Fate/Curadh Beag

Chapter 6: Onward to Ireland

FATE/CURADH BEAG

"Little Champion"

Chapter 6: Onward to Ireland

While Connla was busy with Cuchulainn, Scathach had returned to her domain after finishing her business in Ireland. It had been dreadfully boring political work, and she couldn't wait to return home and let out some pent-up stress on any giant Demon Boars unfortunate enough to cross her path. She didn't like how bad the situation was in Ireland, but she couldn't do much other than impart some much-needed advice to the land's best druids. She had to worry about Scotland first and foremost, and everyone respected that they were taking up her precious time to come help them. She was given several gifts for her trouble, and she opted to bring them as souvenirs to show to Connla.

Right away, Scathach noticed that something was amiss. When she approached the Gate of Skye, she saw that it had been opened very recently. 'Opened' was probably too loose of a term to describe it being 'forced, shoved, and banged on until it cracked open for an intruder'. Anxiety gripped her heart. Not many in this world had the capacity to wrench open the gates that she sealed tightly shut. At least she could rule out Connla since the doors had been beaten inward, rather than outward. Besides, Connla had been granted permission to open the Gates of Skye just once – when it was time for her to leave on her journey. She wouldn't be stupid enough to do something like this.

I don't like this...

That simple thought plagued Scathach's mind as she rushed in and leapt through the swamps. She found the place eerily absent of ghosts and local wildlife, especially with the number of torn carcasses strewn about and bloodying the bogs. Whoever the intruder was, they practically plowed through anything that got in their way. What frightened her even more was that the newcomer clearly knew where they were going, judging by the straight path being carved toward the castle. Normally, someone who wandered in here by accident would be totally lost and wind up back outside anyway. The illusions that Scathach cast obviously meant nothing to Dun Scaith's 'visitor'.

Oh, god.

Her terror intensified to new heights she never experienced before, as all of these clues pointed her to only one suspect. She hurried even faster to the fortress, dreading the worst possibility:

Please don't let Connla see him... Please, please, please, please, please...

Luckily, the countless corpses provided her with an easy path to follow toward her target. Once she reached the closest pond to the castle though, her worst fears were realized. She spotted her niece sitting next to a monstrous-looking man with blue hair. Her heart practically leapt out of her throat as she screamed with all of her soul:

"CONNLAAA~AAA!"

The pair jolted when they heard her call out that name in absolute panic. Cuchulainn froze on the spot. His thoughts became incoherent once again, but they were all focused on one thing:

Connla... Connla... That's right... I know I uttered that name somewhere...

The child warrior stepped back and looked around, bewildered as to what was going on. Suddenly, a crimson light glinted in the sky above the pair. Faster than one could blink, the light instantly pierced the earth between them, generating enough force to sunder the craggy hill into clean halves. Connla screamed as she was violently thrown backwards off of one half of the hill. Cuchulainn snarled as his feet skidded along the face of the other half, but he lost his balance and tumbled the remainder of the way. The moment he regained his footing, he immediately found himself slashing his polearm against Gae Bolg, wielded by a furious Scathach. For a few minutes, they were locked in an intense duel of flailing spears when Connla eventually rushed up to the scene.