The Obsidian Dagger Page 9

  “Come on! Come on!” shouted Brendan.

  Lizzie was up and watching in horror as the dark rider sped toward them. “Who is that guy, anyway?”

  “Dullahan,” stated Dorian with respect and fear in her tone. “A headless rider that brings death everyplace he goes.”

  “What’s his problem with us?” Lizzie demanded to know, not worrying about the fact that Dorian had mentioned something about a headless rider.

  Dorian studied Brendan’s technique in starting the car and silently pleaded for the old metal box to respond. “He’s one of Morna’s minions.”

  “And he’s getting closer by the second, so get this thing going!” added Rory, pointing out of the windshield.

  Dullahan surged forward and unsheathed his blade from his back. The metal glinted in the moonlight and sent chills down the spines of the five in the car. The black horse exhaled huge amounts of steam from its large nostrils and its eyes shone red, like fire from the depths of Hades.

  Brendan tried not to focus on his sheer fear and tried the ignition once more. Finally, it turned over.

  “Yes!” he exclaimed in triumph as he popped it into gear.

  Dullahan was now twenty yards away and the blade had been cocked back, ready to deliver a deathblow. Brendan slammed on the gas and the car lurched forward. He cut the wheel hard right and just escaped the horseman’s mighty swipe. Brendan was guiding his beat-up Euro car down the road by the time Dullahan had changed course and took to his pursuit once more.

  …

  How long had Duncan been Morna’s prisoner? The Leprechaun King had to wonder as the seconds crept by and though time was moving slowly, it was hard to keep track of it. The room was dark and musty, like a dungeon would be, with mold and mildew rotting the air.

  Duncan leaned against his cage bars and noticed the sweat begin to bead on his forehead. He was both cold and hot at the same time as fever was just beginning to crawl into his body systems. He imagined that he was growing paler by the second, but without a mirror there was no way to confirm it with his eyes. He absently looked over at Wardicon who shook and trembled and resembled a minion from a dark underworld. Was that Duncan’s fate? Was that the fate of the Leprechauns?

  He heard the clicking of footfalls in the hall beyond the large wood door. Morna entered the room and a bright light nearly blinded Duncan. It took several moments for his eyes to adjust. Once they did, Morna was standing just beyond his cage and one of her goons stood guard at the door.

  “Oh, poor, poor, Duncan,” began the witch. “You don’t look so well.” Her grin spoke of her cruelty.

  “What have you done to me?” demanded Duncan through a fit of coughs.

  Morna laughed the sinister laugh of evil. “You’re becoming mine, Duncan, and once I have complete control of you, all of your little, pathetic Leprechauns will be mine as well.” She laughed again and studied her prisoner. “But that’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to let you know that your daughter did a fine job fending off my Sidhes.”

  Duncan looked up hopefully at the witch. He began to tremble slightly with his transformation well underway.

  “Honestly, she did do a great job, so that’s why I sent Dullahan to say hello.”

  The Leprechaun King’s bloodshot eyes opened in recognition. His head shook numbly in denial.

  “Don’t worry, Duncan, by this time tomorrow you won’t even care if she lived or died.”

  Morna turned on her heels and strode out of the dungeon. Her deranged cackles echoed through the halls for several agonizing minutes. Duncan hung his head as a single tear rolled down his cheek and through his beard. He couldn’t help but feel that all hope was lost.

  …

  Dullahan had caught up to the straining car. He slashed at the back end with his heavy blade and tore through the back bumper causing it to rip away in shreds. Lizzie, Rory, and Biddy moved up as far as possible, clinging to the backs of the front seats.

  “Can’t this hunk of junk go any faster?” screamed Lizzie.

  “I’m trying!” Brendan checked the rearview mirror and finally got a good look at Dullahan. The headless part was dead-on accurate. This guy had nothing where his head and neck should have been. He wore dark clothing and had a flowing cape that looked alive. The horse was almost as frightening simply because of its size. Although, the fiery red eyes didn‘t make Brendan want to ask for a ride.

  “Blast him, Dorian!”

  Dorian shook her head. “I’m not that powerful, Brendan! This is an evil being from its creation, and the Sidhe’s weren’t.”

  “Well, thanks for the history lesson,” Brendan replied in frustration.

  The side of the road was alive, if one can use that word to describe what lay in wait in the brush, with a pair of pearl-white eyes of smoke. They narrowed as they watched the car rush by with the fool demon, Dullahan, in hot pursuit. The order was given to stay away, to stay out of these affairs, but to stand by the wayside seemed unnatural. It would be a crime not to get involved.

  The headless maniac hacked at the trunk of the car with his blade. The sound of the sword slicing through the trunk was terrifying. Lizzie screamed, but the others had voices that couldn’t make any sound. After another slash, the trunk flew off its hinges in two pieces. Dullahan and his black monster of a horse stayed in stride as they rode right in between the severed parts.

  Brendan was beginning to grow desperate and his mind was flooded with panic. It was hard to think clearly and consider a best-case solution. He was coming up with nothing over and over again and the sound of his sister’s cries made the situation that much worse for him.

  He finally decided on something crazy. “Dorian, take the wheel!”

  Dorian, who looked lost and scared in the passenger seat focused her eyes on Brendan. “What? What are you going to do?”

  “Just take the wheel!” he yelled.

  She read his eyes and knew that there was no way to deter his thinking. She slid over his lap and placed her foot on the accelerator and grabbed the steering wheel. Satisfied that she was in control of the car, he slid into the passenger seat.

  As Brendan turned his head he saw the big, frightening headless guy jump from his horse and land in the trunk space. Brendan’s eyes were wrought with terror as the evil thing lifted his sword into the air and became primed to strike down on Lizzie.

  Something in Brendan snapped. There was no way that he was going to let this freak show hurt his sister.

  “NOOOOO!” he called out in mid-air as he leapt from the front seat and slammed into the evil demon.

  Dorian saw the whole moment as if it were in slow-motion. Brendan’s body had glided through the air like a torpedo and he speared Dullahan with such force that the two of them toppled out of the trunk and into the night air.

  In mid-flight Brendan could hardly believe that he had done what he had done. All he knew at that moment was that he wanted Dullahan to hit the ground first. He used his leverage and angled the monster’s back and shoulders directly towards the hard road. When they hit the ground Brendan still felt an enormous impact even with Dullahan on the bottom. The air was instantly gone from his lungs and he was seeing stars as the pair began to roll after contact with the road.

  “Brendan!” Lizzie screamed as she reached into the night after her brother.

  Dorian was so surprised by his heroic actions that it took her a few seconds to realize she needed to stop and go back for him. Part of her was thinking that it was already too late for Brendan. In her mind if the fall didn’t kill him then the headless horseman would. In spite of her instinct to just keep going, she slammed on the brakes and cut the wheel. The car drifted and they faced opposite of the direction that would have probably led to safety. She mashed down the gas pedal and headed back for Brendan.

  Brendan was hurting all over. It felt like the entire football team had just used him for tackling practice. His vision was spotted with stars and hearts and clovers. He attributed that to the fact tha
t he was in Ireland and his favorite cereal was still Lucky Charms. He pulled his upper half up to a sitting position and put his hand to his head. He noticed that he had a gash somewhere in his hair and a small amount of blood was trickling out. He had other cuts and he was sure to be bruised, but nothing felt broken or too mangled, so he was counting himself lucky.

  He spotted Dullahan some twelve feet away lying on his back. He wasn’t moving but being a movie buff like he was, Brendan knew that it didn’t mean anything. Right on queue, Dullahan sat bolt upright and spun his way to his feet. He turned and began to stalk towards Brendan with his sword in hand. The demon reached to his belt and pulled an ax free of its loop as well. Brendan imagined that the evil guy would probably be giving him a really evil look at the moment since he did just knock him off of a moving car, but the fact was the guy didn’t have a head. Even so, Dullahan didn’t need to give any intimidating looks. The moving body without the use of a head was intimidating enough. Throw in the sword and an ax and he was downright bone-chilling.

  Brendan backed away in a crab-walk as the demon slashed down with his sword. The blade gashed the road in between Brendan’s legs.

  “Whoa!” he exclaimed. “Can’t we talk about this?”

  Dullahan yanked the sword from the road. “No,” echoed a voice from deep with his chest cavity.

  That word was the absolute worst sound Brendan had ever heard. He had heard that word a ton in his lifetime from his dad and his teachers and from girls that he had asked out, but this was different. It was like the devil himself was speaking to him and that was not a conversation that he wanted to have.

  Dullahan slammed his blade down again and Brendan had managed to roll to the left and to safety. He got to his feet quickly and the two stood “looking” at each other. Dullahan let the moment hang and then he began to make strides toward the young American.

  Bam!

  Dorian let out a war cry as she steered the beat up little rental over the evil demon. The crunch was sickening as the car impacted Dullahan. He was smashed to the ground as the car continued to roll over him. His body was dragged for twenty feet before Dorian had managed to bring the car to a screeching halt.

  Brendan limped over to the car. When he got there everyone had a rush of relief except for Dorian. She was still gripping the wheel with a death-lock causing her knuckles to whiten.

  “Are you all okay?” Brendan asked.

  Lizzie had tears in her eyes as she leapt from the back seat and wrapped her brother in a lung-constricting hug. “I can’t believe you did that!”

  Brendan held her at arm’s length. “Like I’m going to let some headless dork hurt my sister.”

  She hugged him again as Dorian stepped out of the car. “That headless dork is a minion of pure evil. For centuries he’s ridden this land and has left death in his wake.”

  “Well, not any more,” chuckled Brendan. “Looks like the twenty-first century caught up to him.”

  Dorian shook her head. “It’s not that simple, Brendan. Evil is really hard to kill.”

  Dullahan must have been a fan of the horror genre too, because at that moment he thrust his sword up through the middle of the little car. With one sweeping motion he sliced the car in half like he was cutting lemons. The violent action sent Biddy and Rory flying as the two halves of the vehicle were launched through the air.

  Lizzie screamed and retreated behind Brendan. Dullahan rose to his full height, which was substantial considering he was headless, and let out a guttural yell.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Brendan said in frustration.

  “See,” said Dorian. She looked at the demon with hate in her heart. He was part of something that started this whole adventure and now her father’s life hung in the balance. She was angry, but she felt helpless to do anything about it. Now this maniac was about to kill them and all she could do was wait for it to happen.

  She knitted her brow and decided to go out fighting. She began to blast the demon with golden energy, only causing him to pause in amusement. The moment passed and he strode forward now taking to deflecting her blasts with his gleaming blade.

  Brendan, Lizzie, and Dorian were backing up with every stride Dullahan took.

  “Got any other ideas?” Brendan asked.

  “I think this is our last stand,” Dorian replied between blasts.

  Brendan grabbed a branch from a nearby tree and stepped to the front. “You guys run for it. I’ll buy you some time.”

  “No!” screeched Lizzie. “We’re not leaving you!”

  Brendan raised his stick and readied himself for an onslaught from Dullahan when he spotted a strange sight. A pair of smoke-like eyes floated in behind the dark and scary killer and hovered.

  Dullahan must have sensed a presence behind him because he turned and raised his sword. “Gorgoch!” the demon bellowed.

  Dullahan was hoisted into the air by some unseen force. His sword fell to the ground like a lawn dart and stuck. The demon dangled momentarily before a voice on the wind cried, “Dullahan!”

  The horseman was then launched miles away like a rocket. Seconds later his demon horse could be seen galloping after his defeated rider, and the sword faded out of existence.

  Chapter 10

  Gorgoch

  “What just happened?” asked Lizzie.

  No one blamed her for her confusion. Brendan was oblivious to what just took place, too. One minute they were about to die at the hand of a headless guy and the next the evil killer was flying through the air, sent a whole lot of miles away. Brendan was ready to chalk it up to a miracle until Dorian smiled.

  “Gorgoch?” she said softly. “Is that you?”

  The smoky eyes came into existence and appeared twenty feet above their heads. After the eyes, other features started to blink into reality until a twenty-five foot tall man was standing before them. Brendan and Lizzie jumped backwards.

  “Great, we go from one small bad guy to a giant one,” said Brendan, his stick held like a baseball bat.

  The giant spirit-man turned into a wisp of smoke and then reformed as a normal, average, everyday-sized man. Most of his giant form drifted away on the breeze.

  “What are you doing so far from Corways, Dorian?” the spirit asked.

  Dorian’s smile faded as quickly as it had come and reached over and gave the spirit a hug. The spirit solidified himself for the briefest of moments and held her in his arms, leaving Brendan amazed, confused, and jealous all at the same time.

  “Morna stole my father, Gorgoch,” began Dorian as she pulled out of the embrace. “I‘m not sure what she‘s playing at.”

  Brendan cleared his throat to draw a little attention. “What, you know this guy?”

  “Of course, I do,” Dorian said smiling again. “Brendan and Lizzie O’Neal, meet Gorgoch.”

  The spirit man extended his hand and solidified his body once again. Brendan and Lizzie both shook it. Brendan could tell that Lizzie was a little grossed out, but she didn’t say anything. She just had a weird nostril-flaring look on her face.

  “You can call me Artair,” said Gorgoch with a shimmering smile.

  Lizzie shrugged. “Hi, Artie. I’m Lizzie.”

  “I’m very pleased to meet you,” Gorgoch replied.

  Brendan tried not to stare at the guy, but it was hard. It would be for anyone. This was a real life ghost that you could interact with and even shake hands and converse with. Brendan tried to study the guy’s features, but it was difficult. It was like trying to look at an image underwater as the sun shone on the surface. His features were elusive all except for the eyes. They were completely white like smoke trapped in a flashlight beam.

  “Thanks for all of your concern about us.”

  Brendan turned back to spot Biddy and Rory climbing free of some bushes.

  “Sure the car we were in was just torn to bits, but we’re fine,” Rory said with obvious sarcasm.

  “No need to worry about us, now is there?” piped up B
iddy.

  Dorian cringed. “Sorry, we were just a little preoccupied with our guest.” She nodded towards Gorgoch.

  “Oh, looky there, Rory. It’s Gorgoch,” said Biddy.

  “Great timing, Artair,” joked Rory. “Did you have to wait until our only transportation was destroyed?”

  Gorgoch shrugged. “I’m into the dramatic, I suppose.”

  The five and Gorgoch found a fallen tree trunk to sit on and after a few minutes of small talk Gorgoch turned back to the heavy issue at hand.

  “Now, tell me about what Morna is up to.”

  …

  A small stone shack was alive with the nightlife of Gilshery. The chimney was covered in soot and the wood shingles were badly in need of repair, but anyone who wished to enjoy a pint and fellowship with friends was at the tiny pub. That included about twenty night owls and farmers and Oscar O’Neal with his new friend, Charlie.

  Oscar enjoyed seeing the fine people of Gilshery out and about and experiencing life. They had worked hard that day doing whatever it was that they did and deserved a nice relaxing time with friends. Oscar liked to think that they had worked hard and deserved the break, but that’s how he was. He was a glass-half-full kind of guy and that’s how he was approaching his current project. Sure it was partly research for the university who had given him the grant, but it was also a chance to find out more about his family’s history. He wished that the kids could see that and how much it meant to him. Maybe one day they would understand.

  “Ah, the nightlife in Gilshery. Probably reminds you of New York,” joked Charlie.

  Charlie and Oscar found a table in a corner and ordered up a round. Coffee for Oscar, who was “on duty” and a draft for Charlie who wasn’t.

  “So, you were saying that the search finally took a turn for the better?”

  Oscar smiled broadly as he explained his unbelievable luck at the records room back in Galway. Charlie seemed to be surprised by the luck as well.

  “So you know about me, Charlie. What do you do?”

  Charlie took a large gulp to finish the glass. “I am a jeweler.” He produced a charm from his pocket and held it out for Oscar.