They served the Clach na Fìrinn. They always had.
“You see?” I shouted over the melee. “They’re protecting the Stone! They’re not your servants. They never were!”
The Beithir twisted, trying to shake off the Kelpies, trying to reach me, but they were relentless.Murdoch and the crows continued their assault from above, a constant harassment that kept the creature off-balance.
“Enough!”
The Beithir’s roar shook the island to its foundations. Lightning exploded from its body in all directions, and for a moment everything went white—the Kelpies scattered, the crows tumbled through the air, and I threw myself flat against the rocks with my hands over my head.
When I looked up, the Beithir was staring at me.
But something had changed in its eyes.
Aye, the rage was still there, but beneath it—beneath his fury and grief—something cracked. Even so, I wasn’t sure there’d be enough time. The Kelpies were regrouping, circling back, preparing for another assault. The crows cawed from high above seemingly ready to dive again.
And the Beithir... the Beithir looked at the Kelpies like it was seeing them for the first time.
“They protect the Stone,” it said slowly. His voice rumbled through me. “They are not my guardians.”
“They serve the truth,” I said, pushing myself up onto my knees. “That’s what they’ve always done.”
“And I...” The creature’s voice faltered. “I thought they were mine. I thought their hunger for Wright blood was loyalty to my father’s memory. But it was never that. It was always...”
“The Cailleach,” I finished. “She corrupted everything. She turned guardians into monsters and protectors into executioners.”
The Beithir was silent.
The Kelpies held their positions, waiting. The crowscircled overhead, Murdoch’s harsh cry echoing across the water.
“I have been a fool,” the Beithir said finally.
“You were lied to.” I squeezed my hands into fists, my nails digging so deeply into my palms that I was certain I was drawing blood.
Graham had been in the loch far too long.Goddess, please don’t let him die. Please.
“That does not excuse what I have done. What I have sustained.” Its massive head turned toward the Kelpies, toward the dark shapes hovering in the water. “They tried to tell me. They pushed back against the curse even as they were forced to serve it. And I... I did not see.”
“You see now.”
“Aye.” The word came out heavy with exhaustion and sorrow. “I see now.”
The Beithir sank lower in the water, its great body seeming to deflate. The lightning faded from its scales. The fire dimmed in its eyes.
“Your man,” it said. “He still lives.”
My heart stopped. “He … he’s alive?” I couldn’t let hope bloom. Not to just have it shattered if the Beithir was lying to me.
“I’ve held him…beneath the waves. I was not ready to let him go. Not until I understood.”
“Where is he? How? Is he?—”
The Beithir disappeared beneath the surface.
I scrambled to the water’s edge, my heart pounding so hard I could barely breathe. My body shook with terror as I waited, gulping in air. The Kelpies parted, making way, andthe loch went still as I waited to see if my future would be forever ruined or not.
Then the water surged, and the Beithir rose again.
Graham hung limp in its coils.
