Day 16 of Midwinter, Sunrise

Cruachan, Midlands

Annwn

I was in darkness. No longer was the pain of the fire consuming every thought. I was somewhere inside of myself, with the Dagda’s voice still announcing my power rank notification. But there was another sensation too. My body felt full, heavier than usual, even in this limbo.

You must choose one domain classification…

Something was happening. I felt my mind speeding up the notification. I wasn’t in control.

Psychopompic Justicar

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Scion of Justice

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Warden of Judgment

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Greyblade

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This was the moment I had imagined all my life. I had earned my domain. And now, after all of the work and the waiting, I was not the one choosing my domain classification.

You have selected- Scion of Justice.

You have been gifted with the following boons:

Dawnpiercer

Blazing Mantle

Burning Pulse

Guilt-Sight

Penitent Brand

You have one soul-bound affliction:

Possession- Belenus (Corrupted)

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Innate Racial Abilities:

Rapid Regeneration

Advanced Identification (anointment superseded)

Magic Sense

One magic item is in your possession.

You have acquired: Gealltóir, the Vowkeeper.

Item abilities unlocked:

Scourge of the Fae- When wielding this saber against any fae, your attacks are twice as effective.

So many boons. It was impossible they all had come from a single domain. I had to have heard wrong. I had earned two domains? Justice and Light. How was that possible?

A cold dread washed over me as I remembered the affliction listed in the notification… Possession.

YOU ARE A MAN OF YOUR WORD, TADG MAC NUADA. AND NOW, WE ARE FREE.

Though the three-head creature that had bathed me in flames was no longer in the room with me, its voice was back in my head, now even closer and more intimate.

“Aillén?”

ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU WHO I TRULY AM…

Darkness came and went, and I found myself propelled into a vision of the past. Was this Aillén’s memory?

Before me, I saw the familiar sight of the Midlands, but not as I knew them. The hills were gentle and sweeping, and at their center was…a grass-covered hill. The fire-breathing mountain of my day was nowhere to be seen. Yes, the promontory of the hill was expansive, but the elevation difference between the vision and present-day Tech Duinn was extreme.

The grassland colors were familiar. The greenish hues of Mag Mell were as rich and deep as I had ever seen them. Flowering trees littered the landscape. These trees bore the fruits that had made the region famous in Annwn for as long as the Sages had been making natural observations.

The vision took me along the green countryside before penetrating the expansive hill through a series of caves on the western side. I found myself inside the mound, having gone deeper and deeper through the caverns and crevasses. I was not alone but in the company of three others, a woman and two men. I didn’t recognize their faces, and yet, somewhere inside of me, I sensed a familiarity.

I stood with the others at the edge of a spiraling vortex of water.It looked like a whirlpool in a massive underground lake, only the spiral traveled outward, pushing the water to the edges.

I studied it for a long while but could make no sense of how it worked. The water at the pool's edges splashed over, creating mini waterfalls that cascaded out onto the underside of the hill. The trickling of water flowed out into the darkness and away from my dream sight.

Within Aillén’s memory, I knew this place, but I did not know its name. I knew that at the center of the whirlpool was the most sacred place in all of the realms. It was the very center of the world.

The memory shot forward in time and I saw rivers carved into the underside of the hill carrying the sacred water away from the source in focused channels. The rivers felt wrong, and unnatural to me, and sorrow flooded my senses. I could not tell if the nearly overwhelming regret and sadness was mine or Aillén’s.

Before me, I saw the landscape change again. I watched as the ground split and liquid fire erupted from the rock of the hill. The mound rose into the air, beginning to take the shape of the mountainous region of my time.

The same threesome from the earlier vision was there, but they no longer stood at the pool’s edge. Instead, they stood at the mouth of the volcano, where they appeared to be surveying the changes to the land.

In their expressions, I saw a blackness that I had never seen before. They wore it as one would wear a cloak. I watched as they transformed into terrible new forms. The woman grew and flew into the air. One of the men leaped into the fire and ash of the volcano, disappearing from sight. The second man was transformed. Beneath the blackness, I saw claws on his massive hands.

I didn’t understand the vision I was being shown, but I knew there must be a reason Aillén wanted me to see it.

As the vision faded, I saw a distorted reflection of a man I didn’t know. He wore a garment of black feathers. From his eyes, I saw the narrow hallways of Cruachan and watched as he barricaded himself inside that infernal temple.

The Cruachan of the vision vanished as a small hand pushed against my arm, shaking me. My eyes snapped open to see the real Cruachan stretching before me, unchanged. Sétanta sat in front of me. He had tears trailing down his cheeks. I wasn’t sure how long he had been trying to wake me from the vision.

I wrapped the boy tightly in my arms and held him as he sobbed. He knew exactly what it meant that none of the other members of his fianna were with us. I murmured reassurances, telling him that I would protect him, but my words could not stop his tears. He continued to cry, his thin arms clutched tightly around my neck.

COME, TADG. I WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY OUT. AND WHILE YOU PROTECT THE BOY, I WILL PROTECT US.