The Tales of Amergin, Sea Druid

by Peter Green

  “Another tides sailing will bring us to it!” interrupted Amergin, “We must make haste and get there before Magire and Zendris!” Amergin continued, “Our mission is to the Eastern Province. The equinox is upon us and the veil is ever nearer and ever thinner. MacCuacht is nearing the Temple of Xhara! We have little time! If we can get to the portal at Land’s End first, then maybe there is hope for the crew of our flagship!”

  Amergin looked back towards the ever diminishing Cape of Wrath, disappearing on the western horizon. The fleet sailed with the wind, fully rigged and making steady progress. Still the flagship was catching them. Magire and Zendris knew these waters. They were navigating the currents and tides more skilfully than the Milesian fleet. Amergin called to Xomas, “Send an order to the last two vessels of our fleet. Tell them to hinder the progress of the flagship.” Immediately Xomas mirror messaged the vessels. Straightaway two vessels of the fleet veered away, tacking directly towards the flagship, causing it to veer. The captains were under instructions to spend no time near the flagship... the spell of the siren Zendris is powerful, her attraction fatal…

  Amergin guided the fleet towards the high flat-topped escarpment. Satisfied, the flagship was already falling behind. The tactics were working! Valuable time gained. A window of opportunity presented itself to Amergin.

  In the dwindling light, the fleet would anchor a mile or two out from Land’s End. The closer they came to the peninsula of Land’s End, the features became clearer. The watchman called out, “I see a harbour hewn in to the cliffs! There is sufficient room to moor two vessels.” “Perfect!” replied Amergin, “Do you see any sign of a temple? Standing stones or such like?”

  “Ay my lord, there is!” came the watchman’s response, “A semi circle of standing stones on the cliff edge, a mile from the harbour.”

  The window of opportunity was now! “Drop anchor!” the fleet followed suit. Amergin and Eiremhou’s vessel then made for the harbour under the cloak of darkness. The representatives of the Chapter of Mystics had been readied for this moment. They joined Amergin and Eiremhou on their expedition to the portal...

  Barely twilight to navigate by, the equinox moon not yet risen over the eastern horizon, they edged towards Land’s End under reduced rigging, the long distance ground swell reducing all the while only half mast height now. Half a mile to the harbor, they could make out the sheer carved walls. The harbour entrance was very narrow. This was going to require some precision navigation.

  Amergin left Xomas at the helm. He oversaw the oarsmen as they dipped gently towards the harbour wall. They edged in, sails furled, under the cloak of darkness. They must not be discovered.

  There was no sign of the flagship...

  The oarsman dipped quietly in to the slick black sea, just as the equinox moon rose full and large over the eastern horizon, casting long shadows, illuminating the crystalline, igneous rock face.

  The hexagonal pillars, volcanic protrusions comprising rare minerals and veins of quartz, sparkling and glistening in the intensifying moon glow. These natural sea defences turning powerful set waves in to phosphorescent white sea-spray, vaporised and hanging in the cool night air.

  Beyond the harbor, lit up in a stark moonscape, Amergin could just make out the hemisphere of giant bluestones standing defiantly and precariously on the edge of the world. Amergin stared and blinked in the brightening moonlight, “We must not be seen!” Nearing the harbour, a few gentle dips of the oars more and they would safe, secreted under the high walls...

  But they were too late! High up on the flat-topped escarpment, a beacon lit up, illuminating an imposing fortress... MacCuill yelled out in alarm, he had heard the tales of this place, “The Shamen of Land’s End! They come!” Sure enough, within minutes, a trail of lights began to wind down the side of the escarpment.

  The Milesian vessels softly shunted in to the harbour wall, the crew were instantly clambering up rope ladders. Mooring ropes were being lashed to bollards. Amergin, Xomos, Eiremhou, MacCuill and the representatives of the Chapter of Mystics soon followed.

  “Still no sign of the flagship, thank the Great Spirit!” Amergin led the way towards the Portal of Land’s End. He, with the Chapter of Mystics would summon the Guardians of Light. The peninsula would feel the Light of the Divine. Those under the influence of the dark veil would become enlightened. The spell of the siren Zendris would be broken and the crew of the flagship would be free of her curse!

  The equinox moon had risen full and bright now, the immense bluestones stood dark and mysterious. This was Land’s End, the edge of the world and portal to the spirit world...

  The trail of lights traversing the escarpment were brightening and getting ever closer... “We are outnumbered! We have no time to confront these Shamen, we must get to the portal!”

  Amergin stretched his stride, quickening towards the portal. A rough track hugged the precipitous cliffs. They soon left the steep sided harbour walls and were on their hurried way to the tip of the peninsula. The rock strewn trail was difficult to negotiate in the moonlight. They jumped from rock to rock on the limits of haste and safety.

  The trail angled diagonally along the peninsula now. The hexagonal igneous pillars were convenient stepping stones. They nearly broke in to a sprint. Soon they reached the heather clad, thinly soiled point. Now they sprinted as fast as their armour and weaponry would permit!

  The procession of lights coming down the escarpment flickered and flashed. The vanguard were already on the coastal plain and appeared to be moving ever closer, ever faster. Amergin could hear the sound of distant hooves. The fabled horsemen of the north were coming!

  To compound their woes, a dark silhouette moved on the silver streaked, quietening ocean. The flagship with Magire and Zendris arrived! Lights flashed in code from the Milesian vessels warning them of their arrival. This was the moment Amergin feared! The Shamen of Land’s End had a fearsome reputation. Now Zendris and Magire joined them! They were in their own land. Who knows what terror they could unleash!

  This was too close for comfort! The Milesian crew under the spell of the siren Zendris depended on Amergin and the priests of the Chapter of Mystics reaching the portal first...

  Finally! On the edge of the cliff, on the promontory jutting out in to the moonlit Northern Ocean, the silhouette of the giant standing stones... Now, Amergin danced from hexagonal pillar to hexagonal pillar... soon he stood beneath the gatestones and gathered the priests around him... the equinox moon shone full and bright above the portal... He touched the capstone and was instantly connected to the spirit world... the veil so close now... so thin... and so vulnerable! The priests of the Chapter of Mystics stood next to Amergin. Linking their hands and in turn touching the gatestones. “There is extraordinary power here!” shouted Amergin, as he earthed between the mortal realm and the spirit world. The priests chanted sacred verse of the ancient ones. They too felt the energy... the spiritual connection...

  Amergin closed his eyes. His senses became one with the enlightened ones. He was drawn in to a golden amber cosmos... the veil wrapped and morphed around him. He felt a gentle caress of his hand, gentle fingertips touching... the energy flowed... tresses of golden hair, soft and sensuous, brushed his face... delicate, tender lips kissed his... he slowly opened his eyes... he was lost in her beauty... lost in her power... he was falling in to the universe of her rich amber eyes... he fell and fell in to the dark fleck in the iris of her right eye... “I am with you my love! I come with the Guardians of Light, to join you, to help you!”

  Sceine! Amergin was taken beyond the veil... so close and so thin now...He was one with Sceine... and as one with the spirit world... their bodies wrapped and entwined… they came as one...

  Their senses so connected, so alive... an explosion of radiant Divine Light poured from the spirit world, from beyond the veil and entered the mortal realm... the priests of the Chapter of Mystics knelt in awe of the Divine in their presence…An aurora of Divine radiance spread over La
nd’s End, the portal at the epicentre...

  The Shamen of Land’s End were stopped in their tracks. They were god fearing pagan beings... their gods were communing with them! They fell to their knees in prayer and began chanting. They had seen the Milesians arrive and with their own eyes had seen the Divine Light! To them, the Milesians were the messengers of the Light... and they bowed before them...

  Amergin returned from beyond the veil and back to the mortal realm. He emerged from the portal and walked back to his priests...

  The Shamen of Land’s End looked on from a distance. They saw the one they recognised as the Milesian, surrounded and enveloped in radiant Light. As god fearing, pagan beings, they were converted to the blindingly evident truth, that Amergin was an enlightened one, destined to be in this land...

  *

  Magire and the siren Zendris rowed to shore with some of the crew from the flagship, just as the aurora of radiant light burst forth from the portal. The siren Zendris was mortified, “This is our land! Our deities rule the Northern Province!” Simultaneously the Milesian crew on the flagship felt the mantle of the Divine in Nature touch their souls, one by one they were free of the hypnotic spell cast by the siren.

  Her powers were gone. The aurora of radiant Light cloaked her spells. She fell to the floor in despair.

  Free of her insidious control, they took her to the shore, before her power returned and the crew controlled once more. Zendris tried to call the dark Sidhe through the portal but to no avail, the Sea Druid Amergin’s power prevailed.

  Amergin was heartened by the reaction of the Shamen of Land’s End. Akin to their counterparts, the Pirates of Grannh, they had encountered the Guardians of Light and seemed to have embarked on the journey to enlightenment. However, there was still dark in the hearts of some... Magire and Zendris were on a more sinister mission...

  Amergin took heart that here was some evidence that the Northern Province could be called on to join the enlightened ones when the time came to confront the dark one MacCuacht, “Come my people, we must return to our vessels, while the Guardians of Light are in our presence.” He then asked for three priests of the Chapter of Mystics to stay as missionaries in the Northern Province. To work with the Shamen of Land’s End to nurture the Light of the Divine once they had departed and the Guardians of Light journeyed beyond the veil. Three brave priests volunteered. They were aware of the dangers... they were potentially martyrs in waiting. “Patrice, Xavid, Colum, we shall be forever indebted to you!” Amergin offered his hand to each of them. They duly kissed his hand and bowed in deference and allegiance. Patrice, their spokesman, said “We shall be the messengers of the Light!” They all knew they were in dire peril. Magire and Zendris will soon return...

  Amergin thanked them and quickly turned away and led the way back to the harbour. On the path, they the met some of the Shamen of Land’s End, they were some of the strangest beings! Human and half human, real yet unreal, some were akin to the demons and denizens they had encountered on the sea voyage to the Promised Land. Amergin knew only too well that amongst the potential converts, were sceptics and deviants that have the propensity for evil... his priests and all Milesians must be wary...

  The harbour was bathed in moonglow and radiant Light. They descended the steep track, stepping carefully in the half light. Scurrying shadows startled Amergin. In the corner of his eye he witnessed two figures skulking off in to the shadows. Tall, athletic figures with shocks of matted dreadlocks, wearing light absorbing chameleon- like armour. Magire and Zendris! No sooner had he seen them, they had disappeared in to the shadows. The siren Zendris was powerless while the Guardians of Light were in her realm.

  Amergin’s train of thought was broken as he stepped on to the harbour side. He recognised individuals and seamen... the crew of the flagship! He embraced and was embraced by the loyal crew. They had rowed Magire and Zendris to shore, just as the aurora of the Light of the Divine swept over Land’s End. They were free of the siren’s spell! Now they came to the aid of their Sea Druid and champion of Milesia. There was great joy and delight abounding!

  Amergin, the priests of the Chapter of Mystics, Eiremhou and MacCuill were all soon rowing back to the fleet. All the vessels and the flagship had drifted slowly towards the harbour to meet them. Soon, as they got closer, cheers broke out on the flagship as they recognised the Sea Druid. Beacons were lit, flags were raised aloft and conches sounded. Amergin stood at the bow of his rowing boat with arms raised high in a gesture of greeting and joy! “Xomas, we will take our rightful place at the helm of the flagship once more!” Xomas was overcome with joy and relief, he embraced his leader. No time for protocol here, “We sail for the Eastern Province, my lord! We fight for the Promised Land and the fulfilment of the prophecy!”

  As the vessels touched, Amergin climbed the rope ladder to his flagship and his joyous crew. His heart pounding and a lump in his throat, he stepped out on to the deck. Cheers and smiles greeted him. The flagship crew, free from a ghostly enslavement, shook his hand, embraced him and kissed him in a display of overwhelming delight and gratitude.

  Amergin’s gaze was drawn to the still glowing radiance of the Portal of Land’s End, then up to the fluttering and occasionally straightening flag of the Milesian nation on the mast of the flagship… the tower, the ocean and the flagship representing the journey across the Northern Ocean and the stars guiding them to the island of their destiny…

  *

  With renewed vigour and collective spirit, the fleet once more made ready for sea. The last and potentially most arduous leg of their epic maritime voyage awaits them. An awful fate was befalling the tribes of the Eastern Province. They had little time! The Temple of Xhara was threatened!

  “One more days sailing Xomas!” Amergin and his helmsman stood at the tiller, ready and watching as the crew unfurled the sails, tensioned the sheets and fine tuned the rigging of the magnificent Phoenician designed flagship. “So good to back on board!” he signalled to one of his crew, “Weigh anchor! We sail for the Eastern Province and the Temple of Xhara!”

  The sea god Manannan was being good to them. Gentle seas now, with just enough swell to cause the vessels of the fleet to pitch and roll in a gusting North Westerly. This was an ideal weather window for negotiating the coastline of the Northern Province.

  The equinox moon was in its final phase now. The trajectory taking it low in the western sky. Soon the night sky would be completely black, no moonglow, only the diamond bright constellations to navigate by.

  Amergin watched in trepidation as the moon disappeared over the horizon. He felt in every flowing corpuscle and each sparking synapse, to the very core of his being that the time of Xustra was upon them. The time when the veil was at its closest to the mortal realm and most exposed to intrusion and corruption. The planet Jupiter rose over the Eastern horizon. This would be their bearing for the moment. Then an alignment with the stars in the belt of the constellation Orion would take them directly to the north-eastern extremity of this island. From there they would tack long and hard in to the south-east...

  Amergin watched the planet Jupiter rise in the night sky, shimmering red in the low atmosphere.

  “How appropriate Xomas! The planet of the god of war shows us the way! Take the helm I go to speak with MacCuill and the priest of the Chapter of Mystics, Xesu.”

  Complete blackness now, only the aftermath of the moon glow and way in to the distance the aurora of the Light of the Divine still pouring from the Portal of Land’s End.

  Xesu, priest of the Chapter of Mystics came up from the gunnels of the flagship to rendezvous with Amergin. He gazed westwards, enthralled by the still visible Light of the Divine. Touching his forehead and his heart, he sent a blessing to all of the Milesian fleet on this fearful and fated sea voyage. He sent his prayers to all of the enlightened beings of the Island of Destiny. He greeted the Sea Druid Amergin, “My lord, the Portal of Land’s End still radiates pure and strong!” “But for how long will the por
tal be safe from the Shamen of Land’s End Xesu? For how long will it shine?”Amergin replied tentatively, “Do you feel the Cycle of Xustra beginning? Do you feel the presence of the dark Sidhe?”Xesu nodded in agreement, he could feel the presence of evil encroaching in to this island. Amergin continued, “I need your guidance as a priest of the Chapter of Mystics...” At this point MacCuill stepped up to meet them...

  “You too MacCuill, as sibling of the dark one MacCuacht, I need your advice and your knowledge of this island, and what we might expect to befall us. Come with me!”

  Amergin led them to the prow of the flagship. No prying eyes and ears here...“By the Great Spirit! We must be strong!” he too touched his forehead and his heart and sent a blessing to the following fleet, “Look how the Milesian fleet sails! We go to meet the enlightened ones! We go to the Temple of Xhara!”

  All three of them were aware of the challenge. As soon as they begin the tack south-east they will enter the domain of the Eastern Province... an unforgiving realm where most of the portals are compromised and the dark Sidhe are encroaching.

  The gusting North Wester blew them steadily on... “The Mountains of Maum sire, the beginning of the Eastern Province!” They all turned in response to MacCuill’s utterance. In the blackness of a moonless sky, they could just about make out, on the horizon, an even blacker silhouette of a mountain range. “This is a place to be feared my lord Amergin!” continued MacCuill, “We must stay well out to sea! The mountains are the home of the Iness. Legend tells of a race of beings that are devoid of heart and spirit, the darkest of the dark. The enlightened of the spirit world were banished from here aeons ago. The Iness have abandoned their human bodies for ghostly apparitions. The sea sprites of Iness as they are known, can turn the unwitting, by a simple touch, into cold, lifeless sea salt. Even in an encounter they can suck the very soul out of any living being!”