by Peter Green
This Light was channelled along the lay line in a gentle beam of energy, guiding them to the Temple of the Sun and beyond...
Eiru, Banba and Fodha in their wolfish forms, had to bide their time. Their moment must come! The time of the dark Sidhe must surely be nearing!
Amergin marched with his brother Eiremhou. They talked of the coming journey to the Magine Islands and the inevitable reunion with their royal parents. They delighted at the prospect! In the same breath they despaired at their disloyal and dangerous brother who waits for them at the Temple of the Sun, “We must be wary my brother!” warned Eiremhou in confidence, “Remember that Eimbear is in league with the traitorous Gonne, the High Priest of the Chapter of Mystics.”
Amergin did not need reminding, their deceptions on the perilous sea voyage to the Promised Land were very fresh in his mind, “You are right my faithful brother. They do not know of our mission and they cannot be trusted! We will send them to Machlleth under the pretence that they are needed to protect the great portal from their sinister overlord and master!”
Eiremhou smiled at his brother’s guile. Together they will contrive to deceive the dark duo...
Eiremhou was the first to see the Temple of the Sun standing in all its monumental magnificence, overlooking the ocean. The first rays of dawn catching the monolithic standing stones.
Amergin arrived at the estuary with his faithful travellers. They were soon spotted by the watchmen on the vessels anchored in the silty river mouth. They were quite rightly hailed as returning heroes by the Milesian crews.
The word was out that they were sailing for the outer islands to meet Scota and Milidh and the rest of the Milesian fleet waiting offshore with reinforcements. They would return and take the battle to MacCuacht and the army of lost souls...
This tale seemed to appease Gonne and Eimbear. Amergin greeted them coldly and without emotion. He went on to compound the deception with the collusion of his loyal brother Eiremhou, “Go to the great Portal of Machlleth! We will join you and the resistance forces and confront the dark one!” Eiremhou looked Eimbear in the eye and was shocked at the soulless stare that greeted him, “My brother we rely on you! Go straight to Machlleth. Tell Thiorn and the elite guard, that we are on course and will join them soon...” His Machiavellian brother was completely under the spell of the sinister High Priest Gonne. He was lost to the dark Sidhe! He and Amergin endeavoured to hide the distress, the loss of their brother caused to them. They shared anxious glances with each other, understanding the cold reality of the situation. They must go, before the dark, corrupt duo read their minds and saw through the deception...
In true seamanship fashion the vessels were sea ready within the hour. The Milesian vessels were soon lifted by the rising tide. Anchors were lifted and mooring lines untied. The mainsails were unfurled and sheets tensioned. The south-westerly filled the billowing sails and keels broke free from the soft, silty estuarine sand. Amergin took up his place by his helmsman Xomas as their clinker built, Phoenician rigged vessel leaned in to the breeze. They were tacking across the estuary and out in to the bay. He watched the Temple of the Sun slowly drift in to the distance. He waved to his brother on the other vessel, satisfied that the precious cargo carried by Terese of the Xantha was safely on board. Satisfied too that Gonne and Eimbear were on their fool’s errand to the great Portal of Machlleth.
Amergin’s spirits lifted once more. He was so glad to be back in his element. Fresh salted ozone filled his expanding lungs... only the ocean can feed his soul like this. He felt liberated again... the weight of the Prophecy lifting from his shoulders, temporarily at least. But it was not the same... his heart kept missing a beat... his spirit could not rise to the heights he had previously known. Part of him was missing... and she lies cold and lifeless at the distant Portal of Hushinish. Sceine!! Amergin grieved for her. Waves of unbearable pain swept over him again...
By way of a distraction and a release from the constricting grief, he took the helm from Xomas. As the next gust blew through, he tacked hard, the planing vessel pushing speedily on towards the Magine Islands. “We must get to the channel before the tide turns Xomas!” he roared in to the wind, “Before the silver dragons of Sceilge show their crested, scaly backs!”
Amergin observed his crew and the crew of his brothers vessel, “Never has such a potent contingent set sail!” he thought out aloud. Sailing with him were Terese and her Xanthans guarding the flawless, skull shaped keystone with their lives.On board Eiremhou’s vessel were Endinou and Erhombu, the Guardians crucial to the forthcoming ceremony at the Portal of Sceilge. Both vessels were ably sailed by the best mariners alive. Xomas, his ever present companion of the sea, fearless warrior and the most skilled mariner, will be critical to the mission.
The mysterious Magine Islands reared up out of the ocean before them. One more tack and they would be in to the notorious Sound of Sceilge, where the silver scaled dragons resided. Already the dragon was starting to show its teeth! The silver crested “scales” forming as the strengthening south-westerly blew against tide and swell. Standing waves were beginning to form, rising and falling with each surging set wave. “We are just in time my lord!” Xomas encouraged them on.Amergin skilfully controlling the tiller, keeping the prow pointing to the stunningly spectacular Magine Islands. As they got closer, Amergin passed the helm over to Xomas.
He took on the role of navigator and watchman, giving occasional guiding commands as Xomas masterfully steered the vessel through the sound.
Their vessel pushed over the last of the standing waves and they were in to calmer waters. Still, a swirling turbulence slowed their passage. They slowly sailed past the smaller pinnacle spired island, white with a myriad nesting and airborne seabirds. Looming majestically in front of them the monumental cathedral spired island, location of the ancient temple and Portal of Sceilge.
Amergin watched the assembled crew and passengers as their expression went from wonderment to disbelief as they sailed past the natural paradise of the smaller island to the jaw dropping magnificence of the larger island. The Magine Islands were truly divinely beautiful!
The vessels silently glided in to the lee of the large island, the precipitous, heaven touching cliffs alive with wheeling, raucous seabirds. Drifting ever closer to the yawning, cavernous sea cave hidden deep in the sheltered sea cliffs. Amergin’s vessel silently entered in to the high vaulted cave. He lit a beacon on the prow, and put a giant conch to his lips, blowing a low resonant note in to the gloom.
Oars were at the ready to punt them off the cave walls if necessary. Slowly their eyes became accustomed to the low light. The contrast from the glare of the cave entrance to the dark of the inner recesses was striking. Shapes of moored vessels gradually came in to focus. Beyond, the flickering of torchlight and the burning embers of a fire, spewing thick, seaweed scented smoke high up in to the vaulted chamber. The acrid smoke swirled and disappeared through a vent in the cave ceiling. From here came an ethereal glow from a vein of the purest Bluestone.
The wave cut platform, to where Xomas skilfully steered the vessel, was alive with a clamour of activity and scurrying people. Through the firelight and the haze of smoke, Amergin began to make out recognisable forms and figures, “Scota!” he yelled at the top of his voice. His beloved mother stood at the edge of the platform, as regally beautiful and elegant as ever. Next to her was Milidh, the proud and majesterial King of the Milesians, “Father!” he cried out in delight.
He was soon tying the mooring ropes to the quartzite outcrops and leaping ashore to greet his loving, royal parents. Milidh and Scota were beyond themselves with happiness at Amergin’s arrival.
Their son and Milesian champion was safe! They rejoiced in the reunion, but were soon under no illusion how things had changed! Milidh and Scota saw the grief oozing from his every living pore. His sadness was palpable. They could see how driven he was and how brave and courageous in the face of his worst nightmare. Amergin embraced both of them and quiet
ly spoke of the Secret of the Alignment.
In no time, they were making for the steep, narrow stairway carved in to the gunnels of the island.
All of his faithful travellers had disembarked and followed him to the Portal of Sceilge.
No time for introductions now! Even Eiremhou barely had time to greet his beloved parents. He walked with them, telling all as they climbed the narrow, winding, claustrophobic stairway.
Endinou, the Guardian of the Bluestones and the Quarry of Izion, source of the purest Bluestone, could not contain his sense of awe and anticipation, “The legendary Portal of Sceilge! I have rarely seen such Bluestone. Only the keystone carried by Terese of the Xantha matches this purity!”He ran his fingertips over the exposed veins that followed the stairway and lead up to the Portal. He felt the energy conducting from the spirit world. He sensed the presence of the Guardians of Light. The veil was so close!
Erhombu the Guardian of the Woodlands of Derwydd stayed close to Terese of the Xantha. She struggled with the weight of the carved keystone. The carved and crafted, skull shaped Bluestone trapped and reflected all of the torch light, the precisely cut facets sending a kaleidoscopic cascade of ethereal Light in to the stairwell and beyond.
Endinou was only too aware that the ancients had hewn the keystone out of the purest vein of Bluestone. Now, here in the Temple of the Magine Islands, were the standing stones carved out of the same purest Bluestone. The Portal of Sceilge! Carved by the very same race of ancient Sea Druids!
Amergin turned to his mother Scota and smiled. She returned his smile. Scota understood that this was her son’s only chance! The Secret of the Alignment had been revealed to him... this was part of his destiny... he was one of the very few enlightened beings over the ages who had been given the power to invoke this sacred and spiritual phenomenom. Scota realised that her son’s heart was breaking. If this ancient ritual, guided by the Guardians Erhombu and Endinou, did not work, then the Prophecy of the Milesian nation and the destiny of her son, the Sea Druid Amergin, would be lost in the ether of time and space.
Amergin could feel the weight of history and the destiny of the Promised Land. He studied the Temple where four massive Bluestone standing stones marked the equinoxes and solstices of the year. He walked slowly to the great stone in alignment with the autumn equinox. It was here at sunrise that he would place the skull shaped keystone in to its rightful place. He hoped they were still in time. The exact equinox had passed. The Guardians tell him that they are still early enough in the Cycle of Xustra to make the connection and unveil the Secret of the Alignment.
Amergin could feel the presence of the ancients. They talked to him that night. He knelt in prayer with Erhombu and Endinou. The three, communed with the Guardians of Light. The rituals necessary to reveal the Secret of the Alignment were unveiled. They were ready for the sunrise...
Scota gave Amergin her blessing. Of all the mortal beings present, she knew the poignancy of the time. She could feel the sense of duty weighing down on him. The culmination of the Prophecy and his destiny was here, right now! Amergin went to embrace his father, Milidh, for it was he that had given him the strength, the courage and the training in marine and battle skills. Then he went to his loyal brother, Eiremhou to thank him for his support, common sense and humour in times of real adversity. Finally he went to Terese of the Xantha. There were no words for her courage and bravery. Amergin took the sculpted keystone and thanked her for her devotion to the cause of the enlightenment.
The keystone was flawless perfection, he marvelled at the craftsmanship of the ancient Druids.
The sunrise not far away now, Endinou began chanting the sacred verse, passed down through the generations of Guardians. Amergin knelt in prayer, facing east, waiting for the tell tale aurora that preceded the dawn. The veil was all around them... visions of Sceine burst in to his consciousness…Their rapturous moments, just before she was cruelly taken by the Witches of Hawardden in wolfish guise.Then a vision of her lifeless body, cold and still, at the Portal of Hushinish.
The first hint of dawn began to illuminate the peak of Corran Tuathail in the southern Iveare mountain range. Amergin would need total composure now, total control of his mind and senses.
In a state of meditative calmness, he began to recite some of his spontaneous, spiritual poetic verse. The verse was his mantra...
He needed to remove any unpure thoughts and focus on the Divine in nature... Amergin tapped in to the realm of the spirit world... The veil wrapped around him... The verse poured forth in a stream of consciousness:
*
“On creaking, dipping, heaving vessels, hewn of wood, nailed and riveted.
From places maritime, sundried, wind shriveled mortals on a watery
Plain,
Spirits of the sea, born to the water, a blood and brine infusion, steeped.
No rest, no limits, the way is clear, horizon to horizon, destiny to here.
Ocean full, shimmering, sea of scales, salt liquid, ship of sails.
Ancient tradition, ageless condition, new horizons and ways of
Enlightenment”
*
Amergin felt the Light of the Divine coursing through his veins...
He channelled the pure energy from the spirit world...
An ethereal, ephemeral glow began to emanate from the Bluestones. They were connecting to the spirit world and the source of enlightenment.
Endinou chanted louder. Erhombu and all present followed. They chanted sacred verse descended from the ancients. The aurora of the dawn lit up the eastern horizon.
All the elements were in place... the perfectly crafted keystone fitted precisely in to the ancient Bluestone.
Amergin’s hands cradled the skull shaped keystone, just as the first burst of radiant sunlight broke over the eastern horizon.
At that exact moment the Light of the Divine poured forth from the spirit world. Amergin felt the Guardians of Light all around him now. The sacred chanting rose to a climactic crescendo! The ethereal blue of the standing stones turned to a brilliant, heavenly glow as the very cosmos seemed to light up!
Then in an explosion of brilliant, pure white intensity, the Light of the Divine channelled through the massive Bluestones, energising the lay line, the conduit between the great portals of the Western Province. All around seemed to slow and stand still. One by one, the great portals of the Western Province were aligning and connecting…The Temple of the Sun, the Portal of Machlleth and then finally Hushinish.
Amergin felt, sensed and saw the Light of the Divine, exploding and pulsing from the spirit world.
He felt the connection with the soul of his beloved Sceine. Her body still cold and lifeless preserved in the aura of the great Portal of Hushinish. Amergin flushed with excitement. He could feel her spirit! He must remain focussed!
The lay line channelled more and more pure Light in to the ether.
Slowly the veil touched the mortal realm. The continuum of time and space warped and wrapped through the veil. Events began to fold in on themselves. History was unravelling. Moments in time touched and collided. Parallel universes intertwined. New universes were created... and in an apocalyptic burst of Divine Light, time began to reverse...
All the portals were fully connected.They seemed to be as one. The Guardians of Light journeyed beyond the veil to all the portals. The enlightened beings of the mortal realm were bathed in Divine Light. Time stood still once more... and in a sudden burst of radiant life giving Light, the continuum of time and space moved forward...
Natural sunlight warmed Amergin’s face... a new day had begun... but more than that, new life had been given!
Amergin turned to the east once more... his heart brimming with love and life. He could feel her spirit! He could feel her life force! His beloved Sceine was alive!
*
Overlooking the Ridge of Thormond and the southern summits of the Iveare Mountains, Hushinish was bathed in the Light of the Divine and the light of a new
dawn. The great portal was still pulsing in the final phase of the Alignment.
The priests guarding the body of Sceine, preserved in the aura of the Bluestones of Hushinish, were bemused, enthralled and amazed all at the same time! They had witnessed the Alignment, the Secret had been revealed! They felt the cosmos turning, moving... they sensed time standing still, reversing and then moving on... they were filled with awe... the universal life force... the lifegiving Light of the Divine... radiant energy pouring forth from the spirit world...
New life was being given! The pale, limp, lifeless body of the High Priestess Sceine stirred in to life!
Before their very eyes... her finger tips, her eyelids, her lips, quivered and stirred in to life... her eyes opened, the familiar rich amber glinting in the morning sun... the dark fleck drawing you in to infinity... the lips parted and a beaming smile lit up the Western Province! Sceine flexed and stretched her graceful body... her hands sweeping in an elegant arc... she thrilled in her reincarnated life! Sceine flexed her torso and massaged her body, coursing with the newly given life…
Her gracefully elegant legs trembled as she attempted to regain her balance. She stretched out her beckoning hand. Diarmuid, her loyal friend and faithful priest, with tears flooding from his eyes, took her hand and gently eased Sceine to her unsteady feet. Her newly conscious mind recalled her last living memories... her rapturous moments with the Sea Druid Amergin... she called out his name…“Amergin! My beloved! I am here!”
The priests went to her, surrounding her, protecting her, nurturing her...
Nothing would ever take her away from them ever again!
*
Deep in the Woodlands of Derwydd, there was a gathering of dark souls. The Witches of Hawardden still in their wolfish alter entities, prowled the shadows. They had helplessly seen the Sea Druid Amergin, champion of the Milesian nation, sail west to the Magine Islands.
They now knew his mission! Nothing could have prepared them for this! They had witnessed first hand, the Secret of the Alignment being revealed! Radiant Light of the Divine poured forth from the great portals of the Western Province. They were at the Portal of Machlleth with Eimbear and Gonne to rally with the dark one MacCuacht, to battle there against the Sea Druid Amergin, on his return with the Milesian reinforcements.