The Aos Sí defied logic sometimes, shaped around the magic of the Fae that resided there. But the building on the cliff defied reality, gravity, and several other immutable forces.
The dragon let out a screech, swooping towards the largest platform. The stone circle extended towards the sea like a bird’s nest. The dragon flared its wings and landed as gracefully as it could, but Cormac and I still tumbled onto the hard stone with a smack and a roll.
I coughed, pressing my hand to my stomach. The dragon had squeezed us in its tight grip for what felt like hours, and I could feel my organs rearranging themselves back into position.
Cormac didn’t fare much better. Rubbing his hands over the deep gorges in his arms, as if he could make the bloody wounds disappear if he rubbed hard enough.
“Do you think it's taken us back to his nest to eat us?” Cormac eyed the dragon as it stretched its wings and roared to the sky.
Both of us winced and covered our ears at the sound.
“You, more than me.” I pointed out. “Being part fish, and all.”
Cormac bared his teeth in a mocking smile.
Someone cleared their throat behind us, though we had been alone only a moment before.
As if given leave, the beast extended its wings and took to the sky without hesitation.
An archway sat where the platform was wedged into the mountain. A robed figure hovered on the threshold. Bald-headed, with pale eyes, unseeing.
“Manannán mac Lir would like to offer his home until the Quorum.” The robed figure spoke in a voice that was neither male nor female. Husky and heavy with burden.
“Manannán mac Lir?” Cormac staggered back.
“He is acting King of the Tuatha Dé Danann.” The robed figure said, unblinking. “And tasked with your safety until the meeting.”
“I thought the Dagda was king?” I said without thinking. “And Nuada before that?”
“The Dagda and Nuada do not reside in the Tuatha Dé Danann at this time.” The figure said without emotion. “Come with me.”
Cormac and I exchanged glances.
There were many gods for many things.
Manannán mac Lir was the God of the Sea.
Belisama was the God of the Waves.
Brígid was the God of the Rivers.
Each God held a different domain.
I craned my neck and eyed the dragon sailing away.
The children of Lir were famously known to be able to take the form of a dragon. I hadn’t made a connection between the dragon and Manannán mac Lir.
Manannán mac Lir was not a benevolent god—he had cursed the Mer with their tails, after all.
The robed figure disappeared through the archway, and Cormac and I rushed to follow.
The doorway led to darkness. Cormac placed his hand on the small of my back, the only thing that helped me keep my feet when I tumbled down the first step of the unseen staircase.
The air changed in an instant. From the sunbaked and arid to the damp and familiar. The walls of the staircase grew slick, wet stone and lichen. The stairs curved, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. The robed figure was a shadow that seemed to lurk around every corner, its footsteps silent and stealthy.
Cormac and I fumbled our way down the staircase. The robed figure waited at the bottom, but the lower steps weresubmerged in seawater. Barnacles coated the pillars that held up the steps. The air smelled like saltwater and seaweed. The water rushed and ebbed like the sea, despite the four walls encasing it.
Our escort stood in the waist-high water, waiting for us.
