Chapter 12: The Hunted
"I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity."
— attributed to Brigid of Kildare
As the rebellion in Dublin continues, Nick makes his way towards the town of Kildare, the earthy home of the ancient goddess Brigid. Unknown to the fox, something evil is hunting him.
Ireland 1916
He had been around since the creation of life as one of the manifestations of death. Nekron watched while the two hell hounds scurried through the mansion's ruined room, they were confused by the scents. Too many humans had trod their way through here, the priest, the farmer who he possessed, soldiers, and then there was that fox. Finally, one of the hounds caught the hell book page's scent and began to follow it down the hallway. Once outside, the trail grew cold and the whinnying protest of the panicked horse tethered to a nearby hitching post drew the creature's attention. It was hungry for flesh and with a low rumbling growl and gnashing of its teeth, the hound stalked forward towards the helpless stallion.
"NO!" came a firm command and in agitation, the hell hound turned to face the possessed farmer. "No deaths, it will draw Death here and she will then know I am free." The hound glared at its master before it began seeking the scent again, but one of the scents had faded too much and so it began to follow that of the fox. Soon its companion joined it and there was the steady crunching trod of footsteps on the gravel roadway when Nekron began to follow.
The personification of death soon became tired of walking after several miles, for he was not used to the limitations that a mortal body had and so he finally sat down upon a stone wall to rest. While he sat, Nekron pondered how he came to this point of his seemingly eternal existence. It had not been so long ago when he had burst from the confines of his realm and upon that of the still living, he was on the very cusp of success. Those who opposed him had been driven back while his power grew and even the green ring bearers, with their almost godlike powers, had failed to stop him. Ultimately the self-proclaimed new god, Darkseid, had knelt in subjugation and victory was within his grasp but that was when IT happened! His first clue that something was wrong was when Death no longer was doing her job and those newly slain by his minions did not release their souls. In confusion, he tried to summon her by making sacrifices of many innocents, but she did not come and instead came the Great Void. Much to his dismay when all of existence was reset, he found himself once again sealed back in his dark realm.
Sighing, he stood up and began following the impatient hell hounds. He had to find the missing page of the Rauðskinna for his plan to take fruition and once that tome was fully restored, he would seize the power of that unholy book and combine it with those of the godless Kitab al-Azif and the satanic Book of Spells which had been in the possession of three very powerful witches, the dreaded Sanderson Sisters. The three intact books would finally give him the power to not only overthrow his so-called masters but to defeat even the Creator. "Damn this mortal body," he cursed, for once again his feet were hurting but still he continued, for he would not be denied his ultimate victory.
"You should know that you stink!" the pixie said as she twisted up into the air again. "And it isn't just because you are a fox, all foxes kind of stink, it is an unholy stench."
"Wow…sorry. I don't know what to say, maybe we should find a small pond and I could bath?" Nick replied. "We have been wandering for two nights already, so do we have much further to go?"
"Not further," Gnat replied as she fluttered around. "Between the humans being on the road late into the evening and then the Sluagh passing overhead yet again, we have spent more time hiding than walking. At least the Sluagh didn't catch your scent this time, give praise to the Old One's for that!"
They had left the busy road behind them and were now moving northward along newly plowed fields. "Just where are we going?" Nick panted out, for it seemed that Gnat was flying faster in her attempt to make up for the delays. "Is it much further?"
"No, but we must arrive before dawn or we will have to wait another day!" the pixie answered.
The ground around them became more and more marshy. "We are going into a bog?"
"It was either up there on Cnoc Almaine, or further south at the ancient ringfort of Gibbet Rath, where we can enter the Low Road. Gibbet Rath has too many unsettled ghosts of those prisoners who were murdered after the Battle of Kilcullen, plus it is far too close to the mortals in their military base on the Curragh. Come we must reach the hill soon."
The fox let out a soft curse when his footpaws sank into the peaty-smelling muck. "So what makes his hill so special?" he grunted out once he was free and found a dry trail to follow.
"It is where the great warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his Fianna lived."
"Who?"
"He was Éire's greatest warrior."
They began to climb up the hill towards a huge tower. "Did this warrior live in that tower?"
"No! Don't be silly, that was built by the humans several years ago so they can climb to the top and look at the view. It serves no other purpose besides that!"
Before they reached the crest, Nick paused when he caught the odd scent of something before them. "Aye, so it tis true that there is a fox who walks and talks like a human," a deep voice chuckled. "I did nay believe the stories!"
Nick saw that there was a large almost translucent dog sitting near a bolder watching them approaching. "This is Bran!" Gnat said to Nick while she fluttered towards the ghost. "He is one of Fionn Mac Cumhaill's hounds and he guards the entrance to the Low Road."
"Why do ye be seeking entry into the way to Tír Tairngire with a mortal?" the hound growled as he stood and glowered down upon the fox. Even on his four paws, he stood taller than Nick standing on his two hindpaws. "Do ye seek my master's treasure?"
"We seek the aid of good Brigid," the pixie quickly answered. "The goddess must be warned that a great evil has been released upon the land. Please, let us use the Low Road, for it is important."
"Brigid tis not in Tír Tairngire," the hound said even as he slowly circled the fox. His growl continued and sounded like the rumble of thunder, at the sound of the ghostly dog, Nick's ears went flat and his tail curled between his legs in fear. "It hath been decades since a living mortal darest walked the Low Road, not since the Wizard Earl of Kilkea Castle. He now slumbers below the old Rath on the hill of Mullaghmast awaiting his time to ride forth, but this tis the seventh year, and he tis due to ride the land for a fortnight once again."
"We must pass," Gnat begged.
"But this fox hath a scent of something evil," the hound answered.
"It is not his fault, he was tainted by the Rauðskinna, we are seeking the good Brigid's aid to return him from whence he came.
"I am not sure I should trust a pixie or a talking fox?" Bran replied without looking back at the other two, he was staring towards Dublin with his ears erect as if listening for something and his nose in the air as if he was sniffing for whatever was out there. "But there art strange scents in the wind tonight and I don't like them."
"Look, I have nothing to do with this war or this book!" Nick finally snapped in simmering anger, for he was tired. "I just want to get back to my home, back to Zootopia!"
"I hath never heard of Zootopia," the ghostly hound simply stated with a shake of his head.
"But you should know of this fox," someone else answered and the pixie, fox, and hound looked down towards the goddess who was making her way up the side of the mountain. she had long black hair which was covered with a white linen scarf, a blue dress, and a simple homespun tartan shawl over her shoulders. To Nick, she appeared to be another human, just like one of the villagers. "He is the father of the One Who Broke All Reality and brought on the Void."
"My lady, Morrigan," the hound called out even while he knelt before her.
"I have been to Dublin to see for myself what is happening," the dark-haired goddess of war continued, she had risen her right arm and a jet black raven fluttered down upon her shoulder. "I am going to use the passageway that you guard to return home and I will vouch for these two."
"Of course, just like my master, I am always your servant," Bran reverently said before he leaned against the boulder and shoved it aside with unnatural strength. Behind it was a dark cave. "Enter my master's true treasure, the road to Tír Tairngire."
Nick slowly stepped into the cavern only to find that there was a heavy mist, but he caught glimpses of a grass-covered expanse of land in the far distance, and with uncertain steps, he began to walk towards the meadow but a firm hand gripped his shoulder. "Your path is not that way," the goddess behind him warned and he looked up to see that she was pointing down another dark tunnel. "That path is the one that you seek, but hurry for every minute here is like an hour in the human world." With a hurried trot, the fox followed Gnat into the darkness.
If the fox was expecting some danger or even something wonderous, he was disappointed for he just stumbled along in the pitch dark while feeling the stone walls around him. Finally, he came to what felt like a stout wooden door with some unknown symbols carved on it. "This is our exit into Kildare," the pixie said as she alighted onto the fox's shoulder. "Turn the knob and push!" Nick gave a shove, but the door didn't budge. "Harder!" Gnat ordered and with a grunt, the lanky fox shoved once again. Finally, the door moved slightly ajar and with one last push, there was an opening large enough to allow Nick to slip out into what seemed to be a large room.
The fox's eyes narrowed as he looked around him, in the predawn twilight he saw that they stood in the gray stone ruins of some type of long-gone stone building. His eyes took in the nearby ruined cathedral and they widened slightly when he saw the tall circular tower above him. Glancing back from where he had come, he realized that the doorway had disappeared as if it had never been there. "Where are we?" he whispered to the pixie who had taken flight once again.
"The old ruins of Brigid's ancient fire temple, next to her church and the old round tower fortress the monk's built as a refuge against the northern raiders," Gnat answered. "We are in the heart of Kildare, but we must hurry to where the goddess now lives!"
Dogs barked in the growing light as the fox slipped down the street in a hurried panic. A rooster crowed out, heralding a new day just when the pixie and Nick came to some stairs which led to a room over a modest-looking cobbler's shop. Up the wooden stairs, he crept until he came to an apartment door. "Knock!" Gnat urgently whispered. "Go ahead and knock."
The "green ring bearers", who opposed Nekron, are DC Comics famous Green Lantern Corps and Darkseid is a so-called New God. His victory was crushed when time and reality were "rebooted" at the end of Zootopia: Lost in Time.
The Kitab al-Azif is a creation of the talented author, H. P. Lovecraft, and he writes that it was written by the "half-crazed Arab" Abdul Alhazard. It was later translated into the Greek language and given the title Necronomicon by Theodorus Philetas of Constantinople in 950. Most readers connect the newer version of the book, called the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis in the Evil Dead film series. Of course, the Sanderson Sisters and their book of spells are from the movie Hocus Pocus.
Fionn Mac Cumhaill ("Finn McCool") is Ireland's legendary warrior and there are many folk tales about him and his deeds. The Fianna is his war band and Bran was one of his faithful hounds, the other being Sceólang. A local legend says that Bran guards his master's treasure on Cnoc Almaine or as it is also called, the Hill of Alan. His master supposedly sleeps in a cave waiting to be awakened by the sound of the Dord Fiann, his hunting horn. Then Fionn and the Fianna will charge forth to save Ireland during its greatest time of need.
Tír Tairngire is one of the old Irish names for the Celtic otherworld.
The Wizard Earl of Kilkea Castle, Gerald Fitzgerald the 11th Earl of Kildare, also sleeps in a cave. The legend says he will ride out only for one night every seven years and when the silver shoes of his magical white steed are finally worn to nothing, he will rise up with his army of followers to rid Ireland of its enemies.