Marbh and Zoe were fast asleep in the backseat, about a half a dozen monster cans littered around on the floor board. They looked incredibly peaceful sleeping there, side by side, Killara almost didn't want to wake them.
Almost.
"Aye, sleepy heads."
"Huh?" Marbh's disgruntled hair fell down into his face as he wiped a bit of slobber off his chin.
Zoe remained fast asleep.
"Poor girl, she must be exhausted." Sympathized Omeo.
"Well she can sleep when we get to the cottage, it shouldn't be too long of a walk. Marbh wake her up will ya, she's taken to you I think."
Marbh tapped her shoulder lightly for a good thirty seconds before her creamy rose colored eyes flickered open. Her black smokey eyeshadow was completely smudged all over the place, her long eyelashes seemed to be crusted together before she rubbed them with the collar of her band tee.
"Are you ready Zoe? It'll only take a few minutes to get there before you'll have a proper bed to sleep in." reassured Killara
"Y-yeah where are we going?" she questioned groggily.
"Just a few feet into the forest I'll be able to cast a transportation spell."
Zoe nodded in response to this. She opened the door and hopped out onto the gravel.
The rest of the group did the same and began their walk into the forest.
Once about fifty feet into the woods Killara brought out the same jar of gray powder she had used to transport them to the graveyard the night before. Once the circle had been cast Killara recited the spell and the portal was opened. Zoe waltzed right into the portal as if it were a completely normal thing for a teenage girl to do, the others followed her. Before they knew it, they were at the top of the mountain face to face with an incredibly motherly figure.
Athol walked towards them, her furry brown hide boots crunching into the snow as she walked.
The cottage behind her sent a thin stream of black smoke into the sky already littered with snowflakes.
"Welcome, come inside children you must be so cold." The women's fiery red curls frizzed around her hips as she gestured for the teens to follow her into the house, her faded offwhite gown collected small crystals of ice as she waited expectantly. All five of them shuffled into the cottage at once the door slamming behind them with a great whoosh. They were immediately met with an explosion of warmth. Zoe sighed loudly, shaking her fists excitedly in front of her face.
"Ah that feels good.' she mumbled under her breath. The rest of the team agreed with her silently. Omeo surveyed the one room cottage as he always did any new surroundings.
A great set of flames roared in a large deep set fireplace lodged into the left wall, on the right wall there was a wooden counter dividing the sleeping and socializing area from the kitchen area. As for furniture there wasn't much; the kitchen had but one table and some chipped mapel stools. The living area housed a creaky looking rocking chair and a large raised palette covered in many layers of ornate quilts. The most breathtaking thing by far in the house however was the large tapestry draped on the back wall. Mysterious runes that Omeo could not make out paired with a detailed image of what looked to be a viking king, his golden hair was shaggy much like Marbh's and was littered with small ornate braids held together with hair clasps engraved with even more runes
Omeo rubbed his hands together trying to get the feeling back in them.
"Have a seat on the palette lads, in front of the fire. I will finish up the stew, when you're fed I think you'll owe me an explanation." The woman's motherly voice was sweet with a thick scottish accent.
Omeo turned to Marbh who was now fiddled with a human skull which he had apparently pulled off a hook above the door.
"What the hell are you doing!?" He shrieked
"Relax!" laughed Marbh getting on his tip toes in order to place the skull back on the hook.
"It's an ancient scottish tradition, place the skulls of your enemy over your door and you'll be protected from bad spirits."
"What the hell is wrong with white people." Omeo muttered. Killara chuckled, patting a flustered Omeo on the arm she gestured for him and the rest of the gang to file onto the palette.
Zoe plopped onto the palate next to Marbh… who after everyone had joined was now crammed against the wall. Killara, seated on the edge of the palette, twisted around to watch Athol preparing the stew whilst the others chatted amongst themselves. Marbh and Zoe seemed to be trying to explain metal subgenres to Omeo, his thick blocky eyebrows furrowed in confusion and his chestnut colored eyes squinted against his oddly long eyelashes as he seemed utterly disappointed in their music choice.
After a few minutes of this, Mother Athol shuffled briskly into the seating area. After she had placed one steaming bowl of stew into each person's hands she took her own position in the great rocking chair facing the palette, the fire roaring behind her causing her jaded green eyes to have a soft orangey hue.
"I take the new las needs a bit of teachin'?" she asked
Zoe nodded at this, the pink in her eyes sparkling slightly at the mention of her untamed magic.
"Well they found ya in good timin, I take the rest of ya came for a potion?"
Mother Athol had never met Omeo--yet she had heard much about him. Marbh and Killarah on the other hand, well she had served as a sort of mentor for the two for more than a decade.
Marbh especially since his ancestry was similar to hers, he had a much better connection to the celtic magic she so prided herself in. Zoe however, she had never met nor heard of, yet she always seemed to have a knack for knowing who was to be on the side of the outcasts and who wasn't. There was no denying it this girl would make a fine mage if Athol had anything to do with it.
She broke herself from these thoughts and turned back to the others, she caught eyes with Marbh, who was now slurping his second bowl of soup, part of it ending up on his hoodie in the process.
"I think you know where you will be going for this Maŕbhøvick."
Marbh nearly dropped his soup, no one ever said his full name… partly because no one else could ever pronounce it correctly.
It had been ages since he had heard his viking name spoken to him, the harsh roll of the 'r' sent chills down his spin.
"Yes'm, but I ain't no sure the others are ready." he chided hopefully.
"Well neither are ya, scatterbrain, but we got no other choice," she responded sternly brushing her ginger hair into a low tie and the back of her head.
Marbh looked down at his empty bowl of stew, he bit his lip to keep from screaming, everyone else in his life had always told him never to enter the world of mages. They all said it was too dangerous, that it was not meant for an outcast… yet how could justice be brought into the new world if no outcast ever set foot in the old?
He breathed in deeply, a shaky breath of fear. Athol leaned forward to place her hand on his knee. The others held their breath as she spoke.
"That world is meant for you Maŕbh, it needs your kind… all of ya. That is why they are meant to keep you out. You will go into that world… and you will bring back the founders, not only that but you'll do it in Armor that you made." there was silence after she said this, her voice so hushed yet firm Marbh had no choice but to comply.
His lips quivered for less than a second before he exploded from his seat sending his bowl crashing onto the floor, before the others knew it the back door leading into pasture had slammed shut with a frigid whoosh.
Omeo stood up to go after him but Athol pushed him back down.
"He needs time, that boy is hard headed I can tell ya that much. If he doesn't want something to be true it takes hell and fire to get it through that iron skull of his." she sighed softly stared at the backdoor where he had made his exit.