"Oh, please. They haven't even noticed we are here. They are too busy taking selfies. Let’s just walk along and pretend to be tourists too. I’ve never been here before, so it’s not far from the truth.” Lia countered, and I agreed.
We were all dressed in regular clothes. Even Cyn had worn a light blue t-shirt with jeans. He was getting used to modern clothes more and more each day, and he looked sexy as hell, in the faded jeans Art had gifted him. Apparently, he had a full wardrobe set aside for Cyn, hoping one day he would come around. I assumed the clothes Cyn wore the night he first took me to the village to meet Art and Eisha came from there.
"What is this place?" Kevan asked, taking a few steps with Eisha towards one of the stones, and interrupting my trip down memory lane.
“The Drombeg Stone Circle.” Cyn answered. “This is one of many natural portals that are in this world. It can transport you to any of the many dimensions that exist.”
“Shut the front door!” Lia blurted as Kevan gasped and I chuckled. “Other dimensions as in other worlds?" She whispered-screamed at Cyn. He nodded, amused. Kevan's eyes widened even more, and I was afraid they were going to fall from the sockets.
“You both shall learn all of it once you begin your training into The Order. You will learn the mystical history of the Druids. Only that which assists you with your ability, of course, the rest is for the High Priests to protect.”
“Thank you,” Kevan said, genuinely appreciative of the opportunity.
My heart smiled. I could feel the waves of pride and honor flowing from his essence at the prospect of being part of something so important. Wait! Sweet mother of all things weird, how could I sense his essence? That was something that only Cyn could do. My eyes flew to our hands together. They dimly glowed.
“Cyn!” I screamed into his mind, making him jump. “I can feel his essence. Kevan’s. Is our bond doing this? That is your ability, not mine."
His gaze went to mine. “What do you feel?”
“He’s humbled and feels honored to be part of this with us.”
His eyes moved to our hands then to Lia, who was now talking to Art near the stone altar. “Try once more.”
I looked at her and waited, the next second it hit me. "She's excited and proud to be here."
Cyn nodded absentmindedly and walked towards them, not letting go of my hand. He placed his palm on his brother's back and closed his eyes. The warmth in our hands intensified, and I knew they were glowing brightly. The energy traveled through us going into Art.
“Thanks, little sis,” he answered with a sigh of relief and turned to look at us. His eyes widened as he realized Cyn was the one who had given him peace and not me. “How the hell did you do that? That’s her power, not yours.”
Cyn and I looked at each other and grinned. We knew exactly how. The joining of our energies had also joined our powers. Apparently, when, we held hands we could amplify each other as well as share our abilities. My gaze went to the crowd, suddenly remembering we weren't alone. A couple looked at us with a strange expression on their faces, so did the children of another family further away. The look in their eyes was of wonder.
“Did they see us use our magic?” I asked Cyn, as he felt their essence.
“I am not certain they did not.”
Great, this was the last thing we needed. To let the world know from night to morning that magic was real, and Druids were still among them. The tour left, and we were finally alone in the ancient site. If those people saw us, they didn't say anything, and I hoped it stayed that way.
“Okay, let’s do this before any more tourists come to visit.” I pulled Cyn to the Druid’s Altar Stone, and he raised one hand in the air while placing the other on the surface of the rock.
“Lia, please come forward and place your hands upon the stone.”
Cyn's hands began to glow and the light transferred to the rock. The ancient words seemed to float around us as he asked the great stones to consider Lia worthy of passage. The glow intensified on its surface, and the next second a set of blessed portal stones materialized in front of us.
"Lia, you have been deemed deserving. Please remove your Blessed Passage Stones."
Lia squealed and held them in her hands. The ancient Celtic runes on them glowed dimly at her touch, and then the light disappeared as she placed them in the small pouch she held.
“Kevan, please come forward and place your hands upon the stone.”
Kevan swallowed, and even though I could no longer feel his essence, I knew the uncertainty he experienced at that moment. Yet he was a different man now. Kevan was worthy. He put his hands on the rock, and just as it did with Lia, it glowed while Cyn recited the ancient prayer. Kevan closed his eyes; his hands slightly trembled. The light intensified and there they were. His own set of blessed portal stones.
"Kevan, you have been deemed deserving. Please remove your Blessed Passage Stones." The smile was evident in Cyn's voice as he spoke. Kevan's expression as he opened his eyes was priceless.
"I shall teach you how to use them," Eisha promised him, as he placed them in his pouch. Kevan took a deep breath filled with confidence, and it was clear how much this meant to him.
“My Goddess…” I smiled at Cyn, excited out of my mind. Today I would finally have my own set of portal stones. How freaking cool was that?
I placed my palms on the cold surface feeling the energy alive and vibrating inside it. It instantly connected with mine. I took a settling breath while Cyn repeated the prayer. I was already planning the first trip I'd make once I had the stones in my hands when the light intensified and then… nothing. The Altar was empty.
“What the hell?” Lia’s words mirrored my thoughts.
Cyn frowned and held my hand, placing it on the Druid’s Altar once again. His palms glowed as he said the words and a second later, nothing.
"Are you freaking serious?" I asked dumbfounded. My staff materialized instinctively. I stared at the stone in disbelief. "Hello, High Priestess here. You know, the first one to ever be part of the Druid Order? Where are my stones?"
"Maybe you don't need them? Cyn already has his, so he can create portals for you, no?"
Lia said trying to be the voice of reason, but that wasn't it. I just knew it.
I turned towards Cyn, and his frown had deepened. I sighed, but the glow of the Minastra GalIsacura Arthulis called my attention. Its light, unlike other times, was a soft blue, the same hue as the portal stones.
Grandpa’s message returned to me. "Sing my lullaby…"
The words traveled through me and I knew what to do. The ancient connection that Cyn and I had experienced in the Astral Plane was still pulsing within me. Slowly, I walked to the center of the stone circle and looked around us. A tourist bus drove towards us in the distance, but it was still far away from us.
“When the light glows the brightest, see it with your heart,
Picture where you want to be, the light will take you there…”
I sang the words Grandpa taught me as a child, and as each one left my lips, the glow intensified. Shimmering rays began to shoot out of the sphere of my staff, and I visualized the place I wanted to visit once again. The energy lines suddenly connected with the seventeen standing stones around us, forming an ancient diagram of light to which I was the center.
Gasps floated around me, escaping even Cyn, while a Celtic rune appeared in each of the standing stones, instantly connecting them to the ley lines on the earth, in a three dimensional way. I had no idea how long it took to form, but the light engulfed us all, just as the next group of tourists began to unload the bus, their eyes immediately focused on the spectacle before them.
Then, we disappeared.
* * *
Soft cream walls and creaking wooden floors greeted us, as we appeared the next second in Grandpa's old townhome. It was just as I remembered, and vacant as far as I could tell. This place had brought me joy, sadness, and shock… it was the only real home I had shared wit
h Grandpa.
"How the fuck did you do that?" Kevan blurted out, still taken aback by what had just happened. I had transported us all at the same time.
My gaze locked with Art’s while he looked at me with wonder and smiled. “Grandpa showed me.”
The others frowned unsure of what I was as talking about, yet Cyn and Art's lips curved, dimples winking and all. They knew exactly what I meant. I took a deep breath as my staff disappeared and walked throughout the home. The room was empty, but the soft lacey curtains still hung from the windows.
"This is where I grew up, once Grandpa and I finally stopped running."
Silence followed me while my fingers grazed the wall on my way to the window. I sat on the window bench, the same spot from which I’d seen Grandpa drive off to work so many times, unsuspecting of the reality of our life. It always pained him to leave me, and now I understood why. He was still afraid the Romans would find us, and he would once again return home to his dead family. I sat there quietly for a few minutes until a new purpose filled me. It was time to stop all of this madness. Standing, I faced the others.
"No one deserves to live their lives afraid. Running from place to place while trying not to leave a trace, doing anything they have to, even renouncing their spiritual beliefs to keep those they love safe. Nels, my grandfather, did that for way too long, and it’s time for all of this to end. Let's return to the village we need to call a meeting."
Cyn removed his stones from the pocket of his jeans and threw them in the air just as my Spear of Light materialized. The energy shot out of my Minastra GalIsacura Arthulis connecting with them, and instead of forming an archway they floated around us in a full circle, each taking their place just as the standing stones of the Drombeg Circle had before.
The glowing, blue energy lines formed again while I visualized Eisha's hut, and then we were gone.
* * *
"We need a plan," I announced after Seima, Cathair, and Eghan joined us. Ronan was apparently busy with a therapy session, so it was just us. The others found a place to sit and looked at me expectantly. I took Cyn's hand in mine as I tried to think. "The only thing I know for sure, is we need to rescue Leigh… if he is still alive."
My heart tore as Leigh's face returned to me, scared and shocked, while the Romans he had trusted for so many years, beat him on the ground at the battle of the river. His sky blue eyes held the realization that he'd been used, causing him to betray those he loved.
“I support that. He’s just a kid.” Kevan agreed.
"What? Are you serious?" Lia interrupted at the same time. Her initial question had been for me, but she stood and turned to face Kevan fully. This was not a good thing. "No. He was a kid, but he is a grown ass man now, thousands of centuries-old if you remember, and he killed hundreds of people by helping the Romans!"
Kevan stood in response and the next second Art was standing beside Lia, staring him down with fists clenched. Kevan ignored him.
"Leigh was scared when they took him, and was severely brainwashed by them." He looked at me. "I don't think they have killed him, they would have done it on the field. Even if that was supposed to be the outcome of the battle, after losing two of the Founders, The Brotherhood must feel lost. He's probably in a cell somewhere, while they figure out how to regroup, and look to other branches for a new leader."
“Bri, you cannot be serious.,” Lia countered exasperated. “You want to rescue him when he’s the reason your parents are dead? He’s the reason your grandfather died. If Leigh hadn’t turned against us, all those people would be alive today. The Roman’s would have never found them.”
"Listen, you have no idea how the Romans operate," Kevan answered appalled. "I do. They indoctrinated me too, and my Father, and if I'd never come here, I would probably still be. You can't possibly blame all of that on him. The Romans started this. They are the only ones to blame. Leigh was an impressionable teenager at the time he was captured. He was only fourteen. They painted a perfect world to him, and in his grief and feelings of rejection he clung to it."
His gaze shifted to Cyn, and a regretful gleam entered his eyes.
“Whatever the case may be, Leigh felt unwanted by his father, and the Romans exploited that because it was perfect for them. They offered him affection, and even though it was fake, they gave him a family too. He took it, since it as what he needed the most. I know how that feels because at his age I would have done anything for my Grandmother to love me. In fact, I did everything she wanted until the day I ended up here.”
"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't change what he did," Lia added, unrelenting. "I understand the whole ‘forgiveness party’ you guys have going on here, I truly do, but some acts shouldn't be forgiven." Her gaze went to Kevan, and his body tensed, receiving her message loud and clear. "Turning against your own family, and getting them killed, is as fucked up as mistakes go in my eyes."
“Lia…” Cyn warned but wasn’t able to finish.
"No, it’s okay," Kevan answered, stepping back from her. "If you don't want to forgive me that's fine. I really wish you would, but I understand if you can't. In fact, I'll make it easier for you and stay as far away as I can, so you don't have to deal with me. I'm not excusing what I did to you, Lia, although I am sorry. I carry the memories of that day with me every damn minute of every day, and I'll have to do so for the rest of my fucking life. But Leigh is a different story. It's like blaming a victim of kidnapping for caring about her captor after years of being under their influence."
Kevan's gaze settled on Cyn and me, and he took a step towards us. "That kid was lied to and brainwashed, tricked, and pushed to do things he would have never done otherwise. What Leigh did, didn't happen overnight. It wasn't until centuries after they took him that he finally broke down and gave into their demands. I know the full story. If you really want to save him, and you can find it in your hearts to forgive him, I'll help you. I think he needs help, so he can be the man he was supposed to be. If I got a second chance, why can't he?"
“I think that is a huge mistake, but whatever.” Lia crossed her arms, defiantly.
Cyn and I exchanged a glance, and I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling like a mother trying to calm a hurt child. The truth was we were all hurt by what Leigh had done, just as Lia was by what Felix did to her. Yet, he wasn’t here, Kevan was, and she needed to come to terms with that. Still, I understood her concern, and perhaps she was right, but this was bigger than any of us. Leigh needed help, and I knew Grandpa would want me to do the right thing.
Saving his son was the right thing.
Letting go of Cyn, I walked towards Lia and took her hand. "I understand where you are coming from, Lia. I know your concern is well founded, but I think this could be the first step to achieving what Cyn and I are destined to accomplish. We must do this. You are my friend and I love you, but you are also our Seer of Destinies and your part in this plan is important. I need you by my side, Lia. We both do," I added as Cyn stood beside me, and held her other hand.
Lia smiled at him, and when her gaze met mine, her eyes shone with unshed tears. "Of course. I'd do anything for you, linda.”
We hugged, and I stepped back. Taking a settling breath, I turned to face Kevan. "You mentioned that without leadership, The Brotherhood would be lost. What did you mean by that? Wouldn't Aurelius take command now? He is the General of the army, isn’t he?”
"Yes, but the army doesn't rule The Brotherhood. The way the Founders ran things, the army has no value outside of the field. They were just pawns to Agustina. Only blood relatives of the founding family can run the organization. It has always been that way. Our family has appointed the people they trusted, to run the different branches throughout the years. It's never exactly been a democracy, more of a monarchy kind of set up. With both Agustina and my Father dead, there is no one to lead them, unless…"
"Unless you return." I finished for him. Kevan nodded in a way that made it evident he would never do that. "T
hen that's what you must do."
“What?” He asked startled.
"You are our way get to them, Kevan," Cyn answered mirroring my words. "You are the only one they will recognize as their leader. Perhaps that can help us reach them, and we shall come to an understanding."
"They will never want peace, Cynwrig."
"That is not for us to assume, Kevan," Cyn answered calmly.
“Is not an assumption, it’s a fact. I know them. They have spent centuries hating Druids. They won’t understand, not only because they were raised to hate us, but because my Grandmother made sure that they won’t even want to listen.”
"Then, we'll make them listen," I added, standing straighter. "What we are living right now, has never happened before in the history of our worlds. There has never been two Priests in The Order of The Druids, A full Druid Court never existed, a Roman has never abandoned his beliefs—no matter how wrong—to become a Druid, and never has The Brotherhood been left without a leader. These things didn’t happen by accident, Kevan. We must be aware of that. Our Mother Goddess moved the pieces in our favor. Now it's our turn to act and take advantage of that."
Cyn stood closer, and we exchanged a glance. Our lips stretched into a smile as we looked at the others, resolve and conviction rushing through us. "The time to act is now, brothers. The time for peace has come."
LIA
* * *
After Bri and Cyn set a “promising” plan for us to save Leigh, Art left to check out the construction site in Montana.
He hadn't visited the place in over a week, and although they hadn't been able to do much—due to the non-existent amount of money for the project—Peter's brother and his men had leveled the terrain, so they would be able to begin building once the money magically appeared. In the meantime, Chewie still wanted to meet with Peter and Max who were helping him look for other funding options. I, on the other hand, had nothing to do, so I decided to hang with my bestie.
Absolute Magic Page 14
