Read Haven 3 Shadow Magic (Haven Series 3) for Free Online

remained to tend the fire. He cast occasional glances at them. The firelight reflected from his glass-like eyes.
    “Even if I wield Vaul and our band stands together, I don’t think we can face the Wild Hunt. In the coming hours you will have to wield the axe, Brand,” Myrrdin told him. “You will go feral as surely as did Dando if you aren’t properly attuned by then. Therefore, there is no greater need for us than that you gain mastery of the axe.”
    “How do I do this?”
    “Unfortunately, it is the Faerie that will decide that.”
    “What!” said Brand loudly. He glanced toward Tomkin and found that he was staring back at him. He lowered his voice. “I’m lost then!”
    “Not necessarily,” said Myrrdin. “In any case, you must try.”
    “What do I do?”
    “There is a Faerie mound within the walls of Castle Rabing. It is an ancient place, Cairn Browyyd, it is called. You must locate it, out to the west of the fallen keep. It is said that four great human kings lay dead beneath the earth there, and in their noble death they have opened a path for the Faerie. Like all the mounds, it is a spot they can gather when called and ignore the normal rules of movement—and the magic of wards.”
    “I must go there?”
    “Yes,” said Myrrdin. “You must walk nine times widdershins around the mound, following the path of the Faerie.”
    Brand blinked at Myrrdin. Part of him could not believe he was even contemplating such an act. To summon the Faerie, to invite them to join him at one of their mounds—this was a mad thing, sorcery. Only witches and short-lived fools attempted such nonsense.
    “Am I to dance with them?” he asked, his voice querulous. “I—I am not like you, Myrrdin. I couldn’t dance with the Faerie and survive.”
    “I don’t know what will be required of you. It is never the same thing twice with the Shining Folk.”
    “Shouldn’t I take a second? Isn’t that what you said I should always do with the axe?” asked Brand.
    “Normally, yes,” said Myrrdin. He smiled. “I’m pleased that you have been heeding my words. But for this task, you should go alone. Your friends can’t help you on this journey.”
    “What if Herla is summoned? Could he be the one that is called to the mound?”
    Myrrdin frowned. “Possibly, I don’t know. I doubt he would come. Things are going his way now, he has no need to take such risks. More likely, you will meet with the idle and curious among them. Hopefully, they will not be unpleasant…”
    Brand thought to himself that this seemed a faint hope, but he said nothing. “I suppose I will set out, then.”
    “Yes, time is of the essence.”
    Their eyes met, and each knew that they may not survive the night. “Thanks for your help, Myrrdin,” said Brand. He moved to walk past him.
    “Often,” Myrrdin said, grasping his arm one last time, “often, it is the way of the Faerie that a wager must be made. You must make the wager, and it must be made wisely, to achieve what you desire.”
    Brand slipped through the gap they had left in the archway where the grille didn’t quite meet the stone and he found himself alone outside the walls of the gatehouse. The stench of the swamp wafted with the cool night breezes. Mists chased one another across the face of the gray-shrouded moon overhead.
    He headed for the ruins of the main keep. To the westward side of the ruins he found Cairn Browyyd. The grassy mound was bare of trees, vines and shrubs, as always seemed to be the case with such places. He approached the place without hesitating and soon found the ring in the grass that circled the mound. He set his boots to the path and walked widdershins around the mound. On the fifth time around, it seemed to him that the moonlight had brightened. The breezes are sweeping away the mists, he thought.
    As he completed the seventh circuit, the moon was brighter still, and he knew in his heart that he had never seen it so bright. All the world around him was