Day 16 of Midwinter, Nightfall

Garbánach’s Cave, Tech Duinn

Annwn

I had expected a power rank notification after my fight with the fachan, but none came. There was a gluttonous feeling, or more aptly a saturated feeling, that I now recognized as being on the edge of a power rank notification. I’d been looking forward to hearing the Dagda’s sexy jazz voice in my head, but alas, the cave entrance came and no power up! Then again, there were also no further interruptions or altercations, which was nice.

The magical energies that I had seen leaking out of the mostly hidden cave entrance became nearly blinding as I got closer. This part of Annwn, the area near Tech Duinn, seemed to be erupting with the weave.

I had shut off my Control Energy boon hours ago for fear of going blind before even reaching the volcano, let alone entering it. But once inside, I didn’t even need the boon to feel the ambient power leaking from every rock and stone of the mountainside. For someone like me, who was predisposed to the transfer of magical energy, the sheer volume of magic was downright distracting.

The tunnel I was in appeared to bend slightly downward. I didn’t think I was all that high up on Tech Duinn, but even still, there seemed to be plenty of descent to tread. It made sense the more I thought about it. I had, after all, hiked uphill for hours just to get to the cave.

I alternated between descending and ascending for what felt like hours. To my utter confusion, the air seemed to be getting colder, not hotter. Strange, given I was literally marching into a volcano.

I hadn’t seen any sign of a living being for a very long time, but I thought I heard running water amid the sounds of rocks shifting and general geographic indigestion. Eventually, I came upon an open space unlike anything I had ever seen.

The room seemed to be the origin of the water sound. A deep pool of water roiled and swirled, and the whirlpool swirled out instead of in on itself. Water appeared to be flowing outward away from the pool in all directions… all directions, including up.

I stared, dumbfounded. This room broke every law of gravity and motion—and probably a few others Earthbound scientists had invented to explain the natural world. Water streamed upward into the air and vanished from sight. The chamber walls were draped in waterfalls that cascaded over twin tiers of Roman-style arches circling the room. The arches climbed higher and higher, just like the water, disappearing into the mist above. It was strange and beautiful all at once.

I hadn’t heard any reference to a strange primordial pool in my travels with Morias and The Dagda, but this place felt set apart… special. Looking around, I tried to follow the path of the water from the backward whirlpool up and onto the walls. From the waterfalls, it ran off through holes in the ground and walls. It ran under the arches in all directions, but the bulk of the water appeared to travel in three main channels.

My eyes settled on a path to the pool’s edge, and I found myself shuffling down a set of naturally cut stone stairs to reach it. The water looked both refreshing and mesmerizing. It exuded magical energies that I had never felt in Annwn, not even when I was struck by lightning. I felt a nearly irresistible urge to reach out and touch the water.

The pool was beautiful and peaceful, and per usual, that’s when something crazy happened…the possessed stick I had been carrying around began tugging me back up the stairs and away from the pool.

“Hey…” I said. I planted my feet to avoid being dragged by the shillelagh. “Stop that. I want to check out this weird reverse Charybdis.”

I paused, hearing my own words. Charybdis. That was one of the Greek water monsters Odysseus ran into in the Odyssey. Was it possible that this thing was a water monster? It was Annwn, after all... Getting attacked by some sort of weird water, or Water Weird, would be right on course for this place. Was it possible that the staff was trying to warn me?

“Hey, staff demon,” I said. “Is the pool dangerous or something?” It stopped pulling. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Slowly, I backed away from the pool while keeping both eyes on the water. To my utter shock, nothing happened. So, this was what happened when you followed good advice and listened to that little voice in your head! It wouldn’t make for a good novel, but it definitely seemed like it would keep me upright more than the alternative.

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I had inadvertently backed up to a new position in the cylindrical room, not where I had entered. I stood just beneath one of the archways. The water fell from above, the resulting waterfall covering the passageway behind such that I could only partially see through to the other side, where I could see what looked like a faint light.

I pointed the shillelagh at the waterfall. “What about this water? Can I walk through this water?” No reaction. Shrugging, I set off under the archway.

The water felt strange on my hair and skin. It felt cool, but not just from the temperature. It was almost like it was rapidly evaporating from my skin. My skin prickled with goosebumps from the odd sensation, and a shiver rolled through me.

Ahead, I could see the outline of a room at the end of the passageway. It occurred to me that if each archway held another passageway from the pool room, there were likely a lot of rooms I’d need to explore.

I was most interested in the passageways that housed the largest of the water channels, but unfortunately, this was not one of them. Nope, I had “picked” this one based on the meddlesome actions of a certain possessed stick. Based on my luck, it would probably be the most dangerous passageway. Or not. I had absolutely no idea. Sometimes it didn’t pay to be the god of chaos.

I walked further down the passageway, eventually reaching a room lit solely by the light of the liquid rock that surfaced in different parts of the space. Looking down from my vantage point, I saw a balcony of sorts. It was up against the farthest wall of the cave, isolated by the lava that ran in and through the rock walls. At the center of this seeming island was a gray stone kiln or oven. Nearby, tools in various states of disrepair were strewn about. Rubble sat upon all surfaces in the small space, which made me wonder if the shifting and churning of the mountain disrupted whatever went on here.

Looking around the rest of the room, I saw various weapons and armor racks, along with great empty urns. Was this a crude workshop?

My eyes snapped back to what I’d nearly missed, assuming at first it was a bundle of rags. In a cage hung an unmoving, emaciated man. My heart pounded as I looked closer, picking out details. The source of thɪs content is novelꜰire.net

The man’s reddish-brown beard looked overgrown from what I guessed had once been a well-manicured point well beneath his chin. Even in his present state, I could see that his arms held a steely, muscled strength that could only come from repeated and heavy use. His faded orange gown encircled his body, while still somehow giving the appearance of an apron.

The man’s glistening eyes were locked on mine. He raised a shaking hand to me, letting it fall weakly after only a brief second. I watched as he took a deep breath as if building his strength. He raised his hand again, motioning as if shooing me away. What? Did he want me to…leave? I shook my head, knowing that if I were starving in a cage, I would want someone to come let me out.

I startled as a cold wind blasted through the passageway behind me. The man felt it, too. His eyes widened in fear.

“Hide…” the man whispered, his voice scratchy. “They come…”

“Damn it,” I muttered, reaching to pull out my shillelagh. I felt suddenly exposed on the ledge where I stood, but I didn’t see an easy path down to the man. If they (whoever “they” were) came from the room with the pool, the vacuous space that dropped into liquid hot magma behind me would leave me boxed in. I couldn’t have that.

Making up my mind, I turned and leapt toward the large section of stone that held the rough smithy.

“No…” the man croaked out from behind me.

“How about a little positivity, dude?” I snapped, shooting a quick look his way.

Now that I was closer, I could see the man was in bad shape. What was the “rule of threes” for survival? Three minutes without air, three days without water, or three weeks without food, I thought. It was hard to know if the same rules applied in Annwn, especially if this guy was who I thought he was, but I was nearly certain the man had hardly eaten or drunk in many days.

As the temperature of the room began to rapidly drop, I realized what was coming. I was in Tech Duinn, after all, the gateway to Uffern, the land of the collected spirits of death…the very place from where the Bánánach had been spilling out and ruining people’s days. Morias had been troubled that we’d encountered the spirits of the dead outside of the large battlefields they were regularly found at. I didn’t know what that meant, but at the moment, I didn’t care.

The room had grown so cold that I could see the fog of my own breath. I didn’t know what that meant about the number of evil spirits that would grace my presence, but being that I was on their turf, I suspected it would be a lot. I briefly considered freeing the man to help with the coming fight, but ruled it out just as quickly, knowing he was in no condition to assist with anything, much less wielding a weapon.

“Chains…” the man murmured, struggling to lift his arms again.

“I’ll get to you in a second,” I responded, turning my attention back to the waterfall passage I had come from. “I know you’re locked up and all, but I’m pretty sure we’ve got bigger problems headed our way.”

“No…” he said again, his voice stronger. He pointed over at a set of chains that led up into the ceiling. “Controls lava flow… forge.”

I glanced up, understanding immediately what he meant. So, it was true, senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, could still serve a purpose.

“Thanks!” I said to the person I was pretty sure was the long-lost Goibhniu…the very person I’d been looking for.

I quickly moved to the chains and began yanking down on one side of the chain. A great gust of warm air blasted up in the forge, making the room immediately grow warmer.

This I could deal with…This I could use! I waited, tucking myself behind the forge, but in front of the smith god in the cage. I held myself still as the amber eyes, clustered in seven or eight sets, entered the room through the passageway above.

I thought back to what Fern had said to the spirits in the hold of the Stern Beauty when she stood over her captain. Seemed like a good use of the phrase to me.

“You can’t have him, devils!” I yelled, brandishing the shillelagh, as the malevolent eyes came flying toward us.