As the sun rises, the war band wades warily into the fog. This battle is like none I've ever known. Our combatants lurk and hide in the mists that cling tightly to the boglands. As yet there has not been a single spear cast. Neither do any boasts or insults fly. There is nothing to stir the blood except a vague dread. As I slowly circle the area, I see only shadows without faces and the occasional glint of metal. It is hard to tell kindred from foe. And in the center of it all, that demonic bonfire continues to blaze in mockery of both light and dark. I avoid the obvious lure and search out the murkiest places, where I expect to find our captive Rian.

"Stay close together!" I call out to Fraoch. He passes the word along and the echo of my command ripples eerily outward over the land. I swear some of the voices are not familiar, perhaps the Laigin men trying to confuse us. I hear but do not see Ygraine's hounds panting close by. The calm stare of a wolf suddenly confronts me, then fades back into the gloom.

The quiet is the worst of it. Not silence, not noise, but the sounds of humans and horses warped into weirdness by the bog. The tension hangs thicker than the mists.

A scream shatters it all. A woman's scream. Or a bansidhe. The battle begins!

They leap out from nowhere and everywhere. The ground is suddenly teeming with black shapes that brandish weapons. I am still on horseback. My long spear will serve me well for now.

"Aboo Niafer!" The shout goes up and at last my blood warms. The spell is broken. I feel the rising heat of the war band at my back. We cut a bloody swath through the dark field. It will be a quick defeat for the Leinstermen.

At the far side of that dark field, a standing stone looms ahead of us. The sunrise breaks through shreds of mist to reveal a shocking scene.