"I don't care if you can hear ths, Prince of Reged," Garrett heard that night. "I'm going to get them anyway."

He saw the image of the stone and sat up quickly in his bed.

"And you can't stop me," he heard again.

Or maybe I can, he thought. I don't care about that stupid prophecy.

"And why not?"

He looked around the room. Where was she? How could she hear him? Not figuring it out, he replied, It's worthless. You don't even know all of it anyway. It's as dead as you're going to be when you get caught.

"Don't you mean if I get caught? Those fools won't know what they'll be in for once they know that their fate is in my hands."

Some fate, he thought in a mocking tone. You know you won't be able to tell them or me what to do.

"We'll see about that."

Where are you?

"That's not for you to know, now is it?" Her laughter filled every corner of his mind. "Oh, now where is it? There's so much junk in here. That old coot . . ."

He got out of his bed quickly. 'Old coot'? She had called Cathbad that once. Hurriedly he pulled on his boots, ran out his chamber door, and down the hall to Cathbad's chamber.

Maeve looked up at him, the light from the window shining in her eyes.

"And what do you think you're doing?" he asked, not bothering to speak quietly in the presence of the sleeping druid.

"Why, getting the stuff and going," she said out loud, "as I said I would."

"You're not going to get away that easily."

"I have before."

"Well, not this time."

She smiled deviously at him, waved her hand, and---poof---smoke swirled around her and she disappeared.

"Uh-oh." Garrett looked around the room, finding no sign of her.

Her voice echoed around the room. "Oh, look. I've gotten away easily. What are you going to do now?"

A frightful look on his face, he ran into the halls and, seeing no sign of her, started to head for her chamber.

Rays of light streamed through the crack of the bottom of the door. Flinging it open, the rays pierced his eyes and he could barely make out the figure of her next to the bright circle of light. Around the light were four black stones.

The light began to rise and she started to reach her hand out and take it.

"No!" Garrett flung himself on Maeve just as she took the bright circle.

"You idiot!" she cried. "You could have completely ruined it!"

"Anything to save my friends' hides is worth ruining," he said angrily. "I can ruin it more for you. Just one call for help and everyone will see what you've been up to. Just give me what you hold in your hand and I promise you won't be hurt---badly."

She stared at him for a moment, thinking, "Garrett---I---I thought you said we were friends."

I'm not going to fall for another one of your tricks, he thought. She smiled sweetly and helplessly at him. A smile he had never seen before. A smile he never thought she had. "I'm not going to fall for it."

"No one's falling for anything," she replied.

He got up on his knees, holding her closed hand by the wrist, and whispered, "Give it to me."

Unable to break free from his grasp---and his threat---she slowly, one by one, lifted her fingers and revealed a small, compact, clear crystal.

He took it from her. "This is it? This is why you risked everything? Just for this?" He raised his hand to throw it against the cold stone floor.

"Don't!" she shouted. He looked at her. "It is worth it. Don't harm it."

"Oh, I'm not going to harm it." He stood up and started walking to the door.

"Don’t," she croaked, barely a whisper.

He turned around. "And why shouldn't I? When you told us your little story I knew there was something you weren't confessing. And now," he looked at the crystal, "I know now that I was right." He opened the door and started for Cathbad's chamber to tell him the news. Maeve hurriedly got up and ran to him.

"Garrett," she said, stopping in front of him. "If you tell them, they'll banish me again---or worse. And if they banish me the prophecy will get all mixed up. And if the prophecy gets all mixed up I won't have any power, a follower, or my rightful throne."

"That throne," he said sternly, "never should have belonged to you. Temra is ours now, by right and by conquest."

"You're supposed to be one of the good guys," she said to him. "Remember?"

"That doesn't fully apply to me any more."

"Oh, really? So does that make you a villain, or a no-sider? And what will your father say of this? He will surely kill you when he finds out you've come to my side."

"Your side?!" he roared. "You actually think that I would be stupid enough to join your side?!"

"It's what the prophecy said."

"I don't care what some prophecy says, but my own guts. I am never going to trust or follow you."

"Say what you like," she warned him. "It's not my life that's being risked."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing." She tried to take the crystal from him but he pulled his hand away in time. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Just make sure that you don't get your hands on it." He started walking down the hall.

I'm not going to waste my time with you anymore, Garrett. I know you'll come to your senses, whether you like it or not.

~

The next day dawned quickly without a trace of the former queen. Everyone had gathered in Cathbad's chamber where Garrett gave him the crystal and explained what he had seen. Conchobar hadn't looked shocked at the story at all, knowing she would 'likely do something like that in the end.' But the look on Rohan's face was heartbreaking. He left the room quietly and calmly and went to sit in the courtyard. The others soon joined him.

Angus sat on the steps of the inside of the castle wall and gazed at his friend. "Poor Rohan. Look at 'im. He's just wasting away."

"I wouldn't be wasting away if you'd leave me alone to think."

"There's nothing to think about," Garrett argued. "Maeve is gone again and that's that. She knows what she did."

"But there's more to it than that." Rohan could feel the questioning looks around him. "How could she slip away like that? Just disappear? There has to be some reason. She wouldn't just leave me here."

"She has before," Deirdre said.

He sighed, ticked that his friends wouldn’t understand him. "Well, she's different now; you just can't seem to understand that."

"No need to bark at us, Rohan, we're just trying to help," Angus said, but his reassurance not working.

"I need to be alone, please."

They left and went to the throne room where Conchobar sat. "Father," Deirdre said, approaching him, "we have to get Maeve back. You've seen how Rohan acts when she's gone. He suddenly turns on us and wants to be alone to think all the time."

"Wait a minute," Garrett said suddenly. "I just might know where she is."

Before he knew it he was on the road to Temra with all the other Mystic Knights behind him.

"Tell me again why we’re goin’ to Temra, Garrett?" Angus asked.

"To find Maeve," he replied. "This is the only place left she would go. And we're coming here to stop her."

"Stop her from what?" asked Deirdre.

He rolled his eyes. "It's too complicated to tell you the whole thing, but we have to stop her from taking over again."

"But she said she learned her lesson," Ivar said.

"Obviously she hasn't," he mumbled.

They reached Temra Castle within the hour. As they stared up at the black building, its dark figure towering before them, a chill swept through them and they all shuddered.

"Do we really have to go in?" Angus whispered.

"If you want to save Kells, then yes," Garrett replied.

They silently walked through the twisted gray halls, the lack of windows depriving them of proper lighting. They turned corner after corner after corner and soon came to a dead end.

"Nice goin', Rohan," Angus said. "You've gotten us lost."

"I thought he said he knew this place like the back of his hand," Ivar whispered.

"He must have a pretty deformed hand," Angus whispered back.

"I heard that," Rohan said.

"Pipe down," Garrett warned. "Maeve might know we're here. Follow me. I'll show you the way." He led them back through the halls, taking a different route. They ventured though the twisted halls once more and when Garrett turned left he stopped suddenly, the others running into him.

"What is it, Garrett?" Deirdre started to ask, when she, too, fell silent. There in front of them was the great throne room. All was eerily silent. No torches were lit, yet a strange light seemed to fill the room.

"Where's Maeve?" Deirdre suddenly asked. Everyone looked towards the throne.

It was empty.

"You said she'd be here," Ivar said.

"Wait a minute," Rohan said. "Do you hear that?"

Everyone looked around the room once more. There was a deep growling noise coming from somewhere inside the castle. They started walking backwards, ready to make a break for it, when a figure appeared at the opposite side of the room.

"Maeve!" all five of the Mystic Knights cried out.

"I see I don't have to introduce myself," she said.

"Mother, why are you here?" Rohan asked. "And why did you suddenly run off like that?"

"No reason Garrett doesn't know."

"Huh?"

Garrett bit his lip. "She doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, really? You're the one who dragged your friends here, and for what? So they can see you betray them?"

"Never," he hissed.

"You keep saying that, but may I ask if you really mean it?"

"Of---of course . . ." He stopped to think about it. Did he really mean it?

Of course I do, he told himself. How could I ever think otherwise? Maeve's words are just getting to me. I must stay focused on defeating her. No more falling for her tricks.

He decided to change the subject. "Where was that growling coming from?"

"Only Tyroone," she simply replied. "He must have detected your presence. I've trained him well."

"What could you possibly be doing with Tyroone?" Ivar asked.

"Having a little chat by Sending."

"Why would you even need to be talking to Tyroone?" Rohan asked.

"No reason," she simply replied again. "The two of us need some catching up to do. After all," she said cunningly, "we haven't seen each other in a while."

A chill swept over Garrett like ice. He had a feeling she was up to something, and it wasn't a good feeling. The room started to spin and there was a terrible burning in his chest. He bent forward and cringed, almost falling to the floor.

"Garrett," he heard Deirdre say, "what's wrong? Garrett? Talk to me."

Maeve is doing this. I can't give in. He tried to stand up straight, but the pain only increased. His eyes flashed red but then everything---the pain, the dizziness, the red---went as quickly as it came.

"Maeve," he groaned, "what's happening?"

"Don't ask me," she said. "It may be the Change happening."

"The what?"

"The Change. I told you you'd come to my side one way or another."

Suddenly it was all very clear to him. The follower, the prophecy, it all came in a rush.

The Change. The memory of her words echoed in his mind. He knew he would be the follower whether he liked it or not. Every piece of the prophecy he had ever heard came back to him and he understood what it meant.

Maeve put her hands to her hips. "Well, it's about time."

He looked up at her, knowing she was reading his mind again.

"I knew you'd come to your senses sometime. Shall we begin?"

"Begin what?" he replied, afraid to even find out.

Her eyes grew dark. "Destroying your friends."

A look of terror dominated his face. He moved closer to his companions, devising a plan. "You're not going to hurt them, not if I can help it."

Her laughter rang throughout the room. The chill started to creep up Garrett's spine again.

"You know you can't stop me," she sneered. "It's in the prophecy."

"I know I can't," he said. "But I can at least try."

"Garrett," Deirdre said, "you're insane."

"Yeah," Angus' voice came from behind her. "Quit trying to be the hero. We're supposed to do this together." His friends nodded in agreement.

Don't listen to them, a soft, wispy voice said. They know nothing of your fate.

He tried to block the voice out but it came back. Louder this time.

Don't listen to them. They’ll just get in the way of everything.

Dozens of thoughts ran through his mind and every single one of them confused him.

Don’t listen to them. They know nothing of your true power.

He tried to fight the words, but it did no use. The burning in his chest returned and his head ached as everything turned red. He tried to hold his head and his chest at the same time, but the pain was too powerful. He finally curled up into a ball on the floor, groaning.

“What have you done to him?” Deirdre shouted. “Stop it, whatever you’re doing!”

“Don’t interfere,” Maeve’s booming voice came, and raised her hand. Garrett groaned even louder. Deirdre started to kneel down to help him but the others pulled her back, afraid of what was taking place.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands of thoughts raced through his mind, but only one seemed to seep into his consciousness.

You have to fight it. Don’t . . . give . . . up!

He tried to fight the pain with all the strength he had left---if he had any left---but it only made it worse. He let out a scream; long loud, and heart-wrenching.

It seemed to be the only sound in the world as it echoed off the walls and deafened all present. When it was over it still vibrated in his chest and throat and head, and he felt himself begin to rise. His legs were standing him up and turning him around to face his friends. He stared at them, wide-eyed, and they stared back the same way.

He began to walk towards them as something yelled in his mind: Destroy them. DESTROY THEM. But as one thought reminded him, one tiny speck of sense hit him of what his plan was supposed to be, the pain increased, stabbing him in the shoulder, and he fell on his knees and cried out once again.

The intolerable pain, now heading back to his chest, forced him to bend back, and he loudly heard Maeve’s voice and his thoughts order, Don’t try to control it. Let it control you!

His friends were backing up now, horrified. The red flashed in his eyes again. He held out his hand to them. From their point of view they thought he was reaching out for help, but from his point of view he was obeying the orders of ‘Destroy them. DESTROY THEM,’ as it ran through his mind once again.

A surge of power sprang through his entire body. It was unwanted, yet fulfilling. He tried to stop it from coming as it seeped through every bone, but he knew eventually he had to give in. He let it take control. The lust of adrenaline, the unstoppable power---it all took control of him in one simple decision. And in one simple decision he knew what he had to do.

~

His friends felt the blow for endless days. They knew he had to do it, but could never fully grasp why. The halls were never quite as full without him, yet everything seemed to be the same in an eerie sort of way.

The Mystic Knights never did figure out what the whole prophecy was. The only information they had were the ones Garrett and Maeve had told them. Tyroone was let free, dipping and diving through the airs above the sea, like the spirits of Maeve and Garrett in the Spirit World, forever battling for freedom.