Posted November 7, 2021.
CHAPTER 7: THE SPEAR OF LUGH
On the Matter of the City of Gorias
The city of Gorias is a location of one of the four Treasures of the Tuatha dé Danann. It is located in the south of the Emerald Isle.
Its treasure, the Spear of Lugh, is very strong in-battle. Once thrown, it will hit its target with a powerful blow. Only a truly courageous warrior can lift this Spear.
– From the Book of Fay
Blarney Castle, Ireland
The helicopter soared over the Blarney Castle. Layla gazed in admiration at the ruins, taking it all in at once.
For starters, the scenery was beautiful. Though the grass was starting to die out, she could make out the beautiful autumn colors, brightening the scene ahead of them. Surrounded by all those trees was the ruins of a fortress, its white color contrasting beautifully with the red, orange, and yellow leaves. She gazed at the other Winx.
"It's beautiful," Flora was the first one to speak. "This is amazing!"
"I know," Layla grinned, gazing down.
Roxy stood with a yawn, rolling her eyes. "Time to search for some wacko treasure again?"
"Yes," Layla answered wearily, tired of Roxy's quips. They'd been dealing with it all week; it was now starting to get tiring. Even though they'd taken her to so many beautiful sites in Ireland, looking for the treasures of the Tuatha dé Danann, Roxy just wouldn't stop it with the attitude. She stood up. "Come on, let's go and" –
Suddenly, a loud boom sounded through the air. Layla stepped back, horror filling her eyes as she heard a familiar cackle. She let out a gasp as she saw who it was.
The four Wizards were flying towards them, rage in their eyes. The Winx gasped in horror. "Come on, baby!" Stella shouted at the helicopter. "Let's get moving!"
"I'm trying!" Tecna was desperately fighting with the controls, but the helicopter was at its maximum speed. Which was to say, not very fast. The Wizards laughed behind them, shooting beams of light at the helicopter –
"No!" Bloom shouted. Opening the latch, she pointed her Sword at the Wizards. "Don't you dare!" She climbed on a flying saucer, deflecting the spell from hitting the helicopter.
The other women, except for Tecna, Roxy, and the Pixies, followed. Layla grabbed Piff, whispering, "We've gotta go, okay?" She flew the saucer down towards the ground.
"Layla, where're you going?" Bloom shouted.
"I've gotta find the treasure!" Layla shouted back. "You guys deal with the Wizards, okay?" Not waiting for an answer, she flew towards the Blarney Castle.
She landed. Shouldering the flying saucer, she headed straight towards the Castle, which was shining in all its glory. She headed into the grounds, staring around.
The Castle was even more beautiful up-close. She walked through the gardens, gazing around. Marigolds still bloomed, shining beautifully in the light of the sun. She gazed at the fortress, walking towards it.
According to the Book of Fay, the Blarney Castle had been built in the fifteenth century. There had been two other castles before then, but they'd been demolished to build this one. Piff squealed as they walked towards the Castle. "It's so pretty!"
Ahead of her, she could make out iron railings that covered the Blarney Stone. The Stone stood straight ahead of her. Mesmerized, she walked up to it, tapping the iron.
Good thing Roxy isn't here. She wouldn't be able to go near the iron, much less tap it. She walked up to the Stone, gazing at an inscription on a nearby sign. Piff read it aloud.
"Those who kiss the Blarney Stone will be granted the gift of eloquent speech."
It's worth a shot. Shrugging, Layla leaned under the rail. Gazing up at the Stone, she kissed it.
To her shock, she was immediately transported. Piff let out a squeal of amazement. An underground city loomed ahead of her, and she stared in amazement, taking it all in at once. A man walked up to her.
"Welcome to the city of Gorias," he said. "You are here to seek the Spear of Lugh." He nodded. "Let us begin."
Roxy watched as the women dueled the Wizards of the White Circle, her eyes narrowing desperately. Fear, like she'd never known before, rose in her heart. She stared forward, willing the combat to end.
I want this whole thing to end. She wanted nothing more than to head back home where she belonged, and forget all of this fairy and Wizard nonsense. A few weeks later, and she still couldn't get over the fact that the women had flying saucers and the Wizards could shoot magic spells out of their hands.
"You foolish fairies!" Ogron roared. "Think you can save your friend from her fate? Well, think again!" He flew towards the helicopter.
"No!" Bloom shouted, but Ogron had already made his way into the helicopter. Tecna gasped, turning around. "Pixies! Hold him off!"
"Pixie Convergence!" Tune and her Pixie cohort held hands. Pointing their magic straight at Ogron, they tried to blast him down.
But Ogron easily knocked the Pixies back. Smirking at Roxy, he said, "You're all mine." Roxy backed up, pure fear filling her heart.
She had never been so scared in her life. Not even when the bullies at school had tormented her, or when the teachers had sent her home with countless notes for her father. Those things paled in-comparison to what she was dealing with now. Ogron laughed, holding a sphere of light in his hand.
"Your friend Krithi says hi," he jeered. "Must be so sad she abandoned you, aren't you?"
Roxy seethed, furiously thinking of the girl who'd sold her out to the Wizards. If I ever see that girl again… Taking advantage of her anger, Ogron shot a blast at her, and she was knocked to the ground.
Immediately, Artu ran forward, biting Ogron's leg. He glared at Roxy, saying, "You're done for." Pointing a spell at her, he unleashed it, ready to defeat her for once and for all –
"Stop!" Bloom had appeared. Holding the Sword of Light in her hands, she sent a ray of power at Ogron, who fell back in shock. He glared at her, fury in his eyes.
The rest of the Winx flew into the helicopter, glaring at Ogron. The rest of the Wizards followed, clearly not ready to give up without a fight.
Layla followed the man into the city of Gorias. People came out of their homes, staring at Layla as she walked through the cavern walls. The man pointed to a shining weapon. Staring forward, Layla let out a gasp.
The Spear of Lugh was ahead of her. It shined purple, gleaming with incredible power. Cautiously, she walked up to it as Piff gasped in amazement.
She knew very well how to throw a spear. After all, all her life she had been trained to use weapons, practicing along with the boys of the court. Though her father was very conservative, he was a firm believer that women needed battle-training just as much as men. She knew she could handle this weapon if she needed to. The man smiled.
"For centuries, we have been guarding this treasure," he said. "I heard from my cousin in Findias that you would come here, seeking the Spear of Lugh. Your bravery amazes me." He frowned. "But first, you will have to pass a test."
"A test?" Layla stared at him in surprise.
"Yes," he answered. "You must defeat me in battle."
Layla grinned. "No offense, but I'm pretty good in hand-to-hand combat" – Her voice faltered as he pulled out the Spear.
"Stand and fight," he said. He charged straight at her, ready to fight.
But she was ready. Knocking him down with her fists, she tried to grab the Spear from his hand, but he was too powerful. He shoved her to the ground.
Layla gasped as he faced her, pointing the Spear directly at her heart. Just in-time, she darted out of the way. I'll have to use my fists now… She cartwheeled towards him, jabbing him expertly, all the while dodging the Spear.
He was beginning to tire, she could make out. Using that to her advantage, she snatched the Spear out of his hands, pointing it directly at him. He lifted his hands in the air.
"I surrender," he said. "Your power is great, fairy beyond the stars. I hope that you have success in whatever you choose to do."
"Thanks," Layla said, "but can I get outta here? I've got friends I need to save."
"Of course," the man answered. "This way." He led her down the tunnel, straight towards the way back out.
Musa shielded Roxy from the Wizards, fury in her eyes. "Don't you dare come near her," she snarled. Ogron smirked.
"You seem very protective of your fairy friend," he said. "Is there a particular reason?"
Musa had to admit, Ogron had a point. She had no idea why she felt so protective of Roxy, too. All she knew was that the two of them had very, very similar pasts.
She knew exactly how Roxy felt. She knew what it was like to be an outcast, how it felt to be surrounded on all sides by malice. To have to fight for her place in the world. She swallowed hard, remembering her freshman year at Alfea.
She'd felt so strange, with the group of girls in her class. They'd all been so shallow and girly, especially the Solarian and Eraklyonese ones. Even with her friends, she'd felt lonely, not knowing how to speak to them. And then there had been that horrible day, the day she'd run away from Alfea…
"She's buggin' if she thinks I care about Riven," Musa had muttered defiantly as she walked down Main Street. Kicking over a can, she watched as it landed in front of two people, who cast her sharp looks.
"Nothing," she said sheepishly, forcing a smile on her face. "Just talkin' to myself." She sighed, and then looked up in alarm.
She was in front of the Full Moon Café, a bar exclusively for warlocks. It was shrouded in darkness, just as the sun behind her was setting into the horizon. She let out an audible gasp, realizing what had happened.
I wandered into the Warlocks' quarter! This part of Magix City was dominated mostly by warlocks, particularly students from Cloud Tower. In recent years, racial tensions between fairies and warlocks had simmered. I have to get out of here. She turned around, and let out a gasp.
Riven was sitting inside the café with Darcy, casually smiling up at her. He was wearing a cap over his head to disguise his pointed ears, so that the other witches wouldn't recognize that he wasn't a warlock. Musa stared in horror, her fists clenching as Darcy spoke, her voice coming right out through the window.
"You're an amazing guy, Riven," she said, "but you're a fairy-being. You know as well as I do that fairy-men don't date witches." She smiled. "Not normally, anyways."
"What're you suggesting?" Riven asked, his tone becoming sultry.
"I'm saying that we be naughty." Darcy giggled, taking his hands.
Repulse boiled up in Musa's throat. She couldn't believe she was seeing this, especially Darcy, who clearly didn't care for Riven at all. She's just using him for her own personal needs! Riven, though, seemed very, very smitten.
"You're incredibly smart and brave," she added, "and all that talent is completely wasted at Red Fountain. You could be so much more – especially with me and my sisters as your guides."
"Tell me more," he said eagerly. Darcy smiled.
"Just have us know we can trust you, and the rest will follow," she said. "You see, we don't like the Winx anymore than you do – they keep attacking us, simply because we're warlocks."
Your kind is the one that attacks us! Musa wanted to shout. It had been warlocks that'd destroyed the realm of Domino, massacred most of the pixies in Magix, and enacted the Fairy Genocide of the Fourth Dimensional War, which had virtually decimated most of the fairy-male population in the UR. It was a miracle that fairy-beings had even survived out of that.
"I wouldn't put racism past them." Riven clenched his fist. "Sky and Brandon look down on everyone around them, especially Brandon. And I bet those stupid girls are just as airheaded!"
At least I know history! Musa wanted to shout. Sure, she knew that fairies weren't saints, no more than warlocks were; they'd brutally suppressed many warlocks, too. But warlocks, on the whole, were responsible for far more genocides. You can't trust anything that comes out of a witch's mouth. Suddenly, she froze as she heard a drawl behind her.
"No wonder it reeks of loser around here," the cold voice sniffed. "Look who's here!"
"It's the one with the pigtails," a second voice added.
Musa turned slowly around. Icy and Stormy were standing next to her, cruel smirks on their faces. She glared at them defiantly, her hands on her hips.
"Bug off, perm-head," she shouted, storming forward. "Go back to your" –
"Not so fast." Icy extended her hand on the wall, blocking Musa's way forward. "Where do you think you're doing?"
"Back to civilization." Musa barged past her, but then gasped as she felt an icy hand snatch onto her arm.
"No, you're not." It was Icy again. "Not until you explain why you were spying on my sister. And why you're on our territory."
"Don't make me laugh," Musa snarled. "I go wherever I want! Last time I checked, this realm's a democracy!"
"But Cloud Tower turf isn't." Stormy shoved her face in front of Musa. "You don't come onto our turf, and if you do, you don't get to leave."
"That's right," Icy agreed. "At least, not until we're done with you."
I'm in trouble, Musa realized, her heart pounding. Big trouble. Still she glared up at Icy, forcing any semblance of her fear away. "You don't want to get into it with me, witch!"
"Oh, please." Stormy rolled her eyes. "You're here because of your silly boy-toy, aren't you? You're here for Riven." She bared her teeth veraciously. "You have a crush on him, don't you?"
Musa backed up in fear. How do they know about that? Icy smirked at her, shaking her head.
"Silly girl," she purred. "Just yesterday, I heard Riven talking about you to Darcy. He told her he thinks nothing about you."
Tears poured down Musa's cheek. Then her eyes narrowed, and she lifted her hand in the air. Without warning, she suddenly clicked her fingers together.
A giant zit appeared on Icy's face. The witch let out a bellow that would've rivaled any thunder-cloud she'd ever heard. Inside the café, the students looked up in alarm.
"How dare you," Icy seethed. "My flawless face!"
"Wow!" Stormy had appeared next to her, and was staring at her cheek. "That has got to be the single-most disgusting zit I've ever seen!"
"Nobody asked you!" Icy snarled, shoving her aside. She flicked her fingers, and her skin smoothed back down again. "Now, what should I do to this pigtailed pixie to teach her to show some respect?"
"Let's jump her," Stormy giggled.
"Yeah, yeah," Musa shouted. "You're good at trash-talking; why don't you show me what you've really got?"
She couldn't have possibly picked a worse thing to say, for Icy's smirk grew immeasurably wide. "I will. The whole Cloud Tower freshman class is here, and I'm going to have them make an example of you." She turned inside towards the group of curious onlookers, whose eyes grew narrow with malice. "Come on!"
And now Musa was staring at the Wizards, all of whom had malicious expressions on their faces. Ogron leapt forward.
"Let's open the White Circle, right here." Linking hands with his men, he shouted. "The Doors of the White Circle await you" –
Suddenly, a purple spear hit him in the shoulder. Letting out a cry of pain, Ogron turned around, furious. "Who dares attack me?"
"I do," a voice answered. Layla and Piff flew up to the helicopter with their flying-saucer; Layla plucked the Spear out of Ogron's shoulder. The Winx let out a cheer.
"Want to fight more?" she asked coolly, holding out the weapon. Bloom drew hers as well.
Ogron glared at them, clearly realizing he'd been defeated. "We'll be back!" he snarled. Disappearing into white shadows, they left the Winx behind.
Next chapter:
– Flora finds the Cauldron of Dagda.
– The Winx go to the Cliffs of Moher.
