Lugh takes off down the pier at a slow jog while Neit and Morrighu follow at a more sedate pace. “That nutter’s trying to return.”
“I never liked him,” Lir says, never looking away from his fishing pole, “I kept hoping he’d get close enough to the ocean for me to drown him. How are you planning to stop him?”
“We’re going to raid his afterlife and rescue the poor sots,” Lugh explains, “Are you in?”
“You know that opening another god’s afterlife, even a dead one, is no easy task,” Lir shrugs, “I don’t know that the four of us can do it.”
“We’re planning to get Dagda and Midirr too,” Neit adds helpfully.
“The one you need is the one you might not be able to convince,” Lir replies, “and that’s Aed.” Looking at Morrighu, “You ever try to cast any magic on Aed?”
“Once or twice,” Morrighu says, “Mostly as a prank.”
“And what happened with those spells?” Lir asks her.
“They just…,” Morrighu begins.
“They died,” Lir finishes for her. “He’s the one with the ability to kill magic.”
“Maybe we could get Anubis or Kali to help instead,” Neit suggests.
“Maybe, but that’ll make it a lot harder to get Nuada and Danu to agree,” Lir advises, “Let’s go see my boy. Just don’t expect a warm welcome. I don’t think he’ll ever forgive me for that business with my second wife. Still, he’s no fan of Rigan, either, since Rigan tried to hunt him.”
“I didn’t know that,” Neit says, “I can’t imagine he’d be pleased to have him back, then.”
Chuckling, Lir reels in his fishing line and stows his pole. “No,” Lir agrees, “He would not. Out of all of us, his is perhaps the most personal grudge. It will depend on how angry he still is about that.”
Without any warning, the group finds themselves standing in front of a large cave mouth. On either side of the cavern's mouth are two large statues, and Lir approaches them cautiously. “Will you tell my son that I’m here to see him with some friends?”
The head of the statue swivels with an intense grating noise. “He says you all may enter.”
Cautiously, they proceed, and Morrighu marvels at the statues. “I must ask your master about you,” she says, tapping one on the breastplate.
“He says that this would delight him,” the statue grates out. Startled, Morrighu hurries to catch up with the rest of the group.
At the end of the winding corridor lined with statues, they come to an enormous cavern. At the far end of the cavern, there is a tall dais with a throne on it. Lounging on the throne is a young man who booms out, “Welcome to the Underworld.” Without waiting for a reply, he leaps nimbly from the throne to the floor in front of the dais and strides toward his father. “Hello, Dad,” and hugs him. Somewhat startled, Lir hugs him back. “Curious about my servants?” Aed gestures to the statues, “Come, I’ll show you. With your skill at battle magic, perhaps we can collaborate on some improvements.” Leaving Neit, Lugh, and Lir to fend for themselves, he waves a hand at a banquet table that is suddenly laden with food and wine, “Help yourselves.”
While Morrighu and Aed investigate the intricacies of constructing golems, the other three are largely ignored. “What do you make of that?” Neit whispers.
Lir shrugs. “I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” Lir warns Lugh softly as he’s about to pour some wine. “The last time someone did that, they ended up staying here for a while.”
Lugh quietly replaces the wine and backs away from the table.
After an interminable amount of time, Aed returns to them while Morrighu continues to poke at one of the golems. He pours himself a goblet of wine and flops down in a chair. “She’s told me why you’re all here,” Aed says, “I’m in. I don’t want him back either. When my glorious foster mother turned me into a swan that…,”
“Nutter,” Lugh chimes in helpfully, followed by “Jackass,” from Neit, “Asshat” from Morrighu, and “Fritlag” from Lir.
Aed chuckles, nearly choking on his wine, “I’m glad to see others share my sentiments about him, finally. Yes, let’s just say I do still hold a grudge for him trying to shoot me so he could eat me and subsume my portfolio. So…. Who’s next on this little recruiting run?”
“Dagda,” Morrighu pipes up, “then Midir. Then it’s off to Nuada and Danu for permission.”
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“Yes, I think speed will be important,” Aed agrees, “He’s busy reaping his harvest, you see.” At their stunned looks, he laughs delightedly. “Oh, you thought this was some mad scheme?” Aed shakes his head, “Don’t you see? He’s been planning this all along. He has sown and cultivated, and now he’s harvesting his crop. Elphame and Tanis might have accelerated his timetable, but this has always been his plan. Harvest god, indeed. It’s just not wheat anymore, and, as I understand it, this crop is none too pleased to be harvested, either. Why else would he have kept them so well hidden from all of us for so very long? He’s planning to displace Nuada so that he can lord over all of us. Didn’t you say that their souls were mighty? He’s created a whole race of them, and now he’s going to consume all that power. Best we stop that now.”
With a wave of his hand, Aed moves them all to the top of a large hill, surrounded by a ring of trees. A giant of a man is moving a large cauldron into position for cooking. Grinning, Lir calls, “What’s for dinner? And is there enough for us?”
“What brings you so far from your pier?” Dagda calls back, “Did you bring any fish to cook?”
“As it happens, I did, but you’ll have to help me with it,” Lir laughs.
“Come here, little man, so that I can relieve you of your burden,” Dagda chuckles.
Lir approaches Dagda and opens the small fish basket that’s clipped to his belt. Giving him a look, Dagda reaches in and pulls out an enormous fish that’s almost as long as Dagda is tall. “That’s some fish,” Dagda nods, “So what brings the five of you to see me?”
“Rigan’s trying to displace Nuada,” Aed explains, “They think he’s just trying to come back after one of his former followers killed him, but I think there’s more to it than that.”
Curious, Dagda gestures for him to continue while he prepares the fish. Aed lays out his logic, and Dagda nods, “I agree with you. He’s reaping his harvest. What are we going to do about it?”
“Get Nuada and Danu to help us stop it,” Aed says, “Because I don’t intend to have to kowtow to that imbecile. He’s already tried to kill and eat me.”
“That will mean breaking his afterlife open,” Dagda says, “Not an easy task. I’ll need to gather up a few things, but I would think that any other afterlife would be preferable to them.”
Turning to the druids who have gathered around him, “Finish preparing the fish. We’ll be hungry when we get back.” Looking at Aed, “Let’s go get Midirr so we can go find Nuada.” Nodding, Aed waves his hand again, and the group is standing in front of a lovely palace. It’s perched on top of a hill and looks more like the work of a confectioner than a stone mason. The spires and turrets are not designed for utility, but rather for beauty and to provide stunning views of the surrounding forest.
Without waiting, Dagda charges up and bangs on the door bellowing, “Midirr, stop reciting poetry and get out here. We’ve got work to do.”
There’s a lot of muffled squeaking and banging before Midirr appears, clothing rumpled and only partially dressed. “I was entertaining guests,” Midirr says testily, “Can’t it wait?” Then he sees the gathered assembly behind Dagda, “Has something happened to Nuada or Danu? Why are all of you here?”
“If we don’t move quickly,” Aed shrugs, “Something might. Now get dressed and let’s go.”
Midirr goes back inside and returns a few moments later looking significantly more presentable. “Will someone tell me what’s going on?”
“I’ll fill you in on the way,” Aed sighs and waves his hand again. This time, they stand at the gates of a large farm. A woman is sitting in the farmyard, molding figures out of clay. When she gets one to a shape she likes, she breathes on it and the figure comes to life and scampers off. Looking up from her task, she takes in the assembly at her gate and gestures to them to enter.
“It must be important if all of you have come,” Danu says, “Let me wash up and get Nuada.” She quickly rinses the clay from her hands and opens the door to the farmhouse. “Nuada, you’d best come and see what they all want.”
Nuada strides out and takes in the assembly gathered in his yard, “What’s this about?” All of them start trying to speak at once, and he waves them into silence. “Dagda, what’s the matter?” Dagda lays out the issue, and Nuada frowns, “I see… In that case, we’d have to open his afterlife and offer to let them convert.”
“It looks like a big egg,” Danu says, tapping at it cautiously, “I never knew that they looked like this from the outside.”
“I’m hungry,” Dagda shrugs, “An omelet would be lovely just now.”
Aed heads off down its length, scrutinizing it. Finally, he finds what he’s been looking for, a weak spot in the magic that binds the afterlife into existence. Carefully, he places his hands on either side of the weak point and pulls the magic into himself. As the god of death, he can consume an infinite amount of magic.
Spells cast at him fizzle out and… die without any effect at all. This one is a bit more resistant to his pulling, but it eventually gives way. A small crack opens, and what he sees disturbs him. Shouting for Nuada, he starts to pull a bit more, and the spell begins to unravel, but it’s got a long way to go before the opening will be big enough for any of them to pass through it or any of the souls trapped inside to escape.
A pulsing blob is at the center of his field of view, and fearsome, bird-like creatures seem to be trying to herd the souls toward it. The bird-like creatures have giant, leathery heads atop long, snake-like necks. The massive talons, hooked beaks, and extra clawed feet on their wings combine to make them particularly frightening. The souls are resisting their efforts, but every so often, some unlucky one gets shoved into the blob. Each time this happens, there’s a flash of light and the blob gets a bit bigger.
Nuada comes and looks over his shoulder, cursing. “He’s feeding on them,” Nuada calls to the others.
“What can we do to help you?” Nuada asks Aed.
“Maybe if you can try to cut parts of it away,” Aed frowns, “That might make it easier to unravel.”
Morrighu probes the crack with her spear tip, and it does seem to give way a bit faster. Danu scoops up some dirt and fashions small creatures out of it, blowing on them as she releases them through the crack.
In short order, the bird-like creatures are all squawking and pecking, trying to rid themselves of their tiny assailants who seem to sting them endlessly. Now that they’ve stopped herding the souls, the souls have regrouped and headed well away from the birdlike creatures and the greenish-yellow, sickly, pulsating blob.
“It won’t last for long,” Danu warns, “but it’s bought some time.”
Nuada pulls his sword and starts hacking at the edges of the crack. This seems to speed the unravelling of the spell even more, so Morrighu adopts a similar strategy with her spear. The crack is growing, but not nearly fast enough.