Rising From the Ashes: The Chronicles of Caymin (22 page)

“Beanna warned me,” Enat said, not removing her gaze from Timmin, her own staff held at the ready. “She said her ability to speak with you had been blocked when she saw you leaving with Timmin.”

“But why are they here?” Neela asked, clearly perplexed. “What happened?”

Caymin glanced around. Péist was gone. “Timmin said he wanted to go for a walk. He brought me here. I did not know why until we got here.” She looked at Enat. “What did you do to him?”

“We didn’t do it,” Enat said, leaning on her staff when Timmin remained still. “You did.”

“But how could I…?”

“He wanted to meet Péist, didn’t he?”

Caymin nodded. “He said something about Péist avenging us against those who force us to hide, against the followers of the Christ and the northmen.”

“Was Péist here?” Neela looked around.

“He was. He came when I called him,” Caymin said. “I should not have done it. I put him in danger.”

“You trusted an elder,” Enat said. “I, however, did not. He has shown much interest in you of late, and would normally have been eager to get back to his own cottage days ago. I asked Beanna to keep watch. I suspected if I was gone, he might make his intentions known.”

They turned to look at him.

“He forgot how strong your magic is when you are protecting one you care about,” Enat said. “You simply rebounded his own magic against him. I think he did not mean to harm Péist, as he values him so highly. But he thought to incapacitate you long enough to take Péist with him.” She waved her arm toward the stones. “And he unwisely brought you to a place where your magic is magnified.”

“I do not understand how he thought he could use Péist against anyone,” Caymin said. “Péist is harmless. He is afraid.”

“He is for now,” Enat said cryptically.

Timmin stirred and sat up, looking around dazedly. When he caught sight of Enat and Neela, his expression darkened. He used his staff to push to his feet.

Enat flicked her hand and a small bundle appeared at Timmin’s feet. “You will take your staff and the food I have provided. And you will leave this place.”

Timmin’s eyes blazed. “You’ve no right –”

Enat spread her arms wide, her staff held in one hand. “The magic of this sacred place gives me the right.” The wind moaned again, whirling around them. Enat herself was more fearsome than Timmin had been. She seemed to glow with light. “You have broken faith with us, with the forest. You sought to harm a defenseless child entrusted to our care, and you have paid for underestimating her. Go.”

With a last glance at Caymin, Timmin gathered up the bundle, walked out of the stone circle and disappeared into the forest. Enat lowered her arms and the wind calmed. She was once again just Enat as Caymin had come to know her.

“Follow him,” she said to Neela. “Send for us if he delays at all.”

Neela left the circle and Enat turned to Caymin.

“Come,” she said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Let us go home.”

As they left the circle, Caymin cast a glance back. She knew Péist was watching, and felt his satisfaction that she was safe.

“It would be wise not to speak to the others of this,” Enat told her once they were back in their cottage.

Caymin started to pick up Timmin’s belongings, which had become scattered all about the cottage, but Enat said, “Today, we do this the easy way.”

She waved her hand and removed all signs of Timmin’s stay with them. In an instant, his bed, clothing, his pipe – all was gone and their cottage was as it had been.

“Oh, that’s better. A house is much nicer when it’s kept neat, and most men are not neat.”

She built up the fire and placed a kettle of water over it to heat. “I’m sorry to have put you in harm’s way.”

“I was not afraid until I thought he might hurt Péist.” Caymin sat, staring into the fire, watching the flames lick at the blocks of peat. “I did not know Timmin felt so much hatred toward others.”

Enat was silent while she waited for the water to heat. When it was hot enough, she poured it and pushed a steaming cup of tea into Caymin’s hands. “I must confess, I did not know he felt that way, either. I have long known of his frustration that the old ways are disappearing, and that fewer and fewer people believe in magic. He’s right that the monks and their followers fear what they don’t understand and in their fear, they believe magic and those who practice it to be evil.” Her eyes narrowed. “For some of them, it’s more a matter of control.”

“I do not understand.”

“If the people look to us for healing or wisdom as in days past, they don’t look to the monks and their religion. They would never admit that it’s power they seek, but they’re human after all.”

Caymin looked up at her. “I still do not understand why he thought Péist could help him.”

Enat sighed. “I know you don’t.” She got up and went to her door, opening it to look outside. She closed the door and whispered words as she stroked the door with her hand.

Caymin saw the door shimmer for a moment.

“We may speak now without being overheard,” Enat said, sitting again at the fire. “You’ve heard Gai and the others speak of dragons?”

“Yes.” Caymin stared at her. “The northman spoke also of dragons. ‘Drage,’ he said.”

Enat nodded. “Yes. It’s said that once there were many dragons roaming the earth, many different kinds living in different lands. And the people of the north have long told stories of dragons.”

“But what do dragons have to do with Péist? Gai describes them as being huge winged creatures, bigger than the biggest bird, fierce and able to breathe fire. Not… not helpless creatures like Péist, wriggling about in the dirt.”

“Gai is right. The dragons people know to be dragons are as he described. We always thought they hatched from eggs, but now I’m starting to believe we were wrong.”

It took Caymin a moment to realize what Enat was saying. “You mean they all start as creatures like Péist? Small and helpless?”

“Think of them as cubs.”

“Do they not have parents to protect them? The way Broc and Cuán protect their cubs?”

Enat smiled. “It would seem not. We do not know much about dragons beyond what they have told those few humans they trust. We have stories and legends, of course, but those are often fanciful and exaggerated.”

At Caymin’s dubious expression, Enat said, “If you were so vulnerable, would you want others to know of it? Dragons have done their best over the ages to hide their beginnings from humans. Think what people like Timmin might do if they knew a young dragon was out there, helpless and easy to catch.”

Caymin’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times as she thought. “How does a creature like Péist become a dragon?”

“We don’t know.” Enat took a sip of her tea. “There’s much we don’t understand, much they have never shared beyond the one they bond to.”

“As Péist bonded to me?”

Enat nodded. “From what I know, and it’s not much, not all dragons bond to a human. Some are wild creatures their whole lives long. But the ones who bond, bond for life. It will span all distance and will last until one of you dies.” She looked at Caymin appraisingly. “You should count yourself blessed that Péist chose to bond with you. Timmin knew. When you spoke of Péist waking you to tell you of the invaders, he suspected what Péist was, but the prisoner confirmed it. We couldn’t understand most of what he said, but we believe they heard there were dragons here, and they came searching.”

“Why would they think there are dragons here?”

Enat took a sip of her tea. “It is written that when people began to crowd the lands the dragons once roamed, they took refuge on islands across the sea. It may be the northmen interpreted that to mean our island.”

Caymin thought about this. “Timmin thought he could make Péist bond with him?”

Enat appraised Caymin. “Yes. He wanted his power for himself. He should have known better. That bond, once formed, cannot be transferred to another.”

Caymin stared into the fire again as she thought on this. She opened her hand and conjured a ball of flame. “And they really breathe fire?”

“So I’ve heard. I don’t know how they do it, though.”

Caymin looked at her. “This is why you do not want me to speak of it to the others?”

“Do you think it wise to let others know you’ve bonded with a dragon cub?”

A sly grin tugged at Caymin’s mouth. “It might be useful the next time Gai makes me angry.”

The younger apprentices sat huddled around a fire with Niall and Una, warming themselves against the frosty cold of the morning.

For days, their talk had centered around why Timmin had left so unexpectedly. Caymin sat silently, not participating in the speculation, since only she knew the reason. Neela had returned late that day, assuring Enat that Timmin had crossed the boundary of the forest.

“I think he went after the invaders,” whispered Daina now. “Followed them north to their land to make sure they don’t come back.”

The others looked suitably awestruck at this suggestion. Without meaning to, Caymin snorted impatiently.

“Well, where do you think he is, then?”

Diarmit eyed her as she felt her cheeks burn.

“I do not know,” she said, thinking quickly. “But I doubt he is strong enough yet to travel across the sea and take on the invaders single-handedly.”

Gai looked toward the meetinghouse with its closed door. “What do you think they’re doing in there?”

Fergus, Méav and Ronan had been summoned to meet with the elders.

“They’re soon to be tested,” said Una.

Diarmit looked up. “For what?”

“To see if they’re ready.”

“Ready for what?” Caymin’s curiosity was piqued.

“Their final test in the forest.” Cíana lowered her voice. “The healer in our village told me a little. When we’ve learned enough as apprentices, we go into the forest at Samhain, the night when the veil between worlds thins, when we can pass between worlds. She couldn’t tell me what happens that night. All who undergo the test are sworn to secrecy, but she said, if the forest deems us worthy, we leave as mages, with our staff. Only then, can we come and go from the forest freely.”

“What if they aren’t deemed worthy?” Daina asked.

“They may return to us for more training or they can choose to leave with what they have,” Niall said. “There are many with some magical training, and they live as healers. Not all become full mages.” He glanced toward the meetinghouse. “But if they win their staffs, they’ll leave the forest and we likely won’t see them again.”

Caymin watched the meetinghouse with renewed curiosity. She half-listened as the others began speaking of their traditions for Samhain – bringing the cattle and sheep in from summer pastures and slaughtering those that would feed their village through the winter. Caymin remembered watching the villagers participate in these rituals, relighting their doused fires from a central bonfire. But she had never heard of the passage from one world to another.

“My da swears he saw his da’s da on Samhain,” Diarmit said solemnly. “Talked to him, he did, though he’d been dead a score or more summers.”

Caymin looked up at that. “You can see and speak to the dead on Samhain?”

Diarmit shrugged. “Some can.”

Gai scoffed. “Tales for children and simpletons.”

“No.” Niall shook his head. “I saw my mam, one Samhain when I was ten winters, and she died when my younger sister was born, some five winters before. She looked just as I remembered her. We talked. ’Twas she who told me she’d had magic and had passed it to me, and that I’d be coming here.”

Caymin tilted her head. “She had magic and still died?”

“Having power doesn’t save us from everything,” Una said, laying a hand on Niall’s shoulder.

The door of the meetinghouse opened suddenly and the elders emerged with Méav, Fergus and Ronan. The others gathered round. Una and Niall embraced them, wishing them well. Caymin hung back.

Méav noticed and came to her. She pulled a silver knife and sheath from her belt. “For you, my brave little warrior.”

Caymin looked into her eyes, remembering how fierce Méav had seemed to her when first she saw her sparring, with her black braids flying as she whirled and leapt. “I cannot take this. You may need it. In the forest, when you are tested.”