The Tales of Amergin, Sea Druid

by Peter Green

  Her entourage of priests and armed guards followed her orders. They were soon marching back down the Ridge of Thormond... already one beacon was alight on the ridge... another would soon be lit in the valley below...

  Sceine’s spirits soared higher than the golden eagle now! Her mind raced. Her heart near bursting!

  “This day the prophecy will be fulfilled! Together we will bring enlightenment to the Promised Land! Our progeny will spread the word and carry the faith and bring salvation to the Island of Destiny! The Guardians of Light will journey from beyond the veil in to the mortal realm! They will pour forth from the Portal of Hushinish and all the great portals of the Western Province! Together we will prevail!”

  There was great joy abounding as they arrived in the wooded valley and commenced building the second beacon, to guide the Milesians.

  The priest Diarmuid and the captain of Sceine’s guard stood back and watched with restrained enjoyment as the beacon fired in to life. The Sea Druid Amergin will surely be with them soon!

  The two sages were delighted for Sceine, but they doubted the wisdom in delaying here, for this was the notorious Valley of the Mad. “We should have marched to Hushinish and met the Sea Druid there!” declared the captain of the guard, his military antennae bristling.

  As the beacon blazed, the priest Diarmuid agreed! In the heat of the moment, with the fulfilment of the prophecy nearing, Sceine’s judgement may have been clouded. The sense of foreboding felt earlier, returned, descending upon him like a shroud of condensing mist...

  The shadows lengthened and the signal beacon burned brighter in to the descending night. The guard was on constant alert. They should have been at Hushinish by now! They all waited, surely the beacon had been seen and the Milesians on their way.

  The Valley of the Mad was living up to its name. Flickering flames sending shifting shadows in to the ether. The guards began imagining movement. Hallucinogenic forms in the darkness. The awful feeling of knowing you were being watched... they should have been at Hushinish by now!

  *

  The southern peaks of the Iveare Mountains caught the glowing remnants of sunset as the Western Province descended in to shadow.

  The first beacon on the Ridge of Thormond lit up their hearts. Amergin danced for joy, “Sceine! I will be with you soon ...!” He embraced Eiremhou! All were overjoyed! They were living the prophecy!

  Soon the tribes would meet, Amergin’s destiny complete! A determined stretch to their stride now, they bounded along the mountain path. The second beacon lit up the western sky, located deep in a distant valley... there they would meet...

  The exuberance was palpable, the joy tangible. Amergin could barely contain his excitement. He had waited so long... overcome so many adversaries... the moment had come, “An hour’s march!” he breathlessly conferred with Xomas, “Send the word back to our faithful... the journey is nearing its end!”

  Xomas sent messengers along the line of marching Milesians, while he watched the eastern horizon. The summits of the Iveare range were plunged in to darkness. The consummate mariner, Xomas always had a weather eye out, always looking for the unexpected. He felt the deep joy for his leader, the Sea Druid Amergin, the Champion of Milesia, but he also had a strengthening sense of foreboding. He could smell a foulness descending with the cold mountain air. He could feel the brooding presence of the dark Sidhe.

  MacCuacht marches to the fortress of Sliebh Mis and then inevitably to the Portal of Hushinish. He had sent his beasts and demons ahead to ambush them on the high mountain passes. Xomas still had the nightmarish vision of his fellow Milesians being crushed by the avalanche of rock, fresh in his mind. Their souls then predated on by the ghoulish creatures of the dark. But he could feel something else... something lurked in the darkness, something unknown and totally unexpected. The sight of Amergin embracing his faithful mariners, alive with sheer joy, encouraged Xomas... but he still felt uncertain, unsure... he was distracted... what was out there?

  Amergin dropped to his knees by a pool of fresh mountain water, the warning of Gerridh not to drink the water, ringing in his ears. But this was the Western Province! They were free of the foul pestilence! Amergin splashed his face with the crystal clear Water of Life. He roared to the heavens, “We thank you Great Spirit! We thank you for the life giving water! We thank you for guiding us safely to our destination!” One by one, the Milesians fell to their knees and drunk deep of the Water of Life. One by one they prayed to the Great Spirit. They thanked the Guardians of Light for protecting them on their journey.

  Xomas spoke wisely and advisedly to the champion of Milesia, “My lord Amergin. We must fill our water carriers and march on! We must reach the valley where the beacon burns before the dark of night. There you will meet your princess, your destined one!” Xomas delighted in the broad smile that swept across Amergin’s face at the very mention of Sceine. He continued, “I fear we are not alone my lord. We must make all haste! Even here in this bountiful province where the Light of the Divine pours from beyond the veil... even here we are not safe!” Amergin sensed this too... even with the prospect of meeting his destiny... he sensed the presence... he feared the unknown... something was waiting for them... preying on them...

  The moon rose above the Iveare Mountain range at exactly the point from whence they had come, marking the track of the high pass. Amergin took a furtive glance back, fearing they were being followed. All seemed quiet.The moon beyond the fullness of the equinox now. The Cycle of Xustra just commencing. The veil was still at its closest to the mortal realm.

  The path snaked down the stark moonlit mountain side. Only a faint streak of daylight remained on the western horizon. The signal fire blazed brighter and brighter against the darkening backdrop…

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT:

  THE DIVINE IN BODY AND SPIRIT

  The Valley of the Mad, verdant and lush in contrast to the boulder strewn mountain track. Amergin felt an unexpected pang of sorrow and isolation. He couldn’t fathom his feelings... he recalled his earlier sense of foreboding. Xomas walked beside Amergin as they made the final traverse in to the valley. He too was wary, he sensed his leader’s unease.

  Amergin heard voices now! All his worries disappeared! His heart pounded! His spirits soared! Any moment now... this was the culmination of his journey! Sceine had come to him many times in his dreams and visions. She had drawn him beyond the veil, guiding him, caressing him, nurturing him...

  A torch bearer came towards him and waited in the centre of a moonlit clearance. In the gentle lunar glow and the flickering torch light stood a radiant being of extraordinary beauty. All time stood still. Everyone and everything stopped in their tracks. Only Amergin and the ethereal, enlightened being were moving. They came towards each other, the veil wrapping around them, protecting them.

  Amergin finally regained the power of speech, “Sceine!”

  She smiled, “My lord Amergin! You have journeyed far!” Words were unnecessary... they embraced... her long golden brown tresses... her fingertips delicately touching ...her lips on his... he looked in to her amber eyes... the familiar fleck in the iris of her eye drew him in hypnotically. They journeyed beyond the wrapping and morphing veil... together finally... destiny complete! Bodies entwined... their souls as one... they travelled deep in to the spirit world. They were met by radiant, enlightened beings... they were in the presence of the Guardians of Light.From the amber cosmos, a voice... “Amergin, Sceine... May the Great Spirit bless you! May you bring peace and harmony to the mortal realm, may your children and your childrens’ children serve the cause of the enlightenment for eternity!”

  The other Guardians chanted in chorus,

  “So it is written... and is in the stars... and is in the prophecy!”

  They journeyed further and further beyond the veil. They travelled through the portals of the Promised Land... they saw the Temple of Xhara, the great Portal of Machlleth, the Temple of the Sun and even the Portal of Sceilge. They journeyed al
one now...

  She held him gently, caressing him, kissing him, overwhelming him... her long white tunic edged with gold fell off her body. Amergin fell to his knees, kissing her, touching her, caressing her. Sceine’s beauty intoxicated him. He was entranced by her, lost in her. He kissed every part of her divine body. Touching, exciting, arousing. They embraced, bodies entwined.Their hearts pounding in rhythm, their spirits rising and their souls uniting. He entered deep in to her soul.

  Time stood still. They came together in blissful ecstacy. The prophecy in fulfilment!

  Sceine smiled, her divinely beautiful body knew peace like she never knew before! Amergin stared in to her amber eyes, he was drawn in to her universe... soon they travelled through an amber cosmos and journeyed beyond the veil... they were back in the moonlit clearance... back in to the mortal realm ...the words of the Guardians of Light spinning around their minds, “May you bring peace and harmony, may your children serve the cause of the enlightenment for eternity!”

  They held each other. The reality of the mortal realm a cold shock to their still overwhelmed and overcome bodies. Time moved on again... voices permeating their senses... real time in a very real world...

  Amergin kissed Sceine... together their mission will continue!

  He raised the still burning torch in to the air, casting a light on familiar faces and strangers gathering in the clearance. This was a meeting of kindred spirits with much embracing and joy. Sceine interrupted the harmonious proceedings, “My faithful ones, at first light we journey to the great Portal of Hushinish. Stay safe this night! Enjoy this gathering...” She recognised the peril they were in and sensed the nervousness of her captain of the guard. Sceine’s words fell on a hushed silence.

  Her beauty and charm had them all entranced, “The Sea Druid Amergin and I bring hope and the promise of salvation to this our Island of Destiny! Our blood lines are one. Our progeny, the “Children of Light”, will carry the eternal message of enlightenment to the Promised Land.”

  All those present knew they were witnessing a poignant moment in their destiny. Amergin fell to his knees, chanting the sacred blessing given to them by the Guardians of Light, “May we bring peace and harmony to the mortal realm. May our children serve the cause of the enlightenment for eternity! Praise the Great Spirit!” These words became their mantra. All present fell to their knees and began praying and chanting the sacred blessing...

  Sceine took Amergin’s hand. The signal fire still burned brightly and even more intensely against the pitch black of the night and the shifting shadows of the ancient woodland. She smiled, enjoying the moment. The many torches lighting up the clearing and the coming together of kindred spirits fighting for the cause of the enlightenment! Excited voices! Laughter! A cacophony of merriment, the like of which had not been heard in the Western Province for many lunar cycles...

  “Walk with me my lord Amergin!” Sceine took a torch from one of her priests and gently grasped his hand, “I want to show you the Western Province by moonlight!”

  In the noise and clamour of the tribal gathering, no one, except the priest noticed their retreat in to the ancient woodlands. In the quiet of the night Sceine took Amergin deep in to a sacred grove of ancient Oaks. The path climbed gently upwards, the magnificent, gnarled and twisted trees thinning as they ascended. The rising moon, still near fullness, cast fleeting shadows. The light ever brightening as the high canopy opened out. One last, short, steep climb up to a rocky granite outcrop and they burst through the trees and the shelter of the high canopy. Sceine doused the flickering torch and stood before Amergin, “Close your eyes my beloved!” gently placing her delicate, beautifully formed hands over his eyes, “I will turn you around to face the west, and then you can open them!” Sceine turned him slowly around, cradling her body in to his. Amergin felt the warmth of her body against his, her soft breath on the side of his face and neck. Sceine lowered her hands, touching him, arousing him, “Now my beloved! Open your eyes!”

  She kissed him on his unexpecting lips. His senses nearly exploding, Amergin opened his eyes! What he saw took his breath away! Mountain range upon mountain range sweeping in to the distance, reflecting in the fleeting moon light, glistening lakes, streams and rivers flowing to the liquid silver ocean... She kissed him again... his heart nearly stopped! Heaven was on earth!

  The spectacle before him was the Divine in Nature! The beautiful enlightened being beside him, the Divine in body and spirit! Overcome by her beauty, Amergin pushed her gently to the ground. In waves of passion and sensuality, they came together with all their heart and undying love...

  They came back to reality once more. The clearing sky and the still rising moon cast a cold harsh light over the Western Province. In the chilling air, Amergin wrapped a robe that had been cast to the ground in the passion of the moment, around Sceine’s curvaceous body, “We must go my love! The night air chills! Your guard will be missing you...” Amergin pulled her towards him. They began the descent in to the shadowy darkness of the woods, holding each other for guidance and support.

  Step by step they retraced their tracks once more, much more difficult now. The torch had been doused. Clouds began to shroud the near full moon. Barely any dimming moonlight could pierce the high canopy of the dense woodland. Each step more measured and precarious. Sceine held on to Amergin’s hand in the gathering dark. They helped each other, trying to avoid tripping over twisted roots or stumbling over loose rocks...

  While Amergin concentrated on the placement of his feet over the rugged terrain, he crashed in to a low hanging branch that cut and scraped his forehead. Instinctively he reached for the cut, blood oozing down his face. He momentarily let go of Sceine’s hand to wipe the dripping blood away. He stopped to gather some moss to use as a compress to stem the flow of blood. The scent and feel of blood in the pitch darkness sparked old fears. The sense of foreboding, temporarily forgotten, returned with a vengeance! He reached out to hold Sceine’s hand... and in that moment! In the wall of darkness... a shaft of moonlight reflected in the eye of a demonic beast! Sceine was taken!

  Wolves! Three of them! No!!!...The Witches of Hawardden as predating monsters...

  A demented howl penetrated the dense woodland. Amergin crashed through the undergrowth and the low branches, towards the sound of the last spine chilling howl. He fell and stumbled over the twisted roots and scratching bramble. He unsheathed his sword, slashing at anything that moved and was vaguely threatening. Slashing out wildly again, he heard a whimper! He had connected with one of the “wolves.” Sceine must be close! In the darkness and the shifting shadows, he could just about make out a pale whiteness, lying motionless. Amergin flailed wildly in the gloom, the razor sharp sword scything through the branches. In a shaft of fleeting moonglow, he saw three predatory demons. He flailed out again, screaming dementedly! The three predators skulked off in to the darkness, one of them whincing in pain. He had done enough to scare them off!

  In the dim moonlight, Amergin found the pale white, now lifeless body, of his beloved Sceine.

  It was his turn to howl “No!!!Sceine this cannot be…my beloved Sceine!!!”

  Amergin fell to the ground, crying an ocean of tears.

  He lay with her, his face next to hers, the blood from his cut forehead mixing with the blood from the clawed lacerations down the side of her neck. Amergin lay motionless for hours, next to her lifeless, but still beautiful body... crying until his soul ran dry... until he was found...

  *

  Diarmuid talked to the priest who was last seen in the company of Sceine and Amergin. He was mortified that they should have walked in to the woodlands without a guard. He called the captain of the guard, and he called Xomas, “We must send out search parties, they have been gone too long!” They heard the panic in his voice. They all had the same terrible sense of foreboding.

  Search parties scoured the woodlands, praying all the while for their safe return... Through the night they searched...

  Tired a
nd despairing Diarmuid led a search party to one of Sceine’s favourite places, the outcrop that gave the most glorious panoramas of the Western Province. He arrived just as the first rays of a new dawn broke over the Eastern horizon. Still no sign of them, but he soon found the disgarded remains of a burned out torch. He called out in to the ether, “Here! They were here!” In no time search parties gravitated to his cry. Diarmuid followed the track descending in to the dense woodlands. Evidence of turmoil was found. Broken and slashed branches. His heart missed a beat, spots of blood on the track... more broken branches... and there in the undergrowth! Amergin, the Sea Druid cradling Sceine in his arms, blood stained and pale, they both appeared lifeless... but then there was movement!

  The Sea Druid lives! Diarmuid wept at the sight of his Princess and High Priestess, neck lacerated, her body limp, pale and definitely lifeless. “Sceine!” he knelt beside Amergin, “My lord, we are here for you now. Let me take her body ...”

  The procession to the Portal of Hushinish, once intended as a rallying march for the enlightened ones, was now a mournful funeral crawl. The bearers carried Sceine’s body on a creation of Oak branches and robes. Amergin walked in painful synchronicity with the bearers. He was followed by all his faithful Milesians... they were followed by Sceine’s priests and guards. Heads bowed and hearts broken, an inconsolable sense of desolation. They had all gathered in the valley to celebrate the fulfilment of the Prophecy, but now with one grievous swipe of a wolfish claw... all was gone...

  They were bereft, the Prophecy torn asunder. The Sea Druid Amergin’s meeting with his destined one, destroyed! The Island of Destiny seemingly in the firm grip of the dark Sidhe…they were helpless now... the Cycle of the Dark was upon them...

  From the dense woodland, way below the Ridge of Thormond, three raven haired, black hearted, witches looked on as the funeral procession crawled along the ridge, silhouetted against the cold morning light. They were transformed from the devilish beasts, back to the cold blooded ogres, clad in cocooning silver dresses. They crowed and cackled in true demonic delight. The Witches of Hawardden sensed their dark time had come. They will soon be all powerful. They will reign supreme through the Cycle of Xustra. They would wait until Sceine has been cremated at the Portal of Hushinish. In that finality, they would journey to meet the dark one MacCuacht, who marched from the mist shrouded Woodlands of Derwydd. From there they would all return to the high mountain fortress of Sliebh Mis to consolidate their demonic victory. From there, they will watch as the dark Sidhe pours forth from all the great portals of the Western Province...