I called the lake to me, imagining a fist around Balor’s body, compacting the water around her until her bones creaked and blood leaked from the holes in her face. She let me go, and I dropped like a stone, unable to summon the strength to escape. My skull was busy knitting itself together, too slowly for my liking, but I wouldn’t survive another blow.
Shay Mac Eoin had the Dagda’s staff. I could feel him on the other side of Cruinn, in front of the abyss.
We had given Liam the iron, but who knew if he’d made a weapon or not. Balor howled, clasping her face.
A wave of dizziness released my hold on the lake, and I looked up from amidst the rubble, as a giant foot stomped down before I could escape.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Liam Cruinn
A high-pitched ringing stole his hearing as he jumped, landing in the sand, a finger’s width from the abyss.
Cormac sank to his knees by his side, and Nuada’s body rolled to the lakebed, unconscious.
In the distance, theOilliphéistwas gone. Its body had become a blanket over the fisherman district, where the poorest of the Undine lived. Instead, a warped creature had taken its place. The broken pieces of Cruinn Castle surrounded its belly like the petals of a flower.
“Maeve!” Cormac shrieked, the Mer pulling the sword from his harness before moving towards the fray. He stopped a foot from Liam, his tail flicking with irritation.
“Keep Nuada safe,” Cormac growled.
“What about the weap—” Liam began to ask, but the Met was already gone.
Liam pulled the Weave from his pocket. His fingertips were black with rot, the iron too painful to handle for long. The cut on his inner arm smarted, but he squeezed the wound to pull blood into the water.
Liam had grown up believing he would be a Troid Sídhe. His skills lay in swinging a sword and cutting down enemies.Weaving required concentration, and an attention to detail he lacked. A cruel twist of fate.
He only knew the most basic of knots, but the iron turned to putty in his fingers with a thought, though there was only enough for a needle the size of his hand.
In the distance, Shay Mac Eoin, Rainn Shallows, Tormalugh Shadowhock, and Cormac Illfinn hacked away at Balor like barnacles on a whale. Too small to make a difference.
“Undine...” Nuada croaked. Her eye was swollen shut as she rolled over to look at him. “My vessel is dying.”
“I know.” Liam clasped the needle in his fist. “I’m sorry.”
“Do you know what happened to my eldest son? Did they tell you?” Nuada asked gently, hissing in pain.
“They didn’t.” Liam’s brow creased.
“I’m going to die,” Nuada said. The words held finality and acceptance. “Balor has finally defeated me. After all these years “
Liam remained silent.
“What is that? In your hand?” Nuada’s breath was shaky, and blood clouded the water as she coughed.
“This is a weapon to defeat Balor. But I am not Lugh. I am not strong enough to pierce her eye, and the others are not strong enough to hold her down.” Liam trembled. He hated his cowardice. It was the reason the Mer had caught him on the Frosted Sands, the reason he had ignored his mother’s sins for so long.
“Child...” Nuada took a ragged breath. “May I have a boon?”
“A boon?”
“A bargain, perhaps?” She did not wait for him to speak. “I will leave this vessel. If you allow me to use your body, I will pierce Balor’s eye.”
Liam Cruinn shook his head. “It needs to be me.”
“It will be you.” Nuada whispered. “I will allow you your revenge if you allow me to take mine. I will simply lend you my power. I will get you to the eye, but you must be the one to strike it.”
“Yes.” Liam was surprised by the strength in his answer.
