Cill Darae

by Donald D. Allan

  As Brent strode toward the Receiving Chamber, he thought back to yesterday. James, Heather, Katherine and Dog had sailed away in the Oriole for Foula Island on an errand to prove Edward’s lineage. Brent wished them Godspeed for he wished nothing more than to shed this mantle of power. It had pained him to watch his best friend James vanish over the horizon. He never felt more alone, and it surprised him. Martin was avoiding him more and more of late. Martin was certain something was amiss within the Church and he was often seen talking to all the vicars he could. Complaints about Martin were common. Many people had spoken to Brent and asked him to speak to him. That had resulted in Brent having to raise his voice to him, He had hated it, but sometimes the weight of being Regent meant he had to make the tough choice, even with friends.

  Brent stopped before the double doors to the Receiving Chamber and shook his head to clear it. He reached forward and pulled open both doors at once and strode into the room. He nodded to the vicars who were gathered in the room sitting in the raised seating area against the walls. Central to the room stood a very large ‘U’ shaped table that filled the floor. At the centre of the table was where the Archbishop sat to preside over the deans and bishops. Today the seat was occupied by a woman Brent knew very little about, but he had come to value her counsel all the same. All he knew was that her name was Eylene Kissane, and she came from the city of Shape in southern Turgany. She wore the deep rich brown skin that marked the people of Shape, and the southern people of Turgany. The people of Shape kept to themselves and rarely ventured north of Belger. Their skin was a rare thing to see in the Realm and often they were stared at. Brent tried to avoid doing so now, but he knew he failed. It didn’t help that she was stunningly beautiful with a rare exotic look. She looked timeless and much younger than her years. Her skin glowed, and she seemed to be the embodiment of female perfection. Brent swallowed against the sudden attraction he felt.

  Eylene chuckled. “It’s all right, Regent. You can stare. I’m used to it. God makes us in so many colours and shapes, He expects you to enjoy His handiwork, don’t you think?”

  Brent felt relief and warmed to her right away and walked around the table. He glanced at the vicars seated at the table. Most wore the same brown skin as Eylene, and they smiled and nodded up at him as he passed. Brent wondered what placed these vicars above the rest that they would be allowed to sit at the central table. Brent stopped and stood before Eylene. Her chair was central to the table and when he looked down at her, she beckoned to the seat beside her. “Please, sir. Have a seat.”

  Brent felt a moment of warning that came and went. He frowned and glanced about for Martin, searching for him amongst those seated around the room, and found him absent. “Where is Vicar Martin?”

  Brent caught the flash of irritation that crossed Eylene’s face before she hid it. “Indisposed at the moment, I’m afraid.” Eylene motioned for Brent to sit beside her.

  Brent scowled openly this time and remained standing.

  Eylene looked up at him and arched an eyebrow. “Is there something the matter, Regent?” She looked around pretending to look for something amiss before her eyes alighted on the empty seat beside her. “Oh, I see! You feel you should be central and seated first, no doubt. I’m sorry, Regent. In this room, the Archbishop has the authority. Traditionally, the King sat next to the Archbishop and deferred to his leadership in this holiest of rooms. It is here that the souls of the people of Belkin are guided. I assure you, I am not challenging your authority, Regent. Whilst it is true that we are lacking an official Archbishop at the moment, I have been asked by my peers to preside over this meeting.

  “Today we begin the process that will lead to a vote for the new Archbishop. We have therefore recalled all the vicars in the realm for this holy gathering. As it has always been, the bishops and deans will decide who will lead our church, and it shall be so today. We have strayed too far from our traditions. The Church will return to our most sacred doctrine and traditions. In the past, the deans and bishops decided who would be the Archbishop and the King would approve that decision. Without a King we have decided that we will vote and that will be it. The Realm must have an Archbishop watching over it. It is our sacred duty to see to that.

  “Once we have a King again, he will have an Archbishop already in place ready to provide critical guidance to his rule. Surely you see the wisdom in that? And I might add, the Realm is tearing itself apart at the moment. An Archbishop providing critical and much needed spiritual guidance is needed most urgently, would you not agree?”

  Without waiting for a reply, Eylene turned back to the gathering. The gathered vicars were all now seated and paying close attention to what was being said. Brent could feel the glares and felt uncomfortable and out of place. He knew little of church matters and he worried he might have offended the one organisation in Belkin that could truly help the land recover. She picked up a gavel and rapped it hard on the table.

  “I call to order the sixty-third conclave to select the new Archbishop. I will remind the gathering that first and foremost we will raise within our ranks those vicars most deserving of being our new bishops and deans. We are all familiar with those who have been nominated. I expect the voting to occur quickly so we can focus on the question of who should be the next Archbishop. Time is of the essence. The Realm reels from a lack of governance…

  As Eylene continued to speak to the assembly, Brent quietly sat down beside her and looked out over the vicars. He only knew a few of them and then only those who had been in Munsten when he was the General of the Lord Protector's Guard. He felt a disquiet settle within him. He hadn’t been informed of the gathering until this morning, and it seemed almost an afterthought to him. He had searched for Martin and even demanded his presence. It seemed no one could find him. Brent looked over at Eylene and found her stealing a sideways look at him. He was surprised to see a small smile hidden there.

  Part One: Church and State

  One

  Foula Island, June 902 A.C.

  KATHERINE STOOD BEFORE the dark entrance to a cave on Foula Island. Moments before, she had transformed the tip of her black staff into a small sickle shape and placed it into the carved outline of a sickle central to what was a large door built into the side of an enormous boulder. A light had flared along the outline of the triskelion engraved in the door and then the door had crumbled to dust. Katherine took a moment to return the end of the staff back into a small dagger shape and then stepped up to the opening. James, Heather and Dog stood well back behind her.

  Katherine could see stone stairs descending into the darkness of the opening.

  Heather moved up beside her and whispered. “I’ve juist hud a thought. That’s th' Cill Darae sickle, isn’t it?”

  Katherine nodded.

  “That’s pure Gaea, isn’t it?”

  Katherine nodded, but then turned and smiled at Heather. “It sure is. Should we head inside?”

  Heather looked at the staff for a moment and nodded and pushed past Katherine and led the way down the stairs. Katherine took the first three steps and then stopped and looked back up toward the bright opening.

  James' silhouette spoke down to them. “Sure, just walk right in. Go ahead. Not me! No, thank you very much. I’m staying out here.”

  Katherine smirked at Heather before responding. “Thanks, James. You’ve got our back. Stay vigilant.”

  Heather emitted a jolting laugh that Katherine rather liked. It reminded her of her mother’s. It was odd: she had hated the sound at the family farm, but now she found the sound brought back fond memories of her mother.

  I don’t like it, grumbled Dog, standing beside James.

  We’ll be fine Dog, it's just a cave, replied Katherine, and they felt Heather agree across the bond.

  No, Heather’s barking sound. It scares away the rabbits, complained Dog and this time Heather roared in laughter and it echoed ahead of them.

  “What are you laughing at, you daft girl? Keep your go
b shut and listen!” yelled James from behind them.

  They felt Dog sigh. Now all the rabbits are gone.

  Sometimes Katherine wasn’t sure if Dog was joking or not. She paused and then felt the mirth from Dog. Dog! What’s gotten into you?

  Dog didn't answer and padded down the stairs and past Heather into the darkness. Suddenly they felt him go rigid and he stopped. Katherine felt confusion from Dog and then excitement. Katherine sensed Heather pause on the steps below her.

  Dog barked, the sound deafening in the stairwell. I smell Gaea up ahead! And a dead person. But I smell Gaea!

  Heather glanced up at the staff Katherine wielded. Gaea? Urr ye sure?

  Silence was the only answer.

  Dog? Are you nodding?

  They waited for a reply and heard nothing but silence.

  Dog, are you still nodding? We talked about this. You have to use words; we can’t see you. Dog, answer Heather with words.

  Oh, sorry. Yes, I am sure and yes, I was nodding.

  “Kin ye tell howfur lang ago?” asked Heather, out loud, and descended the stairs once more.

  I am shaking my head now, replied Dog.

  “You just have to say, no,” snorted Katherine. “I swear you do this on purpose, Dog.”

  I am nodding my head now.

  Heather barked a laugh before stopping on the steps. “We need a light. Ah cannae see anythin' gey weel. A'm feelin' a bawherr cut aff fae mah power. Dae yer feelin' that?”

  Katherine’s mind swirled trying to translate what Heather had just said. Her thick Cala accent was often annoying. Oddly enough, her accent also came across with her thoughts. Katherine was pretty sure Heather had just said she was feeling cut off from her power. Katherine stopped and peered ahead. Even using her power to improve her eyesight she could only make out a few more of the steps descending into the darkness. She reached with her powers but could only feel a little power coming from the opening behind them. It was barely a trickle. She had her reserves, but the motes in her body would drain her own energy if she pulled on that. “We need a light. Dog, go tell James we need a torch.”

  Dog rushed past them and scrambled up the stairs. They waited in silence for a moment before Heather spoke. “Ye ken Dug cannae speak tae James, right?”

  Katherine groaned. “By the Word! Right.”

  “I’ll be back. Bade 'ere.”

  Heather slipped past Katherine and ascended the stairs. Katherine found herself alone. She reached out with her powers to the staff and felt the power waiting there. She didn’t know why, but she kept the secret of the staff from the other draoi. Heather had recognised the staff for what it was only moments ago. Katherine would need to have a long talk with her. She didn’t know why she had kept this small part of Gaea present and safe from when they had erased her. Somewhere out in the world Gaea and the remains of Erebus were being eradicated, slowly but surely, and yet she held a small part of her safe in her own hands.

  Once the solution to Erebus had been found, Gaea had demanded to be released from the world with him. She had tired of her role in the world. The decision on whether to eradicate Gaea had caused a split in the draoi. Many had not wanted Gaea to go. Others, like Will, had wanted to honour her wish and release her. It was the Freamhaigh who had decided, and Gaea had been destroyed. Except this small part, and Katherine rubbed the staff in the dark.

  Killing Gaea had meant that Belkin had needed to be seeded with Life Salt, which they now knew was really the Simon motes: a man-made mote that now gave the draoi their powers. No longer did they fall under the control of Gaea, or the influence of Erebus. The draoi now decided their own fate.

  While the Simon motes were almost everywhere in Belkin, they needed to be fully activated. To do so, the draoi spread the Life Salt they had found amassed in the Sect Chamber underneath Munsten Castle and used it to spark the activation. Using their sight, it was wonderous to watch when it happened. It was an eruption of magnificent colours and vibrant hues as the motes that made up the Life Salt dispersed across the land, pulsating and rippling in the wind. Everywhere the motes touched life it baptised and renewed the earth whilst spreading much needed draoi control. It was an awakening that brought such joy to the draoi. All across the land the draoi had travelled with Life Salt and spread their control. The motes now spread on their own, and in a matter of a few weeks they will have completed their task.

  The bond between the draoi was alive and well. The transition to Simon motes from Gaea motes had been coordinated and controlled. None of the draoi had had to suffer what Katherine and Dog had endured when Gaia had severed her link to them. There had been a momentary loss of connectivity before it had reformed. Uninhibited from the rule Gaea had imposed, the draoi were free to use their powers as they saw fit. No longer were they constrained by doing no harm to others. It was empowering and frightening. Katherine remembered all too clearly what had happened to her. She had wiped out hundreds of people in Cala, all because the power had overwhelmed her. She could still clearly see the faces of those she had killed. They haunted her. One day there will be a reckoning. Of that, I am certain.

  Katherine sniffed the air; she could smell exactly what Dog did, even though her sense of smell was not as developed. This was another secret she tried to keep from the other draoi. She and Dog had survived the impossible when they had been severed from Gaea and in the process they had joined minds for a moment. We became one, and each left a part of the other behind.

  Katherine looked through Dog’s eyes and saw Heather poking James’ chest with a finger and with her face thrust in his. She kept pointing at Dog and yelling.

  “Ah ken ye canna ken th' wee dug, bit he wis pul'in torches fae yer pack, wasn’t he? Whit dae ye think that bloody means, ye dunderheided git? Now spark yin up 'n' haun it tae me.”

  “Would you calm down, woman? By the Word, you’re a crabby thing. Your husband is probably falling asleep each night with a smile on his face with you gone. You need to calm yourself!”

  “Lea mah husband oot o' this! Howfur dare ye remind me o' th' separation! Ye pure nasty thing!”

  Katherine watched Heather turn and wink at Dog and Katherine laughed. Oh, you are such a treat, Heather.

  Why, thank you!

  Dog chimed in. Did you know every time James gets upset, he farts a little?

  Heather paused in her tirade and then broke down laughing.

  James stood with his arms on his hips. “What’s the matter now? I swear, I’m leaving you lot here. I’m taking the Oriole home and leaving you here to rot!”

  Dog took that moment to sniff at James' butt and then rubbed his snout with a paw. James swatted at Dog, but he bounded away. Heather was on the ground on her knees laughing and wiping at her eyes.

  James stared at her in disbelief and then turned and untied a torch from his pack and removed the oilskin that covered the pitched end. He reached into his pack and pulled out a pouch and extracted a flint and a piece of steel. He sparked the steel over the end of the torch and then blew on a spark that landed on the pitch. The torch flared to life and James picked it up and swung it for a moment to catch the entire end. He handed it to Heather, and she stumbled away back to the cave mouth, still laughing. He looked down and caught Dog lifting a leg beside him and cursed and stepped quickly away.

  “Dog! By the Word! Stop that, you dirty animal!”

  Dog disappeared into the cave behind Heather and her laughter poured out of the hole.

  Katherine laughed and then rubbed Dog’s head when he came beside her.

  I wasn’t really going to pee on him, he said.

  Katherine nodded.

  Well, maybe just a little.

  “No doubt,” said Katherine chuckling and then blinked against the light from the torch carried in Heather’s hand. She turned and looked down the steps. She could see they descended quite the distance into what looked like sparkling stone.

  Heather examined it and then touched it. “Quartz, mabee. Solid. This cave
looks tae be carved oot o' pure quartz.”

  “Which would explain our inability to reach the motes. There’s no life here. Nothing to influence.”

  Katherine blew a strand of hair from her face. “No way to go but down. Ready?”

  “Aye.”

  They descended the uneven stairs. The marks from chisels and hammers could be seen everywhere. It was clearly man-made and made through a lot of labour chiseling through solid rock. The stairs ended abruptly in a narrow hallway that bent around to the right. The floor, sides and ceiling were rough and natural.

  The smell of Gaea and the dead person is much stronger, said Dog.

  Katherine sniffed the air and Heather looked at her oddly. “Tis true then. Yer pairt dug.”

  Katherine frowned a little. “No, not part dog. Dog and I bonded in an unexpected way. My senses are a little stronger.”

  “Right 'n' Dug is juist a wee mair human. Speaking 'n' such.”

  “Uh-huh,” replied Katherine. “I smell it too, Dog. The body I mean. Not Gaea.”

  Dog moved forward and then looked around the bend in the corridor. There’s a home down here.

  “A home?” asked Katherine and moved up beside Dog and gasped. Past the opening, the corridor opened into a large half-sphere. The ceiling arched to at least fifty feet above them. In this chamber, the walls were perfectly smooth, as if a bubble had formed and then burst leaving behind perfection. Heather stepped up beside Katherine and made a small sound. The light from the torch danced off the quartz and illuminated the object central to the chamber that shouldn’t be here: a small house, complete with a thatched roof and small chimney.