Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 299: Countermeasures

The fight between the armies of Man and the Fomorians had escalated until both armies were fully engaged. The defenses each side relied on proved worthless, making the slaughter even more gruesome. Those fortifications had not been constructed to defend against each other and they were easily ignored as ranged weapons and skills were soon forgotten as both armies clashed into melee range.

I continued to add dimension to my illusions. Fomorians appeared to rip men apart and feast on their entrails. Men poured oil into the trench before lighting it on fire. There was no oil, only a river of flames created by me. A spell that I interlaced with the deceptive glamour I was wielding to hide the fact that I was responsible.

That fire annihilated people on both sides. The Fomorians did take the brunt, as I added more power to the spell, but the armies of Men became moving kindling that transported the undying flames to their camp. Tents and trebuchets ignited and adding to the confusion.

An explosion rocked the battlesight, as storage tents became engulfed in flames, and the Greek fire that was stored within detonated, flinging the mercurial flames in a circle of destruction that finally reached the command tents and those commanding the Roman and Viking armies.

I watched in satisfaction as the forces that had assaulted Sidhe lands fought desperately to control the flames that burned while battling amongst themselves. I was certain that Morgan had done much to destroy these armies, but this attack had a certain karmic balance to it. Their lies and broken oaths had created an atmosphere of mistrust.

I would have still been able to trick them using illusion and glamour, but the commanders of each army might have maintained discipline long enough to at least investigate the reason for the provocation. But Fomorian, Viking, or Roman, it mattered little. They all knew the other could not be trusted to keep their word.

"The Sidhe are known as creatures of deceit and trickery. We have engendered a reputation across the millennium that serves us well and has cloaked our people with a mystique that hides who we truly are," I said to no one in particular as we watched the battle rage.

"We are bound by our nature to only speak the truth. But we have learned to parse words in convoluted phrases of nothingness. We can lead one to believe the sky is green, without ever once uttering a falsehood.

"Why then, knowing our most powerful assets are our command over illusion, and our flair for trickery, would you engage in battle by adhering to the rules set out by the armies of Man?"

Morgan reacted to each word, flinching as my words struck true. I hadn't meant for them to land so painfully, nor had I directed them at her specifically. After all, she had been the only ruling Royal that had remained to protect the Sidhe with no recourse or escape.

She had at least tried to fight off the advances of Man. Still, it had been her decision to contend against those armies using the same methodology and strategy as any other mortal army might. It was a mistake of warfare, playing to the enemy's strengths. Even without Sidhe magic, she should have been using guerilla warfare tactics. Additionally, some of the smaller Sidhe were well suited for sabotage and could have been tasked with poisoning food and water supplies.

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She had forgotten that we were Sidhe and not faux Elves playing at being human. It was a failing I had noticed on Talahm too. Mab had pretended the Seelie were creatures of light. She had put on a front that espoused the characteristics most associated with light and goodness.

It had been a lie, but since it was an intricate illusion, it hadn't broken any of the rules that would allow Gwyn ap Nudd to dispense justice. Here, for the armies of Man and the Fomorians to attack us in our seat of power, in lands that we had dedicated our blood and [Ritual] to claim and nourish. To not use every weapon at our disposal was not only stupid, but it was also negligent. A disservice to our people and the land.

I released another illusion, extending my power to course across the ocean waters. The Galleons soon found themselves swarmed by a fleet of Skeid the Vikings were crewing. The Greeks responded to the illusion by firing shipboard catapults loaded with Greek Fire at the attacking ships and setting them ablaze.

I had added enough real fire to the illusion to add a realism that both parties excepted. The illusionary Skeid fleet quickly mixed with the Viking vessels already at anchor. It made it impossible to ignore, and the battle that was taking place on the shore became just as intense on the sea as ships were boarded, vessels were burned to the keel, and a fleet of ships was sunk.

"Sink the remaining ships, Lleu Llaw," I directed, not satisfied with the wreckage or the vast number of surviving ships.

"Poseidon will retaliate if I act," Lleu Llaw warned. He and the rest of the Sidhe were truly afraid of the Gods. I suppose that was to be expected, as they had lost their magic for all these years. But the Sidhe were Powers in their own right.

And the most powerful among us was walking the divide between mortal and Divine.

Zeus and Odin were bullies, full of bombast and pride, but you couldn't deal with either Pantheon by making concessions. You had to stand up to them. The reason these armies of Man were at our shore was directly attributed to the Gods. They had issued directives to their people, declaring the destruction of the Sidhe Divine providence.

"Let him," I said shrugging, my dismissal of Poseidon as trivial gaining the attention of everyone gathered. "You will find the Gods, for all their power, have to use proxies to dispense their will on the mortal plane.

"Poseidon can calm the ocean's water or stir them into a frenzy, but if he wants to contend with you or any of the Sidhe, he will need to release one of his mortal children to vent his anger."

"That may be true," Lleu Llaw agreed, "but the children of Poseidon, include the Kraken. Are you willing to risk the shore and this Fortress being decimated if that creature is stirred to action?"

"What more damage can the Kraken do here than what has already been done?" I asked in disbelief.

"The land is already saturated with Sidhe blood, the fields destroyed with depressions from Man's attack with fire, ballista, and stone. The only building within reach is this Fortress, and not even the Kraken can breach these walls.

"Let it come.

"And if it does, summon the Sea Hag.

"All of you seem to forget that the Sidhe, for all their beauty, have our own people that are empowered with their own type of monstrous beauty. A monstrous vitality that is almost transcendent.

"Even you Lleu Llaw fear the Sea Hag, and for good reason. But she is Sidhe and has her own sense of duty and honor, and she will not allow our people or our land to be decimated by the Kraken without responding.

"If Poseidon dares to release the Kraken, she will destroy it. And Poseidon will have lost a chess piece in the skirmish between Pantheons."

"How do you summon the Sea Hag?" I overheard one of the guards manning the wall whisper to one of his brethren.

"You do not summon the Sea Hag," I answered, causing the guard to startle in surprise that I had not only heard his question but decided to answer. "She is already aware of our conversation. Each time her name is spoken, the wind carries those words to her so that she can listen in.

"She has been listening in since I first invoked her name. She will respond to an attack by the Kraken, not because we begged or battered with her. Not because we summoned or coerced her. But because that is her nature. She will not allow what she considers hers to be lost. And this island, and the Sidhe people, are hers.

"She is one of the first children. A direct descendant of the Tuatha de Danann when they walked the land. And as one of the first children, she has accepted a [Geas] to protect. You have forgotten our history. Forgotten who we are. And with that loss, you have crippled our people and ignored the strength of our fiercest warriors to be dismissed.

"You retreated and hid Underhill, instead of invoking powers and Powers to protect our people. You need to stop worrying about angering these Gods that dared to attack our people. It would be better to worry about the Sea Hag's fury now that she has realized what you have allowed to happen."

"If you will not stir the waters to sink these ships if you are too afraid," I said, moving to the side, "I am not."

The illusion I cast this time was centered on myself. I morphed, changing shape and form. The dragons for these lands had mostly been cowed or killed, but their ferocity was still remembered. That memory would serve as the foundation for what I would do.

Once I was firmly enveloped in the shape and form I had envisioned; I launched myself into the sky taking flight. Spells of illusion and glamour melded together as the sound and fury of a dragon's roar was trumpeted across the sky.

Both armies stopped in their frenzied attempts to kill each other and watched as I soared over the water and began strafing Galleons and Skeids alike. My powers may seem diminished on this world, but that diminishment was an illusion on my part.

The fire that I released was proportional to the amount of magic and energy on this planet, and even though it seemed to have been scaled back, it was enough to send streams of liquid fire to destroy the fleet of ships that remained intact.

If the Sidhe would not act because of fear of retaliation, I would kick the hornet's nest. I would act for them. It was time they remembered that they were the inheritors of the Tuatha de Danann's blessings and not cattle to be slaughtered.