Page 105 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

Cian O’Duinn was another legendary name, that of a Summer druid who had dared to rally his people against the Destroyer after the Summer Queen was killed. He had lost everything, his people were slaughtered, and he was entombed as punishment in Uile Breithà.

“What in the Four Courts would he be looking for?” Ciaran wondered aloud.

“The Jötunn are going through their texts now to see if anything is missing. It will be some time before we hear back, but I hope to know the answer soon. What do you know of him?” Rian asked, turning his attention to me.

“I never met him, but other druids came to recruit for his army. He was mad with rage, so I’d say he will begin right where he left off,” I advised Rian with a shrug.

“The Destroyer sleeps. O’Duinn must know he cannot achieve his revenge,” Ciaran dismissed my suggestion.

“Unless he manages to wake him,” pointed out Sage. “He may be one of few who could accomplish it.”

“Whichwouldbe a problem,” I added to Ciaran who merely shook his head as if to further dismiss me.

I noticed Rian tilt his head as he examined the turning globe in front of him which I realized was a model of the Tithriall weaving through worlds. Not all of the worlds, obviously, there were far too many to be counted, but his striking model showed the Vale, each of the Four Courts, and Uile Breithà.

“What if it werenota problem? What if the Destroyer is exactly what we needed?” he mused thoughtfully.

I glanced at Sage and then Carrick, relieved to see that they both appeared as alarmed by this thought as I felt.

“We need to annihilate the humans. Who better to do that for us than the Destroyer?” Rian insisted when he saw all of our uncertain expressions.

“And how do you propose to control such an entity?” Sage wanted to know.

“I am not sure control is necessary. We would merely unleash him in their direction. I expect his nature would take care of the rest for us,” Rian explained his reasoning. “Something else for me to think on,” he dismissed when no one spoke up. “The last thing I need to tell you is that I’ve acquired another recruit: a Seer. Perhaps when she has awakened, she will provide clarity on O’Duinn.”

“Just the two of you went to retrieve her?” Sage asked, looking at Darragh who frowned and folded his arms over his chest while glaring at Rian’s back. “You wentalone?” Sage gaped, spinning back toward his cousin.

“Why are you allsopreoccupied with that little detail? Do you really think I need a guard?” Rian snapped.

“With the Griffin King back in the Vale, thanks to our dearest little Summer doe, we cannot be too careful!” argued Ciaran, and I glowered at him.

“Nuala was not in the Vale, she was in Uile Breithà,” Rian advised us. “She is a witch,” he added, nodding his head at me before taking a swig of the bottle in his hand.

There was a moment of silence while his revelation detonated between the riders.

“You broughta witchto Ahnnaòin?” demanded Sage, and Ciaran thrust his hand at him while looking pointedly at Rian as if to say,See?

“Listen carefully,” Rian growled, his voice deepening sternly as he turned to face the whole room, but he looked specifically at Ciaran. “Youwillbe pleasant when you meet her. If I sense so much as ahintof unkindness, I will bind you to the whipping post and let the orcs take turns having their way with you. Is thatperfectlyunderstood?”

“You cannot be serious,” Ciaran growled in disbelief, looking to Sage as if expecting him to intercede, but myanamremained quiet and cautious when I looked at him. Eying Rian and then his father with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

“I could notbemore serious, Ciaran,” Rian asserted. “Nuala has been through a kind of torment that none of you, perhaps with the exception of Ornella, could begin to comprehend. But she believes in what we are doing.”

“I can attest to both her condition and her conviction,” Carrick admitted with a sad glance toward Rian’s private chamber. “The girl deserves grace.”

“She really wants to help destroy the humans and her own people?” I verified. Amira disliked most humans and a good deal of other witches too, but I didn’t think for a second that she would happily aid in their destruction.

“She does,” Rian answered me with full confidence. “You will know her pain when you meet her, and I hope that once you are recovered you’ll assist in healing her,” he admitted more gently.

“Of course,” I assured him.

“They did unspeakable things to her,” he added to the whole room. “So she will be our divining eyes, and we will be her world’s reckoning.”

Chapter thirty

VOLCANOES INEVITABLY ERUPT

Sage

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