THE FOURTH CREATION Part 4

It was then, all at once, that Cullen felt the buzzing of six new Weapons.

***

Cullen, Tik and Sonia raced through the forest, following Tris’tan on the enchanted path that would carry them across miles of forest in just hours. As they rushed back towards the Sidhe, Asrai wolves ran alongside them, more and more coming as the minutes passed.
Cullen’s pack sense grew as the members of his extended family arrived and ran with them. He could sense what they thought of him, calling him the Chosen One, sensing that he would be the one to carry the Creations and finally bring them to war.
He sensed their pride and their eagerness to run with him, to go where he went and do what he did. He could tell that they wanted to keep his friends safe as well, running alongside Tik and Sonia as they raced through the forest.
It took much of the day but they reached Cernunnous’s waterfall by late day. They finally stopped to let the horses eat and drink their fill. The wolves gathered around Cullen and his friends and they howled for the Forest God to come.
Cullen didn’t hear him arrive as always, he just appeared in the circle of trees surrounding the pool. This time he wore a new shape however. He looked like a Greenman, elf sized and covered in leaves and berries, but still with those otherworldly glowing blue eyes.
“YOU HAVE RETURNED CULLEN,” he said in the same rolling voice that sounded like an earthquake. “YOU HAVE THE FOURTH CREATION?”
“I do Cernunnous. I wanted you to see it first,” Cullen answered, lifting the Horn from off his chest.
“SOUND IT CULLEN. I WOULD HEAR IT,” the God commanded.
Cullen lifted the Horn to his lips and blew. A long clear note sounded and echoed through the forest. It gave off feelings of gathering, of men coming together for a purpose. It made Cullen want to surround himself with warriors and the Asrai gathered closer, drawing their weapons and howling.
“YOU MUST BLOW THIS FOR EACH OF THE KINGDOMS CULLEN. GO TO THE DAOINE SIDHE, THE DWARVES AND THE SELKIE QUEEN. THIS WILL BRING THEM TO THE FIGHT; THIS WILL BRING THEM TO WAR.”
Cullen could feel the power of the Horn in the air as it compelled the Asrai to surround him and ready themselves for battle. It was clear in their gleaming eyes that they would follow the Horn into whatever battle may come. They looked almost fevered.
“I will go now then.” He spoke quietly but it seemed to carry and the werewolves howled again. Cullen, followed by Tik and Sonia climbed up the hill and took the single trail towards the Faery city. He was also followed by the Asrai and many Greenmen who now followed the Horn as well.
When they entered the city of the Daoine Sidhe, it was as if a festival had begun. New colorful cloth led them into the gardens of the city, and the paths were filled with elves, all wearing decorated armor and weapons. Cullen could see that they had heard the Horn already and the King was waiting for him.
“Come child, sound the Horn again, here in the city, where we have not heard such a thing for centuries!” the King cried out in joy.
Cullen raised the Horn again and blew the clear sure sound of the Horn, getting cheers in return after it echoes through the forest again. He never thought he would get such a response, but the Horn compelled them to respond joyfully and with good cheer.
“You must lead us to the human city where the fight shall be! That is where we must go!” Vivien said over the clamor of the elves. Cullen nodded as he watched Aki and some others organize the elves into clans and battle formations.
The elves had banners attached to their armor, different clans belonging under different banners. Cullen could see Aki’s clan was under the light of the Sun, while another group walked under the banner of the Moon and Stars. The Asrai walked beneath the banner of the howling Wolf and they walked before all the others.
“They have found their fighting spirit again Cullen!” Tris’tan said as he leaned in close. “You will lead them to glory again!”
Cullen was overwhelmed by the response and he settled into just leading the Asrai, who he was familiar with and letting the others follow as they would. He didn’t think he was the man to lead an army and there must have been a few thousand elves gathered among the gardens of the elven city.
Vivien informed him that they were ready, in such a short time Cullen wasn’t sure he believed it, but he turned and marched with his friends out of the city and he heard the sounds of many feet marching behind him.
He led them back to the waterfall and found the new Cernunnous waiting for him, along with even more Greenmen and a cloud of Pixies hovering about. Cullen had Tris’tan find the enchanted path again and they marched into the forest with the sounds of an army.

***

The Dreamweaver rode with Grimm towards the wall surrounding Holdfast City, where there seemed to be a lot of commotion. People were all over the walls where soldiers were clearly losing control of the crowd as they piled on top of each other to see the gathering outside.
Grimm managed to ride them through the gates and out onto the King’s Road where thousands of mounted elves sat on glittering horses dressed in mighty armor. And in the front of them all was Cullen, his human friends, the Asrai Queen and the Daoine Sidhe King.
Grimm rode his horse, followed quickly by the old man, and approached Cullen’s group slowly. His war horse was bigger than the others, but the elves were just as tall as he was and he looked down on none of them.
“Well met Grimm!” Cullen cried out as he got closer, with his usual grin leading the way. Grimm shook his head and waved.
“Cullen!” the Dreamweaver called, “What is this you have brought?”
“I bring you an army!” Cullen cried back. “May I present the King of the Daoine Sidhe, King Dagda and his right hand, Lady Vivien.”
Cullen indicated the most regal pair of people the Dreamweaver had ever seen. The King wore a crown of golden branches and the woman may have been the most beautiful woman he had seen in his long life.
“And also the Forest God, Cernunnous,” Cullen pointed out the walking Greenman, who stood as tall as Grimm’s horse and just as wide. Somehow even though he was so big, he was unassuming and didn’t stand out.
“I am most pleased, I assure you!” the old man responded quickly. He looked out over the vast group pf elves, both men and woman, wearing a hundred banners of different groups all here to fight the common enemy.
“And my mother as well, the Queen of the Asrai, Queen Gwyddneu,” Cullen added afterwards.
“We are honored to have you here once again,” Grimm said politely with an almost smile. The beautiful white Queen grinned a fierce smile and nodded to the big fighting man. “I look forwards to seeing King Remus again,” she said.
“Please set up however you wish here in the fields Kings and Queens, while you may accompany me back into the castle to meet our own King,” Grimm invited with a sweep of his arm.
Vivien turned away to talk to clan chiefs before riding back to enter the castle walls with Cullen and the others. Cullen turned back to see the many elves begin setting up colorful tents to camp in while they waited for their leaders to speak.
“What’s the latest on the attacks Grimm?” Cullen asked quickly when he rode alongside the Captain of Captains.
“They have attacked every small village in Holdfast except the castle. You have come just in time I think.”
“I have to go back out to gather more for the battle. I hope you can last until then. They haven’t approached at all then?”
Grimm shook his head. “No sign of them near the castle farms even. We think they’ve been waiting for something, but we fear they are coming soon.”
Cullen looked over the city as he rode past, searching for a sign of his other friends. “And the Rom? Did the King allow them entry?” he asked nervously.
“Of course he did!” Grimm chuckled, “Based on your good will. If they break the rules, they go back out!”
“But they have been good, right?” Cullen asked again, his eyebrows perched on top off his forehead.
“Yes Cullen, they have been very good, training with the soldiers, getting ready to defend the walls. Everything is fine.”
Cullen breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back to Tik and gave him a thumbs up, laughing when Tik’s shoulders unclenched in a sign of clear release.
Cullen moved his horse back to where his mother jogged alongside with her three sons who decided to accompany her to the castle. Cullen wondered what this would be like for her and the King, to see each other again, with him grown and standing there. He hoped they would speak to each other privately as well.
The large group entered the gates of the castle and Grimm led them to their rooms, all set aside for royalty as well as smaller rooms for Cullen and his friends. The Faeries seemed quite pleased with their rooms even though they were surrounded by stone and not the forest as they were used to.
Cullen met them outside their hallways in order to go meet the King and do introductions again. The Dreamweaver and Grimm met them in the main hallways and led them to the throne room where they would lay eyes on the human leader.
They entered the throne room as a group, the King Dagda walking in first, followed by Vivian, the Asrai Queen, Cernunnous and Cullen. The King was seated in his throne, wearing his nicest clothes and a small crown of gold that circled his head.
“Greetings guests and friends of Cullen!” he warmly said as they entered, raising his arms in a welcoming gesture.
“We are glad to see you safe once again my King,” Cullen said respectfully as he stepped in front of the royal guests.
“And I am glad that you are safe as well. Grimm tells me you won the Sword and have discovered the Fourth Creation?”
“Yes Sire, all of that is true, but let me introduce your new allies first,” Cullen said in return, indicating the people standing near him.
“Right, of course,” the King coughed. “Do go ahead.”
Using his hands to gesture towards each figure, Cullen introduced each mighty leader in turn. “Leaders of the Daoine Sidhe, King Dagda and Vivien. Leader of the Asrai, and your former acquaintance, Queen Gwyddneu and leader of the Greenmen and other Faeries, Lord Cernunnous of the Danann Forest.”
“I am most pleased to meet with you all, and to come to some agreement between our people,” the King said immediately. “With Cullen’s introduction, I am most eager to see what we can offer each other in the way of peaceful negotiations.”
“We are also eager to have peace between us, but it seems that we must agree to go to battle before anything else King Remus,” King Dagda said with Vivien nodding her assent as well.
Cullen noticed that the High King had his gaze set squarely on his mother. Clearly he had questions for her that had to wait, but that he wanted to ask dearly.
“You are welcome in my castle and my city and I am glad to have made fast friends with those that Cullen trusts. Tell me about the others Cullen, will the Dwarves come as well?”
“I hope that they will Sire. I must leave to find them and the Selkies also, hoping to gather them to out walls before the Host attacks. I will need to leave quickly, you understand.”
“Yes, of course. Take fresh horses and as many men as you need,” the King offered right away.
“I think it best to stick with a small group, to sneak past enemy lines,” Cullen countered. “I’ll go with my friends and some of the Asrai, my brothers should be enough.”
“I understand. Go ahead, and leave everything else to us. We shall be ready upon your return.”
Cullen nodded, and glanced at the others before he left. He ran back to their rooms and got his friends ready. They had to move quickly to gather more warriors before the Host finally attacked. They would be coming soon, he knew, and he hoped to have everyone he could there to face them.