Episode 13: Part 1
A dim light flicked on and the heavy door opened as Eliza McConnel strode into the basement of Noble Hall, one of the oldest buildings on campus. From the other room upstairs, one of her fellow female classmates on the festival committee called down, "There are a couple of boxes filled with decorations down there! I'm sure you'll be able to find it!"
Eliza gave a sigh and began rummaging through some of the boxes in the large dark storage room. It's not that she was afraid, but she preferred to get a move on. The committee chair who was in charge of organizing the St. Patrick's Day Festival for the college had been dragging her feet and everyone was now in a rush to finish decorating, organizing events, and lining up entertainment for the festivities in a few days.
Eliza wanted to be able to enjoy the holiday and partake in the activities. After all, she'd be a pretty lousy Irish-American if she didn't. As she pushed aside a few boxes, she stopped and looked down in the dim light. She saw an old looking stone which was about as large and heavy as a brick. It sported a green gemstone and was covered in old runic markings.
"Whoah... what is this thing?" she asked as she picked it up and examined it. The moment she dusted it off with her hand, she froze in terror as the gem began to glow and the stone itself vibrated. In a flash, Eliza dropped the stone and fell over backward, stumbling and trying to head for the stairwell.
She froze again as she spotted a quick shadowy movement around her followed by a chilling laugh. The laugh was not so much deep and menacing, but rather sounded like that of a squeaky diminutive creature.
"Who... who's there? Who are you?" Eliza called out trying to swallow her fear as she looked around the dim light of the room.
"Ah, a daughter of Erinn, is it?" came the little voice with a malevolent Irish lilting accent, "I promise ye have nuttin' to fear if ye answer me but one simple question... where is it?"
Eliza trembled in fear as she turned to see a small looking midget with reddish hair carrying a little cane while dressed in green. It was so absurd... the being looked just like some sort of leprechaun, except for it's sharp demonic looking features. His eyes glowed and his face contorted into a cruel but mischievous smirk.
"What are you? What are you talking about?" Eliza asked as she recoiled away.
The sinister leprechaun stepped forward slowly and made a tsk tsk sound, "Playin' games now are we? Not a smart thing to do lass. I gave you a chance but since you were the one who freed me, I'll let you off easy. Just hope I won't have to get nasty with anyone else now."
The creature raised his little cane and a jet of green light erupted from the end, blinding Eliza before she could even scream for help.
Across the campus at their usual hangout, the five knights stood around a table in O'Doyle's Pub tossing ping pong balls at plastic cups lining the opposite ends of the table. At one end of the table, Connor and Noelle gave a cheer and exchanged a high five as he sunk another ball in the cup of the opposing team winning the second game. At the opposite end of the table, Laura sighed as Quinton removed the last cup with a groan, "Geez, it's a good thing this is just practice with soda pop right now. If we were playing beer-pong for real, I'd probably be drunk right now."
"Maybe you've just got a lousy teammate," Noelle laughed poking fun at her fellow female knight. "And maybe she'd be more help if she actually drank beer."
The Winter Knight crossed her arms, "Honestly, I have no idea why you all insist on playing this silly game... especially considering the point is getting inebriated. Besides, beer is gross and all of us are still technically underage."
"Oh relax Laura, this is college and all in good fun," Connor said with a wink, "Once we're done with the school sponsored St. Patty's Day events, it'll be fine when we go to that house party Eliza invited us to. We'll just play a little beer-pong, relax, and hang out. As long as none of us puke on the floor or do anything stupid to get the cops called, then it'll be okay."
Stephen, Laura's fellow freshman stood off to the side. He had been spectating before giving a shrug, "Well, I'm with Laura on this one. I think it's all kinda stupid too."
Noelle gave him a gentle poke in the shoulder, "Come on Stephen, lighten up. This will be a good chance for you to socialize with more people at school. It's gonna be fun. Where's your holiday spirit?"
Noelle's right," Connor said with a cheerful smile, "I'll be honest. St. Patty's Day is actually one of my favorite holidays. There's lots of great stuff like corned beef, potatoes, parades, great music and dancing. It just makes you proud to be Irish."
Laura gave a haughty laugh while teasing back gently, "Ah yes… proud to be drunk and disorderly hooligans that refuse to be like the rest of us civilized British people."
Connor rolled his eyes at the jab while Noelle egged the Spring Knight on, "Come on Quinton, the game's over but you've still got one last shot."
Quinton narrowed his eyes and tossed his ping pong ball but it rolled along the rim of the cup and bounced out. Stephen shrugged his shoulders and clapped his comrade on the arm, "Sorry Quinton, looks like a bit of bad luck today."
"Oh don't be silly," Quinton said while waving it off, "I don't believe in jinxes or bad luck."
"Well, maybe take this just in case," Connor laughed as he walked over to the bar counter and handed his roommate a drink coaster shaped like a four leaf clover.
"Ha ha. Very funny," Quinton sighed as he gently elbowed the Summer Knight in the ribs.
The banter of the five friends was cut short as they saw Eliza enter the pub in a bit of a panic. She looked around and hurried over to the knights when she spotted them.
"Hey Eliza… what's up? Is everything okay?" Noelle asked.
Eliza shook her head and grabbed Quinton's sleeves before gesturing to her throat and trying to speak, except she couldn't. She struggled several times to try speaking before taking the clover coaster and pantomiming a little jig while indicating something small.
"Eliza… what's wrong? Did something weird happen?" Connor asked in growing concern for his friend.
"Maybe she just started celebrating early with a couple shots of whiskey?" Laura sniggered.
Eliza frowned and smacked Laura on the forehead with the coaster before fumbling for a pen and napkin at the bar counter. Everyone watched as she scribbled several words on the napkin and showed it to them. The words read, "Help! Evil leprechaun loose. Cursing campus. No joke!"
"Wait, some new monster cursed you and turned you mute?" Laura asked in shock.
Eliza nodded and scribbled a few more words, "Can't sing or perform either."
The others looked to one another with uncertainty as the pub owner Mr. O'Doyle stopped cleaning some glasses nearby. The older Druid pulled Connor aside to whisper a few things in his ear before getting back to work. Connor nodded and hurried over to his friends, "Everyone… we've got to get going, and uh… run an errand for Mr. O'Doyle. Eliza, you stay here. We'll be back to help you as soon as possible. We promise."
Eliza could only plop down on a barstool and give a worried look as she saw her other friends hurry off and leave the pub. If they weren't careful, they might get cursed by that same horrible little creature. She could only hope that they wouldn't suffer the same fate, or worse.
From atop the steeple roof of the town's small colonial style courthouse, the leprechaun that Eliza had freed cackled in sadistic glee as he watched the civilians below flee in panic. With the wave of his magic stick, he had animated a mailbox to attack people on the street while he cursed a few other civilians into acting like barnyard animals. "Ah what fools these mortals be. Tis the price ye pay for testin' me patience."
As he lazed about the rooftop watching the mayhem, the malicious faerie felt a gust of wind and stopped as a bright silver arrow whizzed by, just missing him. The little creature frowned and peered down to see five armored knights swiftly arrive armed with fey weapons while riding faerie horses.
"There he is!" Laura shouted as she pointed up above, "Who are you? Get down from there!"
The leprechaun grinned and the moment the five knights blinked, the little faerie man dressed in green was standing on the sidewalk at the steps of the courthouse. He leaned on his cane and gave a grin while tipping his hat, "Tuathan Knights… top o the mornin, lords and ladies. Tis a while since I've seen the likes of you."
"No way… Stephen said as he fumbled to ready another arrow shot from his silver bow, "Is that really a leprechaun?"
"Plain as daylight young master," the creature said as he idly pulled out a smoking pipe from his pocket, "The name is Patches McGillicutty. Now... out of respect for the Four Courts, I'm not intending to cause ye any personal trouble or start any quarrels."
Quinton frowned and shook his head, "You could have fooled us. Why are you terrorizing these innocent people?"
"Innocent?" the leprechaun exclaimed indignantly, "I'm just trying to take back what I'm due. Tis the townsfolk… the thieves and liars who are standin' in me way of what I'm lookin' for. I'm a fair and sportin' sort so I give ye the benefit of a warnin'. You knights stay outta me way. I'm not to be trifled with."
"Is that so?" Quinton answered with a streak of rising defiance, "Because I just so happen to be feeling pretty lucky today."
The leprechaun snorted in amusement as he leveled his cane on the Spring Knight, "Ah, but ye just made a big mistake there bucko. Let's see if you can put yer money where yer mouth is."
Before Quinton could move, the leprechaun fired a green bolt of energy at him that seemed to harmlessly dissipate into a puff when it struck the Spring Knight's armor. Everyone stopped a moment in confusion before the leprechaun gave a mischievous wave and blew a large thick cloud of magical smoke from his pipe. The five knights sputtered and coughed in the blinding fog until Noelle blew it away with a small burst of elemental wind energy.
"Damn! He got away," Stephen grumbled as he looked around and spied several of the cursed townsfolk still acting like farm animals. "What do think that was all about?"
Connor shrugged, "No idea. We should try to get some help for these people, but Quinton... are you feeling okay?"
The Spring Knight nodded, "Yeah. I feel fine. Whatever that Patches McGillicutty creep shot from his cane didn't hurt me a bit. I guess that was pretty lucky, huh?"
Quinton began to step forward but he tripped on an uneven bend in the pavement and fell face first to the ground. Noelle shook her head and helped him up, "If you say so. I think we should go see Kristen about this if we want to try and help the cursed townspeople and Eliza too."
Later that afternoon, everyone met back at Kristen's antique shop just as she closed her business for the day. After relating the story to her, the young Druid thought it over while she continued to decorate the interior of her shop with festive green bunting on the walls and some shamrocks hanging from the ceiling. "Patches McGillicutty... can't say I've ever heard of him."
"Well whoever he was, he was bad news," Stephen insisted, "He honestly looked like some kind of demonic leprechaun straight out of that old cheesy horror film."
"I do find it a bit odd and troubling," Kristen admitted while she worked, "I can't say I've come across many leprechauns during my apprentice days, but for the most part they tend to be pretty benign, and mischievous at the very worst. They're Spring Court faeries and it's very rare for them to act maliciously."
"Well this guy seemed like he meant business," Noelle insisted, "I don't think he was working with Balor and the Fomorians, but he seemed pretty hell bent on finding something because he told us not to get in the way. What do you think he had lost to make him act so crazy?"
"Maybe somebody stole his Lucky Charms?" Connor quipped while earning a puzzled look from the Winter Knight.
Stephen put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, "Never mind. I'll explain the joke later."
Connor continued, "The thing I'm a little more concerned about is what exactly Hornswoggle did to Quinton, or maybe what he tried to do."
At that moment, Quinton walked in with some fresh hot tea and cookies, setting it down on the counter. The Spring Knight rolled his eyes and sighed, "Will you relax? I told you nothing happened. I feel fine and everything is great."
As Quinton reached for a cookie from the tray, he stopped as the little gargoyle Yum-Yum suddenly popped up from behind the counter and snatched his snack away. Quinton gave a reproving frown to the little creature making Yum-Yum retreat before he poured some tea in a cup.
"Like I said... everything is fine," Quinton insisted but he stopped abruptly as the cup broke away from the handle and fell to the floor. As the cup shattered, the hot tea spilled all over Quinton's shoes making him jump in pain then worry about his sneakers getting ruined.
"Are you sure about that?" Laura asked while skeptically crossing her arms, "I'd almost say that leprechaun might have jinxed you with some kind of bad luck spell."
"Will you guys stop being crazy? There is no such thing as bad luck!" Quinton insisted as he firmly put his hand on the counter. To his shock, he accidentally hit a teaspoon he had set out and it went flying across the room. The spinning teaspoon glanced off a nearby vase and caused it to tip off its display. Everyone watched in horror as the vase wobbled precariously before the shop's other little pet gargoyle Scratch leapt up and caught the vase before it could fall.
No sooner had they breathed sighs of relief was when they all turned and looked directly at Quinton wearing frowns. The Spring Knight sheepishly cringed and tried to wave it off, "Now that was just an accident. It could've happened to anybody."
Kristen shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Okay... I'm going to give Mr. O'Doyle a call. He's the elder Druid around here so he might know what's going on. In the mean time, I want the rest of you to be on the lookout for that leprechaun, and Quinton?
He looked up in surprise and met his mentor's scrutiny, "Please just try not to kill anybody before then, okay?"
That evening, the leprechaun named Patches camped out in the cold dark forests just outside the limits of Somerset Valley. Like most other fey, he didn't care much for the modern technology and industrial creations of the mortals one bit so he decided to stay closer to the trees and the feel of soil beneath him.
In the darkness of the evening, he poked at his little campfire before he looked up to the nearby trees and noticed the black raven that had been following him for the better part of the day now. He rose from his campfire and idly took a drag on his pipe before speaking, "Ye best shove off ye big black buzzard. Ye think I haven't noticed the way ye've been followin' me about the town? I'd almost think ye were spyin' on me."
"That's because he was," came the voice of the Fomorian sorceress Leanansidhe as she stepped out of the shadows and calmly approached the little campsite. She extended a hand and Lord Balor's pet messenger raven fluttered down from the tree before resting on her forearm.
"Well, what have we here? Hello pretty lassie," Patches grinned. "And who might you be?"
Leanansidhe kept her cool composure and maintained an imperious air of aloofness and subtle disdain, "I am Lady Leanansidhe, servant of the Warlord Balor and a general of the Fomorian Host."
"My my my..." Patches mused, "Tuathan Knights and now Lord Balor. It seems I've drawn all the finest crowds today."
Leanansidhe kept her neutral expression, "Lord Balor has learned you got free and wanted me to contact you. He says he can help you find what you're looking for here."
Patches eyed her suspiciously, "Lord Balor really knows where me gold is?"
"Aye. That he does," Leanansidhe smiled, "He wanted me to tell you that the people of the town have it and that they will only lie to you if you keep asking. The only way to make them give it up is if you keep up your attack."
"And what's in it for old Balor, eh?" Patches asked, "He's a bit of a grouchy old cuss and I doubt he'd be willing to help me out of the kindness of his black heart."
Leanansidhe shook her head, "There is no trick Master McGillicutty. It seems both you and he have a mutual enemy, the people of that town and the knights who defend them. If you were to cause more chaos and destruction, or perhaps even eliminate the knights... then everybody wins. You will get your gold and Balor will have his enemies destroyed."
Patches gave a snort and sat back down by his campfire, "Then so be it Faerie Lady. Now begone so I can get me shuteye. I've got a lot more trouble to cause once tomorrow rolls around again."
Leanansidhe rolled her eyes patiently before giving a gracious nod and withdrawing back into the shadows to report to her lord. After the trouble the knights had been causing, it would be rather refreshing for them to finally be on the defensive for a change.