We stood in front of a dimly lit doorway which led down a set of stone worn steps.

“What’s down there?” I asked.

Rob didn’t answer me and Enbarr nuzzled my arm with her nose and then gently pushed me down the steps. As I descended a burning sensation welled up in my chest as I drew near to a source of power. Only when I got to the last few steps that I saw what was giving off the power.

The room was dimly lit by glowing stones all around the perimeter and in the center was a stone dais inlaid with precious gems. In the center of the dais was an erect round stone with a sword planted in the middle of it.

It was a sword unlike any I had ever seen before. It was clear as a crystal and shimmered like gentle waves of water. It was a blade that was only fitting for a king of the sea. Without realizing quite how I got there, I found myself standing on the dais with my hand outstretched towards the hilt of the sword. I hesitated only for a moment and then grabbed the watery hilt.

Much like the horse Enbarr herself, the hilt felt solid under my grasp despite rippling like water. I expected it to be impossible to remove from the stone, but it came out quite easily with a metallic ring.

“Wow,” I whispered. Goosebumps laced my arms “Fragarach.” Then I couldn’t help myself, I had to give it a few test swings. The sword was perfectly balanced and cut through the air fluidly. But more than that, it was brimming with a magical aura, a power that I could feel, ready to course through me if I so willed it.

“I just wish it came in a katana shape,” I said. While it remained a translucent crystal-like sword, the blade began to glow orange under my grasp. “Sweeeeeeet.” Then I noticed a sheath had appeared on the dais next to the centerpiece. I picked it up and sheathed the sword, positioned it next to Jade, and ascended back up the stairs.

That’s when I heard conch shell horns blaring throughout the castle, and the sound of guards and armed forces running to do battle.

“Okay,” I said to Rob, “now it’s really time to go. Where did Enbarr go?”

“She dipped as soon as you descended down the stairs. Oh, and I almost forgot. She said that we can escape via Manan mac Lir’s boat, Scuabtuinne, the wave sweeper. It’s self-guiding.” He raised his eyebrows over and over.

“Lead the way.”

Rob found a stairway leading up.

A booming bellowing voice behind us let out a shout that made the walls shutter.

“Where is my sword?”

“Ah snap,” I shuddered.

---

Up the spiral staircase we clambered, going around so many times I was growing dizzy and breathless.

“So we’re just gonna steal his sword and his boat? How many mythical Celtic figures am I going to piss off?”

Rob began counting off on his fingers. “Well you killed the Banshee. So you don’t have to worry about her. Nehemiah has the Dullahan’s spinal whip, so technically you don’t have to worry about the headless rider. But Donn the lord of the dead definitely—”

“I know the answer to that already! It’s a rhetorical question.”

We ran through more passageways and more corridors. Some doors were locked and we had to double back on multiple occasions. We climbed higher and higher up the palace until finally we came to a room with sunroof windows. Through the windows I could see that we were still underwater but the surface of the sea was not far off. A large set of wooden double doors lay in front of me and it took Rob and myself to pull it open. On the other side of the door was a docking bay for Mannan mac Lir’s ships. “Okay,” I said, “Which one is it?”

“Umm,” said Rob, “That one!” He pointed to a smaller boat without sails, mast, oars, or engine.

“You better be right,” I said.

At that moment a band of guards jogged into the hall we were in.

“There he is! He’s stolen Fragarach.”

I yelled incoherently. The two of us ran for the boat. We jumped inside, but the boat didn’t take off.

“This is just a normal boat,” I yelled at Rob.

He shook his head frantically. “This is the right one I’m sure of it. You probably have to tell it what to do.”

The footfalls of the guards were getting closer, their heavy steps matching my heartbeat.

“Boat, take us back to Benicia,” I said, in a doubtful voice. Then I added sternly. “Of the Bay Area.”

Miraculously the boat moved, slow at first, as if unsure of itself, then quicker with each second. It lurched forward and Rob and I fell on our backs. Laughing I looked behind us and felt the urge to stick my tongue out the guards, but I forgot that they were Selkies. They shifted into man-sized seals and shot through the water like torpedoes.

“Faster, faster,” I commanded the boat. It obeyed and shot forward. We were still inside the palace dock, but the boat was directing itself towards the exit. As we approached the massive opening I realized with a sick stomach that we would be passing through a magical wall of ocean. With both hands I grabbed my cohuleen druith and made sure it was on firmly, then closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Passing through the wall of water, I felt coldness and wetness rush over me, but because of the magic hooded cap I could still breathe fine.

Below me sprawled the palace, seashell shaped spires rose in every direction and in the front of the palace, the direction we were headed, the King’s Selkie warriors gathered into ranks along the seafloor, facing off against a gathering of giant behemoths lumbering through the water.

“Fomorians!” bubbled salmon-Rob.

Up until this point I had only ever seen one Fomorian, Balor. He was a hideous titan with burgundy skin, ivory hair, and one eye socket. Apparently his eye was missing.

These Fomorians were much the same, all hideous to varying degrees. Some had tusks and two eyes, others had one eye or no eyes. Some had white hair or were balding. Some had gray hair. All of them had shades of burgundy skin, from bright reddish to dark brownish. But the thing that unified all of them were there tree trunk sized limbs, and massive hands the width of truck beds. They seemed to move through the water effortlessly as if there was no friction or resistance from the waves.

“Tethra’s cattle. Steer clear.” Rob made a chomping motion.

A small number of the Fomorians held great megalodon packs at bay with chain leashes connecting the sharks to the Chaotic giants, like a rapid aquatic wolf pack chomping at the bit to be unleashed on Manann and his royal guard.

At the head of the band of Selkie warriors I saw Manann mac Lir standing tall in a chariot drawn by Enbarr and another watery translucent horse. In his hand he held a long trident, because I of course held Fragarach the Retaliator.

He led the charge against the Fomorians. The two sides clashed like a mosh pit at a death metal concert, except for with a lot more blood and mortality. Tridents stabbed, and titan fists pummeled. At his beckoning, a group of dolphins joined Manann mac Lir’s small army in the foray.

Behind us, the Selkies gained on us. I had an idea.

“Skirt over the top of that battle,” I commanded the boat. Seconds later we would pass straight over the conflict. The Fomorians didn’t notice us until we passed by them, but we drew their attention to the Selkie’s close behind us and they attacked the king’s guards instead.

I chuckled smugly.

But I reacted too soon.

The biggest baddest Fomorian of them all in the group was not leading the charge but commanding from behind. I knew at once that this was Tethra, the self-proclaimed Fomorian king of the sea. He stood well above his underlings, and if I could see Balor and him standing side-by-side, he might be even taller. He wore a crown on his head and wielded a slab-like sword the size of small airplane wing.

“You seek to flee the battle, Manann mac Lir? Taste of Orna you coward!” he bellowed at me.

Because we rode in mac Lir’s boat, the confusion of the battle led him to believe we were his most hated enemy, King Manann mac Lir.

“What’s Orna?” I asked Rob.

Rob pointed his entire fish body at the gargantuan sword arching toward us. “That’s Orna!”

“Dodge the sword,” I yelled at Scuabtuinne. Quickly I grabbed onto the edges of the boat as it barrel rolled over the gargantuan blade. I felt a surge of water rush just over the top of my head as we narrowly missed getting severed by the Fomorian king.

He let out a shout of rage and left the battle to follow us.

“Up, up!” I yelled at the boat, reminding it to head back to Benicia. I had to lean forward as we shot towards the surface of the water to keep myself from falling out. I looked over my shoulder and saw Rob in hobgoblin form again, stretched out behind the boat, just barely holding on to the edge. And behind him the massive fingers of Tethra’s hand closed around the boat. His fingers would crush Rob, the boat, and myself in one swift grasp.

At the last second I managed to draw The Retaliator and swipe one of his fingers with the blade. He was so gargantuan I basically gave him a paper cut, but he cried out in pain nonetheless.

Before I knew it we burst through the surface of the water and skirted along the waves, leaving Manann mac Lir’s castle behind us in our wake. The gathering cloud of foggy mist met us head on. As we rode through, the boat slowed of its own volition as if knowing riding at top speed through the mist was dangerous.

The air changed, smelled different. Suddenly the sky was free of fog again, the mist was nowhere to be seen. We were back at the Benicia waterfront.

Before long the boat drifted right up to the launch and stopped to let us out. Quickly I jumped from the boat onto the dry cement of the launch not wanting to touch any more water that I had to. A few people were still at the launch and they eyed me and my boat curiously.

“Uh, return home Scuabtuinne,” I commanded the boat, but nothing happened. “Flee. Depart. Retire. Withdraw.” The boat bobbed there like a tail-wagging stray dog.

People were looking at me funny by now. But I didn’t have time for an explanation, so I found my Fastback and split.