It was on a cold autumn day, a harsh wind blowing through the brown and orange leaves and covering the ground with foliage, that an empty coffin was buried in the cemetery of Chulainne. The tombstone was a simple block of granite and the inscription read "Shane O'Neill, 25.06.1958 -15.10.1981, He went away too soon and left back only sorrow". It seemed like nearly the whole town had come to see the coffin get lowered into the hole in the ground, while a choir was singing old heathen songs and hymns. In the first row sat old Daisy with a handkerchief pressed to her mustache, tears silently flowing down her face. Her flock of old women was, as always, circling her to comfort her and, if necessary, hand her a new glass of whiskey. I stood more in the distance, scared of the reaction of the inhabitants if they were to see me at the funeral. Most of them accused me now of being the criminal who had stolen this young man's life. Out of embarrassment and moral concerns I didn't want to repeat Dáirínes made up story of how we had spent the night together over and over again. I preferred to let the affair rest. Before the ceremony was over, I decided to leave the cemetery and take a long walk in the neighboring forest, to clear my head and escape unwanted looks.

My long green robe brushing against the bushes and coppice, I entered the woods on a narrow earthy path. I had never taken this way before. The surrounding nature was rich and huge enough to take a different path every day. Listening to birds singing and leaves rustling, I went deeper and deeper into the forest, dark green and immensely beautiful with a few rays of sunlight shining through the canopy every once in a while. A single pixie appeared between the trees, but fled the scenery as soon as she saw me. I must have made a memorable impression on the little monster. However the sight left me a bit uneasy, and the feeling wouldn't leave me when I walked on. The further I walked, the more I got the feeling that I was being followed, and my instincts usually don't deceive me. I wondered if any of the town's children had followed me to catch and tease me far away from adult eyes. Or maybe it was just a friendly fairy or a leprechaun, I thought hopefully as I walked across a small clearing. Occasionally I would swirl around in a circle now to look around, but I never even caught a glimpse of anything unusual.

I soon reached a small river, deep and wide enough to be a problem to cross. As I stood there at the riverbank, thinking about whether I should conjure a bridge, fly over it or just wade through it for the fun of it, I suddenly heard the tiniest of sounds behind me. The cracking of a twig, coming from the path I had just come from. I spun around, while simultaneously pulling my wand and thinking "Tholus protege", an unspoken spell which I am especially good at. No moment too soon a transparent dome of energy appeared around me, deflecting a spell that had just been fired through the trees. A second later, a wild looking man around the age of forty staggered through the branches towards me, a crazy expression on his face, shouting "Petrificus totalus". I waded backwards through the river, trying to escape the madman. I couldn't use my wand. All my magical power was used up by my protection dome, which followed me through the river, blocking all magic that was fired by my pursuer. "Crucio, Ossifragus, Arreste in momentum", I heard behind me and with horror I saw my dome becoming thinner and thinner with every spell it had to block. I had finally crossed the river and my protection spell started to get little holes everywhere. I knew it was time to face my enemy.

I whirled around and, destroying my protection, I yelled "Expelliarmus". The madman blocked my spell with a simple hand-movement, laughing while he did it. This opponent was stronger than I had anticipated. Crazyness shining in his deep sunken eyes, he shouted "Crucio" as he took off, flying across the river without broom or carpet. I blocked the spell with a protection charm. Running backwards through the forest, I shouted "Petrificus totalus", pointing my wand in his direction. He laughed out loud, blocked the charm and deflected it back at me. I had no time to react, and the spell hit me right in the chest. For a moment I could not breathe, then I felt that I crashed, petrified, to the forest ground. For a short moment I could only see blackness and I thought I would lose consciousness. Then, with a deep, rattling breath, I regained my vision. The madman stood bending over me, grinning a ruined smile, half his teeth missing and the rest black as charcoal. "So, so", he whispered. "Let's see if she told you her secret", and with a whip of his wand, he covered me in the same kind of magical net that I had used to catch the pixies. No spell would get through this net from the inside. In the same instant I felt that the petrifying charm was removed.

I stretched my aching body while cursing the madman with words I would rather not write down. "Who are you? What do you want?", I spit at him. "No no no, you're the one in the net. I ask the questions. How much do you know about Dáiríne? You seem to be pretty close now, don't you?", he asked, still grinning. He, as opposed to me, seemed to find the whole situation very amusing. "I know nothing about her. And how do you know that we're close? What kind of a game is this?", I shouted back at him, immediately regretting it. Suddenly his expression changed, he straightened up and in a dangerous tone he said "I said I ASK THE QUESTIONS", and with a whip of his wand I felt that he had broken the bones in my right arm and my right leg. I screamed in agony, tears shot into my eyes. "I know nothing. I just came here a month ago. You are crazy. If I were free of this net, I would kill you instantly", I yelled in rage, which caused the maniac to laugh again. "I have killed before. Have you? Now tell me, where is the amulet? My master wants it very much, and I live to serve my master". At these words his face changed to an even crazier, obsessed expression. "I don't know about an amulet. But I have good relationships with goblins; I can get you a brand-new one, freshly forged, with a real gemstone, for your master". But the madman was not in the mood for negotiations. Instead he laughed again, and with another whip of his wand he broke my left leg so that the broken bone protruded through the skin. I started to feel dizzy. I was losing blood at a steady rate. "Well apparently you really know nothing. You know the last one, I kept for a little while. Even tried veritaserum, but he knew nothing either. And the old hag wasn't up for bargaining. So I think I'll just kill you", he grinned, raising his wand for the final blow. I closed my eyes, ready to die.

Suddenly everything was filled with a high pitched scream, so loud I feared that my eardrums would burst any second. I opened my eyes. A huge figure dressed in black had appeared floating above the maniac. With a mouth bigger than its own head, it screamed right at him, claws as long as forearms reaching out for his face. The madman screamed in fear, firing spells at the monster that had no effect at all. The figure in black just doubled in size and screamed twice as loud. When he realized that his wand was powerless here, he ran as fast as he could. Just as I saw the last glimpse of his robe disappearing in the forest, I allowed myself to fall into unconsciousness, whispering "Why didn't you come sooner?".