Day 16 of Midwinter, Sunrise
Leic na Beatha, Deep Realm
Annwn
“Where are we going?” I asked.
Tethra had led deep into the supports of Leic na Beatha. We walked at the water’s edge, the sll of salt water all around us. The water was calm, and the lone visible water line led to believe that little current and tidal changes happened here. But this was an extension of the sea, without a doubt.
“Our father brought here just before we sailed on Brú na Dallta. He told he was afraid that the knowledge of this place would die with him.” Tethra stopped at the end of the natural stone pier that we walked upon.
We had taken switchback after switchback down through the stone pillars that supported the city above. I had thought that I knew the city as well as any Fomorian, but I had eventually lost track of the number and direction of the turns. Now we stood at an unfamiliar dead end, staring off into the darkness of the tunnels beneath the Deep Realm. Seawater ran beneath and through it all.
Tethra stood silently next to , as I turned in a circle, trying to take it all in. Looking up through the supports, I saw a view of the sprawling city from below that I had never seen before. It was a marvel that this vast society had sprung up, entirely hidden from the prying eyes of the Overking. The sight was a beautiful twisting maelstrom of flickering lights.
“Do you know the story of how father ca to this realm?” she asked. “It was the kindness of the sea that rescued him. He told that before the Tuatha and the Fomorian, there were those who sat upon the wind and the wave. He said the very forces of nature had nas and would speak to those who would listen.”
This place that we called ho was a remarkable realm filled with magic and history. There were those who could not die, and there was the duality existing between Bren and . There were fae in every land that represented each season, festival, and terrain. It was easy to believe there had also been a ti when nature itself was aware and intelligent.
Tethra gestured to the room we stood in. “He called this place Leic na Beatha.” The Ledge of Life.
I thought of the second verse of “The First Fomorian” song sung at the Midsumr celebration:
The waters turned to shadow, the deep began to shine,
The gods of Annwn opened the door, where wonders intertwine.
Though I had heard the bards sing the song many tis, it was only now that I made the connection. The Tuatha wouldn’t have even been conceived when Neit had co to the Otherworld, aning the “gods of Annwn” weren’t referring to the offspring of Danu. I turned to Tethra, silently asking a question.
As so often seed the case, she knew what I was thinking. “Father ntioned only one na to : Eiocha, goddess of the land and sea. He called her Tethra. It was she who opened the door from Earth into Annwn in the mont of his greatest need.”
I smiled, thinking about the sentintality of the hardened forr king who had nad his only daughter after the goddess who saved him. “A fitting nasake for a future Fomorian queen.”
Taken from , this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Tethra rolled her eyes. “All these years, our father has kept a secret from our people. I am the only one in all of the Deep Realm who knows this secret, and I wish to pass this information on to you.”
I wasn’t sure what she ant. Nearly everyone in the city above knew the tale of King Neit’s coming to the Otherworld, and the story of her nasake wasn’t sothing that seed particularly earth-shattering.
Before I could ask for an explanation, Tethra stepped into the gently lapping waves before us. The water was shallow, and after only a few of her long strides, she ca to a huge, isolated rock surrounded by water.
She placed her hand on the stone, seeming unsure of where to position it. Nothing happened. Her face flushed pink. “I’ve never done this before,” she admitted.
She adjusted her hand slightly on the rock. After a few monts, the stone pulsed gently with magical energy. Tethra did not seem to notice.
“Sothing is happening,” I told her. “I can see a dweor coming from the rock.” The stone’s magic pulsed again.
Tethra squinted, then placed a second hand on the rock. The pulse of magical energy grew stronger, then held.
I stared at the glowing doorway that had ford on the surface of the stone. “How…? What did you do?”
Tethra’s eyes were wide. “I don’t know. I simply focused on my need to show you what Father showed … Quickly! Co, before it closes.” She walked through the glowing doorway, all but disappearing into the rock. I could see a vague outline of her beyond the light of the glow. She motioned to follow, so I held my breath and stepped through.
I was surprised to find myself in a massive open space. Great walls of water rose on all sides. Multicolored dweors sparkled on the surface of the water, but I had eyes for only the old man bowing in front of Tethra.
“Welco back,” the man said to her, his voice soft. He turned to . “And you must be Cai Maccán.”
I instinctively used my Identification boon on the man, who smiled and allowed my scan of his power rank.
Na: Lir Dofainn
Race: Tuatha Dé Danann
Current Power Rank - Level 75
Current Progression Status:
Physical Progression 84
ntal Progression 93
Spiritual Progression 89
Domain: The Sea
My hand found the poml of Fragarach, but I didn’t draw it. I was confused…no, shocked. The god before was unard and appeared to be genuinely happy to see us. The last ti I had stood face to face with a mber of the Tuatha, it had been in mortal combat.
Lir’s face remained calm as if he sensed my churning thoughts and emotions. “You just missed your brother. He is completing a task for .” When neither of us responded, he continued. “Welco to Tir fo Thuin. This place was created by the first gods of the Annwn, the Síorláidir.” He looked at and winked.
I pointed at the dweors. “Are all of these gateways to other places?”
Lir nodded and placed a gentle hand on Tethra’s forearm. “Your father ca through here many moons ago.” Lir motioned to a purple-hued section of the wall that disappeared and reappeared farther down the wall. Looking closely, I could glean slight variations in the hues representing each portal. As they shifted and flickered, I found I could follow the movent of the various doorways by focusing on their specific hues.
I walked over to the portal in question and peered into the seawater. It was a strange sensation. I was looking into a wall of water that offered a gateway into a different body of water. On the other side, I saw the remains of an ancient shipwreck. The vessel and remnants of other vessels had been taken over by sea life and were only barely identifiable as sunken ships.
I gazed through the mass of fish and plants, my eyes catching on a faint glow just inside the portal. I reached my hand through the portal, feeling the shock of cold water on my skin. My hand brushed over seaweed and the sharp edges of barnacles as I reached for the glowing object.
My hand closed around the glowing shape. As I pulled it back through the portal, I began to see the object for what it was, a crude copper or bronze figure molded into the vague shape of a bull’s head. My thoughts imdiately went to the great bull’s head of the Fomorian heraldry. Though I couldn’t tell exactly what the object was, I knew the bull symbolized Neit both before and after he ca to Annwn. I had found a lost item of the forr king.
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