Cliodhna runs from the tent-- followed closely by Memnon-- and sees Ahuru and Brianna standing together just ahead, so she decides to let them know about her talk with Amon before going to Paul. "Ahuru-- Brianna! I was able ta contact Amon, an' he said that he an' the Amenti fleet are already on their way!" she exclaims excitedly.
Ahuru smiles. "Yes..." he says, nodding his head.
Cliodhna gives him an exasperated, how-long-have-you-known-this look. "I need ta go tell Paul quickly-- there may still be those who believe the Amenti ta be our enemies. Ahuru...Brianna..." she says, nodding her head respectfully at each one, and she and Memnon leave for the Twin Towers.
As they approach the towers, they noticed that they're heavily guarded. Cliodhna quickly pulls her marshall mask on, and the guards bow slightly and allow her and Memnon to go up. Paul's office is also being heavily guarded from the inside. They enter, and Paul greets them looking strained and worried. "Paul-- I just contacted Amon." Cliodhna can barely keep her excitement contained. "He said that he an' the entire Amenti fleet will be here within..." Cliodhna thinks for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. "...about 13 hours!"
Paul's demeanor visibly lifts, and he looks at Cliodhna with undisguised relief. "That's incredible news, Cliodhna! I think we'll really be able to do this!"
Cliodhna smiles and nods back. "As do I! We only need to hold the city for another half-day an' we'll be fine!" Paul and Cliodhna discuss business for a little longer, and then she's dismissed to return to the cohort.
She and Memnon fly back to the tent-area, and find that Ray has joined Ahuru and Brianna. He's still covered with his spikes, but he seems to be calm and OK. Ray introduces the cohort to his new fighting "Shakari" warriors-- 5 good, strong fighters who he's moliated into wrecking-balls! They are under his command, and together will make a formidable force. The cohort and Shakari greet each other, and then Ray dismisses them. Cliodhna turns to Memnon and asks him if he'll excuse her for a moment to speak with Ahuru, and he nods and says sure. She turns to Ahuru and asks if she could have a word with him for a second, and he nods, and the two walk a ways away from the group.
"Ahuru...why can't Mem know that he's Amon's son? I'm worried..." Cliodhna whispers.
Ahuru looks at her with a touch of sadness in his eyes. "There is something he must do. If he knows that Amon is his father, he may refuse his role in fate." Cliodhna looks at Ahuru with wide eyes, and then glances down. Poor Mem...she understands the predicament he's been placed in only too well, but...
Ahuru looks at Cliodha as if he knows what her next question will be, and quickly speaks. "Let us return to the others." and he walks back to stand beside Brianna, with Cliodhna following reluctantly after. "Brianna-- " Ahuru nods to her. "...please tell the others about my dream."
Brianna nods back. "Ahuru received a new vision in his dreams-- things have changed. There will no longer be 2 who do not return..." The cohort exhales in relief. "...there will be 3." Cliodhna groans and turns to look at Memnon with deep worry. "What Ahuru saw was this: Three hearts, and three swords...the dragon shall steal the three hearts and there shall be a last stand for two and a tragedy for one. HE WHO SHOULD BE GOD will triumph and THE GUARDIAN will lay down for the last time."
Cliodhna hears the part about the Guardian and closes her eyes, feeling a little light-headed. "But which Guardian??" she wonders worriedly, and then realizes that Brianna said He Who Should Be God would triumph, and another pang of worry goes through her. Her father will live? But will he be changed? And what is this dragon? And the hearts and swords?? Cliodhna shakes her head and tries to banish the prophesy from her mind. Memnon's right-- no one can decide fate...or SHOULD be able to...but Cliodhna realizes that she's still a believer when she looks over at Memnon, and is suddenly afraid that something horrible is going to happen. She's about to open her mouth to tell him of her fears, when Brianna suddenly goes stiff and her eyes flicker and close, her fatalism-marks swirling over her corpus.
"I see Markova and Amon fighting-- fighting faster than should be possible-- and then..." Brianna suddenly stops, and opens her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead.
"What, Brianna! What happens next?" Cliodhna asks in fear.
Brianna shakes her head. "Everything went blank-- I don't know."
Cliodhna looks worried again. Her father and Amon fighting...that is exactly what she has been trying to prevent! Ahuru turns to look at Cliodhna, and suddenly she can hear his voice in her head. "What do you think Memnon will do when he finds out that Amon is his father?"
Cliodhna looks at Ahuru in confusion for a moment, and then looks away, thinking about his words. And then it all hits her. Memnon will try to protect him-- probably against something that's too powerful for him to survive. Cliodhna bites her lip, but it's too much for her, and she suddenly bursts into tears and covers her face. Memnon turns and looks down at her in concern, taking her arms in his hands. "Cliodhna, what's wrong?"
Brianna and Ray look at her in surprise and concern, also asking what's wrong, but she can only shake her head and look at them with large, tormented eyes as she continues to cry. Memnon holds her, looking upset, but lets her continue to cry until she finally calms down enough to take her face away from his chest and wipe her eyes. "Mem...please be careful..." she whispers, and he raises an eyebrow at her and nods.
"Of course, Cli."
Suddenly Brianna, again, staggers and starts having another vision. This one is much longer than the last one, and when she finally opens her eyes, everyone is looking at her nervously and expectantly. She opens her mouth to speak, and then thinks better of it. "I will tell Ahuru my vision a little later...I'm still thinking about what I saw."
Cliodhna's Shadow chuckles in her head. "Still re-wording it, is what she means!" and Cliodhna narrows her eyes for a moment as she looks at Brianna, and then realizes that her Shadow is just messing with her again.
Brianna walks away for a moment to collect herself and think over the vision she was just given, and Ahuru walks over to Cliodhna and puts a hand on her shoulder. When she looks up at him, she sees the same pain mirrored in his eyes that are in hers, and she suddenly feels horrible for being so impatient, disbelieving, and disrespectful to him because of her fears about her father and Memnon's safety. "I'm sorry, Ahuru..." she whispers. "I understand now. Ye're just as terrified as I am about losin' yer family, only ye don't have the luxery o' cryin' an' whinin' about it ta everyone. I'm sorry I made yer burden heavier." she says in a voice full of regret.
Ahuru gives her a little smile. "It is all right, Cliodhna. These are difficult times for us all. I would like to tell you about a vision I saw of you recently. It does not make sense to me, but perhaps it will make sense to you." Ahuru closes his eyes. "I see you at your grandparents' tavern...upstairs in your room...you are afraid and confused...there are heavy footsteps coming..." he opens his eyes. "That is all I saw."
Cliodhna looks at Ahuru with a perplexed look on her face. "It doesn't make sense ta me, but it may...in time..."
Suddenly Friday comes running up to the cohort, all excited. "I'm here to help, Cliodhna! Where would you like me?"
Cliodhna turns to face Friday with a smile. "Thank ye, Friday! What can ye do? Are ye an archer...swordsman...?"
Friday beams, "I'm very good with a sword!" he says, taking his standard-issue sword out of its sheath and holding it unsteadily but enthusiastically.
Cliodhna looks at him with a worried expression on her face. "All right, Friday...let's see what ye can do. Mem-- would ye spar with Friday so I can see him fight?"
Memnon grins. "It would be my pleasure!" He brings out his own sword, and stands facing Friday. The two spar a little, and it's clear that while Friday could probably keep himself alive, he's no master swordsman.
"Friday..." Cliodhna begins. "...why don't ye stay back with the commanders? I think they'll need yer help more."
Friday's face falls a little. "I don't want to stay back-- I want to help with the fighting!"
Cliodhna's about to ORDER him to stay back, when Ahuru suddenly leans towards her and tells her that she should let Friday fight-- it will be all right. Cliodhna's Shadow pipes up again. "Ahuru's just planning on using Friday as cannon-fodder! He won't be sad when Friday's killed!"
Cliodhna's face tightens a little, but then she realizes the absurdity of her Shadow's words, and shakes her head a little. "All right, Friday, ye can fight, but stay close ta Memnon, aye?" Friday nods enthusiastically, and Cliodhna leans in to Memnon and whispers, "Mem-- try ta keep Friday from gettin' hurt, aye?" Memnon grins, chuckles, and nods.
Cliodhna smiles and looks across the field of men, and then sees William coming towards them. She taps Memnon on the shoulder and then strides up to William, saluting him. "Anaceron William! 'Tis good ta see ye out on the field!" she says excitedly.
"It's good to have you back, Marshall." he says, tilting his head to her with a smile in return.
"Ye're my commander now, I take it?" Cliodhna asks, and William nods. "What are our orders, sir?" she asks, snapping to attention. Cliodhna will cheerfully and enthusiastically obey the orders of anyone above her who she perceives to be a good and competant leader, and she'd worked hard to help put Paul in the governor's seat, and William as Anaceron of the Grim Legion! "Everythin' is comin' together," she thinks, feeling pleased.
William begins to tell the cohort about what's been happening. He reveals that Daniel has been eating new Wraiths as they emerge in the Tempest after their mortal deaths. Everyone looks at William in shock, but it makes complete sense...Daniel has been betraying Markova because he wants to defeat Markova and take his place as a Malfean. Cliodhna's eyes narrow as she considers all the people Daniel has back-stabbed over the years. His time will come, and-- Gaia-willing-- it will be at her hands, she hopes vengefully.
Ray suddenly steps forward, a thoughtful look on his face. He says he has an idea-- what if all the men who have fetters in Central Park all fetter there at once and try to attack Daniel? William rubs his chin and thinks this over. It could very possibly work...it's a good idea. He tells Ray that he will think this plan over-- in the meantime, he'd like the cohort to go to the docks, and the second they hear from Amon or the Amenti ships come into view, to have the men in the New York ships fire at the Stygian ships. Cliodhna says that they will, bows quickly, and turns with the cohort to head to the docks.
Once there, Cliodhna tells the cohort that they need to go to each ship, tell the men on board to turn the ships so one side is against the docks, and then move all their cannons to the portholes on the side facing the water. When Amon contacts them saying that the Amenti have arrived, each member of the cohort will be responsible for alerting a ship or two, and telling them to fire on the Stygians. Everyone nods, and runs to give the instructions to the ships.
When the cohort is done and standing back together again, Ray says that he suddenly remembered something Serpent told him. "Serpent said 'do not retreat to the water-- fight on. It will look like we should retreat to the water, but it will be a trap, so we should hold our ground and fight on.'"
Cliodhna looks at Ray in surprise, and thanks him for the message. "We need ta tell William immediately," she says. "Just in case we're not back in time, let's tell the ships that the minute they see the Amenti ships, ta start firin' at the Stygians then." The cohort runs to deliver this revised message to each of the ships, and then they leave to return to the army-camp. They deliver Serpent's message to William, and William thinks for a moment and nods-- thanking them for this important information. Cliodhna asks if they should return to the docks, but William tells her that the cohort should remain at the camp.
After they talk to William, Ray taps Cliodhna on the shoulder and asks if he can speak with her for a moment. She nods, and the two move away from the group so they can speak privately. Ray looks very worried, and tells Cliodhna to watch. She watches him carefully, and he shows her how his moliated spikes are no longer stiff and sharp, but rubbery and turning a little floppy. Cliodhna looks at his spikes in concern, and asks if any of his other arcanoi have been affected like this. Ray says that he doesn't know, so Cliodhna has him use each of his arcanoi to test them out-- all are working perfectly well. In fact, he can moliate other people, but when he tries to moliate himself, his skin...in fact, even his regular corpus has started turning rubbery!
Then Ray opens his mouth and pulls his lip up, and Cliodhna can see fangs growing! They really start worrying now! Ray tells her that he went to a castigator recently about this problem, but the castigator told him that his Shadow was in-shock and not stirring. Although his Shadow was still very strong, it was also very confused for the moment. Cliodhna lets everything sit in her head, trying to figure out this mystery. She asks Ray if she can speak to Ahuru about it, and he says she can. But before she does, she takes Ray over to William and asks William if Ray can be issued some good swords, and William smiles and says he can arrange for that. Cliodhna turns to Ray, thanks him for telling her about this, and tells him that he'll need to have some good swords handy-- just in case his spikes fail him. Ray nods, takes William's conscript to the forgers, and Cliodhna approaches Ahuru and Brianna.
She quickly tells them everything that Ray told her, and asks if they have any idea what could be happening to him. Ahuru and Brianna both look puzzled and shake their heads. As Cliodhna looks off into the distance for a moment, thinking, suddenly everything becomes perfectly clear, and she looks back at Ahuru and Brianna in excitement. "He's becomin' a serpent!! Maybe he's goin' ta be one o' Serpent's smaller prophet-serpents-- like the one who guided us in Clay!" Ahuru smiles and nods, and says that he thinks she is exactly right.
Cliodhna turns and sees Ray approaching them, and smiles excitedly at him. "Ray-- we know what's happenin' ta ye! Ye're turnin' inta a serpent-- maybe like that serpent-prophet who we followed through Clay!" Ray looks very relieved, and smiles and nods, saying that this is a good explanation. Cliodhna suddenly has a vision of Ray as a huge, spiked snake chomping down on Daniel, and grins.
Suddenly a loud horn rings through the camp, and the cohort can hear William shouting that the spectres are moving in-- time to attack! The cohort quickly draws their weapons, stands in a line, and moves forward towards the front. They mow down any and all spectres who come at them-- Ray flinging his spiked mace-like arms with lightening speed, fighting with the strength of 10 men! Memnon stands between Cliodhna and Friday so he can watch out for both of them, and Ahuru fights side-by-side with Brianna.
Suddenly the spectres part, and there standing before them is Snow. Cliodhna glares at her old nemesis...the one who almost sent her into a harrowing with only a few punches to her corpus. Memnon's puts his hand on Cliodhna's shoulder, stopping her as she's about to lunge forward. "I'll take him, Cli." he says with determination.
"No, Mem-- we'll have ta fight together ta defeat him." Memnon nods his head at her quickly, and the two run forward to challenge Snow.
"Raaaaaay..." a voice growls, and more spectres part to reveal Longtooth standing before Ray. "Longtooth!" Ray hisses, and suddenly some of Ray's spikes turn into hissing and writhing snakes. The two run at each other.
"Hi Brianna," a very young voice calls, and Brianna turns to see Billy! Billy-- the very young Wraith who had tricked her into taking care of him once, and then tried to kill her! She narrows her eyes at him, holding her spear ready.
"Billy." she agknowledges warily. Suddenly Billy launches himself at her ferociously, and the two begin to fight.
As if this weren't bad enough, the cohort can see...Daniel. William sees Daniel, also, and runs at him-- his powerful artifact-sword already swinging in a deadly arc. Daniel parries the blow, and the two begin to fight.
Memnon runs up to Snow and thrusts his sword at him, but Snow is able to knock the sword away and get a punch in on Memnon-- sucking some of the corpus and pathos from him. Cliodhna shouts in fury, but finds her calm place-- her sword back in its sheath-- and draws her fist back. Concentrating with all her mental-power, she punches her fist forward with a high-pitched shriek, and the shock-waves of the stone-hand punch reverberate through the air, slamming into Snow and injuring him badly. Cliodhna smiles and mimics Snow's martial arts-stance, making a mocking imitation of his ninja-cry.
Snow looks furious, but he can't run at Cliodhna with Memnon swinging at him, so he has no choice but to continue trying to fight Memnon. Memnon swings again, and this time cuts into Snow before Snow can knock the blade away. Cliodhna gives a triumphant cry, and then brings her fist back again. Closing her eyes, she packs all her rage and frustration behind her punch, and slams her fist forward. The power travels through the air at the speed of sound, and when it reaches Snow, his corpus explodes and dissolves into the ground.
"We did it!! We killed him!!" she cries, running and jumping into Memnon's arms in excitement. She's never killed anything that powerful before, and it boosts her lagging self-esteem greatly-- even though she feels very drained.
Suddenly she looks over and sees Ahuru with spectres all over him. Brianna sees this, too, as she fights Billy, and lets out a cry of anguish. They watch as Ahuru goes down-- the spectres swarming over him, and then suddenly he bursts up-- a huge half-man, half-spider-- and spectres go flying everywhere! He begins impaling spectres with his long, sharp legs, swinging at them with his staff! Brianna gives him a look filled with love and admiration, and goes back to fighting Billy.
Filled with energy from seeing the power of her lover, Brianna's eyes fill with something that scares Billy so badly that he suddenly turns and runs. Brianna inhales, drawing her arm back, and with perfect precision she launches her spear at high speed, and it impales Billy through the back. He cries out, falling to the ground-- his corpus dissipating. Brianna smiles, and walks over calmly to retrieve her spear.
Ray continues to fight Longtooth-- both of them so powerful that the fight is very close. Ray is much faster, but Longtooth seems to be much stronger...until Ray's writhing snakes take matters into their own fangs! Just when Ray runs out of pathos to fuel his arcanoi and thinks he'll be dead after Longtooth's next attack, his snakes hiss and strike at Longtooth with deadly whipping and biting. Longtooth shrieks and stumbles backwards, and with Ray's incredibly-fast viscious mace-like flailing, Ray is finally able to pound Longtooth's corpus into mush. As Longtooth dissolves into the dirt, Ray feels vindication and relief!
But the relief is not to last for long. Just before Brianna, Cliodhna, Memnon, and Ray can join Friday in helping Ahuru destroy spectres, the final two members of The Five-- Shinto and Ironshanks-- stride forward. Cliodhna looks at Brianna incredulously-- where did they come from? Cliodhna is worried because she used almost all her pathos in defeating Snow, but she and Memnon turn to face Shinto after Brianna picks out the one who eluded her before: Ironshanks.
The fighting is long and hard, but with Ray's help, Cliodhna and Memnon are able to destroy Shinto just as Brianna delivers the death-blow to Ironshanks! Cliodhna lets out a whoop of excitement, Ray calls his Shakari warriors to him, and the group is finally able to run up and fight beside Ahuru and Friday.
Wraith Side-Story 17: "Ray's Final Steps"