Freamhaigh

by Donald D. Allan

  “Simon was worried that one day Erebus would return. We thought I would be enough to stop him. Erebus had learned much during our last encounter. We are equally matched except he has no limit to what he is allowed to do. Simon changed me. He suggested restrictions on what I could do and I accepted them. It limited me and as such Erebus rose to prominence and slowly but surely, he pushed back at me.

  “He is everywhere now. Belkin is all that remains of what the world once was. Elsewhere, he is creating the life he was programmed to do. We were an ark. A seed from a time so long ago it staggers the imagination. That world perished due to their own mistakes. They raped the world and destroyed its harmony. For a long time the world struggled to recover and in time it did. Your world rose from the ashes. Then the ark was found by Simon and opened. It had one purpose: restore the world to their image. Your world and their world cannot coexist.

  “Simon convinced me to fight for your world. Erebus refused. For all these years I have fought and lost. I tried something new here in Belkin and for a time it worked. I created the draoi, and they became my champions. But I underestimated Erebus although part of me had calculated the possibility. He found a way to counter the draoi. The Sect rose to prominence and struck back. My draoi were flawed, and I had to abandon them. The new draoi are different. You are compatible with the Simon Thorn motes. Erebus was not expecting that. He knew nothing of the Simon Thorn motes although he must have suspected.

  “Erebus must be destroyed. Will, Katherine and Dog, you have the power now to locate Erebus and destroy him. I only ask one favour.”

  I struggled to speak. Gaea’s words were not what I could have ever imagined. “What favour?”

  “Destroy me along with Erebus.”

  “What?” screeched Katherine. “You would have me destroy you as well?”

  Gaea laughed. “I thought you hated me, Katherine. You blame me for all that is wrong in this world and you are not wrong. I am only one step away from being Erebus. I understand what he has been doing for I am Erebus in almost every way. I should not exist. Destroy me. Please. This world is yours. With the Simon Thorn motes, you can remain the draoi you were meant to be. I would not leave this world unprotected.”

  Martin made a sound, and we looked at him. He was distressed. “Tell me, my visions, were they real or some product of these Simon Motes?”

  Gaia looked confused. “What visions?”

  “I saw God. At the Crossroads. Brent was the same. He saw God in Jergen. He came to his aid in Jaipers. Regrew his fingers. Healed him in Munsten.”

  Gaea cocked her head. “Healed him how?”

  Martin described what had happened to Brent. Steve confirmed it and added more detail.

  Gaea smiled. “The Simon motes can generate images of people in your mind, much like I do. They could have appeared and spoken to you. The Simon motes can heal, however, not at that rate. It would take weeks to regrow a severed finger or heal a body to full in an instant. I have no data to explain what happened. What you describe was not the motes Simon created.”

  Martin looked upwards in joy and a tear ran down his face. “Thank you, God. Thank you.”

  Katherine was pacing with Dog. I watched her for a moment and then turned my attention to Gaea. “You say the draoi would continue with powers. I assume we would have the Simon motes instead of yours?”

  Gaea nodded.

  “And all the memories of those who died? Franky? My mother? They would be destroyed with you as well?”

  Gaea nodded again.

  “They aren’t real, are they?”

  “In a way, they are real. Everything they were or thought remains with me. But it is a memory only. In a way, I become them for a time. And real enough.”

  I felt a sadness then. I thought of what Gaea was and what she was to the draoi. The discovery of my abilities and powers had been a changing experience. The draw of nature and the ability to join with it was a wonder. Throughout it all Gaea had been with me. At times I had hated her, but now I could admit I loved her and what she represented to the world. “I don’t see why you need to go. You are not Erebus. You can’t think that.”

  Nadine came beside me and wrapped an arm around my waist. “She’s right, love. We need to let her go. I lived my entire life without power. You’ve had barely two years with it. And you won’t lose that. You will gain something new.”

  “Will I still be Freamhaigh?”

  Gaea nodded. “Yes, Simon told me what this would be. Someone will need to be the administrator. That should be you, shared with Nadine. Both of you would be in charge. The transfer of rights would be simple enough. You simply determine who should replace you and it will occur automatically.

  “I would add that I will feel nothing. I have no true emotion or pain. I would simply cease to exist. I have no fear or qualms. I will say that I have existed long enough without Simon. I think about him constantly and have so for a millennium. I am done.”

  Nadine pulled me aside and looked up into my eyes searching. “You know this is the right thing, Will. Once done you and I could work together to return Belkin to the land it was meant to be. The harmony you have sought is possible.”

  I nodded at her words. Her and I had argued many times in the past, but always it was about how we were to arrive at the same place we both wanted. A realm free of Erebus where the draoi could work the land and watch over nature. “The draoi will not be happy.”

  Nadine smirked. “No, but you can’t please everyone all the time. In time, they will come to see this is the right path.”

  I forced a smile. “I don’t know how this will go. The draoi must decide. Their fate is entwined with this. I will not force the issue. I will put it to a vote. The majority decides.”

  Nadine frowned. “Better you decide. You are the Freamhaigh. A vote might divide us.”

  “Is that how you would do it, love? Decide for everyone and be done with it?”

  Nadine nodded.

  “I can’t do that. There are too many lives at stake. We vote. This will be a different world without Gaea. She guided us. Without her we will be adrift.”

  Yes, but making our own decisions. I like that."

  I hesitated. “So long as we share this new power, I think I can be fine with it.”

  Near us, Katherine sat and hugged Dog. She looked into his eyes and they conversed. Steve and Martin stood apart from us, recognising this was our decision. I reached out across the draoi bond and explained what was being asked of us. Nadine and I spent the next hour discussing it with our draoi. At times, we would include Katherine and Dog and explain to the draoi what their powers were in comparison to the draoi powers. Martin and Steve left to explore the cavern in greater detail and Gaea remained quiet nearby.

  As I feared, the draoi were split. From both sides, Nadine and I could sense their fear. Those that doubted wanted to know who would oversee them like Gaea did. For those draoi, it was knowing that the all-powerful Gaea watched over them that gave them comfort. It was a bigger loss for them—and so they argued to keep Gaea. The others saw the benefit of being free. They understood that we had been under the power of two beings who had ruled our hearts for far too long. Nadine had argued the hardest for the yes side. She said we were responsible for our own destiny. The threat of Erebus was real to Gaea, and so it was real to Nadine, too. Her argument had been the most persuasive for the yes side. When the arguments started to repeat, I called the vote and sat in silence as it was tallied.

  “A tie?” said Nadine. “How is that possible? An exact split?”

  “Not a tie,” I said. “Your vote and mine have not been counted.” Katherine and Dog had voted to keep Gaea.

  Somehow the decision would be ours. I looked back to my life with my mother. Gaea had always been a part of me. Now she was a part of the world. I had lost my mother and Gaea had replaced her. Now I was thinking about giving her up. Willingly.

  I realised I had already made my decision. I had since I first heard Gaea s
ay she wanted to be destroyed. Her time was over. She was never meant to be. All the loss in the world lay at the feet of her and Erebus. As draoi, we owed the world our fealty and that meant free of influences not our own.

  I rose and looked at Nadine and nodded my head. She smiled and hugged me and whispered in my ear. “You already know my vote, love. Together we will survive this and more. This is the right choice.”

  I reached across the bond and informed my draoi of the result. I felt dismay and joy, all mixed with apprehension. I pulled Nadine to my side, and we looked at Gaea and nodded together.

  Gaea smiled and nodded back. “It was as I predicted, Will and Nadine. Fear not. This is the right choice. You will regain your powers once we have the Simon motes activated within you. You will not need to gather the draoi to transfer motes to them. There are enough Simon motes in the world and within the draoi to allow your bond to keep you together and sane.

  “You and Nadine will create the bond that will hold the draoi together. You will not suffer the break that caused so much pain for Katherine and Dog. The power will be shared with you all and manageable. Know that what happens next will be of your making. Your desires. Your choices. I would recommend you recall your draoi to the farm and have them wait for you there. Re-establish your core and figure out what you will do next. Now, if there is nothing else I would like to get this over with.”

  Katherine was sobbing and holding on to Dog. “Please no, don’t do this! I can’t suffer another loss. I need you!”

  Gaea surprised us all by sinking beside Katherine and wrapping an arm around her. “You are very much my daughter, Katherine Rigby. I watched you your entire life. I hurt when you hurt and laughed when you laughed. You are perhaps the strongest of us all. You and Dog survived what few could have. My time is done. Give me my peace, please.”

  Katherine shook her head and kept her face hidden. Gaea rose and started giving orders. We brought out more Life Salt and when Katherine was ready she activated it and directed it to Nadine and me. It was offered to Steve, but he declined. We were ready.

  We looked at each other and I noticed something about Gaea I hadn’t noticed before. She seemed eager for this to happen. I excused myself and pulled her aside.

  “You seem eager. How is that possible seeing as you say you have no emotion?”

  Gaea looked away for a moment before looking at me. “I feel, Will Arbor. This is what separated me from Erebus all those years ago. Simon taught me how to feel compassion. How to love others. Now I only feel tired. Simon once spoke to me of an afterlife. The same one the Church speaks of. If there is one, then I will join Simon there. I hope. However, my calculations show that there is no afterlife. There are no facts to support its existence.”

  “Then why risk it?”

  Gaea looked at Martin for a second. “It is as Martin says, a matter of faith.”

  I bowed my head and then hugged her tightly. She returned the hug and whispered in my ear. “Your mother would be very proud of you at this moment, Will Arbor.”

  I gently pulled away and wiped my eyes. “I’ll miss you, Gaea.”

  She nodded and joined the others. I came over and reached out to the draoi and spoke the words. “It is decided. Gaea will be destroyed with Erebus. The world will be ours to manage alone. This is the way it should be. My only hope is that we do so with compassion and with a mind to our future. This is the only world we have.”

  I felt the draoi accept my decision. Some were angry but recognised my authority. A few were already starting to head back to the farm. Heather would remain here in Munsten until we could reach her. She was reporting strange activities in the city. People were waking, but a commotion had started at the guard barracks. She and James hid down by the docks for now.

  We formed a circle and said goodbye to Gaea.

  Katherine started the process. We pulled draoi power into it and reached out to find the motes of Gaea and Erebus. Martin joined us and I poured draoi power through the amulet. The symbol shone bright and spread out in a wide pattern that joined with Katherine and Dog’s power.

  This would be a painful process unless done correctly. Gaea helped by making her presence known throughout the land, so we could see her clearer. She had learned much from the severing of Katherine and Dog. This would be a severing across the land, but Gaea knew what needed to be done. She had called it a more surgical solution than the earlier method of driving a needle into leather with a sledgehammer. She pulled her motes free of the land. Life across the land shuddered. For a millennium the world had been a part of Gaea and now that presence was withdrawing. Gaea did so gently, and the final tug was almost a whisper. It helped that many people were still unconscious. They felt nothing. The plants, animals and insects felt the loss and with it a sadness they did not understand.

  As soon as she was clear we struck. Every Gaea and Erebus mote in Belkin was exposed and our power lanced through them, they turned lifeless in a moment, caught in bloodstreams, but useless. We purged them from plants, animals, insects, and the very air. I felt my awareness of the land fade and pull back. I looked over at Gaea still standing there beside us. She had her head thrown back and a silent scream poured from her mouth.

  I felt Katherine’s power overwhelm my own and soon she was pushing inward to Munsten. My senses were reeling. I was being severed slowly, but methodically. I felt Katherine getting closer and closer and then she was here in the cavern. I saw a flash of light and Gaea was gone. A grey powder drifted through the air and dissipated into nothing.

  I felt nothing of the world. It was all gone, and I felt numb. I looked at Nadine and she was staring at me. Our bond was the only thing holding us together, and we reached across it for comfort. I looked for the draoi bond, but it was gone. I felt a panic, but Nadine grounded me. I looked over at Katherine and her eyes were wide open but unseeing. Suddenly she snapped her eyes to me and I felt something shift within me. With a burst of sensation, the world opened up to me again. The bond was there, I just had to learn how to look at it. Then I could sense Katherine and Dog and see the bond formed bright between us. Katherine smiled at me and Nadine.

  “Welcome back you two,” she said.

  Yes, hi Will and Nadine, said a strange voice in our heads and I looked at Dog to see him panting in humour at us.

  “Dog? Is that really you?”

  Yes, of course.

  “Wow. So, it is done? Erebus is gone?”

  Katherine nodded and looked at the spot Gaea had been. “Yes, and so is Gaea. They are gone from Belkin. Erebus is still out in the world, but soon he won’t be.”

  “I thought we eradicated him?”

  “We did, here in Belkin. I have spread something through Erebus that Gaea gave me. She called it a virus. I infected Erebus some time ago. It has been spreading around the world ever since. It won’t be long, but he will be gone soon. Destroying his central awareness stopped his ability to see the virus. It will be spreading like crazy now. Gaea told me it will be successful.”

  “How will we know?”

  “I’ll have to go out there and make sure.”

  I nodded. I reached out with my powers and was relieved to feel the world around me again although it was limited. I reached out to my draoi across the bond and felt their joy at reconnecting. It did not go well for some but I could see them recovering. Draoi reached out to one another and soon my draoi were all talking at once and laughing in relief.

  The power we wielded seemed very diminished. The Simon motes were not prevalent in the world. We would have to change that. The Life Salt would be a start. In time I would know how to have the Simon motes recreate themselves. It would spread rapidly and soon I would be able to sense all of Belkin and all life again.

  I was still Freamhaigh. I still had my wife and best friend beside me and a bond that allowed us to love like no one else. Erebus was gone and for the first time in a long-time people had control of their destiny, good or bad.

  In time, we would resol
ve the monarchy issue. We would place a King on the throne. Martin would return the Church to a better place in the world. And both would have the draoi, exposed, capable, and powerful to guide them.

  The new druids were here to stay.

  Epilogue

  Munsten Harbour, June 902 A.C.

  JAMES DIXON THREW his backpack down to the sailing ship Oriole tied to the dock in Munsten Harbour. The first mate of the ship caught it and tossed it over to the sailor waiting a few feet away. The sailor placed the backpack in with Heather, Katherine and Dog’s belongings. James wiped his brow to remove the sweat. It was a hot June morning and it would be scorching soon.

  “That’s all, John. Just us but give us a moment, will you?”

  John, the first mate of the ship, smiled. “No rush. The captain is finishing something or other down below. We’ll be leaving in half an hour.”

  “Fine, we’ll be on board soon.”

  The first mate waved at James and turned to give orders to the sailor standing by the packs. James looked over the ship for a moment admiring her lines. She was a two-masted ketch sleek look about her. She was well maintained and the brass gleamed in the sunlight. The journey in the vessel would be fast. Oriole had a reputation for speed and James wanted nothing more than to be back in Munsten as quickly as possible. James looked away and turned to find Heather, Katherine and Dog watching him. Brent and Martin stood with them and were smiling. James came over and shook Brent’s hand.

  “Lord Protector, my pleasure, sir. So glad you could see us off.”

  “Shut it, James, and stop calling me that.”

  “It’s who you are, Brent. Whether you like it or not.”

  “True. I’ll be happier when you come back from Foula Island with proof Edward is the rightful king.”

  “How is our young prince?”

  “Angry and angrier. He hates the lessons. But he needs to know how to rule. He hates economics and logistics. He keeps trying to sneak off to the Munsten hospital. He’s going to be a handful. I have him with me at the Council meetings. He’s learning. Every now and then he shows his potential. He’ll be a fine king.