Soul Magic (27 page)

“Think you the beast crossed the Irish Sea?” 

Alanna raised her head.  “If the dragon was Gorsedd’s creation, yes.  The monster would fly back to him.”
              The men began to talk, all at once. 

“Poor Geoffrey.”

“How do you fight something so big?”

Darrick cleared his throat, waiting until he had all their attention.  “Geoffrey has his sword.  I know him.  If he gets an opportunity, he’ll gut the beast.”

“Aye, if it doesn’t kill him first.” one of the men said.  “But you’re right, he’s a fighter.  If he gets a chance, he’ll take it.”

Another spoke up, grim-voiced.  “Now we’ve got to try and rescue him as well as Lady Rowena.”

Alanna opened her mouth.

“And Caradoc.”  Darrick said it for her. 

“And Sarina,” she finished, for him.  Raising her voice, she lifted her chin.  “The beast travels west.”  Pointing, she waited until all eyes followed the direction of her finger.  “Gorsedd calls his creation home.  We must make haste, for I can feel the sea storm waning.”

The storm.  Creating that had zapped all her magic.

“How did Gorsedd and his army get through the storm?” Darrick wanted to know.

Never had Alanna felt so powerless.  “I don’t know.  I’m thinking it must have cost him a day or two.  Maybe it began to fade.  Or mayhap he used his magic to part the water.”

Jaw set, Darrick considered this.  “The dragon will have to fly right through it.”

With Geoffrey clinging to one claw, Sarina clutched in the other. 

“Yes.”  She inhaled.  “But I believe the storm will be totally gone by the time we have to cross the water.” 

“I thought as much.  We need to pick up the pace.”

Putting their heels to their horse’s sides, they urged the still-nervous animals from a trot to a canter, then to an all out gallop. 

As they pounded down the road, Alanna could not push the images of the beast from her mind.  The dragon’s form still nagged her.  Had her son had some part in its creation?  If so, she knew he’d never meant it to hurt anyone, especially his favorite Aunt Sarina. 

Caradoc… Did he have that much power?  More than she, or Wynne, or any full-blooded Fae in Rune?  If so, that meant Caradoc
was
Darrick’s son and, half-Reagan, half-Tadhg, the legendary half of the pair of pairs.  Then Ellette, with her unknown heritage, must be the other.

Returning to the dragon.  Had Gorsedd somehow forced Caradoc to use his burgeoning magic thusly?  How could such a thing be possible, without the necessary pairs of pairs mentioned in the verse?

She put the thought away, willing herself to think only of their goal, which had now included rescuing two more.  She refused to reflect on the larger implications of their journey, that she and Darrick and their small band of travelers would be called upon to save the entire world. 

As they thundered down the winding road, only dust marked their passage.  Even more than her son’s young life or that of Lady Rowena hung in the balance.  `Twas hard to believe the fate of both mankind and of Fae might rest on their weary shoulders.

Birds began to fill the sky the closer they drew to St. Bees head.  At first they saw one or two, then small flocks, then finally, the sky seemed to explode with them.  Puffins, razorbills, and black guillemots dipped and swirled, screeched and sang.  If the dragon’s passage had intimidated them, they showed it not.

Still and silent, Ellette showed no reaction.

The landscape also began to change.  Wild flowers grew in optimistic profusion, their bright colors a bold and defiant challenge to winter.  The gently rolling landscape of the lakes and hills became jagged, more rock than earth, more weeds than a carpet of grass.  Almost it seemed they entered another realm. 

Not an unpleasant one, for all that they neared danger.

“How is such a thing possible?” one of the men asked.  “Such plants cannot flourish in the winter cold.”

Darrick answered for her.  “Magic.”

She nodded, wondering if her son was responsible for this beauty as well.

Still, they rode west, knowing soon they’d reach the end of the land.  Soon, they’d reach the Irish Sea.

Finally, when it seemed their horses could go no more, they came up over the crest of a hill.  Ahead, the ocean shimmered in the distance. 

“`Tis so large.”  One of the men marveled.  “It doesn’t end at the horizon.”

Darrick said nothing.  His entire body seemed pulled tight as he held his fear in check.

“Scent the air,” Alanna ordered, doing exactly that.  The bite carried by the formerly pleasant wind promised rain.  Roiling, gray storm clouds darkened the horizon.  Jagged bolts of lightening and the far-off rumble of thunder punctuated the air.  The fury of the magical storm still raged upon the ocean, not yet spent. 

Scanning the sky, they saw no sign of the dragon or its reluctant passengers.  Nor of Gorsedd and his army. 

At the front of the column, Darrick lifted his hand.  “Halt.”

They slid to a stop, their lathered horse’s sides heaving.

“There, over the water.  The sky.”

Alanna lifted her chin.  “Aye.  The storm still rages.” 

They continued on, letting the horses walk.  The nearer they drew to the ocean, the more of a damp chill the salt-tinged wind brought. 

“St. Bees Head.”

Mysteriously, the wind ceased, as though turned away by the rocky protrusions.  Unfettered, the creatures of the sky dipped and soared.

Ahead stood red sandstone cliffs, towering above the water.  Flocks of birds, hundreds, nay thousands of them, covered every rock, every bush, every available cranny.  The sound of their cries was deafening. 

Alanna shivered.  The cold felt more pronounced, though the screeching and calling of the birds brought to mind another, warmer season.

They paused near the edge of the stark cliffs.  A three hundred foot drop below, the winter ocean crashed violently against the rocks, its ominous roar warring with the birds.  To the north, Alanna saw a coastline.  Scotland.  Slightly south and west she made out the faint shape of more land.  The island.  Between and beyond that, only sea.

This place contained no sign of Gorsedd and his men.  Either he’d used magic to cloak his passage or they were too late.

“I see no ships, no camp, no proof they’d ever even been to this spot.”

Darrick turned his head to meet her gaze.  The despair in his eyes mirrored her own. 

“Where could they have gone?”

“What lies that way?”  Alanna indicated past the isle, directly west into the setting sun.

“Eire.  And north is Scotland.”  He pointed.  “And there lies the Isle of Man.” 

The Isle of Man.  Though the name was not familiar, chills raced up her spine.  “What is this place?”

“A good sized island, surrounded by smaller, wild islands.  Even the larger Isle of Man is mostly uninhabited by humans or Fae now.  But Tynwald Hill is there.”

“Tynwald Hill?” 

“An ancient burial mound.”  Darrick frowned.

One of his men chimed in.  “Aye.  Norsemen used it once for Thing-vollr - their law-making assembly.  But there is also a Christian abbey on the Isle.”

Alanna regarded him thoughtfully.  “The abbey does not interest me, though Geoffrey will find it well-placed.  Tynwald Hill, on the other hand, does.  Among my people, such places were known repositories of great power.”

Darrick nodded.  “Aye.  Long have I heard such tales.”

Energy.  Gorsedd would take whatever assistance he could get. 

“Perhaps `tis why Gorsedd travels there with Caradoc.”

“And the dragon?”

She squinted into the setting sun.  “If the beast is truly Gorsedd’s creature, then we shall find him on this isle also.”  And Geoffrey and Sarina as well, she prayed.

“What of Eire?”  Darrick continued to stare at the horizon, as if by concentrating enough he could somehow see Gorsedd’s hiding place.  “Is not Eire another bountiful land for the Fae?  Many of your kind reside in the land of Green, do they not?”

She had to raise her voice to be heard over the din of the birds.  “They do, but I don’t believe they will assist Gorsedd with his evil plans.  This Isle has to be where he’s gone.”

“I agree.  He is setting the stage.”  As though speaking of prophecy, Darrick’s deep voice resonated.  “Whatever he plans, it will come to a head soon.”

Pairs of Pairs
.  One look at Darrick told her his thoughts ran along the same lines.  She and Darrick made up one pair, Sarina and Geoffrey another.  And she had Ellette who, once placed with Caradoc, would complete the third and final pair. 

If Gorsedd learned the meaning of the riddle and realized he had within his grasp one of the vital pairs--

“We must find Sarina and Geoffrey first.”  Darrick had obviously reached the same conclusion.

Alanna’s heart pounded, like the relentless ocean below.  “And your mother and Caradoc.  All of this is intertwined somehow.  I haven’t worked it all out yet, but the puzzle begins to come together.”

The men exchanged looks.

Below, the surf continued to lash at the rocks.  All around them, the birds continued to wheel and dance and screech.  Through it all, Ellette remained motionless, like a small statue made of stone.

“Is the child all right?”

Alanna dropped a kiss on Ellette’s golden head.  “She worried me as well.  I pray her silence is because she just needs to put away the horror of what she has seen.”

Darrick resumed his contemplation of the sea.  If he felt his former dread, she could not read it in his face.

The men began to speak among themselves, not bothering to lower their voices.  “Gorsedd has not been here.”

“I see no army,” said another.

Grim-jawed, Darrick nodded.  “Perhaps he left from Whitehaven, or somewhere else further up the coast.”

“Searching for him here will prove fruitless.”  Though prophecy was not one of her gifts, Alanna knew she spoke true.  “He has already crossed the sea to the Isle.”

The one place Wynne had said they must not let him reach.  Did this mean they were too late?

Alanna refused to believe it.

“How can we reach the Isle?  We have no boat.”

Darrick growled in frustration.  Leaning forward, he searched the beach both north and south, as though he hoped a ship might magically appear.

Would that she had enough power to grant his wish.  She thought of the dragon rising into the sky.  If she had full command of her own magic, could she too conjure such a beast?  If they rode upon its back, they would reach the Isle in short time. 

But such thoughts were foolish.  Her power had been depleted.

Darrick again raised his voice. “Alanna, can you contact Wynne?  See how she’s coming with the army?  Perhaps the combined force of many can help us now.”

“I can try.”  Closing her eyes, she gathered her strength to try and send out a message.

             
                            *    *    *    *

Though the wind buffeted and pummeled him, Geoffrey held on.  He pulled himself up the great beast’s claw, until he was able to hold on to the thing’s scaly leg.  About the width of two hands, it looked rather like a giant chicken’s leg.  Locking his arms together, he felt secure against the buffeting of the wind as they flew across the ocean.

The dragon seemed unaware of his presence.  For this, he was glad.  He kept watch on Sarina, praying the monster wouldn’t open its claw and send her tumbling to her death into the water below.

Still unconscious, Sarina slumped in the dragon’s grip.  Her dark hair billowed about her.  Limp, she looked lifeless.  Terrified, Geoffrey shouted her name.

“Sarina.” 

No response. 

He tried again.  “Sarina.” 

Nothing.

The dragon flew west, into the setting sun.  A quick glance down showed Geoffrey they flew above the white-capped Irish Sea at dizzying heights. 

Muttering a prayer, he tightened his grip and held on. 

Finally, he saw land again.  Rocky promontories jutted up over the water, and softly rolling hills led further inland.  The dragon flew directly towards a towering limestone rock, as though it meant to crash into the stone face and kill itself as well as them.

Horrified, Geoffrey held on and began again to pray. 

                                          *    *    *    *

Instead of directly answering Alanna’s call, Wynne chose to answer her need.  A sturdy, wooden boat appeared, moored in a sheltered cove down the beach. 

“There.”  Alanna breathed a sigh of relief that Wynne had kept things simple.  She wasn’t sure how the remainder of Darrick’s men, having already witnessed the appearance of a mythical monster, would adjust if Wynne and assorted Fae were to materialize in front of them.

“That’s our ship?” Darrick eyed the small craft with trepidation.  “I’m not sure it will hold us all.”