Sara was up early pacing the floor; she couldn't sleep. Now that she knew who had Ian she was anxious to find him.
"Sara, I know where Ian is but I'm not going to tell you until you pull yourself together." Danny appeared in his usual fashion, without warning.
"Don't mess with me, Danny!"
"No, you're wild to go find Ian. Your stomach is in a knot and you can't breath and there is a voice in your head saying 'do it now, do it now, do it now' - you're all set to make the same mistake that you made with John, walking into a firefight without backup."
"So I'm not going to give you the information until you get a hold of yourself! For one thing there are usually 6 to twelve terrorists in the place. Too many for you to take on single handed - if you go by yourself you *will* get yourself or Ian killed."
Sara felt like she would jump out of her skin if she didn't do something but Danny was right. "How come you know me so well?"
"Sitting on all those stakeouts trying to keep you from blowing cover!"
"OK, so far you've told me there are 6-12 terrorists, and I suppose I can assume they are all armed, right? Are they in a city, village, or what?"
"They are in a manor house in the country, fairly isolated, some woods."
"Probably can't sneak up on them, not in the day anyway. And to get Ian safe, I have to isolate him from the others."
"Neit is using Ian's body so you can't count on Ian trying to get free" Danny said.
"So I have to isolate Ian, take him against his will, and do whatever it takes to drive out Neit."
"Right, so what are your resources?"
"I suppose Irons might lend some muscle but he wants something in exchange and his Ian clone makes my skin crawl. Do you know what Irons wants, Danny?"
"Whatever it is you know it's bad. You don't want Irons to have any claim on you." Danny replied.
"Then there is Seanain or Edward Dougherty. One or the other of them might be willing to back me up, depending on which would like to see this terrorist group broken up."
Danny said "I can show you the emblem of Neit's group and you can find out who they are." He sketched a symbol in the air. For a few brief seconds Sara saw a stick figure on its side with a curved line over it.
"OK, Pez, do you feel better yet?."
"Yeah, maybe I can pull this off without getting anyone killed. So where is he?"
"Like I said, I know where he is but I don't know where that place is at. I can see everything that is within his sight. There is a landmark I can see, a church steeple. Maybe it is distinctive enough to find out where it is."
"OK, let's go look for churches." Sara went out in search of tourist information. She was directed to a travel office nearby where she asked about churches, saying a friend told her to look at a particular one but she didn't know where it was. She looked at photos of churches until Danny recognized the steeple in Ian's vicinity. It was near Connemara.
Sara decided to call Seanain. She would ask him to help liberate Ian; with any luck the hideout was within his jurisdiction. Constable Seanain was at the office. She described to him the symbol Danny had seen and Seanain was very interested.
"These people have been quite a thorn in our side recently. They weren't very organized til then."
"I think they are the one's behind the fight we had at Connemara and the auction on eBay. They've gotten some supernatural help and they are holding Ian." Sara said.
"Can you tell me what they want Ian for?" He wasn't surprised to hear they were responsible for Ian's abduction.
Sara hesitated to answer. It sounded so bizarre. She told him about Neit.
Seanain wasn't too skeptical. He was learning to accept things that happened around the Witchblade. "We are definitely interested in closing down this group. If you know where they are we will put together an operation to capture them."
Sara was relieved. Now she would have backup. *Are you happy, Danny?* she thought to herself.
~~~~~~~~
Sara quickly prepared to return and took off on Seanain's motorcycle. When she stopped for a brief break to stretch her legs, Danny was there again.
"Sara, Cathain wants to talk to you."
"How?"
"The grey space." Danny said.
Sara gripped the Witchblade and stepped forward, into the grey space. Cathain was waiting there.
"You are going to face Neit."
"Yeah, that's the plan." Sara wondered what Cathain knew.
"I have fought beside Neit and I know his battle skills. If he should lure you into swordplay with the Witchblade you will be out matched. The Witchblade confers some advantages but Neit has years of experience with the sword. He will best you."
"OK, so what do I do about it? Can I capture him without a swordfight?"
"Perhaps you can, but remember this - if you do face him with the Witchblade you must let me fight him."
"How? Like letting you use my body?"
"If you face Neit in a swordfight, call me."
"How do I get Neit out of Ian's body?" Sara asked the question that had been nagging her.
"For that also you should call me." Cathain answered.
"Something else," Cathain went on, "if you need a diversion, there is something you can do with the Witchblade and the First Blade. Here." Cathain took Sara's hand and gave instructions for a diversionary tactic.
........
Back at Constable Seanain's office everything was in full swing to capture the group that had Ian. They were planning on acting after dark.
"Sara, you should know that I have another reason to be there besides capturing this group." Seanain said.
"What?" Sara was focused on the objective, looking at maps. She didn't have a clue what Seanain was talking about.
"If something happens to you, it is my duty to retrieve the Witchblade."
That admission startled Sara but she realized that she was glad. "That's good, it's a relief to me to know it will be taken care of. And thanks for skipping all that 'everything's gonna be all right' crap."
.........
"Sara, I know where Ian is but I'm not going to tell you until you pull yourself together." Danny appeared in his usual fashion, without warning.
"Don't mess with me, Danny!"
"No, you're wild to go find Ian. Your stomach is in a knot and you can't breath and there is a voice in your head saying 'do it now, do it now, do it now' - you're all set to make the same mistake that you made with John, walking into a firefight without backup."
"So I'm not going to give you the information until you get a hold of yourself! For one thing there are usually 6 to twelve terrorists in the place. Too many for you to take on single handed - if you go by yourself you *will* get yourself or Ian killed."
Sara felt like she would jump out of her skin if she didn't do something but Danny was right. "How come you know me so well?"
"Sitting on all those stakeouts trying to keep you from blowing cover!"
"OK, so far you've told me there are 6-12 terrorists, and I suppose I can assume they are all armed, right? Are they in a city, village, or what?"
"They are in a manor house in the country, fairly isolated, some woods."
"Probably can't sneak up on them, not in the day anyway. And to get Ian safe, I have to isolate him from the others."
"Neit is using Ian's body so you can't count on Ian trying to get free" Danny said.
"So I have to isolate Ian, take him against his will, and do whatever it takes to drive out Neit."
"Right, so what are your resources?"
"I suppose Irons might lend some muscle but he wants something in exchange and his Ian clone makes my skin crawl. Do you know what Irons wants, Danny?"
"Whatever it is you know it's bad. You don't want Irons to have any claim on you." Danny replied.
"Then there is Seanain or Edward Dougherty. One or the other of them might be willing to back me up, depending on which would like to see this terrorist group broken up."
Danny said "I can show you the emblem of Neit's group and you can find out who they are." He sketched a symbol in the air. For a few brief seconds Sara saw a stick figure on its side with a curved line over it.
"OK, Pez, do you feel better yet?."
"Yeah, maybe I can pull this off without getting anyone killed. So where is he?"
"Like I said, I know where he is but I don't know where that place is at. I can see everything that is within his sight. There is a landmark I can see, a church steeple. Maybe it is distinctive enough to find out where it is."
"OK, let's go look for churches." Sara went out in search of tourist information. She was directed to a travel office nearby where she asked about churches, saying a friend told her to look at a particular one but she didn't know where it was. She looked at photos of churches until Danny recognized the steeple in Ian's vicinity. It was near Connemara.
Sara decided to call Seanain. She would ask him to help liberate Ian; with any luck the hideout was within his jurisdiction. Constable Seanain was at the office. She described to him the symbol Danny had seen and Seanain was very interested.
"These people have been quite a thorn in our side recently. They weren't very organized til then."
"I think they are the one's behind the fight we had at Connemara and the auction on eBay. They've gotten some supernatural help and they are holding Ian." Sara said.
"Can you tell me what they want Ian for?" He wasn't surprised to hear they were responsible for Ian's abduction.
Sara hesitated to answer. It sounded so bizarre. She told him about Neit.
Seanain wasn't too skeptical. He was learning to accept things that happened around the Witchblade. "We are definitely interested in closing down this group. If you know where they are we will put together an operation to capture them."
Sara was relieved. Now she would have backup. *Are you happy, Danny?* she thought to herself.
~~~~~~~~
Sara quickly prepared to return and took off on Seanain's motorcycle. When she stopped for a brief break to stretch her legs, Danny was there again.
"Sara, Cathain wants to talk to you."
"How?"
"The grey space." Danny said.
Sara gripped the Witchblade and stepped forward, into the grey space. Cathain was waiting there.
"You are going to face Neit."
"Yeah, that's the plan." Sara wondered what Cathain knew.
"I have fought beside Neit and I know his battle skills. If he should lure you into swordplay with the Witchblade you will be out matched. The Witchblade confers some advantages but Neit has years of experience with the sword. He will best you."
"OK, so what do I do about it? Can I capture him without a swordfight?"
"Perhaps you can, but remember this - if you do face him with the Witchblade you must let me fight him."
"How? Like letting you use my body?"
"If you face Neit in a swordfight, call me."
"How do I get Neit out of Ian's body?" Sara asked the question that had been nagging her.
"For that also you should call me." Cathain answered.
"Something else," Cathain went on, "if you need a diversion, there is something you can do with the Witchblade and the First Blade. Here." Cathain took Sara's hand and gave instructions for a diversionary tactic.
........
Back at Constable Seanain's office everything was in full swing to capture the group that had Ian. They were planning on acting after dark.
"Sara, you should know that I have another reason to be there besides capturing this group." Seanain said.
"What?" Sara was focused on the objective, looking at maps. She didn't have a clue what Seanain was talking about.
"If something happens to you, it is my duty to retrieve the Witchblade."
That admission startled Sara but she realized that she was glad. "That's good, it's a relief to me to know it will be taken care of. And thanks for skipping all that 'everything's gonna be all right' crap."
.........