by Lynda Engler
They both sat down at the large wooden table. The sage took the big dark oak chair at the head of the table. King Tuan sat on a chair near the sage and Arthur chose the seat across the table from the king. Tuan did not seem angered that the old sage chose the seat that should have been reserved for the king. A maid-servant brought food and quietly placed it in the center of the table, then quickly left the room.
“Yes My Lord. My idea is to lure the Kullucks onto the plane by using a unicorn, as I said, as bait. Once the Kullucks have entered the plane of souls, we will need to trap them somehow. If we can trap them, do you have the power to send them somewhere... perhaps into another realm?” Arthur asked.
“Yes, my boy, I do indeed. If we can get them into an enclosed area, I can conjure a spell that will send them to the Underworld, where they belong!” The sage’s voice boomed through the stone house.
The king grabbed a piece of meat from the platter on the table and indicated that Arthur should do the same. Not having had breakfast yet and his stomach grumbling, Arthur was happy to accept the food even if he couldn’t figure out exactly what kind of meat it was. No matter, he was hungry and the food smelled smoky and appetizing.
“We do not have time to build a wall of any kind around the Senmag nor would it hold such evil creatures, I’m afraid. My aunt Morgana, a bit of a witch herself, once enchanted a bronze statue of a dog to dance. Can you perform such tricks, Master Sreng?” Arthur asked as he chewed the piece of meat he’d ripped off a drumstick. It was some type of game bird, perhaps quail or pheasant.
“While I do not think that dancing dogs would help us here, I do believe you are on the right track. What do you know about the magical properties of metals, young man?” Master Sreng asked.
“I know very little about magic of any sort,” Arthur said while chewing.
Master Sreng explained his idea. “We can surround the plane with bronze spears and swords laid end to end, and I will enchant the ring of bronze. Bronze has magical properties that allow it to be enchanted. Even your untrained aunt could do it. The magical circle of bronze could hold them long enough for me to perform the incantation spell to send them to the Underworld,” the sage proclaimed.
Arthur asked the ruler of Finias, “Sire, can your people help gather the bronze, and do you think you’ll be able to find enough?”
The sovereign turned to Arthur and replied, “Bronze is plentiful here. We are not far from the Ross Island copper mines where most of the copper in this region comes from. Copper ingots are smelted with tin right here in Finias to make the finest bronze anywhere in the known world,” the king replied proudly.
King Tuan stood up and called his son, Taran and the king’s servant Taliesin into the gathering room.
“Taliesin, get the men together and go find as much bronze as you can. Swords, spears, horns, jewelry, anything long that can be laid end to end on the ground and tied together to form a very large ring.”
The king turned to his son, who was standing next to his chair and said, “Taran, this is Arthur. He is going to help us defeat the Kullucks. If his plan works, those evil beasts will never bother us again. You and the rest of the boys gather lots of rope. It will be needed to tie together the bronze that the men find.”
At 11, Taran was a bit younger than Arthur. He was tall like his father but still thin. He had straight blond hair and blue eyes. His clothes were similar to his father’s – woolen tunic over loose leggings. Arthur noticed Taran wore a bronze wrist guard on his left arm to protect it from a bowstring’s recoil. It was decorated with intricate circles and spirals. He must have been practicing with the bow and arrow when his father called him. “It is nice to meet you, Taran. Bring all the rope that you can find to the Senmag. I will be there with the men as they bring the bronze.”
Taran, not wishing to take orders from a stranger and one who was just a boy at that, looked to the sage for confirmation. Master Sreng, still seated, explained to Taran, “We are going to create a large, bronze ring on the ground around the plane of souls. You and Arthur and the rest of the boys will need to secure each piece of the bronze so that there are no breaks in the circle. We will need to work quickly. Who knows when the Kullucks will be back? We need to be ready.”
Taliesin had already left to begin his duty. Taran now ran off as well. Arthur turned to the sage and asked, “Are you really sure you can enchant the bronze ring to hold the beasts?” Arthur was skeptical of all magic. He didn’t want tricks – he needed real magic!
“Of course child. I am the Master Sage of Finias! The real task will be opening the passage to the Underworld and sending them there. The demon who rules there, Dis, is not one of my favorite characters. I have not opened that passage for many years,” Sreng replied with a far-off gaze. He remembered his last encounter with Dis. And it wasn’t pleasant.
Arthur asked, “So you’ve opened this passage before?”
“Long ago when I was young myself, my brother and I were out hunting wild boar and I fell down a deep pit in the ground. My older brother, Enu, tried to climb down with a vine he tied to a tree but could not reach me. He returned to our village and told our father what had happened. All the men from the village followed Enu to the pit and together they tied enough ropes together to lower him into the pit to retrieve me.” Master Sreng stood up from his chair and began to pace the room as he spoke.
“When my brother reached the bottom of the pit, he found me lying unconscious on the ground. He tied the rope around my waist and the men pulled me up. Enu saw a long passage under the ground and while he waited for the rope to be lowered again he walked off to investigate.
He soon came upon a road with houses. It was an entire village underground! As he marveled at the strange site, an elderly woman came out of one of the houses. She invited Enu in and he followed her into the small house. Inside, her husband sat in a stone chair. He looked sad. When he looked up at young Enu, he began to cry.
My brother asked the woman why her husband was crying and she told him that Enu looked just like their son who had recently died. The husband asked Enu to stay and live with them. They would give him everything he ever wanted if he would just stay.
Enu declined the invitation. The man was sad but he wished Enu well and gave him a special talisman – a magical staff – to help guide him back to the pit. The staff had been given to the man by Dis, the Demon of the Underworld. Dis promised the man that the staff would bring him back his son.
With the help of the strange wooden staff, Enu made his way back to the pit and climbed up the rope to safety.” Master Sreng pounded his own staff on the floor as he walked the length of the room telling the tale.
“Soon afterward Enu told me this story and I informed my brother that we must have been in the Underworld together. Enu was lucky to have escaped with his life! I was very grateful to my brother for rescuing me. Enu showed me the magical staff and was very proud of his talisman. He was so proud that he showed it to all the boys in the village.
Enu discovered that the staff had many magical properties. It glowed whenever a wild boar was around, which helped Enu kill many of the beasts. Soon Enu became known as the greatest boar hunter that ever lived. Some of the villagers became jealous of Enu and his magical staff. One night, they chased Enu out onto the plane to steal his magical staff.
Suddenly an entire group of wild boar attacked Enu and trampled him. When the boar dispersed, there was no trace of my brother or the staff.” Sreng sighed as he sat back down in the large chair at the head of the table.
Arthur sat in rapt attention listening to Master Sreng’s tale. “So, did you ever find out what happened to Enu?”
“Men returned to the pit and climbed down but the passageway, the road, and all the houses had vanished. Dis promised the lonely couple that the magic staff would bring them back their son. He kept his promise, in a way, and brought them another son. He took my brother from our world and gave him to them! That demon kept his word to those people!�
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“So you are saying that even when Dis keeps his promise, it isn’t always what you expect?” Arthur asked.
“That is correct. Dis cannot be trusted,” Sreng replied. “All is not what it seems when Dis is involved.”
Chapter 6: A Trap is Laid
April 7, 2200 B.C.E. Ireland
By mid-afternoon Taliesin’s men had brought plenty of bronze swords and spears. Arthur directed the placement of each piece to create the circle. The boys of Finias were busy cutting lengths of rope and tying the bronze together. Even the king was bringing material. King Tuan always worked with his men and was the hardest worker of all of them.
Arthur approached Taran as he knelt over two segments of the circle tying them together. “How goes it?” he asked as he knelt down on the ground next to Taran. Arthur now wore a borrowed wool cloak, held together with a bronze pin at the neck.
“Fine. My knife is getting dull though and it is getting difficult to cut the rope,” Taran replied. His blond hair fell into his eyes as he looked down at his knife.
“Here, let me help.” Arthur pulled his knife from the leather sheath at his belt and effortlessly cut the rope Taran was holding.
“What kind of knife is that?” Taran shouted. “I’ve never seen anything like it! It shines in the sunlight like silver! Let me see it.” With that, Taran grabbed the knife out of Arthur’s hand.
The Bronze Age boy had never seen steel before. How was Arthur going to explain this?
Taran held the knife up to inspect it. “This isn’t silver, it’s too hard. This can only be black magic,” Taran accused Arthur. “Where did you get this?”
“Ah, it’s pretty common where I come from.” The older boy stuttered. “It’s called steel and it isn’t magic at all. It is forged in a furnace from iron mixed with charcoal so that the surface of the iron is covered with a lot of carbon. It makes a much harder metal than bronze. Doesn’t dull as quickly and it can be sharpened to a fine edge.” Arthur took the knife back from Taran and cut a fine, thin line in his thumb. A small streak of blood ran down and dripped on the ground. “See?”
Taran stood up and put his hands on his hips. “And where exactly are you from? That witch Danu brought you here with her witchcraft, didn’t she? I knew she was trouble bringing her black magic to Finias! I don’t know why my father trusts her so much.” Anger and suspicion flooded Taran’s eyes.
Arthur was not pleased that Taran spoke so maliciously about the Earth Mother. “She is no witch. She’s one of God’s helpers! How dare you accuse her of black magic?”
Taran had daggers in his eyes for Arthur. “You aren’t from the Other Land. Tell me where you are really from!” The angry words spewed from his mouth like venom from a snake.
Arthur was skilled in many things but lying wasn’t one of them. He felt that being honest with the Bronze Age boy would be the only way to earn his trust, no matter what Danu advised him about revealing the truth about his origins. “Danu did indeed bring me here from the island you call the Eastern Isle, or Other Land. She did not lie to you. I don’t think she is capable of lying. She brought me here to help. But I am not from now. The time I live in is far in the future. We have skills that don’t exist yet. I am here to help the Finians win this battle against the Kullucks.”
“I knew it!” Taran exclaimed. “I knew there was something strange about that woman. You know the Outlanders call her a goddess, don’t you? So, you are really from the future? How far?” Taran asked a lot of questions.
“Quite a bit. Almost 3000 years,” Arthur replied matter-of-factly.
“Wow!” Taran now looked at Arthur with questions rather than suspicion. He continued, “Well, that does explain your strange clothing. Somehow I’m sure that the folk of the Eastern Isle do not dress so differently than we do. I’ve never met anyone from there but travelers tell stories and I’m sure your garb is nothing like what they wear!” Arthur’s clothing was very different than Taran’s. He wore tights which were tucked into his boots, rather than loose, home-spun trousers like the Bronze Age boy. Arthur also wore a linen under-tunic and a belted over-tunic that was deep blue. His collar had tablet-woven borders and the bottom of the blue tunic was pleated. His boots were of softer leather than Taran’s as well, with thicker soles and came almost to his knees.
The boys continued the job of connecting the bronze pieces laid out on the ground. It was tedious work and they had to get the circle made just right or the enchantment wouldn’t work. Although ten other boys from the city were helping Taran and Arthur, it took all day for the dozen young men to complete the difficult task. But eventually they finished.
Arthur called upon Master Sreng to join them on the Senmag to test the trap. Taran, King Tuan, and Arthur stood inside the very large circle of bronze while Sreng began his incantation. The other boys and men who had helped stood to the side to watch the demonstration.
Sreng stood tall and still as night. He raised his arms and the long sleeves of his flowing robes fell back to reveal aged, wrinkled skin, barely clinging to his skinny arms. “Enchantus magicus! Bind this circle. Do not let it break. Magicus enchantus!” he proclaimed. The pieces of bronze on the ground began to glow, a yellowish-red color, like fire.
“Try to walk over the bronze please,” Sreng commanded.
Arthur tried to put his arm over the glowing bronze, but a shimmering wall erupted upwards out of the bronze ring. “Wow!” exclaimed Arthur.
Taran tried to step over the enchanted metal, but an unseen force pushed him back and he fell to the ground, landing with a Thump! “Oh!” exclaimed the boy, as he got up from the cold grass.
They could not cross the ring or escape from it. “The enchantment holds!” shouted King Tuan. He was smiling for the first time since Élan died.
Sreng released the spell and the three left the circle.
King Tuan approached the wizard and clapped him on the shoulder. “Well done Sreng!” he shouted. “I am impressed, as usual, with your skills.”
There were six dolmens contained within the gigantic ring of bronze. Arthur hoped the area would be big enough to capture all of the Kullucks. It had to be!
Taran and Arthur left the group and strode off to find the unicorn Arthur had spoken to that morning.
The boys searched all the dolmens outside of the ring they created. They found her in the fourth group of standing stones they searched. Apparently, she had been watching the demonstration from the safety of the stone walls that surrounded her. She carefully poked her head out and saw the two boys approaching. She did not run away but stood and waited.
When they reached her, Arthur told the unicorn, with his mind: The trap is complete. I’d like to thank you for offering your help. Would you please come with us to the ring of bronze now? I’d like you to meet the king and all the others who have worked so hard on this plan. The unicorn followed Arthur and Taran out of her hiding place. The three walked together to the circle laid out on the Senmag.
Taran had never gotten close enough to a unicorn to see what they really looked like. Taran gazed at her sparkling golden horn and her beautiful white hair. Her long white mane was flecked with silver and gold and shone brightly in the sunshine. Taran said out loud, “You are the most amazing creature I’ve ever seen!”
Arthur expected her to reply with thought-speak but when the reply came it wasn’t the one he was expecting.
The unicorn spoke in all of their minds. They approach. I can feel the evil. I am scared. Do not let them harm me!
Chapter 7: The Demon of the Underworld
April 7, 2200 B.C.E. Ireland
The roar of the approaching evil was deafening. They oozed across the plane like black water rushing over a dam. There were thousands of them. Leading the pack was Senchos the Footless.
Arthur thought to the unicorn: Just do it as we planned, then he and Taran ran off.
The Kullucks spotted the beautiful unicorn walking purposefully through the dolmens. The urge to hunt and kill
overcame them and they rushed into the bronze ring. Their pea-size brains were not capable of realizing they were walking into a trap.
When all the Kullucks were in the ring, the unicorn galloped out of the circle of bronze as quickly as her long slender legs would carry her. She reached the safety of a group of standing stones just outside the bronze ring.
But before the Kullucks could cross the circle, Master Sreng appeared atop a neighboring dolmen. “Enchantus magicus! Bind this circle. Do not let it break. Magicus enchantus!” he proclaimed. “The enchantment holds!”
Taran and Arthur were hidden behind the dolmen that Master Sreng stood upon. The moss-covered rock was slippery and wet and Arthur wondered how Sreng could stay up on top without slipping. There were some things he never could figure out about wizards. An old man should not be able to balance on a slippery rock like that!
The boys watched the Kullucks get trapped in the ring of bronze. They milled around like caged animals, which is exactly what they were. They snorted angrily and when their huge mouths opened to shriek, the boys saw their fanged teeth. Taran and Arthur were close enough to smell their foul breath and see the sickly white saliva drooling from their ugly mouths.
Senchos was near the ring when the enchantment crystallized and his clawed right hand swiped the shimmering air above the ring of bronze. He howled in pain as the shimmer burned his hand, “E-e-e-vil!” he roared. “What evil is this?”
Arthur thought, Odd. When I touched the shimmering air it did not burn me. It had only forced his hand back into the ring. He wondered if the enchanted bronze acted differently when something evil came in contact with it.
Master Sreng stood on top of the dolmen in his finest robes. He may have been born 2700 years before Arthur’s time, but to Arthur he resembled Merlin. Sreng’s robe was dyed in hues of deep purple with fine gold trim at the bottom. The cape he wore over the robe to keep him warm in the cold spring air was of the same deep purple color, but the fastening hooks and eyes must have been made of gold. He was an impressive sight as he held his left arm up and pointed to Senchos the Footless. “Evil is what you are!” his voice echoed across the Senmag. “Finias is done with your horrors! You and all your kind will spend eternity in the Underworld!”