‘Oh Great Elen, I be afeared.’
Do not be afraid, my child. Open your mind; reach out with your thoughts and see the rest of the vision.
She blinks again. ‘Where be this place?’
‘You are home, naturally.’
She turns sharply at the voice and sees her father. She recognises him. He is Hrothgar, yet he is not, but he is most definitely her father. She runs to him, throws her arms around his shoulders and embraces him. ‘Oh Father, I be so afeared.’
She feels him stiffen, hears a horribly familiar death rattle from his throat, and his weight falls upon her.
‘And so thou shouldst be afeared,’ says a resonant yet young masculine voice from nearby.
Moaning and squealing in her terror, she tries to push her father’s body away from her, but she is imprisoned beneath his dead weight and cannot move. She can hear the man who has killed her father as he walks around the room, but he remains outside of her field of vision.
‘I knew thou wouldst return, my dear,’ he says, his voice chilling in its timbre. ‘Thou didst think thou had killed me, but I have escaped and survived. Now I shall have my vengeance upon thee, and the lost secrets shall be returned to me. I shall have the immortality I seek, and I shall rule time itself, and thou art powerless to stop me this time.’
‘I understand not thy words,’ she sobs.
He laughs his cruel laugh. ‘Play not thy mind games with me, my dear. I have been patient long enough, and grow weary of thy interference. The time has come for thy death.’
She feels strong hands grab her throat, squeezing the life from her body. She cannot see the face of her attacker, for her father’s body blocks her view.
‘Die!’ he mutters callously. ‘Die, and think not to plague me with thy presence again.’
Her vision begins to blur and darken as she fights for breath, but can struggle little because the weight of her father pins her to the floor.
The man laughs again and continues laughing as the life is finally crushed from her body. As she dies, she hears another voice.
‘My God, what are you doing L–’
But darkness falls upon her at last – and she is gone.
2002
Thaumaturgia flew backwards as though expelled by some explosive force, and with a gasp, Elen removed her hands from Matthew and Lucinda’s foreheads, and the pair collapsed to the ground.
Exhausted from her exertions, Elen’s grip on the others waned, and Margaret ran to her son. ‘Matthew, are you all right?’
Matthew struggled to sit. ‘I’ll be fine, though I have a thumping headache.’
Nearby, Lucinda sat up slowly, clutching her head.
‘Was that what you saw, all those years ago, Maud?’ asked Lucius in a gentle voice.
‘Yes.’ Maud faltered as she explained how she had gone to Elen in search of an explanation of the vision, how she had thought back then that the vision showed her and her father being killed in a far off place. In the past, her undisciplined mind had made little sense of the images, most of which she forgot after each vision due to her lack of understanding. ‘I remember not seeing the view of the hill before. I did believe that Father and I were to be captured by the Romans. When Elen did enter my mind afore, she could make out only the deaths, and a name that doth begin with the letter ‘L’, and because the stranger spoke with an accent–’
‘You thought it to be me!’
Maud nodded sadly. ‘I am truly sorry for what I have done, Lucius. What have I done?’
There was compassion in the voice of the Roman centurion who had been so terribly wronged. ‘You were but a frightened child, Maud, who did not understand the significance of the vision. Your young mind, untrained to recall such images, retained only what it could comprehend. I do not say I forgive you entirely, but I understand now why you did what you did.’
Matthew’s voice broke through the child’s control. ‘You may not understand the significance of the vision, but we do, don’t we, Lucinda?’
‘Yes,’ whispered Lucinda fearfully.
‘Maud foresaw her murder in a future life, not a faraway place. It is now, in our time, at Four Oaks. Elen said it was a man whose name begins with ‘L’, but it isn’t Lucius. I recognised the killer’s voice.’
‘As did I,’ said Lucinda. She faced the others. ‘It’s my brother, Liam!’
‘Excuse me, but why on earth would Liam want to kill Matthew?’ asked Margaret. ‘At least , I assume Liam was trying to kill Matthew, after all, he doesn’t know of Maud, does he?’
‘Matthew, do you think he was really that cut up about you spurning his advances that he would try to kill you in revenge?’ said Theo.
Matthew shook his head. ‘You’re both missing the blazingly obvious. It’s not Liam… it’s Sawyl Gwilym!’
Once Matthew had stated the fact, the others realised he must be correct. It really had to be true if Matthew and Lucinda had both recognised Liam’s voice, and there was – until that moment – the mystery surrounding Sawyl Gwilym’s host body.
‘Why would Sawyl wish to kill Matthew, though?’ demanded Rachel. ‘It makes no sense, even if it were Maud he was trying to kill.’
‘Perhaps he met her at some point in the past?’ suggested Louise. ‘I mean, we know they have both lived several times over the centuries. Who’s to say they haven’t locked horns before?’
‘True,’ Rachel mused. ‘It’s possible that in some past life, Maud defeated him in his quest for immortality.’
‘One thing I don’t understand is where Maud’s vision of her death came from,’ sighed Margaret. As unnerving as the situation had become, she nevertheless felt pity for the poor traumatised girl, locked away inside Matthew’s mind. ‘I mean, Elen just told us that Maud’s visions were actually hers, projected through the child because she was Elen’s handmaiden… or whatever. Even Elen herself didn’t know where this particular vision came from.’
Hrothgar turned to face Elen, his voice gently coaxing, not accusatory. ‘That be not quite the truth. Elen, I feel it time Maud be told the truth.’
Maud whirled on him. ‘What mean you by such words, Father?’
‘Maud, have you never once wondered how you are able to hide your spirit from Lucius, unless he spots you first?’ said Elen softly. ‘In the past, I kept a few secrets from you, intending to reveal them when you reached womanhood. Sadly, that did not come to pass, and you remained a child in spirit form.’
‘What hast thou not told me?’ shouted Maud, suddenly very angry. She felt badly at being the cause of Lucius’s death, but felt fury at the thought of having important information about herself being kept from her.
Elen sighed. ‘Maud, you are able to shield yourself from Lucius because you share the genes of Mother Nature; you live on as an eternal spirit instead of dying because you share the genes of Father Time; you shared my visions because you are linked to me. You share all these things because I am your mother, and your own visions are my gift to you. Because you have a mortal father, though, your physical body has a human mortality. All of this I would have explained to you had you not been slaughtered by the Roman soldiers.’
Maud turned to Hrothgar. ‘Be all this true, Father?’
Sadly, Hrothgar nodded. ‘Aye, daughter, it be so. Elen did wish knowledge of our people. She came to me and did ask that I give her a child. I did agree, but only if she did allow me to raise the child myself should she decide to return to her natural state.’
‘As I was forced to do, for reasons I have no wish to divulge before these others, lest they think ill of me.’
‘Elen, we’re already losing respect for you,’ muttered Rachel bitterly, who having heard all about the wood nymph’s powers, could not believe the creature so inhuman as to not save her daughter from the Romans. ‘Why not go the whole hog!’
Elen sighed. ‘I decided to return to Avalon to fetch my children, Thaumaturgia and Maxim, but I discovered my daughter had been banished from Avalon, and s
o I returned with just my son. Five of your years had passed, and I could not go back those five years because that would have altered time.’ She looked at Hrothgar and Maud with great sadness. ‘In that time, Maud, you thought me dead, and it served no purpose to intrude upon your lives. I was happy when Maud accepted the role of handmaiden, for it meant I had legitimate contact with her. It gladdened my heart that I should have contact with at least one of my daughters, until she was snatched from me.’
‘Why didst thou not protect me from the Romans?’ demanded Maud, echoing Rachel’s thoughts.
‘I was elsewhere at that time. Again I left you, and again I lost you. It seems the sad cycle of my life to depart for any short length of time, and lose those dear to me by the time of my return. You must hate me for that, and I do not blame you.’
‘Actually,’ said Rachel, her voice softening, ‘that doesn’t make me feel ill of you. Goddess or not, you cannot be everywhere at once, and I guess there must laws about changing history. I know you bent them once, but the end result changed nothing. I can understand how you feel about losing your daughter. It’s how I feel, only you were able to still see your daughter and I cannot see mine.’
‘After Maud’s death, it was many years before the arrival of Thaumaturgia. I made myself known to her immediately, and we lived in human form together until my ‘death’, in the caves on Serpent’s Crest. During that lifetime together, we awaited the arrival of Sawyl Gwilym.’
‘I cannot believe the Rulers of Avalon banished him to our world,’ Louise sniffed. ‘What were they thinking?’
‘They did not actually banish him. When it was discovered that Sawyl would become the Master of Time should he continue on his path of evil, his memory was blocked. Unfortunately, at the moment of his memory block, he escaped from Avalon to what we call the Wastelands of Albion, the world beyond the walls of our city. From there he was able to walk the ancient pathways, what you would call ley lines, and made his way into your world. It was always only a matter of time before his memories returned, and I am quite surprised the memory block has lasted as long as it has. I came in search of him to keep an eye on him, but miscalculated my arrival, and was reunited with Thaumaturgia when those who feared the nature of her visions banished her from Avalon. In her visions she foresaw the return of his memories, and foretold that she alone would have the power to bring together the elements to defeat him, and with my power he could be returned to Avalon.’
‘If that’s the case, why weren’t you sent out together, as a pair?’ Rachel wanted to know.
‘Yes,’ agreed Louise. ‘That would have made more sense.’
Elen nodded. ‘In my maternal vanity, I did not wish to subject my children to such dangers, which is why I left them behind. It was only when I returned to Avalon for them that I discovered Thaumaturgia had been banished, and why it had happened.’
Thaumaturgia’s voice echoed around the clearing as she floated above them.
The decision was taken out of Mother’s hands when I was but a child, stolen from my brother’s side one night and abandoned in this world. I be feared by those who rule Avalon, who did believe I would walk my father’s path. Thankfully, my mother did find and nurture me.
‘You were abducted and abandoned here, alone, by those who rule Avalon?’ gasped Rachel.
‘Yes, by the Queen of Avalon.’ Elen sighed deeply. ‘The Queen of Avalon is the daughter of she who was once your daughter!’
‘What?’ shrieked Rachel. She shook her head vehemently. ‘No, that’s not possible. Elizabeth is dead; she lived her life in this world and died when I was young.’
‘No, not Elizabeth. After Gloria’s death in this world, she came to us at Avalon. It is much too long a story to tell here now, but she was reborn in eternal spirit form in Avalon, where she lives with James, and in their new life they have another daughter, whom they named Verity, and she has become Queen of Avalon. She is a good Queen, but misguided at times. She thought she could prevent Sawyl Gwilym from escaping, but it is all history to her mother, so it could not be prevented.’
Rachel closed her eyes and shook her head wildly. ‘It’s all just too much to take in. Gloria is still alive, after a fashion, in this place you call Avalon, and she has another daughter there who is the Queen, and who tried and failed to prevent Sawyl Gwilym from escaping. You were sent to keep watch over him, but whilst you were gone, your daughter was banished because of her visions. You brought into existence Isabella and Peter Neville to help ensure Gloria returned to the past to defeat Sawyl there – but he escaped, and now he is here, in Liam Samwell’s body… and his memories could come flooding back at any moment. In the meantime, another of your daughters misinterpreted the vision of Sawyl’s return, and so caused several centuries of unending bloodshed between three people.’ She opened her eyes again, staring at Elen. ‘Is that a good summary of events so far?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Well then it ends here and now, tonight – fittingly, Halloween. These three–’ she indicated Matthew, Lucinda and Roger ‘–or rather the spirits they carry, need to agree their whole sorry situation was caused by a series of terrible misunderstandings. They need to find forgiveness and move on, let their hosts live their own lives at last, free from spiritual interference. Then we need to find a way to lure Liam here so that the vision doesn’t come true, and you two–’ she indicated Thaumaturgia and Elen ‘–can do whatever it is you need to do to get Sawyl Gwilym back to Avalon… and then we can all just get on with our lives without all these supernatural shenanigans!’
Max suddenly materialised in their midst, startling them all. ‘There’s no need to worry about luring Liam here… he’s on his way as we speak.’
Louise grabbed hold of Glory’s hand. ‘I don’t want my daughter here when that warlock arrives.’
‘I agree,’ said Phil, speaking for the first time since Peter had left him. ‘Can you get us out of here?’
‘Maxim will lead you all to safety. Only Thaumaturgia and the three possessed by spirits should remain.’
‘Come,’ said Max, revelling in being the leader once more. ‘I shall do as Mother asks. Follow me.’
Rachel, Louise, Phil, Glory, Margaret, Joyce and Theo followed Maxim from the clearing, but Theo paused, glancing back over his shoulder at Matthew. Matthew caught his eye and smiled reassuringly, indicating to Theo that he would be fine, and so Theo plunged into the darkness of the forest, hurrying to catch up with the others.
Thaumaturgia disappeared from sight, leaving only Elen, Matthew, Roger and Lucinda standing in the centre of the clearing.
They did not have to wait for long.
Less than a minute after the others departed, Liam appeared, slightly dishevelled from traipsing through the ever-encroaching forest, but unlike everyone else on their way in, he had avoided slipping and falling over on the muddy forest floor.
On Liam’s face, Sawyl Gwilym’s thunderous countenance appeared to them all. It was as much as Elen could do not to greet him as her brother, but she knew he could not be allowed that small but vital piece of information in case it proved to be the catalyst that opened the floodgates of his memories.
‘So,’ he said, his voice thick with evil, ‘I get to meet the infamous Green Woman at long last. Long have I heard of thee, but always have I thought thee to be a myth.’
Elen smiled thinly. ‘I, on the other hand, have never once thought of you as a myth, Sawyl Gwilym. I thought you to be dead, though.’
Sawyl laughed thunderously. ‘Peter Neville and that meddlesome wench, Ria Snowfield, thought to kill the host body, but I sought an escape afore she died. It be as well that the Witch of the Woods who once also dwelled within this forest be not on hand at that time, else she might have banished me with her own expert sorcery.’
Elen laughed. ‘Thaumaturgia Anathemas, an expert in sorcery? She conjured the spirits that roam these woods, but had not the wherewithal to return them. All she was good at was curing all ills…
nothing more.’
‘Thou wouldst appear to know her well.’
‘I should, for she was my apprentice during her time here. That is how I know she is not the powerful witch you believe her to be.’
Sawyl indicated the trio beside her. ‘What of these three? Why be they here?’ Did she bring their spirits to life? Have they possessed these poor, pathetic mortals?’
‘Poor, pathetic mortals? Why Sawyl, you would seem to imply that you are not mortal!’
Sawyl laughed. ‘Not for much longer. There be a time in the past when I did come close to achieve my goals, though Ria Snowfield did interrupt my plans. She did allow my execution – and I did escape that time too! She doth return to vex me once again. I sense her presence in him!’ He pointed at Matthew. ‘I can sense he has within him a female spirit who doth seek to kill me, but she doth hide her aspect from me. She must be the witch, Ria. Here endeth her days at last by my hand. Join me, Elen. Thou and I might make a formidable team. I know most of the equations which doth make the elixir of life, but require a female intellect to find the final secrets.’
Facing Elen, gloating in his sense of triumph, Sawyl did not notice that Matthew had inched closer. With such swiftness that it astonished even Elen, Maud struck, whipping out the dagger Lucius had intended to use on her, and thrust it into Liam’s heart.
‘Die, foul creature,’ Maud hissed. ‘Too long hast thou plagued my nightmares. My visions shall not come true!’
In the instant before Liam’s death, Sawyl’s spirit fled his violated body, shocked that he had so dreadfully miscalculated yet again, fearful that he would die for certain if he did not flee.
The other spirits witnessed the ethereal spirit energy as it left Liam’s crumpled body, and in that instant, Elen entwined herself around her brother’s body, entrapping him without warning. The ground shifted, and screaming his rage, unable to escape Elen’s mystical powers, Sawyl Gwilym was dragged into the bowels of the earth by her as she disappeared.
The Master of Prophecy (The Sawyl Gwilym Chronicles Book 2) Page 35