IRISH HEART

"It didn't happen that way."

Amon was getting better. He had to be. The man was arguing with her; that was always a good sign. At least, that was how Nycole took it. She hoped that, despite his obviously rising fever, Amon was on the mend, getting better. Things always had to get worse before they could get better.

Nycole chuckled to herself. "What are you babbling about?"

"It… it just didn't happen that way."

"Oh, so you're the storyteller, now?" The empath teased, raising an eyebrow. "Alright, then you tell me."

"Boudica…" Amon closed his eyes, swallowing hard. "Her rebellion was… against the Romans." Nycole wiped his brow as the man took a moment to focus his energy and concentration. "Not against renegade Iceni." Despite the pallor in his face, that sickly, sweaty look, Amon's eyes held a subtle, fading twinkle of mischief. "She lost."

"That's spoiling the ending," Nycole argued.

Amon seemed to lull, half in and half out of sleep. "Then go on."

xxxx

It took but a few moments to get back from Boudica's lodge to the outermost wall of Dun Aengus. However, with Merric dragging her alone, the minutes stretched on forever for Mairi. The girl felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach as time seemed to span and yawn before her.

"STAND TOGETHER!"

Boudica's bellowing orders reached deep within the fortress.

Mairi glanced up, just as they came upon the outermost wall. Boudica stood tall and proud, leather armor strapped to her lanky, muscular form. She readied to stand her ground, drawing back an arrow and aiming carefully. Before Boudica could even utter the next order, Merric placed Mairi down on her feet. The queen gave her friend a sharp wink as the pair drew back their bows. Mairi bridged three arrows between her fingers, taking aim over the massive army of Praetori riding in to Dun Aengus.

"We will always stand together, Boudica," Mairi crooned, looking down the length of the middle arrow, down the moor to the Praetori.

"DRAW!"

Boudica gave her thanks to the gods for the distinctively sharp resolve of the Iceni in the face of what seemed to be hundreds of Praetori. She wondered, pondering for an instant in time and space, exactly how the rebels had managed to amass so many, how they had recruited so many Iceni and others to their ranks. The Iceni had once been a proud, grand race of people. The Praetori had been no more than fifty strong at best, three years ago. And, now, somehow, they had increased their numbers to the vast sea of warriors moving in dark waves along the moor.

Boudica looked to Merric as he drew to her left; with Merric and Mairi at either side of her, the queen felt at ease, at home. "AIM!"

Mairi drew in a breath, feeling the smooth, liquid tension running up and down her arm nervous. Yes, she was nervous. All warriors had fear. To say that any warrior, soldier, or hunter held no fears whatsoever was a completely and total lie. There was always something. In Mairi, she feared the battle itself. In Merric, he feared the darkness the lurked within, let loose with the power of Cernunnos, the very lick of death its self. And Boudica? She held her breath every battle, terrified of the cost of losing that would be imposed upon her people.

"MAKE EVERY SHOT COUNT!"

The Praetori fired off first. A volley of arrows streaked up, through the sky and towards the Iceni. Boudica issued the order herself, setting loose the darts and arrows of her own people. The Iceni ducked as soon as their arrows, jumping behind turrets as the sharp things came flying down, splintering and shattering on the stone of Dun Aengus.

"SECOND VOLLEY!"

Another series of archers jumped up from behind the wall, in the first loop of Dun Aengus, firing off arrows as swiftly as they could. If this was to be the death of the Iceni, all the hands of those traitorous Praetori, Boudica and her people would make it a fight to the very end. As soon as the archers from within Dun Aengus had fired, another volley from atop the wall was loosed.

Mairi threw her body between two turrets. She was a woman possessed, Every action, every subtle switch and twinge of her muscles was that of an entirely different person, moving with swift, grace and ease. Mairi just licked her lips and fired off arrow after arrow. Each shot downed another of the Praetori with a rewarding groan or scream. Not a single of Mairi's shots were wasted. Her hands carefully followed the motion of her targets, guiding the bow, making sure of her aim before firing. Mairi was an assassin, a sniper of tremendous skill.

But it didn't matter. The Praetori where almost upon them.

Mairi fired off another three arrows, glanced to Boudica. Her queen stayed the course, taking aim and sending another Praetori to his death.

"STAND YOUR GROUND!"

xxxx

Amon had slipped away again. Nycole felt worry ebbing within at the thought of the man's terrible injuries and the toll they took on his body. He seemed to be growing worse and worse, the fever rising. Sakaki had gone out for a thermometer, since they had discovered that Lauren, Kathain's friend, didn't seem to have any. However, Nycole didn't need one to tell that the former hunter's fever spiked higher and higher, soaring in the heavens.

Nycole felt him again, as if to confirm what she already knew. "Amon…"

He had been struggling that whole time that Nycole told the dark story of the Mairi and Merric to stay awake. And, yet, just when consciousness seemed cornered, it would slip right out of Amon's grasp. Like sand, the harder he squeezed, the harder it grew to keep a hold of the real world. Perhaps the man just needed more rest. But, still, it could have hinted at some deeper, deadlier reason.

"You can't die," the empath bathed Amon's face with a damp, warm cloth.

Robin needed to know.

xxxx

Down at the very base of Dun Aengus, were the sharp shards of rock and stone left from the construction of the fortress. Those last remnants and off cuts had been discarded as the massive, bulky walls rose along the cliffs. Some lost architect and builder had decided to arrange them down, jutting out and studding the base of the ancient city and around it. They rose from the ground, forming a jagged maze of rocks and stone, piercing the air itself.

Boudica thanked whatever king or lord had ordered the stone arranged in the way. The Praetori were forced to abandon their steeds. They drew swords, daggers, and knives, climbing and scrambling through the rocks. That eyesore gave the Iceni the advantage.

Mairi took the opportunity. She drew the bow, with three arrows slipped between her fingers, taking aim of those scoundrels, the traitorous dogs. The girl loosed them, just as Merric fired off another shot. They were a killing machine between the two of them, as twins should be. They moved with the same skilled, careful actions, the same energy, grace, and ferocity. Their actions and motions mirrored one another. However, while Merric took but one arrow at a time, Mairi sent out three. The bow was her weapon, while Merric bested her at something completely different.

The Praetori had reached the bottom of Dun Aengus.

Boudica swore. "OIL!"

Three, grand, massive cauldrons filled with boiling, hot oil, were poured out. The cauldrons had set along the walls of Dun Aengus for centuries, ready for war. After the fall of so many Iceni to the Praetori, Boudica had kept the vats hot at all times, the fires beneath them always burning. Now, the iron kettles were spilt out into giant holes just before them, running into the fortress. The holes steamed.

Boudica grinned to herself, feeling the stone beneath her feet growing warm. "BACK!"

Thick, black oil spilled out in streams from pockmarks in the centuries old wall of Dun Aengus. Merric turned away, loathing the screams and shrieks of pain as the flesh was scalded right off the bone by the boiling oil. Boudica smiled, laughing to herself as what Praetori remained turned tail and bolted, running for their very lives. Mairi didn't stop letting her arrows fly, taking out the fleeing traitors.

Merric grabbed her last arrow swiftly, not letting it loose. "Mairi…"

"What?" she breathed.

The young man pointed. "They have lost. Let them go."

Mairi bit her lip, letting her arrow down. "I am sorry."

Boudica shifted her weight uneasily, watching the Praetori riding off into the night, tails tucked between their legs. "So are they." She looked to Mairi. "Now, what was this you were saying about owing me?"

xxxx

"Robin?"

Nycole called softly to the fire starter, as she sat by the window. All eyes rose suddenly, glancing up to the empath as she stood in the doorframe. Brett couldn't help but see the sorrow and hesitation in Nycole's face. The telepath gestured slightly for Robin to join her in the bedroom with the injured Amon.

Robin rose, slowly, hesitantly. "Yes?"

Nycole bit her lip. "You should probably come in."

xxxx

"Allow me to get this perfectly clear."

Mairi nodded slowly, taking a sip of the warm mead in her glass, sitting down the long table from Boudica as the queen spoke. They had retreated to the warm comfort of the lodge in the very center of Dun Aengus. Merric sat at the other end of the table, his long wings stretched out, as the man tried desperately to get the vile things to go away.

"You are trying to tell me that someone-" Boudica paused on that word, searching for the correct following word "-masquerading as one of my messengers, sent for you to collect my favor."

Merric let out a sigh of almost orgasmic relief as his wings finally melted away, dissipating in a manner of speaking. His face contorted in extreme pleasure as the feathers puffed and exploded outwards. With those feathers, the Iceni's wings molted away. Those black, fuzzy puffs faded away as the energy left Merric, just slipping away into the world. The young man stretched out, feeling suddenly happy to be free of those ebony burdens and the weight imposed.

"Yes," Merric answered, composing himself.

The queen cocked her head to one side, trying to get the facts straight in her own mind. "Are you entirely sure this was one of MY scouts?"

"He carried your standard. I asked to see if he bore the marks of the Praetori. He had none of their tattoos." The young man looked away, growing solemn and set. "This man gave me the message, supposedly directly from your lips, to gather up Mairi and return to Dun Aengus as soon as possible."

Boudica's gaze shifted to Mairi. "Is this true?"

The girl sighed. "I never saw the man. But I trust in my brother, and all he tells me to be true and just."

"Then, there is a spy among us."

xxxx

:insert dramatic music here: Yes, I am mean. I understand, and utterly enjoy this.