Episode 17: Part 1

Deep in the dark desolate caverns of the Underworld, the one eyed king of the Fomorian Host made his way toward the reflecting waters of a dark underground spring. As he made his way toward the pool, he saw several spriggans along with Leanansidhe waiting patiently for him. The warlord stepped before the pond and eyed the waters before turning to his general, "Why have you called me here? What is so important that it requires my immediate attention?"

Leanansidhe cleared her throat and held a torch over the dark pond, "One of your warriors, a captain in one of the companies has gone rogue. He's taken a small band of Fomorians with him and now means to contact you via the pool."

Balor clenched his fists furiously, "Who dares to desert from my war host? I swear, I'll have that traitor's bloody skull mounted on a pike!"

"There's no need for that my lord," came a voice from the pool as an image appeared and magic contact was made. "When you hear what I have to report, you may very well do the exact opposite."

Balor looked down into the torch lit waters and saw the face of one of his best warriors. The Fomorian was a pale skinned faerie who had the surprising appearance of an Elf. The handsome warrior with long pale gold hair and fair features smiled back and tipped the end of the dark blood red cap that he wore on his head.

"Seamus Killarny... this is a surprise," the warlord snorted in derision. Give me one reason I shouldn't tear you apart and feed your entrails to my hounds."

The red capped fey known as Seamus calmly smiled again, "My lord, seeing as how your current general Lady Leanansidhe has been ineffective of late, I've decided to take matters into my own hands... to take personal initiative if you will."

Leanansidhe snarled quietly at the insult, "You've been acting without orders. What have you done Seamus?"

Seamus reached down and brought a magnificent jewel encrusted harp made of gold into view, "My band of warriors and I have raided the territory of Spring in the Faerie Realm and we've recaptured this ancient artifact."

Balor froze and his good eye went very wide for a moment, "I can't believe it... the Harp of Daghda!"

Seamus grinned, "Indeed my lord. We stole it from the museum vault that it was being kept in and now we intend to use it."

"And what do you plan to do? Lead a revolution against me?" Balor snorted in contempt.

Seamus waved it off, "Perish the thought Lord Balor. No. I wanted to give this gift over to you. To prove my worth and to request a promotion to the rank of general."

Balor stopped to consider the offer for a moment. As much as he hated to admit it, that had been an impressive feat. Capturing the legendary Harp of Daghda from the Spring Court could not have been an easy task. As he remained silent and pondered the situation, Leanansidhe turned to him in outrage, "Lord Balor, you can't seriously be considering his request... are you?"

Balor finally crossed his arms and gave the hint of an amused smile, "Very well Seamus. I will consider your offer, but first I want you to give a little demonstration of the harp's power so that I know it's authentic and that you aren't trying to deceive me. I want you to go and take your harp into battle. There you will test it against the defenders of Somerset Valley. When I am satisfied, we can talk about your new position."

"I'm glad we could come to a mutual understanding my lord. I will do so at once," Seamus replied with a gracious bow before ending the spell and cutting off contact. When the image faded, Balor nodded in satisfaction and turned to depart that cavern. While he walked, Leanansidhe hurried beside him with a troubled look.

"Lord Balor. I urge you to reconsider. Please tell me you aren't actually going to humor Seamus."

Balor snorted and continued to walk along, "You aren't fearing some competition for your authority, are you?"

Leanansidhe frowned, "I'm referring to that redcap's nature. We can't trust him. He's treacherous, wild, and most of all bloodthirsty. He's killed countless people for sheer sport."

Balor laughed again and waved it off while he passed the sorceress, "That may be true, but his ruthlessness and daring has proven effective. If we hope to defeat those knights, we're going to need the services of someone like him along with the possible powers of that magic harp."

Leanansidhe gave a deflated huff and remained silent while watching her master head off into the gloom of the tunnels ahead. She could only hope that Balor would not wind up regretting that decision.

Bright warm sunlight lit up the college campus of Somerset Valley University. By now the Spring flowers were in full bloom and the grass was a vibrant green again. A hint of those fragrances hung in the air and tickled the nose of Noelle Moreau as she made her way back to her dormitory from the gym one Saturday morning. She carried a small gym bag containing an extra change of clothes from her martial arts lessons which she had taken up earlier in the year. She had begun taking the hobby up when she was a senior in high school and chose to continue doing it into college. She was glad that she did, especially now that she had taken on the extra part-time job of fighting off various supernatural threats to her hometown.

Noelle continued on her way down one of the walkways until she stopped in surprise. Just up ahead, she spotted her Druid mentor Kristen Bloom on the front yard of one of the Science buildings. The normally professional looking young woman was dressed down to a plain green t-shirt and faded blue jeans with her long dark brown hair tied up messily. As Noelle approached, she saw Kristen was busy planting flowers in the dirt and trimming some of the shrubbery.

"Hey Kristen! What are you doing out here today?" the Autumn Knight asked curiously.

The Druid turned and gave a smile as she wiped some sweat and grime from her brow, "Noelle! Hi! I'm just doing a little volunteer work for fun today. Around this time of year, the university is always looking for some extra help in maintaining the grounds and doing beautification projects so I always pitch in."

"Wow. You actually think doing volunteer yard work is fun?" Noelle asked in amusement as she sat down on the building's stone steps nearby.

Kristen pulled off her work gloves and shrugged, "Ever since I was a little girl, I'd always help my mom do work in the garden. I guess it's just in the blood."

"You usually look so put together and professional with your business and all, "Noelle laughed gently, "I guess I never really pegged you as the gardening type."

Kristen smiled and picked up a small garden spade before giving Noelle a wink, "I'm a Druid remember? We're all about helping things grow and flower... including young knights."

Before Noelle could reply, she heard her name called from across the lawn and looked up to see the familiar face of her schoolmate Eliza McConnel hurry over. The young dark haired woman gave a friendly wave and smile as she approached. "Hey Noelle! I was just passing through and thought I saw you across the way. If you were headed back home, did you wanna grab some lunch together?"

"Sure Eliza. That sounds great," Noelle answered as she gave a wave goodbye to Kristen and began to continue on her way home.

The two girls walked along the parkways of the campus and began to chat. As they passed another lecture hall, Eliza gave a wave to one of her fellow music students who was sitting out on the front steps enjoying the day and idly strumming his guitar. Turning back to Noelle, Eliza gave a thoughtful look, "It's really cool that you're still doing martial arts and learning a bunch of new moves in your class. I'm kinda doing the same thing right now too."

"They teach you how to punch people out in your music lessons?" Noelle teased gently.

"I'm afraid not," Eliza chuckled, "Actually I meant I'm experimenting with some new sounds and trying to learn some new instruments. Right now, I was playing around with an old harp the music department had lying around in storage."

Noelle grinned, "That's kind of a surprise. I'm so used to seeing you play either lively Irish folk music or modern rock tunes on your guitar."

Eliza laughed, "To be fair, I also find it hard to believe that sweet and mild mannered Noelle knows several ways to put someone in the hospital if they try to throw a punch at you."

The two girls laughed again as the Autumn Knight shrugged, "Well... you've got me there. I..."

She was cut off as she heard the panicked shouts of students. They weren't very far from their dorm but the calamity sounded like it was coming in the opposite direction where a small meadow lay at the edge of a forest preserve. Students often liked to use the area for pickup games of football, frisbee, or soccer but today, it seemed a different activity was being had.

"Come on Noelle! It might be a monster attack. We should make a run for it!" Eliza called tugging the Autumn Knight's arm. Noelle grimaced and tried to think of a way to get rid of Eliza and respond to the trouble. If the other knights were on the way, they might need her help. Noelle shook her head and gave Eliza a small push toward the direction of the dorm.

"Get going Eliza. I'll catch up. There might be people who are hurt and need help escaping."

Eliza blinked in confusion, "But what about your safety?"

"I can take care of myself remember? Get going!" Noelle called before taking off in the direction of trouble.

Eliza began to run in the opposite direction and after a short sprint, she stopped and shook her head. This wasn't right. Noelle was still a friend and she couldn't leave her to face danger alone. If a normally shy and soft spoken girl like Noelle could be brave in the face of danger, then so could she. Eliza turned on her heel and began to run back toward the direction of danger in hopes she could assist her friend.

Meanwhile, the last of the students cleared the field running in terror as the fey man named Seamus strutted about the field. The Elven man wearing a blood red hat and cape calmly walked along carrying the magic gold harp under arm until he reached a soccer ball that was left behind. He smirked and stomped down hard on it, instantly crushing the ball.

At that very moment, he felt a gust of wind and looked up to see the five Hibernian Knights enter the battlefield and dismount their magic faerie horses. The knights had already donned their armor and drew their weapons as they approached in a line formation toward him. "Ah... well, if it isn't the famed Tuathan knights of Somerset Valley. Lord Balor says you've got quite a growing reputation and I've been wanting to meet you in person."

"Stow it Fomorian. Who are you and what do you want?" Connor answered while leveling his sword.

Seamus rolled his eyes and laconically raised the harp to playing position, "The same is Seamus Killarny, a captain in the Fomorian Host. I came to see if you five were really as strong as I've heard."

"Is he really a Fomorian?" Quinton asked in quiet suspicion, "He looks more like a primped Elf."

Noelle leveled her own sword and stepped forward, "We'll find out. Okay Seamus! We're here. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"

"We'll just see about that knight," Seamus cackled in glee while he strummed the harp and unleashed a sonic burst across the battlefield causing the five humans to stagger and clutch their ears in pain.

"What's wrong? Didn't like that song, eh?" Seamus grinned with mock sympathy, "Let's try something else shall we?"

The fey man in red garb made another dramatic gesture and began to strum the harp again, only this time it played a beautiful tune. The music was a mournful and melancholic elegy which seemed to grip each knight by the heart and weaken their resolve. No matter how much they wanted to charge forward and fight the Fomorian, all they could think about was how sad the song made them.

"What is going on here?" Quinton asked as he felt tears begin to fall down the sides of his cheeks while he struggled to maintain composure.

"The harp... it must be enchanted," Laura sniffled before she dropped her sword and collapsed to her knees. This wasn't like her at all. To show so much open emotion, especially one of weakness... it was humiliating. The Winter Knight tried to wipe her eyes but as she turned and saw Noelle beginning to break down and weep nearby, she couldn't help but start sobbing too.

"You're absolutely right my dear," Seamus laughed as he continued to play and dance lightly around the incapacitated knights while they broke down in sorrow, "This is the Harp of the legendary Daghda, the greatest of the Irish gods. With it is the power to stir and bend the very hearts of all beings."

"Stop it," Connor tried to protest between his own sobs as he fell limply to his knees, "We won't let you get away with this."

Seamus ambled over to him and grinned in his face, "Consider yourself lucky Summer Knight. I'm here to test this harp and prove to Lord Balor that I can defeat you five. If I wasn't under orders, I would just kill you all myself right now."

"Too bad for you, huh?" Stephen sniffled while he shook his head trying to fight against the waves of sorrow which wracked him too. "You'd need all the help you can get. You're pretty scrawny looking."

Seamus laughed and shook his own head, "You haven't seen my true form Sir Knight, but I guarantee that you will in time. I will humiliate you five today, and next time we meet... I'll take your hearts and your rings as my trophies."

With that, he gave one more strum to release another powerful sonic blast which swept over the five knights. The five crumpled and collapsed to the ground in a stunned heap as Seamus walked away laughing. As he departed into the forest preserve, he began to play a happier tune to celebrate his little victory.

Just as the battle concluded, Eliza ran on to the scene and spotted the five armored knights laying half-conscious in the dirt. Before she could move to help them, her ears perked up at the sound of the harp music. For a music student like her, it was so enchanting and blissful that she unconsciously began to follow it. She just had to know where that music was coming from. Eliza continued on and headed into the edge of the nearby woods in a half dazed trance until she spotted a pack of spriggans along with a pale man wearing a red cape and hat with a feather in it. The male in red carried a magnificent harp in his hand and stopped playing it when he regrouped with his remaining troops. Eliza took cover in some bushes and shook off the effects of the musical trance but kept a close watch on the strange monsters who gathered.

"The second job is complete. Well done!" Seamus said to his soldiers as he pulled on a nearby tree branch and opened what looked to be a glowing portal in a nearby oak tree. "Once Lord Balor comes to reward us, we'll finish the job of leveling this town, starting with those pathetic knights."

Eliza held her breath and watched as the monsters all walked through the portal and disappear. Once the portal closed behind them, she exhaled and tried to steady her heart and her breathing. For a while she had known a supernatural battle had been raging and her town was caught in the middle of it all, but now she was directly involved. She had seen something strange and she needed to get help... or to tell someone.

Eliza backtracked down the wooded path and sprinted until she reached the field where the knights had been laying. To her surprise, they had partially recovered and rose to their feet. Once they had steadied themselves and regrouped from the effects of the harp, they dispelled their armor, only to turn in shock at the sight of their classmate who now emerged from the tree line.

Eliza gave a shocked gasp and covered her mouth as she saw the alarmed faces of Connor, Noelle, and Quinton along with their two younger friends Laura and Stephen. Was this for real? Could it be true that her friends and fellow classmates were the ones who were constantly putting their necks on the line to save the town.

Noelle was the first to step forward and make a calming gesture with her hand, "Eliza? Easy does it. Don't freak out, okay?"

Before anyone else could respond, they watched in dismay as Eliza McConnel put her hands to her head to fight the sudden headrush. The girl collapsed to her knees from the shock of everything that was going on and tried to steady her breathing again.

"Damn it," Connor mumbled as he hurried over to help steady his friend while the others followed right behind. After having been outdone by a powerful new foe with a strange unknown weapon, the last thing the knights needed now was for their identities to be blown by one of their friends on campus. This day had just gone from bad to worse.