IRISH HEART

Ancient spirits called to Sakaki.

They whispered in his ear, sang in dying breaths and chilling whispers. His blood ran cold, freezing in his veins and refusing to budge. There were so many, so many coolly calling, sweetly crooning voices, all clamoring for Haruto's attention. It started as secret, hissed words, before erupting in a dull roar of voices and snarls.

"So many deaths…." The man trailed off.

Brett kicked at a pebble out of boredom. "Yup."

Haruto could feel them, the hundreds of thousands of souls, all calling for his attention, all speaking to him in strange, foreign languages. One seemed vaguely familiar, from some long lost science class. Latin.

"What are they saying?" Geoff inquired curiously.

Sakaki closed his eyes slowly, breathing in deep and allowing the words to enter his ears. They were as smooth as honey, and just as sweet. It always felt so refreshing, so relaxing, to just let down his guard and almost welcome the secret languages and spoken words of the dead to pour into him. It took away the constant fight to ignore those barely audible voices of the long departed.

Here, on this field, they were louder. After many long years in the earth, these spirits were thankful to have someone to speak to. They were restless, stirred by something else.

"Some of them don't exactly appreciate Amon's presence," Sakaki stated simply.

Geoff shrugged. "Like spirits are always happy to see us coming?"

Haruto couldn't help but crack a smile before focusing in deeper, letting more and more of them come closer. It felt almost heavy there, as though the spirits tugged on Sakaki, urging him to listen to their individual voices and pleas. These ancient dead begged to be listened to, hungering for a bent ear to their cries and laments. They pleaded with him, yearning to be heard. The dead, after so many years, would give anything to just have someone to talk to, just like any other person.

And, yet, there were voices of longing. It seemed as thought these long forgotten dead of the Iceni were actually happy to see Brett, Geoff, Raven, Bear, and Kristo. They spoke in awed tones, shocked and amazed at the presence of the men. And some, some seemed to just want to sit back down with these strange fellows and casually relieve old days. It was odd, unusual and unsettling.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "They miss you…."

Geoff gave a sniff, shrugging his shoulders. "It's been a while." He looked to Kristo, a faint smirk spreading across the bartender's face. "Hasn't it?"

The shadow walker gave a heavy sigh. "Too long."

xxxx

"How could you?"

Mairi cried. Hot tears streamed down her face, but the girl ignored them. This betrayal cut too deep, too far, straight to the heart and to the bone. It rang in every inch and fiber of her body, sending trembles through her slender body. This stung at her, sending aches in her heart. It stank, vile and repulsive. Brother betraying blood.

She demanded an answer from him, any answer. "Tell me, you filthy bastard!"

Merric stepped back as Mairi gave an awkward swing of her dagger, fueled by rage and shock at her own twin. "Mairi, this is not what it seems."

"Then, what is it?" The girl screamed out, ignoring the battle swelling around them.

Her brother inched backwards again. "Mairi…"

"Do NOT call me by name as though we are still family!"

xxxx

"Amon…."

Nycole tiptoed through the grounds of Dun Aengus, searching. She treated this like a game. It was a game. A game of Hide and Seek, yes. And the empath was It. All she needed do was open her mind and take a quick peek to find him. Amon was hiding. IT was like when Nycole was little, or when she played with her younger cousins. All she had to go was cheat just a tiny bit to find her prey. Then, Nycole could play with him.

For a moment, the passing, glancing thought of just how wonderful a place Dun Aengus would be to actually play Hide and Seek or Manhunt in.

Nycole opened her third eye, her private eye, allowed every living thing around her to speak, and some not so living things. Ancient memories in cold stone spoke out to the empath, still hungry for their tale to be told. Somewhere, a mother rabbit was hiding, ducking in between the rocks, startled by Nycole's presence. Not too far from the hare, was Amon, crouched behind a decaying wall.

"I'm coming."

xxxx

They were yelling now, shouting at each other.

Amon watched with piqued interest, suddenly afraid for some reason he couldn't understand. Amon felt the pangs of Merric, the horror at Mairi's discovery. The former hunter could actually feel it. Why? He couldn't be sure.

But Boudica seemed to be joining the argument now.

xxxx

"Leave."

The word was a bitter snarl, a scathing order. Boudica demanded obeisance with every tiny bit of her body language. But that was only a momentary thing. She whirled around in a heartbeat to plunge her knife into a Roman who had dared scale her wall. The queen buried the dagger up to the hilt in the soldier's body before drawing it back and shoving the man hard from the wall, back onto his companions.

"Merric, get out of my sight, before I end you here and now."

He was heartbroken. "You do not understand. I did this for you, Mairi! I sold my soul for you, sister!"

Mairi blinked, shaking her head. "No. Do not put this on me."

"I did…." The Iceni man was pleading now, begging for his life. "The Romans…. They told me they would spare your life, if I gave them her…." He pointed to Boudica with his dagger tip. "I had to give them Boudica to save you, Mairi…"

The girl whipped around, all of the fire of their people burning behind her eyes. "Shut your mouth, you traitorous bastard."

"I did not think you would believe me." Merric's feigning of apology and horror melted away, leaving only sick and demented glee. "They told me you would not. They told me you would see through all of this."

Mairi gripped her dagger tighter. "We shall just end this now."

xxxx

"They hate him."

Kristo shook his head. "They would. They know him better than anyone else."

Sakaki blinked. He looked to the others, as they milled about. They seemed so quietly regretful, nudging at the ground and poking at pebbles here and there. Not a one really seemed to wish to speak on any of that. And, yet, the spirits, they spoke entire volumes in Sakaki's ears.

The former hunter shook his head. "Such sorrow."

xxxx

"Amon…. Oh Amon…"

Someone was singing the words, calling his name softly and sweetly, as thought playing some great game with him. The hunter tucked deeper into the wall, then, chastised himself for the childish action.

"I'm here," he responded.

Nycole's head peeked around the corner, looking to him curiously. "So, you found your way here, afterall."

Amon nodded. "Yeah…"

"So, what do you think?" the empath asked curiously.

"I hate this place."

xxxx

Merric just sidestepped out of the way, allowing his wings to fluff up and carry him to the side. Mairi cursed those terrible wings, always whisking her brother just out of the way of the sharply honed edge of her dagger. Between that, and his god awfully smug smile, Merric taunted her, teased his own sister.

"Oh, sister, you have be to faster than that."

Mairi clenched her jaw, knowing the truth. She had decided to pick a fight with one the Thirteen. Thus far, no one Mairi had ever known to go up against one of the Warriors had lived to tell the tale. In truth, the girl had never seen Merric lose to anyone. Not anyone. He was a skilled warrior, one of the Thirteen, and he could cheat. The man used his wings, his advantage against her. And Merric seemed to enjoy every moment of this.

She had to end this. The girl had to stop him. If Merric's corruption rang this deep, who knew how badly he had affected the other Thirteen?

Mairi turned and ran, but Merric followed.

Boudica lightly tossed Mairi a bow as she ran past, brother following. The queen returned right to the men who dared attack her. But Mairi kept right on running, flying through the air, the dark form of Merric close behind.

Her hand shot out, grabbing at three arrows jutting out of a dead Iceni. She worked swiftly to bridge the arrows through her fingers, lacing them together. Mairi drew back slightly as she ran, rushing towards the edge of the wall, what was left of the outer perimeter wall to Dun Aengus.

Their world was dying, and Mairi had nothing left to loose.

"MERRIC!"

The girl called the name as the edge came close, as if screaming out to the gods themselves, to the spirits, to the world, and to the night.

She leapt. The night seemed to reach out for her, as if swallowing the girl in shadow as Mairi gave of her life. The girl jerked her body to one side and whirling around. The girl quickly drew back and let loose. She closed her eyes as the arrows rushed through the air towards her former brother, the man she could no longer call family. The girl couldn't bear to watch the arrows actually pierce her brother's flesh.

She didn't even hear him call out her name. "MAIRI!"

xxxx

"She killed herself."

Amon whispered the words.

Nycole gave a slight nod. "Yeah. She did."

"Why?" The former hunter inquired, his eyebrows knit.

The empath shrugged, gazing out and over the expanse of shattered walls and broken dreams that had once been the most powerful empire in the British Isles. "She had to. She had no other choice."

"Merric killed her," Amon pointed out, not lifting his gaze.

Nycole nodded. "In a way."

"I killed her."

xxxx

….. I am a mean, mean fic writer.