Climbing up into the bright afternoon sun, James spotted the two senior officers talking as they looked out over the harbor. Despite the crisp autumn wind that blew in from the sea, it had turned into a warm, clear day. He paused for a moment in one of the few spots on the deck not shaded by the sails. The cold touch of the shade monster faded with the embrace of the sun, letting him stabilize his mind a little more before striding over to the two officers. Saluting the pair, he spoke with a clear voice despite the slight rasp caused by the attack.

  “My rounds are done, and I’ve passed off command to Sergeant Fuentes. Thank you for your assistance, Commander. The Sergeant should be coming to see you shortly about a few changes to his leadership team to fill my void while I’m away on assignment. From discussions with the Admiral, this will likely be a long-term posting, so I would recommend making it more permanent. I’ll be around if they need help, though.”

  The Commander returned the salute before saluting Lugh. After a quick word of farewell, the commander turned and moved off towards the hatch. When the two of them were alone, James spoke softly as he began to walk, headed for the gangplank.

  “Well, that was a fun time. I ran into some shadow monsters in the bilge. They didn’t want to leave when I asked nicely.”

  The god glanced down at the sword at her hip and nodded as he walked. When they reached the dockway, he finally spoke.

  “Did you kill all of the Dullahan, or did you leave any alive? They might have some information that could help us find their headquarters.”

  James raised an eyebrow at the god as they started walking again.

  “No, they didn’t give me a chance to talk very much. The only thing any of them said was that ‘The Magus’ would revive them by tomorrow, and something about coming for me. Besides that, the only thing I heard was some weird screeches.”

  He glanced over at her as he steered them towards the warehouses that lined the dry docks after stopping to grab James’ backpack from his car. They moved past dozens of sailors and civilian workers coming and going from several job sites around the naval yard. Stepping through the door to a red brick warehouse at the end of the dock, Lugh led James over to an office area being set up by a few members of the base I.T. team.

  Lugh pulled James into a conference room with a small table and whiteboard before moving over to the board and picking up a blue marker. With a groan, James settled his aching body into the hard plastic chair and looked over at the god that had rapidly changed his life. He sat back and tried to relax, but the god's voice pulled him back to the moment.

  “I’m surprised that they’ve managed to infiltrate the ship that far. I’ve been gone for a while, but I didn’t think the Dullahan Collective would be able to move this quickly. I’m glad you made it out of the fight relatively unharmed, but I should have been there with you since you’re mostly untrained.”

  James turned in the cold chair to look back at the pacing god, whose head was down as he talked to himself. Before James could respond, Lugh turned to the board and drew a vertical line with an arrow pointing at the bottom. He continued to mumble to himself as he began to place symbols along the line in a pattern.

  “They seem to know that the ship is important, but they don’t know why, or they would have sent something much more dangerous. So that means that we’ll need to step up the protection around the ship and base. How can we do that without drawing the attention of the mortals?”

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  James opened the backpack that sat on the desk beside him and pulled out the book and keychain. As he unlocked the book, he spoke loud enough to get the spiraling god’s attention.

  “I guess it’s time that I look into what Vic left me. I don’t want to be blind when I walk into the next ambush. Maybe he’ll have left some information that can help.”

  As he began to open the book, Lugh’s slightly glowing hand slammed down on the stiff cover. James turned slightly to look up and meet Lugh’s fiery gaze, matching it for a few moments before the divine weight of his focus forced her to look away. When Lugh spoke, his voice was soft yet somehow wildly intense.

  “That’s not a good idea at the moment. We need to purify you before looking at that, to be safe. If we don’t, you’ll be burned alive by the light. Did any of the Dullahan manage to touch your skin during the fight? Contact with them can corrupt you slowly, even if the monster is dead.”

  James’s hand unconsciously crept up to his neck, where the monster had nearly managed to kill him just fifteen minutes earlier. Seeing his reaction, Lugh pulled back his collar to reveal the small ring of Necrotic black fingerprints that were slowly creeping their way out from the partial ring from the original attack. Fear crossed the god’s eyes before being replaced by resolve as he turned to sprint from the room. He shouted back at James.

  “Stay there and don’t move too much. If you can focus on the gold shield knot on the keychain and try to imagine it inside your mind. I’m going to grab something and come right back.”

  He sprinted across the room to a small pot that held a ring of pale gray mushrooms over a bed of moss. A glance around the room confirmed that no one was looking before he reached into the ring of mushrooms that would barely hold a cookie. In an instant, the god disappeared, with only a bright flash and a soft pop. James slumped back into the cold plastic of the conference room chair before pulling his collar up again to hide it from the two techs who were still in the building somewhere.

  Emotions swirled in ways that he’d never felt before, stealing his thoughts before they could fully form. He closed his eyes and tried to center himself like his therapist had been teaching him to do after he returned from his last combat tour in the Middle East. The scenes of the fight flashed before her eyes like a twisted slideshow, with her accelerated heartbeat and breathing creating a terrifying symphony to her panic.

  He pulled the shield knot talisman from his pocket and took the golden disc into his hand. His fingers run over the intricate Celtic pattern of woven gold, his mind locked onto memorizing its pattern. At first, nothing happened. But after a moment, a golden light pressed into his panicked state, carving a glowing field that shielded him from the flashing images of his fight and the haunting memories of other times he’d nearly died in combat.

  His breathing slowed, followed by his heartbeat, letting him begin to take back control of himself. Another flash of light forced his eyes open to see Lugh sprinting over to him with a tree branch covered in green needles and blue berries. The god pulled James to his feet and led him out the back door to a small corner out of sight of the rest of the compound.

  With a small ball of light in his free hand, Lugh ignited the branch and held it close enough that the plumes of smoke drifted up into James’ face. Lugh spoke softly as he held James upright.

  “Breathe deeply and let the juniper cleanse the corruption. This is going to feel very weird now that you’re connected to the Fey Realm.”

  James forced himself to breathe despite the smoke. His world swirled, and his lungs burned as the treatment filled him. The warmth moved slowly at first, then consumed him like a hot drink on the coldest day of the year. His limbs went weak and gave out underneath him as a wave of coughing racked his body.

  Black liquid was expelled from his lungs as he collapsed to his hands and knees, his body too weak to control anything. The pain in him faded as the liquid was pulled from his body until there was nothing left. Time began to swim as he watched the world around him fade to black.