by G L Roberts
The second thing agreed upon was that the company would leave their horses in the hands of the elders. The intention was to return the borrowed horses to the Picts at Skiel and for Thalynder’s horses to go there as well.
They also agreed to separate. This caused a great deal of stress between Thalynder, Arryn, and Bryn. Bryn wanted Arryn to accompany Thalynder to her father’s realm and once there, leave her to explain to him all that had transpired and to seek his aid. She wanted Arryn to go to his clann and do the same. The problem as Thalynder and Arryn saw it was that meant Bryn was left alone in Skiel. She reminded them that she had Leus with her, as well as the Pict clanns who lived near Skiel. Arryn told her he could not be in two places at once. Besides, he was charged with bringing both women back to the Realm That Touches Two Seas. They reached a compromise.
“Very well,” Bryn said. “Arryn, Thalynder, and I will return to the Realm That Touches Two Seas, and together we will meet with King Thamen and the Druid Elder to confirm or deny the rumors that precede us. Malcolm, you will travel with us and after meeting King Thamen, will return to your own kingdom. There you will speak with your father about providing aid to the cause laid before him.”
Bryn addressed Kenna. “Kenna, you will travel with us until we reach the pool at the Peak Stone. There you fly west and return to the Island of Skye and your mother, Lady Anestar. Once there, you will prepare the Bridei for the coming battle.” Kenna nodded, and Bryn spoke to Leus.
“Leus, you and NightWatcher will go to Ceann Dùnaid where you will meet with your mother, Lady Adhar, and Elder Gement. Gement will take you to visit Rylan’s Pict clann. I ask that you also send word to Queen Betony of the Inceni and request a representative to meet me at Skiel in ten days’ time.”
Finally, they agreed they would convene the first council in eleven days in Skiel at the house of Lady Anethar. They chose Skiel over Ceann Dùnaid as it was more centrally located to each coast and the northern clanns. It was far enough north that it would not interfere with the lower kingdoms and still far enough south to keep Skerrabrae secret.
“I have one more thing to address before we leave,” Bryn said. “Leus, will you please ask the elders to join us?”
Leus bowed his head and left the meeting house. Bryn motioned at Arryn and Malcolm to follow her. They walked behind a large standing stone that served as a wall. There they found what appeared to be a large flat stone lying on the floor.
“I need your strength,” Bryn said. “Help me push this flat stone away from the standing stone.” The three of them pushed the stone, meeting some resistance at first. The men were obviously surprised to see steps carved into the floor of the room.
“Where does this lead?” Malcolm asked.
“To a room where my ancestors would go to weather storms and to hide from danger,” Bryn replied. “It is also a storeroom for the treasury of the Druids. Come, we will wait for the others back at the fire.”
Leus led the elders into the meeting house, and both parties greeted each other with kind words and salutations. Bryn asked both groups to follow her in silence, keeping their questions until she bade them speak. She led them to the standing stone at the back of the room.
“I ask that the elders follow first.” Bryn led them behind the stone to the opening in the floor. One or two of the elders gasped but did not speak.
“Arryn would you and Prince Malcolm please bring a firebrand with you down the passageway?”
“As you wish,” Arryn and Malcolm said together.
The jewel at Bryn’s forehead glowed a soft cool blue light, illuminating the passage in front of her. She closed her eyes and asked Meydra to help her steady the light. The jewel glowed brighter, and Bryn smiled. “Come, there is something you must see.”
Eight steps led down to a small portico of standing stones. Through the portico was a passage that led deep into the hill at the back of the village. Directly overhead stood the dragons who arrived the day before, and now, still as sentinels, they guarded the ancient cairn. The passage led past many chambers and finally into a large open space with a fireplace, and mantel and several recesses in the walls containing items wrapped in cloth. Bryn stood in the center of the room at a long stone table. From her belt she removed the rolled up cloth and her sword. She placed them on the table. She motioned for the rest of the group to gather around the table.
“Arryn and Malcolm, you will find torches at the top of the stone walls on the sides of the room. Please light the torches and place the firebrands in the fireplace. I wish for you to join us at the table.” The men did as Bryn asked.
“The past four days have been filled with revelation. Myths have become reality. Although you have seen the wonders with your own eyes, there are still tiny shreds of doubt in your minds. I want to show you what the ancients put down millennia ago so that as you consider your doubts, you consider too why you doubt. For some, the doubt stems from a lack of foreknowledge about such myths. Princess Thalynder and Prince Malcolm had no idea what to expect at Staenis. What they saw and heard could easily be put down as hallucination brought on by the traumatic events at the loch—first the death of the High Dragon, then the death of the Norsemen. Kenna and Arryn had heard the myths since childhood but never truly believed them to be anything more than myth. When truth became possibility, they still doubted that it could happen in their lifetime. The elves, whose own lore is steeped in myth and legend, found the event at Staenis overwhelming. Neither expected to become a dragon rider. This secret room of the ancients, kept secret even from the clanns and only known by few living elders, was revealed to me by Queen Athyl.”
Lady Anestar placed her hands on the table as if to steady herself and looked around the room. The recesses were crammed with cloth woven of wool. Some revealed sealskin and others held large tusks.
Bryn followed Anestar’s gaze. “Elders of the High Clann of Brae placed those items here. Some items belong to the clanns you represent—records of your clanns and their elders. Some records are carved into the tusks of animals long since extinct. Some records are carved into the stones we hold sacred. Some items here are from the earth, some from the sea, and some, like the items on this table, from the sky.” Bryn removed her sword from its plain leather scabbard and placed it on the table. The jewels on the hilt sparkled with the light of the torches. The silver and green adorning the blade reflected the faces of the group, bathing their faces in light.
“The tears of the dragons fell and touched this sword, forged deep in the Umbriel Forest by the elves of the ancient days. It was tempered by the breath of a Timon de Flamme, the only dragon ever known to befriend the elves. Elves held the sword in secret for many centuries until the one was born who would wield it for the reason it was forged—to protect the earth, the sea, and the sky. The sword was unadorned when I began my instruction at the hands of the then Captain of the Armies of the Realm That Touches Two Seas, our friend Arryn of the Epidii. It took the life of the son of Heardred of Götaland. It was changed at Staenis. These words once hidden by elf magic were revealed again.” Bryn turned the sword over showing one last detail. Three new runes were engraved just under the hilt. “Calibairn is the sword’s name, which in the tongue of the ancients means Battle Ready.”
Bryn walked over to the hearth and scouted the recesses along the right side of the hearth until her hand found a cloth of finely woven material. She removed the item and placed it on the table. The cloth resembled the cloth worn by Lady Adhar and the elves. Bryn removed the cloth and revealed a leather bound book. She opened the book and Lady Adhar gasped. She recognized the runes on the front of the book.
Bryn showed the book’s cover to Lady Adhar. “You know this book, Lady Adhar. It is the record of your mother the Elf-Queen, Lady Ahndulyl.” Lady Adhar nodded. Bryn opened the book to a page near the beginning. She held the book open for the others to see. A drawing of Bryn’s sword with the words leug camhanaich—‘precious jewel of the dawn’—was on one side. On the other
side, till gu talamh—‘return to earth.’ The hilt held the runes that named the sword Calibairn.
“The elves, those that first dared to live and love humankind, sired the first Druids, realizing long before all others that Athyl would someday return.”
Bryn closed the book and returned it to the recess. She walked to the left side of the mantel. From another recess, she removed an item wrapped in a deep blue cloth. She placed the cloth on the table, and it shimmered like water in the firelight. She allowed the others to touch the material and feel the way it moved. “As you can feel, it is unlike any fabric we know. It was pulled from the night sky.” She unrolled the cloth that rested next to her sword. The material took on the same shimmer as the other blue cloth. As she continued to unroll the cloth, the silver Tree of Life and the Dragon clutching the sword Calibairn began to take shape on the cloth. Bryn brushed her hands over the tree and the leaves shook as if alive. “The thread is the stardust that falls to earth and becomes the silver reflected back by the moon.” She opened the blue cloth that she had taken from the recess. Inside the cloth was a round stone engraved with circles joined to show no beginning and no end. Bryn placed the stone on the table and turned the cloth to reveal the embroidered side, embroidered with the same silver thread as her own cloth was a Triskele.
“The symbol of all the clanns,” Bryn said. “Our Triskele. This symbol representing the past, present, and future, is one all the clanns recognize. The truly remarkable thing about this symbol is that it is not just reserved for the clanns. Isn’t that right, Prince Malcolm?”
Malcolm nodded.
“Reveal the symbol,” Bryn said.
Malcolm rolled his sleeve up to uncover his right forearm. There tattooed on his skin was the same Druid symbol.
“We are not-so-distant cousins,” she told him. “We share the same ancestors.”
Malcolm lowered his sleeve and gazed around the room, obviously taking it all in.
“This is my banner,” Bryn said. “The two sides will become one cloth, one banner for all of Alban.” She lay the cloth with the Triskele symbol facedown upon the table. She placed her own cloth face up on top of the other cloth. She touched the jewel in her crown with one hand and placed the other hand on the cloth. The jewel in the crown glowed with a white light. It shimmered and sparkled like a white-hot fire. The group stepped back from the table and watched as Bryn and the cloth were at once bathed in the light.
Thalynder gasped and grabbed Arryn’s arm. She pointed down at the cloth under Bryn’s hand. There on the cloth, the light joined the edges of the two cloths. As the light from the jewel faded, the edge of the cloth turned to the purest silver thread and lined all four edges of the banner.
Bryn moved her hand away from the jewel and held the banner up for the others to see. On one side was the Tree of Life and the dragon clutching the sword Calibairn. On the other side was the Triskele. The entire banner was rimmed in silver.
“This is the banner of Alban. It flies with us as we fight to rid our home of the menace from abroad. It will serve to remind all the peoples of Alban that we are one history, one people, one future.” Bryn met the eyes of all who gathered, one by one. “This place must remain secret. There is much here to teach us and much here for us to protect. Your pledge now binds you to hold this place in your heart and never reveal its location to anyone. If you can take this oath to protect this place with your life, please take an edge of the cloth.”
Each of them took a section of cloth and held it between their fingers. The touch of the silver pricked their skin and a single drop of their blood mixed with the cloth. “You have given of yourself to this banner. Hold true to this oath.” Bryn rolled the banner tightly.
“Any one of you here may return to this place provided you do so only with others from this group or alone. The dragons protect this place and will stop all others from finding it. Come.”
Bryn led the group back up the stairs and into the meeting room. There she instructed the men to replace the flat stone. Once the stone covered the opening, it sank into the ground with dirt pushed over to hide it.
Arryn looked at Bryn and smiled. “So that is why we never saw it last night.”
Bryn returned his smile but said nothing. She approached the elders. “We must leave you now. Gement, your service to our ponies is appreciated. I will meet in eleven days with whoever wishes to be at Skiel.” She kissed each elder on the cheek. She tightly hugged her mother. “I will tell Father that you remain in Skiel and await my return.”
“He will aid you in your discussions with King Thamen,” Arlendyl replied. “He has been waiting a long time for this day. If only your brothers had lived to see it.”
“Had my brothers lived, different would have been my fate. All things travel by their own paths to meet in the middle. We will see my brothers again in the faces of the others who stand for those things they held most dear.”
“You are already wise beyond your years.” Arlendyl released her. “Safe journey, my daughter.”
The rest of the company took their leave of the elders and started up the hill toward the dragons. Malcolm stepped up next to Bryn. “How did you know about the markings on my arm?”
“IronHeart told me we were more kin than even he realized. That led me to go through my clann book. I found your grandsire’s name in my book.”
“We are cousins,” Malcolm said.
“We are. You carry some of the same blood, My Prince.”
“So does that make me an elf?” he asked with a sly smile.
Leus laughed. “No, but you are a cousin nonetheless.”
Malcolm frowned and then laughed. “This bond fills my heart with joy.” He rubbed IronHeart’s cheek before climbing onto his neck. “I thank you IronHeart for this revelation. Now quickly, we have work to do.”
The group of dragons on the hill took to the sky and set off in all directions, leaving just the dragon riders and their companions.
“Where do they go?” Gement asked as he gazed up at the sky.
“I have asked them to ring the island with their eyes,” Bryn said. “They fly now to all corners of our homeland to watch our coastlines. They will inform Meydra if they see anything of concern.”
“It has begun,” Lady Anestar said. “Kenna, do you follow me?”
“I will return to Skye in just a few days. I go first with Lady Athebryn as far as the Peak Stone.”
“Safe journey,” Lady Anestar called to her daughter.
“And to you, my Mother,” Kenna called back. She mounted Caraid and waited.
Lady Anethar smiled at Arryn. “Remember your charge, Arryn of the Epidii,” she said. “To lose one is to lose both.”
Arryn raised his fist to his chest and nodded. He looked at Thalynder and then to Bryn. If the need arose, could I choose between the two, he wondered. He climbed aboard FireSong’s neck, giving him a quick pat on the cheek as the dragon lowered his head. “Are you ready for this?” he asked as he set himself astride the dragon. FireSong gave a nod of his head, and Arryn felt a rumble under his legs. FireSong was purring. Arryn laughed and bent over to rub the dragon’s head. “I could not have said it better.”
Bryn watched the other riders take to their dragons. She was anxious about climbing on Meydra, and she turned to glance back at Thalynder with An Yun. Thalynder approached An Yun and offered her palm for the dragon to touch with her forehead. The dragon lowered her head and accepted Thalynder’s palm. As Thalynder pressed her palm against the dragon, the dragon moved her tail to touch Thalynder’s back. It was a gesture of acceptance and reassurance. An Yun had circled Thalynder, telling the princess that she not only accepted her companion, but that she would protect her as well. Bryn smiled and thanked the Astrum with her heart. It was one less point of worry for Bryn.
She turned to the elders and waved. As Bryn walked back toward Meydra, the other dragons bowed their heads and waited. Meydra lowered her head. Bryn touched her forehead to Meydra’s forehead,
and the two jewels glowed softly. Bryn raised her hands to rest on Meydra’s cheeks. Mo Anam, Bryn’s heart spoke. Take me now to the field south of Ceann Dùnaid. It is time to begin our return journey to the Realm That Touches Two Seas. We have much work ahead of us.
Meydra moved her tail to rest at Bryn’s back. You have come such a long way already, yet there is still much ahead of you. Rest easy, My Lady. The seas are clear today.
Bryn stepped back from Meydra’s face and climbed onto her neck. She looked again on the elders and at her birth village. The longing in her heart to remain in Skerrabrae was great. The songs of the ancients filled her ears. She called to the others, “Fly now dragon riders!”
The dragons lifted up and into the sky above Skerrabrae. They turned first east and then south, soon disappearing over the hills.
Lady Anethar watched until the last dragon was gone before she spoke. “She will not be happy with what we propose.”
Lady Albistan touched her sister’s shoulder. “She must be made to understand, Anethar. She is far too valuable an asset to lose.”
“The clanns will unite under her banner, of that we are certain,” Lady Adhar said. “She may even be able to persuade the lesser kingdoms to join or otherwise provide arms to the clanns. Some though, may not follow another in her stead.”
Lady Anestar shook her head. “They will have to follow another. Lady Athebryn cannot be allowed to be among those who face the enemy. As Albistan noted, she is far too valuable. To lose her would do more harm to the clanns than if the legend never saw light. Again, she must be made to understand.”
Lady Arlendyl sighed and turned from the hill to meet each of their gaze. “I know my daughter. She will balk at the notion that she must be preserved like an old book, wrapped in cloth and stored away in some dark recess of an ancient wall. She will want to be where she can watch the invaders suffer the same fate as her brothers. She will feel she cannot lead from a throne in a stone keep.”