“Morgana? Like as in Morgan Le Fay?” Even I knew the stories that revolved around that one. Sorceress, enchantress, possible half sister to the famed King Arthur. I opened my mouth to ask for the whole story, but Cora stalled me.
“There is, of course, more to that story, but now’s not the right time to tell it. Right now, we need to focus on Chaos,” she paused. I nodded and she went on. “We were only able to fool her the one time. Once she was freed for the second time, no line of deceit could convince her to step into one of our traps.” Cora took a breath, her scales catching the sunlight, then continued. “Chaos was so strong, and so cunning. She would make you believe that what you did in the name of her destruction was right, that she would help you succeed. She would befriend those who were afraid, those who let their strong emotions rule them. She would give them what they wanted in return for favors. Little easy things, things no one would ever know about. Then she would take over their hearts. If she gained control of someone particularly powerful, she could even control the elements. The Mt. Vesuvius eruption was caused by her.”
Her words stirred a strange mixture of horror and recognition within me. Maybe I was wrong, but I had to ask.
“You mean THE Mt. Vesuvius?”
She nodded. “That is only one of the disasters she caused.” Cora flicked her tail in obvious irritation. “The sinking of Atlantis was the final catastrophe before we, all the old gods, banded together to lock her up again. It took all of us. There was a battle that left many of us dead, or so injured they hid themselves away. But it was Arthur who dealt the final blow to her. Excalibur was the only physical weapon that could cause Chaos injury. We caged her for a second time, and since then she’s remained locked away, and the world has been safe from her destruction… It was a dark day, even though we did what we had to do to protect the world.”
“Shit.” Chaos sounded worse than Balor; it was the difference between a calculating bad guy and a psychotic demon. Calculating, you could talk to, maybe even convince them that they were wrong. But the psychotic one, not so much.
Luke snorted and we both turned to him. “That is not in any of the histories, Cora. Your brain has been addled by the heat I think.”
I frowned at him, irritated by his arrogance. How could he not see the truth of Cora’s words? “Then why were Balor and the Banshee Queen discussing Chaos?”
He shrugged. “Maybe because they knew you were watching? Balor would say anything to throw you off. You said it yourself, he has no reason to let us live, which makes me think the helicopter crash was due to a freak storm, not Balor and the Banshee Queen. I think the vision was to mislead us.”
“You must decide what you believe, Quinn,” Cora said.
Luke frowned at her. “Even if she believes you, Cora, she can’t do anything about it. I have to get her to the Council, and have her trained.”
But it was the truth of Cora’s words that settled into my bones, my heart thumping with the whisper of fear as it brushed along my spine. “I don’t have time to be trained, do I?” I asked, deliberately not looking at Luke.
Cora shook her head. “No, you don’t. If Balor is searching out Chaos, we have very little time indeed.”
Chills swept through me. So many stories, and they were all starting to spin together. “Where is Chaos hidden?” I asked. Luke snorted again, got up and walked away muttering under his breath.
Cora shook her head. “Only one person knew where the box we trapped her in was hidden. In order to keep the secret safe.
“Who?” I asked.
The tip of her tail wrapped around my arm, tightening her grip. “Your father, Lir.”
3
We were halfway up the small hill, passing a bed and breakfast, when Luke stopped us. “Look, we need to stop, get our bearings, and figure out what we are going to do. We can’t just assume that Cora has the facts straight; it wouldn’t be the first time she’d messed up.” I glared at him, my hands tensing at my sides. He lifted his palms up to me. “I won’t dismiss her either, but we need to stop and think. And you need some sleep.”
I let him lead us to the house. My gut was telling me to move, but I was exhausted. Luke was right about that. And there was no point in rushing about without a plan.
Luke used a hefty dose of his undeniable Charm to get us a free room for the night, seeing as none of us had any money. The couple was older, but lively, and excited to have company. They tried to engage us in small talk as they showed us to the room, but Luke managed to brush them off claiming fatigue from something or other, and shut the door on them. I barely listened.