After stuffing her face with food, Lilly felt quite refreshed and the four people stabled their horses, got out of the city and into the forest. Lilly preferred hunting as a wolf these days and with everything going on, she was not about to go out and risk her horse's life. Phoenix was a fine horse, a loyal companion and would knock anyone on their ass with a hoof kick if they so much as looked at her owner wrong.
While she was just an uncharacteristically fearless Arabian, Phoenix was still just a horse.
And then there was that other thing that Lilly had to worry about, but nobody would be harmed even if Lilly's "pet" happened to come across the group.
Hopefully.
Lilly insisted on taking the lead for the hunting party on account of Sean, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Hughes being guests in her territory. While Sean was definitely an honorary one, the other two boys weren't. Still, Lilly had nothing better to do that day anyway, so she might as well make it fun. Especially if the mysterious, obnoxiously gorgeous and seemingly obsessed Mr. Lewis kept looking at her like a starving man at a Thanksgiving meal.
She hated that he wasn't Arthur, but she loved the attention he was giving her.
As they went further into the rainforest, Lilly kept scolding Sean for being too loud. She kept whispering that his loud mouth was going to scare off any game for miles and if he didn't shut up, he'd have to go back into town.
Lilly had opted to follow the river bank after awhile, teasing the two Englishman about getting their flashy and expensive shoes wet. She chastised them for wearing tailored suits instead of hunting clothes but they didn't mind what they were wearing. When Lilly inquired as to why, Robert's response was, "we're gentlemen and want to look good, even when hunting." This made Lilly roll her eyes.
"Feckin' overdressed peacocks," was what she had called them.
After a while, Lilly and the rest of the group came across a big crocodile at the edge of the shore so they all hunkered down a ways away to discuss who was going to shoot.
"Lilly, you should have the first kill," Robert whispered.
"I canna kill a crocodile with a fucking bow and arrow!" she hissed quietly.
Robert gave Lilly a smug grin before standing her up and placing himself behind her, pulling an arrow from her quiver. "Aim."
Lilly hesitantly obliged by taking the arrow and setting it in place, pulling the string back and aiming for the crocodile's head.
"Good, now," Robert said, whispering in her ear. "Say, "Súil Marbh"." [Dead Eye]
Lilly arched a brow and looked at him before finally deciding to humor him. "Súil Marbh," she said softly. [Dead Eye]
Lilly's vision changed color to that of sepia shades and a rushing of sound filled her ears, followed by a humming and a whining. A clock started ticking in her ears as she aimed at the crocodiles' head.
"Shoot when ready," Robert said in slow motion.
Lilly let the arrow fly and it went zooming through the air. In slow motion, she watched the arrow pierce straight into the crocodile's head and blood spurted as the head jerked and the body spasmed. Lilly's vision returned to normal and she gasped while lowering the bow.
"What the fuck?" she breathed. "How did...what did...what?!"
Robert chuckled and smiled at her. "The bow and arrows are enchanted. And the arrows are equipped to take down anything in one shot, big or small."
Lilly jumped up and down excitedly, looking at her bow in awe. "Oh, that is feckin' grand!" She slipped her bow on and pulled out a hunting knife. "I'm gonna go skin it!" she said, running down the hill to the river bank.
When Lilly got near the crocodile, she bent down and started slicing into the skin. Robert, Leonard and Sean all approached her with happy faces. "I take it you like your new present?" Robert asked in delight.
"Oh yeah!" she growled with satisfaction. "I absolutely love it! I'm definitely getting buried with this!"
Sean raised a brow, looking befuddled. "And when are ya plannin' to be buried?"
Lilly slowly lifted her head to meet Sean's gaze. "When I get to Australia."
"Huh?"
Lilly rubbed a bloodied hand down her face before going back to cutting into the tough exterior of her prey. "I am going to bury myself in a sarcophagus and sleep a dreamless sleep forever."
"Why?!" Sean asked angrily.
"Because I'm too god damn dangerous tah be left tah me own devices, Sean!" Lilly snapped. "I can't feckin' die! I'll just end up in Tír na nÓg and probably burn it tah ashes!" she got up and into Sean's face. "It is best fer everyone if I am laid tah rest, buried and forgotten tah time!"
"I ain't gonna allow it!" Sean yelled in her face. "Ya have a family!"
"I had a family, Sean, and I abandoned them! Ya know the code about leavin' the gang!"
"John left and he was still welcomed back!"
"That's different! I'm tryin' tah keep people safe!"
Sean shook his head. "And what makes ya think that they're safe without ya? We need ya home, Lilly."
Lilly shook her head before going back to skinning the crocodile. "Not happening."
Sean growled in frustration and threw his hat down. "That is absolute bullshit, Lilly!" he yelled before aiming an accusing finger at her. "Ya need tah stop runnin' from yerself!"
"I ain't runnin' from nothin'!" she yelled back, yanking skin off the crocodile.
"Yes ya are! Now stop bein' such a fuckin' gobshite and come home!"
"NO!" she shouted, her voice echoing through the trees and air. She cleared her throat and stood slowly, brushing her hands together. "I'm gonna win this tournament Mr. Lewis and Arthur got goin' on and I'm gonna take my winnings and retire. Permantly."
"How the hell are ya gonna even manage that?!" Sean screamed.
Lilly reached into her satchel and pulled out a vial full of black, sparkling liquid. "With this."
Sean went to snatch it but she yanked it from his grasp. "What is that?" Mr. Lewis asked curiously.
"Something I picked up back in China. It's an ancient potion designed to put anyone into a deep sleep forever," she said, putting it back in her satchel. "So none of ya mingin' melters better get yer hands on this because if ya try, I will kill the lot of ya."
Mr. Lewis gave her a nod. "Very well. Now finish skinning this bad boy, I'm famished," he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together.
Sean gaped at Robert while Lilly went back to her job. "How the hell are ya alright with this?"
"I'm not, but trust me," Robert said, lighting a cigarette. "None of that is going to happen."
"Oh?" Lilly smirked, rolling the dead carcass over onto its back. "And what makes you think it won't?"
"I got plans for you, little lady," Robert smiled before sucking on the cigarette. "Big plans."
Lilly huffed and buried her knife into the crocodile's belly on the side. "More surprises and gifts?"
"Yes, ma'am," Robert replied, exhaling smoke. "Would you like to know about one of them?"
Lilly shrugged. "I guess," she said, pulling back the skin.
"Tonight, you're going to get dressed and dolled up, and I'm taking you out for dinner and dancing."
Lilly dropped the skin and gawked at Robert. "Where the fuck are we gonna go dancin'?"
Robert snickered as he smoked. "Spain."
"Spain?!" Lilly, Sean and Leonard all shouted.
"How are we gonna get tah Spain?!" she asked.
Robert smirked, puffing on his cigarette. "Shortcut, remember?"
Lilly eyed him skeptically before going back to finishing her skinning. "I ain't dancin' in a dress."
"You don't have to wear a dress, but...you do need something more suitable when dancing tango," Robert explained, taking another puff and exhaling. "And you've danced in a dress before."
Lilly finished skinning the beast before cutting up meat. "Yes, well, that was different. And the one time I danced in Spain, I was surrounded by a fuckin' mob and I was circlin' the fuckin' Shannon."
"And you've sung for them, too."
As Lilly began to wrap each chunk of meat carefully with bamboo leaves and twine, she looked up at Robert. "Yeah, that was a fun night," she said, smiling from a feeling of nostalgia. "But no, I won't be doing any of that nonsense."
"Which part?"
"All of it," Lilly replied, stuffing the packaged meat into her satchel. "No dressing up, no dancing, and no singing in Spain."
Robert took another drag from his tobacco and looked at Lilly as if scrutinizing her. "How about mountain climbing in Switzerland? Camel riding in Egypt?" Suddenly he grinned almost evily. "A romantic evening in Paris?"
Lilly put her knife away and rinsed her bloody hands and face off in the water. "Boooooring!" she sang.
"Then tell me where you would like to go, Mrs. Morgan."
Lilly stood up and wiped her hands dry before returning to face the gentlemen. "How do you plan on getting us there, exactly? What kind of "shortcut" are we talkin' about here?"
Robert took one last puff of his smoke before putting it out. "Your tree at Darach ar an gCnoc isn't just any old tree. It's...uh...what was it that Lugh said about it?" he asked Leonard.
"It's connected to a string of other trees used for traveling long distances in a very short amount of time," Leonard explained, shaking his head at Robert. "Really, mate, do you not listen to anything that Lugh says?"
Robert chuckled. "Not really, no. So basically," he said, inching closer to Lilly with his hands in his pockets. "Some ancient trees come with plenty of magic and long ago, the gods used these trees to transport themselves between their realms and ours. Now most have gone dark, but Arthur and Lugh have been working very hard to bring these trees back into the fold."
"Hmm," Lilly said, looking up at the clear blue sky. She suddenly remembered something Rains Fall had said to her years ago and smiled. "Okay, I think I know where I want to go."
"Where?"
"To Colter."
Sean, Leonard and Robert all blinked. "Colter? Where's that?" Leo asked.
"In America. See," Lilly said, pulling out a pack of smokes and lifting one out. "A long time ago, I knew an Indian chief named Rains Fall and he told me that there was a very ancient tree in a cave not too far from Colter. I think I know which cave he was talking about."
"Oh?" Robert asked.
"Yeah. The one I took refuge in when I was separated from the gang after our ferry heist in Blackwater went wrong," she said before lighting a cigarette and puffing on it.
"Huh. Arthur never mentioned this," he spoke after crossing his arms over his chest. "The tree in a cave, I mean. Didn't you see it?"
"Nope. I never went that far into the cave. But if you're tellin' me that these trees are...portals to other places, well, that would explain why Brian and James were there that night. In fact, I think The Morrigan was there that night, too," Lilly explained.
Robert frowned. "Speaking of The Morrigan," he said, approaching closer to Lilly. "We haven't seen her in over three years. We just got word that she was trying to send Adair a message."
Lilly blinked widely. "Okay? She's missing?"
"Presumed captured by Carman and whoever is helping Carman."
Lilly growled and smoked her cigarette. "God damn bitch...and no one bothered to...you know what?" Lilly sighed. "Nevermind. Do you know where she is?"
"Not a clue. And, well, we were hoping you'd come and help."
Suddenly an intrigued smirk appeared on Lilly's face. "Ah, so you do have an alternate agenda," she said, blowing smoke from her mouth.
A laugh escaped Robert. "I have multiple agendas, but you're the most important one."
Lilly sucked in some smoke and exhaled. "Right. Anyway, is there a tree here we can use?"
"A couple miles from here, sure."
"Great," Lilly said, smoking more and walking up the hill. "Let's go."
The three men followed the Irish women obediently.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Carman smiled devilishly as she looked at the magical black and green orb that showed Mrs. Morgan, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Hughes and Mr. MacGuire trudging through the rainforest of French Indochina. She chortled a high pitched giggle before sighing, resting her elbow on her opposite arm and gripping her pointer finger with her teeth.
"Oh, you poor little wretches," she scoffed in amusement. "You really think your pathetic little scheme to bring Lilly back to the light will actually succeed? Aww, how sweet," she mocked before pressing her fingertips to the orb. "I need just the right moment."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
As the group continued to walk, Lilly took in a deep breath of fresh air and sighed. "Oh, such a beautiful day out, isn't it, fellers?" she asked.
"Yes. Very," Robert replied, kicking a big frog off his foot. "But it's been raining like hell since Leo and I got here."
"Yeah, that's the weather here in Vietnam. It just started the rainy and wet season."
"Oh? And what are the other ones?"
"Hot," Lilly groaned over dramatically. "Hot and dryer than an old lady's drawers. It does nothing right fer me god damn hair!"
Robert cackled loudly as he walked. "I don't know about all that, but Arthur told me you have seasons to you as well. Said you had hot and you had wet. So, I guess..." he yanked her to his chest and breathed her in, making her gasp. "I need to figure out what kind of season you're in right now," he whispered into her ear.
"Robert!" Leo and Sean yelled. "Enough already!"
Lilly threw her head back and laughed as Robert clung to her back. "Really, Mr. Lewis," she giggled. "Ya must control yerself. It ain't proper."
"Since when did you start giving a damn about social decorums?" Robert growled seductively in her ear.
Lilly shuddered with a whimper before blinking a few times, clearing her throat and straightening, not having realized she had practically fainted in his arms just now.
"Since I left Arthur," she said glumly before taking a few steps forward. As she turned, she started to speak. "And, well, the thing is, I-" Lilly had lifted a finger but then her eyes went down. Her eyelids went up and she opened her mouth wide before laughing. "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho my god..." she laughed, covering her mouth as she crouched and turned away.
Robert arched a brow. "What?"
Sean and Leonard looked at each other before pointing at Robert's crotch and laughing. "Ya got quite the tent there, Englishman!" Sean giggled.
Robert looked down and froze when he spotted his clothed erection poking through. "Oh shit!" he yelled before turning around and running behind a tree.
The other three were all fallen over at this point, laughing and crying at the same time. "Oh my god, Robert!" Lilly cackled enthusiastically.
"Shut the hell up, all of you!" Robert yelled angrily from behind the tree. "Jesus Christ!"
Lilly, Leonard and Sean all looked at each other before rolling with more laughter taking hold. "Did a snake come up and bite yer willy, Mr. Lewis?" Lilly wheezed out.
"I said shut the hell up!" Robert boomed louder.
"Oh don't be embarassed, mate!" Leo chuckled loudly. "You have a great sized cock!"
More laughter echoed through the forest before Robert came out from behind the trees. "Alright," he said. "That's...that's enough of that."
The three giggling people were still on the ground, trying so hard to calm down but they just couldn't. Whenever one would stop laughing, the others would just continue and infect the first one into a giggling fit of happiness.
"That was brilliant, Robert!" Lilly laughed, slowly standing up and brushing herself off. "Thanks fer that. I havena laughed like that in such a long time."
Robert growled with his fists clenched before approaching Lilly. "You think this is funny?" he snarled.
"Robert?" Leonard said, standing up quickly with his hand up. "Don't."
"Well?" Robert asked with a glare.
Lilly sighed with a scrutinizing gaze before kissing his cheek. "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed."
Robert took a deep breath with his eyes shut before smiling brightly, relaxing his hands and stance. "Mmmm, you really do smell like apples, Lillian."
Lilly chuckled and stroked his cheek softly. "If I marry you, will you let me know what you smell like?"
"Lilly..." Sean warned. "Don't do it."
Lilly rolled her eyes and groaned before glaring at Sean. "SHUT UP!" she boomed.
Sean immediately clamped his mouth shut with a gulp. This made Lilly chuckle before looking at Robert lovingly. "Well?"
Robert wrapped his arms around her with a smile. "If you marry me, I'll give you the whole world, the moon and the stars."
Lilly giggled lightly before breathing in deep and sighing. "It really is a shame that you ain't Arthur." She let go of him and walked backwards with a grin before clasping her hands behind her back and stopping. With a mischevious grin, she twisted herself from side to side with a head tilt while looking at him. "He's trained you very well, Mr. Lewis, but I see right through this silly little facade of his."
Mr. Lewis folded his arms with a smirk. "Do you now?"
"Yes. Arthur just..." Lilly took a deep breath in, trying to formulate the right words. "Sometimes he's very hard to love. He's grouchy, pigheaded and can be overprotective at times, but not once did I ask or want that man to change himself for anything, least of all for me. He's not perfect and I'm not perfect, but we are perfect for each other." Lilly lowered her gaze. "Or...were..."
Robert took a few steps forward before placing a hand on her shoulder. "If you two were so perfect for each other, why did you leave?"
Lilly began fiddling with her fingers as tears started to fill her eyes. "I honestly don't know why I left. At the time, it just felt like the right thing to do. After a few days, I..." Lilly sniffled and wiped her nose as the tears began to fall. "Oh, what's the use? It doesn't matter anymore."
Robert frowned before grabbing his handkerchief and holding it out to Lilly. "It matters to me."
Lilly sobbed and took his hanky before drying her eyes. "Why?"
"Because I'd like a clear picture of what went wrong. I already know Arthur's side of it but I don't know yours."
Lilly looked at Leonard and Sean, sniffling again. "I know we need chaperones, but could we have some privacy for a few minutes? Please?"
Leonard and Sean glanced at each other before nodding to Lilly and walking off somewhere. She looked back at Robert's face and cried more, covering her face with his hanky. Without hesitation, Mr. Lewis embraced her in a tight hold as he stroked her hair.
"It's alright, Lilly. You will have no judgment from me."
Lilly nodded and sniffed a few times before looking up at him. "After I left, I went to Dublin and drank myself into a bloody stupor. I kept telling myself I was an eejit, that I should go back, throw myself at his feet and beg for his forgiveness and mercy. But..." Lilly bit her lip, pausing from a fear of saying any more.
"But what?"
Lilly took a deep breath. "I...it's a...I have a...ugh!" she groaned as she jerked her head back. "I'm assuming Arthur told you I'm secretive by nature?"
With a light chortle, Robert kissed her forehead. "Oh yes. May I assume that I'm about to hear this secret?"
Lilly nodded sadly. "Yes. Maybe if I tell you, you'll understand why I need to go to sleep forever."
"Then please enlighten me, my sweet," he cooed.
Lilly rolled her eyes at him. "Dunna call me that," she groaned.
Robert chuckled deeply as he slowly caressed her arm and shoulder. "I think it's starting to grow on you. You didn't hit or yell at me this time."
A soft giggle passed Lilly's lips. "I could yell at or hit ya if ya like," she teased.
Robert huffed with an excited look on his face. "Oh Lillian Rose, don't you dare start what you can't finish."
Lilly smirked up at him before giving him a mild but still attention getting slap on the cheek. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" she snickered as Robert dropped his jaw and massaged his cheek.
"God damn, woman," he laughed in mild disbelief before looking at her with a very sexualized sneer. "Lilly, I'm warning you. Don't-."
Lilly grasped the back of his hair and yanked his face down to hers, their lips a hair's breath away from each other. "I do apologize, Mr. Lewis, but I still didn't catch all that."
Robert suddenly kicked Lilly's feet out from under her and she yelped as she went down unexpectedly. When she landed on her back, Robert was already over her body and grinning down at her.
"I am going to teach you a lesson you are not going to forget!" he growled playfully.
"Robert!" Leonard yelled from the top of a hill. "Arthur wouldn't want-"
"Fuck what Arthur wants!" Robert snapped angrily as he sat up on his knees, glaring up at Leonard. "That dumb bastard doesn't deserve her!"
"HEY!" Lilly shouted, getting Robert's attention. "Dunna be callin' me husband a dumb bastard, ya stupid cocksucker! Ya insult him again, I'll chop yer balls off and stick 'em in me sarcophagus with all me other trophies!"
Robert suddenly burst out laughing and fell over while holding his gut. "Oh ho...oh ho ho!"
Lilly shot up and looked down at him with a fierce expression. "What's so god damn funny, Mr. Lewis?!"
Robert kept laughing but tried to talk. "You...you...you're going to...to have a tomb full of balls?!" he cackled.
Lilly puckered up her lips and tried not to laugh. "No, that's not..." Sean and Leonard joined in on the laughing and she slowly turned to look up at them. "Ah shut up, the lot of yas! I ain't havin' smelly old ball sacs in me coffin! I said trophies!"
Robert couldn't stop laughing. "Oh ho ho hooo...Lilly, I know you well enough to know that you already have at least one set of balls in your...menagerie."
Leonard and Sean started trekking down the hill. "Oh, ya think so, aye?" she said with a smile while folding her arms. "And whose balls would I keep with me for all eternity?"
Robert smiled and leaned on his elbow while gazing up at her. "Two words. Lion, Africa."
Lilly scoffed. "Ya mean the raunchy bastard lion that pissed on me while I was sleepin' and then tried tah mate with me while I was in wolf form? No no, fuck that!"
Lilly heard laughter in her head and froze, lifting her gaze to part of the tree line as she saw movement. "Ya must admit, Lilly...that was a good one," a voice said in her mind.
"Lillian?" Robert asked, looking behind himself then at Lilly. "What's wrong?"
Lilly started to breathe heavily as she saw something take form in the forest. "Run..." she said barely above a whisper.
"What?" Leonard asked.
"I said run!" Lilly shouted.
Leonard pulled Robert up and Sean pulled out his rifle, aiming for what Lilly was staring at. "What do you see, Lilly?" Sean asked as Robert and Leonard pulled out their own guns.
Lilly slowly turned to them with a growl before her eyes went pitch black. "RUN!" she boomed inhumanely.
Sean jumped back from her but Robert and Leonard stayed. "Lillian," Robert gasped. "Honey, just calm-"
Lilly screamed out in pain, her whole body tensing as she sunk to her knees. "RUN, YA FUCKIN' EEJITS!"
Robert watched in horror as Lilly started transforming into her wolf form, but the fur she began to sprout was not red but black.
"Leo, what the hell is happening to her?!" Robert demanded.
Lilly cried out loudly to the sky before groaning from restraint. "Please...run..." she whined as she tightened her fists, her muscles starting to bulge through her clothes.
She fell to her hands and growled almost demonically when her clothes started ripping. Leonard knelt down next to Lilly and put his hand on her arm.
"Lilly, what is this?" he asked.
Lilly grabbed Leonard's suit and pulled him to her aggressively, spittle frothing from her mouth as she stared at him with flickering black eyes. "Run or yer dead!" she breathed heavily. "Dunna let me kill me brother, please," she sobbed before screeching and turning her head away, her face morphing into that of a dark wolf.
Leonard gripped her hand with both of his and frowned. "Fight it, Lilly! Fight back!"
Lilly howled out as her clothes stretched and tore, her body jerking with growth. "I can't!" she yelled. "Please just go!"
Leonard shot up before looking at Sean and Robert. "This is far more serious than I thought," he said. "Dark magic has infected her wolf!"
Suddenly Lilly cackled loudly and started ripping everything off, her satchel, clothes and weapons all falling onto the ground. "Yer not exactly right, Mr. Hughes, but I'm gonna count tah ten," she snarled as her hands changed into very large black paws. "If ya dunna start runnin', I'll eat ya fuckers whole!"
As Lilly grew bigger, Sean and the other two started backing up slowly. "I think it's high time we tail it outta here, boys," Sean said with a gulp.
"I'm not leaving her!" Robert snapped.
"One," Lilly giggled maniacally as she got even bigger, truly taking on the form of a pitch black wolf.
The men continued backing up. "Robert, live to fight another day," Leonard pointed out shakily.
"Two," she said as she faced them, baring her drooling canines with a rage burning in her black eyes. "Three."
The three men stared up at the black wolf, Robert estimating that Lilly was now at least fifteen feet tall at the shoulder. "Jesus Christ..." he gasped.
"Four."
Robert held out his bracelet and clicked on a red bead, aiming his fist at Lilly. A red screen fizzled up and showed an outline of Lilly's form. "Sean, grab her satchel," Robert said.
Sean went to grab it but Lilly snapped at his hand. He pulled it back quickly before she could get it and she chuckled deeply. "Five," she sang.
Robert stared at the screen with Leonard. Lilly's entire being was filled with living black magic with sparks of different colors barely showing through. "You getting this, Leonard?" Robert asked.
"Six."
Leonard stared at the screen in bewilderment. "Oh gods," he said. "I think I know what this is."
"Seven," Lilly hissed with annoyance, taking a step forward.
"What is it?" Robert asked quickly. "Sean, get the god damn satchel!"
Lilly took another step forward. "Eight," she said, licking her chops.
"We need to run now," Leonard said, turning the screen off and yanking Robert away.
Robert shoved him off. "I am not-"
"This isn't about your love for this woman or your fucking ego, Robert!" Leonard snapped in his face. "We need to run!"
"Nine!" Lilly barked at them. Leonard grabbed Robert again along with Sean and went racing through the forest.
Lilly watched with glee as the men disappeared over the hill. She flinched, however, when her counter part tried to regain the reins of control, but the wolf merely chuckled in amusement.
"Ten," she whispered before pouncing after the men.