by V M Jones
Early one summer, King Brion declared a feast for the whole kingdom in honor of his 25 years on the throne. The people anxiously awaited the celebration.
The king became very ill over the course of a few months. He contemplated whether it was time to confer the kingdom to his son Prince Nuallan during the jubilee celebration.
The day before the celebration, King Brion asked his son to go hunting for deer as a special treat for him. He quickly prepared to leave for the hunt. Prior to leaving, the prince asked Caoimhe to be his wife. She eagerly accepted the proposal.
After giving Caoimhe a tender kiss and embrace, the prince took one of his trusted friends, Luc, and headed out into the forest. Dubhshlaine and Faelan were aware that the prince had been sent hunting. They took this as an opportunity to take control of the castle. Faelan sent one of her servants into the forest to hunt Prince Nuallan and kill him.
With the prince out of the way, Dubhshlaine could take over control of the kingdom with Faelan’s help. The witch also prepared a potion to be added to the wine ration of the guards that would cause them to be under the control of Dubhshlaine.
That night, Dubhshlaine entered the great hall and offered the king a bowl of berries that had the fatal dose of the poisonous combination. The court ministers were given a sleeping potion in their wine during dinner so they would sleep soundly that night. During the night, the king died. Dubhshlaine and Faelan went into each bed chamber of the drugged court ministers and killed them in their sleep.
The next morning a servant of the king entered his bedchamber to awaken him for a morning drink but he couldn’t rouse him. When he realized that he was dead he shouted with horror. Dubhshlaine took the opportunity to follow the servant into the king’s chamber and slip a small vial of poison into the servant’s clothing. He also dropped the bloody knife used to kill the other ministers in front of the servant. The servant looked down at the knife on the floor and looked at Dubhshlaine and realized what he had done. Before the servant could do anything, Dubhshlaine immediately called in the guards outside of the king’s chambers and had the servant searched. When the vial was found, Dubhshlaine had the servant executed immediately as a traitor and murderer.
Screams were heard throughout the castle as the other ministers were found murdered. Caoimhe found her father and sobbed at his bedside.
Dubhshlaine immediately called a meeting of the guards. He told them that the king’s servant had killed him and the other ministers. The servant had been executed for his deeds. The people of the kingdom learned of the tragedy and went into mourning. They patiently awaited the return of Prince Nuallan.
Dubhshlaine ordered a unit of the guards go to the forest to find Prince Nuallan, believing that he had already been killed. After the unit had gone, Dubhshlaine proposed a toast in memory of King Brion. He had the tainted wine poured for all the remaining guards who participated in the toast.
Prince Nuallan and Luc had just finished shooting a deer with their bows. They were in process of dressing the deer to return to the castle when an arrow struck Prince Nuallan in the shoulder. Immediately Luc pushed the prince to the ground and under the carcass of the deer. He swiftly retreated to the trees and watched carefully with his bow drawn.
After a few minutes, he could see a man in a cloak carefully walking down the gully where the deer and Prince Nuallan were. As the man drew near to the prince he pulled out a knife. Luc immediately let loose an arrow and struck the man in the stomach. Luc jumped up and ran to the prince.
The prince winced as he stood up and kicked the knife away from the stranger. The man was still alive. The prince immediately demanded his identity and why he had tried to kill him. The stranger only laughed. Luc extracted the arrow from the man’s stomach which began bleeding profusely. Luc stepped on the wound making the stranger cry out in pain.
The man finally told how he had been sent to kill the prince while Dubhshlaine and Faelan killed the king and the other ministers. The man again laughed before he died.
The prince’s wound was deep. He had Luc pull the arrow out of his shoulder. Luc also placed a crude bandage over the wound. Prince Nuallan was becoming weak due to loss of blood but insisted on getting on his horse to return to the castle. He mourned the loss of his father but was also concerned about the safety of his beloved Caoimhe.
They had not traveled far when they were intercepted by the unit of guards sent by Dubhshlaine to retrieve the prince. The prince and Luc told the unit what the stranger had revealed to them of the takeover of the castle. As they were getting ready to ride back to the castle, the prince fainted from loss of blood. Luc and the guards decided that for the prince’s sake, they should make camp for the night and allow him to rest.
When the prince and the unit did not return that night, Dubhshlaine declared to the guards and to the people of the kingdom that Prince Nuallan had also been killed.
Caoimhe was devastated. She had not only lost her father but her beloved Nuallan as well.
With the presumed death of the prince and being the only remaining court minister, Dubhshlaine felt it was proper that he should be made the new king. He called for two days of mourning for King Brion and Prince Nuallan. Since drinking the wine laced with Faelan’s potion, the guards obeyed every word of Dubhshlaine. With no opposition left in the castle, Dubhshlaine immediately had himself made king. He also named Faelan as his court advisor and allowed no one to enter the court without her permission.
The entire kingdom mourned the loss of King Brion, Prince Nuallan, and the court ministers.
It was three days before Prince Nuallan regained his strength. With the help of Luc, the he got up on his horse and led the group back to the castle. As they approached the castle, King Dubhshlaine was informed that the prince had returned.
The king refused entrance to the prince. Instead he sent out a patrol to fight him. The prince and his guards were repelled and headed back into the woods. The new king declared Prince Nuallan an outlaw.
In order to maintain control over the people of the kingdom, he ordered all the old men to be killed and the young men taken to the mines. Many of the men escaped to the woods to avoid death or slavery. They found Prince Nuallan and his men and joined them.
The kingdom grew dark and sinister under the rule of the new king who was ruthless. Several of the old men who did not escape were tortured and killed. He took the young women as slaves and servants for his court and royal guards. Any young men he captured he forced into slavery to work in the mountain mines for ore to make weapons and armor. Some of the more outspoken ones were kept in the dungeon tower.
Caoimhe was not allowed to leave the castle. Dubhshlaine wanted to take her as his queen but she refused. The evil king was angry and banished her to the dungeon.
The prince sent spies into the castle to keep him informed of the circumstances and designs of the tyrant king. Many were sent in but few were able to return.
King Dubhshlaine had Faelan consult evil to conjure up demons to protect the castle from a pending assault from the prince. She also brought one of the stone guardians of the castle to life as a personal servant to protect and serve her and the king.
Prince Nuallan prepared his loyal army for an assault on the castle to overthrow the tyrant king. They attacked and were successful for a short time until Faelan conjured up and sent out demons to battle. The demons shot out red lightning bolts upon the prince’s army knocking many to the ground. The army could not advance. The prince and his army retreated back into the woods.
Prince Nuallan could see he needed the help of a religious leader to fight against the demon forces of the tyrant king. He consulted with the friar from the abbey down in the valley below and requested his help in giving his army power over the demons. The friar told him that he needed time to read through the scrolls and writings belonging to the abbey for answers.
After a few days, the old friar met with Prince Nuallan to advise him on fighting the evil king and his demons. The fri
ar found a scroll written centuries earlier by a predecessor who had been given a vision of a religious symbol and special blessing that provided protection and power from evil forces. The scroll provided a picture of the symbol and the incantation needed to provide the protection. The drawing was of a peculiar Celtic shield knot shape. In the middle of the knot was a small, emerald green crystal native to the surrounding mountain range. The shield knot was placed in the middle of a round shield. The swords also had a small emerald crystal at the center of the hilt of the sword.
The drawings showed lightning shooting from the demons attacking soldiers. As the lighting struck the shields they began to glow. The soldiers had a green light shooting back from the shields towards the demons. The scroll described how the buildings had symbols placed over the openings to protect against evil.
Prince Nuallan and the old friar began discussing how to use this new information in their strategy to overthrow the evil king and his forces. The prince immediately began forging new shields for his army with the protective symbol engraved on the front. He sent some of his soldiers to the mountains to find the emerald crystals needed for the shields and swords.
Once completed, the old friar gave the special blessing provided by the old scroll to give power to the new protective shields.
Prince Nuallan led his loyal army to battle a second time against the king and his demons. As they approached the castle, the king sent out his army led by the demons conjured up by Faelan. This time the prince and his army were able to withstand the demons. When the red lightning bolts shot out from the demons, the shields of the prince’s army absorbed the strikes. As instructed by the friar, Prince Nuallan commanded his army to touch the hilt of the swords to the shields. Instantly a flash of green light shot out from the shields against the demons. The demons retreated.
The battle continued until the demons were driven back to the castle. The king’s army was forced to retreat as well. The prince was able to get up to the castle walls but they were unsuccessful in taking the castle.
The victory brought encouragement and hope to the prince and the old friar. They now felt that a final assault could be made on the castle and overthrow King Dubhshlaine. The prince was also successful with an assault on the ore mines in the mountains and freed the enslaved young men who eagerly joined his army.
King Dubhshlaine and Faelan, the witch, had suffered a big loss in the latest battle with Prince Nuallan. Somehow the prince had discovered a way to repel the demons. The king threatened Faelan with her life if she did not find a way to defeat Prince Nuallan and his army.
Faelan again consulted evil for a way to bring ultimate power for King Dubhshlaine. The wicked plan required a special potion and incantation at the mid-point of a lunar eclipse and a blood moon. This spell would make King Dubhshlaine and his army invincible and give him power to conquer the known world.
It was during this time that Prince Nuallan’s trusted friend Luc had infiltrated the king’s army. He had learned of the plan and the date of the upcoming lunar eclipse. He escaped the castle but was wounded in the attempt. He died in the arms of another of Prince Nuallan’s men but not before providing the precious information.
Upon receiving the news of the death of Luc and of the evil plan, Prince Nuallan and the old friar were discouraged. He mourned the loss of his close friend. Somehow, they would have to plan a direct assault on the castle before the incantation and the lunar eclipse were completed.
The old friar again reviewed the old scrolls for any help to overcome the pending doom. The friar found two things that could help them defeat the evil king. One was a religious curse that would send souls to the netherworld; a place where souls live forever confined to an area defined by protective symbols and prevent them from moving on to the next life. The other item was a recipe of a mixture that if set on fire, would cause an explosion.
Prince Nuallan consulted his captains and the old friar to devise a plan to place the curse on the evil king and his forces and send them to the netherworld for eternity. The religious curse needed to be done at the point that evil would be most manifest, which would be during the lunar eclipse. In order to be sure that the souls of the king and his evil forces could not leave the castle once cursed, the protective symbol had to be placed at all openings of the castle. Once in place, there needed to be a way to conceal the castle from the living world so that it would not be disturbed.
The explosive mixture described by the old friar provided the answer. The mixture would be placed at four locations just above the cliffs overlooking the castle; two at the top of the cliff and two further up the mountain. The mountain was very steep and would be difficult to maneuver. Four of the guards would journey to the proper locations and await a signal to ignite the pots of explosive mixture. They would have to run in opposite directions along the mountainside to avoid the explosion. The friar would signal them with a lit torch.
The explosion would provide a landslide that would cover the castle and conceal its existence from the living world. Prince Nuallan and the rest of his army would attack the castle to free the imprisoned men and women, especially his beloved Caoimhe. The attack would also provide a diversion needed to allow a few clergy to enter the castle and attach the protective symbol over each opening. The clergy would disperse throughout the castle using a network of narrow secret passages that Prince Nuallan had used as a child. Once their job was complete, the clergy would retreat through the courtyard to the front of the castle. Prince Nuallan would retrieve the prisoners in the dungeon and fight his way back out of the castle before the landslide could cover it.
The lunar eclipse was predicted to occur the following week. There was not much time to put their plan into place.
Prince Nuallan and the old friar made preparations for the explosive mixture and the assault on the castle. The ingredients for the explosive mixture could be found in various parts throughout the mountains. Selected groups were sent about the mountain to collect the ingredients. The prince also made sure that his army was supplied with sufficient shields and swords to combat whatever army the evil king and Faelan would send to fight them.
The day of the lunar eclipsed arrived. The prince and his army marched forth to battle against the evil forces of the king. King Dubhshlaine sent his army and demons to battle Prince Nuallan and his loyal army. Faelan had begun to make the ingredients for her potion to start the evil spell. The battle was fierce but Prince Nuallan and his army were able to drive the evil army into the back rooms of the castle. This provided precious time for the abbey priests to do their work of placing protective symbols on the various openings of the castle. Once in place, the abbey priests retreated back to the prince’s base camp located in the woods south of the castle.
The prince and his army continued to battle within the walls of the castle. King Dubhshlaine was anticipating Prince Nuallan to rescue Caoimhe and sent her to the deepest part of the dungeon in the castle. This would give the king and Faelan time to complete the curse and begin his rule over the known world.
When Prince Nuallan received word that all the metal symbols were in place, he had half of his unit fight their way back out of the castle. They were successful in defeating the king’s guards and freed a few of the young men and women that had not died in captivity. They made their way back to the base camp.
The prince found out which room Caoimhe was being held in from one of the king’s guard they had captured. Using their protective shields, Prince Nuallan and his men made their way down to the dungeon where he found the room containing his beloved Caoimhe. He had the majority of the soldiers stand guard at the entrance of the dungeon while he and a select few of his guards made their way down to the room where she was being held. She was in a room within a room.
He was just outside the prison wall where she was being held. Suddenly, the large metal door behind them clanged shut locking them in the outer prison room. Prince Nuallan and his guards were now trapped down in the dungeon.
Prince Nuallan had come so close to rescuing Caoimhe but was now imprisoned himself. He was just outside her prison door but could not give her the embrace he so longed to give.
One of Prince Nuallan’s men that had been keeping guard at the entrance of the dungeon lingered back at the top of the dungeon stairs keeping watch. He heard the commotion and learned of Prince Nuallan’s fate. He was discovered by the king and was forced to battle his way back out of the castle along with his men. They set out for the base camp in the woods to get help to rescue the prince.
The lunar eclipse began and King Dubhshlaine and Faelan began to cast their spell. Darkness filled the castle as the spell incantation was recited. At the same time, the old friar watched as the moon began to turn red at the peak of the lunar eclipse.
The friar lit his torch and gave the awaited signal. Four torches could be seen in the distance. The guards set the pots of explosive mixture on fire and ran in opposite directions along the side of the steep mountain parallel to the cliffs, away from the intended direction of the impending landslide.
The old friar recited the words of the curse as a flash of blue light surrounded the castle. Suddenly the mountain exploded in a blinding light and clap of thunder. Rocks, dirt and vegetation from the mountaintop poured down the side of the mountain and over the cliffs. Within a few minutes the castle disappeared under the shower of earth.
The old friar, priests, and Prince Nuallan’s army all shouted with excitement. They had won the battle. Several hours passed as the group awaited the return of Prince Nuallan. Instead they were met by the small band of guards that were forced to retreat from the dungeon who told them of the sad news.
