Dolmarehn - Book Two of the Otherworld Trilogy Read online

  Cade had his hood up and I couldn’t see his face, but I heard the humor in his voice when he said, “Right on time.”

  He shifted and in the dim light I could barely make out a hand reaching in my direction. I stepped back in surprise.

  “My power is stronger than yours at the moment Meghan. Let me guide you in the darkness.”

  Laughing nervously and shaking off my unease, I took his hand and the reassuring grip warmed me.

  When we reached the mouth of the small cave that would take us to the Otherworld, the black sky had lightened to deep blue. Cade dropped my hand as we started making our way in the dark once again. I was nervous and my heartbeat increased as we moved forward. Images and memories from the last time I’d experienced this flashed through my head. For a moment I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to go through with this after all, but the tightening of Meridian’s claws on my shoulder and her soft, Protect, brushing my mind reassured me and gave me new courage.

  After taking several steps into the cave, Cade stopped. He reached back and took my hand once more. He laced his fingers with mine and tightened his grasp.

  “Do you trust me Meghan?”

  His voice was soft, almost pleading. I swallowed and tried hard to discern his expression in the dark. The paltry amount of light reaching this far into the small cavern glinted off his eyes, giving him the appearance of a demon trying to tempt me into doing something evil.

  “Yes,” I answered, my own voice a mere whisper, “I trust you.”

  “Good.”

  He gave my hand a quick squeeze, and then I was pulled forward into the icy abyss that loomed before us.

  -Seven-

  Dolmarehn

  The experience of passing into the Otherworld brought back unpleasant memories from several months ago. The ancient chill swirled around us, making me dizzy and breathless, but during the whole ordeal Cade held on tight to my hand.

  Mist and a frosty air greeted us on the other side, and I had to exercise a great deal of self control to keep from bolting back through the dolmarehn. The familiar stones, like the lifeless bodies of some long forgotten beings, loomed in the fog, reminding me of my last visit here.

  Cade must have sensed my unease, because he moved closer and pressed a hand to the small of my back. I almost leapt out of my skin.

  “It’s okay Meghan,” he whispered, “the Morrigan isn’t here.”

  Forcing myself to relax, I stepped forward. I knew she wasn’t here, but the mere familiarity and memory of this place put me on edge.

  Meridian flew from my shoulder to join Fergus, chattering with joy. I smiled. She must recognize her homeland.

  Magic, she sighed contentedly against my mind.

  I winced as fresh guilt for keeping her in the mortal world for so long washed over me.

  We left the haunted hillside and the tension drained from my body. Cade found a path and we started to follow it, moving further and further away from the dolmarehn. For about thirty minutes we walked along a wooded ridgeline, but I never could see far enough past the mist and trees to get a better view of what lay ahead of us. We moved steadily uphill for quite some time before stopping for a break, and I wondered where we were going.

  Before I got the chance to express my thoughts aloud, Fergus loped up, his long tongue lolling and a mischievous grin on his face. He came to rest beside Cade, leaning affectionately against his thigh and gazing up with longing.

  Cade spoke a few words in the language of the Otherworld and gave his dog a scratch behind the ears.

  Meridian found her favorite spot up against my neck and settled in for a snooze.

  Good exploring? I sent to her mind.

  Happy trees, she responded, snacks.

  I smiled. Who would have ever thought I would be so pleased by the thoughts of a bird?

  “So, uh, where are we heading exactly?” I said as we began walking once more.

  Cade cast a glance over his shoulder and gave an impish grin.

  “You’ll see.”

  I snorted at that, slightly worried but also excited.

  The scenery changed once we started heading downhill again. This time the trail wasn’t surrounded by looming oaks, but was open and spacious. Enormous broken rocks littered the ground and the fog lifted enough to reveal the frost dusting the earth like powdered crystals. I sighed in appreciation, slowing my step in order to store the enchanted scene in my memory.

  Unfortunately, the magic was broken when the trail curved around a massive tree and something dark appeared out of the corner of my eye. I gasped and pressed myself up against Cade’s back. An animal about the size of a pig and close enough in resemblance to one was standing on the trail eating something. Only it wasn’t a pig. At least not a live, normal one. The creature had the coloring and rotten look of one of the Morrigan’s faelah. As soon as it spotted us, the Otherworldly boar let out a terrible squeal and took off.

  “Fergus, go!” Cade shouted, his voice rumbling in his chest and reverberating against the cheek I had pressed against his back.

  He twisted around to find his spirit guide trailing behind us. The hound released a single, sharp bark, then growled and bolted after the demon pig. Meridian screeched from above, darting after Fergus.

  Help. Spot ahead, she sent me. I let her know her efforts were appreciated.

  Cade had stopped moving the second I’d plastered myself against him. As we stood there waiting, I asked, “What was that?”

  “Mucdiahb,” he said, the cut of his mouth grim, “evil pig.”

  I fought the temptation to wrap my arms around him.

  “How is it evil, exactly?”

  “Other than the fact that a mucdiahb will attack and kill just for the fun of it,” he replied as he took a tentative step forward, “it will readily do the bidding of the Morrigan. They generally stick to the woods, but on occasion they wander out into the open. They are a great nuisance to the wildren of the Weald.”

  I allowed him to step away from me, but scanned the other boulders for more mucdiahb, just in case one was hiding and waiting to pounce on us.

  In order to keep my nerves settled, I asked, “The Wildren of the Weald?”

  He only smiled and returned his eyes to the path ahead, his step more confident than cautious now. We had started ascending back into the forest after crossing the creek running alongside the bottom of the open gully.

  “The wild children of Eilé,” Cade finally answered, giving me a hand-up through a rather steep part of the trail.

  His face took on a dark, regretful pretense. “The unwanted children of this world.”

  I furrowed my brow and my mouth dropped open. Unwanted children? Were there no orphanages or foster homes in the Otherworld? I bit my lip. Of course there weren’t. Wouldn’t I have remained here if there had been some sort of child care system to take me in? Might I have ended up with these wild children had I not been sent to the mortal world?

  I shook my head to banish the depressing thoughts. Instead, I focused on the other thing Cade had said. “What’s a weald?”

  “The Weald,” Cade emphasized both words, “is what we call the massive forest growing several miles north of here. It begins on the western shore of our largest lake, Lake Ohll, and spreads far to the north and even further to the west. Legend claims that no one has ever traveled the entire length of it.”

  He sighed and looked back up, studying the trail ahead of us. “Many believe that the Weald never ends, that the wood goes on forever.”

  “And you said the, um, Wildren live there. The unwanted children?”

  Cade drew another deep breath and gradually released it. His pace slowed as the path narrowed and the trees grew thicker and larger. I welcomed the darkness their interlaced branches created, even though they had lost their leaves for winter.

  “Eilé isn’t like the mortal world Meghan.” Cade’s voice took on a somber note. “Children are often born here, ones that are, I guess unplanned is the kindest ter
m to give them. Sometimes acknowledging them can bring about severe repercussions, for both the parents and the children, so they are abandoned to the wilds.”

  My stomach twisted with pity. Sure, I had come to a similar conclusion earlier, but to hear someone admit such cruelty out loud, to tell me these terrible thoughts were actually true, was something else entirely.

  “No one could be that cruel,” I whispered harshly as the cold air grew colder.

  Well, okay, maybe the Morrigan, but who else would do something so heartless?

  Cade came to a stop on the trail and held up his free hand to keep me from saying anything more.

  “It’s how things are done here, Meghan. As appalling and unkind as the practice may seem, it is accepted. Don’t fret too terribly, though. The other Wildren find them and adopt them into their family. In fact, the people of Eilé now know where they can leave their young ones so they may be well cared for. They make their home in the Weald and grow extraordinarily close to the land itself. They’ve become the greatest wielders of power in the Otherworld. Besides the gods and goddesses of course.”

  His slight grimace came right after a grin. Cade took a deep breath and started walking again. “The Morrigan has been trying to get to them for centuries now, but the trees won’t let her in. As long as the wild children stay within the forest, she can’t touch them. It’s quite entertaining to watch her, actually, when she thinks she’s finally slipped past the barrier of magic. Have you ever seen a grown woman throw a temper tantrum Meghan?”

  I fought a chuckle, despite what I’d learned about kids being abandoned to face the wilderness on their own. The image of the Morrigan throwing a fit kept my mind occupied for the next several minutes.

  We reached the top of the hill and the thick, ancient oaks opened up just enough to host a scattering of small meadows. A sharp bark from ahead of us caused both Cade and I to slow to a stop.

  Fergus broke free of the underbrush, panting and giving us his usual grin. I smiled, glad to see him, then curled my lip in slight worry. Splotches of blood covered his face and neck.

  Cade went still for a few moments, and I got the impression he was sharing information with his spirit guide.

  Land?

  I jumped at Meridian’s sudden intrusion into my mind. I wondered if I’d ever get used to her silent words.

  Yes, I answered back, and a minute later she swooped down from the canopy and alit on my shoulder. Relief prickled across my skin when I found no blood on her.

  “Good boy,” Cade said to Fergus, and we started walking once again.

  “The mucdiahb has been taken care of,” he offered grimly.

  “Oh, wonderful.”

  I still felt a bit troubled by our last conversation, but I shook those thoughts off. I could do nothing to help at the moment and I didn’t think anything I said would change the current situation. Besides, if Cade told the truth about the abandoned children having family with others like them, then I’d be content. At least for now.

  We soon passed through a meadow carpeted with frost encrusted ferns, and a living cloud of pale blue moths with metallic gold spots on their wings fluttered up from their resting places. This time I didn’t bother to hide my gasp.

  “How beautiful!” I nearly tripped over my feet as I turned in a circle to get a better look.

  “Careful,” Cade chuckled as he wrapped his free arm around me, catching me before I lost my balance.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, fixing my hair nervously as I planted my feet firmly on the ground. Good thing he hadn’t been walking too far ahead of me or else I might just have face-planted into the ferns.

  “Don’t be,” he answered, releasing me and turning back towards the trail. “These moths are rare and are hardly ever seen, even by those who live here year round. In fact, I’d say this was a good omen, especially considering how late it is in the season.”

  I turned around and blinked back at him. “Really? You’re messing with me.”

  Cade held up his right hand as if to swear an oath. “Nope.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. His vow seemed genuine enough, but there was humor in his ever-changing eyes.

  Snorting, I followed after him, but kept an easy pace so I could still admire the beautiful insects. We passed through the meadow, leaving the moths and their good tidings behind, and traveled for another hour.

  At one point I tried asking Cade where we were going again, but all he said was, “The best camping spot in this part of Eilé.”

  My heartbeat sped up and I drew in a sharp breath as I once again remembered why I had made this special trip to the Otherworld. To stay overnight. With Cade. Alone. Perhaps Meridian and Fergus could act as chaperones.

  “Are you alright?”

  Cade had stopped walking, his arms crossed over his chest, his head cocked to one side as he studied me.

  “Um, yeah.” I remembered to breathe. Eventually. “Just, uh, thinking about the moths again.”

  All Cade did was quirk an eyebrow in return.

  I gritted my teeth, nervous all of a sudden. Honestly Meghan, you knew you’d be spending the night with him! The backpack I’d been carrying for the past two hours seemed to grow heavier.

  Once we reached the end of the meadow where the trail started dipping downward again, Cade lifted a hand. “We’re here.”

  “Is this where we’re camping out?” I asked, sliding the backpack off my shoulder.

  “Yes.”

  I glanced around the small hollow, more of a depression in the hillside surrounded by trees and lichen-encrusted rocks than what I’d call an ideal site to make camp. A small ring of blackened stones denoted a fire pit and the thick layers of moss covering the open space suggested that although the night might be cold, at least the ground would be soft. And then it occurred to me that I hadn’t packed any camping supplies. No sleeping bag, no pillow, not even an emergency blanket. And since Cade hadn’t brought anything at all, I figured he was in the same boat as me.

  “Um, Cade?” I said, rubbing my elbow and searching the area for any form of cover. “If we are camping, uh, what are we going to use as sleeping bags?”

  Of course, at that exact moment an image of Cade stretched out before the fire with me snuggled in his arms flared in my mind. A fierce blush crawled up my neck and warmed me up a bit. Okay, more than a bit.

  “Don’t worry,” Cade shot over his shoulder as he squeezed into the narrow crevice of an oak tree, “I keep this place stocked for situations such as these.”

  Good. He hadn’t seen my bright-red face.

  “Uh, how do you mean?”

  Cade maneuvered himself out of the tree hollow carrying a giant, weatherproof duffle bag. His grin helped ease my nervousness.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have a tent, but there are at least three separate sleeping bags in here and some extra blankets of course.”

  He dropped the bag and yanked back the zipper, pulling out what appeared to be the warmest sleeping bag before handing it over to me. Without even glancing in my direction, he pulled another sleeping bag out and quickly started unrolling it beside the duffle bag. Next, he took out a few more things: a sack of dried food, some bowls, spoons and a pot.

  “I’ll sleep over here, and you can have that side. The rocks create a natural barrier against the elements and you’ll have the fire on this side to keep you warm enough.”

  I hid my grin and pushed my earlier thoughts out of my mind. He sounded just as nervous about our sleeping arrangements as I felt.

  “Good idea,” I agreed with a relieved breath.

  Cade passed over some extra blankets and I piled them on top of my sleeping bag. They smelled slightly musty and stale, but they were clean and dry.

  “I used to come up here often as a boy with my foster father,” Cade said, sighing and lying back on his sleeping bag. “There is an old castle about three miles away from here, a place of ancient legend. As a child I loved exploring the abandoned halls and caves behind it.
”

  I sat down and crossed my legs, listening to Cade’s soothing voice and letting the embarrassing thoughts of earlier fade away as the sky began to turn gold and rose with the approach of sunset.

  “Why is the castle legendary?” I asked.

  Cade turned his head to look at me and a stray piece of his dark copper hair came loose to brush his forehead.

  “Because the caves are full of dolmarehn, dolmarehn that can take you to all the corners of the mortal world and to the many realms beyond Eilé.”

  His voice was softer, revealing more awe than before.

  I released a breath I’d been unconsciously holding and looked him in the eye. He was studying me once more, as if waiting for some answer to a puzzle he couldn’t quite figure out to appear on my face. I blushed again.

  I cleared my throat. “Do you still visit this castle?”

  He grinned. “Sometimes.”

  “And, can I go with you one day? I mean, if you ever go back when I’m here in Eilé?”

  The way he kept his eyes on me was just short of unnerving, but not in a negative sense. I glanced away, picking at some moss growing too close to one of the stones standing guard over me.

  “Yes, you can come with me the next time I visit.”

  The tone of his voice sent shivers up my spine, and I made an effort not to tremble this time. I stole a glance at his face, but he no longer studied me. Instead, he stared into the leafless canopy above. I pursed my lips and considered him, for once not fixating entirely on his beauty.

  “Your foster father?” I pressed after awhile, remembering what he had said at the start of this conversation. “Were you an orphan too?”

  He inhaled deeply, still staring at the canopy when he answered, “It is customary for children to be fostered by someone other than their parents. My father died long ago, and my mother,” he paused and took another breath, his eyes, once fixated on the treetops, became obscured and lost, receding somewhere far away.

  I held my breath. Cade seemed bothered by something, and he undoubtedly had many things to trouble him, what with his responsibility of keeping the faelah in line and chasing them from the mortal world, yet I’d never given much thought to the other details of his life. Was he on good terms with his family? Did he have friends here in Eilé? I honestly had no idea.