The Unicorn Hunter Page 21

  ‘Thank God, you’re all safe,’ he said.

  Maddy looked at him dully but she didn’t say a word.

  He sighed. ‘Things have gone too far. You’re leaving for Cork city, Maddy, right now. No arguments. I don’t want you to go, love, but it is for the best.’

  ‘And what then?’ she asked.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, what do we do when you’ve packed me off to the city?’

  Granda frowned. ‘Nothing, Maddy.’

  ‘Nothing?’ she echoed.

  ‘We’re going to surround you with iron and we’re going to keep you hidden from the Tuatha. They’ll forget about you eventually.’

  ‘That’s it?’ said Maddy, anger rising in her stomach, making her feel light-headed. ‘Bang Bang is dead and you are going to do nothing?’

  ‘I’ve told you before – there is nothing we can do to fight the Tuatha. I thought tonight would have shown you this.’

  Maddy put George down and climbed slowly to her feet.

  ‘I can do something though, can’t I? I can do plenty.’

  She turned and ran, ignoring Granda’s shouts behind her. She ran away from the crushed bloody grass where Bang Bang’s body had lain, back past the housing estates, through the village, ignoring the people staring at her, and through the grounds of the castle, her breath sawing in and out of her wounded chest, rasping on her ribs like a hand saw. The ground flew beneath her feet and her blood pounded so hard in her ears she thought her head would burst. She raced over the bridge, through the meadow and up to the foot of the castle. She briefly glimpsed a gleam of turquoise as a pair of wolves watched her go before they turned to walk through the tunnel that led to the mound. She let them go without a word, running on until she reached the stairs that wound their way through the heart of the castle. She took them two at a time, her hands scrabbling for purchase, her nails breaking against the castle’s stone skin. She ran across the battlements while the wind shrieked and pulled her hair, lay down at the gap in the walls and bent backwards to put one hand against the Blarney Stone. She bared her teeth and let her rage and grief boil over and form a hard point in her mind, slamming it into the stone as it swallowed her hand, making the stone’s consciousness scream with pain. Her mind flew to the Coranied’s citadel and she saw them look up as the shadows swirled around her.

  ‘I know what kind of Hound I am,’ she said, her voice rich and thick with hate, anger licking along its edges. She laughed as they got up from their seats and left their cauldrons to look at her. ‘Do you want to see me as I really am, what I’m like inside?’

  But it wasn’t a skinny, tangle-haired girl that walked out of the shadows; it was a massive wolfhound, muzzle furrowed in a snarl as it bared its teeth, its eyes brimming with green fire. The creature snapped at the air with fangs like knives as it advanced, turning over cauldrons as it shouldered them aside, toppling piles of books. The raven fluttered on its chain as it struggled to free itself from its perch while the Coranied backed away from the monstrous beast as it swept potions from tables with its tail and ripped leather-bound books to shreds. The black-robed prophets gathered at the furthest end of the room and watched in silence while the animal destroyed their domain and then threw its head back and howled. That cry, so full of rage and pain, reverberated around Tír na nÓg and it rang in Maddy’s ears for long moments after she pulled her hand away from the cowed Stone. She lay on her back in the cold shadow of the castle’s battlements and gazed hard-eyed at the sky.

  Bang Bang was dead, because of her. All her efforts to play the hero had come to nothing. She thought about what Meabh had said and imagined snakes coiling their way through her stomach and her veins, dripping venom as they went. Was it true? Was she still full of the worst emotions, the things she didn’t like to admit to herself? Was it impossible for her to do anything, feel anything, that would not be tainted by the thoughts and feelings that lurked in the darkest corners of her mind, if she wouldn’t look them full in the face? Was the real Maddy a much worse girl than the one she saw in the mirror?

  She sighed, a deep, gusting breath that belonged in the body of someone much older, and got to her feet. The sun was creaking its weary way into the sky and she turned her face to its rays. It could have been her imagination, but she thought it had regained some of its weak autumn warmth. She walked down the stairs to the entrance of the castle and emerged into a bright morning filled with birdsong. It was hard to believe in the horrors of the previous night, that somewhere nearby Bang Bang’s blood was staining wet grass.

  The cark park of the castle should have been deserted at this time of day, but instead it was full of the silent Sighted, who watched with wary eyes as she emerged through the gap in the fence. A taxi waited, its engine idling, pumping out blue fumes into the chill air. Granda stood by the driver’s side and she could see Danny and Roisin’s white faces peering out at her from the back seat.

  ‘So this is it, is it? No reprieve?’ she asked Granda, her voice hoarse with exhaustion.

  ‘It’s for the best, Maddy,’ said Granda, his face shadowed by his flat cap. ‘It’s too dangerous for you to stay here. One of these days you’re going to tangle with the faeries and come off worse. Or dead.’

  She shivered in the cold air and wrapped her jacket tight around her. The driver wouldn’t look at her, just stared straight ahead with his hands clenched on the steering wheel. The rest of the Sighted still had not spoken a word.

  ‘You’re doing this for them, aren’t you?’ she asked Granda, pointing at the silent crowd with her chin. ‘They are too frightened for me to stay here. They want me to go away, and all the trouble with it.’

  ‘You can’t …’

  ‘… blame them, so you keep saying,’ interrupted Maddy. ‘But I do, all the same. Because the faeries aren’t going to go away, and getting rid of me isn’t going to solve anything. Meabh wants her war, and for some reason she wants me in it.’ She looked over his shoulder at the Sighted. ‘Are you always going to make me face them alone?’ she asked in a louder voice. They still did not break their silence, but she noticed a few of them were embarrassed enough not to meet her eye. She looked back at Granda. ‘They could do so much more.’

  ‘They’re only flesh and blood, Maddy, as am I,’ said Granda. ‘And you wouldn’t have to face the faeries alone if you stopped running after them looking for a fight.’

  ‘I did what I had to do,’ said Maddy, and an image of Fachtna’s face twisted into a sneer popped into her head.

  Granda nodded. ‘And now, so am I,’ he said, opening the back door of the taxi. ‘I’ll hide you, Maddy, until the Tuatha find some other distraction.’

  She refused to look at Granda as the taxi pulled out of the car park, taking her away from Blarney and into the iron heart of the city. ‘You can’t,’ said Maddy, her eyes dull with defeat.

  Inside the world of

  THE UNICORN HUNTER:

  HOW TO SAY THE CHARACTERS’ NAMES

  EXPLORING THE FAERIE REALM

  Q & A WITH CHE GOLDEN

  HOW TO SAY THE CHARACTERS’ NAMES

  Aengus Og

  Ain-gus Ohg

  Fachtna

  Foct-na

  Fionnuala

  Fin-oo- la

  Meabh

  Mayv

  Niamh

  Nee-iv

  Nuada

  Noo-i-da

  Roisin

  Roe-sheen

  Seamus

  Shay-mus

  Sorcha

  Sor-ka

  Oisin

  Ush-een

  Una

  Oona

  EXPLORING THE FAERIE REALM

  The Unicorn Hunter draws on Irish myth and legend to create a magical world. Read on to find out more about these ancient stories …

  Banshee – Banshees follow the great families of Ireland and wail just before their deaths as a warning, and also afterwards, so that the world will know someone with hero’s blood has
passed. Whether they are supposed to act as guardian angels for the families or whether Una simply decided to take this task upon herself, no one is really sure.

  Cernunnos (ker-noo-nos) – One of the oldest and most powerful of the TUATHA DE DANNAN, he clings to the form he took when he was worshipped in pre-Christian Ireland, the horned god. But he likes to linger in our world too, so he takes on human form for the winter months, calls himself Seamus (‘shay-mus’)and lives in Blarney, Co. Cork, keeping an eye on the mortal world and any comings and goings from TÍR NA NÓG.

  The Coranied (kor-a-need) – Thousands of years ago, the Coranied, a mysterious race of warlocks, lived in Ireland among the Celts. During this time, the TUATHA DE DANNAN also roamed freely in the human world. The Celts eventually rose up against the TUATHA and drove all faerie-kind, including the Coranied, beneath the mounds. The Coranied have a unique talent – they can harvest all the bad thoughts and dreams that people have, which is what the dark faeries need to keep nourished. The MORRIGHAN protects the Coranied in return for this talent and she rations the dark faeries, keeping them too weak to wage war. The Coranied are vital to the MORRIGHAN’S ability to keep balance in TÍR NA NÓG. In turn, they are completely loyal to the MORRIGHAN and think only of how to keep the balance. They care for no one and nothing outside of this.

  Cú Chulainn (coo cullen) – When he was a child, Cú Chulainn was called Setanta. He gained his better-known name after he killed a fierce guard dog in self-defence. The dog was owned by a man called Culann, and Setanta offered to take its place until a replacement could be reared. ‘Cú’ is the Irish word for a hound, so ‘Cú Chulainn’ means ‘Cullen’s hound’. At the age of seventeen, Cú Chulainn defended Ulster single-handedly against the armies of Queen Meabh when she ruled Connacht. It was prophesied that his great deeds would give him everlasting fame but that his life would be a short one. He went on to become known as the Hound of Ulster.

  Finn mac Cumhaill (fin mac cool) – The Irish version of King Arthur, Finn mac Cumhaill and his Fenians waged many battles against the TUATHA DE DANNAN in the mortal world before he died and his story and spirit succumbed to the Shadowlands of TÍR NA NÓG. Part man, part story, part ghost, he is kept alive as long as people tell stories about him. The TUATHA, including Meabh, are afraid of him and choose to leave him alone as he broods in the Shadowlands. He is a man who could do so much, yet his grief keeps him looking inward. With no interest in what is happening beyond his castle walls, he sits and broods and waits for a sign that his wife will come back to him. His story is a powerful one and if he is roused it could see TÍR NA NÓG changed forever.

  Fir Dorocha (fir dor-ka) – Means ‘dark men’ in Irish. These faeries are the embodiment of fear. They spread hatred and terror before them and drive mortals crazy. Wherever there is a mob or a riot in progress, the Fir Dorocha are close by. They have also been known to abduct mortals for the kings and queens they serve. Basically, they do all the nasty jobs LIADAN and the TUATHA DE DANNAN do not want to do themselves. Faeries to avoid at all costs.

  Gancanagh (gan-cah-nah) – Maddy is lucky that no matter how gorgeous she thinks Connor is, she’s too young to be interested in kissing boys (yuck!). Connor is a gancanagh, a male faerie who has a poison in his skin that makes mortal women fall in love with him forever. When he leaves them, they die pining for him. One kiss is enough.

  Liadan (lee-ah-dan) – Means ‘grey lady’ in Irish. Liadan is an old and powerful elf from the Nordic countries. No one knows why she and her clan came to TÍR NA NÓG seeking sanctuary, but she’s as argumentative as the TUATHA DE DANNAN.

  The Morrighan (more-ee-gan) – In pre-Christian Ireland, the Morrighan was worshipped as a triple-faced goddess. She represents the maiden, the mother and the hag and is the most powerful of the TUATHA DE DANNAN. It is her power that created TÍR NA NÓG and her power alone that maintains the boundaries between faerie and mortal worlds. The Morrighan is one of the most dangerous of the TUATHA. She is also known as the Raven Queen and is the living embodiment of war. Waking the Morrighan is not something that should be done lightly.

  Pooka – A Pooka is a malicious faerie that appears in many guises all over Ireland, as a goat, a horse or a dog, always jet black with yellow eyes. Some say he is a harbinger of death; according to others he is just a nuisance that terrorizes travellers upon the road at night. As Meabh’s familiar, he always appears as a huge black dog.

  Samhain Fesh (sow-en fesh) – This was the pagan feast that marked the start of winter, when the harvest was gathered in and people got ready to endure the winter months. It is also the time of year when the boundaries between the faerie world, TÍR NA NÓG, and the mortal world wear thin and faeries can cross over to us and we can find ourselves lost in their realm. Christians tried to stamp out Samhain by replacing it with All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween, but the old ways are there, underneath it all, even if we have forgotten them. So the next time you go trick-or-treating, put some iron in your pocket. And always be nice to old ladies you meet on the road – you never know who you are talking to. Faeries never forget a kind deed or a harshly spoken word.

  Tír na nÓg (teer na nogue) – The Land of Eternal Youth. The fabled realm of the TUATHA DE DANNAN that exists beneath Ireland’s surface, the place the faeries fled to when they lost their battles against mortals for control of Ireland. This is where the TUATHA and the lesser tribes of faeries live. Many, many people search for ways in, but you need a faerie guide to enter the realm and getting out is never as easy. Something to think about if you have things urgent to do topside – clear your diary.

  Tuatha de Dannan (too-ah day dah-nan) – The Tuatha have many names: the Shining Ones, the Fair Folk, the Gentry. Some call them faeries, but they call themselves gods. They used to be in charge of Ireland, until St Patrick came along, and they have serious powers. They can control all the elements – air, water, fire and earth – cast powerful spells and change their form at will. They are vain and short-tempered, cruel and spiteful. They argue so much that fighting is practically a hobby for them. They are the most powerful beings in TÍR NA NÓG and they rule it. It’s best not to upset them.

  Q & A WITH CHE GOLDEN

  Your books draw inspiration from Irish myth and legend. When did you first come across those stories, and what made you want to write about them?

  When I was a child I spent quite a bit of time with my grandparents in Ireland while my parents were working in London. I loved living in Blarney, and my grandparents bought me books of Irish mythology, which I found fascinating and very different from anything I had read when growing up in London, where it was easy to get books of Greek or Egyptian myths but no Irish ones. There was no Internet then so I read those books until they fell apart. I suppose the fact that I was so starved for information when I was a child meant that I returned to them endlessly and was more gripped by these old stories than by tales from other cultures. The Feral Child and The Unicorn Hunter are a reworking of them and also a way of bringing them into my childhood retrospectively.

  The faerie world in your books is ruled by really strong female characters. Is this true of the original stories?

  Probably not! It might just be the way I remember them. But certainly there were a lot of powerful women in these stories, women who took what they wanted and fought hard to keep it. The devious warrior queen, Meabh of Connacht, is a terrifying figure in Irish mythology and it has been great fun to bring her to life in The Unicorn Hunter.

  Are you also interested in myths and legends from other countries?

  I love mythology in general but I am especially interested in Norse mythology, all those tales of Loki and Thor. It’s a part of the world I would love to visit. I have always wanted to stand underneath the Northern Lights, which Vikings believed were the spears of dead men in Valhalla, and one day I would like to write a book that draws on Norse myths and faerie tales.

  What books made you want to be a writer?

  There are so many amazing books out th
ere, but the ones that really marked my childhood and my imagination were The Mists of Avalon, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Dragonriders of Pern, The Chronicles of Narnia and anything by Katherine Kerr.

  Maddy is really brave, but a bit reckless. Is she going to be OK? Can you give us a hint about what’s coming next for her?

  Maddy is a bit of a nutcase, but she is tough – that is one of the reasons I love her so much. In this book she has made some bad choices that she will have to live with for a very long time, but in the next instalment, The Raven Queen, there is going to be a reckoning. Maddy is going to pushed beyond her limits mentally and physically, but she is going to find that she is a lot tougher and a lot smarter than anyone thinks.

  To find out more, visit my website www.chegolden.com

  Winterling

  Beyond the old stone house, through the dark, wild wood, in the glimmering moon pool, there lies the Way …

  Fer ventures through the Way to a land beyond our own, where magic is real, animal-people talk and snow lies thickly on the ground. But a dangerous huntress rules there, and soon Fer realizes that no one can be trusted …

  OUT NOW

  @quercuskids

  www.quercusbooks.co.uk