Fate/Curadh Beag

Chapter 17: The Gallant Stranger

FATE/CURADH BEAG

"Little Champion"

Chapter 17: The Gallant Stranger

Once their discussion was over, Connla and Cathbad returned to the cottage. The older druid stayed for lunch, but said he had to return to Leinster as soon as possible. Once he had departed, the rest of the day went by uneventfully. Now that Connla had fully groomed and cared for Liath Macha's needs, she felt confident that she could take him out for her newest journey. There was the problem of telling Emer and the twins what her plans were, but she figured she could worry about it later.

Right now, all she could think about was getting back into contact with Cuchulainn without alerting the others. She never said a word about what she and Cathbad discussed throughout the afternoon and evening, and soon turned in for the night with Fir and Fial. However, once the twins were fast asleep, Connla slipped out of the room and went down the narrow slope leading to Lough Neagh's lakebed.

Once Connla was far enough from the cottage, she unpocketed the Mini Cu doll from her waist satchel and held him before her. He didn't stir in the slightest for a moment, so she asked, "Are you there, Cuchulainn?"

At first, there was no response. After a minute, she felt a peculiar buzzing sensation course through her skin as a small surge of magical energy made its way into the toy. He finally stretched his arms and legs to adjust himself to a body that was much tinier than he was used to.

"Ugh, there we go," Mini Cu grunted. "It's not easy trying to squeeze your consciousness into such a confined space. I had to take some extra sedatives just to fall asleep, considering how busy I was today."

"Did something happen?"

"Just a little reorganization of my higher chain of command. Nothing for you to worry about."

"Hm..." she murmured, unsure if she wanted to ask him what was going on in Scotland. However, she had a much bigger question on her mind as she asked, "So, did you hear everything that Lord Cathbad and I talked about this morning?"

"Yup. Every word of it."

"What do you think?"

"Ulster's Three Plagues, huh? And he's plotting to summon a Grand Servant to destroy the Tree of Emptiness, all on top of Fergus organizing a rebellion against Medb. This is some interesting news, indeed. It might cause me some headaches with my war plans, but if everything goes smoothly, I can crush Medb's skull before she has a chance to retaliate against Cathbad's summoning. I'm certain she'll take issue with it, considering that Ulster is supposed to be her territory."

Connla grew concerned, knowing that Cuchulainn was certainly set on having Scotland fight against Ireland during such a precarious time. He immediately noticed her trepidation and assured, "Don't worry. I have no intention of rushing into things yet. I'm biding my time to see what's going on with Ireland before making any drastic moves. Perhaps I could forge an alliance with Fergus so we can topple Medb's forces together, provided that negotiations don't break down."

"If you say so..."

"Relax. Just focus on what Cathbad wants you to do. If these plagues are getting in the way of his progress, then you ought to go deal with them to protect the Leyline. Let the dummies duke it out with their little war games."

"Mm."

"So he told you to go find Leabharcham, right? I've never met her, but I've heard the occasional story or two about her."

"Lord Cathbad wasn't specific about which blight she's associated with either," Connla said, then became visibly frustrated as she grumbled, "I don't know why, but I'm getting a bit fed up with being left ignorant of everything that's going on. Everyone expects me to do things for them, but they never tell me the reason why. Teacher never told me that you were my father, no one wants to tell me why Queen Medb is so dangerous, and now even Lord Cathbad is being intentionally vague with which blight he wants me to deal with first. It's like everyone loves toying with me for being so clueless..."