Dark Isle (Celtic Legacy Book 2) Read Free Page B

decided to trap her and lock her away. Her pride and ego made it easy to trick her . We thought her prison , once hidden , would hold her for all time. B ut it was not to be. I t was found by a particularly cunning human. He seduced Morgana, the only one who knew where the prison lay , and gained the knowledge he needed to once more free Chaos .” Cora’s tongue flicked out; a soft sigh escaped her.
    “ Morgana? Like as in Morgan Le F ay ? ” Even I knew the stories that revolved around that one. Sorceress, enchantress, possible half sister to the famed King Arthur. I opened my mouth to ask for the whole story , but Cora stalled me.
    “There is , of course, more to that s tory, but now’s not the right time to tell it . Right no w , we need to focus on Chaos , ” s he paused . I nodded and she went on. “ We were only able to fool her the on e time. Once she was freed for the second time , no line of deceit could convince her to step into one of our traps.” Cora took a breath , her scales catching the sunlight, then continue d . “Chaos was so strong, and so cunning. She would m ake you believe that what you did in the name of her destruction was right, that she would help you succeed. She would befriend those who were afraid, those who let their strong emotions rule them. She would give them what they want ed in return for favors . Little easy things, things no one would ever know about. Then she would take over their hearts . If she gained control of someone particularly powerful, she could even control the elements . The Mt. Vesuvius eruption was caused by her .”
    Her words stirred a strange mixture of horror and recognition within me. Maybe I was wrong, but I had to ask.
    “You mean THE Mt. Vesuvius?”
    She nodded. “That is only one of the disasters she caused .” Cora flicked her tail in obvious irritation. “The sinking of Atlantis was the final catastrophe before we, all the old gods, banded together to lock her up again . It took all of us. There was a battle that left many of us dead, or so injured they hid themselves away. But it was Arthur who dealt the final blow to her. Excalibur was the only physical weapon that c ould cause Chaos injury. We caged her for a second time, and since then she ’s remained locked away , and the world has been safe from her destruction … It was a dark day, even though we did what we had to do to protect the world. ”
    “ Shit .” Chaos sounded worse than Balor ; it was the difference between a calculating bad guy and a psychotic demon . Calculating, you could talk to , maybe even convince them that they were wrong. But the psychotic one, not so much.
    Luke snorted and we both turned to him. “That is not in any of the histories, Cora. Your brain has been addled by the heat I think.”
    I frowned at him , irritated by his arrogance . How could he not see the truth of Cora’s words? “Then why were Balor and the Banshee Queen discussing Chaos?”
    He shrugged. “Maybe because they knew you were watching? Balor would say anything to throw you off. You said it yourself, he has no reason to let us live, which makes me think the helicopter crash was due to a freak storm , not Balor and the Banshee Queen . I think the vision was to mislead us. ”
    “You must decide what you believe , Quinn , ” Cora said .
    Luke frowned a t her. “ Even if she believes you, Cora , she can’t do anything about it. I have to get her to the Council , and have her trained. ”
    But it was t he truth of Cora’s words that settled into my bones, my heart thumping with the whisper of fear as it brushed along my spine. “I don’t have time to be trained, do I?” I asked, deliberately not looking at Luke.
    Cora shook her head. “ No, you don’t. If Balor is searching out Chaos, we have very little time indeed. ”
    Chills swept through me. So many stories, and they were all starting to spin together. “Where is Chaos hidden ?” I asked. Luke snorted again, got up and walked