Episode 10: Part 1

The cold dreary month of January had set in across the region and Somerset Valley had remained at relative peace. From within his cavernous hall in the Underworld, the lord of the Fomorian Host gave a restless growl as he stalked toward his jagged looking throne and sat down. The one eyed war chief of the monstrous horde turned his baleful gaze on the beautiful red headed fey woman standing in his midst with a calm expression. "It has been an entire month and there has been no action to seize the valley above us. I had elevated you to the rank of General because I thought you would be able to get things done Leanansidhe."

The young fey woman wearing her finest green dress smiled with a predatory look of amusement. "And I shall Lord Balor. Despite the drop off in attacks, I have been very busy of late preparing a new means to bring you victory."

"That being?"

Leanansidhe chuckled gently, "I shall make use of the Sluagh… the spirits of the restless dead to overwhelm the knights. Unlike our human enemies, the undead do not tire, feel pain, or require rest and supplies."

Balor scratched his chin for a long moment to think it over, "Interesting... but you do realize that the Sluagh are a still just horde of incorporeal spirits who will be difficult to control and harness. Without true forms they are useless to me anyway."

"Ah... true enough my lord, but a problem that can be easily corrected. That is where the Tenebrous Cauldron comes into play," Leanansidhe smiled.

The warlord stopped and narrowed his good eye on her, "What are you getting at witch? Where did you find it and what do you plan to do with it?"

Leanansidhe sighed and idly paced around the Great Hall of the Fomorians, "Never you mind where I found it Lord Balor. I have spies and informants in many places. The important thing is that we have it at our disposal. With it, we can draw in the restless spirits and reanimate them into a physical army of obedient undead warriors."

Balor gave a low rumble from his throat, "You are certain this will work?"

"I will see it personally my lord," Lenansidhe replied with a courteous bow.

Balor sat back on his throne and gave a slow but cruel smile, "Very good General. Commence the invasion immediately."

Elsewhere, a layer of white snow blanketed the forests and meadows of Somerset Valley giving some semblance of light to what was otherwise a gray overcast January afternoon. The Christmas and New Years holidays had passed leaving the students of the university the daunting task of staying motivated enough to start the new semester in the dead of winter.

On that particular day, Laura Gremory watched the snow sprinkle down while sitting with her friends in the warm safety of a common lounge room within their dormitory. At one corner of the room, Connor lazily reclined in an armchair reading a book while Noelle sat across the room at a table playing a game of Solitaire with some cards. Like Laura, Quinton was sitting near another window nearby, looking out over the lawns before giving a sigh.

"I don't know about you guys, but it's so depressing looking outside at all the snow and ice. It's just so barren, harsh, and desolate."

Laura gave a mild snort of amusement while Connor and Noelle both looked up to listen in. "Actually, I think you're looking at it all wrong Quinton. Everything looks so calm, bright, and pristine."

"Coming from the Knight of Winter I'm really not surprised at all," Noelle laughed gently.

Connor glanced outside from his chair and shrugged, "Hmm, I'm kinda with Quin on this one. Looks a bit too much like the arctic out there for my liking."

"What's wrong, scared of a little snow? Ice flow nowhere to go, lost in the blinding whiteness of the tundraaaaa?" Laura laughed in a somewhat exaggerated sing song tone while waving her arms.

Everyone stopped and stared at her for a moment causing her to cross her arms, "What? Have none of you ever heard of the Mighty Boosh? It's a brilliant comedy show back home."

Everyone continued to remain quiet and shrug before Laura gave a big sigh and shook her head, "Philistines."

As the others chuckled, they were cut off when they heard a phone begin to ring. Connor immediately reached down and answered his buzzing phone, "Hey Kristen, yeah we're all here... really? Okay... we're on our way."

Everyone turned to look at him as he tucked his phone away, "I guess we'll have to make our way out on the tundra after all. That was Kristen and she said there's been a sighting of Leanansidhe."

At the mention of the name, everyone knew that if Balor's own general was involved it couldn't have been good. The four knights hurried from the room to grab their winter coats and make their way out into the snow to do battle once again with their Fomorian enemies.

Meanwhile, Stephen Gentum-Smith sat by himself in a local coffeehouse at the edge of campus town. As he did, he idly skimmed the business section of the newspaper and took a sip of tea from his cup on the table. The young well dressed man with blonde hair and a gray coat passively listened while a group of fellow students chattered away and gossiped at a nearby table.

'What a bunch of idiots,' he sniffed to himself while he continued to read, To him, they were wasting so much time and breath over such trivial things. He just wished they didn't have to be so loud.

Part of him also couldn't understand why so many of the students, especially his fellow freshmen felt the need to move everywhere in herds of inseparable people. If they couldn't live or function without being around others then so be it, but he was used to being by himself and that's just the way he preferred things. Before he went back to reading the newspaper, he stopped when he felt a cold draft of wind coming through the door as it opened.

He glanced up and stopped at the odd sight before him. Standing in the doorway were two male figures who almost looked like medieval lords. They were both tall and fair skinned with handsome features and lordly robes. One was blonde and dressed in red and gold while the other was a dark haired stranger wearing blue and white. Over their robes was finely crafted armor and impressive looking swords at their sides. Perhaps the most striking things about the two strangers were their long pointed ears and the graceful almost unearthly way that they moved.

Stephen sat up gawking at his table before noticing a rippling in the air which swirled about the room. Amid the sparkling iridescent light, the two Elves scanned the room before walking calmly toward Stephen at his table.

The young man felt his pulse quicken and he glanced about in alarm only to find that everyone else in the room seemed to be frozen in time, or perhaps moving in extremely slow motion. He recoiled in his seat and stammered, "Who... who... who are you? What do you want with me?"

The Elf in red strode forward with a regal bearing before fixing his eyes on the startled young student, "You are the one known as Stephen? Stephen Gentum-Smith?"

Stephen swallowed and trembled in fear before giving a nod.

The two Elves exchanged another look before the one in red cleared his throat, "I am Lord Gwydion of the Summer Court and this is my associate Lord Sigurd of the Winter Court. We are Sidhe knights and representatives of the Court of Stars."

"What?" Stephen squeaked, "What are you talking about? Please... don't kill me."

Sigurd sighed in mild annoyance before shaking his head, "We are not here to do you any harm mortal. The Court of Stars has summoned you and we are here to collect you."

"I don't understand anything you're talking about! What have you done to all the people here?"

Gwydion glanced about calmly, "A minor enchantment so that we can speak to you without anyone here knowing. I assure you, it's really quite harmless."

"To your original point," Sigurd continued, "Perhaps you are aware of the monster attacks that have been plaguing your town and of the magic knights who have risen up to fight them?"
Stephen nodded in silence.

"Those knights have been empowered by the Four Elven Courts of the Faerie Realm which we serve. The Four Courts have formed a separate unified council, the Court of Stars and they wish for you to join the fight as their chosen representative."

Stephen blinked in shock before shaking his head, "I... you must be mistaken. Why me? I'm a nobody... really. I'm not some kind of warrior."

Sigurd growled and reached for his blade, "We have no time for this! Such sniveling cowardice! I'm inclined to believe you that you aren't worthy of this honor the Court is giving you."

Gwydion gently put a hand on his ally's forearm and spoke in a level voice, "Please... stay your hand Lord Sigurd. Threats will not get us anywhere."

Sigurd grudgingly sheathed his sword and glowered at Stephen before Gwydion turned his eyes on the student. "Lord Sigurd is right that time grows short. There is much to discuss so please... come with us. We will take you to the Court and they will explain everything."

Stephen looked around at the frozen people around him and then to the stern expression of the Winter noble. By all accounts, he really didn't have any choice at the moment. Still unsure of what was going on or why he was summoned, Stephen rose from his table and tried to compose himself, "All right... if that's what it's going to take to get to the bottom of this, then so be it."

"A wise choice mortal," Sigurd said while leading the way out of the temporarily enchanted coffeehouse.

The skies remained gray and overcast as a light snow continued to sprinkle down over the valley while the Fomorian general Leanansidhe worked over a large ornate cauldron made of black metal. Sinister sigils and inscriptions lined the pot while a horrible steaming concoction of glowing liquid brewed within in. The sorceress looked up idly to the skies and continued to stir the contents before glancing about her immediate surroundings.

She and a small platoon of spriggan foot soldiers had taken up their post on a small hill within a cemetery located at the far northwest edge of town. The large quiet burial grounds served as a perfect testing ground for the next part of Leanansidhe's sinister plans with the dark magic of the Tenebrous Cauldron. If the myths of the ancient Celts were right, then this was going to be a very fruitful project.

The witch stepped back and raised her hands while speaking a long incantation in ancient Gaelic. As she did, wispy forms of moaning humanoid spirits began to rise from several graves. The spriggans all exchanged uncomfortable looks but Leanansidhe remained unperturbed while she continued her spell and directed the swirling spirits together over the bubbling cauldron. As Leanansidhe's voice became louder and her words grew in force, she whipped her arms and motioned to hurl the first batch of undead spirits into the cauldron.

The Fomorian general gave a devilish smile and looked over the pot before she heard the sound of thundering hooves. She and her spriggan patrol all raised their eyes to see four faerie horses race on to the scene carrying the four Hibernian Knights. Each knight had already donned their armor and quickly dismounted to confront their enemies.

"Well... if it isn't the four hedge knights again. You came just in time to witness my triumph over you."

"That's funny witch. Last I remembered, we had driven you back into the Underworld with your tail between your legs." Noelle called out while drawing her sword.

Laura narrowed her own eyes on the scene before them, "Whatever vile magic you're working on, you'd better stand down and run while you can."

Leanansidhe sniffed with contempt, "Oh, I seriously doubt that Winter Knight. Once my newest warriors and I are through with you, I'm going to turn you into mindless servants of Lord Balor as well and use the powers of the Four Courts against themselves too. Spriggans! Attack!"

The general continued to stir the cauldron and chant while the knights drew their weapons and moved to meet with the foot soldiers. Despite the snowy uneven ground, the four deftly clashed and maneuvered through their opponents skillfully dodging and parrying attacks, while unleashing devastating counter-blows with their own swords. Once they had thinned the enemy ranks, the four regrouped and moved from a defensive fighting style into more aggressive stances.

Leanansidhe watched calmly as the four knights made ready to take her on before she laughed and drew her sword, waving it over the cauldron with a flourish, "Now witness the beginning of the end. Behold the Cauldron-Born!"

A great flash of light and smoke erupted from the large black cauldron and the four knights stopped to flinch in fear and uncertainty at the sudden explosion of magic energies. As the steam began to clear, the four froze and watched in dread as humanoid monsters began emerging from the cauldron. One by one, the moaning groaning beings crawled out of the pot, armed with assorted weapons and chain-mail armor. As they gathered, the knights could see that these warriors had sallow rotting flesh and skeletal features. The zombies continued to pull themselves from the cauldron to replace the entire platoon of fallen spriggans.

"What kind of sick joke is this?" Quinton gulped in growing fear at the unnerving sight of the undead horde.

"Surely you recognize the Sluagh?" Leanansidhe chuckled, "The spirits of the evil restless dead of old. I have merely reanimated them and brought them under the control of Lord Balor. After all, you cannot kill what is already dead."

Connor ignited his sword and leveled it at the general, "I don't know what you're trying to do Leanne, but this isn't right! Stop your spell and call off this zombie apocalypse."

"For the last time, do not call me by that name!" Leanansidhe shrieked in fury before gripping her sword and moving to the head of her undead company, "First I will deal with you four. Then the vanguard of the Cauldron-Born will put the rest of your miserable valley to the torch until it submits to Lord Balor."

"You seem to forget we have plenty of fight left in us," Laura challenged her while flourishing her own icy rapier.

Leanansidhe returned the challenge with a predatory smile and signaled her new minions forward, "I think you and your companions will tire long before my undead cohorts will. Now then... defend yourselves!"

A/N:
The idea of the Tenebrous Cauldron takes some major inspiration from an ancient Celtic myth of the Pair Dadeni, or Cauldron of Rebirth. The ideas here are also a bit of a respectful nod towards the Chronicles of Prydain written by Lloyd Alexander. The books are steeped in ancient Welsh lore and was a classic Fantasy series that I loved to read when I was just a kid. One of the books in the series revolves around a quest for the "Black Cauldron" and it's perhaps my favorite stand alone story. Otherwise, here we go! The Fifth Knight arc has officially begun.