The Power of Seven

by Peter R. Ellis

  “Oh, my dear,” Arianrhod said, “we heard that you have had a troubled journey beset by the manifestations. I am sorry if this is difficult for you.”

  September wiped her eyes.

  “I’m being silly. Aurddolen says that they gave their lives willingly to get me here but it seems such a waste and I don’t know whether I deserve such help.”

  “You certainly do, Cludydd,” Heini said firmly, “you are the hope of all of us in the Land.”

  “Now, Heini, can’t you see that the Cludydd is just a young girl not used to such responsibility? Telling her that it’s up to her to save us all is hardly going to cheer her up is it?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Now, Cludydd, or may we call you September?”

  “Please, I’d like that,” September sniffed and took a sip of the drink in the goblet. It was the same sharp, refreshing liquid she had drunk at Dwytrefrhaedr.

  “Would you like to tell us about your journey and these brave friends that you had, or is that too painful?” Arianrhod asked.

  “No, I’d like to. I want to remember what they were like.” September began to tell her story from the moment she arrived in Gwlad. It took a lot of telling in between eating the wonderful fresh food. She had barely started on the journey up the river when the room fell silent and she looked up to see the Mordeyrn rising to his feet, a goblet in his hand.

  “I want to welcome the Cludydd o Maengolauseren, the latest bearer of the starstone. She barely understands the purpose of her calling but knows that we have great faith in her. But faith is not sufficient to defeat the Malevolence, so we must also thank the brave people who have supported the Cludydd on her arrival amongst us and on her journey, and especially we remember those who gave their lives to give us hope.” Aurddolen paused and there were murmurs of approval from the guests, then he continued, “But enough of solemnity. Thank you all for your company this evening, and,” he said casting his eyes away from the main table, “all of you who are working so hard to maintain this observatory and look after its guests. I am pleased to report that the Malevolence has ceased its siege of the Arsyllfa, at least for the time being. The sulphurous mists have lifted and our view of the heavens is once again as clear as it should be. Night has fallen while we ate and so I suggest we climb to the observatory itself and show the Cludydd a little of the purpose of this institution, fortress and refuge. First however, let us drain our cups and be cheered that we are together,” he urged, raising his goblet, “To our hopes for times to come.”

  The Mordeyrn sat down amongst echoes of his toast, and excited chatter. People got up and started to clear away dishes or to talk to someone other than their neighbour. September was about to continue eating and resume her conversation with Heini and Arianrhod, when she was greeted by Heulwen. September looked up to see the girl flanked by two large dark-skinned men.

  “Oh, hi, Heulwen,” September said.

  “I want you to meet Cynhaearn and Cynwal,” Heulwen said. The two men nodded their heads to September.

  “Hello. You are…?” September looked from one tall, stocky man to the other.

  “Cynhaearn is prif-cludydd o haearn and Mordeyrn of Mynydd Tywyll,” Heulwen said. The slightly taller of the men nodded again. Both looked to be middle-aged with grey in their short hair, although Cynwal was the greyer of the two.

  “That’s the mountain region with the metal mines, isn’t it?” September said.

  “Yes, we produce all the metals used in the Land,” Cynhaearn said proudly, “and Cynwal is my fellow miner and Prif-cludydd o plwm.” His companion nodded.

  “Oh, I know that one. That’s lead,” September said, relieved that she was getting the hang of the metals although Cynhaearn’s accent was difficult to understand.

  “We are very pleased to meet you, Cludydd,” Cynwal said in an equally broad accent.

  “It’s nice to meet you too. I haven’t met anyone from the mountains before.”

  Before September could get into further conversation, Heulwen pulled on the two powerful men’s arms.

  “Let’s go and check the Arsyllfa’s walls, shall we.” Cynhaearn and Cynwal reluctantly allowed themselves to be lead away.

  September turned back to Heini and Arianrhod.

  “Cynhaearn and Cynwal are responsible for the Arsyllfa’s defences,” Arianrhod explained, “but I think Heulwen likes to keep the two of them to herself.”

  September could see the attraction of the strong men even though they were considerably older than Heulwen.

  “And Heulwen does like to think she plays a part in protecting us all in here,” Heini added with a wink.

  “Shall we guide you to the Observatory?” Arianrhod said, “It is quite a climb and I’m afraid I am rather slow these days so you may prefer to go with one of the young people.”

  September looked around and saw that most of the dinner guests, particularly the younger ones, had already left. Aurddolen was deep in conversation with a frail old man and a young woman. They left the dining hall together.

  “No, I’ll come with you,” September said and stood just as they were approached by two women, one tall and thin with auburn hair and the other, short and a little stout. Both were past middle-age. The tall one spoke.

  “Cludydd, we are so delighted to speak to you at last. I am Anarawd, bearer of copper. I am sure you understand that better than ‘Prif-cludydd o efyddyn’. The old language is so obscure.”

  “Oh, thank you. Copper, yes, the metal that my strange phone is made of,” September said.

  “Phone?” Anarawd looked confused.

  “Um, speaking thing,” September tried to explain.

  “Ah, yes, you have a horn for communicating over great distances.”

  “That’s right. It was given to me by the cludydd at Amaethaderyn; her name is Catrin.”

  “Can I get a word in do you think?” the plump lady said light-heartedly.

  “Of course, my dear,” Anarawd said, “This is Betrys, the bearer of tin and bringer of joy.”

  “That’s right, that’s what my name means,” Betrys said, “and as Anarawd has said we are so happy to see you, my dear. You have given us all hope, as well as an opportunity for a lovely dinner.” She giggled.

  “She may look dizzy,” Anarawd said, “but don’t be fooled, she is also mordeyrn of Arfordir Dwyrain.”

  “Where’s that?” September asked.

  “My home, the eastern coastal region,” Heini spoke up.

  “Thank you Heini,” Betrys replied, “yes, we’re both from the other side of Gwlad. Now we had better get up to the observatory and see what Aurddolen has got for us.”

  They left the dining hall through the large doors by which September had entered and walked down wide corridors until they came to a spiral staircase. The marble steps wound around a stone pillar. September began to climb and soon left her four companions behind. Before long she caught up the ancient old man accompanying Aurddolen and the younger woman. She slowed down until they reached a landing where Aurddolen and the woman were waiting. The old man paused, wheezing.

  “Ah, September,” Aurddolen said, “This is a good moment to introduce Eryl the Seryddwr and custodian of the Arsyllfa.”

  “Seryddwr?” September asked.

  “I observe the stars and the bodies that wander across the sky,” the frail old man whispered between breaths.

  “And Hedydd is his apprentice or perhaps I should say his deputy,” Aurddolen continued.

  “Oh, I will always be Eryl’s apprentice,” the fair, young woman said cheerfully, “Shall we climb the stairs and leave these old ones to follow us, Cludydd?”

  “Is there much further?”

  “Oh yes, the observatory is at the top of the tallest tower of the Arsyllfa.” Hedydd led September up the steps, leaving the Mordeyrn and the astronomer to make their slow ascent.

  The two of them climbed quickly but even September was beginning to feel the strain on her thighs. Cold gusts blew
down on them and she began to regret wearing just the thin dress. At last they reached the final step and a small landing.

  “Put a coat on,” Hedydd said, taking a thick woollen jacket from a hook beside the door, “it’s cold outside.”

  September needed no persuading so chose an oversized jacket and wrapped it around herself. When Hedydd pushed the door open a blast of freezing air hit her, but she stepped out on to the smooth black floor of the observatory full of wonder. The sky was clear and filled with stars. Each star seemed like a tiny lantern that she could reach out and grab. She wondered at being exposed at the very top of the building on the tallest hill but as her eyes adjusted to the night-time light she saw the skeleton of a dome curving above her head. It was the dull grey of iron inlaid with silver-coloured metal and wound around with a thin gold thread.

  Hedydd saw her tracing the semi-circles of the framework.

  “We are still in the protection of the Arsyllfa,” she reassured September, “The dome is made of haearn, plwm, alcam and aur, but its structure allows us to see all of the sky.”

  The dome covered the whole top of the tower, a considerable area, occupied by the dinner guests and some strange pieces of equipment. Some were long straight wooden rods fixed to tripods, but in the centre of the floor stood an instrument that looked to September like a giant protractor. It too was made of dark wood standing on a circle of copper inlaid into the floor and engraved with radiating lines and numbers. She realised that they marked out the degrees of a circle and that the protractor was similarly marked. A rod some six or seven metres long was fixed to the centre of the protractor with what looked like gun-sights at each end.

  “These, um, instruments, what are they for?” September asked.

  “They assist our observations and allow us to record the positions and movement of the planets and the stars,” Hedydd replied.

  “But I don’t see a telescope,” September said, looking again around the observatory.

  “Telescope?” Hedydd asked.

  “You look through it and it makes things look bigger.”

  “I have no knowledge of such a thing, Cludydd. How does it work?”

  That stopped September. How does a telescope work, she wondered.

  “Well it’s a tube which has lenses at each end, or I think you can use mirrors instead.”

  “I do not understand you, I am sorry. You have these instruments in your world?”

  “Yes, astronomers have used them for ages to look into space.” September vaguely recalled that Galileo had something to do with the invention of the telescope. Now how many hundreds of years ago did he live? It seemed that astronomy in the Land was stuck in the Middle Ages. “Have you been observing for long? You said you were Eryl’s apprentice.”

  “I have been here since I was a child, over twenty five years. Eryl has taught me much but I fear that he still has things to show me although he nears the end of his life.”

  “He seems pretty old. Are there no other astronomers? Is this whole fortress just for the two of you?”

  “The Mordeyrn has suggested that more be trained and half a dozen children have been brought here to learn. It is my job to teach them. But Eryl is the Seryddwr and I am his pupil.”

  The other Prif-cludyddau were arriving puffing and panting from their climb, their breath forming a mist around their heads. Finally, Aurddolen came supporting Eryl. He closed the door to the stairs shutting out the light. Now the rooftop was completely dark but for the light of the stars. The guests gathered around Aurddolen and Eryl next to the big protractor.

  “Friends, I have brought you up here into the cold of the mountain night for a number of reasons. First of all, because we can. The besiegers have left, for the time being at least, and the obscuring stench of the Malevolence has blown away. We have fresh air and a clear view of the sphere of stars revolving around us and the planets moving across the sky.” There was a murmur of agreement and sighs of relief. Aurddolen went on.

  “I also brought you here to remind you that this is why the Arysllfa exists; Heulyn’s life’s work; the means by which we plan for the resurgence of the Malevolence. Eryl and the Seryddwr before him have, over the centuries, recorded the wanderings of the planets and noted signs of disturbance amongst the stars. This enables us to predict the time of the next Cysylltiad when the planets, the Moon and the Sun will be together in the sky. Their protecting influence will be reduced almost to nothing and we will be exposed to the full power of the evil above the stars. We have known for a lifetime that the time was approaching. For years we have known that it is soon. The successful summoning of the Cludydd o Maengolauseren confirmed that the evil is descending in greater and greater power. I thought it fitting, now that the Cludydd is with us, to announce to you the final conclusions of Eryl’s calculations, here where he has laboured night and day throughout his long life. We now know the time and the place where our destiny awaits us.”

  The hushed silence of the throng told September that the others anticipated the Mordeyrn’s words as much if not more than she did. They had lived their lives waiting for the moment they would discover when their greatest battle would take place. Aurddolen took a deep breath and spoke slowly but powerfully.

  “The time is sooner than we expected, sooner perhaps than we hoped. The Conjunction is just two months away. It will take place at the close of this year, on the day of the winter solstice.” There were gasps and cries from the assembled cludydds.

  “We cannot be ready,” someone called out.

  “So soon!” another exclaimed.

  Aurddolen ignored the rising murmur of disquiet. “On the shortest day, the Land will be at its most vulnerable to the Malevolence. The focus of the evil power will be where the Sun will not rise, in the frozen wastes beyond the Mynydd Tywyll. There we must meet with the forces of the Malevolence and, with all the energy and skill at our service, fling it back beyond the stars. Already Iau and Sadwrn are gone from the night sky, hidden by the brilliance of the Sun as they revolve around us together. In the coming weeks the other planets will also disappear from view and on that night Lleuad will be invisible. The time is almost upon us but we have the Cludydd o Maengolauseren and my symbol of the power of gold will be restored. The people of Mynydd Tywyll are gathering together all that we need for our expedition into the ice. Very soon we must journey to join them.”

  Many of the audience began talking urgently to each other. September wasn’t sure that she had understood everything that he had said but gathered that the climax to her mission in the Land was just a few weeks away, somewhere in the Arctic north, thousands of kilometres away. There was a cold hard lump in her stomach. She didn’t want to face the journey, the cold or the Malevolence but she could think of no way of getting out of any of it. Her hip started to itch. Memory flickered. She reached inside the thick jacket for the pendant. Her thumb pressed the catch and she stared at the dimly glowing stone within.

  “But it is so far. How can you get there in time?” September could not see who had spoken.

  “It is true that the place is distant from us,” Aurddolen answered, “We shall have to travel as fast as boat and steed will allow us, but we…”

  “Draig tân! Due west!” Hedydd, standing by September’s side, shouted and pointed. Everyone turned to look in the direction she indicated. There, unmistakably, was a bright star with a curving tail.

  “So the Malevolence has not given us much time of respite,” Aurddolen said, “Do not fear, the Arsyllfa will protect us.”

  “Another one, to the north!” Eryl shrieked, his shaky voice causing all eyes to turn ninety degrees to see where his finger pointed. September marvelled at how his aged sight could pick out the point of light amongst all the other stars, but it was there all right.

  “And another, coming from the south!” another voice called.

  “And from the east!” cried another.

  September span around looking for each of the comets at the four points of
the compass. Already it was possible to see that the comets were approaching, the points becoming discs. There was none of the panic she had witnessed at the previous appearances of Draig tân, but the Prif-cludyddau were agitated.

  “Four, at once!”

  “Never have we seen so many!”

  “The directions are so precise. It’s unheard of!”

  September turned to face Hedydd.

  “Have you seen one of these things before?”

  “No, there have been none here. We presumed that our defences deflected them.”

  “Well something has attracted them, and it’s probably me.” She looked at the Maengolauseren, now glowing more brightly, and rubbed her hip where the itch was becoming a burn.

  “But I know this is remarkable,” Hedydd continued.

  “Why?”

  “A coordinated attack from the four corners of the Land. It shows pre-meditation that the Malevolence is not supposed to possess.”

  “You know all about it?”

  “Oh, yes, I have studied all the tales and reports of the evil over thousands of years. There has never been anything like this before. The attacks, even when drawn to a cludydd, are always random, uncoordinated, unplanned.”

  “Something has changed.”

  “Yes, and I don’t like it.”

  The Mordeyrn strode to the edge of the floor, standing by the low parapet.

  “We will withstand this unprecedented onslaught,” he said, “Our power will prevail.” He grabbed hold of one of the spars of the dome. A glow spread from his hand along the gold thread entwined around the iron bar. The golden illumination spread over their heads until every part of the framework was radiating yellow light. Cynhaearn, Cynwal and Betrys joined him and took hold of the metal rods.

  “The power of Haearn is with us,” Cynhaearn shouted.

  “Plwm too!” “And Alcam!” Cynwal and Betrys added their voices.

  Red light sprang from Cynhaearn’s hand and white from Cynwal and Betrys. Their energy spread and mixed with Aurddolen’s golden gleam so that a tracery of shining light was formed in a hemisphere over them.

  The night sky was still visible between the strips of light and the four comets were growing rapidly and coming straight towards the tower of the Arsyllfa.