Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
He reached for her hand, bringing it to his lips. “And I am so grateful for your choice, my love. But how would Shy turn the wheel?”
She stopped for a moment, obviously listening to the voice inside her head. “Ossie says she’s made of an ancient magic. She looks human but she is not. She says it’s been at least two thousand years since she felt the presence of that magic on any plane. You see while there are many different versions of human and Fae and other creatures, there are those whose souls are completely unique.”
This he had figured out. “Gods like Bris. Goddesses like Ostara.”
She nodded. “Yes. And, if I’m correct, beings like the wizard Myrddin. The simple fact that he can cross timelines without using the stones proves this. Shy did not need the stones. When you are ready to go home, she can get you there.”
If she was right, then he could get them all out now. But he had to be certain. “Because of this magic she has?”
“She doesn’t have the magic. She is the magic.” Meadow frowned, an expression that did not mar her beauty in the least. “She does not know, does she? She believes she is human, which is why I sensed the small distance between her and the Green Man. She worried she would not be enough for him, but the real question is the opposite.”
“Shy has always worried her magic is too dark for Rhys, though for a long time she had a passenger. A bit like Ostara, though Harry didn’t have the same power. He lived in her soul space and he was Rhys’s grandfather.”
Meadow smiled. “Soul space. A pretty name for it and a bit true. Ossie is wondering how the magic found its way to become somewhat human. Arawn destroyed it when it became clear he would have to retreat with the Fae. It was too dangerous to keep in Annwn. He had certain symbols—you might call them objects of power. The Golden Torc, the Cloak of Invisibility, and the Cauldron of Rebirth. The cloak was given to a group of powerful beings who were creating a race of kings.”
Huh. Now he knew where Daniel had gotten it. Or rather Myrddin, since he’d been the one to give it to the king. When Daniel had gone missing, Albert had brought the cloak with the kids, and it had proven invaluable over the years. “I don’t see what this has to do with Shy.”
“You will. Patience, my love. He still has the torc. He wears it while in Annwn. But the cauldron was the most important object in all of the Fae world at the time. Though you should understand he ruled over humans, too. It was only when they pushed aside the old ways that the gods left the plane.”
“I don’t know much about Welsh folklore. What did the cauldron do?” Sasha asked.
“What didn’t it do? It could feed armies. It could bring the dead back to life. What it mostly did was keep the wheel turning. It was life and death and regeneration. The cauldron could kill or give life or stop life altogether.”
“Yes, I can see where that would be very dangerous.”
“So dangerous if it found its way into the wrong hands,” Meadow agreed. “So Arawn was forced to hide it. He couldn’t destroy it entirely, but he could use his magic to get it down to the tiniest piece of the original cauldron. A bit of light and magic and he stood on Snowdonia and flung it out across land and sea and air. He made sure it was so far away no one in its new land would recognize it.”
A chill prickled along his spine. “Magic like that, it grows. It changes if allowed to.”
She nodded solemnly. “Yes, and in this case, it likely morphed into something like the building blocks of a human, waiting for the right ingredients to become magical again.”
His stomach threatened to turn. “You are telling me Shy has the power of the Cauldron of Regeneration in her genes?”
“No. I am telling you that Shy is the cauldron reborn, and I worry Myrddin will use her if he can. Ossie believes the wizard is planning to use the souls he’s trapped in the mountain to some terrible purpose. If he filters them through the right spell, he could gain incredible energy.”
“Enough to, say, close the gates between planes?”
She nodded.
Sasha stood. The reunion would have to wait. “We need to stop them from leaving. They could be walking into a trap.”
He raced to get dressed and hoped they would make it in time.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Shy
I don’t like tunnels. I’m really more of a walk out in the sunshine or the moonlight girl. Either is acceptable. But the tunnels Lee is leading us through makes me think of being buried alive, and I have to force myself to breathe.