Chapter 118

“We are certain it is Oonagh?” Mage Cixi asked.

“Her Daoine Sidhe, yes. There are also signs of civilians amongst the footprints we tracked to a portal,” Mage Adelaide replied.

“A lot of tracks,” Mage Natsuko, her second-in-command, confirmed. “Over one hundred separate prints, possibly more.”

“Worrying,” Cixi admitted.

“We had a ready team there in minutes, but they clearly expected that,” Adelaide replied.

“I wasn’t faulting you or your people, Adelaide,” Cixi stated. “Merely saying out loud what a lot of us are thinking.”

“Indeed,” Simon confirmed. “The presence of Daoine Sidhe on this planet cannot ever be a good sign.”

“William has confirmed by Verenestra that all their known recalcitrants are accounted for,” Morgana added.

“Wonder what the hell Oonagh wants here?” Julia mused out loud.

“Possibly objects of power, Spear of Destiny, Arc of the Covenant, perhaps even the Stones of Destiny,” Morgana answered.

“Other planets have their own objects of power too, some at least as dangerous as ours, so why not them?” Rowenna added with a frown.

“Yes, but theirs tend to be under the control of their ruling Mages. Ours are scattered all over the planet,” Morgana replied.

“Any thoughts, Marcus?” Simon asked Father Antonelli who was observing the meeting that day with his partner, Father Bryce.

“I can’t imagine how they’d even begin to detect the mobile Stone of Destiny, plus we didn’t exactly advertise where we placed it,” he mused out loud, seeing Morgana’s nod. “The Spear of Destiny would be a worry if Mage Morgana didn’t have it safely tucked away and as for the Arc, I can think of far more pleasant ways to commit suicide than to approach it without being either a consecrated priest, a Theurgist of the Almighty or possessing the instruction manual.”

“There’s also the probability of the Higher Powers stepping in to prevent any object’s removal from the planet,” Bryce added.

“They haven’t with me,” Morgana chuckled, fishing the Spear of Destiny out of a pocket universe.

“They might if you tried to pull it out when elsewhere,” Bryce replied.

“Ah...”

“Best not to find out,” he murmured.

“Yes, probably for the best,” she replied with a grin.

“So, probably not objects of power,” Simon nodded.

Antonelli looked at Bryce and then shrugged. “Unlikely.”

“Well, it must be something,” Simon sighed. “Julia, move the Seers onto this. Oonagh may be able to hide from us, but the others? I somehow doubt it, if they break cover.”

“Of course, Simon,” Julia acknowledged.

“There’s only one other reason I can think of why Oonagh’s here,” Mage Sofya stated, looking directly at me.

“Yes, the nemesis factor,” Morgana nodded.

“Silly really. If John is her nemesis, the best thing to do would be to keep out of his way,” Rowenna chuckled.

“I get the feeling she’s not quite rational when dealing with him,” Morgana added in agreement.

“Nevertheless, check out your security measures, John, and if in doubt, move your family to a secure location. See me for a list if necessary,” Simon announced.

“Thank you, Mage Simon,” I replied with a formal bow.

‘Get Imelda to transfer with Jukar to Loegria, ‘ Morgana quietly mentally said to me. ‘She’s too exposed there.’

‘Yes, my Mage, ‘ I acknowledged and sent a private mental message to Imelda getting a quick assent off her.

‘Stay away from there yourself unless I decide to use you as bait in a trap, ‘ Morgana added.

‘Of course, my Mage, ‘ I mentally chuckled.

“Mage Morgana, with the aid of the Intelligence Office, I want you and your staff to start investigating any and all Sidhe outposts of the period before they fully withdrew from the planet. It’s possible that in one of them we’ll find Oonagh,” Simon ordered.

“Yes, Simon,” Morgana replied.

“But Oonagh wasn’t around during that period, Mage Simon,” Zola interjected.

“Our records show that the Sidhe outposts were reduced in the great civilisations, forcing the Sidhe to retreat to areas where those civilisations never really had much influence,” Simon replied. “I suspect that Oonagh will have intelligence telling her that one of them will still be suitable as a base. Just a hunch, but it’s the best I can come up with.”

“Yes, I see your reasoning and agree, Simon,” Zola said with most of the rest of the Council showing assent too.

“It will at least clear up potential hiding places,” Julia added.

“Yes. Also we never really investigated the various Sidhe hiding places. We were mostly struggling in the Council with Elymas’ conspiracy and the theft of several objects of power as well as the political machinations involved with that,” Simon explained further. “In essence, it was enough that the Sidhe were gone.”

“It got put on the back burner, then forgotten,” Rowenna summarised.

“Any idea on how many or the condition of them?” Cixi asked.

“I suspect most are ruins. The latter Sidhe only really built permanently in Keldravan. However there’s the myth ... supposedly of Myrkálfar, the lost city of the Dökkálfar, which may not have been on Tír na nÓg but here on Earth. It was supposedly a retreat of the dark Fae in the far north, though never found, or mentioned in any of the Sidhe tomes we retrieved,” Julia stated.

“Dark Fae? I thought they were just suppositions and rumour,” Mage Sofya questioned.

“How many times have we run into something and discovered the rumours were true?” Simon chuckled.

“Far too many times, Simon,” she sighed. “Just a thought, but it might be worth having a word with Dhunvael to ask about the Dökkálfar. He might be able to shed some light on the subject.”

“A good idea, Sofya. Mage Morgana, please see to it,” Simon replied, using Morgana’s honorific to let her know it wasn’t a suggestion.

“Of course, Mage Simon,” she replied.

After the Council session Morgana called a meeting of her people in her office and handed out instructions as to who was to do what.

“Arch, I want you and Roisin to check out the ‘abandoned’ Sidhe sites in Europe and North America. I’ve sent requests to Roxanne and Helen to give you all assistance. Be careful, you do not want to stumble upon more than a hundred Daoine Sidhe by accident,” she ordered.

“Yes, Morgana. We’ll get straight on it,” he replied.

“Rinku, I want you to do the same in the Middle East and all Asia. I’ve requested assistance from Adelaide and Tara. Same cautions apply.”

“Yes, Morgana.”

“Nisha, Africa and South America. Liaise with Dlamini and Maria. Be careful, especially in Great Zimbabwe as it’s infested with Tokeloshe, amongst others.”

“Yes, Morgana.”

“John, you’re with me. We need to talk to Oberon, Titania and Dhunvael. Possibly a side visit to the Dvergar world as well. They might know something of the Dökkálfar.”

“Yes, my Mage.”

“This Office is now on the highest alert. If there are over a hundred Daoine Sidhe here under the hostile influence of Oonagh then the potential for some terrible crimes against humanity has increased massively. For the moment, I suspect they’re digging in, but that won’t last,” Morgana cautioned them sternly.

“Yes, Mage Morgana,” we all replied before setting off on our various tasks.

Oberon and Titania had decided to retire to one of the Greek islands, though the Fae naturally called them something else. Both seemed to be thriving as well as repairing their relationship which had been split asunder by the machinations of the various courts they tried to rule over. Both now farmed olives and grew vines and from what we could tell from Verenestra and William did it very well indeed. Neither now involved themselves in politics though as a favour to their daughter had agreed to see us and with their permission we had also invited Dhunvael to attend.

Neither of the pair looked particularly regal now dressed in their work clothes, though both gave off a sense of ingrained nobility of spirit whilst Dhunvael was dressed in the clothes of a working scribe.

“Greetings,” both Morgana and I intoned with a formal bow.

“We aren’t royalty anymore,” Oberon chuckled.

“No, but still worthy of respect,” I replied as we all sat and Titania poured a glass of pomegranate juice mixed with water each.

“What is it you wish to know, particularly that involves all of us?” Oberon finally asked.

“Anything you know of Myrkálfar, or the Dökkálfar,” Morgana replied watching the already pale skins of Oberon and Titania go even paler.

“The Dökkálfar were a sect of assassins used by the Sidhe guardians of the Daoine to enforce the Daoine’s will against dissent within their own ranks.” Dhunvael spoke up to explain. “It was rumoured that when they undertook a task, they would adjust their skin tones and hair to the opposite of the Sidhe norm. However that was simply a rumour, I believe anyone who observed them died as a matter of course.”

“So they did exist?” Morgana asked.

“Yes, almost certainly and they would have travelled in the disguise so that ordinary Sidhe would not have known who or what they were,” he replied.

“The Dökkálfar were supposedly part of the checks and balances maintained by the Daoine Sidhe for the purposes of ridding themselves of an inconvenient ruler or noble. However no one heard anything of them after the war against the Eminrephaimanakim and it was thought they had perished along with the cream of the Daoine Sidhe,” Oberon explained further.

“Save that there were always rumours of an outpost maintained by them ... elsewhere. Myrkálfar, if you wish,” Titania added.

“Seems a long time to wait before suddenly making an appearance again,” Morgana stated thoughtfully.

“The rules for engaging them are somewhat obscure but required a quorum of ‘pure’ Daoine Sidhe, something which wasn’t available until recently, nor was needed until Oonagh’s final expulsion. In addition, the cost of engaging them was more often than not a price of high value, not necessarily silver, but power and influence, perhaps a decision on a subject you might not ordinarily make,” Oberon explained.

“Ah, so once they had you, they used you to further their aims at a later date?” Morgana asked.

“Yes, you needed to be desperate to even consider using them and more often than not regretted it afterwards,” Titania answered.

“It fits in with what I know too,” Dhunvael added.

“Any idea where Myrkálfar might be?” I asked. “We suspect it might be on our Earth.”