Ch 3 - There are Secrets in the House of Raven

Aurora listened intently to everything Mr. and Mrs. McGhee said to her, blushing a little when Annette spoke of how strong she was to have endured what she'd been through. She would glance periodically at Sionn then back to Annette. It didn't go unnoticed by her that he sat away from her and finally, after a few moments she quit glancing at him. Sighing, she gave Annette a small smile, thanking her for her kind words when Erich began to speak, drawing her attention away from his wife. When he brought out the book, she looked at it, puzzled then her eyes widened when he mentioned the instruction book that Genghis Khan had and how it had been lost shortly after his death.

"Mr. Poe has that book. He showed it to me and offered it to me, but I was afraid that it was some kind of trick so I refused to take it."

She saw the shocked looks on their faces and turned to look at Sionn only to see Torri glaring at her.....at least she thought that's what she was doing. Sighing, she gave them another smile, "Mr. and Mrs. McGhee, I am so glad that I got to meet you but I must see to Eryn. If you will excuse me." She rose from the table, just as Sam came in with breakfast giving her a questioning glance. "Thank you, Sam.....but I am not hungry." She cast another glance at all of them, her dark gaze lighting on Sionn for a second longer before she turned and headed up to her room.

Many things were churning through her head once again, including Sionn and how he did or didn't feel. She was also thinking about whether or not she should have taken the book Erebus had offered her. She reached her room and entered it quietly, shutting the door behind her to see Eryn standing at the window sill, wanting out. After Eryn flew out, instead of closing the window, Aurora stood there breathing in what fresh air could get when she saw a wisp of smoke skimming through the air towards her. She felt the essence of a searching spell and knew it for what it was. Whomever had attacked Sionn and Torri in their home was now searching for her and the bow.

Before she could shut the window, the wisp of smoke turned towards Sam's home and zeroed in on her, coming straight at her. It slammed into her, throwing her across the room where she landed with a 'THUD!', knocking the wind out of her lungs. She lay there, stunned as the wisp of smoke flowed through her room, finally lighting on the wrapped up bow and quiver of arrows. When it turned to 'look' at her, two glowing, red eyes stared at her, filling her mind with her natural fear of spiders, causing her to see them everywhere in the room. She screamed just as Beau felt the disturbance downstairs and gave a menacing growl before racing up the stairs.

Aurora was huddled in a corner, her eyes closed shut as she chanted a spell over and over again in her native tongue to counter the arachnid spell. The wisp of smoke came over to her, hovering just above her and laughed. The laugh was pure evil as was the voice, "I will have the bow, little Indian girl. And I will have you with it." Aurora kept chanting, refusing to open her eyes, knowing that if she did she would possibly risk losing her mind. She tried to ignore the feel of spiders crawling all over her body, occasionally slapping at her leg or her arm as she continued to chant.

Sionn wanted to reach and touch Aurora as she left, but he restrained. Truly he didn't know where he stood with her after last night, the way her beasties had acted towards him gave him pause and though he hoped that he and Aurora were alright the way she kept looking at him, he just wasn't sure.

He turned to look at his parents after she left and his face was sad. Erich leaned over and spoke, "She'll be fine son, she's endured a lot in the last 48 hours." Sionn nodded softly and responded, "So who was it, if it wasn't Erebus?"

Annette and Erich looked at each other and then to Sionn and Torri, Annette answered, "Unfortunately my children, we don't know. We were certain it was Erebus, he tends to do the dirty work for House Raven, it wouldn't have been the first time he showed up and something got destroyed or stolen." Sionn nodded but looked slightly annoyed. Erich smiled and spoke, "Easy son, in time we will figure it all out. It is possible that a new Druidic order has come to the surface, or that an old house has gained new power. The fact is if they were bold enough to do what they did to you and Torri, they will show up again, and when they do they will certainly leave more clues."

"At what cost?"

The whole room turned to look at Torri as she said her three word sentence. Annette's face went sad and she nodded as she responded, "Exactly Torri, that is the problem. But equally a problem is how do you find that which intends to remain hidden, and knows how to hide so well. We do know that killing you two wasn't the goal when they came to our home, whoever he was he only wanted the pages regarding the Black Horn... so in that we are fortunate. We can only hope that killing is not the next reason they will surface..."

Suddenly the whole lot of them turned, Beau shot up the stairs and and the whole group was on his heels. The sound coming from within Aurora's room was horrifying, her screams and chanting, and a sinister voice. Sionn came up behind Beau who was clawing ferociously at the door. He activated his hammers and smashed them into the door. Over and over again his hammers came down, their magic exploding against the wood, but it wouldn't budge. Erich stepped up and gently pushed Sionn aside, he brought his arms back and hissed magic words as he pushed his arms forward and a blast of wind exploded against the door but bounced right back and and sent him into the wall behind him. Torri and Sam went to him immediately and he gave a hand signal that said he was alright. As he stood they all watched the magically sealed door as they could hear the muffled noise from within.


Suddenly through the window another mist appeared. The mist that was hovering over Aurora and filling her with fear turned, it's glowing eyes flared and it hissed, "What do YOU want?"



The whispy mist that had just entered the room swirled and Erebus appeared, his hands at his sides in a manner that suggested he could cast any spell at any moment, "Leave her be!"

The mist cackled and swirled as it took the shape of a man, forming up and solidifying. He wore druid robes, the left sleeve torn to shreds and a wound that looked to only be a few days old was right in the shoulder area, "She is mine! Her and the bow!"

Erebus hissed, "She is nobody's! The bow was given to her by the rights of her lineage, she is the only true bearer! Even if you take it you will be unable to wield it fool!"

The man's face twisted and he thrust his good arm forward, a blast of wind hurled itself towards Erebus who brought both hands up and easily absorbed the spell, "You are no match for me and you know it. Out of respect for our ancients and by the laws of our order I will permit you one opportunity to leave without killing you, but you will only get the one chance."

The man grit his teeth and his face twisted in rage. Aurora would see that he was clearly outmatched by Erebus, and he knew it. Turning to look at Aurora with a twitching sneer he swirled and vanished in an ice cold blast of air. Erebus quickly went to Aurora's side and knelt down. The door buckled again and the magic signature from Sionn's hammers reverberated through the room. Erebus turned to look at the doors and then back to Aurora, "Are you alright?"

Aurora looked up at him and he rubbed his finger gently along her forehead, "You are chilled, but that is normal when there is Druidic magic being forced through you."

The door shuttered again and creaked on it's hinges. Erebus looked at her and spoke, "I must know you are alright before I leave. I can not be in this room when they enter or I will be blamed. Are you well?"

Aurora nodded softly and he smiled. It was a deep smile, the kind one would give when they gazed upon the face of their lover whom they had not seen for ages, "Very well then." He turned and looked at the door, "The magic is weakening, I must depart."

He turned to look at her again, "I will find him, I will make him pay for what he is doing to you Aurora."

He gently let her go and walked to the window, swirling into a mist he floated out the window just as the impact of Sionn's hammers blasted the door to shreds and he came charging into the room, Beau dashing to the window, Torri coming in right behind Sionn with an arrow drawn, Sam's fists glowing like fire, Annette and Erich coming in behind them all. Sionn came immediately to Aurora's side and grabbed her, pulling her into his chest and whispering, "Are you alright? What was it?"

Annette turned to Sam and spoke, "Druidic magic."

Sam turned to look at her with a nod, "Aye, the stink of it is everywhere."

Aurora was trying to absorb the latest attack and counter it with spells she didn't even know she knew when Erebus was suddenly by her side. She could tell that his concern was sincere and that confused her even more. But, she still nodded her head to him, letting him know that she was okay before he disappeared.

Suddenly, she was in Sionn's arms and her chilled body was pulled in close to his warm one. She clung to him, burying her face into his chest as her hands clenched at the front of his shirt. She didn't answer right away as she tried to control her shivering and the aftershocks of feeling spiders crawl all over her. "I don't know what it was.....or who", she said in a shaky voice. "It came in in the form of smoke and threw me back before going to the bow." She still had her face buried in Sionn's shirt as she spoke. "It looked at me, glowing red eyes in the smoke and then there were spiders.......everywhere. They were all over the room, all over me and my counter spell wouldn't do anything to stop them", she shuddered just thinking about it. "Then....then, Erebus was here and the thing tried to attack him but he seemed to absorb the spell." She looked up at Sionn then, her dark eyes wide with the fright she'd just been through. "He seemed to be sincere....and concerned about me. But, he was afraid that you would blame him for the attack if he stayed." She laid her head back on Sionn's chest still shivering.

Beau was all over the room, sniffing and growling when Eryn came back, coming in through the open window. She was clearly agitated and flew to her perch, her eyes on Aurora. ~I followed the smoke as far as I could, but whatever or whomever it is was able to hide it's essence from me~", she mindspoke to Erich, her golden eyes turning to him. Aurora just stood there, Sionn's strength holding her up as she let him hold her.

Sionn held Aurora tightly as she told them what happened. Sam looked around and kicked a stool so viciously it shattered as he turned to look at Erich, “The Bloody fools are up to something lad! I tell you that!”

Erich raised his hand and gestured for Sam to calm himself, “Aye Sam, but destroying stools is not going to achieve anything except broken furniture.”

He turned to look at Annette and spoke, “What in the bloody hell would Erebus be playing at by chasing off another Druid, I don’t buy it.”

Sionn turned and looked at Erich and Erich continued, “I am not saying Aurora is telling us false information lad, in fact I believe everything she said to be 100% truth, what I mean is it doesn’t make sense, not without an angle of his own to play at.”

“He said he wants peace, maybe he was serious.” Sionn looked at his parents as the two of them exchanged glances. Sam spoke up, “Ne’er in the history of this planet has a bloody Druid wanted peace lad, it’s impossible.”

Sionn looked at him and spoke, “So you are saying that it is impossible for people to change? It is impossible for someone to realize the err in their ways and make adjustments? First he has Aurora to his home, we assumed mal-intent but he didn’t kill ME when he had the chance. Then he speaks to Aurora, tells her he wants peace, and lets her leave. Then this other bloody Druid shows up, attacks Aurora and her rescue comes neigh from one of us but from Erebus! In 24 hours he has done nothing but show us that he has had the opportunity to kill any one of us and did not.”

Annette stepped forward and spoke, her voice was still as calm and soothing as ever, “24 hours of perceived kindness does not eradicate an entire history of House Raven’s mis-deeds son.”

Sionn furrowed his brows and pulled Aurora closer to himself, “I disagree, he has shown me nothing that indicates he wants to harm us, twice the bow has been his for the taking, and he hasn’t. He saved me, now Aurora, something’s changed in him.”

Sam huffed and left the room, Erich watched him go and turned to Torri, “Lass, see to it that he doesn’t start tearing his own hotel apart please, you know he can have a temper.”

Torri nodded and left the room on Sam’s heels. Erich turned back to Aurora and Sionn, “I think it might be time for us to go back to Scotland so we can sort all this out.”

Sionn turned and looked at his father, “I think we need to offer Erebus the chance to explain himself, so we can discern his intentions in all this.” Annette shook her head, “He would never agree, there is too much history between us, he left after helping Aurora because he was right, we would have instantly blamed him and attacked him.”

Annette turned to Aurora and spoke softly, “Lass.”

Aurora lifted her head from Sionn’s chest and looked at her, “I think since we are at an impass that the chosen bearer of the bow should decide. What do YOU want to do lass?”

Aurora jumped in Sionn's arms when Sam kicked the stool across the room, causing Beau to give the dwarf a short growl and Eryn to glare at him. She huddled deeper within Sionn's embrace, feeling his warmth slowly seep into her chilled body, her shivering lessening. She didn't know what to think about any of it anymore. Her mother had prepared her for physical fighting, but not magical. She was now using spells she didn't even know that she knew and was being attacked all because she was the bearer of her ancestor's bow. A tear slid down her cheek which she quickly wiped away, never leaving the safety of Sionn's arms. When Annette spoke to her, she looked at the woman, resting her cheek against his chest so that she could look at the kind woman.

"Me? I don't even know how I am doing some of the things I"m doing let alone decide where we all should go." But, she saw that Annette was just as stubborn as she was kind and was silently demanding that she make the choice. Sighing, she closed her eyes for a few seconds as if thinking when in truth she was consulting with the guardian spirits living within her. Opening her eyes, she looked up into Sionn's green ones, laying a hand on his cheek then looking at Annette. "We need to go to your home, Mrs. McGhee. I feel that our answers to our questions start there." She looked over at Beau then to Eryn, "But, what about them? They won't do well in quaranteen for weeks, possibly months. Yet, I can't go without them."

Annette turned to Erich and smiled softly at Aurora’s answer. Sionn was clearly showing signs of disagreement but there was no question he would comply with Aurora’s decision.

Downstairs the sound of Sam’s voice could be heard in Aurora’s room and then Torri’s. Though none could hear what they said it was clear they were arguing a little. Annette looked to Erich who nodded without a word and left the room. In a matter of seconds his calm voice could be heard and the other two voices died away.

Annette turned to Sionn, “Son, I can see in your face you don’t want to return home, but it is the best place for us right now. We all need to take a step back and look at this situation from a wider perspective.”

Sionn nodded but it was obvious he still disagreed, “And I will comply mum, but I still feel that the answers we need are here. You sent us here to find answers and I feel we have just scratched the surface.”

Annette looked at her son lovingly, “Aye, but we have also scratched into many more questions, questions we thought we had answers to,” Sionn interrupted, “And the answers are here!”

Annette looked at him lovingly but sternly, “Wisht, you don’t know that Sionn.”

“Well I damn well know we aren’t going to find them looking at Beastie’s grazing on our pastures!”

Annette, ever the patient and quiet woman she was looked at her son and nodded without a word. Turning to Aurora she spoke, her voice did not have a single indication of annoyance or anger, “Lass, worry not about your beasts, we have a private jet, they can ride in comfort with us in the passenger cabin.”

She turned and looked at Sionn again, “Please see to it that Aurora is aided in packing for her journey, she has been through too much and knowing she has never been to Scotland she might not have all the clothing she needs.”

Sionn nodded, still clearly annoyed with his mother who was in no way returning his emotions, she seemed to still shine with calmness and passive quiet. With a nod she looked at Aurora again, “We will call the airport and leave in a couple hours, Sionn will see to it that you have what you need.”

With a gentle smile Annette left the room. As soon as she was gone Sionn looked down at Aurora and without a word he kissed her lovingly, pressing his lips firmly against her own. As the kiss broke he leaned back and whispered softly, “I love ya Aurora, I know it’s forward, but I do.”

Aurora listened quietly as Sionn and his mother disagreed, listening to the strong beat of his heart beneath her ear. She'd answered Annette honestly and was sorry that it caused Sionn distress but it was what she felt was the right thing to do as well as what the guardians had told her. When Sionn kissed her lovingly and professed his love to her she felt as if she melted, her eyes shining with her own love for him. "I don't know how it's possible in such a short time, Sionn, but my heart tells me that what I feel for you is love...a strong love. I love you, Sionn McGhee. And, I'm sorry that my answer to your mother causes you grief. You are right...some of the answers are here....but the guardians tell me that we must start in your homeland." She gave a shiver before giving him a small smile, "I've never been to another country. How different is it? What clothes will I need? Is it not the same there as it is here?" She was still shaky from her ordeal, but the coming trip was helping her think less and less of it as she reluctantly left his arms to go to her closet and take out her small pack. She began to remove what few clothes she'd brought with her, laying them out neatly on the bed. There were a few pairs of socks, lace underthings, jeans and t-shirts. She was not your typical woman, packing all sorts of things for a trip. Instead, she had only what was needed to travel fast and light if needed.

"Will this be enough?", she asked him as she began to place her things neatly within her backpack.

As Aurora responded and told Sionn she loved him too he smiled and felt a warmth inside him that he had never felt before. He helped her to her feet and as she laid out what she had brought with him he looked it over and quickly responded, “Well, this is certainly not going to get you far in the Highlands, especially with as much rain as we get.”

He removed his iPhone and started tapping on the keyboard. He turned to her with a smile after a quick glance from her head to her toes and back to her eyes, “Looks like about a size 6”, seeing the look of surprise on her face at guessing her size he simply winked and continued tapping on his phone. After a couple more minutes he hit a key and tucked the phone back in his pocket, “Everything you need will be waiting at the house, once we are established I will take you into town and you can buy anything else you want, but at least for now you will be warm and dry.”

His demeanor changed once his parents weren’t in the room. He helped her tuck away the things she had and with a quick look around he spoke, “Well, if you have all you need…” he stepped up to her and put his hand around the back of her neck and brought her face into his for one more kiss, “Looks like we are ready to go.”

He took her hand in his own, slung her backpack over his shoulder and escorted her downstairs. Sam was behind the desk and looked up. He had clearly calmed down and looked at Aurora, “I apologize for my outburst earlier lass, it’s just when there are Druids about I…”

He stopped himself and breathed in deeply. Aurora would be able to see that it wasn’t anything personal against her, there was clearly some history he had with dealing with these sorts and he exhaled before speaking again, “Well let’s just say a life of certain things happening will jade you.”

Sionn smiled at the Dwarf and spoke, “Well Aurora is packed and I just wanted to come say good-bye, and thanks for all you did for us while we were here.”

Sam smiled and nodded as he came out from behind the counter, “That’s fine lad, but there is no need for good-byes, because I am coming with you.”

Sionn had a look of surprise, Sam had retired long ago from adventuring in the world and Sionn nodded. He had grown up hearing stories of the Dwarf’s accomplishments and abilities, and secretly he had always wished he could have been there for it. Sam looked at him with raised eyebrows and spoke in a joking tone, “Do you not approve lad?”

Sionn immediately put his hands up, “NO NO Sam, I think it’s fantastic, I am just surprised because you swore off adventuring when you bought this place.”

Erich’s voice suddenly broke the air, “Agreeing to let him go was the only way to shut him up.”

Sam turned and looked at Erich with a beaming smile, “Aye lad, that it was. If there is nothing else we Dwarves excel at, it’s having hard heads.”

Sionn laughed and turned to look at Aurora, “Are you ready love?”