.
Lilly turned around to gaze at her husband sadly. "A kelpie is a magical horse that lures its victims onto its backs. Once you're on a kelpie, it's almost impossible to get back off. Then they drown yoy and then they eat you, only leaving your heart and your liver. And they love going after kids."
Arthur held onto Aoífe with a horrified look on his face. "Jesus Christ...is this the kind of bedtime stories your parents told you?"
Lilly chuckled a bit at her husband's face. "Yes."
Adair had tears streaming down her face as Lilly looked back at her. "We were playing a game, and I lost sight of her. I looked everywhere for her. Then I heard her scream. I followed the noise and she was...pulled under the water by a kelpie. I dove in the water to try and get her, but the kelpie was so fast...too fast. I..." Adair bowed her head as more tears fell. "She was only four years old."
Lilly hugged Adair tightly. "Oh, Adair. I'm so sorry. Is that why you were framed for the famines?"
"Yes. Carman was furious and went mad with grief. She blamed me, cursed me, and not only that...but my mother couldn't bring Olena back, not without her body. So...she blamed my mother too, but I got the worst of it, so Carman started killing all the crops everywhere and cast an illusion that it was me, and then your father was sent to kill me."
Adair sat down in a chair and shut her eyes, tears still rolling down her cheeks. The Morrigan held her daughter's hand and looked at Lilly. "I hope you can understand now that Carman is on a quest of vengeance, and now she has your sights on you. She will use whatever means necessary to make you suffer, Lillian."
Lilly shut her eyes, let go of Adair, and gazed at The Morrigan with a sad look in her dark blue eyes. "What about the rest of my family?"
The Morrigan got up from her chair. "I'm going to call upon some extra help, if I can spare it. If I can't, I will stay at Darach ar an gCnoc and protect your family, but it is your responsibility to take care of things here. All three of you," The Morrigan said, looking at Adair and Arthur. "You must defeat Dian."
Lilly nodded vehemently. "How will I know where to find him?"
"Your visions, silly. Use them."
Lilly smacked her forehead lightly. "Oh yeah, heh heh."
Aoífe started fussing and Arthur began bouncing her on his knee, making her coo and giggle as she put her fist in her drooling mouth. Lilly looked at her daughter and smiled before looking back at the Goddess of Death and War. "Thank you for all your help, Morrigan."
"No need to thank me, child." The Morrigan turned her gaze to the window. "When darkness falls, you'll need to strike hard at the Nuckelavee. Try luring him to fresh water if you can. That's his weakness."
"What are we gonna do with Aoífe while we're fighting him?"
"I can take her home, if you wish it," The Morrigab chimed in. "I promise she will be safe in my care."
Lilly looked at Arthur who nodded in agreement. "When would you like to go?"
"We'll go in the morning. I'll keep an eye on her tonight."
Lilly chuckled at the thought. "A goddess playing at babysitter. I love it."
"It's no different than when I watched over you as a child, Lilly. Do you not remember playing with me at your oak tree?"
Lilly scratched the back of her head. "Bits and pieces, sure. But..."
The Morrigan stood and sighed. "Well, you were quite young then. Still, I'm sure you'll remember soon."
"You think so?"
"Yes, including the day you were magically bound."
It was just before nightfall when Arthur, Lilly and Adair checked and double checked their weapons. Arthur grinned at his wife when she looked over her father's sword. "Hey, maybe now Adair can teach you how to use that thing properly."
Adair giggled. "Yes, I'd be more than happy to teach you."
Lilly gave her a nod and a smile. "Well, thank you. I'll be sure to take you up on that."
The three left the room, leaving The Morrigan with Aoífe. Adair got on theback of Lilly's horse Liath while Arthur mounted up in Prasutagus. They eventually met up with Brian and James who had gone hunting in the local forest. As they traveled onward north, they tried to pick up any sign of the Nuckelavee. They'd spent a good couple of hours looking when Adair spoke up.
"Maybe I should fly up, see if I can find anything," she said.
"Good idea," Arthur replied. "You see anythin' suspicious, you let us know."
Adair's wings infolded and she flew up into the air. "I will."
Adair went higher into the night sky and Lilly and Arthur continued their search. "Maybe we should split up," Lilly suggested. "I could shift into my wolf and you could take Brian and James with you."
"You sure?" Arthur asked with heavy concern in his voice. "I don't think-"
"We'll cover more ground that way. Adair's got the air, and it looks like she's headed north. You take the west, I'll take the east."
"What about Liath?"
"He'll be fine. I'll just hitch him up here."
Arthur let out a disgusted huff. "Fiiine."
Lilly dismounted and started undressing herself, not wanting to destroy her clothes when she made the change. She tethered Liath to a tree after stripping down and putting her clothes on Liath's rump. Lilly turned back around to see her husband looking at her with a suggestive expression.
"What?" she inquired innocently.
Arthur made a side jerk of his head and smiled. "If we weren't doin' somethin' important at the moment, I'd take you here and now."
"Oh really..." Lilly said with an amused smirk.
"Yes. That ass of yours always gets me goin'." Lilly laughed and started walking away from Liath, swaying her hips back and forth seductively just to tease her husband. She turned her head back to see him biting his knuckles as he watched her. "You're such a bad girl, Lilly."
"Would you have me any other way?"
"No."
Lilly giggled and shut her eyes as she stood still. Suddenly she felt pain as her bones and joints began to move around inside her body, making her fall to her hands and knees. Red fur started growing as she increased in size, her fingers shrinking down into canine digits. Lilly growled out in an almost inhumane voice and snarled as her snout began to stretch out. Soon she sported a red tail and her ears pricked up to points. As the transformation came to an end, she shook herself to release the stress of her change. Lilly looked back at her husband who'd been watching her with disbelief and curiousity in his light blue eyes.
"What in the hell..." he uttered.
Lilly let out a deep chuckle and spoke. "You've seen me transform before, you know."
"Yeah, but I ain't used to it yet," he finally said after regaining his composure.
Lilly sighed and turned her head towards the east, sniffing about. The cool night air filled her nostrils and her ears perked up from all the noises of the forest. Even her eyesight had improved. She saw a deer not too far off in the forest and she smiled...as well as a wolf could, at least. "Okay, just keep the boys with you."
Lilly went bounding off towards the east and she heard hooves from behind galloping away from her. She slowed a bit to sniff the ground in front of her. Nothing. Not a single scent that made her fur stand up in end. Where the hell was this thing? She started trotting again and after about twenty minutes, she made it to a clearing. There was a farm not too far up ahead, so she thought best to avoid it...until she caught an uneasy, disgusting scent from the wind. It shook her to the core and brought a bit of fear into her heart, but she shook it off. Lilly could hear screaming coming from the property and she immediately went running towards the farm. And as she got close, she saw it. The Nuckelavee. It was more horrible looking than the description in the portfolio and it almost made her want to heave out her insides.
Its upper body was in the middle of a black horse, yet the creature had no legs that she could see. The arms stretched to the ground and its body was pitch black, but Lilly could see its muscles and black veins and she shook off her fear once more. It had all but destroyed the house and a man and woman were cornered with children behind them, and it went in for the strike.
"HEY!" her voice boomed, and the creature instantly stopped and turned to look at her. "Yes, I'm talkin' tah yas, ya ugly piece of swine! Why don'tcha pick on someone yer own size, aye?!"
The beast let out a menacing roar and charged her. Lilly was glad that she was, in fact, just about the same height as the Nuckelavee. It gave her higher chances of defeating it. As it neared, Lilly went in and tackled the horse part of the beast, sinking her teeth into the muscles and ripping some off. The Nuckelavee howled in pain and knocked her away with an arm. She went flying into the crumpled house and yelped when she landed on her side. She quickly got up and stormed towards her enemy quick as lightning, knocking it off its feet once more and grabbing the horse by its neck. She shook the horse ferociously and it neighed and snorted at her. The Nuckelavee grabbed her suddenly and yanked her off, tossing her about like a ragdoll.
It threw her across the property into the animal pen and she got up quickly, ready to pounce as the abomination got on its legs again. Lilly saw its wounds heal and she grunted. Great. Her only hope was to get it to fresh water, but was there any nearby? Lilly targeted the Nuckelavee's humanoid part and rushed him, leaping once more. But she got knocked away so hard she went airborne into the night towards an intact part of the house. The irish werewolf crashed into the exterior and landed on her side. She heard the family scream and she looked up to see them staring at her in horror.
"Why are ya still here? Run!" she barked.
They went scurrying about to the back of the house and Lilly got back up to charge the beast once more. She chomped down on a horse leg tried to shake it, but the Nuckelavee grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. She struggled in his grasp as he began to choke her. Shit. She snapped and flung herself about but to no avail. She couldn't get free, but that didn't stop Lilly from trying. She felt her consciousness gradually slipping away but she still fought to be free of the monster's grasp. It was then that she heard the sound of a gun firing and the creature bellowed in fury. Where had the shot come from? Another shot was fired and this time the beast dropped her. She coughed and hacked, her throat now feeling sore and beaten as the Nuckelavee kept on roaring.
More shots echoed through the air and she looked up to see Arthur riding towards her with her brothers. She saw Adair coming to the rescue as well. A few more shots to the beasts' head and it went down, but it wasn't out just yet. Lilly got up and went for the horse head, its braying and snorting encouraging her to bite harder and harder. She tore at the beast with her sharp fangs and soon the boys joined in on the ritual. Arthur closed in with his revolvers while Adair flew in, her sword drawn. She landed on the beast and stabbed downward into its belly, both hands on her hilt. Adair withdrew the sword and stabbed the humanoid head, causing the monster to screech and then gurgle.
Lilly and the rest backed off to admire their work. The beast wasn't healing so they had to assume it was dead. "We should take it to fresh water, just to be sure," Adair said.
"Agreed. Any idea where there might be any?" Lilly asked.
Adair shook her head. "I didn't see any bodies of water."
"Me neither," Arthur said.
Lilly sighed. "Perhaps we should ask the family of the property." And with that, she turned and padded towards the house. She walked in carefully, sniffing about to track the family down. Arthur followed her while Adair and the boys kept a close eye on the defeated beast. The ruined house wasn't exactly easy to walk through but Arthur and Lilly made it to one of the back rooms. "Excuse me? Folks? You can come out now, it's safe."
The door creaked open, revealing the head of the family holding a shotgun. Arthur holstered his guns and held up his hands. "It's alright. We're not here to harm you," Arthur drawled.
The man squinted his eyes in suspicion, peeking over Arthur's shoulder. "Is it dead?" he asked, his Scottish accent heavy and baritone.
"Yes."
The man eyed Lilly, keeping his gun up. "What are ya?"
"A werewolf. I mean you and your family no harm, sir." The man hesitantly lowered his gun and Lilly let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. "We need to bring the beast to fresh water. Any idea where there might be a lake or a river nearby?"
"Yes. The River Tay is not far off to the east of here. Can't miss it."
Lilly bowed her head. "Thank you, sir."
The rest of the family appeared behind the man. "Thank ye, whoever ya are," the woman said.
"You're welcome. Shall we, mo fhear céile?" Lilly asked.
"Yes, mo bhean chéile," Arthur replied lovingly. The pair exited the house and joined Adair and the boys. "There's a river east of here we can take it to."
"I'm on it," Adair said before a light surrounded her form. She shifted into a large red eagle and wrapped her talons around the beast. She flapped her wings and lifted it into the sky. "Try to keep up."
Lilly chuckled as she went chasing after Adair. Arthur got to his horse and mounted it as Brian and James went chasing after their sister. They didn't have to go very far to find the river. Adair dropped the body into the water from high above, causing a loud and large splash. Lilly watched with both curiousity and disgust as the body began to smoke and bubble before the water started disintegrating the form entirely. As Adair flew down and transformed back into her regular body, the smell that came off the beast assaulted everybody's nose and they all cringed.
"Ó a Dhia," said Lilly. "That smells awful!"
Arthur lifted the collar of his shirt and covered his nose. "Jesus Christ!"
Adair pinched her nostrils and groaned. "I've never smelled anything so awful."
The boys whimpered and went running off. It made Lilly laugh as she tried to cover her own nostrils. Finally the body disappeared completely and the group backed away. "Let's get out of here," Lilly suggested quickly.
They all agreed and Arthur went back to his horse. "Let's go back and get Liath."
