The Iron Druid Chronicles 1
Kevin Hearne
1. Atticus O’Sullivan is an iron druid. He is 21 centuries old, but when he tells people he is 21, they assume he means years. He likes his young Irish look because it helps him blend in. He has an occult shop, Third Eye Books and Herbs, near Tucson, Arizona because it has a low god population knowing it is difficult for the faeries to make it there due to lack of ash, oak, and thorn together required for the journey. Five faeries appear in his store and attack him. They are not aware he is an iron Druid and he kills three of them. He tells the remaining two that whoever send them did so because they are expendable and wouldn’t care if they died. They don’t believe Aenghus Og would do that to them. The iron bars on the shop windows become a mouth full of teeth and the iron elemental eats the remaining to faeries. It sends him emotion and imagery thanking him for the delicious u u up
2. The Morrigan comes to warn Atticus that Aenghus Og’s group, the Tuatara De Danann, is coming for him. She tossed the wands to confirm her suspicious. It said the warrior would fight and die. He asks if it is possible the warrior is Aenghus Og. She admits it could be. While she focused on Asticus, she lets him live because it annoys Aenghus Og. Atticus doesn’t think it is likely Aenghus Og will leave Tir Na Nog. He tells her his shop is protected against lesser fae and whatever he could sell from Hell. A few students wander in and see The Morrigan naked in his shop. She tells them to put their affairs in order and that she will be back for them. They leave. PAtticus readies the amulet he mad that is bonded to his aura. The Morrigan wants to know how he made it. He promises to show her if she doesn’t come for him. She considers it and agrees.
3. When Atticus gets home, he can tell someone has been there because the knots in his window are untied. He checks in with his dog friend, Oberon, who tells him someone is there, but doesn’t seem to be alarmed about it. Atticus goes around back and has Oberon go inside with him. They enter to find Flidais, goddess of the hunt, trying to make a smoothie in his blender. He tells her she has to plug it in first.
4. After telling Atticus how she came to know about smoothies from chasing down a poacher and killing him, they head out to his front porch to talk. Flidais tells him Aenghus Og knows where he is. Fir Bolgs are on their way and Bres (meanest, but not brightest) follows them. Oden asks Flidais about hunting and tells her about the sheep he likes to hunt. When Atticus tells her they aren’t like the sheep she is used to, she is intrigued by the idea of a new kind of hunt. He tells her they can go after dark when the parks are closed and the humans won’t be around. They have sex the pass the time until then.
5. Flidais asks Atticus how he got his sword, the legendary Fragarch, that can pierce any armor. He says he stole it in the Battle of Magh Lena when it slipped out of Conn’s hands and landed at his feet. He heard the Morrigan tell him to pick it up and leave the battlefield, so he did. Aenghus Og and Lugh spoke in his head for him to give it back to Conn. When Atticus said he wanted to keep it for himself, both men shouted no making the Morrigan decide to let him. The army started to attack him calling him a traitor. He had to leave through Mogh Nuadhat’s army. Aenghus Og appeared before him to try to get the sword back. The Morrigan warned Aenghus Og that Atticus was under his protection. Atticus left Ireland to prevent Aenghus Og from killing him. He has since kept up with his swordsmanship by practicing with a vampire attorney, Leif Helgarson, who has a member of the werewolf pack, Magnusson, running the firm during the day. Flidais is disgusted by his interacting with a vampire, but Atticus explains things are different in America. The werewolf and vampire have teamed up against a common enemy. He says the only other gods he has seen much of are the Mother Mary (the Christian god has trouble manifesting as anything except the crucifixion) and Coyote (Native trickster god).
6. When it is dark, Atticus, Oberon, and Flidais head to the park. Atticus turns himself into a hound as well to hunt with Oberon. The stags laugh at them. They take off to the cliffs to hunt the big horn sheep. Atticus chases them and Oberon hides to get one. Atticus is uncomfortable with the amount of control Flidais has over him while he is in dog form. She shoots down the sheep and is cutting it up when a police officer arrives. She throws her knife at him and it hits him in the shoulder. When he fires his gun, Flidais orders them to kill the cop. Atticus is able to stop himself and become human again, but Oberon obeys and kills the man. Atticus tries to explain that this is an issue for them. Flidais uses a lot of magical energy to make the body sink a few feet into the ground. It look freshly disturbed, but there isn’t much else they can do and leave.
7. When they get back to Atticus’ house, he says he has other things to tend to. Flidais takes the hint and leaves. He realizes Aenghus (Irish god of love, nothing like cupid though) wanted the police officer dead, but doesn’t know why. Oberon feels bad for killing the man and doesn’t even really remember doing it. Atticus bathes him to get rid of all the blood. He goes to the back yard and uses his tears (a spell he had a witch perform for him) to reveal the sword. He puts an invisibility spell on Oberon and takes him to the shop. He tells his dog to stay behind the counter and listen for heavy footfalls like a giant. The werwolf attorney comes in to ask if the police officer reported dead in the newspaper has anything to do with him. Atticus doesn’t admit to it, but says he will probably need his services in the near future. His employee comes in to help him run the shop. A witch comes in asking for a tea to make her unattractive to a particular man. He sets the terms of their agreement and says he will start the process when she pays $10k. She balks at the price, but ultimately agrees before leaving.
8. Atticus is in the shop until lunch and then goes to a restaurant to meet Hal. He gets distracted by the red-headed bartender and is determined to figure out what she is without asking. Hal breaks him out of her trance and they talk business. He asks how he can save Oberon and Hal tells him the best thing he can do is keep him hidden. He offers Atticus to come run with the pack during the next full moon, but he declines saying he’ll be performing his own rituals. When he gets back to the shop, it isn’t long before the witch returns. He gives her the tea and the instructions. She tells him now that he is in a binding contract with her, the man she wants to repel is Aenghus Og.
9. Atticus warns the witch that she has named herself in league with one of his enemies and he considers her dangerous. He insults her and she slaps him. He knows that a slap from a witch can be an attempt at getting some of his blood. He slaps her back. She threatens to tell her coven, but he points out his camera and how she attacked him first. She leaves and he rushes around the counter to find a drop of her blood in the floor. He scrapes it up with a spoon and takes it outside. She can see him from her car. He holds up the spoon. And she tries to magically attack him. His spell is already complete and her attack goes back on her. She takes off. Another witch, Malina, calls in saying the witch, Emily, told her Atticus attacked her twice. Atticus corrects her and says Emily attacked him twice and he defended himself. She asks if she can join Emily the next day for tea and Atticus agrees. When he leaves the shop, he heads to the widows house. Oberon tells him he smells someone coming that smells like the ocean. A man dressed in armor, Bres, comes up to Atticus and tells him to give him the sword. Atticus asks what he needs it for since the plan is clearly not to unite Ireland. When the man doesn’t have an answer, Atticus asks if Aenghus Og will leave him alone if he gives him the sword. The man laughs at him. He pulls out a sword to kill Atticus. Atticus tells Oberon to get behind the man to trip him. Atticus draws his own sword and cuts off the man’s head. The widow saw him kill the man, but hadn’t seen his attack. Atticus tries to explain he killed the British man in self defense. The widow believes him and says he can burry the body in the back yard. He thanks her and gets to work. The Morrigan appears and is not happy he keeps killing the Tuatara De Danann. He tells her he is only defending himself. He tells her the whole story and she agrees the man was a fool. She is worried about Brighid’s reaction. He goes to wash the blood out of the street. The widow comes out to bring him lemonade. They agree to keep the situation to themselves. Oberon hears more coming for them.
10. As they rush home, Atticus tells Oberon how to attack the approaching Fir Bolgs. When they get to the house, Lief is waiting for him on the porch. He tosses his bike to the side and offers the vampire an extra cup of blood to fight with him. Leif agrees and they end up killing the Fir Bolgs. The nosey neighbor calls the police and they have to work quick to hide the evidence. Atticus makes the bodies camouflage while Lief gets rid of the blood and makes the neighbor forget what he saw. They are just finishing up with the police arrive.
11. The police order them to drop any weapons, but Lief points out they don’t have any. Atticus has his sword on his back, but they cannot see it. Lief tells them the neighbor called them because he doesn’t like Atticus. They can’t see anything out of the ordinary, but one of them wants to look around. Lief points out they don’t have probably cause because they showed up to a house that was said to have a sword fight and only found two friends talking. After they leave, Lief calls some ghouls to come eat the bodies and use their truck to take away any leftovers.
12. Atticus sleeps outside to speed up his healing and Oberon sleeps with him. He cleans up the front yard a bit more. They are in the middle of breakfast when two police officers come to the door. Atticus tells Oberon to stay inside and not bark. He goes out onto the porch and they ask to come in. He tells them he would rather talk outside because it is a nice day. They ask about his dog and he tells them he ran away a week ago. They tell him they determined the ranger that died in the park was killed by a dog and they believe it was an Irish Wolfhound. He reminds them that his dog ran away. They ask why he hasn’t been to the shelters and he says his dog had a collar with his name and number on it and assumes he would be contacted if the dog was found. When they leave, Atticus and Oberon head to the widow’s house to make sure she is okay. She invites him in for a glass of whiskey before church (it makes her mellow) and he declines telling her he has to head to work. At the shop, Emily walks in and sticks her tongue out at Atticus. Malina reprimands her.
13. Malina makes Emily apologize to Atticus and he accepts. He tells them to look around the shop while he makes the tea. When it is ready, Emily drinks it quick and leaves. Atticus knows Malina has a charm in her hair that would make him do anything she wanted if he hadn’t had protection. They exchange questions. Malina tells him she was in her 70s when their coven came to America from Poland. Emily was 16. They came there because of the low god population. He answers her questions truthfully, but as vaguely as possible. She is surprised when he tells her the last member of the Tuatara De Danann he saw was the Morrigan. After she leaves, the Morrigan comes in as a bird. After everyone leaves, she turns into her human form. She warns him that Brighad is on her way. He tells her Flidais came to warn him as well and ended up getting him and Oberon into some trouble. The Morrigan is upset that there are things going on in Tir Na Nog that she doesn’t know about. She tells Atticus to play dead if Brighad sets him on fire and she will be back to help him. She takes off. Brighad arrives and eats to talk to him about the death of her husband.
14. She has Atticus tell her the story of how he killed Bres and it matches what the Morrigan tells her. She admits he has done her a favor by freeing her from him. She admits that she sent Fludais to him to warn him, but the death of the cop was definitely planned. The Tuatara De Danann is split into sides: hers and Aenghus’. She doesn’t want Aenghus to get the sword and wants Atticus to join her side. He quickly agrees. She takes his right hand and tries to give him the power to use cold fire (burns up enemies from the inside). He shows her the amulet he wears to protect himself from magic, but still allows him to use it. She didn’t know it was possible and wants to know who made it for him. He tells her he cannot tell her, but now that she knows it is possible, she shouldn’t have any issues figuring u out t the process. He takes off the necklace and she gives him the power.
15. Later, the police show up at the store. Hal is there and stops them from going in. They have a warrant to search for a large dog and they are not allowed to ransack the place like they did at Atticus’ house. He looks at the cops using his fairy vision and can see the bindings worked on one named Fegals. He asks about the sword Atticus has camouflage on it, but cannot see the Oberon. Hal reminds him he is only in there to search for a dog, not a sword. He sees the red and blue knots. He tries to undo the blue knot, and they both snap. It was a trap. Fegals draws his gun and tells him to put his hands up. The other cops back him up. The cop claims something hit him upside the head. Hal points out the video camera that would show Atticus hadn’t moved. He keeps insisting something hit him and Hal tries to reason with him. The other cops tell him the dog isn’t there and they need to go. The cop Fegals shoots Atticus.
16. Atticus falls to the ground and the other cops pull their guns on him. The green knot snaps and Fegals can’t remember what happened. Hal tells him he shot an unarmed man that was cooperating with the search. Hal carries Atticus outside so he can start healing. He tells Hal to bring him the sword and get Oberon out of there. He also tells him he has to get rid of all the blood, including what is on his suite. When Oberon comes outside, Atticus tells him to sneak out the door with Hal and be careful in his car. Oberon says he owes him a French poodle for all he has been through. Atticus’ employee comes back and asks if the big bird caused all that commotion.
17. Atticus gives his employee instructions on giving Emily her tea each day saying he will be out for a few days. The paramedics come and he says his sword has to come with him. When they argue, Hal tells them it is a family heirloom that would cause him too much distress to part from. They eventually agree and Hal will be sending Lief to them later to adjust their memories. He is taken to a hospital where a member of the pack is a doctor. His team is compensated well for their silence. Atticus suggests he talk to Hal to make sure their stories line up. They drain his lung and wheel him out a side door to avoid the press. A detective is waiting for him and starts asking about his wounds and the sword. Dr. Sorell tells him he will have to wait for the medical report which he hasn’t been able to write yet. He wheels Atticus out of view and can hear the detective calling for backup. Atticus casts camouflage on himself and finds a park. He stops off his clothes and sleeps on his right side with his tattoos pressed to the ground.
18. In the morning, Atticus is feeling much better. He is weary about going home or to the shop. He goes to the widow to spend some time with her because he knows how it feels to loose everyone you love. Afterwards, he goes to the bar to meet Hal. The red-headed bartender starts talking with him and slips into another voice. He asks her about it and says “she” has wanted to talk to him for weeks. He doesn’t get a chance to ask who she is talking about when Hal calls him over. Oberon is with him and happy to see Atticus. Atticus gives Hal instructions and then has him take Oberon to the widow’s house. They leave and he goes back to the bartender. She says she is going to tell him her way. She is a vessel for a woman from southern India. A witch named Lacksha
19. He asks how long the witch has been in her head. She says since he became an otter and stole the ruby necklace that allowed another witch to make his amulet. The witch was the original owner of the necklace. He knows the witch wants something from him. She wants to become his apprentice. She overheard a couple of men planning to get passage from Momel, a fairy land. The witch in her head wants to get her necklace back. She will be able to handle the coven that holds it and move to a new body. Locksha has a plan and will explain herself. Bartender explains she will only agree if Atticus takes bartender on as an apprentice. Bartender wants to become a Druid because she wants to learn. He starts to explain what all it entails. She will have 12 years of studying and 5 months of tattooing with thorns. When she says she is willing, he agrees to think about it. She goes to help a few customers before she plans to let Locksha talk to him.
20. Lacksha comes forward and explains she is an old witch that has moved from body to body. She originally would take them by force without thought if the original occupant had actually moved on or nots. She wants to change and trying to show that by sharing Roni’s body. Once they have agreed to help each other, she plans to leave Roni and try to enter someone that is in a coma and whose spirit has already left. She thinks she can do good in the world by continuing on. The pack Alpha, Magnusson, comes in and tells Atticus to check his phone. He got a message from Emily telling him he has Hal and Oberon.
21. Atticus calls Emily. She want him to come alone and bring the sword to her to save them. She hen he calls her, she is pretty cocky and mentions Aenghus wanting to kill him. He points out that Aenghus hasn’t been able to accomplish it in two thousand years and regrets giving up his age. He hangs up and tells the Alpha he is going to need backup. He tells Roni if she wants to be his apprentice, she needs to quit her job right then and come help him. She does and they leave. Atticus has everyone meet at the widow’s house knowing his places will be watched. He has Lacksha work on taking the spell off the sword. He turns himself into an owl and flies home to his back yard. He goes inside and gets what he needs before turning back into an owl and flying back to the widow’s house. When the men in the front yard turn into wolves, the widow screams and tells them to get off her lawn. Atticus admits to her that all the gods are real and he is a Druid. She takes it all in stride and tells him to kill back whoever is trying to kill him.
22. They go to the rough trial where Emily told him to meet her. He tells Lacksha he needs to talk to Roni. He tells her he is going to show her how to take energy to stay awake. He is also going to give her the ability to run with the wolves. Malina comes to tell Atticus their coven is split. Six of them are waiting for him and the remaining seven will be staying at Malina’s house to determine what to do. As they run Roni is amazed at the experience. Lacksha takes over it. He gives her the paper with Emily’s blood on it. He can kill Emily from within a mile, but she will need her necklace to kill the rest since he doesn’t have their blood. He can feel someone pull in the earth for power and tells them someone is coming. The wolves are restless and roll onto their backs when Flidais arrives. She tells him to stop to prevent the deaths of the pack.
23. Flidais tells him there are traps set up all around them. Aenghus is in the middle doing something with the fire. She suggest they go all in one way and use the sacrifice of one to get the rest in. Flidais tells the wolves to focus their anger on the witches before releasing them. They rush off and Atticusnand Lacksha follow. She stops when she is close enough to kill the witch. Atticus approaches cautiously. Emily runs off into the woods. The wolves want to follow, but remember the traps are still active and stop before they reach them. Aenghus is wearing armor with spurs on the boots and drawing large amounts of power from the earth enough to damage it. Atticus draws his sword, but this is what they have been waiting for. Aenghus calls demons out of the fire.
24. Atticus uses cold fire, but cannot draw power from the earth because Aenghus has already pulled it all. The demons attack. The wolves protect Oberon and Hal. They can’t find the sword because Atticus wasn’t the one to take the glamor off the sword. The Morrigan shows up and Aenghus this she is on his side. She is upset Aenghus has betrayed the earth he is bound to. She says he is corrupt and must die. She makes a deal with Atticus as long as he doesn’t let anyone know he is favoring him. She tells him he has a magical sword as well called Moralltach. Aenghus demands Atticus sword. Atticus tells him he is guilty of violating Druid law. Aenghus throws hellfire at him. Atticus lets it hit him and his amulet saves him. The sword fight and Atticus uses techniques he’s learned in Asia and from sparring with a vampire. The pale horse of death takes Aenghus and he is upset it wasn’t the Morrigan that took him.
25. Atticus goes to free Hal and he tells her it was Flidais they had kidnapped him. He tells him to tell the wolves to leave Flidais alone because she has promised to help their wounded. He also says he needs the head of Emily. He also frees Lacksha’s necklace. The Morrigan told Aenghus she wouldn’t take Atticus and that was why he summoned the pale horse of death. She says he has power to return to her when he has healed. When Flidais arrives, the Morrigan takes off. She starts helping heal the wolves. She admits she was the one to take Hal and Oberon to make sure he didn’t flee the fight. Once her healing is done, she takes off after an escaped demon she wants to hunt. He goes to Roni and gives Lacksha the necklace. He has arranged for her to find a suitable host. Roni comes back to herself and vomits from the smell of demons. He tells her the destruction is part of the world of magic. He tells her she can still back out of their deal and she has time to think it over while she takes Lacksha east to get a body. She goes up the trail to get away from the smell. Atticus takes Aenghus sword as a spoil of the battle. He tells the cops he spent a few days at his girlfriend’s house to explain his absence. Malina offers to move her coven away, but warns that they keep others from moving in. They decide to try a truce and remain where they are. He calls the widow to let her know he lived. He goes him and the Morrigan comes to see. She comes to take power back and tells Atticus he used too much cold fire and won’t be able to move for a few days
Epilogue
Atticus takes Oberon to the park. And wonders how to fix the earth Aenghus had drained. When he takes Oberon home, there is a surprise waiting for him in the back yard: five French poodles in heat.