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Thoughts battered his brain, twisting and turning like some distraught
moth beating hopelessly against the glass casing of a street light. He
hadn't slept for three nights - his mind just wouldn't relax long enough
to let his body override his agitated thoughts. He had retreated to this,
his sanctuary. Here, on the sloping banks of the River Slaney, under the
shady canopy of an ancient Ash tree in the land his family had once called
home, he had come, hoping to make some sense of what had happened. But
the answers continued to remain elusive.
He paced back and forth, going over those last conversations, those last disagreements, that final devastating betrayal, and the heartbreaking destruction of his dream. Finally, his legs grew heavy with fatigue,and he sat down on the turf and took a long, deep breath. A heron fished among the tall grasses while the meal it sought slurped up a water bug not 10 feet away from it. He lay back on the grass and stared up through the branches at the greying sky. Which was he, he wondered, the fish or the heron? Without realizing it, his eyes slid shut and sleep finally claimed its hard-won victory over him. Sometime later, a hand gently shook his arm and he heard his name spoken softly. "Michael." He groaned, but couldn't pull himself out of his deep slumber. "Michael." Somehow the voice cut through the dense fog that separated his mind from the waking world. "Oh," he thought, "it's just my mom come to wake me up. I must be late for school again." "Coming," he mumbled, trying to force his eyes open. He couldn't remember the last time his limbs felt so heavy, so sluggish. He had felt a little stiff yesterday after baseball practice, maybe that's all it was. "Michael." the voice said again. He was about to respond wisely with, "That's my name, don't wear it out," but then thought better of it. Best not to get his mom out of sorts first thing in the morning. He pushed himself into a sitting position, eyes still closed in an attempt to savor every last ounce of sleep he could get. "Michael." The voice was beginning to sound a little less gentle. He cracked his eyes open, "Yeah, mom..." He looked at her and his heart popped right up into his mouth to choke him. His mind reeled with confusion as he looked around. He lay on a low hill at the foot of a single tall grey standing stone. He hadn't a clue where he was, but two things he was sure about - He wasn't a boy in his childhood bed, and this most definitely was not his mother! Standing over him was a woman, tall and regal looking. Her head blocked the sun and a cloud of bright orange hair framed her beautiful, ageless face like a fiery halo. Her green eyes startled him, for they contained no white and no pupil. Just solid, glittering green. It was like looking into the heart of two real emeralds, pure green diamonds.   |
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Michael scrambled to his feet and backed away from the woman until
he felt the rough surface of the standing stone scratch against his back.
His mind snatched frantically at memories of stories he'd only half given
notice to in the past about alien abductions. His eyes scanned the surrounding
area, looking for a flying saucer. From where he stood at the top of a
low green hill, he saw he was at the center of a wide fertile plain. Forests
covered undulating hills in the distance, and even further away, blue mountains
circled on all horizons. But no sign of even one flying saucer. He forced
his gaze to return to the woman and her uncanny eyes.
"Where am I?" "This is my land." Her voice was low and clear, tender with the love she felt for the land. Michael shook his head."That doesn't answer my question. I was in Ireland..." "And you still are," She said. "But," Michael began, "What happened to the river? And who are you? And what's this big rock?" The woman stepped closer and Michael moved nervously away. She seemed amused by his discomfort. "I've been called by many names, Eriu, Banbha, Fotla. This," she reached out a slender hand and touched the side of the stone with what could only be called a caress, "is the Lia Fail, the Stone of Sovereignty." Suddenly, Michael had a bit of reality he could grasp on to. He knew where he was. "Tara?" She nodded. "What will some day be called Tara." "But why?" "I brought you here because I need your help." Michael couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of that. When She didn't laugh with him, he stopped abruptly, grabbed the flesh on his cheek, and pinched as hard as he could. "Ouch!" He cried out at the sharp pain he had inflicted on himself. Even the woman flinched in sympathy. Unfortunately, the pinch had brought about no change in his circumstances, except now his cheek throbbed. She put her hand out to him, and this time Michael allowed her touch. Her cool palm touched his hot cheek and he gasped as the throbbing pain vanished. Michael swallowed, crossed his arms, and tried to look Her in the eyes. "Okay. What do you want me to do?" For the first time, She smiled. "Good. I knew you were the one." Then her face just as suddenly clouded over. "A dark evil has overtaken my land. My people have been slaughtered or enslaved, and I have been rendered powerless to help them. I need you to help restore my powers so the Spirit of the land can be revived." Michael was still more than a little skeptical. If this was who he thought She was -- and he felt pretty confident that She was -- then why would She need his help? As if She read his mind, She began to explain. "Three months ago on the Eve of Beltaine, my land was over-run by invaders from the sea. They swept down over the country like a storm and mercilessly slaughtered every one of the champions I sent against them." Her voice was rising with the agony she felt. "They completely subjugated most of my people, and they continue to demoralize them by committing unspeakable atrocities whenever the mood strikes them." A numbness had begun to creep into Michael's brain as he listened, and a part of him was already in the beginning stages of denial. She couldn't be getting at what he thought she was getting at. No no no no no! "Surely all your champions couldn't have been killed?" he blurted out hopefully. She shook her head."That is correct. I had to send several of them into hiding, and with them the other three treasures of Eire. They are now the guardians of these treasures, held against the day when we might rise up again and drive these invaders back into the sea. Now that you are here, that day is not far away." "Me?" Michael said a little too quickly. She nodded. "Since I have no champions left, it was necessary to bring others from far away. I have just enough power to transport people, but little else. My strength lies in the combined elements of the four treasures. When they are reunited, I will be able to do more." "Four treasures?" Michael pointed out. "A minute ago you said three treasures." "I said three other treasures. The fourth is and has always been on this hill, since it was brought here from the city of Falias." She gestured toward the Lia Fail. Michael glanced doubtfully at the big stone, finding it hard to believe anyone would consider it a treasure. "It's a rock." The corner of Her mouth twitched, but She didn't quite smile. "No ordinary rock. It shouts like the voice of thunder when the rightful ruler of the land sits upon it." At this news, Michael suddenly felt a child-like urge to hop up onto the rock, just to see what would happen. But he held himself back. "What are the other three treasures?" "From Finias, a spear which, once cast, never misses its mark. From Gorias, a sword from which any wound, no matter how superficial, is fatal. And from Murias, a great cauldron which never empties no matter how much food is taken from it." Alarm grew in Michael as he listened, and he began pacing back and forth. Without pausing, he said,"And I suppose I'm here to get all these -- treasures -- for you? Do I look like a champion to you? I'm a dancer! I dance, I don't fight. And I'm supposed to do this? All by myself?" Now he paused and boldly met Her eyes. "No." She said. Her voice was quiet but firm, and the emerald of her eyes glittered in the sunlight. "I have also brought others from afar to work with you. It would be foolish for me to assume you could perform all these tasks by yourself. Come and meet the others, then decide for yourself if you will help me." Michael nodded, wondering what he'd gotten himself into. Wondering when he was going to wake up.  |
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| Michael could still feel the hair on his arms prickling
like they were covered with ants. He rubbed them and the feeling gradually
subsided. The woman had somehow transported him to a shady grove of a dozen
gnarly oak trees, and the sensation had been less than pleasant. He could
not guess at the distance they had come, but he hadn't seen trees anywhere
nearby at Tara. He could sense Her beside him, but for a brief second She
was almost invisible, blending in with the green shadows. In the grove,
seated in a circle on the ground and apparently unaware of their presence,
was a group of people whom Michael assumed were his supposed helpers. She
motioned for him to step forward and he did, purposely making as much noise
as he could with his feet. He didn't want them to think he was spying or
sneaking up on them. They turned to look at him immediately and a few got
to their feet, brushing leaves off as they did so. One of the group approached,
looked him up and down rather critically, then looked at the woman.
"This is him?" The woman nodded and turned to Michael. "Michael, this is Ciri. She'll introduce you to the others." Ciri raised an eyebrow at this, clearly surprised that she had been appointed official greeter, but shrugged and led Michael over to meet the others. At first, they were just names, and unfamiliar names, at that. He could tell most - if not all - of them weren't Irish, yet they all had Irish-sounding names: Two named Dighaine, Bebhionn, Mairta, Brid, Eirinn, Sine, Riobeard, Aine, Mairin, Aingeal, and Tigherna, the daughter of one of the Dighaines. When the introductions were all made, Ciri pulled Michael aside and whispered, "Has She explained why She brought us all here?" Michael nodded. "Sort of. She said we're to find these three treasures and bring them back here. She didn't say what will happen when we do, other than that Her power will be restored." He glanced over at Her watching them patiently. "She's Eriu, isn't She?" Ciri nodded. "The Goddess Herself." A smile broke out on Her face at Ciri's words, and She finally spoke to the entire group. "I've brought you all here to work together to right a great wrong. It is not just this country, and a people you don't even know, that is at stake. Your own future depends on your successful completion of this mission. If the Spirit of Eire cannot be liberated in this time, your own spirits may be in just as much bondage in your own time." Riobeard strode forward and addressed Her directly, "Eriu, what is this Spirit you keep talking about? You haven't even told us yet." "Now that I have you all assembled, I will tell you what the Spirit is." She gathered them all in with her emerald eyes. "She is the roar of the sea, the pulse of the stars, the kiss of the mist, the shimmer of dew on a spider's web. She is the silence of a tear, and the empty ache of loss. She is sheer joy and sheer terror. She is the breath of life and the sigh of death." Riobeard crossed his arms and smirked. "In other words, she's a very bad poem?" "No." Eriu's glance at him was enough to make him stop smiling. "She is very real and she carries the soul of the land and people of Eire within her." "Got any idea where we might be able to find her?" Michael asked. Eriu reluctantly shook her head. "She has vanished altogether, leaving no trace or clue as to what has befallen her. Once the four treasures are restored to me, I hope to be able to discover her whereabouts. It is paramount that we find her, however. Your own lives depend very much on that." Here she looked directly at Michael. "There is no more time, Michael. What is your answer? Will you help us find the Spirit of Eire?" Michael gazed into Her incredible green eyes.Suddenly, as soft as the breath of a whisper, he felt his own heart and soul beginning to heal, as if all the torn and tattered edges were being lovingly and soothingly made whole. It was the sweetest sensation he had ever experienced and it brought tears to his eyes. He blinked and drew in a quivering breath. How could he say no? He couldn't say anything at all! He swallowed hard and nodded.  Eriu had divided them into three teams, each to seek out
and recover a different treasure. She assigned Ciri, Brid, Bebhionn and
one of the Dighaines to find the Cauldron; Eirinn, Mairin, Aine and Riobeard
to find the Spear; and Sine, Aingeal, Mairta and the other Dighaine to
find the Sword. After making these assignments, she ended by addressing
Michael.
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Moments later, Michael, Ciri, Dighaine, Brid and Bebhionn
found themselves standing in water up to their knees.
"Hey! We're all wet!" Bebhionn complained. Michael shivered, feeling the same prickly sensation he had the last time Eriu had transported him somewhere.He looked around and saw they were standing in a stream which cut through thick evergreen woods. The unexpected sound of laughter from behind startled him. He swiveled around and saw two women standing on the embankment, casually holding spears. The taller of the two was staring at them in obvious surprise, but the other pointed at them and laughed out loud.The spears made him wonder if they had been fishing. "Who are you?" the taller woman asked suspiciously. "Don't tell her anything until we get out of this water," muttered Ciri as she shivered. They slogged out of the stream and trudged up the embankment, stopping right in front of the two women. The shorter woman still snickered at them, but broke off her laughter at a disapproving look from the taller woman. "Could you excuse us for just a minute?"Michael asked them, then gestured for the others to join him in a huddle.Everyone looked at him curiously."How do we know they're not on this Indech's side?" he whispered. Dighaine glanced at the women, then turned back to Michael."Why don't we ask them?" "Yeah, right!" Brid snorted, "We just go right up to them and say, "Do you ladies work for a guy named Indech?"" "Yeah." Dighaine answered. "What if they do?"Bebhionn asked in annoyance. "Then we turn tail and run!"Ciri exclaimed. Dighaine looked at the two women again and rolled her eyes,"I wouldn't turn my back on anyone with a spear!" Michael shook his head impatiently,"We should just ask them who they are!" "Good idea, fearless leader!" Brid slapped him on the back."Go on, Michael, ask them!" The two women were still standing nearby, waiting patiently. Michael walked over to them, attempting to look as self-assured as he could, but ready to react to the first sign that they might be hostile. He introduced himself, named the others, and then waited nervously for the two women to respond. They looked at Michael's soggy pants skeptically, as if they didn't believe he was telling the truth. Then they glanced at each other and nodded as if communicating silently with each other. The tall one spoke first:"I am Buanann. This is my sister, Creidne. What are you doing here, and why were you standing in the middle of the stream?" "Indech." was all Michael said. Rather than answering them, Michael decided to see what reaction he'd get with that name. If the women were enemies of Indech, they could claim to be his enemies also. If they were Indech's allies, Michael thought they might be able to trick them into believing they were too. "Why do you say that name?" Buanann stepped toward them with a grim expression on her face. Michael caught a movement behind her and saw that Creidne no longer held her spear loosely. She had lifted it to her shoulder and looked tense and ready to cast it at any second. Before Michael could respond, Bebhionn quickly interrupted,"Look, we don't know anything about him." Michael turned and glared a warning at her. Buanann's grip tightened on her spear,"But you know who he is." Their reaction had told Michael everything he needed to know. He held up his hands, palms outward,"We know who he is, yes, but we don't know him personally. We've just heard about him." Intense anger suddenly turned Buanann's face into a mask of rage. "Indech!" She spat at the ground, "May he die a thousand horrible deaths and have his eyeballs plucked out by the ravens!" Brid looked at her in disgust."Gross! Why do you hate him so much?" Buanann began to pace back and forth along the stream embankment as she explained her venomous words. "Creidne and I used to run a training school for warriors.When Indech's army invaded we had planned to send our students away to safety, but we were attacked by surprise in the night. Some of the older students escaped, but most didn't." Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. "The ones that didn't were given a choice - either join Indech's army or . . ." she trailed off and turned her face away, unable to finish. "Or what?" Ciri asked. Creidne suddenly spoke, and her voice was as hard as steel,"Those who did not join him, he had mutilated and then impaled on spikes - to serve as an example to others who might try to resist him." There was a long moment of stunned silence, as each listener envisioned, and then dealt with in their own mind, the idea of such abominable acts. "What about you?" Brid asked suspiciously.Maybe they were on Indech's side after all."Why are you still here? Didn't you refuse to join his army?" This unspoken accusation caused everyone to tense and stare at the two women. "We had several young children in our school," Creidne explained, apparently unmoved by the wary eyes on her. "We had very little time.We chose to get them out to safety first. They could never have stood up to Indech's warriors. They were too young to be of any use to him, and we'd heard what atrocities he'd committed on other less fortunate children. It's not pleasant." She shook her head as if the thought wasn't worth thinking about.They could see the white knuckles protruding from her clenched fists. "So, we got the little ones away to safety. Then we returned to fight." Her dark eyes challenged them to find fault with their choice, and her voice turned bitter. "There was nothing left to return to." "Why not?" Michael asked quietly, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. He had a feeling he already knew what he was going to hear. "What happened?" Buanann picked up the story here."Our school was burned to the ground. Nothing at all left, but ashes. We spent the next three days burying what was left of those Indech had slaughtered, and helplessly tending to those few who still lived - though they didn't for long. It was from their dying lips that we learned what had happened." She sighed heavily and searched each of their faces. "So, now we have no school, no one left to teach." Michael blinked hot tears back and looked around. Tears brimmed in the eyes of the others too. The thought of a single child's death was heartbreaking, but the thought of the ruthless deaths of so many - and so horribly - was more than heartbreaking, it was enraging. He looked down at his feet and thought. He could understand why Eriu had warned them to avoid Indech at all costs, but some part of him now yearned for a chance to repay him for those deaths. "What about us?" he asked in a low voice. "What?!" Dighaine stared at Michael in disbelief. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?!" Michael looked up and met Buanann's eyes, "Why don't you teach us to fight?" "You are suggesting it!" Dighaine continued, "You're out of your mind! We didn't come here to fight, we're supposed to be looking for a caul..." then slapped her hand over her mouth when she realized she was about to give away their mission to two people they still weren't totally sure they could trust. "I think it's a great idea!" Brid put in enthusiastically." We'd have a better chance of getting through all this in one piece if we could defend ourselves." "I can defend myself just fine!" Ciri insisted, holding up her hands as if to karate chop something,"Hai-yah!" Buanann and Creidne exchanged amused glances and everyone else giggled. "Yeah, right!" said Bebhionn,"I doubt we're going to run into any ninjas." With a smile on her face, Creidne suddenly swirled around and brought the point of her spear to Ciri's throat, catching her completely off guard. Ciri screeched, lost her balance, slid down the embankment and landed in the stream with a splash. "I'd definitely say we could use all the help we can get," Michael chuckled as Ciri came sputtering out of the water."What can you teach us?"  |
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