Cailín (Lass) (Anam Céile Chronicles)

Love came, and became like blood in my body.

It rushed through my veins and encircled my heart.

Everywhere I looked, I saw one thing.

Love's name written on my limbs, on my left palm,

On my forehead, on the back of my neck,

on my right big toe
. . .

Oh, my friend, all that you see of me is just a

shell, and the rest belongs to love.

~
Rumi

Note from the Author

Here is a Foreign Language Glossary so that you may
familiarize yourself with some terms used in the story.  They appear in the
order they will within.  Also on website.

chuba
  
(Tibetan)  A long
sheepskin coat made of thick Tibetan wool worn by many of the nomadic peoples
of high altitude in the cold mountains of Tibet.

Síolmhar
 
(Gaelic)  The time when
females come into fertility
,
only once every century.   The female is in a hypersexual
craze for two weeks and will mate with any and as many males as she can, disregarding
love or ties.  She must be isolated in a prepared room (iron walls filled with
mercury so as to contain them, and completely smooth on the surface, so she
will not be able to grab hold of anything to tear apart), and only visited by
her mate, as she will attempt to kill any other females that come near her.  Her
mate then has to attempt to calm her enough to have sexual intercourse with
her, lest he be injured.  She will tend to be wild and ravenous, and when he is
drained of all his essences, she will demand to be serviced by other males, and
will attempt to say and do anything to have her insatiable lust satisfied.  If
she were to escape, it would most certainly be a tragedy, as she would (or
attempt to) murder any female in her path, and rape all males she could come
into contact with during her brief breakout.  This would result in much
dissention within the clann, and she would be outcast.

feis
 
(Gaelic)  sex

Diabhal
 
(Gaelic)  devil

chéile
 (Gaelic)  mate, spouse,
lover

arracht
 
(Gaelic)  monster

álainn
 
(Gaelic) 
beauty; beautiful

Dia
 (Gaelic) 
God

Éire,
Éireann
 (Gaelic) 
Ireland

Boireann
 
(Gaelic) 
The Burren  (Irish:
Boireann
, meaning "great rock")

Iarlais
 (Gaelic) 
changeling

sidhe
 
(Gaelic) 
faeries

raths
 
(Gaelic) 
faerie mounds

aiteann
 
(Gaelic) 
horse

ceil
 
(Gaelic) 
music

cailín
  (
Gaelic) 
girl

tréidlia
 
(Gaelic)
veterinarian; animal doctor

Eejit
 
(Gaelic)  idiot; Imbecile

cailín feirme
 
(Gaelic) 
farm girl

ceangal
 
(Gaelic)
special connection

tinn 
(Gaelic) 
sick

Árainn
 
(Gaelic) 
Aran

Inis Mhór
 
(Gaelic)  Inishmoor

Dún Aonghasa
 
(Gaelic) 
Dun Angus

Inis Meadhóin
 
(Gaelic) 
Inishmaan

Aillte an Mothair
 
(Gaelic) 
Cliffs of Moher

cochall
 
(Gaelic) 
hooded cloak

chalice
:
  a
cup, vessel
 

athame
:  
a small
dagger representative of a phallus in ritual

aiteacht
 (Gaelic) 
the
sensation of thing or place being "not quite right" but not being
able

                            to
tell why.

maighdean
 
(Gaelic) 
young woman, virgin.

Dearg-dul 
(Gaelic) 
vampire

Eiseadh síoraí
 
(Gaelic) 
immortal being 

athdholb
 (Gaelic) 
shape shifted form

nascmhíl
 
(Gaelic)
spirit animal

athionchollú
 
(Gaelic) 
reincarnation

1862- Village
outside Shigatse, Tibet.   

T
his may well be the determining moment of me long journey.  A
journey over centuries, countless lives, thousands of miles, and yet still far
from complete.  Crouching here I be over this innocent, old woman, petrified at
the realization of her life so near its end.  Merely to search fer her escaped
feline did she step out.  Unfortunate fer her that search instead led her to
me.

Undeniably, not proficient I be in this method of acquiring me
victims— in killing them swiftly and discreetly.  Upon seeing the blood thirst
evident in me eyes as I seized her, startled a scream which elicited
innumerable villagers out in a gust.  All focus fixated upon us.  Her acute
horror; me blatant nakedness overshadowed by the murderous intent clear in me
eyes.  Judging the terrified expression upon every one of their faces, they and
I both be aware that they recognise the creature ‘tis I be.

In this moment, exposed fer that creature, which path should I
choose? 

Perhaps I may massacre the entire village: men, women, children,
young and old equally; leaving naught fer the bloodstains on the scenery.  Surely
do I feel the motivating hunger fer such a voracious feast! 

Then rather, flee I may into the snow-covered mountains clutching
this old woman to me side as a ragdoll, leaving the residents of this place harrowingly
aware of the menace lurking in the shadows of their hidden, peaceful village.

And yet, after this disruption— and the havoc resulting
consequently— would the old woman’s blood in all actuality gratify me thirst,
after bearing her agonizing terror fer her own imminent death? 

Consider it prudent I simply depart from here, ravenous as whence
I approached.  Rehearse I must this stalking and attacking of me prey; yet then
by what means, lest again I invite similar consequences?

A
young
Buddhist monk stands, his eyes scanning as he searches over the vast, ice
covered mountains of the inhospitable landscape.  His extraordinary inhuman
vision passes over the small herd of yaks in the alpine tundra below, to spot
an argali ram high upon a jagged ledge. 

However,
the creature he seeks is not a usual inhabitant of this harsh land.  It would
not be thriving comfortably within this unforgiving terrain.  The slight build
of its limbs would certainly betray it in this moment of panicked escape.

Suddenly,
he glimpses the creature for which his search had been brought here.  As it
steps out from behind the snow covered drift, the abrupt radiance of its
crimson coat is akin to the contrast of warm blood splashed upon the arctic
backdrop. 

There
it remains motionless, and he perceives its immense weariness.  Overcome with a
sorrowful sympathy for this creature, he knows he must relieve it of its fear. 
If only he can hold eye contact with it long enough …

Even at
this great distance, both the monk and the creature can look into each other’s
eyes and reach into their depths.  Guardedly, the creature receives his
compassionate eyes into its tortured soul, yearning for an empathetic understanding. 
Their eyes affix for an indeterminate span of time.  The monk infiltrates the
troubled creature’s mind with a sense of calm.