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He grimaces but nods.
“I know,” he says. “Still, I love you. I always have and always,” he pauses for a moment then continues, “I always will. No matter what. You are the other half of my heart.”
I don’t know what to say so I take my hands from his and give him a hug. I hold him tight for a long moment, listening to his heart thunder in his chest until it slows down and the demands of time pull us apart. I let my hair hang in my face to hide the tear I wipe away. I never want to hurt him, but I must follow my own heart too.
“It is decided,” Mab says. “Cernunnos, come forth. Aid me in opening the portal.”
“About damn time,” Cernunnos says, his hooves clopping as he stomps to us, emerging from one of the hovels.
Cernunnos is about three feet tall and looks just as angry as he did on my return to the Fae lands. His youthful, almost cherubic face worn and splotched with dirt accenting the deep frown. The antlers protruding from his curly hair have debris clinging to them and what looks like a dark moss. His eyes are dull and he’s frowning, but he’s here.
He stops next to Queen Mab and gives her the slightest bow of his head. She smiles, if slightly, and returns the nod, then holds out her hand. He stares at it for a long moment then takes it.
“I will aid you,” Queen Mab says.
“Is she ready?” Cernunnos asks, looking at me.
“I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be,” I say.
“Then the answer is no.” He shakes his head. “But there is no more time. It’s now or it’s not going to happen.”
He closes his eyes, inhales deeply, and then open them. His eyes are now dark and swirling like mirrors reflecting the Milky Way galaxy as it turns. He mutters something guttural that I can’t define as words while making a circular motion with his free hand in front of himself.
Mab hums, a soft, musical sound that has a melody I feel I know but can’t place. It calls to something deep inside of me though. Moira moves to stand at my left and Dugald stands to my right.
Mab and Cernunnos glow with a soft, silvery light that grows in intensity as they continue casting their spell. It’s clear that Cernunnos is the lead because he glows brighter, and Mab’s melody is intertwining with his deeper bass.
The air six feet in front of him twists. There is no other word to describe it. It looks like reality is swirling down a tub drain. Twisting, turning, and twirling that starts as a circle about two feet in diameter and then grows.
It’s fascinating to watch but I have to wonder why this realm needs a portal when I can normally step between realms by sidestepping. Is it only because magic is tainted by the dark or is there something about this particular realm?
I finally decided that this realm must not connect to the ones I can travel between in the same way. If it was, then what would keep the darkness and the things inside it from coming to this realm?
Cernunnos gasps loudly, jerking my attention to him. He’s pale and somehow looks thinner, not in weight, but in being there. Not quite translucent, but not quite as there as he was. Almost as if he’s fading away. His brow furrows and his mouth twists in pain but he continues his song.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
“He is doing what he must,” Moira says.
“It’s hurting him,” I say. No one says anything though. They know, more, they knew, but no one told me. “Stop this. It’s hurting him.”
“We can’t stop now,” Dugald says. “This is our only hope. He knew the price.”
“No.” I step forward, intending to stop this but both Moira and Dugald grab my shoulders and pull back. “Let me go. There has to be another way.”
Dark veins race across Cernunnos’s face as beads of sweat trail down his cheeks. He’s breathing heavily but he doesn’t stop the chant. The swirling of reality has grown into a full-size portal, six feet tall and three feet wide. It’s a window into another realm, an empty, gray realm of nothingness that stretches for as far as I can see.
“Come on, Quinn. This is it,” Moira says, tugging on my arm to pull me towards it.
I look over my shoulder at Cernunnos. He’s wavering on his feet and looks as if he could disappear at any second, he’s barely there. I didn’t want to hurt him, there had to be another way.
“Cernunnos,” I call to him.
He looks and shakes his head.
“Go, this is the price,” he says.
Dugald and Moira pull me through the portal, and before it closes behind us Cernunnos disappears with an audible pop.
