Embers in the Dark

Full

"She means the O'Callaghan's come from a long line of special warriors.  Your family was one of many chosen by the gods years ago to help protect the mortal realm.  A lot of these families have died out or have forgotten their lineage, but not yours," Adair explained.

"I see," Lilly said curiously.  "Did the other religions have similar plans with families in their territories?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so...I do have another question."

"Go ahead."

"If I was bound, how was I still able to use my shout and my singing?"

"From what I can remember, the ritual was interrupted and couldn't be completed."

"By whom?"

"Our mother and your father."

Lilly nodded.  "Okay.  And where was everyone else?"

Brigid frowned.  "We were back in Tír na nÓg," she answered.  "We didn't know about what happened until The Morrigan came back and told us what happened.  Well, some of what happened."

"What did she say?"

"She said you and your family had to flee and that the tree and the house were set ablaze."

Lilly paused in her steps, her eyes widening.  "What?"

The two women stopped and turned to look at Lilly.  "What's wrong?"

"I...I think I remember that.  Sort of.  I had visions about it."

Adair and Brigid looked at each other worriedly.  "Do you still have visions?" Brigid asked.

"I'm not sure.  I no longer remember my dreams and I haven't really tried to use that power anyway, among others."

"What do you mean?"

Lilly sighed, looking down at her fingers as she messed with them.  "Well, lately, I've been...losing control."

"Losing control?"

"Of my...urges to kill.  And some of the skills I have are...starting to deteriorate, like my ability to learn languages really fast.  I still can't speak Vietnamese all that well."

Adair approached Lilly with a frown.  "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know, it didn't seem that important."  Lilly lifted her gaze to meet Adair's. "Like when I was stuck in the spiritual realm, I used my shout to keep the puppets away but my shout started dying off.  I figured it was because I wasn't in my body."

"Hmm," Brigid said.  "Well, we'll have Darrach and Cernunnos take a look at you when we get back."

The three continued down the hallway and eventually made their way to the entrance of the arena.  Hundreds of people went into an uproar of cheers when they saw Lilly and she grinned as people came up with pens and paper asking for autographs.  Lilly happily obliged them, talking with them about things as she signed her name on papers.  This was going to be something she was going to miss, she figured.  People wanting her autograph.  She'd probably get plenty of that back home, but she hadn't considered the fact that she was going to be retiring like this.  She had other plans for it originally, but as she looked over at her family, friends and members of the Van der Linde clan, she smiled.  This is how Lilly wanted her retirement to be.  To go home, be surrounded by the people she lived, and just relax.

"Well, you can't retire yet," O'Callaghan pointed out.  "We do have a war to fight, but you can relax after that."