December 21, 2014. 8:36am
Caerwent, UK
Ériu
“What’s wrong with his voice?” were the next words out of the small woman’s mouth.
Morias let out a hearty chuckle. “He has an Arican accent.”
“It sounds weird.” She looked at out of the corner of her eye.
“Uh…” I muttered before she cut off again.
“Don’t talk, it hurts my head.”
“Tell about it,” Morias said as he jabbed softly in the ribs.
I just stood there, my mouth still wide open. She was about 3 feet tall with short dark hair. She had pointed ears that were nearly long enough to reach the top of her head. And her eyes were larger than mine, made up almost entirely of iris. It was as if her irises were made of green and yellow flecks of glitter, all swirling around and covering the pupils in a halo of color.
“You act like you ain’t never seen a fairy before, kid.” The tiny woman smirked as she looked up and down. “And you dropped your rock.”
Morias grunted as he leaned over to pick up the stone. He held it out to . When I didn’t reach to take it, he lifted my hand and placed the stone in my palm. “Fíadan Ellyllon,” he repeated her na more slowly this ti, holding my gaze.
The woman peered at . “Did I break him?”
“Bren has no mory of you. He has no mory of the night he was brought to Ériu. He has no mory of Annwn.”
“What does he rember?”
Morias looked at again. “He rembers everything in Ériu. I was hoping the sunrise would bring back so of those first mories in Annwn.”
The Fairy stared at and rose to hover in the air. She ca close, and I could see into her prismatic eyes. They were hypnotizing. A long mont passed without any sound save for the wind on the barren hillside. Her hand whipped up to slap .
“Hey!” I said, taking a step away from her. “What was that for?”
“You got to wake up now, chief. Playti’s over.”
Morias shook his head. “Fí, I don’t think that will help.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Well, how do you propose we jog his mory?”
“We must take Bren ho, as HE would have wanted. Perhaps that will rekindle so of those early mories.”
Fíadan froze, then squinted toward the sky.
“What is it?” I asked.
She waved at to be quiet. “Quiet kid. You hear that, Morias?”
They both listened to the howling of the wind for a mont, and then I heard it, too. From back the way we had co, down toward the bottom of the hill, ca the distant sound of thunder.
“Ahhhhhh, great!” Fíadan grumbled. “I didn’t expect them to find him that fast.”
A chill visibly went through Morias and a look of understanding spread across the large man’s face. “I see on my cloak the stains of age... For I am cold indeed.” His words had taken on a sing-song tone, as if he was reciting a song or a poem.
Fíadan looked toward the source of the thunder and picked up where. Morias had left off. “The Stone of the Kings... long since storms reached their cheeks…”
The three of us stood there, in the gray hours of the morning, with the cliff’s edge at our back, for another mont. It was then that I saw her. Coming toward us, against the wind, floated an ugly woman the size of a parade float. She had wrinkled blue skin and dirty white hair, and in her right hand, she held a massive hamr.
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“Now I drink among shriveled old hags…” Fíadan’s voice trailed off as the corner of her lips drew up in a sly, wicked smile. She had blades in her hands suddenly, a long blade from her back and a short one from her hip.
“What the hell is that thing?” I looked to Morias for reassurance.
“Cailleach Bhéara,” he said softly.
“English please!”
“Hag of Beara, numb nuts!” Fíadan yelled without looking at .
“The spirit of winter itself,” Morias said helpfully.
“Is she… uh… dangerous?” I wasn’t entirely sure what I was even asking. Morias and Fíadan both turned to look at like I was stupid.
“Everything that cos across the veil is dangerous for this world.” I watched as Fíadan’s muscles tensed like she was about to spring forward.
“Wait,” Morias placed a gentle hand on the small woman’s shoulder. “There is another way.”
“Nah…” she replied with an expression of resignation. “I don’t think there is.”
Morias held her gaze and gestured at . “Bren has the stone.”
Fíadan’s eyes flashed to the stone in my hands for a brief second and then back up to . “Do you know how to use that, kid?”
A cackle of high-pitched laughter rose over the sound of the wind. The thunderclaps had turned into a general rolling rumble, growing louder as the hag approached.
“Let’s just jump. You can fly and I probably won’t die…” My eyes landed on my overweight caretaker. “Oh…”
“Bren!” Morias shouted over the rising wind and thunder. “The Stone…has it spoken to you?”
“What? No. What are you talking about?” I looked at the rock in my hand.
Fíadan shook her head and bounded forward, blades flashing in the early morning light.
The hag, also flying, charged forward, and the two t in the air over the frosty ground. Fíadan was fast, but the large form of the hag seed to possess a preternatural agility. Her form accelerated, twisting in a parry with the hamr. Fíadan’s blades struck the head and sparks fanned out across the hillside.
I don’t know how to describe the feelings that overtook my body. I had never, as far as I could rember, felt this way before. The scene in front of was literally out of this world. It was like watching a car accident or experiencing a natural disaster. It was happening, but it felt unreal.
I turned to Morias. “What do we do?”
“We should get you back down the hill to the standing stones.”
“What about Fí?” I asked, choosing to use the shorter na I had heard Morias use.
“She is doing her duty.” He began to move around the fighting pair. “Co!”
I followed, but kept a close eye on the combat, not knowing whether I was doing the right thing. The two continued to swing at each other, both unable to connect a blow. As we made our way past them, back the way we had co, I saw the cloak of the hag wrap itself around Fíadan.
“Wait!” I called to Morias, who was moving faster than I had ever seen him move. He didn’t hear over the cacophony of sounds around us.
I’m not sure why I did what I did next. I wasn’t thinking any brave thoughts. I don’t even recall feeling a particularly close connection to the fairy who was attempting to protect us. But before I knew how or why, my feet were taking away from Morias, back toward Fíadan.
“What are you doing, you idiot?” I heard Fí shout as the cloak of the hag twisted itself tighter around her body. Her weapons fell to the ground.
The hag cackled loudly as she held Fíadan aloft. She raised her hamr high. The crushing blow was about to strike the fairy, and I knew that I had to do sothing fast. Without anything else in my proverbial tool belt, I threw the only weapon I had at the hag, the stone.
I realize that this was arguably the worst thing I could have done. After all, Fíadan had engaged the hag to save us, and instead of running away, I had gone back to battle the very spirit of winter. I had no weapons, and I decided to throw an actual relic to the “bad guy.” All bad decisions. I’m willing to admit that now.
That is why when the rock expanded to its full size and slamd the hag to the ground, I paused to consider my next actions.
“That worked pretty well.“ I watched the hag wail beneath the weight of the large stone. And though it was heavier than anything I could ever lift, the hag was still sohow sliding the stone off her body. She would be free soon.
Fí was at my side before I even realized she was free. She had recovered her blades and was looking at with a mixture of gratitude and extre shock. The look passed quickly.
She scowled. “What is wrong with you?”
“Uh… you’re welco,” I said, confused.
“You and that stone are worth more than the life of an Ellyllon. Get out of here!”
“Look out!” I pushed us both out of the way of a clawed hand the size of a small SUV.
Fíadan readied her blades again just as the hag pushed the stone fully off her undulating form and rose to her full height. She raised her massive hamr above us.
Fí grabbed my arm, pushing behind her. “Stay behind .”
“What good is that? You’re three feet tall!” And for the first ti, I heard Fí laugh. She smiled and braced for the hamr strike.
I instinctively raised my hands to ward off the blow, and to my surprise, the palm-sized stone flew back into my hand. Just as the hamr connected with us, the stone expanded its form into what can only be described as “shield-shaped.”
The hag flew backward as if being propelled by an explosion. The blow knocked Fí and to the ground as well, but except for numbing my right arm, we were mostly unhard. The sa could not be said for the Stone of Destiny. The shield had changed back into a palm-sized rock, only now it lay before us in two broken pieces.
“What have you done?” Fíadan looked horrified. “Get the stones and go!”
I didn’t argue. I grabbed the broken pieces of the stone and ran as fast as I could. I didn’t look back. Fí led to Morias, who was standing at the highest standing stone upon the hill.
The swirling colors were back, and again, they were changing the landscape around . I knew, based on what Morias had said, that I was seeing the hill throughout the decades and centuries. The color was giving a glimpse of the past.
“Touch the stone,” Morias said. I did as I was told, and he nodded to Fíadan.
She nodded back, then turned to . “Get ready, kid. You think things are weird now…just wait!”
And with that, the colors flooded my senses, and the world I was used to faded from my vision.
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