Stoc (A New Druids Series Book 3)

by Donald D. Allan

  Healy was furious at the loss of his gold. His deal with Mushir Adham required the gold to keep the man and his army at his beck and call. He needed it back. "If the gold was not in the chest where is it? We have searched everywhere. Tracked all coin in the Realm and large expenses. Nothing ever stood out. It must be somewhere! Surely, with your powers you can locate it?"

  "I care not. The Mushir will land in Belkin in three months' time. Be ready."

  Healy gritted his teeth. "I am ready. All is in place. But I need that coin. I need it to secure the realm and the Mushir. You do understand that? For this to work I need that coin! That was our bargain! You need it as much as I do!"

  "Do not tell me what I need! I have planned for a long time. A scant thousand coins will not matter..."

  A soft knock at the door announced the Chief of Staff had arrived. Healy glanced to the door and when he looked back Kamal was gone. Healy shuddered and felt a vertigo. Kamal seemed worse than the druids. And yet I made the deal and here I am. Magic is such an evil thing and Kamal wields it like none other, he thought. At least that Archbishop was smart enough to wipe the demons out of existence. The memory of Belle Arbor throwing magic around in this very room flashed through his thoughts and he shook himself. Everything that has happened goes back to that night.

  Healy tried to compose himself. The loss of the gold was staggering and his thoughts reeled with it. He felt the world rock under his feet. He held his head in his hands a moment and then centred himself.

  "Enter," he called out and watched as his Chief of Staff walked in carrying documents under his arm. "We have much to discuss. Sit, and I will order more refreshments."

  Part One: Parry

  One

  Rigby Farm, April 901 A.C.

  THE LAST EIGHT months passed at a furious pace at the Rigby Farm. We gathered the harvest, and celebrated Mabon Days, although the time was dampened by the mourning for those who had fallen. Crying from the flocks of birds flying south ceased and the winds from the north grew cold and snow soon followed. Samhain, Yule, and Imbolc celebrations came and went in a blink of an eye. When the snow and ice melted with the warmer winds of spring, the cries of birds returning north filled the sky and the fields were turned with ploughs for planting.

  The farm, I learned, was self-sufficient, and I wandered about marvelling at the work and chores. Having raised myself in the wild and with little understanding of normal activity I was amazed at the activity I saw daily. Steve Comlin's crew and the farm hands produced everything our small community required. Various buildings supported the storage and manufacture of everything the farm produced, with the work in the forge and the stable central to the effort. The smithy was an exciting but dangerous place to be. The fiery coals in the hearth would shower sparks all around when using the bellows; which were huge and worked by a long, slim, wooden shaft. The handle was pulled down hard, then released to produce just the right amount of air for the fire.

  Often pieces of metal looked harmless but were burning hot to the touch. Once I got caught out when watching as our smithy, Charlie Mearns, put the finishing touches to a horseshoe he was making. Using pincers, he placed the shoe on the anvil and with his hammer thinned the metal out until the excess fell off. I shouted as the red-hot fragment sprang from the anvil and got lodged in my boot. He laughed as I plunged my boot and foot into the cold-water tank.

  "That wull larn ye!" he said, his face flushed red with heat and effort.

  The smithy was strange to my draoi sight. I could sense Charlie, and the effort he exerted. I could see his aura flair with emotion and strain as he forced the metal to his will. But of the metal or even the rocks, I could sense nothing with Gaea's power. It was only life, in all its forms, that filled the world with its bright, vibrant energy. Sometimes I spent hours just watching the surrounding life. We all were quick to identify a draoi caught up in the wonder with their face smiling and eyes unfocused. Those caught were teased, but we all did it. It made us feel that much closer to Gaea and the harmony of nature.

  I often watched as Charlie shoed our horses. The most pungent smell of all around the forge was when a newly made horseshoe was embedded in the hoof. Before that happened, the old shoe was removed, and the hoof cut back, pared and cleaned. Charlie would blow out with a hissing noise to prevent his inhaling the acrid smoke from the burning hoof as the shoe was put in place. This noise was very like the sizzling sound made when a red-hot horseshoe was plunged into cold water. Charlie did it all so effortlessly and I loved to watch him work.

  The trickiest moment was when he had to lift a hind leg to look at old, broken shoes. Levering off one of these shoes took both hands, so there was a danger the horse would kick out unhindered, or it could lean its whole weight on our farrier, possibly crushing him against a wall. It infuriated Charlie when an animal thwarted him. My draoi students would work with Charlie and keep the horses calm. They also calmed Charlie. He had struck a horse once. He had yet to repeat the act after Katherine had spent an hour yelling at him.

  Once, in Jergen, we had bought a poor red cow that no one else would bid for to augment our dairy production. We had tied it to the back of one of our floats and dragged it home kicking. In time, my draoi had calmed the animal, but it had taken a long time. The poor animal had been horribly abused and loathed people on site. At first, the only way to milk her was to tie one of her hind legs up and put a rope on the other. It was a battle of wills. The cow would kick out the stars in the sky when milked. Once calmed, the cow, named Potato by Charlie, was one of our nicest animals. She followed Charlie when she could; which annoyed him no end. Katherine hid her smiles, but we all knew she was behind it. Another cow was welcome on our farm as the added milk improved our diet: milk to drink, butter to spread, and custards and puddings became everyday occurrences from Dempster.

  The birth of Anne's baby girl had been a welcomed distraction in November and Nadine had nursed over mother and child incessantly since. Dempster hovered over mother and child much to Anne's annoyance. He figured himself the surrogate father and doted on them. He was always preparing new and strange foods for the baby. Strained and pureed were new words for all of us. He talked of starting a business with it. Anne thought him daft and would pull out a teat and latch the baby to it and point and say that was all she needed. They argued like a married couple but we all could see that Anne wanted little to do with Dempster. I felt sad for my old friend. When we cautioned him, he would smile and nod. He was convinced otherwise.

  Steve Comlin had slipped back into his role as leader of his sixty crew and had taken firm control of the farm and farmhands and had them focus on the land and building the draoi school buildings in the first month. His crew trained daily with sword, bow and plough. The crew and farmhands shared the same building. Steve called it the barracks, but it looked more like a home to me. We all knew one another and friendships formed easily. The crew watched in wonder as the draoi practiced their skills. It was becoming common place to see magic working the land and animals. It made life so much easier for everyone.

  For me it was a little strange to see the bustle of so many people and see the smiles and nods of recognition toward me. It was welcome after a lifetime of solitude but strange, nonetheless. Nadine and I would walk hand-in-hand throughout the farm and help out where we could. I gathered herbs and grew a large garden near the main house for Dempster. He found he had a knack for gardening and was always bent over weeding and tending to the plants.

  Steve Comlin was often gone visiting the Baron of Turgany at his country estate leaving Franky in charge. He said he was working with the Baron to train his private army. Baron Andrew Windthrop had pulled together an army of some size despite the laws of the realm forbidding it. They trained in secret for a purpose I could only guess was aimed at the Lord Protector Healy. When he was gone, I often found Franky and Nadine speaking in hushed whispers. Seeing me they would stop and glare at me until I withdrew. They had their secrets, and I was fine with it
so long as it didn't involve me.

  We all tried to keep an eye on Katherine, but she spent all of her time outdoors with Dog and the horses. She wanted nothing to do with the druid school and she and Nadine often threw heated words between each other. Katherine was not happy, and it appeared she never would be here on the farm. The death of her parents was in constant reminder and the farm only brought her bad memories. My bond to her was strong and through it I could feel her pain. She wept most nights holding tight to Dog. I wept silently with her. She had come a long way since that horrible evening. No child should watch her parents die and the way her father had been killed and then rose under Seth Farlow's evil to kill her mother had broken her. Somehow Dog had pulled her back from the brink of whatever insanity she faced. They were now inseparable.

  The first students who arrived had been bewildered, scared, and confused. They were happy to have reached the end of a journey of which few could explain other than they had felt a strong irresistible pull to come. They arrived in various emotional states to be greeted by me and Nadine. We would explain to each one what was happening. Explain their powers and help them adjust. But I was not ready to begin the school. I greeted them and then gave them to Steve to find work for them. We had forty draoi students all eager to learn and all I could do was promise the school would begin soon and then weeks passed.

  It was Katherine who squared me off one day late in November.

  "You have to start teaching them, Freamhaigh," she told me at the kitchen table.

  I looked to Nadine, but she was fussing with Anne's baby and pacing inside the entrance to the kitchen. Franky smirked and told Dempster to serve up the meal. With no one to save me, I turned my full attention to Katherine. "I will," I said.

  "When?"

  "What do you mean when? Soon."

  "Soon is what you always say. You have a building and classrooms set up with tables and chairs. You have everything you need."

  "True, I do."

  "So?"

  "So...what?" I mumbled not wanting to discuss this any further.

  Katherine screeched in frustration startling me and she slapped the table with an open palm. "So, start teaching them, that's what! They need you to talk to them. Tell them what's happening. About that black creature. And Gaea. Everything. Teach them how to be druids! They came all this way. More show up every day! There's forty of them now! Women and men, some with their children. Gaea sends them, they arrive, and you ignore them. They are afraid and understand nothing of what is happening to them."

  I sat in silence and Dempster dropped steaming bowls of vegetables and a platter of pork chops down on the table and gave me a frown. I glared at him.

  "Well?" demanded Katherine.

  Nadine chose that moment to sit beside me. Katherine glared at her which Nadine ignored. The baby stared up at her from her arms and pulled her red hair to her mouth to chew. We all watched them for a moment before Nadine looked into my face and I saw her displeasure. Uh oh. "You owe her an answer, Will. You know how I feel. They're all here now. Gaea told us."

  I pulled the hair out of the baby's firm grip and nodded. I took a deep breath. "Aye, I do know." I turned to Katherine. "Tomorrow. I'll start tomorrow. Promise."

  "'Bout time," grunted Katherine and spooned food onto her plate. Dog laid his head on her lap. Katherine grabbed a pork chop and gave it to him and he disappeared under the table. Dempster grunted from the kitchen and when I glanced at him he was scowling at Dog.

  The meal passed with no further mention of the school and I thought hard about what I needed to do. The truth was I felt inadequate to the task. Who was I to teach anyone anything? I worried I would let them down. But now I had made a promise to Katherine even though I hadn't felt I meant it.

  Later that night, I tossed and turned in bed and found myself wide awake when our rooster cried to the rising sun. Nothing seemed clear except one course. I crawled out of bed and splashed water in my eyes to remove the gritty burn from the lack of sleep. I looked in the mirror and saw a young face with no idea what to do looking back at me.

  After a light breakfast, I drew strength from the earth to overcome my lack of sleep and Nadine and I called all the draoi students into the classroom. The building was new and the smell of fresh cut wood permeated the air. With the number of students, the room was packed. The children of the druids were also there, and they looked excited. I look out to a sea of expectant faces and swallowed the lump of fear in my throat.

  During the night, I had decided that I wouldn't try to be a teacher. I couldn't be something I was not. Instead, I would just talk and let whatever knowledge I had pour from me. If I sucked at it, Gaea would replace me. But she had chosen me and for a reason. It had to be enough. My original fear was diminished with the assurance she was at least a little smarter than me.

  I sat on the edge of the desk facing the room, looked to the floor, and spoke. I told them everything that had happened since my mother and the druids were hunted down and killed. I talked to them about finding my power through my herb work. I talked about the Draoi Manuscript page and how it led me to the road to Jergen. I talked about my capture and the fear I felt. I described the hatred the men from the Church of the New Order had for our kind. I told them of the wolf that sacrificed himself for me and felt the loss once again.

  I laid out all the horrors that the draoi had lived through for centuries and how the draoi had worked in the shadows and hid their abilities. Once or twice I stopped talking for a little while. The silence in the room was such that I could hear the horses in the barn two buildings over complaining about their oats. When I stopped for too long, Nadine would reach out and grasp my arm or hand and I would resume. The morning passed, and no one stirred or interrupted me. I poured all my doubts and fears into my tale. I told them I doubted myself and what the future held for us. I looked up into those faces and saw the same fear reflected. Many wiped away tears and laughed. I saw people looking back at me who were afraid and uncertain but happy they were together at least. My tension and fear left me and I felt Gaea brush my mind and her happiness for us filled me. We were a family. I smiled then, and the faces of the draoi turned to expressions of surprise. Nadine sucked in her breath and I felt joy fill her. She felt it, too. We were draoi, and we had a purpose in this world. All of nature was waiting for us to step forward and do something about making the world harmonious. We were healers.

  I stood up and held my hands high in the air and laughed. "But never forget: we have magic!" I shouted to the rafters. A few of the draoi laughed, and I caught the glint in their eyes. They understand, I thought, and it gives me hope. Smiling, I spoke then of the beauty in the world. The bright life of a plant, or a bird in flight. About how we can communicate with nature and heal those who are harmed. I explained Gaea and the roles the druids used to have in the world. I talked about balance and harmony and how it was our role to maintain that harmony. Eyes lit up, and the draoi smiled and nodded along with my words.

  Soon all were on their feet and the desks and chairs were pushed to the sides. We gathered in a group and many held hands or shoulders. Nadine and I demonstrated our magic and had our students show us what they could do. We laughed and praised each other and grew stronger for the sharing. In a moment of clarity, I remembered what Daukyns had taught me so many years ago. I had tossed all last night fretting until the words of my friend returned to me. I had asked him back in Jaipers why he wasn't afraid to teach the Word to so many and he had laughed.

  "But I am afraid," Daukyns had answered once his mirth subsided. "I look out into the eyes of the people and see them looking for answers. For direction, and an understanding. I feel the weight of all that hope in the words of my teachings. But I see they have the same doubts and worries I have. Once you understand and accept that then the journey between teacher and student is one of discovery. Then, and only then, can you both learn from the experience."

  And this is what I did that morning. I exposed my fears. My worr
ies. And then embraced the power that Gaea gave me and shared my joy of life. My words found a home with these people. We gathered together and wet eyes and bright smiles found each other. The sense of joy that followed was something we would never forget.

  Each student then told a tale of being lost in a world where they knew they had powers but not how to release or use it. Each told a tale of how they had discovered and opened their magic. How a strong urge to follow their instincts had them travel from all over the realm to the Rigby Farm. They described the trials of those journeys and the constant doubt of their sanity that followed them. They had left family and friends to be here. They said they could no more resist the urge than they could throw themselves off a cliff. It had been too strong.

  What we learned that morning, and well into the afternoon, was we all shared a common ability and that brought us together. Trust was gained, and we formed a family. With our senses, we could see our druid bonds were strong and vibrant. We could sense each other and like Gaea we were one. We were no longer alone, and that gave us strength and hope.

  I looked around then and realised that Katherine and Dog had not attended the gathering. She was off on her own sitting in the nearby forest. It was too much for her and I sent her my love. She responded with a shrug and turned her attention elsewhere.