The Fifth Beast (ManxMan Chinese/Celtic Fantasy Story)

Chapter 3

The new chapter isn't ready yet, but I promise to do it as soon as possible, and you all please try to reach 15 votes on this chapter!

A little history and sociology of this world, and explanation why everyone is gay, hehe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The immortal lord of the Tuatha Dé Danann was able to survive in icy-cold water, in a burning hell, in a stone cell without fresh air, even after a fall from a great height onto sharp rocks. He could go weeks without food or drink, sleep or rest. At least, if he had sufficiently mastered his magical gift and knew how to draw strength from the element subject to him.

That's why Niall never ceased to be surprised by how much he missed such cozy little things as hot water and a comfortable bed. It was not the first time for him to go camping, to eat meat roasted over a fire, to spend days in the saddle, and nights on the cold ground. But how much colder it was beyond the Shield, in the lands of the Kirinches! In the morning, when he wanted to wash himself in the stream, he had to break the ice near the shore. Even during the day, when the sun came out, it did not give out much warmth.

At first, Niall warmed himself by magic, and flashes of lightning ran across his skin like silvery spiders. Then he got tired — too much strength wasted, too much concentration required. He gave up and threw a warm fur cloak over his shoulders, given by the obliging Senсha.

He regretted a little that he hadn't taken more servants with him. But the journey seemed simple and short: five days in the saddle, only one of them outside the Shield, in the cold foothills. He wanted no long preparations, no fuss, no crowds of people and strings of pack horses. The lord of the Tuatha Dé Danann needed no guards, certainly not against the Kirinches, who wielded no magical powers, only ordinary weapons of mortal men. Niall, of course, took the sword himself, but more for appearance's sake than for protection. He remembered Сumal's words that north of the Shield it was simply improper for a grown man to appear without a weapon. Then again, a retinue larger than one boy would have added grandeur to Niall's appearance. And there would be someone to warm the water and held the water basin while the lord washed his face. Yeah, and the journey would have taken twice as long, and Niall's servants would have been pestering him incessantly whether the lord requires something to eat or a cup of spiced wine.

At least Sencha was silent, he only sighed and made cow's eyes at his lord when he thought Niall didn't see. Even when making the bed for his lord, the young servant didn't dare to do anything more than blush excessively and shoot coy glances. Niall's young and handsome cupbearer offered himself way more openly: he tended to press his knee to the lord's while pouring his wine, or touch his fingers while taking his glass away.

Mortals were fantastically stupid, Niall thought. Didn't they know that even after a single night with an Elemental Lord one could become a thrall — a mindless doll, a shadow devoid of memory and reason. But no, still they were attracted by the Elemental Lords like moths by fire. And women, too, although, thank Danu, much less often. A mortal woman, as a rule, didn't survive a night with the Elemental Lord at all. They were too fragile.

Perhaps it was for the best that the lords of the Tuatha Dé could not beget children on mortal women. Who would be born from such a union? Probably a half-breed with some weak magical power, whose life would have been way longer than a mere mortal's. And in a couple of generations, given how quickly mortals breed, the entire realm of Mag Tuired would be inhabited by such half-breeds. The races mixed, the traditions crumbled. God forbid it would occur to them that the lords of the Tuatha Dé Danann weren't much superior to them, and there was no need to serve them. Then a civil strife, a war and devastation. No druid left to perform the rituals, the Shield of Morrigan weakened, and the demons of Anghaine rushed through the wormholes into Mag Tuired, and then the Kirinches would come as an avalanche from the mountains and destroy anything that was left.