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Maiocht: Chapter 4

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Maíocht: Chapter 3

This was almost too much for me to handle. Sorcerers, femólas, and magical daggers seemed too farfetched for my brain to comprehend. Still, I had watched Fíona cast a spell with my own eyes. I couldn’t deny what was in front of my face. However, it wasn’t worth the effort to try and sort it out now.

“So you never really explained much about the six Celtic nations,” I prompted. Anything was better than the silence.

“That’s simple enough. They still exist today, only you know them by different names. There’s Ireland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, Ilse of Man, and, of course, Scotland. The actual kingdoms, however, are a completely different story.”

“What do you mean?”

“After the incident with Myrddin and Orwen the rest of the Comshélai decided that something had to be done to prevent anything else like that happening again. It took several months, but they all agreed that the magical community was too powerful to ever be completely intermixed with the mortals. They needed to separate the two somehow. In the end they created a separate world within the current one, separated only by a doorway in each country.”

“Like an alternate dimension?”

“You could say that. Of course this decision didn’t affect only the sorcerers. Other magical creatures had to sign the contract as well.”

“What others are there?”

She smiled, “Pretty much what the stories tell; elves, dwarves, fairies, dragons. Surprisingly, there are new magical beings being discovered all the time.”

Something that had been pushed to the back of my mind suddenly leaped forward. “That person you were talking to!”

“What about him?”

“I thought I noticed something funny about his silhouette. He was an elf, wasn’t he?”

“That’s a pretty big leap to make from a story and a shadow, but yes. He’s one of my dearest friends and an even better historian. I had hoped that he would help me sort out your ancestry problem. Then we’d know what class to sort you in.”

Oh yeah, there was that too. What were the chances that I would wake up one morning a normal fourteen year old girl and by sunset find out I might be part sorceress? Sometimes truth is even crazier than fiction.

Along with all the confusion and disbelief floating around my head, anticipation was steadily building. Until now my life was composed of monotony and repetition. How could I not be excited?

Fíona pulled the car into a small parking lot off the side of the road.

“What are we doing?”

“From here, we walk,” She said as she got out of the car.

I followed behind her closely, with Saorsa in tow. We trekked through the forest for what seemed like forever. Around me were the sounds of nocturnal animals sneaking around the trees. Perhaps they were curious as to why two people were intruding on their nightly rituals. It was a question I was asking myself repeatedly in my head. Where did this friend of Fíona live exactly?

We pushed further and further uphill through the wood, until the trees began to thin out revealing the bare top of the hill. Saorsa squirmed in my arms, pounced to the ground, and ran ahead of us.

“Hey!” I called out to her.

“Let her go,” Fíona smiled. “She can sense we’re close to other femólas.”

“Where?”

“My, my; aren’t we the impatient one,” she smirked as she walked ahead.

“Hey wait a second!” I ran to catch up with her when I noticed the large stone structure standing about a hundred feet from us.

“Is this Fyrrish Hill?”

A nod was all I received as she walked slowly around what I had deduced to be Fyrrish Monument. Three large arches stood watching over the Cromarty Firth. Four other stone pillars stood on either side of the main three arches. I watched as she circled the entire monument, carefully inspecting it until she stopped at a tall stone cylinder underneath the middle arch.

“Ah-ha!” She exclaimed proudly. “I almost thought I wasn’t going to find it. It’s been a while since I’ve been up this way.”

“What?”

She motioned me to come to her and pointed at a strange symbol on the stone. Intricate lines looped around one another infinitely, but were contained by a circular border.

“It’s a Celtic knot mandala. Sir Hector Munro, the man who orchestrated the construction of the monument, carved it to show that this is a gate to Caledonia. Only magical creatures know its true meaning.”

“As opposed to what?”

“Historians believe that all Celtic knots represent the eternity of life. This is true, but each knot has its own meaning. This particular one represents the interactions between the mortal and magical worlds. You’ll find the same symbol on each of the other gates; helps those of us who don’t travel between worlds as often.”

Fíona unclasped her necklace, held it up to the symbol, and whispered, “Osbrir.”

A soft blue light fled from her necklace and hovered in front of the mandala. After a few seconds it sank into the image. Once the light was completely out the knot began to move. I watched in amazement as the stone pillar began to move along with it. It sank lower and lower into the ground. When the top had reached ground level Fíona stepped onto it and looked at me.

“Hop on or you’ll miss the ride.”

Saorsa and I followed her onto the platform and watched as the ground rose above our heads. It came to rest at the opening of an underground tunnel. It was pretty spacious, maybe five feet wide and ten feet tall. A normal sized human could easily get around in it.

“Is this Caledonia?” I questioned as we made our way down the tunnel.

“Technically yes; we built this tunnel to deter any mortals who may have made it this far,” she commented as we came to a fork in the tunnels.

“How do you know which is the right one?”

“There’s not necessarily a pattern. These tunnels have a spell casted on them, so that only magical beings can find their way through.”

We continued on in the twisting shaft. At times I swore we were retracing our earlier steps. Just as I was about to question if we were walking in circles, sunlight shone through the mouth of what had turned into a large cave. We could hear a fain rumbling coming from outside. I inched closer to the opening and looked back at Fíona.

“Go ahead,” she nodded towards the doorway.

I gulped and stepped outside, only to be met by the spray of enormous waterfall and a cliff with a shear twenty foot drop.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed as I clutched the rocky wall.

Fíona simply laughed and started down the narrow stone path.

I hurried behind her and pouted, “That wasn’t funny.”

“I have do disagree with you my dear. That, as you Americans say, never gets old. However, please do be careful. It’s easy to lose your footing on this trail.”

We made our way down the slope mostly in silence, and tried not to slip down the cliff. Through quick glimpses I could see a pond below us. Flowing out of the north side was a small river surrounded by a forest like the one we had just left. Off in the distance the silhouette of a large mountain range poked through the clouds. The landscape was much like that of Scotland. I guess that would make sense. Fíona had said that Caledonia was once Scotland, and vice versa.

It must have taken a powerful magic to completely separate this world from the other. How much strength did the Comshélai had left after casting such a spell. Then again maybe it wasn’t that hard for them at all. If they were, and still are, the most powerful sorcerers in the world, maybe it was simple.

“Are any of the Comshélai still alive?”

“All but Myrrdin and Orwen. They are extremely powerful beings Elizabeth. Some of them are surrounded by so much magical aura it has been suggested that they may never die. Even Domhall still travels between worlds frequently.”

A sad look came over Fíona’s face, as she sighed, “His age shows more and more with every passing day. There is not telling what might happen if he does ever pass on.”

“Why? I thought all the fighting was over.”

“Oh Elizabeth, the fighting is never over.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

“No matter how peaceful things seem my dear, there is always war brewing under the surface. It simply takes one move to tip the balance and toss things into chaos. This is how it is with all living creatures, no matter how much we want not to believe it.”

Once at the bottom, we began our walk to wherever it was she was planning on taking me. At first glance the pond looked quite ordinary. However, once I looked closer I could see through the glassy surface to the world below. It wasn’t the silver glittering bodies of the fish darting from place to place that caught my eye. There was something else, something I had never seen before.

There, just below the ripples, was tiny creature peeking out from behind a stone. It couldn’t have been more than a few inches tall, with skin that blended in with the blue-green algae. I knelt down to get a closer look, and it sank lower into its hiding. Once I had settled it popped its head back up and I was amazed to see tiny black eyes staring into mine. I dipped my hands into the water and waited. What I was hoping for, I haven’t a clue. It was merely a gut feeling. The creature swam around in circles before landing in my palms. Not sure what to do, I sat still as Saorsa sniffed at the surface of the water above its head. A quick splash of water sent her away in a hurry. I could help but giggle at my poor femóla’s mistake. Was it my imagination or was it laughing as well?

“It’s alright. You can pull her out of the water.”

Fíona was by my side, smiling. Carefully, I lifted my hands up. Once she was out of the water, I could see that she resembled very much a tiny human. However she had no mouth, nose, or ears to be found. Still her dark eyes seemed to smile at me. A petite set of wings peeled away from her back. Droplets of water caught the sunlight, as she shook her wings.

“What is she?” I whispered, as she fluttered around our heads.

“She’s a water fairy. You’re very lucky.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sadly their numbers have been dwindling since everything was relocated. Poor things are terribly wary of strangers. It’s a wonder this one has taken such a liking to you.”

She batted her wings for a moment and took off. It was hard to keep my eye on her, as she flitted around above my head. To think, this was only one of the many creatures Fíona had said dwelled in this world! Around and around she twirled, dipping and diving from place to place.

It wasn’t long before she seemed to lose interest and headed towards the trees. For an instant she paused, turned back to me, and gave me a beckoning stare. It was as if I were meant to follow her. My feet started moving and I raced on behind her mesmerized by her almost entrancing flight patterns. Each movement was graceful, yet purposeful. Such a strange being this fairy was. Still if she was merely one of so many queer creatures, what where the others like?

There were so many things I didn’t quite understand; so many mysteries that needed to be solved. My feet moved more quickly with my anticipation. I found myself wanting, no, needing to learn more.
Has it seriously been almost a year since I posted the last chapter!!???? Well no more of that! I'm on a mission now guys!

Maiocht (c) :iconleonardosbabygirl:
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Magnius159's avatar
I really like this. I know all of the places mentioned here, and the history. I've also seen the Fyrrish Monument so I was excited to see this. The dialogue is decent as well. The only thing suggestion I have is that the pace. I understand that it IS chapter four/three and the introductions may have been dealt with, but it seems a bit fast. Perhaps add a bit more internal dialogue; go more into the detail of the surroundings, the personality quirks. Let us experience the world change rather than just glance over it.