Blazing Earth

by TERRI BRISBIN

  He did not look back and chose to make his way through the village where he’d lived all his life. Passing the cottages of kith and kin, Tolan knew he would never return here. And if he and the others were not successful, this place might be destroyed along with countless other places in this world.

  Resolved that his son had not died in vain, Tolan walked to the north road and then traveled back to Durrington. He needed to find Thea.

  * * *

  Thea watched as everyone else left and made their way back to the camp near the circle. Their response to her plea gave her hope in this time of terrible grief and loss.

  Tolan had left some time ago, but she waited there at the cottage for him. She cleaned the bedchamber and straightened up as best she could. Realizing that it could be some time, she heated water and found the herbs that they’d brought with them . . . two days ago? Her life had been in such chaos these last days, she’d lost track of it all.

  And truly, it mattered not what day it was as long as she was with him. She would treasure every moment because she knew it could not last. Sitting on a stool before the hearth, she sipped the tea and let it soothe her.

  If they survived what was coming, if they were able to return here to Durrington or to Amesbury, she could not remain with Tolan. More than ever, he would need sons and she could not give them to him. She would step aside, disavow their marriage, for it was completely irregular and could never be defended, to give him the chance at a family.

  It was the only thing she could do for him now.

  “You are thinking so hard I can hear your thoughts rumbling around in your head,” he said from the doorway.

  “Is it done, then?” she asked. She reached for the metal cup sitting at the edge of the hearth and handed it to him.

  “Aye.”

  One sad word to mark the end of his son’s life. She heard the hint of desolation in his voice in that one word. It reinforced the decision she’d made.

  He stood in silence at her side, drinking from his cup. He reached over and pulled her closer to him. She savored his strength and his warmth for a few minutes. When they finished their tea, she moved to take his cup, but he stopped her. He took hers and his and dropped them to the ground. Wrapping his arms around her, he leaned his face to hers and kissed her softly.

  “So, tell me what made your thoughts so dark that you lost your glow,” he said. “Is it Kirwyn?”

  “He is a part of it, Tolan,” she said, releasing him and stepping back . . . or trying to. He would not let her put any distance between them. “I want you to know that when this is done, when all of it is done, I will release you.”

  “Release me?” He frowned and shook his head. “From what?”

  “From our marriage,” she explained. “’Twill be crucial for you to have—”

  He stopped her then, placing his hand over her mouth and shaking his head. “’Twill be crucial for me to have you at my side. Always, Thea. I cannot seek justice for Kirwyn’s death without you, and I will not live without you when we have claimed it.”

  “We could not save your son,” she said sadly.

  “You risked your life and your immortal soul to help me save my son. You risked everything because I asked it of you, my love. I will not let you go. Not now, not ever.”

  He would not hear anything she said then, and her heart soared when she realized he would not allow her to leave him. No matter what happened. No matter what came. They would face it together. When he kissed her then, he reminded her of the love he felt for her that not even grief and loss could diminish or destroy.

  Thea told him that the others had asked to meet at the stones in the morn. A decision would be needed about seeing it closed and the stones hidden away from view once more. The other two times, the circles had disappeared on their own, but this time was so different.

  They spent the rest of the night wrapped in each other’s embrace, talking quietly about what was to come. They would offer their help in undoing the terrible thing they’d done when they released Chaela from her prison. For, as William and Brienne had told her, they were stronger together and could not succeed without each other.

  The sun shone bright on the lands the next morning, giving Thea hope that they might just succeed after all.

  CHAPTER 25

  Tolan and Thea approached the standing stones once more, and though he struggled not to look, he gazed over at the place where his son had died. It all poured through his memory in a moment or two and he shuddered at it. The feel of Thea’s hand taking his reminded him that they would seek justice for his son and the countless others who’d died fighting this evil.

  They found the priests standing outside the perimeter of the embankment in a group. From their expressions and words, they were discussing the very thing he and Thea had talked about all night. Of course, with their experience and knowledge, the others would know more about what could and should happen now that all this had been exposed.

  “Tolan. Elethea,” Corann said with a nod. Whispers of “Sunblood” and “Earthblood” floated through the group from those who could not address them by name. “The stones are still here.”

  “Since the two before disappeared after they were sealed,” Aislinn began, “we know not if these will.”

  “I feel nothing from this entire place,” Tolan admitted. “I do not believe it will go away on its own.”

  The first two gateways had been sealed, keeping their power to imprison the goddess strong and vibrant. This third one was empty and dead, without the power that the gods had imbued it with to keep in evil.

  “You can bury it? Bury all this?” Father Ander asked, looking around at the width and breadth of the place.

  “I think it should all be buried. Deep. So that none can find them again.”

  “We agree,” William said, leading the other Warriors and Roger to where they stood.

  “If we are to find that fourth circle and, gods willing, imprison her once more, should this gateway remain open?” Brienne asked. “Is there a way to close this portal so it cannot be used again?”

  Tolan shrugged. He knew less about this part of it than any of them. “Thea suggested that since my ancestor created it, I could . . .” He searched for a word to describe it.

  “Increate it? Take it out of existence?” Aislinn suggested. “Corann, what think you?”

  “Since it was made by the gods and you were given his powers, I think it is possible.”

  “I want to try,” Tolan said. “Then”—he pointed around the area—“I will bury the stones back in the embankment and the circle back under the earth.”

  “The thicket will return to hide it all once more?” Thea asked.

  “Nay. Nothing will grow in this place forever.”

  His words settled over them as he considered how he might manage to increate such a thing.

  “And how can we help you?” Soren said, walking to his side. “We must make certain it can never be used again.”

  “We must all do what we do best,” Corann said. “We will pray and lay blessings and spells down on the area. You of the bloodlines must concentrate and support Tolan with your powers. Roger, you and the others must stand guard and make certain we are not disturbed.”

  “If everyone is in agreement, let us see to this so that we may make plans for our next step.”

  “There is a problem.” Aislinn’s soft voice carried much weight, so no one moved. “We have not received the prophecy. We know not where to go other than to follow the evil one’s trail.”

  “Which may not lead us where we must go,” Corann added.

  “Where have you found these prophecies before?” Thea asked. “Do they come from praying or other worship? Pray do not say from sacrifice!”

  “Nay! We do not sacrifice in that way to the gods, Thea,” Corann said strongly. “Though some have give
n their lives freely to the gods in this endeavor, they have not demanded such blood in eons.” Thea was no doubt thinking about the vision she’d seen. From the expression on Ran’s face, she, too, remembered her own.

  “We have found them within the circle,” Aislinn explained. “But we”—she nodded to the other priests there gathered—“we have not dared to enter it yet.”

  “It is dead, Aislinn. You might feel her remnants, but she and whatever kept her there are gone,” Tolan said. “Come, walk with me now.” He held out his hand to the young woman and she took it, walking at his side.

  When they reached the embankment, she began to tremble. The voices of the other priests joined in unison, murmuring some prayer as they crossed that first boundary. With each stride closer to the stones, he felt the resistance growing within her until he finally halted about four yards from the circle.

  “Can you do this, Aislinn? Must you?” he asked her quietly.

  “Go ahead of me, Tolan. I need a moment or two.”

  He nodded and led the others into the circle.

  * * *

  Brisbois was unnerved by the circle. Aislinn could feel his discomfort, which seemed more than hers for some reason. She watched him fidget and shift his stance several times and knew something was wrong.

  “You need not be at my side,” Aislinn said. “Roger and the soldiers have us protected, and the only ones here are our people.”

  His usual response would have been a belligerent grumble and nothing else, so when he nodded and stepped back, it surprised her. As she looked around, she noticed that not everyone entered the circle easily. Some of the other priests yet lingered along the outside, struggling to make themselves enter such a place.

  Aislinn moved from one stone to the next, examining the outside surfaces for any clue or marks. She walked the entire circle and found nothing. Glancing inside, she could see the blood-covered altar there and suspected that she must go within and touch it to find the prophecy they needed.

  Then the stone on which her hand lay grew warm. She looked at the one standing opposite and saw that it was not marked by a bloodline symbol, but with that of the moon. Her mark burned then.

  “Have you dreamed of him yet, little priestess?” a woman asked from behind her. Aislinn turned and found a strange woman there.

  “What did you say?” Aislinn asked the woman. She did not look familiar, and yet she did in some way. “Do I know you?”

  The woman smiled at her and nodded, holding out her hand to Aislinn. Feeling no fear, Aislinn took hold of it. . . .

  The field was empty. No one stood within the stones now. The woman was gone, too, leaving Aislinn alone there.

  The gaping chasm in the center of the circle was gone. Each stone glowed in its own way—a different color surrounding each one. The colors of the gods. The colors of the auras carried by the bloodlines. Blue and orange. Green and gold. Gray and turquoise. Looking across the circle, Aislinn saw the silvery one opposite of this closest red one.

  She touched the stone and it grew warm beneath her hands. Gazing up, she saw the mark of Epona glowing there. The goddess of animals. The protector of horses. Her own mark seared deeper into her skin, dancing and moving like something alive.

  Aislinn noticed that the woman was dressed more finely than anyone who traveled with them was. Her long black hair and blues eyes shone as though lit from within. Long ribbons of red twisted through her hair, and red jewels sparkled in rings on her fingers and necklaces around her neck.

  “Who are you?” Aislinn asked, facing her.

  The woman began to walk around the stone there, leading Aislinn in circling it seven times.

  “One who watches you. Can you see them now?” the woman said, now once more at her side.

  Aislinn had begun to shake her head when something moved on the stone. High above her head, etchings appeared, moving across and around the surface of it, like dancing flowers in the wind.

  “Look closely, priestess. The words should be easy for one who sees them.”

  The shapes stopped then and arranged themselves in lines of words before Aislinn.

  Praise be! This was the needed prophecy here carved on the stone. Aislinn spoke the words to herself first, knowing she must remember them to share them with the others.

  The last ones gather to stand, Seven and One to close the circle. One of the Most Revered will lead the leader and step by step, stone by stone, the Six will triumph, the Seventh conquered.

  She repeated the words again aloud.

  “Praise be!” Corann shouted. “Praise be the gods have revealed their words to us!”

  “A message of some hope,” Father Ander added. “We do have another chance!”

  Aislinn turned, confused to find herself standing within the circle and surrounded by the other priests and Warriors.

  “What happened?” she asked, looking for the woman who had led her to this stone. The woman outlined in red like the stone of Epona. The woman who now stood before it, smiling at her.

  “Daughter of the moon, Aislinn of Cork, you are beloved of the gods and blessed. Lead them,” the woman whispered.

  No one else seemed to hear or see her. She began to fade, becoming the stone, but in that instant before she did, the woman tossed something to her. “Find him there.”

  And she was gone.

  “You dropped something, Aislinn,” Enyd said, picking up a small object from the ground there.

  A small horse. Like the other one she’d found in Orkney. Visions of a tall, muscular man with black hair and blues eyes came to mind as she gripped the horse in her hand.

  Find him there.

  “I know where the final circle is,” she said to them. “I know where we must go.”

  Silence reigned at her words. Corann walked to her and took her hand. “What did you see, Aislinn? You stood there staring at the stone and mumbling. We dared not interfere.”

  “The final circle is—”

  Corann squeezed her hand then, stopping her from speaking. “You must not, lady. Marcus said you could never return there.”

  “Lady?” William asked. “You called her lady, Corann. What means this?”

  “You knew this, Corann.” Aislinn met the older man’s gaze and saw the truth. “You have known all along?”

  “Nay, Aislinn. I knew you were special and came to us for that reason. Marcus only told me when he left to face down the goddess’s minion. He knew he would not return to us and bade me see to your protection.”

  Aislinn glanced around and knew they waited on her answer, to know her story of how she came to live with the priests all those years ago. But for now, all they must know was their destination. She looked at the Warriors before her. “The final circle, the one that can conquer the goddess once more as your ancestors did eons ago, is across the sea in Ireland. The first place where the gods sought refuge on their long journey.”

  * * *

  It took some time before the excitement of hearing the prophecy, words of hope truly, and learning their destination to calm down. Tolan watched the expressions of that hope and anticipation along with confusion and surprise on the faces there. Not having been there to witness the other prophecies received, he had no idea if this was normal or not.

  “What will you do, Tolan?” Thea was at his side.

  He’d thought of little else this last hour while the priests searched, and Aislinn found, the words needed to guide them forward. “I will undo what I did in the opposite order that I first acted.”

  “So, the chasm first and the stones next?” Thea asked.

  “Aye, and then I will level this land, bury the stones, and raise the embankment.”

  “How can I help you?” she asked.

  Just seeing the love in her gaze and knowing she would always be with him was enough. But he did not have to tell her tha
t. “Stand with me. Belenus is the god of life and order,” he said. “I think your power will make this easier.”

  He’d fought each stone in the circle into place and now he realized that the strong spells holding them beneath the ground had been a warning to him. One he ignored. One he, they, paid for.

  It took some time to clear everyone from within the stones, but once they were away, he nodded to Thea. The other bloodlines stood at their side, offering whatever they could to his effort.

  Staring at the abyss there in the center, Tolan knew he could not break through it, not even now when its purpose was done. So, instead, he thought one word, in the ancient language of the Church, as Father Ander taught him.

  Increatus.

  He said it in his thoughts several times before making it a chant as all his prayers to the gods were. Over and over, he sang it to himself and then aloud. He felt the power in his blood rise and the word took on its own power, echoing around the circle and into the abyss.

  Increatus. Increatus. Increatus.

  The ground beneath them shook and rolled. The stones trembled in their places and then the chasm began to . . . shrink. The walls vibrated as though they would break, but instead they tightened and tightened until they pulled in on themselves and closed before his eyes. Soon, nothing was there but the ground. The center of the circle was now unmarked and closed.

  Increated.

  The Warriors moved out of the circle and Tolan entered the earth, pulling each stone down and anchoring it with another chant. The one to close. It took less effort to return these to their original places deep under the ground than it had to raise them.

  The only stone he did not allow to remain in the condition in which he’d found it was the altar stone. Tolan rose as a being of granite and crushed the altar into small pieces, pushing each of them deep into the soil. Finally, he smoothed the ground over the whole area and turned his attention to the stones on the ridge.