Chapter 24

It had been sunshine when they left the airport, but only an hour later the sky was a deep shade of grey and small droplets of water hit Bonnie's arm as she stepped out from the taxi.

Even without the golden hue that had followed the tails of the car for their entire drive, the landscape was breathtaking. As the wind lifted her hair from her cheeks, the smell of fresh grass and fauna blew over her like a wave, leaving a chill on her skin.

"Wow," she mumbled, eyes following the sweeping curves of the hills. "This place is beautiful. It feels like we're a thousand miles from anyone."

"It was thousands of miles from anyone," Kimaris answered with a clear of his throat. "That was the point. Somewhere that was only connected to nature."

The sound of a suitcase hitting the ground startled Bonnie, and she and Kimaris turned to stare at the gold threaded bag.

"Gremory the flight was literally under an hour and we're away for a night at most, what exactly do you have in there?" Bonnie looked to Kimaris for an answer, but he only sighed and turned away from the two of them, bending down to give cash to the driver.

"Is it now a crime to have things?" Gremory huffed, setting it back on its feet and brushing the material with the back of his hand. "I'm unsure in which century they made that decision, but I assure you I was not on this realm when they did."

Bonnie shook her head, smiling at his words.

"Let's get moving before anyone else thinks to ask us questions," Kimaris said, glancing towards the taxi that was still unmoving. As the driver's curious eyes peered out the window, Bonnie quickly turned and began walking, following Kimaris' large strides that were already metres ahead.

"What did you tell him?"

"Hey, guys! Wait, wait—for the love of aphrodite these wheels are not good quality."

Rolling his eyes at Gremory's plead, Kimaris shrugged his shoulders and surveyed the landscape that was slowly coming into view the higher up the hill they travelled.

With a huffed breath Bonnie stepped up beside him.

"I told him that Gremory is a photographer, and that's his kit in the bag."

"Smart. What did you say about us?"

Kimaris' mouth tilted, and Bonnie felt her spine straighten as his eyes moved over to her. The rush that overtook her made her throat close.

"I told him we were getting engagement photos."

Without a second he kept walking, leaving Bonnie in dumbfounded silence and staring at the space he had just occupied.

How had he said it so calmly?

"Oh, thanks for waiting for me Bonnie," Gremory's familiar grin appeared, breaking her from her spiralling thoughts. "It's a stunning place, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah!" she quickly smiled before pretending to look out over the horizon too. "It's magical."

"Well, here's hoping."

She smiled softly at Gremory's response, his words bringing her back down to reality. They were here to summon Amdusias—well; she was here to summon Amdusias. Or at least try.

It was hard to miss the small shake in Gremory's voice, even with human ears Bonnie could hear it.

As their feet continued to crunch the long grass underneath them, she took in the old structures around them.

"So, you mentioned someone called the Dagda before. Were they a daemon too?"

The question seemed to lift the heavy thoughts from Gremory's mind, making him scoff as he dragged the luggage over a large mound.

"I suppose he was, but an ancient type. More like the gods you refer to than us."

"Like Horus?"

Gremory stumbled forward and Bonnie quickly held out her arm to catch him.

"W-Where did you hear about Horus?" He asked, his voice much lower than before and his eyes barely looking at her.

Bonnie bent down and helped put the suitcase back on its feet, her brows pulling together as she stood. She braced an arm against the wind that was rising, spitting a piece of leaf from her lips that had blown into them.

"Kimaris told me about him, and about the artifact he hid. Said it's what you guys are looking for."

Gremory's chest heaves as though he had just taken a breath for the first time. "Oh, he did. That's good, I'm glad he shared that with you. That's good."

He quickly took the handle from Bonnie's grip and kept walking, ignoring her confused stare.

"But to answer your question, yes. The Dagda was like Horus, but even older. He was the head of one side of the battle, the Tuatha Dé, or the tribe of the Gods. They were fighting a race called the Fomorians. You can think of it as the original Angels and Demons if that helps, both born from different wants. They've been at war many times, and some have won more than others. The original Gods rarely leave their homes, but some things push them out once every eon. Of course that was before the Aeon of Sofia and humanity came about and suddenly everything was—"

"The what?"

Bonnie had stopped. Her ears were filled with the thumping blood of her heart and her fingers were becoming numb. She had to have misheard him.

"Oh sorry, I know it's a lot. The Aeon of Sofia was when Sofia herself created humanity, I guess you'd probably look to her as the 'God' that your people imagine. She's tied to Horus, the Scarlet Woman guide her to usher in his Age. That's why—"

"I found the spot!"

Kimaris' call ripped Gremory's focus from Bonnie, and with an excited squeal he marched ahead, his bag clattering behind him as he called back questions.

But Bonnie couldn't hear them. She couldn't hear anything.

Sofia.

It had to be a coincidence. There was no way it meant anything, after all it was an old name and there was no reason that it meant anything tied to her.

How many Aeons had there been? There was probably only a handful of names that hadn't been used in history. That was all it was. A coincidence.

"Bonnie! Come see this!"

Swallowing the panic she felt overtaking her, she headed for the two men who had reached the peak of their climb, focusing on keeping her expression calm.

It didn't take much to do, for as she met the two men and stopped beside them, her eyes took in the sight that they were looking out over, and her mouth dropped in awe.

It wasn't dreamlike in a way that filled you with comfort or warmth, no sparkling skies or birds softly chirping. It was more like a nightmare, a foreboding tension that made your knees bend ever so slightly, and the hairs on your arm rise. She wasn't sure she had ever seen a sky change so quickly. If she didn't know better, she'd say it was as though the heavens were opening... or would she say that more now?

Did she even want to ask about heaven?

A low rumble broke through the silence of the landscape, the light mist of water now turning into heavy droplets that made Bonnie tilt her head down in an attempt to see.

"Come on, we'll shelter in there." Kimaris' strong grip took hold of her arm as he directed her to the mound that had a doorway in the side of it. She tried not to notice how warm his fingers felt against her cold skin, or think of how close his body was to hers. As they got to it, Gremory close behind, she pointed at the huge padlock on the front.

"I don't think we can—"

With a crash, Kimaris' fist slammed down onto it and the broken pieces of metal scattered on the ground below them.

"Nothings ever locked!" Gremory laughed, and Bonnie briefly battled with the guilt of breaking in somewhere before being pushed through quickly.

Inside was a narrow corridor, the age of it clear in the plants growing form the mud in the cracks, and the shallow height of the roof. With no light, Bonnie felt her fears crawl up her back, but without the putrid smell that she remembered from Bifron's she managed to push back the horrid memories.

"Do you think you could move in a bit further?"

Bonnie looked up behind her to see Kimaris hunched above her, his neck bent at an uncomfortable angle as he crouched to fit in the tunnel.

"Oh, shit." Bonnie bit her lip as she quickly hurried, trying not to laugh at his struggles and grunts as he followed. Between him and Gremory knocking his case into every surface he passed, the two of them looked incredibly uncomfortable in their situation.

She held her tongue until they reached the end of the hallway and came to a circular room, the domed shape of it rising up to allow the two taller men to breathe.

"What was this place?"

Kimaris rolled his neck, his jaw tightening as he ran a hand over the walls. "This was the home of the Goddess of the Boyne, where she and her family lived... before the Dagda came."

"Are we safe here?" she asked, not wanting to think of how old the walls were or how eroded they had become in the weather.

"This is truly a haven," Gremory answered, stretching his arms as he stepped into the circle. "Not even my magic would work in here, and that's saying something."

As he turned and began unzipping his case, Kimaris walked over to Bonnie who still was regarding the place with a wary stare.

"You're safe. I promise."

She met his eyes with a steady stare and nodded once when she saw the truth lying in them. She still didn't know if she should trust them, not after what Manakel had said, but Kimaris' eyes could make her believe anything he said.

"Okay," she whispered back, stiffening her shoulders. "What now?"

"Now, my pretty," Gremory giggled, turning to her as he waved a hand over the pile of items behind him. The array of coloured gems glinted in the speck of light that broke through the hole near the top. "We summon Amdusias."