by Edith Pattou
Suddenly there was an earsplitting sound, a thunderous crack, and as they watched, riveted, the tower finally collapsed. The bell hit the water with an enormous splash, giving a last deafening Bong! as it broke the surface and then sunk. The water roiled and heaved, as if from a mighty wind, and large waves sloshed over the banks of the lake. But the bell tower had vanished completely from sight.
Brie stared at the water. The waves subsided and it was not long before the surface was once again smooth, gleaming like a mirror, revealing nothing.
The fire arrow was gone, buried under tons of stone and wood, at the bottom of the lake. Brie felt short of breath, almost winded, as from a blow or a loss that could never be repaired.
"Brie?" Collun's voice broke into her grief. Ciaran whickered.
Brie tore her gaze from the lake, unconsciously straightening her back. Suddenly she spotted Fara loping over the grass toward them. Brie quickly dismounted and was almost knocked down by the faol's joyous greeting. Fara's sandpapery tongue left her cheeks wet.
"Where is Hanna?" Brie asked, her eyes darting from the banks of the lake to the bluff and back again. Fara let out a low mournful sound.
"I found a woman, unconscious," Collun interjected, "by the side of the lake, with Fara and two dogs. She..." He paused. "Once I convinced the dogs I could be trusted, I did what I could, that is, until the bell started to toll ... I do not know if she will make it."
Brie gave an anguished sound. Urging Fiain forward, Collun quickly led Brie to a small grove of ash trees a short distance from where they had watched the tower collapse. Brie saw Hanna lying still, Jip and Maor huddled beside her.
Bending her ear to Hanna's chest, Brie listened for the older woman's heartbeat. Nothing. Her own heart was pounding, loud, too loud to hear anything. She continued to listen and finally heard a faint thrum, as if from far off. But she could not tell if the sound came only from her desperate need to hear something.
"Hanna," Brie murmured, thinking, She cannot be dead; she must not. In despair Brie lay beside her friend to warm her. She encircled the inert, chilled body with her arms—heart to heart, brow to brow, hand to hand—willing Hanna to breathe.
Then Brie heard a faint noise, like a breath. Brie opened her eyes. She put her hand above Hanna's partly opened mouth. Yes, she could feel a whisper of air.
"Hanna!" Brie cried.
The older woman's eyelids wrinkled, then opened. Brie sat up, taking her friend's cold hand in hers and chafing it gently.
"Thank Amergin," Brie breathed.
Hanna gazed quietly up at her.
Brie could tell Hanna lacked the strength to speak and gave her hand a squeeze. "Rest now," she said.
Night had fallen, and silently Collun set about lighting a fire. He took herbs from the wallet he wore across his chest and made a posset of hyssop and lavender for Hanna. When it was done the older woman obediently drank it, then slept. Brie fell asleep as well, sitting beside Hanna, holding on to her hand.
***
Brie woke in darkness. For a moment she did not know where she was, thinking herself back in the bell tower. She was very cold and began to shiver uncontrollably. She carefully sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to stop the shivering.
"Brie?" It was Hanna, and Brie could just make out her figure, lying propped up an arm's length away. She was drinking more of Collun's concoction, holding the cup herself. Collun was leaning forward, poking the fire with a stick. Flames leaped up, illuminating his face.
"I have met Wurme-killer," Hanna said in Eirrenian.
Collun frowned. "Collun," he said. "Are you hungry, Brie?"
"Starving," Brie replied in a hoarse voice.
And though it was the middle of the night, Collun reheated the water and began mixing up a batch of oatcakes. Brie moved closer to Hanna and to the fire.
"What happened to you, Biri, in the tower?" asked the older woman, gazing critically at Brie.
Brie shook her head, unready to talk of it. "First you," she said.
"There is little enough to tell," responded Hanna. "When I woke and found you gone, the dogs and Fara picked up your scent and followed it down the bluff to the lake. There was a thick mist over it, obscuring the tower, but I guessed this to be the lake we sought.
"Fara was all for swimming right out into that mist, but I didn't like the look of it. So, more fool I, I decided to try to lift the cursed thing. Now fogs, either lifting or causing them, make me dizzy, but this one had my head swirling like the Corryvrecken whirlpool. The harder I tried, the worse the spinning got, until I hardly knew ground from sky. And I realized, just a little too late, that this was no ordinary fog, but a lien dewin, a sorcerer's veil. And an almighty powerful sorcerer's at that. I felt myself beings pulled into the vortex, and I could not stop it. That's the last thing I knew. Except for the dogs howling and Fara licking my hand raw with that tongue of hers."
"It was Fara who led me to the lake and to Hanna," interjected Collun, handing Brie an oatcake. He offered her honey, which she refused, and then he sat down to eat an oatcake himself. In the light of the fire, Brie covertly watched Collun. He looked different to her. Taller and leaner. Of course he had gotten older since she had left him at Cuillean's dun. But his gestures were the same. Brie's heart squeezed with some indefinable emotion.
Collun looked up and Brie quickly averted her eyes. Abruptly Collun rose and left the fire, carrying the pan he'd used for cooking.
"I like your friend," came Hanna's voice, drowsy. Soon Brie could hear Hanna's even breathing.
When he returned to the fire, Brie asked Collun if Hanna would be all right now.
"I believe so, though I know little of weather magic. At any rate, sleep will do her good," Collun responded. "It looks as though you could use more rest yourself," he added, gazing down at Brie's haggard face. Suddenly self-conscious, she raised her hand to her matted hair, bits of insect and candle wax still tangled in it.
"Collun, I..."
"Go to sleep, Brie." She could not read his face in the darkness above the fire, but the chill in his voice puzzled her. It was almost enough to keep her from sleep, but not quite. Again she drifted off, to the sounds of Hanna breathing and the firewood settling.
***
Brie woke early. The sun had dawned bright and it promised to be a warm spring day. Both Collun and Hanna still slept. Brie stood, dug out the remaining sliver of Monodnock's white lilac soap from her pack, and walked to the lake. Fara appeared silently at her side as she gazed out over the smooth mirrored surface. It was as if the bell tower, with its strange rooms and great evil bell, had never even existed. Like the fire arrow, it was gone without so much as a ripple to show for it.
Fara rubbed against Brie's leg, purring. "I know," Brie said, rubbing her thumbs over the tips of her fingers, remembering the tingling feeling of the arrow. "I'll get over it." But she was not sure she ever would.
Quickly Brie washed in the cold water. When she returned to camp she found that Hanna still slept, but Collun had kindled the fire. He was brewing chicory and the familiar smell warmed her. She had not had chicory since leaving Eirren. Collun poured her a cup and she took it gratefully.
"If you had not come, I would have died. Thank you," she said humbly.
"In truth, I did little." Again she heard the chill in his voice.
"Collun...," she began.
"More oatcakes?" He interrupted her.
"Please," for she was still very hungry, though this new tone in Collun's voice distracted her from her rumbling stomach.
Suddenly Brie remembered the dream she had had of Cuillean's dun and the soldier Renin dead. "Did something happen, Collun? At Cuillean's dun?"
Collun's face shifted, his eyes went opaque like teine stones. "Several months after you left, there was an attack, by Scathians and morgs."
"The soldier Renin?"
"Dead." His voice was flat. "You knew?"
"It was a dream I had, but tell me."
&nb
sp; "There is not much to tell. They came by sea. We were taken by surprise. Fortunately it was a small band and we managed to fight them off." His jaw had gone rigid. "We buried Renin on that headland overlooking the sea. And over his cairn I pledged that would be the end of it; I would no longer be the bearer of the cailceadon. It has cost too much." Brie knew that Collun was thinking of Crann, the wizard of the trees.
"I journeyed to Temair and gave the trine and stone to Queen Aine and King Gwynn."
Brie knew how much it must have cost Collun to give up his beloved trine.
"They agreed to take it?"
"It was not a choice."
Anger, that was what Brie heard in Collun's voice. A silence grew up between them.
"So, Brie, did you find your revenge?" Collun's eyes were still hard, opaque; and though they were said almost casually, the words were like a knife thrust.
SEVENTEEN
Return to Ardara
Brie looked down at her hands; they looked dirty and she rubbed at them, though she had just washed them in the lake with Monodnock's soap, two, three times.
"Why did you come here?" she whispered.
Collun turned away. "When I was at the royal dun in Temair, there were visitors, neighbors of your aunt and uncle. They told of your stay at Dun Slieve and of your subsequent departure for the north and the mountains. Then word came of creatures called gabha who had attacked a farmhold along the way into the Blue Stacks. I was concerned and thought to journey there, but was told the mountains were impassable. I spent the winter in Temair with my sister."
"How is Nessa?" asked Brie quickly.
"Well, thank you," he replied politely. The cadence of his voice was stilted, formal, as if she were a stranger with whom he was exchanging pleasantries.
"Near winter's end the Ellyl horse Ciaran came to Temair. Through Fiain she conveyed the message that she believed you to be in danger. Ciaran, Fiain, and I made our way through the Blue Stacks, fending off several goat-men as we went. I had thought to journey to the village of Ardara, where your trail led, but Ciaran pushed us straight north.
"She was unerring, insistent, but I confess I came to feel the whole thing a fool's errand. Then, not long ago, something happened. I was sitting by the campfire when suddenly I heard you calling me. Your voice, clear as a bell, if you will pardon the expression." Brie smiled, but Collun did not smile back.
"It was so real that I actually stood up and looked around the campfire. And then I saw you. Only it wasn't you; that is, your edges were blurry and there was gold around you. And then you were gone, just like that. But for a moment I could see a large tower in the middle of a lake. Then everything faded. I looked at the map of Dungal I had brought with me from Temair. And there was a lake, very near to where we were. It did not take us long to reach the lake and the tower.
"It was Ciaran who led us over that confounded path in the water and Ciaran who broke the door down."
"How?"
"When that big crack appeared, she just flew out with her hooves, right in the center of it. The door split open and there you were.
"What happened to you in the bell tower, Brie?" he asked, and for just a moment she heard an echo of the old gentle voice she remembered so vividly. Strangely her eyes pricked with tears. Running her hand through her wet hair, she answered, making her voice brisk.
"I was a prisoner, a sorcerer's prisoner. Balor is his name. He turns out to be a cousin of mine."
Collun stared at her. "Cousin?"
"It is a long tale; I have not the heart for it now. But Balor is planning to invàde and overthrow Dungal, with Eirren not far behind. The people of Dungal must be warned. There may still be time to raise an army." There was color in her cheeks and her hands were clenched.
"I see," said Collun.
"Is Hanna strong enough to travel?"
"I am," the older woman said, coming up behind. "And if what you say is true, we must leave at once." She was pale, but her eyes held strength. "Where is this sorcerer now?" she asked.
"I do not know. North, he said, to marshal his forces."
"He must have a stronghold of some kind. Did he say anything else?"
Brie shook her head. "Wait, yes ... He said something about going to meet a sea serpent."
Hanna's eyes darkened with a puzzled expression. "Serpent," she said, musing. "Where is that wizard's map of yours?" she asked abruptly.
Brie handed her Crann's map, with a sidelong glance at Collun.
"I seem to recall hearing of a rock formation, far north, lying off the coast, that bears a resemblance to a wurme or serpent." The older woman ran her finger along the line of Dungal's coast on the map.
"Ah," she breathed. "Carreg-sarff. Here, as I thought." She pointed to a cluster of dots on the map. "Perhaps the villain Balor has chosen Sedd Wydyr as his stronghold."
"Sedd Wydyr?"
"It is an ancient fortress, built by one of Dungal's first queens. She used the native white stone as well as crystal-bearing rocks of far-off Gledna to build her castle. The royal family had considerable draoicht in those days, but it was still a magnificent feat of workmanship. It was said that when the sunlight shone on Sedd Wydyr it glittered so brightly as to bring blindness on those who beheld it. It also went, by the name Crystal Castle."
"It sounds like a dwelling that would suit Balor," Brie said dryly.
"I have not traveled that far north so I have not seen Sedd Wydyr, but even if it still stands, it would be in ruins."
"Like your ancient queen, Balor has considerable draoicht," Brie replied. "I am sure he has restored the crystal castle and that it glitters even brighter than before."
***
Both Hanna's mare and the bay horse Araf had bolted when the bell began to toll, so Hanna rode with Brie on Ciaran. They decided to go directly to Sedd Brennhin, the royal seat of Dungal, to tell Prince Durwydd himself of the threat to Dungal. Hanna had met the prince on several occasions and felt sure of an audience.
But as they began moving up the bluff, away from the lake, Brie felt uneasy, torn. A curious tingling had begun on her hands, not unlike the humming of the fire arrow.
"Bother," Brie muttered. "The arrow is gone," she told herself sternly.
"What?" asked Hanna from behind.
"Nothing," Brie replied. The Ellyl horse hesitated, giving a low whinny.
Suddenly Brie laid her hand on Ciaran's neck. "The lake," she whispered. And the horse wheeled and headed back to the lake.
"Brie?" Collun called after her. But Brie did not hear.
When they reached the lakeshore, Brie dismounted and began walking along the water's edge. Clouds had come up, blanketing the sun. The water was very still. Brie strained to see into it, to see the broken tower and, somewhere among the mountain of jagged stone, the fire arrow. But all she saw was her own face reflected back at her, drawn and desolate. Collun's face appeared beside hers.
"What do you seek, Brie?"
"An arrow."
"Can you not make more arrows?"
"No," Brie said impatiently, eyes focused on the water.
"Son of Cuillean," called Hanna, still astride Ciaran. Collun moved back to Hanna, who spoke to him in a low voice.
Brie paid no attention to them and continued to walk beside the lake, rubbing her tingling hands against the sides of her legs. What did she think she was going to do? Dive in and scavenge among the rubble for an arrow that had no doubt been splintered into a hundred pieces? Or did she think the arrow might miraculously rise to the surface and float across to her? She felt the tingling again and kept walking. She walked until she was more than halfway around the lake. The tingling had grown stronger.
"Uffern," she muttered. The tingling was turning into an unpleasant itching. Suddenly she noticed she was moving away from the lake into the sedges and shrubs. She wasn't quite sure why; there was no path, though perhaps a very faint trace of someone at some time having moved this way before.
She entered a small copse of t
rees. Inside the grove she discovered a large circular patch where the trees had been cleared away, except for a tall, slender rowan, which stood in the very center. Brie walked up to the tree and stood in front of it, half-expectant. Nothing happened.
Staring at the bark of the tree, looking for something, though she did not know what, she rubbed her stinging hands against her tunic.
"Brie?" Collun called. He had followed and was moving through the trees toward her. Brie silently motioned for him to stop before entering the exposed circle, then she went back to gazing at the tree.
She felt keyed up, irritable. The itching on her hands was now a burning, painful sensation. She kept wanting to rub them against her tunic, but when she did, it hurt. What does this tree have to do with anything? she asked herself crossly.
Then, inconsequently, she; had the memory of Aelwyn laying her hands against Monodnock's porth, and she had the sudden urge to do the same to the rowan in front of her. At least it might make the prickling feel better, she thought.
She laid her burning hands on the tree's surface and the next moment she was standing in darkness, her palms resting on something cool and smooth to the touch.
"Uffern," she muttered again. "Now where am I?" Fortunately her pack was on her back, and after fishing out several lasan sticks, she lit one on the rock floor of wherever it was she was standing.
In the dim light she could see she was in some kind of tomb, a passage grave it looked to be, and she was in the vaulted inner room. Her hands had been resting on a marble column carved to resemble a rowan tree. Then she heard a pounding sound and someone faintly calling her name.
She lit another lasan stick and, spotting a torch stuck in a wall sconce, took it down. Quickly she set the torch alight and hurried down the passage that ended in a bolted door. With some effort she lifted the bolt and pushed open the door. Collun stood there, looking startled. Brie could see Hanna behind him, with the two horses.
"What happened, Brie?" Collun asked.
"I don't know. Come in if you like," said Brie, still irritable. She abruptly turned and made her way back down the passageway. Collun followed, while Hanna remained outside with the horses.