Chapter 11
Wednesday, May 6th
"A part of Dublin has just disappeared!" Jericho Zigor Barrons declared. The other eight Draghar looked up when he said that. They were all startled by his words. A feeling of dread began to fill them all.
"What do you mean, Zigor! Explain." Lor said.
"The buildings are there but the people are gone. The Bridge District has become a Dark Zone. Something happened there; it looks like some sort of post apocalypse world. Ten square blocks of empty buildings are without a living thing, no animals, no birds, not even worms or other organisms in the soil."
"There is no electricity, and the street lamps have all been broken. No lights of any kind glow at night; it is completely dark. Doors to residences and stores have been left opened. Food has been left untouched on the tables. Abandoned cars are parked along the curbs, some in the middle of the streets, and some at intersections. Many have been left with their doors wide open. The sidewalks and car seats are piled high with garments. Keys are left in the ignition or on the ground beside the vehicles. The streets and are filled with these papery things, that look like dried out husks, floating around."
"In the daytime, unnatural shadows move and slither about like dark shades. These shadows can't seem to tolerate any amount of light. I turned my torch on one, and it shrank back as if it felt pain. It was definitely alive. They move fast like Fae; I saw one of those things chase down and consume a large rat in seconds. When it was done, nothing was left of the rat except a papery husk. The Bridge District has the stink of Unseelie Fae magic about it." Zigor grimaced and shuddered in disgust.
"The really strange thing is that the Bridge District no longer shows up on printed city maps, and unfortunately the Dark Zones are starting to appear elsewhere in Dublin. Cell phones apparently don't work in them; there seem to be no working towers in them anymore. My contacts at the Garda have confirmed that there has been a huge increase in the number missing people from that district in the last three weeks. They have been inundated with missing person reports. They have investigated and some of the Garda have gone missing too. The top brass don't know what to make of it."
"You would think that the media would notice that hundreds of people in one goddamned neighborhood have disappeared off the face of this earth, but there hasn't been a so much a peep. Why?"
"We need to find out what is happening, and what it means. We may have another war on our hands, but if it is Unseelie doing this, then I am sure the king is involved. The Seelie may be involved in this too. This time, I am not sure we will survive, my friends. We must find a way to stop this." Zigor angrily slammed his fist down on the table.
Jericho Zigor Barrons had called the other eight Zaghar warriors to a meeting at Chester's. The tall, dark men met upstairs in a room next to Ryodan's office. They were discussing several of the latest Fae sitings and other strange events that happened in Dublin in recent weeks. All Draghar had seen both Seelie and Unseelie Fae many times during the last few thousand years, but never in great numbers. The shades, the disappearing neighborhoods and people though was a different matter entirely. They could not recall that ever happening before.
"More and more Unseelie are showing up in the city working in menial jobs and as body guards. We have all seen O'Bannion's body guards, and now Malluce, that freak that calls himself a vampire, also has Unseelie working for him." Another warrior named Zahn added. These Unseelie abominations would be named "Rhino" boys by MacKayla Lane more than a year later, but there was no way for the Zaghar warriors to know that now.
"If Seelie are involved in this, it is bad, but if it is Unseelie, that can only mean that they are somehow escaping from Aiobheal's prison. What has happened to the walls between Faery and Earth? What has happened to her prison walls. I know they have been weakened in the last few decades, but I did not think it was this bad." Angus said.
"There have been reports of both a Gray Man and a Gray woman being seen in the city several times. It is possible that there is more than one of each. They suck the beauty, and the very life out of humans, yet we have not heard anything about them in the media either. Perhaps the Garda does not want to start a panic, but it is hard to believe the media would go along with that. I agree, it is very strange that the media are silent on this." A warrior named Tegner declared.
"To make matters worse, Prince V-Lane told me last night, that he suspects someone is bringing Unseelie through a portal to earth." Barrons said. "He thinks it is Darroc. I have also seen Darroc, but not for some months."
"That filthy Fae creature, V-Lane, is here in Dublin? Where? What did he want, Zigor?" Ryodan demanded.
"Darroc! I thought the Fae Queen, Aiobheal, killed him for his treason." Another deep voice shouted at the same time.
The room erupted in a din of angry outbursts.
"You should have kill them both, immediately; did you, Zigor?" Yet another deep voice growled.
"No, Aiobheal only took away Darroc's Fae powers. He is mortal now. Like V-Lane, he wants to join forces with us to search for the Sinsar Dubh. V-Lane does not know that I have seen Darroc. They both know that we are searching for the book, and they may even know why, but they are not working together. Each wants the book for himself for the power it will give him. I did not kill either of them because I believe that one or both will lead us to other Unseelie Hallows, or to the book itself. It is imperative that we get to it before either one of them does." Barrons responded with his own growl.
For a few more minutes, the room echoed with the angry curses of the Draghar warriors who all had more than enough reason to hate V-Lane, Darroc and the Fae.
V-Lane, one of the most powerful of the noble Seelie princes, had invented the Wild Hunt to amuse his queen and the other Seelie casts. Hunting human women, especially sidhe seers, to rape and leave them addicted to sex amused the bored, corrupt Fae as no other debauchery before had done. He claimed that he wanted the Sinsar Dubh for Aiobheal who would use it to strengthen the walls between Earth and Faery. Barrons knew better. He suspected that V-Lane wanted the book to usurp the queen's power for his own much like the Unseelie King had done thousands of years ago.
Darroc was not a prince, but he was an old and powerful nobleman of the highest Seelie caste. He held humans in even more contempt than the younger V-Lane. Darroc had long sought to persuade Aiobheal to bring back the old ways where Fae were considered gods and lowly humans, their slaves. Darroc was filled with anger and a need for vengeance because his wishes were ignored. Some say he plotted to overthrow Aiobheal and take her place. Barrons wondered if he had made a bargain with the Unseelie King who also searched for his ancient book of magic, the Sinsar Dubh.
"Zahn, Tegnor, I want you both to search the Bridge District from top to bottom; you must leave no stone unturned. If the shades are Unseelie, you need not fear them. They will be afraid of Zaghar. Try to determine how to kill those things,if possible. Report to me what you have found out no later than Friday." Zigor, their leader, ordered. The two men nodded and rose.
Before the meeting broke up, Tegan stood to make an announcement. "You have all been invited to my wedding with Bridget McDonald on Sunday night. I hope you will all be there." The other eight men nodded.
"We have another reason to celebrate. I want to announce to all of you tonight that my Bridget is pregnant. She carries my son in her womb." Joy and amazement shown on the big man's face.
The other eight Draghar sat in stunned silence for a moment then erupted in a mighty roar of joy. They cheered, clapped and stamped their hands and feet so hard the building shook. The curse that plagued them for over two thousand years had finally been broken. No human female had conceived a Draghar warrior's child since Zayida, and the other wives and children were slaughtered. By the Unseelie King.
The news that Tegan had just given them was priceless beyond measure. They all knew that if it happened to Tegan, it could happen to them too. These men wanted more than anything to have their murdered wives and children back, but if they failed, they wanted new families.
For two thousand years, most of these nine men wondered if fate had made them sterile as punishment for not saving their women and families, but the curse was now apparently lifted. Before Tegan and Ryodan left to join Bridget and Leni at Marty's, Tegan's huge body was sore from all the back slapping he received from his fellow warriors.
"Ry, I won't be bringing Bridget to Chester's for a while. The cigarette smoke here is no good for her or the baby. I hope you understand." Tegan told his friend. Chester's was one of the only places that smoking was allowed. It was considered a crime, but the cops didn't even try to stop it; they knew better.
Friday night, Leni sat with Bridget in the back of Marty's Pub. Her Uncle Martin's pub was more typical of what a neighborhood bar should be. During this visit to Dublin, Leni spent some time almost every evening there. It was a place that made her feel very welcome and comfortable.
The pub was large and decorated well with lots of wood and crystal. A big, oval shaped, wooden bar was the focal point of the main room on the first floor. Two smaller rooms upstairs were used for private affairs. All the rooms were filled with tall plants. Gas burning logs replaced the wooden ones in an old fireplace against the back wall. The booths were tall and private, the seats cushioned and soft. The tables were wooden with comfortable chairs. Nice drapery covered the windows. A small stage and dance floor were in the back.
Although it was a tourist destination, the clientele was friendly. They were everyday normal people. It was the sort of a place that a man could bring his wife, or a date, for a drink or a meal and not feel uncomfortable. The atmosphere was homey and neighborly. Marty's Pub and Chester's were polar opposites. Leni felt much more at home here.
It was near midnight and earlier Leni, Bridget and Sean had performed a few songs with the band. She was tired; the week had been busy and both women felt they needed to relax Tomorrow night there was rehearsal and a rehearsal dinner scheduled. They still had a couple of things to wrap up before the wedding on Sunday.
Leni was debating whether or not to talk to her cousin about Ryodan; she had not told her how far things had gone with him. That was not surprising; like Bridget, Leni was superstitious; she believed if she talked too soon about her feelings for the big man too soon, something bad would happen. Even though Ryodan met them a couple of times at Marty's; the two of them were cool and circumspect. Leni asked him to keep their relationship under wraps.
That was all right with him; he told her t that what was happening between him and Leni was no one else's business. Besides, next Monday, Leni was leaving Dublin for home. Ryodan had not expressed any desire to continue their relationship. Although, Leni wanted that more than anything, she would not play the role of a clinging woman. She reconciled herself to the fact that they would soon be over. She did not want Ryodan to know how deeply her feelings were involved.
The last seven days had been full ones. Days were spent with Bridget shopping, seeing the caterer, the florist, the band and preparing for the wedding. The early part of every night was spent with Bridget and her girl friends at one bridal shower or another, Bridget was very popular among her circle of friends and at work. Leni made sure she was home by midnight. After midnight, Ryodan picked Leni up, and the two spent time together at a restaurant or another pub or night club for a couple of hours. He even took her bowling one night.
They ended up either in Ryodan's big bed or her smaller one at the gatehouse. Their lovemaking was vigorous, intense and deeply satisfying. It was hard for Ryodan to believe how Leni made him feel when they made love; she was simply incredible. Every night, he slept for hours curled around her small body; his body sated and his mind and heart content. They stayed together that way until way after dawn.
With other women, Ryodan did not like to be touched after sex. He didn't like to cuddle or exchange meaningless endearments. Usually he made excuses to leave or sent them home almost immediately after, but that did not happen with Leni.
She didn't try to pressure him for more than what he was willing to give. Except for that first time, she didn't say she loved him. He had used his Draghar magic to slip inside her mind that night; he knew that at the time, she wasn't even aware of what she said, and she never said it again.
She didn't nag him to tell her that he loved her. She didn't beg him for a commitment. She didn't demand to know if he thought she was the best sex he ever had, like the others did. She didn't harp on him to know where their relationship was going. She was open, playful, giving and unrestrained in her lovemaking. She was refreshingly different from any women he had ever known.
He loved to hold her small body lying full length on top of his while they talked. He wanted to know everything about her life. He wanted to know about her grandmother and Bridget and Sean, and even about Philip. He wanted to know her every like and dislike. He told her a little about himself, but of course, he did not tell her what he was. Still, he never talked so much to one woman.
He loved to straddle her and kneel back on his haunches taking care not to crush her as explored every inch of her soft silky skin with his big hands and fingers. He found every erogenous zone on her body. He learned where she was ticklish, where she liked to be massaged and caressed. He learned where she did not like to be touched at all.
Most of all he craved the feel of her soft warm hands on him as she explored every part of his body in return. It just made him feel happy and content to touch her, or to have her touch him. He soon realized that any tension and strain he had disappeared whenever she was near.
Leni was captivated by the big man who was now her lover. She always wanted the lights on so that she could see every part of him. She adored his body; she loved to close her eyes and slowly run her hands all over him trying to memorize every inch of him, including his strong hands and feet. She loved to trace the every feature of his face with her finger tips. She learned the definition of the muscles in his arms, chest, back, legs and abdomen. She played with his broad, sexy, hairless chest. She was intrigued by it and asked him if he shaved it; he laughed and said no.
She massaged his scalp with her strong finger until he purred. Sometimes he caught her fingers in his mouth and lightly nibbled at them playfully. At other times, her touch started a flame that burned so hot, the only way to it put out was to sink himself deep inside her make love to her for hours. He was mesmerized by the little unicorn tattoo on her belly; He loved to watch it move. He enjoyed licking and nibbling at it and watching it dance as quivers of pleasure rippled through her abdomen when he touched her. He just loved seeing that; he couldn't get enough of it.
She was enthralled by the red and black tattoos on his back, shoulders, chest arms and legs. He didn't have the name of girl or hearts or snakes or other typical tattoos she had seen on other men. His tattoos were unique, and they mesmerized her. He teased her and said they were magic.
She recognized some of the tattoos as ancient Celtic runes since she had taken several elective courses on ancient languages at Rutgers. The other whorls and designs were unlike anything she had ever seen before. She liked to lay on top of him with her cheek on his chest as he held her and trace the designs with her fingers.
His tattoos often moved and pulsed under her fingers. The first time that happened, it startled her. Leni shot straight up and almost landed on her butt on the floor. "What just happened? They moved!" she exclaimed. "Tattoos aren't supposed to that!" she said with conviction.
Ryodan was almost as startled as Leni was when he felt his tattoos pulse under her touch, but to cover his confusion up, he just laughed and said, "They are magic, little one. They must like your touch as much as I do."
"Oh, sort of like my Fae cuff, huh?" she said. Her cuff often felt alive to her too. It pulsed and glowed with an alarming feeling when she first met Ryodan as if it sensed danger. Now, it tingled and glowed warmly around him all the time. She liked the way the cuff felt when she and Ryodan were together.
At Marty's about ten after midnight, Tegan, Ryodan and Sean were up front talking to Uncle Marty. A gorgeous blonde male, who reminded Leni of an underwear model she had seen on television, came in and sat down at back side of the bar on the side closest to Leni and Bridget.
The guy was tall with large, luminescent dark brown eyes and tanned skin. Although the night was cool, he wasn't wearing a coat or a jacket. His tight black t-shirt stretched over bulging pecs and a set of washboard abs. Skin tight blue jeans, made even tighter by the wallet in his back pocket, emphasized, narrow, firm hips, long legs. Leni noticed his crotch held a package that most men could only ever dream of.
Strong arms and long slim fingers were enhanced by a wide black bracelet on one wrist and a gold watch on the other. His feet were encased in gorgeous leather boots. His face was perfectly proportioned with regular features and teeth that gleamed a white under wide sensual lips. The man was simply amazingly beautiful. He was the king of man who most women would drool over, and that included Leni, except not tonight: her lover, Ryodan, was on her mind.
The new guy looked around as if looking for someone to pick up. He made his choice and sat down at the bat next to a beautiful red headed woman of about twenty five. Leni had seen her in the pub on a number of occasions with a tall dark haired guy, but she was alone tonight. The new guy bought them both a drink.
The two moved to a booth almost directly across from the two cousins separated by a small four top table. Perhaps they didn't notice they had company, but In the privacy of the tall booth, they were all over each other, kissing and pawing. One of his large hand was thrust down the front of her generous bosom, the other hand was up underneath her skirt and stroking in and out. The red head was moaning in ecstasy as if she were enjoying a major orgasm right there.
Leni felt a headache coming on and her stomach turned nauseous when the man first sat down at the bar; she felt a lot worse as he came nearer. She looked at Bridget and saw that she was white in the face and looked like she was going to vomit too. They both stated at the couple for a couple of secondS, then. Leni blinked several times. She couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her. From the look of shock on Bridget's face, she had the same problem. They were both drinking sodas, but Leni wondered if the drinks had been tampered with because she and Bridget were definitely having the same horrible hallucination.
Gone was the perfectly beautiful underwear model. In its place was what could only be described as a monster from some horror movie. It was impossibly tall, well over nine feet. Its body and head were narrow. Its skinny face was no more than two or three inches wide. On either side of its face, huge horrifying eyes, the color of pus with no irises, were fixed in a ghastly stare. Its leprous flesh was rotting off its face, and body and it reeked of the coffin. White bone peaked through pieces of decayed flesh.
It had a slash of a mouth and a long snakelike tongue that was shoved down the girl's throat. From what they could see, its tongue was covered with suckers and extended from behinds lips that were filled with rotted, huge fang like inhuman teeth. Its arms writhed like tentacles an ended in hands with a narrow palms that had large octopus like suckers in the middle and long yellow talons for fingers. The two cousins could see one of those hideous palms as it withdrew its hand from underneath the girl's skirt.
What was most disgusting was that it was touching the woman with those hands and tongue, and they were sucking the beauty from the woman. In front of their eyes, the woman's skin grew old, gray, wrinkled and brittle. Her spine curved in a hunch back. The longer it touched her, the older, uglier and thinner she became until she was nothing more than an ancient old hag with withered and cracked skin. Clumps of hair fell out of her head onto the floor beside the booth.
Leni let our a breath filled with horror. "Are you seeing what I am seeing, Bridey?" her cousin nodded. "What ever that thing is, it's not human, Munchkin!" Bridget replied.
Leni nodded; terror and fear coiled deep in the pit of her stomach. "I thought I was imagining it, but you really do see it too; don't you?"
Bridget nodded with horror evident on her face; she whispered softly. "Let's get out of here, Leni!" The two women slid out of their seats and moved quietly a few steps toward the front on the bar.
At that moment, the thing raised its head from the redhead and looked directly at them with its large, horrible, inhuman eyes. For a moment, it shimmered back to a beautiful man, but changed back to a monster again in a matter of seconds. The woman slid to the floor. She was no longer beautiful; she looked like an emaciated old crone.
"Oh my God. It sees us. Run, Bridget!" Leni screamed.
The thing burst out of its seat before the girls could take another step. The woman it had been feeding on fell to the floor gagging and moaning in pain.
"You can see me? Ah, yes; I know what you are, sidhe seers." it sneered and grinned.
Leni and Bridget clasped hands. Both their faces displayed primitive emotions of dread and terror so primal that their very beings shrieked out in warning. Every cell of their body recognized the inhuman creature n front of them for what it was; it was death. They tried to get around the thing, but it moved moved with incredible speed and blocked their way.
"No, I cannot let you go! You will tell others of your kind that I am here, and they will try to stop me from having my pleasure. I will kill you both. I will suck you both dry, but first you will know such pain. I will enjoy every second of it!" The thing said with malevolent glee as it and lunged toward them. It leaped easily over a table between them clearing the small distance that separated them. The two women screamed again.
Leni looked around the bar. Ryodan, Tegan, Sean and Uncle Marty had heard their screams and were moving fast toward them. Ryodan and Tegan moved faster than the human eye could see, but just before they got within ten feet of the girls' booth, they slammed face first into an invisible barrier. Sean was there only a few seconds later. Curiously, Uncle Marty turned and toward the bar and started to count the till.
Leni could see Tegan, Ryodan and Sean shouting, but no sound came from their throats. They were fighting to get through the barrier, but they could not. No one else in the bar seemed to notice anything was wrong. Everyone beside Tegan, Ryodan and Sean were determinedly involved with something else.
The Fae cuff on Leni's left arm began to tingle and glow; it was humming loudly with a piercing whine. Without thinking, she pushed the much taller, pregnant Bridget behind her and flung her arms out in a defensive motion. The Fae cuff on her arm flashed brighter and shimmered with heat. It began to quiver with a strange energy. In a sudden flash, an opaque barrier appeared between Leni, Bridget and the monster. The monster crashed into the barrier and froze, its dark maw opened in disbelief.
At the same time, another brilliant flash occurred. A tall man appeared in iridescent ball of light between the two cousins and the monster. Leni recognized him immediately. It was Danal.
Danal, their grandfather, looked like Sean, Bridget's brother. He was even taller, and bigger, but he looked only a few years older. He was 6'6" with long, flowing, dark brown hair with honey blonde highlights, golden tanned skin, unusual copper eyes, broad shouldered, lean hips,. His eyes and body shimmered like a flickering rainbow. A golden light surrounded him; right now, he looked fierce and feral. He reminded Leni of a picture she had seen of an avenging angel in some art book long ago, but he was still the most beautiful being Leni had ever seen.
"Grandfather," Leni cried. "Please help us!"
"Grandfather?" Bridget whispered in a shocked voice.
The beautiful Fae prince threw both of his hands out in front of him. A powerful stream of white light flashed like focused laser beam toward the creature. The beam struck the monster dead center in the chest and flared out. The thing staggered back, lost his balance and roared out in agony. It tried to rise, but Danal kept pouring it on; the beam sang with magic as it became more powerful. The monster weakened, affected by the power of the beam.
"You cannot kill me, Danal. I am Fae like you; they are only human. Fae do not kill Fae." The thing screamed out pathetically in a terrified voice.
"You are nothing like me, you unspeakable abomination! I am Seelie; you are an Unseelie horror that should never have been given life. These women are of my bloodline; you dare to harm them? For that you will die!" Danal roared. It was the sound of a multitude and echoed around in the room, and it was it was the sound of a single voice. It was both loud and soft at the same time. The sound of his voice was not human; it hurt their ears; it was terrible to hear. The look in Danal's eyes was even worse.
"They are mine; I love them; I will gladly kill you to protect them!" he screamed. The beam from Danal's hands grew in size and shape until it enveloped the creature. The monster smoked as if he were being cooked alive; the smell gagged the two women. It shrieked as it shriveled, shrinking more and more, until it popped into nothingness.
Leni and Bridget hung onto each other trembling; neither was able to speak.