"This is good," it said. "Usually the Daoine are so weak." An Phionos looked at her, and it seemed to Jenna that its eyes saw past the surface of her skin and deep into her being. "But you're not just Daoine, are you? Part of you is also Saimhoir, and much farther back, there is also Bunus Muintir. Ah, that surprises you, does it? You're a mongrel, and mongrels are often the strongest."
Then An Phionos came again with a roar; Jenna fought back in the form of the mage-creature, but An Phionos was immensely strong, far more powerful than any of the clochs she had encountered. In the space of a few breaths, her mage-creature was shredded and fading like smoke.
Lamh Shabhala was nearly empty; there was nothing left but the dregs of power. Jenna was no longer floating in nothingness. The hard gray rocks of Bethiochnead pressed into her back, and she lay looking up at a storm-lashed sky.
An Phionos hovered over her. "Now," it whispered, "even the mongrel falls."
Jenna threw a final bolt at the creature. The attack was weak and slow; An Phionos pushed the flickering brilliance aside contemptuously. "You re an empty vessel, Jenna," it told her. "Do you remember Peria? Do you remember how I crushed her? Do you remember the sound of bones cracking and splitting and ripping through flesh? That’s what will happen to you now."
An Phionos descended. It picked up Jenna in its talons as she beat futilely at the beast with her fists, the scales scraping the flesh from her knuckles. She felt the knife-edge points digging into her flesh. Its head came down; its too-human eyes regarded her almost sadly. "You came close," it said. "Closer than you know. Perhaps. ."
Its claws closed around her, She felt them begin to tighten, felt her nA crack. An Phionos was inside her head now, its awareness flooding _ She was still holding Lamh Shabhala. Mage-energy crackled inside with An Phionos’ intrusion. "Now," it said gently. "You’ll be with him again. I promise you that much… "
The pressure against her body increased. Jenna screamed in terror and pain. The mage-energy burned her. She tried to push back with Lamh Shabhala, but there was nothing there. She took her awareness deep into the cloch, deeper, to the utter bottom of the well, and there. .
A glimpse… A hope. .
"No!"
The pressure was suddenly released. An Phionos dropped her, and Jenna gasped in pain and surprise as she fell back to the ground, strug-gling up to a sitting position with her legs folded underneath her. The beast coiled above her, the wings and body blocking the sky. "Why did you come here?" it raged at her. "I can take your life if you give it to me, but I can’t take a life that doesn’t come here willingly- She whose servant I am won’t allow that. Why would you do this?"
It glared at her, mouth gaping dangerously, then the eyes and its voice softened. "You don’t know, do you?" it asked.
Jenna shook her head. "I don’t understand. No."
"Look," An Phionos answered. "Look within yourself."
An Phionos gestured, and Jenna saw herself as the creature saw her: a form of energy and light, her heart beating like a candle fluttering in the wind, and in her belly, a tiny flame burned.
"Mother-Creator. ." Jenna breathed. She cupped her abdomen, as if she could warm her hands in that small radiance.
"Aye," An Phionos answered. "You're with child. You didn't know?"
Jenna could only shake her head mutely. An Phionos snorted. It came to earth, resting again as she had first seen it: sitting on its haunches, the wings down against its body, the tail wrapped around one side, staring down at her as she lay in front of it. "There can be no finish to this Scrudu," it said. There was a note almost of triumph in its voice. "I let you live."
"But I found the path," Jenna told the creature, still cradling herself and staring in wonder at the sparkle of life in her womb. She raised her head as the cloch-vision faded. "I saw the way to defeat you."
An Phionos shook its head. "Perhaps," it said.
"And perhaps not. You'll never know now."
Why not?" Jenna asked. "I could come back, after the child is born. ." Ahe stopped, realizing that what An Phionos had said was the truth.
Aye," it said. "You nearly died this time, with no certainty that what you found would have helped you. Could you undergo this again, knowing that you might leave your child motherless and abandoned? The child will bind you here, Jenna. This time, you fought without caring that yo might die; the next time, your focus will be divided." Its voice was sad "There's but one time in your life to test yourself this way, Jenna. Now you must leave the Scrudu to some other. Perhaps to the child inside "
Its voice became less heard than sensed, the years and decades and centuries seeming to pass as she watched An Phionos became simply a statue once more, its features eroding and fading. "You saw inside Lamh Shabhala. You glimpsed the possibilities. But you'll always wonder if you'd really found the way, Jenna," its dying voice husked. "And so will I… "
The fog around them cleared. She was back in
Thall Coill, kneeling on the cold ground with Seancoim hurrying toward her, and she let herself fall.
Chapter 54: Fire and Water
"JENNA!"
Through half-opened eyes, she could see Seancoim hurrying to her, and Denmark cawing in alarm at her side as she rolled and pushed herself up on one side with her left arm. Scrapes and cuts oozed blood along her body; the smell of ozone hung in the air like the aftermath of a thunderstorm. She was still clutching Lamh Shabhala, but the cloch was empty and drained. Her world swayed around her and she steadied her-self, trying to keep from falling back into unconsciousness. Her head pulsed with a ferocious headache; her right arm, now that she released Lamh Shabhala, fell dead and useless at her side.
She felt as if her body had been placed on the anvil of the gods and pounded.
The spice of Seancoim's presence was at her side. His hands cradled her. "Jenna. . You're alive! I thought. ."
"So did I," Jenna answered. The rocks dug into her side, her legs, her elbow. "Help me up, Seancoim."
"Can you stand?"
"I think so. Probably." Toryn had come over to her as well, and she felt both of them lifting her.
'You passed the Scrudu," Toryn said, his voice awed. "You met the beast and defeated it. We saw the mage-lights, we heard your cries, saw you fighting with something unseen… "
Jenna shook her head. The movement sent the world dancing again and she would have fallen if not for the hands holding her. "No," she said when the land settled once more. She glanced at the ruined visage of An Phionos. "No," she repeated. "I didn't win."
"But you're alive," Seancoim protested. "The Scrudu kills those who fail."
"Aye," Jenna answered. "But not me." She touched her abdomen. "Not us."
"Us?" Seancoim asked, but Toryn interrupted before Jenna could ex-plain.
"But you’ve found the full power of Lamh Shabhala," he said. "You wrestled with the beast and were given that gift."
Again, Jenna shook her head. "No. I used every bit of energy within Lamh Shabhala. And I thought, for a moment. ." She tried to lift her right hand to the cloch and couldn’t. "Mother-Creator, it hurts. It hurts so much… "
"Jenna, here. Sit." Seancoim lowered her to one of the rocks. "I’ll start a fire, mix some anduilleaf…"
He hurried away. Toryn stayed with her, his gaze appraising and cold. "Lamh Shabhala is drained? The struggle must have been awful."
Jenna shuddered at the memory. "Aye," she answered. Toryn nodded. Seancoim had gone downhill a bit to the edge of the forest. They could see him gathering deadwood, Denmark fluttering around him.
"Let me help you," Toryn called. He walked down toward the old man, stooping to gather up branches. "Go on," Jenna heard Toryn say finally. "There’s a few more branches here. I’ll be right behind you."