Rundimahair: A new hero for a new adventure Larry Forkner (best ereader for pc TXT) 📖

They were trying to sell out their own families and loved ones. They left us no choice,” Ashling said.

“I suppose the same would be true for this Carla if Grainne discovers she’s a traitor,” Sean said.

“Only her death would be slow and painful over the course of several days. It would also be done in front of everyone, so they understand what happens to a traitor.”

“Then let’s hope she isn’t discovered,” Sean said uneasily.

“I’ve put a protective mind block and false memories in Carla’s mind that even Grainne shouldn’t be able to penetrate. So far it’s kept her safe.”

“She must be highly motivated to live with such a risk day after day,” Sean said.

“Her motivation is her husband and two children, who live two blocks down from our house.”

“I can’t think about that anymore or it’ll drive me crazy,” Sean said with a furrowed brow.

“Join the club, my dear,” Ashling said as she leaned in and embraced Sean. “I pray every day that the Creator will watch over her and bring her home safely to her family.”

“The same thing I do for you each time you leave,” Sean said as he embraced Ashling.

“And I you, my love,” she whispered in his ear. “Right now we’d better get some rest since we’re going to be at our fake headquarters before midnight.”

“You mean she’s coming all the way from Ireland tonight?”

Ashling smiled and said, “She has a small compound in Northern California where they’re staying now.”

“Maybe we should just attack her there. They’d never expect that,” Sean said.

“Too risky and the chance of success is small. She always has an escape plan in place wherever she goes. If we attacked, she’d be the first to leave and let her people die alone. If we can destroy her main compound in Ireland, we’ll also destroy many of her followers. That would give us something even if we happen to miss her.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he said thoughtfully. “But I really want to make sure we get her. You know what they say, if you want to make sure the snake is dead, cut off its head.”

* * *

“I hope she didn’t bring half her army,” Sean said, as they approached the counterfeit Rundimahair site.

“She won’t bring many of her forces until she’s sure this is the right place. I’m guessing they’ll be no more than a half dozen of her best warriors,” Ashling said.

“If they’re anything like what we’ve fought before, maybe we should have brought Eamon,” Sean said.

“First of all, we aren’t planning on fighting them. We’re only leaving a trail to make them believe this is Rundimahair. Aside from that, Da and I can’t be in the same battle unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Ashling said.

“Don’t want to lose both of you in a single fight?”

“Exactly so.”

“So, I’m expendable, is that it?”

“Stop being a baby. We’re not fighting tonight. We’re just setting a false trail that will feel recent to them. If all goes well, we should be long gone before they arrive.”

“Famous last words,” Sean grumbled.

* * *

“This is it,” Ashling said softly, when they arrived at the false site in Idaho.

Sean looked down and could see clearly in the dark night, since he was in his red-dragon self. Ashley was flying alongside him but suddenly swooped downward.

“It does kind of look similar to the land around Rundimahair,” Sean said softly, when he glided in beside her.

“That was the plan,” Ashling said. “Except this is in Northern Idaho, instead of on the Oregon coast.”

“I can feel the magic from the protective shield,” he said. “It’s strong, but not as strong as the shield at Rundimahair.”

“We don’t want to give away all of our secrets,” Ashling said. “This is a very powerful shield, which should be convincing. It’s the same shield we had over Rundimahair until a hundred years ago.”

“It might make her feel overconfident if she realizes your magic hasn’t grown much in the past century,” Sean said.

“Exactly the point. We want to convince her and keep her overconfident. That will be to our advantage if she ever does find the real Rundimahair,” Ashling said.

“Wait! I can see homes and other buildings down there,” Sean said.

Ashling gave him a surprised look and said, “Your powers really are growing. I didn’t think you could see through this shield.”

“Piece of cake,” he said, although he’d had to really push his powers to penetrate the shield at all.

“We’ve built an illusion of a town similar to Rundimahair. We even have farms, rivers and streams built into it.”

“Totally awesome,” Sean said. “I wish I could do that kind of magic.”

“We all have our own talents, Sean. Illusionary spells just aren’t your strong point.”

“Not yet,” he said. “Just give me a little time to learn that stuff.”

“Okay Mr. humble. Let’s do a series of routes above the town. I want it to look like a lot of dragon traffic has been coming and going. I’ll make some of the traces old and faint and others like they just happened earlier tonight.”

“Man, it’s so great to have you for my honey babe,” Sean said.

Ashling was about to complain about his new nickname for her, but on second thought she decided that she kind of liked it. Instead, she just said, “Let’s crisscross each other’s patterns, and then I’ll do the work disguising them.”

They spent the next hour flying routes across the valley above the phony Rundimahair site. On some of the runs they broke through the barrier. This would make it appear as though the Dragons were going in for a landing inside the protected city.

When they developed the false site, they’d added entrances from the air and from the road. They’d taken the time to move trucks full of equipment in and out of the area. This movement would be detectable to someone with Grainne’s powers, although it would push her limits.

The idea of the subterfuge was to give Grainne the impression that it was an active site. She would be able