Dead Moon Awakens: A tale of Cherokee myth and Celtic magic (Mystic Gates)

by Teresa Joyce Jackson

  “Yes!” Aishling said. At the same time, she remembered that the Ogham Few, or Druid symbol, on her bell stood for the “ash” tree. Lance had to be right!

  “That’s it!” Morrigan said, running ahead. The others followed, but Morrigan spun around, stopping them. “Wait, you can’t see where the archway is from here. Someone needs to stand back and guide us through. Kelile, you go back and guide us. Then you can stay here and make sure no one follows us.”

  “What? Look voodoo queen, I’m supposed to be on this little excursion. Remember? The bitch witch is in my head, not yours.”

  “Stop it, you two,” Lance said. “Aishling, you stay here. I’ll go back and guide you to the archway. Kelile find a large stone or something we can use to mark the entrance. And, Morrigan, back off.”

  Five minutes later, Aishling stood with the others at the gateway, squirming with excitement and tingling all over. She clutched the silver bell in her left hand and obsidian in her right. When she closed her eyes and took a calming breath, another memory filtered through about the ash tree. It’s a link to all worlds and a guide in and out of those worlds. It’s found around sacred sites that are guarded by serpents! But Ma wouldn’t send me here if it weren’t safe.

  “Okay,” she said, nervously looking around. What do I do now?

  Ever so faintly, a whispered voice said, “Ring the bell. Calm the energies. Breathe deeply, slowly.”

  She checked to see if the others had heard it. They hadn’t, and were staring at her. One of the ash trees must be guiding me! Closing her eyes, she listened once more.

  “Visualize your spirit opening from a bud into a radiant flower. Now visualize the flower joining with the earth energies surrounding you. Feel yourself vibrate in tune with Mother Earth. Open your heart. Open your soul. You have nothing to fear. The stone you hold protects you. Ring the bell again and step through the threshold.”

  When she crossed over and opened her eyes, she stood ninety feet away from the entrance of a cave, a cave that had not been there moments before. “Yes!” She bounced for a split-second before realizing the others weren’t with her. The excitement fell away. Her chest tightened, and she gasped.

  Okay, I need to calm down. I’ll just go back and bring them through.

  As she stepped back through the portal, Morrigan screeched, “You disappeared! Weren’t you going take us with you?”

  “I didn’t know you couldn’t come with me on your own. I think you need to hold on to my arms and move with me.”

  Lance and Kelile looked at each other, hesitating. She worried they wouldn’t come, but Lance reached out and clasped her arm at the same time Morrigan and Kelile grasped her other arm. “Okay. Here we go, I hope.”

  She didn’t hear the voice as before, so she repeated the same process. When she stepped through the gateway this time, the others stood next to her.

  “Man! Jeez! I can’t believe this!” Kelile patted his arms and whirled around.

  “Wow,” Lance whispered.

  “I knew it! I knew you could do it, Aish.” Morrigan clapped and jumped up and down.

  “We should get our flashlights, Kelile,” Lance said as he retrieved his.

  “How are we goin’ to mark the gateway on this side?” Kelile asked.

  “Can you leave your backpack here?” Lance said.

  “Sure.”

  Aishling and Lance led the way to the cave. Before entering, she stashed her bell and obsidian into the extra pocket of her backpack.

  Light from their flashlights revealed a tunnel with nothing more than earthen walls. No life anywhere. No bugs. No bats. No nothing but darkness.

  After several hour-long minutes, Aishling worried the cave was an unending path to nowhere. Would they get lost in there?

  “Look at that,” Morrigan said, pointing in the direction Kelile’s flashlight lit. “It looks like another tunnel.” She bounded through the opening.

  “Morri!”

  “Wait!” Kelile said.

  They sprang forward to the archway after her and stopped, their flashlights piercing the darkness beyond.

  No Morrigan.

  Aishling shouted again, “Morri!”

  No answer.

  Morrigan had vanished.

  40

  How could she disappear like that? It didn’t make sense. Morri hadn’t screamed, hadn’t said anything. She was there, and then she wasn’t, gone within a second. Aishling edged forward to enter the tunnel and look for her.

  Kelile stopped her. “Wait. Why doesn’t she come back?”

  “Could this be an entrance to another realm?” Lance said.

  “Yes. That makes sense,” she answered. “Like when I stepped through back there and you-uns weren’t with me.”

  “Yes, but you came back,” Lance said.

  “But remember, man? She was gone for several minutes before she did.”

  “To me, it was only seconds.” She stared at the darkness ahead. “How could Morri go into another realm without me?”

  “Maybe once you enter the gateway you can wander in and out of different places, or realms,” Lance answered. “We shouldn’t separate.”

  “Okay,” she whispered. “Hold on to me and we’ll go together.”

  They found Morrigan on the other side of an expansive cavern. She was crouched near a far wall with her hands covering her eyes, crying.

  “Morri!” Aishling called, moving ahead to go to her. Lance stopped her and set his backpack by the entrance they had just come through before releasing her. He walked alongside her.

  Aishling’s relief at finding Morrigan turned into awe. Unlike the tunnel they had been in before, this cavern’s walls were embedded with thousands of luminous crystals glowing in different hues of color, as though they were inside a sparkling rainbow. And, what looked like frost or crystals of ice blanketed the cavern’s ceiling, illuminating the cavern with varying shades of white light. The different shades of light and color created a warm and cozy feeling.

  They had entered through one of four openings. The sounds of a nearby waterfall emanated from a side chamber, left of where they had entered. “It’s so beautiful in here,” Aishling said.

  “What are you talking about? It’s horrible!” Morrigan kept her hands over her eyes. “It’s pitch black. How can you see anything? And the bugs! It feels like bugs are crawling all over me.” Her whole body shuddered.

  “Morrigan calm down.” Lance patted her on the shoulder. “Open your eyes. Aishling’s right.”

  She peeked through her fingers and stood. “What happened? It wasn’t like this when I came in.” Wiping her eyes as she looked around, she said, “It was dreadful! I heard all these crawly things everywhere. I couldn’t see them. Then I felt them crawling all over me. I couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black. And the smell. It was dreadful! I thought I was going to throw up. And why did it take you so long to find me? I yelled and yelled for you!”

  “Maybe that’ll teach you to stay with us.”

  “Oh, I hate you!” she yelled, glaring at Kelile.

  “Ouch.” He grinned, baring his teeth, and turned away from her. “What do we do now?”

  Lance glanced around at the walls. “Find the Ulunsuti.”

  “I’m on it, man.” Kelile went to the nearest cave wall and began looking at the embedded crystals as he strode closer to the others. “It’s gotta be one of these.”

  Aishling patted Morrigan’s left shoulder, trying to calm her. At the same time, she ran her left fingertips over the crystal wall next to them. “We don’t know for sure what it looks like.”

  “I think I’ll know it when I see it. The bitch witch is really yakkin’ at me right now.” Kelile huffed and continued his search.

  “Well, oh psychic one, where is it?” Morrigan smirked.

  Aishling ambled toward the side chamber where she heard the waterfall. “You’ll find it where the four elements meet and join.”

  “How’d you know that’s what the bitch wi
tch was saying?” Kelile asked.

  “I don’t know. I just did.”

  “What?” Lance said. “What does it mean … where the four elements meet and join?”

  “Where air, fire, water, and earth meet as one.” Aishling continued moving toward the other chamber as though pulled by an invisible rope.

  “But, Aishling … fire?” Lance said.

  She stopped. Fire.

  Morrigan said, “We have earth and air in here, and water in there.” She pointed to Aishling who now stood at the entrance of the side cavern, facing her. “What if we build a fire? Would the stone reveal itself to us?”

  “Yeah. It’ll be that easy, my queen. Just for you. All we do is build a fire, and the stone magically appears.” Kelile smirked.

  Morrigan stuck out her tongue at him.

  “Oh, that’s it. We build a fire. The stone pops up in front of us, and you catch it with that.” He leaped for her and swiped at her face.

  “Enough!” Lance.

  Kelile jerked away from Morrigan and cupped his ears. “Aishling must be right ‘cause the bitch witch is screamin’ it now.”

  “The voice you hear is telling you we need a fire?” Lance asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “And you think that, too, Aishling?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, then we need to go back out, get some stuff to make a fire and return.”

  Morrigan shrieked, pointing at Aishling, then screamed.

  Aishling didn’t have to look at what Morrigan pointed to. She knew. Her dreams had warned her. And now, she heard it behind her, slithering across the cavern floor. She sensed its energies. Smelled its foul stench. Saw it in Morri’s face. Why had Ma sent her here if it weren’t safe?

  On impulse, she pulled out her silver bell and rang it as loud, as clamorous as she could. She also grabbed her obsidian then turned in time to see a horned serpent the size of an ancient oak tree raise off the ground and lunge away from her. The bell works. “Get out of here!” she yelled.

  Morrigan and Kelile raced through the opening Lance had marked with his backpack and disappeared.

  She scrambled after them, but slipped, dropping the bell and obsidian.

  The Uktena undulated after her as she fumbled for her magic tools. A flashback streaked through her thoughts—a time of struggling like this before when the serpent was coming for her.

  “Hey! Over here!” Lance stood at the opening, waving and clapping his hands.

  The Uktena changed directions and moved toward him.

  “No!” Aishling yelled. She grabbed the bell and rang it while picking up the obsidian and scuttling to her feet.

  Seeming confused, the Uktena stopped. She raced to Lance.

  But when the Uktena emitted a hideous wave of hissing whispers, she almost dropped everything to cover her ears. Keep ringing the bell! Keep ringing the bell!—she told herself.

  Lance pulled her through the entryway.

  She looked for the others, but couldn’t see past the flashlight’s glow. Were they already out of the tunnel? Were they headed back to the portal?

  “Where are they?” Lance shouted above the clanging bell.

  “Maybe they’re at the cave entrance.”

  She kept tripping and running into the tunnel wall, pulling Lance with her. The flashlight dimmed, and now she couldn’t see. Her skin prickled when she smelled rotten eggs. Oh no! It’s getting closer.

  Lance released his hold on her. She stumbled and fell again. Metal slapped against the cave wall. He must have fallen too.

  “The bell! Keep ringing the bell!” he shouted.

  As she got up, she couldn’t tell which way to run. As in her dream, she found herself in a thick, black fog.

  Her intuition told her to keep moving in the direction she was facing. Using the tunnel wall for guidance, she hastened on, still ringing the bell.

  It had been several moments, and she hadn’t heard Lance. “Lance,” she called. “Lance?”

  No answer.

  Like the dream.

  “Lance? Morri? Kelile?”

  Again, no answer.

  Was she going in the right direction?

  She spotted a glimmer of light ahead. The opening! But the others weren’t there. How had she gotten ahead of them?

  What should she do? She had to keep ringing the bell, but she couldn’t hear if the others were coming. Could they have gone back through the portal already? But how?

  “Lance?” she yelled again. “Kelile? Morri?”

  She would have to be quiet and listen. While leaning against the tunnel wall and holding the obsidian in front of her, she stopped ringing the bell.

  Someone screamed.

  “Morri?”

  “Keep ringing the bell,” a muffled shout from Lance.

  But she couldn’t tell how far back he was. She rang the bell again. Oh, Goddess. “Hurry, Lance.”

  She didn’t know how to build the protective fire. With that realization, she froze.

  A dragging noise grew louder, moved closer. The Uktena!

  She rattled the bell as hard as she could.

  Something brushed her side.

  She screamed.

  “It’s us,” Kelile shouted, grabbing her arm and pulling her through the cave opening, toward the gateway.

  “Get my backpack, girl!”

  When the four of them tumbled through the gateway, stress poured out of her body … until she realized Morri wasn’t moving.

  “Help me. We’ve got to get her out of here,” Lance said.

  Aishling almost collapsed when she spotted the bite marks on Morrigan’s neck. “No!”

  Kelile grabbed his backpack from her and slung it on his back then helped Lance pick up Morrigan. A harsh silence took over as they pulled and struggled and panted and huffed, trying to get away from the thong trees.

  When she thought they were far enough away, she glanced back. What she saw made her bones feel like old, crumbling plaster.

  41

  “The Uktena!” Aishling shrieked. “It’s still coming!”

  “What?” Lance and Kelile wavered briefly, and then heaved forward with Morrigan in tow.

  “Ring that bell, girl,” Kelile said through heavy breaths.

  “It’s gaining on us,” Lance bellowed. “There’s no way we can outrun it!”

  “Good witch. Do that safety thang.”

  “Hurry!” Lance gasped.

  Darting in front of the others, she used her hands to block them. “Stop moving!” She stepped away. Inhaling deeply, she raised her left arm and swung clockwise. As she visualized herself marking a large circle around them, she hammered her words, “Mother Goddess, let nothing harmful penetrate the boundary I now draw.”

  “It’s almost here!” Kelile shouted.

  “Don’t move! Keep us safe in this circle from all that can harm and repel all that would attack!” She made another quick rotation.

  “Creator help us,” Lance muttered.

  “The first creates the boundary. The second binds our safety. The third seals this spell. As I see, as I will, so mote it be!”

  The Uktena lifted into a strike position, slammed into the protective circle, and bounced off, emitting an irking screech.

  Aishling collapsed to the ground and crawled next to Morrigan, whose breathing was barely noticeable. The bite on her neck oozed with blood and a green, slimy substance; and her neck was bruising black. Oh Goddess.

  “Heal her, good witch.” Kelile dropped his backpack and sank next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Can you?”

  She set her bell and obsidian into her lap, slid off her backpack, and rubbed her hands together. But she couldn’t focus, couldn’t see the golden light or hear any guiding voices. She couldn’t summon the magick. Her thoughts were too dark and fearful. Gnawing hopelessness chewed at her insides. Would Morri die? Would they all die?

  “It’s working, Aishling,” Lance uttered. “Your protective circle is wor
king.”

  When she looked into his eyes, he moved them in the direction of the Uktena. The moment she glared at it, it opened its mouth revealing sword-like fangs and emitted another deafening whirr.

  But then, she realized the Uktena was inching its way around the circle, not trying to break through.

  Kelile squeezed her shoulders and let go. “I’ll never make fun of you again, girl. Never.” His breathing slowed and evened out. “What about the queen? Can you fix her?”

  The fact that her protective circle had worked provided a scrap of hope. “I’ll try.”

  “Don’t try. Do.”

  After rubbing her hands together again, she laid the obsidian on Morrigan’s neck. When she looked at Lance, he nodded. She glanced at Kelile next.

  “You can do it, good witch.”

  Cuddling the stone with her hands over Morrigan’s wound, she proceeded with the visualization and healing ritual. When she finished, she removed her hands and the obsidian. The three of them peered down at Morrigan’s neck. The bleeding had stopped and the bite marks looked better than before, but were still prominent. Morrigan remained in a death-like trance. Yet, her breathing had become stronger, steadier. And her pallid skin was beginning to regain some color.

  “We’ve got to get help for her,” Lance said.

  “How, man?”

  “I’ve got to get out of here and find Redhawk.”

  “Okay.” Kelile panted. “I’ll draw that sleazy worm away while you run for it.”

  “No!” Aishling said.

  “Have you got a better idea?” Kelile.

  “Yes.” Before saying anything else, she stared at the serpent as it continued slithering around their safety perimeter. “Maybe the Uktena is following the sound of this bell. Though the bell is for protection, I think it can also summon Otherworld beings. Maybe I summoned it into our reality.”

  “What?” Lance.

  “Maybe it’s following the sound of the bell,” she answered. “What if we throw the bell toward the portal? When the Uktena follows it, one of us could make a run for it.”

  Lance stared past her. “But what if it’s the bell that’s helping to keep it away?”

  She shrugged, and then noticed something. Sitting up on her knees, she watched the Uktena again. “No, I don’t think the bell is keeping it away. Look at those drag marks. It’s moving away from us. Its circles are getting larger, wider. It’s searching for the bell! I don’t know how I know it, but I know it.”