Ayden and Fea watched in awe as Ayanna opened her silver eyes.

Ayden wasted no time in running to her side and giving her a big hug as she awoke.

“Mom!” He cried as Ayanna slowly wrapped her arms around him.

Her eyes darted across the room before eventually landing on Fea, who stood beside the bed as his dark body bathed in the pale red light of the moon.

Ayanna then looked to her right to see Àlainn sleeping beside her.

She let out a deep sigh before resting her head.

“Welcome back,” Fea said softly.

“Thank you,” Ayanna whispered as Fea left the bedroom.

Ayden then lifted his head, revealing his tear-soaked face.

“Shh.” Ayanna sounded prompting Ayden to drop his head again.

Fea eventually returned with a cup of tea, which Ayanna drank as Ayden wiped his tears.

“I have concluded that this night will not end quietly. The time has come for us to break Gi's curse.” Fea said and Ayanna nodded.

"How we go about doing that, remains yet to be seen.” Fea added as he looked out of the window.

“The night grows ever more restless and Gi is waiting in Dachaigh Gual. The Numbers are also probably preparing to hunt and kill us as well.” Fea said.

Ayanna looked at her hands to find that they were covered in blisters.

“This night will not end until Gi is dead,” Ayanna whispered before taking a deep breath.

“We should wait for the Bloody Numbers to attack Dachaigh Gual and as chaos engulfs the town, we ensure that Gi meets his end,” Ayanna said with slightly furrowed brows.

“What if the Numbers never come?” Fea asked.

“Then we’ll lure Gi out and kill him ourselves,” Ayanna said with a chilling calmness.

“You're sounding quite vengeful. Need I remind you that he commands this night?” Fea asked.

“Do you see another way?” Ayanna asked painfully clearly.

Fea shook his head as Ayden held his mother's hand.

“I understand. Do not fret. Whatever you decide, I will stand by your side!” Fea said with a low pur.

“Same here!” Ayden said with a determined expression. Ayanna ran her hands through his curly red hair before smiling.

“So what do we do now?” Ayden asked.

“Now, we prepare-“

“No. Now you rest. Ayden and I will handle everything.” Fea said with crossed arms.

Ayanna opened her mouth to speak, but she eventually lowered her head as Fea left the room.

Ayden sighed deeply before following the giant crow out of the room.

Ayanna rested her head comfortably on her pillow.

“Ayanna, may I ask you something?” Àlainn asked prompting Ayanna to turn over.

Her eyes widened as she looked into Àlainn’s eyes, which had become a deep shade of purple.

“Yes.”

.

..

Ayden and Fea had finished cleaning up the house and they had set some water to boil before sitting around the kitchen table.

“Speak to me without using your mouth,” Fea instructed as the flames within the stove burnt away.

Ayden nodded before focusing on Fea.

A moment passed.

Then another.

“Nothing?” Ayden asked and Fea shook his head.

“Maybe that ability will come at some point in the future. Let us focus not on what you cannot do and reinforce what you are capable of. Close your eyes and focus on your thoughts on me.” Fea instructed and Ayden did as he was told.

“What do you see?” Fea asked as the water in the pot began to boil.

“Nothing,” Ayden said.

Fea nodded before walking over to the stove.

“It seems as though your abilities are still dormant. It would be nice if Gi were to tell us all there was about great ones, but that is wishful thinking. Go prepare the bath for Ayanna and Àlainn.” Fea instructed.

Ayden hopped off of his chair, grabbed a bucket and prepared to dash out of the house.

“Wait!” Fea cried as he picked up one of Ayanna’s daggers.

“Here. Just in case.”

Ayden accepted the dagger before dashing out of the house.

Fea then walked into the bedroom where Ayanna and Àlainn chatted.

“Ahem! Ayden is preparing a bath for you.” Fea said.

Ayanna nodded before crawling out of the blankets.

Àlainn crawled out of bed as well and Fea noticed that she had changed somehow. It felt as though her presence had grown fainter, smaller.

“How are you feeling?” Fea asked prompting Àlainn to look herself over.

“I feel… fine, for the most part.” She said with a smile.

“Good. Now, go on.” Fea said allowing Ayanna and Àlainn to leave the room.

Fea eventually left the house as well and began flapping his new, larger wings.

He soared into the sky and took in the sight below him.

Cridhe Iarainn. A dark land, lit only by the red moon above.

It was a dim moon.

A cruel moon.

A Fuil moon.

Fea shook his head before spotting a deer in the distance.

He flapped his wings once, before diving towards the deer at breakneck speeds.

The deer didn’t even realize that it was being targeted and It quickly found itself on the ground as sharp claws dug into the blood vessels in its neck.

Fea patiently waited as the life bled from the deer.

He then grabbed it with his new arms and made his way back home from the forest deep.

.

..

Ayden wiped his wet hands on his pants after washing the dishes.

He then plopped down on a nearby chair and awaited everyone’s return.

Ayanna and Àlainn were the first to arrive.

Their still damp hair and moist skin sparkled under the light of the single candle that lit the kitchen.

The two sat next to Ayden, who greeted them with a smile.

Ayden kicked his legs playfully before Ayanna offered him her hand.

Ayden accepted it to find that Àlainn’s hand was also extended.

Ayden gently accepted it as the light of the nearby candle flickered away.

A soft thud from outside then interrupted the silence and it wasn’t long before Fea entered the house.

He grabbed one of Ayanna’s daggers without making much noise.

Some time passed and Fea placed some meat on the stove to cook before joining everyone at the table.

Ayanna and Àlainn offered him their free hands and he carefully held them.

“This place is our home,” Fea said with a raised beak.

“When we march into Dachaigh Gual, we march knowing fully well that we are walking into a bed of fiery coals, but fear not my dears.” Fea slowly lowered his head.

“The sun will rise again and we will be the ones to make it so. For all who have suffered in the darkness and… for Jean.”

Ayden could feel both of his hands gently being squeezed as Fea’s stew slowly boiled.

Everyone eventually let go and they awaited dinners arrival.

.

..

“Thank you! That was surprisingly delicious.” Ayden said with a burp.

“Tsk, tsk. Tis only natural that I, Feannag McAllister, be gifted both with the sword and the ladle.” Fea said as he accompanied Ayanna and Àlainn to the bedroom.

“Hehe, if you say so,” Ayden said as he washed the dishes.

“I know so,” Fea said as he helped Ayden.

Ayden eventually finished his chores just as the last candle’s flame died.

He and Fea then joined Ayanna and Àlainn in the bedroom.

Ayden hopped onto the bed while Fea wrapped his wings around his body.

Some time passed and everyone eventually fell asleep.

.

..

Ayden reluctantly opened his eyes and almost as if on queue, everyone else awoke.

He slowly crawled out of bed as Ayanna got dressed.

Fea stretched his large wings, almost filling the room in the process.

“Good morning,” Ayden said.

“Good morning, boyo,” Fea said as Àlainn stretched her little arms.

“Ok, here is what we are going to do: Ayanna and I are going to Dachaigh Gual-“

“But-“

“No buts! You will stay here with Àlainn until we return-“

[I have been patient.]

A voice said. It echoed out into the night endlessly.

Ayanna let out a deep growl as the house shook.

It felt as though a herd of animals was stampeding somewhere nearby.

Ayanna ran out of the bedroom and grabbed her claymore before bursting out of the door to see Gi’ Kolarum and a horde of beasts as they slowly came to a stop a few meters away from the house.

After grabbing Ayanna's daggers, Fea and everyone else joined her outside.

“Greetings, prionnsa crùbach,” Bruce said as he stood next to Gi.

The parts of his body that weren’t covered by his tattered red robe we covered in deep gashes and scars.

Gi eerily looked at Ayden as his half body was illuminated by the Fuil moon.

“Come, brother-“

“No. This ends now.” Ayanna said as she raised her claymore.

Fea raised his daggers as well while Àlainn grabbed Ayden.

“Shall I bring him to your side, my lord?” Bruce asked with a smile.

“No,” Gi said as he slowly walked towards Ayanna.

The horde of beasts remained silent and Gi eventually reached Ayanna before extending his hand.

“Give him to-“

Ayanna wasted no time in swinging her claymore across Gi’s neck, separating his head from his body.

“My liege!” Bruce yelled as he ran to catch Gi’s fallen head.

“Ahhhhhh!” Bruce screamed as the world trembled.

A deep drone filled the air as the beasts joined Bruce in his wailings.

“What have you done?” Bruce screamed as the beasts turned their eyes to Ayanna.

“You have robbed me of everything!” Bruce yelled as the beasts slowly closed in on Ayanna.

Bruce then looked at the blood that covered his hands.

He raised his hand to his face as tears ran down his dirty face.

“The blood of the prince…” He muttered before licking the blood on his finger.

His eyes then widened extremely.

“What is this?” Bruce asked before turning to face Ayanna’s house.

He looked up in horror as his wounded body quivered.

“Ahhhhhh!” He screamed before violently clawing at his own eyes.

He fell to the ground and continued to scream as he bashed his own head with his hands.

Ayanna ignored him as the beasts drew ever closer.

One of them then leapt towards her, but she skillfully decapitated it.

“Go inside!” Ayanna yelled as the beasts rushed towards her.

Fea made sure to deal with the beasts that Ayanna couldn’t as she hacked away at the torrent of flesh and violence.

Her claymore tore through flesh and shattered bone as she continuously attacked the beasts.

Ayanna and Fea found themselves being pushed backwards, but Fea made sure that none of the beasts reached the house, although they seemed to be focused entirely on Ayanna.

The light of the red moon slowly faded, leaving Ayanna and Fea to fight in the darkness.

Fea didn’t care.

He made sure to dutifully protect Ayanna as she violently hacked apart anything that approached her.

A hulking, reptilian beast then charged at Fea.

He ran towards the beast before cleaving apart the tendons at the beast's hairy ankles, but this manoeuvre left him open to attack.

Ayanna saw this and so she tried making her way toward him.

The horde behind her took advantage of this.

Well, they tried, but as they rushed towards a blood-soaked Ayanna, a deep purple flame spontaneously appeared along the edge of her blade.

The flame travelled up the sword and coated all of Ayanna as she cleaved her way towards Fea, who tirelessly defended himself from the mosaic of claws, teeth and various other instruments of pain.

Ayanna eventually made it to Fea’s side and the two tirelessly fought away the dark horde as the moon’s light further faded, casting the world in a deep darkness.

A low howl filled the air and the lands shook once more.

Ayanna then spotted more beasts emerging from the darkness.

She bit her teeth as her body continued to burn.

She had become the only source of light in the night.

Fea made sure to use her light to its fullest and so he carefully picked which beasts to handle while Ayanna simultaneously cooked and minced whatever stood in her way.

Another howl filled the air before a gigantic creature came into view from the southeast.

It was a gargantuan mass of rotting flesh and it stormed towards Ayanna’s house on equally large scaly muscular legs that looked like they weren’t attached to its body.

Ayanna’s body flared and became even brighter and hotter than before.

So much so that her clothes completely burnt away and her claymore acquired a dim orange glow.

The amalgamation of flesh eventually reached the house, but Ayanna wasted no time as she leapt towards the mass of flesh.

She swung her sword downwards and a massive arc of beautiful purple flames split the skies apart before torching the mass of flesh.

Fea flapped his wings frantically as a torrent of hot flesh splattered around him.

Countless screams and cries from many beasts filled the air, but Fea turned his attention to the house.

He watched in horror as large clumps of rotting flesh burnt through the roof.

Ayanna on the other hand turned her furious gaze to the surrounding area.

No beasts remained.

She then finally let out a deep breath before her mind and body were bombarded with an intense amount of pain.

She slowly landed in front of the house, where Fea and everyone else awaited.

Everything around them was either burnt or being eaten away by rot.

The flames that coated Ayanna’s body slowly died, revealing that her entire body was covered in burns.

Fea wasn’t looking too good either.

His arms had long since broken, their hollow bones fractured and many of his feathers were missing.

Ayanna turned her gaze to Ayden, who slowly inched towards her.

She fell to her knees before tightly hugging him.

Àlainn joined in before Fea wrapped everyone in his wings as the greying sky hung above.

Ayanna then chuckled softly.

Her chuckle eventually turned into a pained laugh, prompting Fea and everyone to let go.

“Mom, you’re bleeding!” Ayden cried as streams of blood poured from Ayanna’s eyes.

Fea rushed into the house and grabbed a towel as Ayanna continued to bleed.

“Are you ok? Can you see me?” Ayden asked as Fea handed Àlainn the towel.

Ayanna smiled gently before raising her hand and placing it on Ayden’s cheek.

“I can see you,” Ayanna whispered as Àlainn wiped her face.

“What’s happening? Why did you catch fire? Why are you bleeding?” Ayden asked as his voice trembled.

“I… I think she is ascending.” Fea said softly.

Ayden’s eyes widened.

“No. No. No! No! NO!” Ayden yelled as he held Ayanna, whose skin rapidly turned ash grey, starting from the tips of her fingers.

Àlainn eventually arrived with several blankets, which she used to cover Ayanna, who had stopped bleeding.

Fea’s eyes then caught a strange sight to the east.

The sun.

His heart rate slowed to a crawl as the sun’s morning rays lit up the land.

Ayanna gently rocked Ayden as the sun slowly continued to rise.

“Don’t go!” Ayden eventually yelled.

“Use the shackles, the garden, something- oh wait! I can use my powers!” Ayden said as he tried to raise his head, but no matter how hard he pushed, Ayanna wouldn’t let him go.

Fea slowly walked up to Àlainn before wrapping one of his wings around her, shielding her from the cool morning breeze.

Ayanna looked at the sun as it slowly rose.

“Shh.” Ayanna sounded as she rocked Ayden so.

Her left arm went numb and after letting out a deep sigh, she parted her bruised lips.

“I’ll tend to thee, as you so deeply weep.” Ayanna sang, even as her throat pained her so.

Ayden cried and cried as his mother's voice echoed endlessly in his heart.

“I know my heart’s with thee, to keep you company and when you search for me, deep in your heart I’ll be…”

“For now I’ll tend to thee… because I love you.”

Àlainn left Fea’s embrace before running to Ayden’s side.

Ayanna’s body turned to ash within his arms and the pain he felt stopped him from even realizing that Àlainn was squeezing him as hard as she could.

Ayden’s mind then caught up to the situation and he let out a low, guttural scream that shook the world as the sun rose.

He looked up at the sky and cursed it.

He cursed the stars and the moon and the sun.

He cursed it all before collapsing into himself as he cried.

.

..

“Ayden,” Àlainn called.

“Ayden!” Fea yelled.

“Mmm?” Ayden whimpered as he sat on the cold, damp ground.

“We must move,” Fea said as he looked at the rot that covered the surrounding area.

Ayden looked into the blanket in front of him watched as the last grains of ash drifted away with the wind.

His chest ached severely as he clutched the blanket.

He then stood up and faced Àlainn and Fea who, for the first time, could clearly be seen in the light of the sun.

The large, humanoid crow guided Ayden inside where, along with Àlainn, they packed what they could before leaving the house.

Ayden locked the door before tightly gripping the blanket in his hands.

The three looked up at the morning sky.

Fea noticed that Ayden was glaring fiercely to the southeast.

“Ayden?” Fea called.

“Mmm?”

“Where should we go?”

Ayden bit his teeth and opened his mouth with a scowl.

[To Dachaigh Gual.]

THE END

Afterword

First off, I’d like to thank you for reading The Strays of Dachaigh Gual.

I’m sure I mentioned this, but TSODG was my first attempt at taking a story with Lovecraftian Horror themes. But, as I’m sure you’ve realized, I like telling character-driven stories and that’s pretty hard to do when nothing around the characters makes surface-level sense and everything is harsh and kinda depressing.

I had to walk a careful line between deep eldritch horror and my typical character adventure type of story.

The conception of TSODG was actually pretty simple.

I had just finished working Song of the Unborn (a web novel of mine) and as I ate a peanut butter sandwich, inspiration struck me.

I asked myself a certain number of questions that lead to the birth of Dachaigh Gual. Now, I cannot explain the full extent of the lore and whatnot as I do have plans to write several short stories (in familiar Lovecraft fashion) to add to this dark universe of mine.

Now, let’s talk about the characters and how I created them.

Ayanna and Ayden were the first.

I wanted two or more people to experience the world I had written and so I settled on them.

I never intended on making them biologically related from the beginning. Actually, the story was initially titled “Abandoned” and back then, Ayanna was supposed to find Ayden and raise him, but during the evening of lamentation, she would be placed into a comatose state and whatnot. I ultimately abandoned the idea as I really wanted Ayanna to play a more… dominant role in the story. Oh, Ayden was also supposed to be way older at the point which the story starts, but that didn’t end up making it.

Jean was fun to write. He was initially supposed to be a nobleman who had been wrongly imprisoned, but I abandoned the idea of his noble heritage pretty quickly.

In the first draft, Ayanna and Ayden were supposed to run into him in a forest to the south of Dachaigh Gual and Ayanna was supposed to fight him for some reason, but… that didn’t feel right.

Anyway, I eventually settled on making him a blacksmith who had been wrongly imprisoned and I’m pretty sure you all know the rest.

Fea was basically there since the beginning. When I wrote the initial outline, Fea was there as he is now.

I took inspiration from the Lesser Key of Solomon. The text speaks of a demon named Caim and he is represented by a confident looking crow and I instantly loved the design.

Fea was also supposed to be a gigantic exposition dump, but as I wrote their lore, I realized that it wouldn’t make sense for him to know everything.

Hehe, although I’m sure some of you would have loved that. You know, an explanation!

Àlainn ended up taking part in more of the story than I originally intended. She was initially supposed to offer Ayanna and company shelter for a day or so, but then as I wrote the lore and her backstory, she ended up being a key character in certain points of the story.

In a nutshell, she was originally supposed to be the wife of a sailor who had gone out to sea for some reason. I ditched this and replaced the whole Yar’ Ley subplot.

I had to write out a bunch more lore, but I didn’t mind.

Bruce was an interesting character.

He actually has a whole tragic backstory and everything, but as I wrote the story, I feared giving him a backstory would only complicate things.

I mean, he’s a cultist.

That’s pretty much all we need to know. His motivations were pretty clear, to me at least and adding a backstory would really make my job harder… so I didn’t.

Gi’ Kolarum was also one of the first characters I created.

When I conceptualized the great ones, I did everything in my power to not make them omnipotent.

They are from a plane above ours, yes, but they are not perfect.

That’s pretty much all I can say about Gi without spilling too many beans.

The Bloody Numbers were heavily inspired by the Hunters from Bloodborne. A Lovecraftian Horror themed, Japanese developed role-playing game. Actually I highly recommend that you check it out.

In Bloodborne, the Hunters actively hunt beasts during the night of the hunt, but certain circumstances lead to them becoming as bad, if not worse, than what they hunt.

I incorporated that in TSODG by asking myself certain questions.

What if there was a group of people who weren’t threatened by the darkness of the night?

What if those people found the courage required to repel the beastly hordes?

And thus, the Bloody Numbers were born, although I’m grossly simplifying it.

Fionn Callaghan was also supposed to play a more central role, but I really didn’t feel the need to write her any further than I had to.

She and her mother actually have some cool backstory stuff, but I might write that out in a future short story.

Oliver and Oormaelor were extremely fun to write. As I’m sure you know, I use side chapters to flesh out certain aspects of the story so that when you, the reader, see it in the main story, it’s not as sudden.

Yeah, their story helped me establish certain things about great ones, but I won’t go too deep into that.

Marion and Oscar were also interesting. I have to admit that telling a story from the first-person perspective is not my strong suit, but I challenged myself to see if I could and it did, for the most part.

Marion was always fated to be a scholar and she was destined to find the Cruinne. I mean that in the sense that I had written her out as such in the first draft.

Oscar, on the other hand, wasn’t supposed to die.

He was supposed to take his notes back to Anvil and live out the rest of his life trying to find the truth of the old words (wink for my Dark Souls enthusiasts), but unfortunately… you know.

The last soldier was interesting and I think I may have failed on telling his story as best as I should have.

He was a soldier who fought in a war that had long been forgotten, but I feel like I never explained as much as I should, even on a Lovecraftian level.

Mmm… maybe I can edit in some details and fix that, but yeah.

Kthana Yaweh, Wkh ehjlqqlqj dqg wkh hqg

Note: Did you know that Caesar was actually a brilliant tactician. I mean… you don’t become a legend by being an idiot, right? Or maybe you do. My point is, there must have been a key to his militaristic insight. A thread to his mental webs. A code to his messages.

What inspired this work?

Bloodborne

Berserk

A peanut butter sandwich

And of course, H. P. Lovecraft himself.

There is a lot I’d like to discuss, but for now, I’d just like to thank you for getting to the endpoint of this particular fiction.

So, thank you.

Acknowledgements

Vek Stonebeard