Quinn - A Tuatha Dé Danann Novel

Chapter Ten

I hadn't paid much attention to my birthday the rest of the day. I was too busy practicing magic with my newfound powers. I was surprised at how easy some spells came to me. I didn't consider it casting spells, like some wizard with a wand. It was more like I was asking the object to do something for me, and if it felt I was worthy enough, it would. With magic, I had even more friends sitting all around me. All I had to do was listen. Nuala on the other hand was not too happy about me being able to perform magic.

"Five hundred years and were are just going to let the humans learn magic again." She sneered at me. "I for one don't think this is a good idea. Even if he's half Tuatha, he still has human blood in him, and humans can't be trusted."

"That enough Nuala," Aengus slammed his fist into the side of a tree as we walked through Cathair Na Crann. "Just because you're afraid of humans, doesn't give you the right to pick on Henry."

"I'm not afraid of humans."

"Please, have you ever met a human besides Henry?"

"Well no, but my mom has told me stories about how they pollute the Earth and invent these crazy metal machines to attack each other. How can we trust them with magic if they still haven't learned their lesson."

"Not all of us are like that," I said wiping the sweat of my brow. Even in the middle of the forest, under thick shade from the trees, the heat from the summer day was getting to me. "Yes there are those of us who destroy and take without thinking, but there are some of us who are trying to save the Earth and stop wars. Just like there are some Tuatha trying to end life as you know it while others are trying to save it."

"Look, I'll stop making fun of you, but you got to stay out of my way. I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to learn magic for my unbinding ceremony." With that she stamped off in the other direction, her red curls bouncing with each heavy step she took.

"What crawled up her butt?" Aengus doubled over laughing at his own joke. "I'm sorry... she's not normally... like this?" He said in between gasps of air and laughter. Seeing him so happy, I couldn't help but join him in laughing.

The rest of the day was spent with Aengus and I chasing each other through the surrounding trees on the edge of the village. At first he was able to catch me but as I stretched my legs and got more comfortable with the speed we ran at, I was able to outrun him with ease. He'd get within a few inches of me and then I would dash as fast as I could, avoiding his attempts to reach out and grab me.

We chased each other back and forth until our legs were too heavy to pick up and our lungs were ready to burst. Gasping for air we found a good sturdy branch to climb on and relax. It was fun being a kid for a while. Soon we were going to have to face reality again and deal with our lives, but for now we were just two kids playing in the woods.

When the sun started getting low we headed back to Aengus baile crann. Covered in sweat and dirt we walked in to the living room to a big celebration. Everyone who knew me was there. Maeve pretending not to care was sitting in the couch drinking tea, while Eamon talked with her in hushed tones. Nuala and what I guessed was her mother was there as well. Although it looked as though Nuala wanted to be anywhere else but there. Standing in the middle of the room was Binne with a big smile on her face and Rowe holding her around the waste with a slight grin.

The room went silent for a moment as everyone realized we had walked in. I stood in the doorway realizing that all these people were here for me. It was weird. I wasn't used to so many people caring – forced to care in Nuala's case – about me. I blushed and tried to hide my face from all the staring eyes. Bin came over and hugged me.