The lad took a step back. “This can’t be real,” he muttered, as if to himself. “This can’t be.”
“Please,” whispered Morrígan. “You have to understand. Don’t you know what this means?”
“It means you’re a murderer. Worse. The bodies, Morrígan… where did they come from?”
“We took them from the graves. Well, some of them. We found most in the catacombs and—”
“You weren’t there,” Taigdh said, with startled realization. “I looked for you at Mrs. Mhurichú’s funeral, but you weren’t there!”
“Yes. I was here instead. Here trying to fix the world. And I need your help.”
She reached out a hand to him, but the lad flinched.
No. Why doesn’t he understand?
“Please, Taigdh. Why can’t you see what we’ve achieved? Beyond the bodies and the gore, there’s greatness here.”
“Get away from me!” he cried, taking a quick look behind him. “You’ve changed, Morrígan. You’re no longer—”
“A frightened little girl?” She smiled. “Of course not, Taigdh. I’ve learned to wield magic. I’ve learned to heal the sick and wounded. This is just one step further. This is —”
Before she could finish, the lad spun his heels and sprinted out towards the tunnels.
“No, Taigdh! Come back!”
Morrígan gave chase, but the boy was too fast for her. She lost sight of him as they passed through the tunnels, but she kept on running. She called out after him, but only the empty echoes of the cavern walls answered.
When she reached the exit looking over Roseán, she saw him run off into the distance and disappear towards the tiny lights of the village.
Tears filled her eyes.
What if he’s right? She started running again, her pace slowing as she reached the troll and her old family farm. What if he’s right to be afraid? What if it’s right to hate me?
She remembered a time when she once felt as if she loved him, but that feeling had somehow passed her by.
Even when he started courting Sorcha. I wasn’t even jealous.
In truth, she hadn’t really connected with anyone since she started hacking corpses apart with her uncle.
What if it changed me?
Silver moonlight illuminated the petrified troll’s weathered, stone face. Its mouth hung open with rows of familiar stone teeth.
Morrígan gritted her teeth. Inside her chest, her heart pounded to the beat of grief once more.
“It’s all your fault!” she screamed, looking up at the beast. “This never would have happened if you never came here! Mother wouldn’t have died, I wouldn’t have gone to live with Yarlaith, and….” She paused, looking down at the flint-rings on her fingers.
I never would have learned magic.
That much she was glad for. At the cost of her mother’s life, she had grown into a powerful mage. Without other capable trainee mages to work with, she had no way of really gauging how good she was.
What if I’m one of the greatest? What if I’m as powerful as the mages in the battalion?
She closed her eyes, focusing on her power, and touched the stone flesh of the troll. No, it didn’t feel like touching stone with Geomancy.
It’s flesh turned stone! I feel it with Necromancy!
The green-cloaks had said that they weren’t even able to grasp the troll, but Morrígan could. It was there, in her hands, the stone and flesh as one.
She tugged at it, but it didn’t budge. She tried again, thinking of the other tiny weights that pulled down on her heart—sorrow, joy, fear—but still nothing happened.
There was one more weight, though, stronger than the rest: the great pendulum hanging from her heart that had smashed the glass beaker when she first learned Hydromancy.
She reached in for it, feeling its weight in invisible hands.
This is for my uncle, the coward.
Power surged through her body.
This is for those too afraid to offend the Gods. This is for the battlemages, who blindly follow their orders. This is for the Gods themselves, who chain us with their ancient creeds. This is for the backwards people of Roseán, who will never understand what it means to change the world!
Her hands balled into fists and her nails dug into skin.
Taigdh took one look at our work and ran, but he will never understand what it is like to wield power as strong as this. None of them will!
She opened her eyes and focused on the troll.
I hate them. I hate them all.
