Celtics Rising: Birth of an Oracle

by Leo Charles Taylor

  James looked at a small table next to his reading chair and to the book that sat upon it. It was The Divine Comedy by Dante; an epic poem with long artful passages of scathing remarks directed at the Roman Church of the 14th century. Yes, he could well understand the power that Rome had enjoyed, and he understood that they were weakening. Up to this point, he had only noticed it out of mild curiosity. He considered it a matter of study in religion and politics, but not something to deal with personally.

  Arinai backed away from James and resumed her position at the window. She seemed curious about the view, enraptured by it, and almost in a trance, she began to speak again.

  "Several months ago, we began to feel a pull to this area," she said. "I could feel it, as could many of our kind. Seattle is Summoning, and everyone that can answer the call is on their way here."

  "Why?"

  Arinai turned to him and gave him a teasing smile.

  "Why is it summoning, or why do we heed the call?" she asked. Laughing to herself, she turned back and nodded her head out the window.

  "This is the new world, Oracle," she said, "and we will rise to power in it. Although I imagine that most of our kind don't understand this summoning. They're too young and don't know what it is."

  "The Celtic people are coming to Seattle?" James asked skeptically, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

  "We are not exactly Celtic, although that is as good a name as any. That name was given to us on our last rise to power," she said before glancing over her shoulder at him. James offered her a confused look as if to question her words. She sensed his thoughts, turned back to the window, and spoke again. "This is not the first time we have risen. It will be the third."

  Arinai paused and became pensive, letting her words sink in, even as she considered them herself.

  "It might even be the fourth or fifth," she pondered. "Truth be told, I don't really know. Our understanding of human history is a smattering of facts intermixed amongst centuries of ignorance. Even today, what survives of Sumeria—or any part of the ancient world before writing existed— is nothing but legend and myth."

  "Why here? James asked. "Wouldn't this fanciful tale be better told in Europe?

  Arinai chuckled, but kept her gaze outward and nodding her head to point towards the Puget Sound.

  "Tell me what you see, Oracle," she said. "What is outside these windows?"

  James glanced outward and shrugged his shoulders.

  "It's the Puget Sound," he said.

  Arinai laughed quietly.

  "I see much more than that," she whispered. "I see mountains across the way."

  "The Olympic mountain range," James said.

  Arinai nodded her head.

  "And to the east are the Cascades," she said. "I also see saltwater connected to fresh water through an ingenious set of waterways."

  She was referencing the Ballard locks. James understood the reference, as well as the engineering magnitude it took to create the passageway from the Puget Sound to the inner lakes.

  "I see hills and trees, caves and tunnels," she said. "There is snow on the mountains and rivers running through rock down to the ocean. All in all, this area is much like our last, and still unspoiled in many ways by the passage of man."

  "We've made our presence known to Mother Nature," James said.

  Arinai turned to him.

  "Yes," she said, "but Gaia is still here. This area is perfect for out next rising, and while Rome remains static in its power base, the Keltoi do not. We will rise from Seattle, and as we do, Rome will continue to fall."

  "It’s an interesting tale, but you spoke of empirical evidence," he said.

  Arinai nodded as she backed away from the window. "Of course, but first I would like to learn about you," she said. "What happened to you?"

  James was uncertain what she meant and told her as much.

  "Do you know the big difference between Roman Gods and Celtic Gods?" she asked him curiously.

  James shook his head and snorted slightly in mild derision.

  "Enlighten me," he joked.

  Arinai ignored the condescension.

  "Roman gods stand outside the human race," she said, before resuming her self-guided tour of his apartment, walking about and staring at his decorations. "It was a god such as Zeus who took human form and seduced women, or Aphrodite who walked amongst the villages seeking adoration. Their current God is much the same. A single entity, set apart from their subjects. This new version sees a removal of the pantheon, only to have it replaced with angels and serpents. However, the Keltoi gods move amongst and into the very souls of the people. It’s not one of worship, but of communal living. A Celtic god is a symbiotic god. So I ask you again, what happened to you?"

  James was still unsure how to respond. Arinai sensed his reticence. She took a moment to reflect and then, with his permission, she guided him through memories of his life for the past several months. He told her of the succubus, and she nodded her understanding of the ordeal but not his recollection; it was rare for anyone to recall a sexual encounter with one of those creatures.

  "What did she mean when she said that you weren’t human?"

  "I don’t know."

  "Then learn," was the reply.

  "It’s not as if I can just Google that information."

  Arinai moved slowly as if approaching a frightened animal and placed her hands to his head.

  "Think on her," she whispered."Picture her in your mind and go back to that moment."

  James humored her and cast his mind back. He could feel Arinai pushing him along and guiding him. At first, his mind clouded and images swirled. People were laughing and dancing, and he moved amongst them. Soon, the crowd cleared and he saw his prey; it was the succubus he had seen a few nights before.

  Arinai guided him to the demoness, and suddenly he was into her life. He could see men and parties and then his own apartment. They were having sex, and she was enjoying it immensely. It was an odd sensation to feel what his sexual partner was enjoying; he smiled lightly at the thought.

  "Don’t get arrogant, Oracle," Arinai said with a snort. "Succubi feed off of sex. To her, your orgasm was like a prize to be won. The quality of the sex didn't matter as much as the end result."

  James heard the words of Arinai but still felt arrogant. Together, they worked the images to the moment of the odd comment by the succubus. He could hear her say that he wasn’t human and he suddenly knew why. He pulled Arinai's hands away; she appeared confused for a moment.

  "What did you see?" she asked.

  The question was odd, and James abruptly realized that Arinai was limited in her powers. She had guided him and could even get impressions, but she didn't see all and she didn't know everything. He sent his mind to hers, sending out a desire to know what she was thinking at this very moment. Arinai shook her head slowly, as if in confusion. He tried to see her just as he had seen the succubus, but something prevented him. Arinai looked at him with confusion before turning cold. She sent a spike to his brain, and the pain caused James to break concentration. He put his hand to his nose half expecting it to bleed again. Luckily, it didn't.

  Arinai smiled and chuckled.

  "Don’t worry, young one. I'm much too powerful for that trick to work on me. However, the others are not so lucky. You’ll be able to see the succubi, the incubi, the vampires, and many of the other spirits. Most of them will never be aware of your presence. However, I was honed by someone much more powerful than you. Over centuries he mentally beat me and flogged me. I often awoke in sweat as he permeated my brain while I slept, trying to catch me at my weakest. I have learned to defend myself well, and you’ll have little luck against my defenses."

  "Vampires?"

  Arinai laughed, "Of course, half human half demon. Did you expect them to be a Roman beast?"

  "I didn't expect them to be at all," he replied as he double checked his nose.

  "Well, mostly they are not. They are the stuff of legends, like
many of our kind, and hunted to near extinction by the Church. They can no longer breed—very few of our brethren can—the Church saw to that a long time ago. So attrition has taken its toll. Still, I imagine that a few dozen of each species remain. It would be nice to see a water nymph again. It has been a long time since I have seen one dancing on the waves."

  James only stared as she spoke. He had questions, a lot of them, but he refrained from asking. Arinai seemed to understand this, but she had questions of her own and held no reticence about asking them.

  "The succubus?" she asked with a raised brow.

  "I was unexpected," he said with a shrug. "As I had my orgasm she was hit with an odd sensation. She expected to feed and didn't get what she wanted. She was wounded in the process. To use your prize analogy, she expected one thing and got another instead."

  "Curious," Arinai said. "Succubi feed off of mental energy. Any idea why you would be different?"

  James didn't answer. He just stared, and by her expression, Arinai knew something was amiss. She cast her own mind to his, but his defenses were getting stronger; this time there was no pain from her probe. They both sensed this, and she halted her intrusion before politely restating her question.

  "I have Huntington's Disease," he answered.

  "That’s even odder. Succubi can only mate with compatible men—you wouldn't have qualified. It would have been dangerous for her to feed off of diseased food. It could have killed her."

  James took little offense to the comment about diseased food. Arinai said it so matter-of-factly that he knew there was no insult intended.

  "It sounds like a physiological compatibility issue. We do that ourselves when we’re subconsciously attracted to people of certain scents or genetic make-up. The medical community doesn’t understand it fully, but they know it exists."

  "So the question remains, why would she have chosen you? The only time a succubus would knowingly choose someone who's incompatible is when they're starving. Much like someone dying of thirst will drink salt water. But in this city, and with our power base rising, she would not have chosen you."

  Arinai mused on the topic. She bit her lip as she pondered the information and James smiled. Goddess or not, he liked her and found the eccentricity of the lip biting to be endearing. She paced for a moment as he watched her. He was still attempting to make sense of this entire evening, but for the moment he merely observed and enjoyed the odd scene before him.

  Arinai turned to him and studied him carefully. He could feel her probe him slightly. It was gentler than before, almost like a polite mental request. He held his own, however, and didn't allow her access. It was almost like a polite game of cat and mouse, and James had to smile as they played. If this was his mind breaking, he at least found it interesting.

  Arinai's eyes became slits as a thought occurred to her.

  He is hiding something, something I can’t see, she thought.

  James sensed the thought, but didn't reveal his knowledge of her position.

  Arinai considered the man before her for a moment, and James wondered what she might do. It seemed as if she wanted to throttle the answers out of him, but instead, she politely asked him one more time why the succubus had thought him inhuman.

  James thought very carefully about his next words. He sighed and nodded slightly before answering.

  "I'm currently undergoing an experimental gene therapy regimen to alleviate the symptoms. It may even cure me."

  Arinai appeared stunned. Her eyes widened and blinked several times. She said nothing and James, believing in the axiom in for a penny in for a pound, took another deep breath and continued to talk.

  "Gene therapy really isn't that risky, as it uses a modified gene to encode for protein. The real trouble is delivering the gene to its target and then getting the gene to work properly. Sometimes the body rejects it, other times it builds up an immunity, and that’s if the delivery system can get the gene in place. The technology of this particular trial is patented and highly secretive. It’s attempting to bypass the blood brain barrier and provide a controlled over-expression of the RCAN-1L..."

  James stopped his explanation when he realized his conversationalist wasn’t following along. He chuckled slightly and let the matter drop.

  "Science to the rescue?" Arinai asked rhetorically as she raised a quizzical eye. "I suppose this regimen allowed your succubus to see you as normal. That would explain a lot. Although, I'm not sure what would have caused you to become like you are."

  Arinai mused for a moment, squishing her lips with her fingers a she did.

  James knew the answer. He could see it in his mind. The succubi, as a breed, use small tendrils that they injected into the brain during sex.

  Quite sublime, he thought to himself.

  The fingers sent forth microscopic probes, which anesthetized the cranium before they fed off the neurological energy provided during sex; it was the Dopamine-Prolactin interchange they needed. James had no idea how his mind converted the images to medical terminology, but it did.

  He considered the ability for a moment and found it fascinating to put his scientific mind to something so widely misunderstood. The succubus didn't know what she had needed, she had just fed. But James knew and could now assign a very logical reason for something that, to ancient man, must have appeared magical.

  When his succubus had her ill fated evening with him, she had left several tendrils behind. Now that he knew this, he could begin to sense them still protruding from his brain, if not his skull. They were almost gone, as they had been nearly absorbed by his body over the past several weeks, but they had done a most important job of opening his mind to new inputs. This was why he could suddenly see into the shadow world without actually being one of them.

  He didn't reveal this information to Arinai; he was still not certain he could trust her. Besides, he had already shared too much. If she revealed his involvement in this clinical trial, he could lose his career and might face prosecution. Uncertain what to do, he asked her a few more questions in an effort to move the topic off of him.

  Arinai complied and began to tell him stories of her life, how she had grown up, and many of the people she had met and lived with over the years. James was doubtful of all of it, but found it entertaining nonetheless. It was nearly 3 AM when she took her leave. He was tired and had to meet with a client that day.

  They said their goodbyes at the door, and he begged her one more question.

  "Arinai?"

  "Hmm," she replied quizzically, coming in close enough for him to smell her perfume.

  "If your gods are symbiotic, then which god are you? What is your specific talent?"

  Arinai laughed and shook her head as she walked out the door.

  "The more important question, Oracle," she said cannily, "is which god are you?"

  James furrowed his brow with confusion and watched her leave. As he did, he marveled at her intellect. In one easy reply she had managed to defer her answer and sow confusion into his mind.

  Camulas watched Arinai exit the building and cross the street to join him. She nodded her head in greeting before taking her place next to him. He returned to staring at the building, gazing at the room that Arinai had just left.

  "Will he help us?" he asked.

  "I don’t know. He is very skeptical and still very weak."

  "He will grow in strength."

  Arinai nodded her head in agreement.

  Camulas remained stern but kept his gaze on the building.

  "We need this one," he said thoughtfully. "I would suggest that you continue to help him and guide him. When the time is right, we will use him to our advantage."

  "He is not someone to be used in such a manner."

  Camulas turned to his companion. She was much smaller in stature but very powerful nonetheless, and he dared not test that power. Still, he spoke his mind without fear.

  "He is a tool, and we will use him as needed. We need our oracle."

&nb
sp; Arinai didn't argue—it would be pointless, anyway. He was the god of war. He had defeated Aries, killing him in an epic battle and upon doing so had taken the Roman god's place. Camulas' ability to survive by cunning battle tactics and trickery was the stuff of legends; even the church had been unable to find him, much less kill him these last few centuries. Arinai knew all of this and would also know that it would not be prudent to argue with him on this point, at least not for the moment. Camulas saw James as a weapon for battle, and he had made that point very clear to her. Resigning herself for the moment, she turned her gaze upward toward the building and joined Camulas as they felt their target drifting off to sleep.

  Four blocks away and clinging to a ledge several stories up, Badir watched the watchers. He could see them clearly even from this distance, but he was far enough away to avoid their mental awareness of him.

  He didn't understand what was occurring, but he followed the words of the individuals as their lips moved; it was a neat trick he had learned to blend with his heightened visual acuity. He looked to the building across from the couple, then turned back to the watchers. It took a few moments, but his reference points aligned and he was able to triangulate exactly which unit they were monitoring. He smiled with his victory, and his eyes glinted in the night. He wasn’t sure what the ancients were doing, but he was determined find out.

  Chapter 6

  Vera was worried as she walked along the streets, heading towards the waterfront. It was getting dark, but the lights from the buildings allowed enough illumination for her to see well enough. It had been a rough couple of days for her, and this night wasn’t turning out to be much better. After coming home from the hospital, her father had been his normal controlling self. He hadn’t beaten her, he had just continued with his life-long verbally aggressive disciplines. This particular instance saw him threatening to throw her out of the house. She had backed down with a subservient attitude and allowed him his tirade while her mother attempted to calm the situation. Eventually, her father had stopped his yelling only to storm off, leaving Vera ill at ease with the situation and alone with her mother. While her father had never hit her, he could get so angry at times that she feared he might eventually succumb to the urge. It was an interesting point that the best attorneys in the state couldn’t fluster the man, but his own daughter seemed to accomplish the feat on a daily basis.