Maddock huffed a laugh and sagged with relief as two more heads popped up. One let out a low, barking sound and rolled over.
“Seals,” Isla said. “How did we not realize?”
“Too freaked out,” Grizzly said.
“One of the theories behind the Loch Ness phenomenon is the rows of humps people have reported seeing are, in fact, seals. Supposedly, mammals tend to swim up and down, giving the appearance of humps, while serpents swim more side to side,” Bones said. “I think that’s a good sign — two SEALs show up and along come a bunch of seals.”
Isla frowned and cocked her head. “You know, you’re just as dumb below ground as you are up above.”
“Give me time,” Bones said. “I grow on you.”
“Like a fungus,” Maddock added.
“Now that we’ve been granted a reprieve,” Isla began, “how about we examine the treasure?”
“Definitely.” The tension of the previous moments had momentarily swept away the joy of discovery. Now, the thrill returned as he turned to gaze at the Treasure of the Tuatha de Dannan.
Atop the basalt block in which the word Dagda was carved stood a cauldron cast from a golden-bronze metal. A triskele was engraved inside it, framing a whiskey colored gem set in the bottom.
Isla snapped a couple of photographs, then lowered her camera and stared reverentially at the legendary object. “From Muirias was brought the cauldron of the Dagda. No company went away from it unsatisfied,” she whispered. “That’s what was written about it, anyway. But there was no mention of a gemstone.”
“That’s really weird,” Grizzly said, reaching toward the cauldron.
Maddock grabbed his wrist. “Haven’t we discussed touching things? As in, you don’t do it.”
Grizzly took a step back, fists clenched, jaw set. “I’m getting a little tired of this. Nobody put you in charge.”
“I’m taking charge, and you can either accept that or do something about it. Decide now.” He took a step toward the cryptid hunter.
Grizzly wilted beneath Maddock’s cold stare. He held up his hands. “Calm down. I’m just saying you don’t have to be an ass all the time.”
“You know, Maddock, you really are an ass most of the time,” Bones added.
“I’ll work on my people skills when this is over.” Maddock turned away from the cauldron and moved on to inspect the spear. The pedestal in which it was set was labeled Lug. A hole had been drilled in the top so that the spear could stand upright. The shaft was not made of wood, but appeared to be formed of the same shiny metal as the cauldron. As with the cauldron, wavy lines climbed the shaft like creeping vines, up to a triskele that wrapped around a blood red gem set just beneath the gleaming spear head.
“What was the story behind this one?” Bones asked Isla.
“From Goirias was brought the spear had by Lug,” she recited. “No battle was sustained against it nor against the man who held it in his hand.”
“That sounds like the legend associated with another spear,” Bones said.
“The Spear of Destiny?” Grizzly said. “Do you think this could be it?”
“Doubtful,” Bones said. He glanced at Maddock, who gave a small shake of his head. This wasn’t the time to recount their previous adventures, nor was Grizzly a trustworthy audience.
But Grizzly had already turned to examine the sword. “Nuada,” he read from the face of the pedestal. “They ought to call it Excalibur, the way they’ve got it stuck into the stone.”
Indeed, a slot had been cut into the surface of the rock and the sword of the Tuatha stood, point down in the rock. Like the other objects, it too was made of the strange, coppery-gold alloy. A stone of deep sapphire was set in the pommel, surrounded by the now-familiar triskele.
Isla snapped more photographs. “The sword of Nuada. No one ever escaped from it once it was drawn from its deadly sheath, and none could resist it.”
“The unbeatable sword?” Bones asked.
“It’s like the Elder Wand in Harry Potter,” Maddock said.
Bones gave him a long, level look. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
“Well, some people do refer to the treasures as the ‘Hallows of the Tuatha,’” Isla said.
Bones smirked. “And I’m proud to have no freaking idea what that means.”
Grizzly suddenly spun around, his hands on his head. “The sword in the stone, in a lake. It has to be Arthur’s sword.”
“It’s not,” Maddock and Bones said in unison.
Isla put a hand on Grizzly’s arm. “I think they know something we don’t.” She turned a sly smile in Maddock’s direction, one that didn’t quite mask the suspicion in her eyes. “Sometime very soon, you’re going to have to elaborate on all these mysterious comments you like to make.”
“Maybe,” Maddock said.
“Definitely. I can be very persuasive when I think someone’s hiding something from me.”
Maddock felt the heat of Bones’ stare, turned away, and strode over to kneel in front of the final treasure — the stone.
The Stone of Destiny, or Lia Fáil as Isla named it, was a rectangular block of black stone covered in script on four sides. Atop the stone, another triskele had been engraved around an onyx gem. The sharp, clear lines told him that the Celtic image had clearly been added on much later than the other script.
Maddock immediately noticed the broken corner. “This is it!” He fished into his pocket and drew out the chunk of black stone they’d recovered from the U-boat — the object that had set them on this quest. As he held it up to the broken corner, he felt a tug, as if a magnetic attraction drew the smaller stone back to the larger.
“What’s up?” Bones asked.
“It’s like it’s trying to get back to where it came from.”
“So? Let it.”
Maddock reached to put the broken corner into place, but before he could affix it, it flew from his fingers, drawn by an invisible force. It snapped into place with a soft snick. For an instant, Maddock thought he saw a silver flickering deep in the heart of the black jewel. He stood and took a step back.
“The German spy actually made it here,” Bones said. “I guess he couldn’t very well take the treasures all by himself.”
Maddock shrugged. “Either that, or something interfered with his plan.”
“What kind of writing do you think it is?” Grizzly asked as Isla once again began clicking away with her camera.
“Some form of ancient Hebrew. Wouldn’t you say, Bones?”
The big man nodded. “We’ve seen enough of it over the years.” He paused, a look of wonderment passing over his ruddy features. “We won’t know for sure until it’s translated, but if the legends are true, we are looking at the stone where Jacob laid his head almost four thousand years ago.”
Isla lowered her camera and moved to stand beside Maddock. A hush fell over the group as they slowly turned to gaze at the legendary treasures.
“It’s real,” Isla whispered. “It’s all real.” She took Maddock’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Even the jewels are real!”
“What do you mean?” Maddock asked.
“The treasure was often referred to as the ‘Jewels of the Tuatha.’ I always thought it was metaphorical, referring to how much they were prized, but each of these objects contains an actual jewel.”
“I noticed that.” Maddock wasn’t quite sure what to make of the jewels. They might merely be ornamental, but he’d seen enough stones with odd powers to know not to take anything at face value.
“This is going to make the best documentary ever!” Grizzly took out his video camera and began recording.
Maddock turned to Isla. “You found your treasure. How does it feel?”