The Power of Seven

by Peter R. Ellis

  “Thank you, September. Thank you for caring for my daughter. May your final two journeys be uneventful. I await your return so that we can rest and talk.” He turned away to carry his burden into the town.

  September leapt towards the stars and minutes later was back with Cynhaearn and Sieffre who were arguing about who should go next.

  “I have the power of haearn to protect me,” Cynhaearn insisted, “you go, Sieffre.”

  “No, I am unimportant. Your home needs you,” Sieffre responded.

  September stood by while the argument continued until Cynhaearn finally conceded. As he climbed onto September’s back, she said, “I’ll be back soon Sieffre. Please keep safe.”

  “I won’t do anything to attract the Malevolence if I can help it, my lady,” Sieffre replied.

  As September flew she could feel Cynhaearn urging her on. The closer they got to his home the more concerned and eager he became. This time a large crowd of his people were waiting outside the town as the sun settled behind the western mountains. They cheered as September settled on the snow-covered ground and rushed forward to greet Cynhaearn as he dismounted.

  Cynwal came to her.

  “The people are pleased to see their mordeyrn and cludydd o haearn,” he observed, “he has been away for months.”

  “What about Aurddolen? He hasn’t come out.”

  “No. He has been ensuring that Heulwen is looked after, but the people are suspicious. They have heard what happened at the Arsyllfa and are afraid that she will bring the Malevolence to Mwyngloddiau Dwfn.”

  “With me and the Mordeyrn here I’m sure that will happen anyway.”

  “Yes, but Heulwen has become a scapegoat. You will be made most welcome when you finally enter the town.”

  “I’m looking forward to it. I must just get my last passenger. I hope Sieffre has been safe on his own.”

  “Take care, Cludydd. You have developed wonderful powers but the Malevolence and your sister are also strong. She will be looking for an opportunity to strike you down.” Cynwal spoke with the gravity she expected of a cludydd o plwm.

  “I expect her at any moment. I’ll be back soon – with Sieffre.” She jumped and in seconds was far away from the mountain habitation.

  The campsite was dark and quiet as September descended through the leaden dome. No fire burned. For a moment September feared that something had happened to Sieffre but as she landed he stirred from under a blanket covered in twigs and leaf litter. A thrill passed through her as she saw him rise to greet her. She opened her arms to hug him. He held back, perhaps a little afraid of her luminous blue clothing but she beckoned him and he stepped forward and embraced her. She felt his body pressing against hers.

  “I’m so glad that you are safe,” September said, “I was worried when I saw the campsite deserted.”

  “I thought it safer not to light a fire and to camouflage myself,” Sieffre replied, “although some manifestations can sense one’s spirit. After being alone at the Arsyllfa for days, I must confess to being somewhat afraid when left on my own again.”

  “So, let’s get off to the mountains where we can be with lots of people.” She became the eagle and ducked her head for Sieffre to clamber on.

  “So the Cludydd o Maengolauseren bows to her servant, does she?”

  Startled, September turned awkwardly to see the glowing, black-robed figure of Malice striding across the clearing.

  “Sieffre is not my servant, he’s a friend.”

  Malice looked puzzled.

  “Friend? What is that?”

  “Someone who helps you, who likes being with you, likes sharing what you do. Do you understand that, Mairwen?”

  “Mairwen. Why do you call me that? Malice is my name.”

  “I told you before. Mairwen is the name Mother gave you, when you were born.”

  “I was never born. My spirit was cast out of your world. You had life, I did not.”

  “You may have been dead but Mother still gave you the name.”

  “It is not my name. She named a spiritless corpse. I am Malice and this world will be mine.”

  “This is no more your world than it is mine. It belongs to the people who live here.”

  “Like your ‘friend’, Sieffre, I suppose.”

  “People like him, yes.”

  “They will all die and their spirits will join the Malevolence to do my will.”

  “Not if I can do anything about it.”

  “You are weak. You may have learnt some tricks from the planets but when the Conjunction comes, and I have the full power of the Malevolence to support me, you will not be able to stand against me.”

  Malice’s confidence scared September. She wanted to get away from her. She spread her broad wings and scooped the air.

  “Fly to your little refuge in the mountains.”

  “You know where I am going?”

  “Of course. I can sense all your movements. We are joined you and I and I with Heulwen also. I will attack you and your ‘friends’ in the mountains like I did at your Arsyllfa and like that heap of rubble, your hideaway will fall.”

  Malice raised a hand to fire a bolt of cosmic darkness. September felt sorrow and surrounded herself with a globe of virtual lead. The ball of black light dissipated harmlessly. September flapped her wings and rose above the trees. A dozen Adarllwchgwin descended from the night sky from all sides; only the glowing red eyes of the birds and their riders making them visible. Sieffre’s legs dug into her sides and his arms gripped her neck as September turned and twisted striving for height. As her attackers dived towards her she became angry. Fiery iron arrows flared from her talons. Each sped towards a target and one by one each of the evil birds detonated and disappeared in a blast of hot air.

  From below, September heard a cackling laugh, fading as she sped way to the north-east.

  9

  It was another dawn when September swooped into land at Mwyngloddiau Dwfn. Sieffre slid off her back and shivered.

  “I don’t know how people can live and work in these temperatures,” he said.

  September changed into herself and shrugged.

  “They’re used to it. I used to be like you; I hated the cold, but now it doesn’t seem to bother me.”

  A crowd of the mining community had come out to meet them. For the first time September looked closely at them. They were generally darker and shorter than the people she had met further south along the warm reaches of the southern river. In their thick woollen clothes the miners looked stockier too. Cynhaearn came forward and clapped Sieffre on the back.

  “Welcome my friend. I’m glad to see you again,” he said then turned to September, “and thank you Cludydd for saving all of us a journey of many weeks.”

  “I’m just sorry that more of the people from the Arsyllfa were not with you. We must find out if more escaped.”

  “Yes, we have that and much more to discuss. Come inside. The Mordeyrn is eager to start work.”

  Cynhaearn guided Sieffre and September towards the town, the crowd around them. They had to thin out to a crocodile to pass down the narrow, icy alleyway between the dark buildings built from rock hewn from the mountains. Windows were few and the buildings seemed forbidding. They clustered close together as if for warmth. People could flit from one building to another, hardly stepping out into the bitterly cold mountain air. Towards the centre of the town, the pathways were slushy rather than covered by ice and dark because the closeness of the two and three storey buildings blocked out the light.

  They came into a small, open square which had one building where a wide door was flung open. They entered. Inside the feeling was different. There was warmth from fires burning in hearths and light from specks of starstone that were arrayed like the stars themselves across the ceilings. There were low tables, like the walls, carved out of rock and polished. The floors were covered in brightly patterned carpets strewn with equally colourful cushions of various sizes.

  Cynhaearn flung
off the coat he had been wearing as did the townspeople who had followed them in, but Sieffre refused to remove his woollen coat.

  “It is warmer inside than out but still cold for my liking,” he explained.

  “Hah,” laughed Cynhaearn, “The air has been too hot for me to breathe while I have been down in the south. At least the Arsyllfa is on top of a mountain and comfortably cool. I’m glad to be back in my own climate, with my own people.”

  September was again surprised that though she could detect the change in temperatures she was untroubled by being too hot or too cold – very different to being at home when at the first sign of the sun she felt hot and bothered and the first hint of frost made her shiver.

  “Come, sit, make yourselves comfortable. I’m sure you are ready to eat a proper meal, Sieffre, and perhaps you too, Cludydd.” Cynhaearn gestured to the cushions on the floor and the steaming dishes of food that were being brought to the tables.

  September agreed to try the food out of politeness but didn’t feel hungry. As Sieffre tucked into multiple bowls of broth, and she nibbled on a piece of delicious, sweet bread, Aurddolen appeared among them.

  “Ah, Cludydd. You have arrived. I am relieved.”

  “How is Heulwen?”

  “Slightly improved. She can sit and even stand unaided but still does not respond.”

  “You realise that she is still a danger to us and all these people.”

  Aurddolen’s face darkened.

  “How can that be, Cludydd?”

  “Malice has a link to her. Perhaps she can even command Heulwen to do something. I don’t know.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Malice told me. She was at the camp just as Sieffre and I were about to leave. She told me that she can sense my movements and Heulwen’s.”

  “She knows you are here now.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then we must defend this place.”

  “We must, and I will help you, but I think it better if I do not stay. You have things to do to prepare for the Conjunction. If I am elsewhere then perhaps I can draw Malice’s attention away from you and leave you safe.”

  “You speak wisely, Cludydd. You have certainly developed since your sojourn amongst the planets and the stars.”

  “I know I have changed but I am still not sure what is going to happen when this Conjunction comes or whether I can stop Malice’s plans for world domination.”

  “You must destroy her. She gives purpose to the Malevolence’s hate.”

  “I’m not sure I can. When I see her I see myself. I see what I might have been. She’s my sister.”

  Aurddolen sagged as if the weight of his responsibilities had become too much.

  “I understand. I feel the same about my daughter even though I know she has been touched by evil and maybe will never again be the woman she once was.” He took a deep breath, re-fortifying his resolve. “Nevertheless, we must make a plan to face the trials ahead. Your idea to travel around Gwlad is good, but we must put the defences of this town in order before you go. I will get Cynhaearn to call the other cludyddau together urgently.”

  He bustled off to talk to the mordeyrn of the mining area and soon returned.

  “Come with me to a meeting room where we can discuss matters away from these crowds. The others will join us as soon as they are able.” He led the way from the large communal hall through a door into a smaller room. It had a single, circular slab of rock as a low table surrounded by soft cushions. Aurddolen sat and September joined him, crossing her legs, something else that she could not do comfortably at home.

  “I am glad we can have a few moments of private conversation, Cludydd. There is so much I would discuss with you but I do not know how much time we have.”

  “We can talk wherever we are. I can always link to you.”

  “Ah yes, the power of efyddyn as granted to you by Gwener. Your skills amaze me, Cludydd. You have gained strength in diverse ways. You spoke briefly of tasks set you by the spirits of the planets. You say you even met my spirit.”

  “Yes. It was just like talking to you as we are now, except you were surrounded by other gold bearers including Heulyn and you appeared ghostly.”

  “I knew that as cludyddau our spirits travel to our planet, but I had no idea that they have a separate existence there, whether we are alive or dead. It does however explain a little how we draw our powers from the planets. But to return to the skills of efyddyn. Do you think you can communicate with other cludyddau?”

  “I think so, especially those I have met. I can control my emotions much better now and that helps me to form a link even without the copper horn I had before.”

  “That is good. I would like to try to make contact with everyone who was in the Arsyllfa – if they have survived; many didn’t. They will not have a cludydd o efyddyn with them so they will not be able to communicate. Anarawd was a victim of the Cyhyraeth that swept through the Arsyllfa when the doors were opened.”

  “I will try to make a link when we have had our meeting.”

  “Perhaps you can also locate Malice, so we can predict when and where she may strike next, since she can sense your whereabouts.”

  “I haven’t tried, but I will when I am far from here. Just in case making the contact brings her to me.”

  “That is wise. You have been filled with wisdom as well as power, September.”

  “I amaze myself, Aurddolen. I don’t feel at all like the fat teenager who had no confidence at all. I feel full of energy and strength and sure that I can use the powers of the planets and metals to do good things. The only worry I have, and it is a big one, is how to overcome Malice and the Malevolence at this Conjunction.”

  “We have just a few weeks to solve that conundrum, longer than I expected as I thought most of our time would be taken in travelling here. Nevertheless, I am sure the time will pass quickly and we will be kept busy by the manifestations of evil and by your twin. My first target is to prepare the aur to forge my new symbol of power so that I can stand beside you once again and support you with all the energy of Haul.”

  The door opened and Cynhaearn and Cynwal entered followed by a young dark-haired woman, a white-haired woman of a similar age, and a golden-haired youth. Ilar, the cludydd o alcam, was last to enter the room. They spread out around the table, the three who had not yet met September staring at her with wonder in their eyes.

  “Please sit and join us, friends,” Aurddolen said, “September, may I introduce you to Cari, the cludydd o efyddyn.” The dark woman gave September a loving, welcoming smile. “Ariannell, the cludydd o arian.” September nodded a greeting to the white-haired woman who she had guessed correctly was the silver bearer. “And Heulfryn, formerly my pupil and now cludydd o aur of the Mynydd Tywyll.” The young man grinned at September.

  “We are missing a cludydd,” September noted.

  “Isfoel, our cludydd o arian byw,” Ilar said, “he is under the mountains.”

  “He spends much of his time in the form of a bat, searching the mines,” Cynwal explained.

  “Searching for what?” September asked.

  “In good times he looks for traces of new veins of metals in the rocks. Now he seeks out manifestations and warns us before they get close to the miners,” Cynwal said.

  “You find manifestations in the mines?” September had thought of attacks from above and over the mountains but hadn’t considered that here they might be attacked from beneath their feet.

  “Oh yes,” Cynhaearn said, “particularly the earth manifestations, Gwyllian, Coblynau, Tylwyth teg.”

  “I’ve met the first – old witches that turn people to dust – but not the other two,” September said.

  “Let us hope that you do not have to, Cludydd,” Cynwal said, grimly, “although I fear that you will at some point.”

  September wondered if Tylwyth teg or Coblynau could be worse than Gwyllian or Pwca or any of the other manifestations.

  “Has Isfoel seen man
y?” she asked.

  “Certainly,” Cynhaearn said, “and their numbers have been increasing. Not surprising as the Cysylltiad approaches. Their presence scares away the miners and so our production of metals has dropped. It will be difficult to get into the deep lodes to collect all the aur that Aurddolen needs for his symbol of power.”

  “Just another problem to overcome,” Aurddolen said in a tone which made it difficult for September to decide whether he was depressed or upbeat.

  “The more manifestations there are, the longer Isfoel spends down there,” Ilar said.

  “So, we won’t be seeing much of him,” Cynhaearn said, “We must get on. What is your plan, Aurddolen?”

  “A plan! Would that I had one. Originally it was to build up our strength and then travel with the Cludydd o Maengolauseren onto the ice cap to the meeting with the Malevolence at the Conjunction. I suppose that is still the plan except it has been complicated with my need to regain my power and the appearance of Malice, the Cludydd’s twin. Malice has given direction to the evil and now the appearances of manifestations are less random and hence much more dangerous.”

  “The fall of the Arsyllfa showed that,” Cynwal said gravely, “The presence of the Cyhyraeth and other manifestations as the doors were opened was not a coincidence. It was planned and prepared for by Malice.”

  “That is correct, Cynwal,” Aurddolen said, “and for that reason we are in great danger here. The presence of the Cludydd, myself and my daughter, to say nothing of your collected powers will draw Malice and her forces to us.”

  “What can we do?” Ariannell asked.

  Aurddolen replied, “The Cludydd has an idea – to travel the length and breadth of the Land, facing whatever she finds and perhaps drawing Malice’s attention from us.” There were murmurs and nods of approval around the table.

  “But we will still be a target,” Cynhaearn said.

  “Of course,” Aurddolen agreed, “so we must do all that we can to improve the defences of the town. We must consider ourselves under siege.”