Sorry for the delay in getting this up. My muse is being a very temperamental girl this week…
Chapter 6 -- Theories
"Banshees do not haunt burial-chambers..." Bridgit told Sydney firmly. "Whatever Brenna is seeing... it is not a Banshee."
Nigel nodded confirmation. "Banshees usually haunt a specific family or group of families. Their cries aren't fatal, that's a fallacy... they just presage the death of a person."
"So what's Brenna seeing?" Sydney asked.
"A Wight, perhaps." Bridgit shrugged. "Why so interested in this, Professor? I would have thought that you would be more interested in finding a way home..."
Sydney shook her head. "Don't know. Can't shake the idea that it's all connected."
"Everything's connected..." Bridgit told her wisely.
"Meaning it is connected to our being here?" Sydney asked.
"Not necessarily." Bridgit shrugged. "It's just something I heard on Witchblade once."
Nigel stared at her dubiously. "You watch a lot of TV, do you?"
"Nah. I just think Ian's kind of cute. Strange, really... Normally, I'm only interested in British guys..." She smiled benignly at Nigel.
"Bridgit, step away from the boyfriend..." Sydney suggested softly.
Nigel blushed and bowed his head. "Um, the topic at hand, ladies..." he muttered.
"I think we embarrassed him, Professor." Bridgit smiled.
Sydney grinned curiously at Nigel. "I think you're right, Bridgit. Fun, isn't it?"
Nigel cleared his throat loudly. "Ladies? The topic at hand?"
"What was the topic at hand?" Sydney asked, frowning, as she tried to remember where the conversation had been going before it had been sidetracked.
"I believe we were still establishing that..." Bridgit provided. "But we had established that it was not a Banshee."
"But it might have been a Wight?" Sydney asked.
Bridgit nodded. "It is possible. You could ask Brenna. I'm sure she has a theory."
Nigel nodded. "Hadn't thought of that. Will you come back to the village with us?"
She shook her head. "No, I think not. Being a god has its disadvantages. The biggest is that it can be difficult to mingle freely with your worshipers. Even Brenna is almost afraid of me." She turned and started walking back in the direction of the forest. "If you require me, you know how to find me..."
Nigel and Sydney stared after her, Sydney shaking her head. "I'll give her this, Nigel. She knows how and when to make an exit. Wish she'd given us some more definitive answers, though."
"She has her reasons, I'm sure."
Sydney nodded. "Yeah, I just wish that she'd actually let us in on what they were."
Nigel sighed and nodded in agreement. "She fixed my foot, though." Grinning he lifted it from the ground, wiggling it to demonstrate. "Which is good because I doubt we're going to be out of here in time for my Monday morning physical therapy session."
"Try to think positive, Nigel..." Sydney suggested with a grin, sliding an arm around his waist. "Ready to go back to the village?"
He sighed reluctantly. "Yes, I suppose. It is beautiful out here, though."
"Yeah, except for the wolves and the evil fairies..." Sydney laughed.
"Now, Syd, be fair... Not all of the fairies are evil..." Nigel shook his head, the absurdity of the situation finally setting in fully.
They laughed together for a few minutes, then Sydney sighed and shook her head. "We're still not any closer to finding our way home, Nigel."
He sighed and glanced at her. "What are we going to do, Syd?"
"I don't know yet. We'll think of something."
"When you talked to the villagers today, did you find out anything about who might have brought us here or why?"
She shook her head. "No. According to everyone I talked to, Audra and Brenna are the only two people in the area capable of doing magic."
"And Bridgit says that if it had been them, she would know it."
"Which means we're right back where we started." She scowled and shook her head violently. "Damn it, Nigel..."
"I know, Syd." He gently slid an arm around her shoulder. "We will get home. It just might take some time."
She nodded and decided to approach the situation more analytically. "Step one, figure out who brought us here."
"Step two, figure out why..." Nigel agreed.
"Forget why." Sydney shook her head. "Step two is making them send us back!"
"What if they refuse? I mean, obviously they want something from us."
"If they refuse... we'll... convince them." Sydney's tone of voice told Nigel that she was not entirely averse to using physical violence if that was what it took.
"Okay, but let's not be unduly hasty." Nigel hoped he sounded reasonable instead of frightened.
Sydney glanced at him and sighed. "You scared?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Horrified." Sydney shook her head. "It's been bad before, Nigel, but it's never been quite like this."
Nigel sighed and nodded in agreement. "We've been through worse, Syd. We'll get through this, too."
"Yeah..." she sighed. "I hope so."
"Well, at least we don't have classes on Monday." Nigel smiled, trying to cheer her up.
Sydney grinned and gently punched his shoulder. "Come on, Nigel. Let's get back."
"All right, Syd." He slipped his arms around her as they started back towards the village.
***
"They left with our Lady and came back alone..." Brenna reported quietly.
Audra sighed. "Life used to be so wonderfully simple. When is the last time the gods walked the earth, child?"
Brenna shook her head. Dates were not important and they both knew it. "It always presages something cataclysmic."
Audra sighed and nodded. "Yes, it does."
"They'll bring doom on all of us. They should be--"
"What?" Audra demanded, rising and grabbing the girl's arm. She glared at her. "They should be what, Brenna? Killed?"
Brenna nodded defensively. "Yes."
"People in the service of our Lady do not take innocent lives!" Audra hissed.
"I serve the people of this village first!" Brenna shouted. "If these outsiders are a danger to them, I will not hesitate to neutralize that threat!" She looked up at Eala, hovering at the door of the hut. "What?" she demanded.
"I, uh..." Eala held up the wrapped bundle of bread in her hands. Dropping it on the table, she left without another word.
Audra shook her head. When she spoke, her voice was once again gentle. "You are under a great deal of stress, child. The apparition at the burial-place and now these outsiders... Go and meditate. Find your peace and then we may consider this matter further."
Brenna nodded sullenly and stalked out of the hut.
"Brenna..." Audra called after her abruptly.
Brenna turned and saw Audra in the door of the hut. "Yes, my Lady?" she asked quietly, approaching her.
"Child..." Audra sighed and took Brenna's face in her hands. "Do nothing in haste. The signs are there, yes, but the future is not written in stone. Be as brave as I know you capable of being..."
Brenna nodded slowly. "Wise counsel, Audra. Thank you."
"You worry for the people you are sworn to protect, as I myself do. But there is nothing to be gained by what you have proposed. In time, this will become clear to you as well."
Brenna sighed and whispered, "I pray that you are correct in this."
"Much yet remains to be seen. You may be right. These people may be our doom. Or perhaps they are our salvation? She works in mysterious ways."
Brenna nodded, unable to deny Audra's gentle words. "She does. I will stay my hand and meditate for guidance."
"That's my good girl..." Audra gently patted her shoulder and kissed her on the forehead. "If I may help..."
"Only She can help me in this matter, I think."
Audra nodded. "Wise words, child. You have spoken much in haste today, but there is a time for haste and a time for deliberation. This is such a time."
Brenna nodded. "I will make you proud."
"I have never been less than proud of you, child. Make Her proud."
"I will aspire to do so."
"Do not try. Just do." Audra gave her a faint, reassuring smile, then re-entered the hut.
Brenna nodded. Sighing, she walked into the stable.
***
"Well, from what Bridgit has explained to me," Nigel was telling Sydney as they walked, "it isn't so much a different place as it is a different realm."
"Come again, Nigel?" Sydney shook her head to indicate that she did not fully understand.
"Um, almost like a spirit-world. Another dimension, if you will."
"Spirit-world?" Sydney repeated.
He nodded. "Yes. The realm of the fairies. Bridgit said that the Sidhe have lived here since well before the first humans came."
"How did the humans get here?" Sydney asked.
"The Elohim brought them there to protect them from various Persecutions throughout history."
Sydney nodded. "How do the two groups get along?"
"Uneasy truce. They leave each other alone and everyone's happy."
Sydney nodded. "It's strange, Nigel. Almost everyone here seems so terrified of them."
"People fear what they don't understand, Syd."
"Eala said the same thing..."
"Who?"
"Oh, young girl. Does the town's baking. One of the few people I talked to who doesn't really seem that scared of the Sidhe."
"Hmm..." Nigel nodded reflectively. He stopped abruptly. "Hey! I just had a thought..."
Sydney glanced at him curiously. "Shoot."
"What if one of the Sidhe brought us here?"
Sydney frowned thoughtfully, turning the theory over in her head. "Well, they have supernatural powers, don't they?"
"Well, that's certainly the impression I've always had from the old folklore. Not sure how much or how far it extends, though."
"We'll look into it." Sydney nodded. "What would they want with us, though?"
"Well, the same things as any human would, presumably."
"To hunt down some relic. But what?"
"And why? Seems like it would be easier to use magic to find the relic."
She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. The point is that we're here. We need to figure out how and why if we're ever going to get back home."
He nodded. "Bridgit says that she can't help us until we've found out who brought us here. Something about her being bound by rules as well."
"Strange when you think about it... In every myth I've ever read, the gods really aren't."
Nigel frowned thoughtfully. "There's the Norse mythos. The gods were bound by certain rules in that. Capable of dying, even." He shrugged. "I suppose that much of what we've always seen in myths about the absolute power of the gods is just so much hyperbole."
She nodded. "Guess so. Myths are based on fact, but, by necessity, they get exaggerated." She sighed. "Not that it's really important right now."
Nigel sighed and nodded. "No, I suppose not. What kind of relic do you suppose it is?" he asked as they resumed their interrupted walk.
She shook her head. "Here, who knows. Some mythic sword, maybe. Or some artifact of the gods."
"Well, I seriously doubt that Bridgit would approve if we told whoever brought us here how to find, say, her Cauldron."
Sydney shook her head. "No. We don't tell anyone anything. Whoever brought us here, we are not negotiating with them, and we definitely aren't going on any relic hunts for them."
Nigel nodded in agreement. "I think that might be the wisest policy. Even if it does mean that we're never going to get home..."
Sydney stared at him. "Nigel, we are going to get home. Whoever brought us here... if they did that, they can send us back."
"But if we aren't helpful to them, why should they?"
"Because, if they don't, I'll beat them within an inch of their life." Sydney smiled reassuringly.
"Well, with that threat hanging over me, I'd do anything you said." Nigel winked at her. "Hey, who's that?" he asked, pointing to a woman in a red dress half-running through the field towards them.
"Looks like Eala." Sydney shaded her eyes with her hand and nodded. "Yeah, that's her."
"Ma'am, sir..." Eala puffed as they met.
"Take deep breaths, Eala..." Sydney advised gently.
When the girl had recovered her breath, Nigel gently asked, "Is something wrong?"
She nodded. "Yes, I think so. I think... I think that you might both be in danger."
"What gives you that idea?" Sydney asked, glancing at Nigel. He looked as shocked as she felt.
"I was delivering Audra her weekly supply of bread when I overheard her arguing with Brenna. They were shouting..."
"What about?" Nigel asked gently, kneeling in front of her.
"You." She looked from Nigel to Sydney. "Both of you. Brenna was very angry."
"About us?" Sydney asked.
Eala nodded. "She thinks you're a danger to us. I think she means to do you some harm."
Sydney considered this in silence. Nigel paced, shaking his head.
"Please, guard yourselves..." Eala muttered. "Brenna... she's very strong, very dangerous to creatures that put us in danger. If she considers you an enemy of the people..."
"It's going to be okay, Eala..." Sydney told her gently. "Nigel and I are more than capable of defending ourselves."
Eala nodded. "I hope so. Something like this... it would be bad for everyone."
"Yes, it would..." Nigel agreed gently. "You should get back now. It'll be dark soon."
She nodded and turned to go. She paused and glanced back at them. "Please be careful..."
"We will..." Sydney assured her. When Eala was out of earshot, she glanced at Nigel. "Just when I thought things couldn't get more complicated..."
Nigel sighed and nodded. "Brenna doesn't strike me as a woman to be trifled with. Being her enemy is probably not conducive to living a long and healthy life."
"You think she brought us here?" Sydney asked. "Got spooked when she saw us with Bridgit?"
"And now thinks that the best way to deflect attention from herself might be to accuse us of something?" Nigel nodded thoughtfully. It was certainly possible.
"Yeah." Sydney nodded. "Plus killing us kind of destroys the evidence. She did find us. Maybe it wasn't luck."
Nigel nodded in agreement. "Maybe she was waiting, hmm?"
Sydney sighed. "We're going to have to keep a close eye on her, whether she's responsible for bringing us here or not."
They started back towards the village, both feeling increasingly uneasy, especially as the sun began to sink in the sky.
