The Tales of Amergin, Sea Druid

by Peter Green

  Drawn in to a hypnotic trance, he stared into the amber eye of the king Salmon. He was taken deep in to an amber cosmos, beyond the veil between watery realm and the spirit world, “Amergin you are welcome to the Promised Land. I have sent enlightened beings to help you, to guide you. The dark Sidhe approaches, you must be ready! Do not be fooled by them, they will come in guises you do not recognise! Be careful my love... I am waiting for you!” This was Sceine speaking through the king Salmon. She gave him the knowledge of the ancients...

  Amergin was drawn in even deeper, in to a dark fleck in the amber eye of the king Salmon... and in an instant, in a blink of the king Salmon’s eye he was ejected to the surface and was swimming for his life. The whirlpool held him, he was now gasping for air! He was back in the mortal realm! He swam for the light, the whirlpool span him around a few more times. Just as the pushing tide reached its height, the eddying slowed and the vortex was gone...

  A few breathless moments later, the tide turned and he was being taken down stream. He drifted with the ebb, rounding familiar bends, floating back to the estuary...

  One last bend, and a few gentle kicking strokes and he landed on the shoreline, back with his waiting faithful... They were anxious for Amergin’s safety, but were oblivious to the encounter with the spirit world.

  His brothers were aware of the commotion, had seen Amergin row upstream chasing the king of Salmon, and now they arrived at the estuary to check his wellbeing. Even the Machiavellian Eimbear seemed to appear genuinely happy at his safe return... a good charade thought Amergin!

  Eiremhou raced to the shoreline and gave a genuine bear hug of an embrace, “My brother, you swim back to us! What became of your row boat?”

  Amergin smiled, “I will tell you later brother, but first what of your scouting party? Tell me what you have found in this strange and beautiful land!”

  Eiremhou recounted their tale of reconnaissance... they had discovered the workings of an ancient bluestone quarry and evidence of recent workings and evidence that this is the sacred quarry where giant standing stones are hewn and then transported to sacred sites throughout the land.

  Amergin was intrigued as to how the stones were cut and transported, some kind of ancient technology presumably. Eiremhou told of how they were witness to an explosion that echoed around the quarry. The sound ricocheted and rebounded around and a fine bluestone dust settled on the ground. Through the airborne particles appeared three forms. Rubbing the dust from their eyes they looked on in disbelief. Three of the strangest looking beings they had ever encountered, pulled and heaved at ropes connected to the huge precisely hewn bluestone monoliths.

  Another three prised and levered and pushed the bluestones over oak rolling timbers.

  Slowly, oh so slowly, the monstrous bluestones were rolled into a clearing. The six muscle bound, one eyed individuals securely tied leather slings around each of the bluestones. From the slings, heavy ropes were tied to six carefully designed and positioned harnesses.

  Eiremhou took a breath, obviously still in awe of what he had seen...

  The six Cyclops stood back and signalled to someone standing high above the bluestone quarry on a rocky escarpment. This white haired, elegant being, dressed in a gold and amber robe, raised an ornately carved oak staff into the air in response to their signal.

  Another intake of breath as he told his story, Eiremhou told of six birds of prey of enormous scale, with huge wingspans flying from the distant woodlands. The white haired one descended into the quarry to greet them, and to oversee the moving of the bluestone monoliths. The Cyclops turned away to continue the excavation of the next massive bluestone. Eiremhou studied the leather harnesses, just as the giant avians landed on the escarpment overlooking the quarry.

  The white haired one gestured with the carved oak staff. The avians took off once more, giant wings beating. The birds circled the clearing. They were akin to Golden Eagles, but at least four times the size.

  Gusts from the down beats tried to push them off their feet, away from the Bluestones. Feathering wing tips brushed past them, soft and deceptively powerful. Sentient beasts of the air, one by one they alighted by a given harness, designed to be gripped by curling talons. Another wave of the carved Oak staff and they were airborne again. Gently rising, taking the strain on the rope ties.

  Slowly, wing beat by wing beat, the rope stretched, the leather slings and harnesses creaked and gripped. Tension built the strain increasing. Slowly, the Bluestone lifted!

  The brothers Eiremhou and Eimbear were staggered at the power. They looked on as the giant Eagles lifted up and were airborne. Soon they were high over the escarpment, heading eastwards to the Woodlands of Derwydd, and beyond...

  “Welcome to the Quarry of Izion!” declared the white haired one, “I am Endinou, the Guardian of the Bluestones. “Eiremhou quizzed him as to the destination of the Bluestones, “To far off portals, across all the Provinces. To re-energise and strengthen all the portals that have been compromised by the dark Sidhe!” clarified Endinou, “The Bluestones here are the purest in the land, they are formed at a convergence of lay lines from the Magine Islands and the Temple of the Sun, and Hushinish and the great Portal of Machlleth. “Endinou continued, “As the Druid of Izion, and the Guardian of the Bluestones. I am empowered by the enlightened ones to send my winged carriers to places that are under threat, in order to strengthen the portals of the land. And you?” He turned to Eimbear, “What is your mission?”

  As Endinou asked this question of Eimbear, he became visibly agitated, becoming pale and introverted. Endinou was shaken by the response and the energy of Eimbear. He now turned to Eiremhou, “Forgive me I am needed by the Cyclops. We are sourcing the purest Bluestone for the Portal of Machlleth. It is being infiltrated by the dark one MacCuacht as we speak!” He averted his gaze from Eimbear and grabbed Eiremhou’s hand, “Go! Return to your tribes. Tell your leader that the Portal of Machlleth is falling! The Temple of the Sun may be next! Be aware, very aware that the dark Sidhe is here! They come in many forms and many guises!” Endinou turned accusingly towards Eimbear and strode purposefully away to the Quarry of Izion... Eimbear flinched uncomfortably...

  He had been found out!

  Eiremhou studied his brother’s response. His blood ties had distracted him, disguised the real person that stood before him, “We must go brother!” he urged. As they left the clearing and the Quarry of Izion, Eiremhou was only too aware that Endinou had said too much, he had exposed the sacred Quarry of Izion to his traitorous brother.

  Eiremhou hurriedly back tracked, he must warn Amergin that the Portal of Machlleth was in danger!

  The Temple of Sun appeared before them, the estuary, the escarpment, and the giant Bluestone standing stones in perfect alignment. Here the lay lines converged, connecting with Machlleth and way offshore the Portal of Sceilge on the Magine Islands. Eiremhou felt the brooding presence of his brother beside him... he must warn Amergin!

  Only now did they see the significance of the Portal of Machlleth and the Temple of the Sun. After the meeting with Endinou, the power and the potency of these portals became abundantly clear.

  *

  Amergin was standing, staring and searching the eastern horizon for a sign of any indication of the dark Sidhe. Eimbear turned away. He searched for someone, presumably Gonne of the Chapter of Mystics. This gave Eiremhou the chance to be alone with Amergin. Together now, they climbed the steep escarpment, using footholds and handholds carved into the track. Amergin helped Eiremhou up the track, he was glad to be with his loyal sibling again. He had listened intently to his tales of adventure and the meeting with Endinou.

  They neared the awe inspiring Temple of the Sun. They surveyed the beautiful land and noticed a gathering at the estuary... Eimbear met with Gonne... the connivance continued...

  Amergin and Eiremhou were chilled by this alliance. Eiremhou repeated the warning given by Endinou, the Guardian of the Bluestones, “Beware! The dark Sidhe are amongst us,
they will come in many forms and guises!” Amergin recollected the warning given by the king Salmon, channelling the enlightened ones and his destined one Sceine, “they will come in forms you will not recognise!”

  Amergin led his brother along the track towards the Temple of Sun, weaving their way around a confusion of twisted and contorted granite slabs. They edged their way carefully to the tip of the last lichen covered outcrop, ancient geological formations hewn and strewn in any and every direction.

  One last boulder strewn length of track and they were there... high above the estuary, the glistening ocean and the peaked Magine Islands to the west.The vast and wide sweeping expanse of the bay, the coastal marshlands and verdant meadows catching the last of the radiant sunlight. To the east, darkening and stretching shadows fell over the woodlands and high conifer forests, meeting the darkening, descending cloud cover plunging ever down from the shrouded distant peaks.

  “From there our adversary comes!” pointed Amergin, “See how the darkness descends and envelops all before it!” Anxiously they both observed the broiling, blackening, wall of weather that crept ominously closer. “Our adversary is already amongst us!” replied Eiremhou, looking down at the conniving duo of Eimbear and Gonne.

  The magnificent Bluestone standing stone alignment was before them, “This sacred place must be preserved at all costs. This Temple is one of the last pure bastions of the Guardians of Light on this emerald isle. Here we will make a stand against the encroaching dark forces.To the death if necessary!” As he said this Amergin was all too aware of the tales that the great Portal of Machlleth had succumbed, and was potentially compromised, “Let me show you brother! I will open this portal, and unleash the powers of the Guardians of Light! Then we will travel to Machlleth to free our good people!”

  Together they walked to the base of the largest Bluestone.Elegantly carved engravings, hieroglyphic messages and pictograms depicting the setting sun, a portal of radiant light and mysterious life forms emanating forth. “The Guardians of Light have come to me in my dreams. They have given me instructions... See how this crevice is sculpted to the shape of a human body... My body Eiremhou!

  “I am the key!” Amergin went on, “Only I can open this portal! Only I can unleash the powers of the Guardians from this portal!”

  Amergin prayed and meditated in isolation, waiting for the sun to set in the West, only then can he become the key. In the quiet of the evening he reflected on his encounters, the messages from the spirit world, and his connection with the beautiful Sceine... He travelled back in time, contemplating his upbringing, his training, his life as a royal prince... a privileged life, a life rich in experiences...

  *

  His mind drifting, he remembered in vivid memories the days as a young prince, long before the Prophecy was a consideration, long before the burdens of the destiny of Milesia were on his broad shoulders, and long before he would become the potential saviour of all enlightened beings.

  He remembered those carefree days with fondness. Days of wild abandon in the hills and mountains of Northern Galicia, days of riding on bare back stallions through the wilderness of Asturias, days of swimming in the pristine rivers flowing from the snow capped mountains to the turquoise blue Northern Ocean. The dreams and memories poured forth... body surfing the powerful beach breaks of Bascais, climbing the high mountainous interior to gather the fragrant wild thyme honey... he was there now... the intensive, combative training camps, where he and his siblings were put through gruelling routines to hone their fitness and battle skills. They were groomed and moulded into warrior princes by their father King Milidh, who had a reputation as a fiercesome warrior.

  Throughout the Mediterranean his conquests were legendary. He valiantly and bravely, led Milesia into battle as the conquering tribes swept through the countries of the Mediterranean to the Northern shores of Galicia. Here the Milesian tribes settled, waiting for the legendary journey of the Prophecy to commence, across the limitless Northern Ocean.

  Amergin remembered those training days with a mixture of anxiety and exhilaration... As teenagers he and his siblings would gather on a clearing on the banks of the River Douros. Milidh would measure out a combat area. This was their training battleground. Milidh would put them through their paces until they dropped with physical exhaustion. They wrestled, they boxed, they fenced... they learned the skills of the warrior and the strategies of the leader.

  Amergin remembered the day that he and his siblings were tested to the limit. Milidh had set a sporting challenge. The winner would challenge Milidh himself in an armed wrestling match.

  A smile spread over Amergin’s face as he recalled how he and his sibling princes, all young and raw, laughed and roared and cheered and jeered at one another in youthful, competitive exuberance.

  They raced and wrestled each other. High spirited, yet mindful of the seriousness of their training.

  Amergin proved himself then, as in the later ordeals, a supreme athlete and fierce warrior in the mould of his father Milidh. He out ran, out raced and out swam his brothers. He was nominated champion and there he was, stood face to face in the fighting ring with his armour clad father.

  A combination of hardened warrior and young pretender, Amergin’s brow furrowed as he remembered the encounter. He knew Milidh would give no quarter, whether in training or in battle. Amergin fingered the scar he sustained on his upper arm, sustained in the first moments of their clash.

  Milidh loudly declared, “Be on your guard my young prince!” His siblings whinced, empathetically, recoiling from that blow. Crimson drops of fresh blood from the gash, hitting and discolouring the dry, silty sand. At that moment he became galvanised and alive, conscious of the time and place and the moment in the universal continuum! He saw the expressions on his brothers’ faces. In the distance, on the coast, the high tower under construction, currently clad by wooden scaffolding.

  In front of him, his father, the great King Milidh, his dear father, ready to give him the lesson of his young life. Amergin fought as if his life depended on it. He gave as good as he got, using all his attacking and defensive skills, thrusting and parrying. In close engagement, shields clashed and armour battered, swords sliding to the hilt. For a split second Amergin felt on top. Then with a subtle shift of weight and a deft slight of hand and sword, Milidh threw Amergin off balance. In an instant he was crashing to the floor on his back, Milidh’s elbow resting forcefully on his windpipe and his sword flicked from his grasp to the edge of the clearance. Amergin’s brothers roared and cheered in approval, in recognition of the finely honed skills of Milidh and the tigerish efforts of the young prince. There was also an element of relief that the heir apparent, Amergin, had come out relatively unscathed! They had all learned important lessons that day...

  Back to the quietness of the Bay of Sceine, Amergin returned to the present... He looked out to the Magine Islands, beyond the precipitous headland, the channel and the offshore reefs... he sent his thoughts and prayers to his mother and father, Scota and Milidh, who waited patiently for his signal for them to join him at the Temple of the Sun. He knelt before the giant Bluestone, his shadow cast by the setting sun over the shaped cleft in the great standing stone. He prayed for the gathered tribes of Milesia...

  When the moment is right, he will become the key! When the reflective light of the setting sun shone over the bay and alighted on the Temple of the Sun, he would slip into the cleft and unleash the magic of the aligned Bluestones. The portal would be opened and the might of Milesia would be joined by the divine presence of the Guardians of Light! Together they would confront MacCuacht and the dark Sidhe...

  The time was nearing... once more the brooding darkness was approaching from the mountains of the East. Amergin wondered at the fate of the great Portal of Machlleth. He thought too of Endinou at the Bluestone Quarry of Izion and the warning he had given of the imminent danger. It was too much to contemplate! The dark Sidhe cannot be allowed to prevail! If either the Portal of
Machlleth or the Quarry of Izion were taken by the dark forces then the lifeblood of the sacred Western Province would be cut off at source...

  The lengthening shadows, as the scarlet, red and orange sunset reflected across the Bay of Sceine. Increment by increment, second by second the alignment with the setting sun gets closer.

  Amergin’s attention was drawn down to the encampment where his faithful tribesmen and women waited in anxious anticipation.On to the riverbank where the poisonous Gonne and the deceitful Eimbear continued to scheme. His gaze swept around the bay and along the meandering river flowing to the sea in a ghostly dwindling light. Onwards through the marshlands and meadows now covered in slowly condensing dew. The tidal ditches filling with thickening mist. The occasional flickering of the marsh gas “will o’ the wisp” burst in to life.

  The alignment approaches, ticking moment by ticking moment, the sunlight shimmering gold and silver and orange across the ocean.

  His gaze continued up the misting valley, where waning light met darkening horizon. Only now did his heart begin to race in the realisation that the dark Sidhe were so close! The cold, steel grey clouds and black storm front rolled remorselessly towards them, consuming all before them...

  What of Machlleth? What of Endinou and the Quarry of Izion?

  In the cascading roseate light at the end of the day the giant standing Bluestones aligned with the setting sun... Amergin stepped into the shaped, womblike cleft carved into the greatest of the Bluestones. A voice came to him from the ether, “I am with you Amergin! Bring the powers of the Guardians of Light to the mortal realm, bring them to my Province!” In the glowing light of the sunset he saw a vision of a familiar and comforting form, “Sceine!” his beloved, his destined one... a spiritual and uplifting presence as he began to journey beyond the veil, communing with the Guardians of Light, bringing them into the mortal realm...