Curse of The Cumhachd Nàdair

"What have you done?" The disappointment in my father's green eyes pierced my heart. He spoke via video conference from his Alaska arctic job site. "By legend, the Cumhachd Nàdair gives the user absolute control over the natural elements, but it comes at a high price. The High Priest who last wielded it went insane with power and launched the little ice age in the fourteenth century. Thereafter, the artifact was then hidden away under a concealment spell for good reason."

Bitter shame engulfed my heart. When the Starfall Coven Priest, named Galec Whitestone, hired me to find the ancient Druid artifact, I had reservations. But my graduate teaching assistantship didn't pay the bills, and the money was too tempting. My finely tuned magic sense had led us to its hiding spot beneath a picturesque waterfall on the Isle of Skye. He promised to use it for good, but possession of the artifact had filled him with power lust.

"I have to fix this," I said, bowing my head.

"Aye, my little Stori," my red-bearded father replied, softening his expression. "Only you can. But be wary. The Cumhachd Nàdair will resist." He put two fingers to his lips, the signal of our bond. "Be careful. Love you, my daughter."

I repeated the gesture. "Love you, Father."

"We must go," said Enya, standing not-so-patiently behind me in my Baton Rouge apartment, the young long-haired blonde daughter of Galec. "With 'er moment, the artifact claims ever more of his soul."

Circling her hand, a shimmering violet ring appeared, and we stepped through to an alternate dimension where elemental magic ruled. We emerged within the stony ruins of a castle, perched high on a basalt promontory overlooking a raging sea. Once grand, the castle was now little more than a few walls within tumbled stones. Strong moist gales howled, tossing my dark hair.

Galec clutched a tarnished bronze dagger, the Cumhachd Nàdair. A powerful man worthy of Scottish Druid warrior heritage, he wore a traditional blue robe and stood tall on a partially covered stone platform within the crumbled rock walls. Circling winds enclosed him, yet did not lift a single strand of sandy-brown hair. His eyes blazed white under the influence of the artifact. Sensing powerful magic, the Null within me bucked against mental constraints.

"Father," Enya said, looking up with widened eyes as she caressed his cheek, "I brought Astoria back with me. She will help you."

"I need no help!" Galec hissed, swatting her hand away. "Nor do I need you."

Enya's lip trembled. "Ye break my heart, father."

"The Cumhachd Nàdair takes you, sir," I said, stepping closer. "I might break its hold."

Snarling, Galec thrust out a hand. A tight swirl of air shoved me back, crashing me against a low rock wall and knocking the breath from me. Pain radiated from my ribs.

A glowing silvery rope emerged from Enya's outstretched hand, and she swung it like a whip at her father, wrapping him in tight coils. With an angry cry, he threw muscular arms outward, shredding her magic and staggering her backwards. The firmament shook from his rage and a massive wave crashed against the black cliff below, leaping to drench us with icy water.

He rushed forward, pushing Enya against a wall, then pressed the cursed dagger against her neck, drawing a droplet of blood. "The prize be mine. Ye shall not take my legacy, daughter!" he spat from clenched teeth.

"Father, please," she pleaded in a strained voice with watery eyes. "This be not you. Please..."

Somehow, she reached him, if but for a moment. The white blaze in his eyes faded, and he sucked in a breath through a widening mouth. Rage subsided, and he gazed at his trembling daughter with loving eyes while his grip loosened. "Enya..." he whispered as a ray of sunshine burst through the gray sky.

This was the moment I needed. 'Go,' I commanded the Null. It burst from me in fingers of swirling gray mist, wrapping Galec and the dagger like countless vaporous snakes, and pulling him away from his daughter. His rage returned as he struggled, screaming ancient curses.

With a final yank, the Null wrested the dagger away, sending it clanking at my feet.

"No!" Galec yelled, pulling free from the retreating Null. "It be mine!"

Galec dove toward the dagger with outstretched hand, but I snatched it up from the floor and jumped away.

I gasped as electric tingles flowed up my arm, and my hand involuntarily gripped the dagger hilt tighter, whitening my knuckles. Its power crashed through my soul like a tsunami wave, intoxicating me, lust filling my mind. 'Join me,' the Cumhachd Nàdair whispered sweetly, 'and together we shall rule. No longer shall you be despised.' I mentally pushed against it, but I could no more stop its invasion than I could stop the wind. Bit by bit, what was myself faded away. 'Come to me.'

"Astoria, no!" Enya cried out, her voice sounding as if far away. "Not you..."

But the Null would have none of this, so jealous was the anti-magic. Roaring like a beast in my mind, it pounced on the malevolent spirit. Rage met rage as the magical entities battled, filling my mind with painful mental clamor.

Amongst the fighting, my identity returned enough to relax the hand gripping the dagger. With a yell, I heaved it upward.

'Consume!' I ordered the Null. Hissing misty talons attacked, constricting the Cumhachd Nàdair, and the mental battle became tangible. Harsh dazzling sparks erupted as the artifact fought back, but in the end, it could not resist the anti-magic. The dagger clattered to the stones.

Staggering back, I slid down a hard wall as the Null returned to me, pulling deep breaths. Many times before had I cursed the Null within, but this time, I was grateful for its existence.

Galec embraced Enya, trembling as he wrapped her in strong arms. "My dear daughter--" he wept as his voice faded. "I am so sorry."

Looking up, I smiled. How blessed were we to have truly loving fathers?

Galec and Enya helped me stand on wobbly legs. "Astoria," he said, holding my hand and arm to support my stance. "Grateful we are to you." He tilted his head to the dull bronze dagger. "And the Cumhachd Nàdair?"

I picked it up, spun it in my hands, and handed it to Galec. "The curse is no more, and now it is but a minor relic."