The Celtic Symbol

by V M Jones

  “I think this is where Tevan is,” he remarked in a quiet voice.

  “How can you tell?” asked Dr. McNamara.

  “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.” he replied as he touched the chains attached to the wall.

  “I think it’s very possible,” added Dr. Ryan as he stopped recording.

  The trio exited the room. They turned their attention to the door at the end of the hallway. Dr. McNamara and Father Fahey again pushed hard against it until the wooden door gave way. Dr. Ryan poked his head into the room and shone his headlamp around the room. He could see tables and shelves holding old bowls and bottles. Most of the bottles were cracked or broken. There were also bowls and wooden utensils scattered about the room. Some bottles still had powders and unknown contents inside. There were also instruments of torture scattered about. Old tattered books lined the table.

  In the middle of the room was a small circular stone well in the floor. The well was shallow with a small drip coming from the ceiling. Near the well was an old wooden table.

  Dr. Ryan stepped into the room followed by Dr. McNamara and Father Fahey.

  “What is this room?” asked Dr. McNamara intrigued by all of the old broken bottles.

  “My guess is that it’s Faelan’s potion and torture room,” responded Dr. Ryan looking around the shelves.

  He moved to the center of the room and began recording. The floodlight of the DRD revealed more of its contents. He was careful not to trip over the small well.

  Father Fahey seemed to be drawn to the old wooden table. He reached out and ran his finger along its edge. He stepped back as he noticed the others watching him.

  Dr. McNamara turned and walked beside the shelves staring at the assortment of jars and their contents. His curiosity got the better of him as he picked up one of the jars which broke in his hand. Whatever it was in the jar dropped onto another jar and shattered it as well. As the two substances combined an eerie whip of smoke with a faint orange glow began to form. It rose above the shelves and swirled down to the well in the center of the room.

  A flash of red and orange light suddenly sprang from the small well and filled the room. Instinctively, Father Fahey and Dr. Ryan pushed the button on the pulse devices on their belts. Two separate pulses of green light filled the room. The red and orange light seemed to retreat back to the depths of the dungeon.

  Suddenly, in a flash of blue light, one of the old bottles flew off the old shelf and hit Father Fahey in the back and shattered as it hit. Father Fahey fell to the ground trying to catch his breath. Dr. Ryan dropped to the floor followed by Dr. McNamara. Blue flashes of light began exploding all around the room as bottles, bowls and torches seem to hurl themselves at the three.

  Dr. McNamara hit the button on his pulse device. The bright green wave of light permeated the room. Bottles and bowls dropped to the floor. Father Fahey got up on his hands and knees to catch his breath. He pushed himself up and stood. The bottle had made a bruise on his back but he didn’t think anything was broken.

  Because all three had pushed their buttons on their pulse devices, they didn’t’ have time to recharge. As they realized their mistake they ran out of the room and down the dungeon hallway. They ran past the metal cell doors and to the bottom of the stairwell.

  Father Fahey was the first to go up the stairs, slipping once on the wet steps as he crawled his way to the top. Dr. McNamara was next up the stairs but was careful not to slip. Dr. Ryan was right behind Dr. McNamara using both his hands and his feet to make his way to the top of the stairs.

  “Mapping is done. Let’s get out of here!” he yelled to the others ahead of him.

  “No complaints from me,” replied Dr. McNamara scrambling up the steps.

  Father Fahey got to his feet as he got passed the top step. Dr. McNamara followed with Dr. Ryan right behind. They stood at the face of the stairwell to catch their breath.

  They turned to see a red glow coming from the bottom of the stairs. In his haste, Father Fahey slipped in the water on the floor of the well room. In panic he put his hand on the well wall as he slipped and crawled his way to the south wall in front of the two large doors leading to the great hall.

  “No! Back this way!” yelled Dr. McNamara at Father Fahey.

  They could see the red light getting brighter and starting to fill the room. Dr. McNamara and Dr. Ryan moved away from the kitchen archway and freedom to go after Father Fahey. The priest braced himself on one of the large doors to catch his breath then staggered into the large room.

  “Father, we have to go the other way,” yelled Dr. Ryan pointing in the other direction.

  Father Fahey looked around the room and realized his mistake. By now the red light had filled the well room. The trio quickly retreated back to the entrance of the great hall. They all realized that the creature stood between them and freedom.

  No orbs met them in the room. They formed a triangle as they moved back through the two large doors. The room began to fill with red light as the dark creature entered the room. All hope seemed to be pulled out of their souls, adding strength to the demon. Father Fahey and Dr. McNamara started to push the buttons on their impulse devices.

  “Wait!” shouted Dr. Ryan. “We can’t push the creature further between us and our only way out. Let him approach closer and let’s try to move around him. Once we have him on the east or west wall then we can use the pulse devices.”

  “It’s worth a try,” agreed Dr. McNamara as he lifted his finger from the device.

  A flash of red light shot out from the creature and knocked all three of the men down to the floor. The trio pulled themselves up and moved to the southwest corner of the room. The dark creature moved to the west wall as it moved towards them. The three men quickly moved to the east wall.

  Out of nowhere, a flash of blue lights sent several spears towards the three. Dr. Ryan pushed the button on his pulse device sending a green light sound wave rippling throughout the room. Spears dropped in mid-air. The creature retreated back into the west wall.

  “Now’s our chance,” shouted Dr. Ryan to the others as he ran to the double doors of the north wall and burst into the well room.

  He slid through the water but was able to keep his balance. Dr. McNamara was right behind him. He also slid in on the water soaked floor but lost his balance and fell down.

  Father Fahey had just made it to the large wooden doors and fell when a blue flash of light from the wall of the hall sent a tapestry down around him. Father Fahey reached for his pulse device and felt despair as he found the device had been smashed by his fall. He felt something wrap around his feet and drag him back into the darkness of the hall.

  Dr. Ryan witnessed the split second attack on the priest and felt for the button on the pulse device. The familiar green pulse spread from the well room into the great hall but not fast enough to stop the abduction of Father Fahey by the unknown attacker. He was dragged into the darkness followed by a flash of blue light.

  Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara ran back into the hall and desperately shone their headlamps in all directions of the great hall. There was no sign of Father Fahey. All they found was his pack left in the center of the room. The dark creature had also vanished. The room was left dark and silent.

  After several minutes of searching, the two remaining explorers decided they had better make their way back to the surface. They turned back into the well room and made their way into the kitchen. They quickly passed into the soldier’s hall.

  They notice the chilled air and the appearance of the orbs. Several of them followed them as they moved into the storage room and into the northeast tower. As they climbed the stairs the orbs stayed at the base of the stairway. As they cautiously made their way up the stairs of the tower, they worried about the safety and abduction of their friend and colleague, Father Fahey.

  Dr. McNamara was the first to reach the top of the tower opening. He poked his head through and looked up into the sky. It was about mid-morning. The exploration
had taken about three hours. He handed Brody his equipment then climbed out of the stairway and onto the deck of the tower. He breathed in the fresh air and leaned over with his hands on his knees.

  Dr. Ryan carefully pushed his equipment and the extra pack through the opening and onto the deck. Then he lifted himself out onto the top of the tower.

  “Where’s Father Fahey?” asked Father O’Brian panicking.

  “Not with us,” said Dr. McNamara shaking his head.

  “Is he dead?” asked the priest as he lowered his head.

  “No. He’s been abducted by Faelan,” said Dr. Ryan catching his breath.

  “That’s not good,” said Brody shaking his head. “That means the king and Faelan now have another body for their escape to the living world.”

  13 Prisoners

  Father Fahey felt himself being dragged for several meters. Suddenly there was a flash of blue light. Instantly he seemed to be transformed into a new place. The room was no longer dark. It was lit by several torches.

  He looked down at his legs and was shocked to see himself being dragged across the floor by a large hand. His legs were wrapped in one of the tapestries from the wall. The hand dragging the tapestry was attached to a large stone man with three heads, each facing a different direction forming a triangle. The three-faced stone man was accompanied by a beautiful woman. The stone man was about seven feet tall.

  “You finally got one,” said one the faces of the three-faced stone man.

  “No help from you,” responded a second face.

  “I was helpful,” said the third face.

  “No you weren’t,” said the first face.

  “Shut up both of you, or rather all of you,” said the woman in an irritated voice.

  “Aye Faelan,” said the faces in unison.

  The stone man picked up Father Fahey and carried him over his shoulder. Faelan gazed into the red crystal attached to her staff.

  “The other two men are moving back through the castle,” she said as she looked up from the crystal. “We’ll let them go back to where they came from. We don’t need them now.”

  The stone man carried the priest down the dungeon steps.

  “Bring him to the potion room,” demanded Faelan as she walked down the narrow hallway. She turned to one of the soldiers and said arrogantly, “We finally captured one of them. Go tell King Dubhshlaine.”

  He quickly left the room and ran up the stairs to the king’s quarters.

  Father Fahey noticed the dungeon was now well lit and in good repair, quite different than what he had observed just a few minutes earlier with Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara.

  As he was carried down the steps and passed the middle dungeon room, he could hear a voice yelling, “What are you up to Faelan?”

  The voice’s demand was ignored.

  The stone man brought Father Fahey to the back room of the dungeon that had been filled with empty bottles that had attacked him not many minutes before.

  “Drop him over in the corner,” the woman ordered as she pointed to the other side of the room.

  The three-faced man dropped him on the dirt floor then stood guard over him.

  The woman was middle-aged and beautiful. Not what he had pictured in his mind that Faelan would look like. She peered over at Father Fahey and eyed him over for several minutes. She noticed him looking at her.

  “You find me beautiful?” she asked with a sly smile. “I have kept myself young by taking the hearts of young women. Many have died to make my potion. The curse changed all that. Since I stopped aging I can stay beautiful without a potion.”

  “And the hearts of the soldiers were for the king, I suppose,” said Father Fahey looking back at her defiantly.

  “Aye, to keep the king and his captains young,” She replied with a smirk. “We had collected several of the hearts before the curse. Of course we don’t need them now but I kept them anyway. I might need them once we get to the living world”

  She appeared a bit perplexed as she seemed to look into his inner soul.

  “You appear to have great inner strength. Are you a priest?” she asked accusingly.

  “Aye, I am,” he replied without hesitation.

  “Why have you and the others come? We’ve tried to destroy you,” she said pointing at him.

  Before Father Fahey could answer, a stout man entered the room.

  “What have you found out so far, Faelan?” he asked arrogantly.

  “Sire, I just started to interrogate this pitiful soul,” she replied acknowledging him with a slight bow. “He’s a priest.”

  “’Why a priest?” he wondered out loud. “No matter, we can still use him,” he declared as he looked him over.

  “Aye, but I would have preferred a woman,” said Faelan with a frown.

  “Put him in the room with the lad,” ordered King Dubhshlaine as he turned and left the room.

  “You heard the king. Take him!” she yelled glaring at the guards.

  The guards grabbed Father Fahey by the arms. The stone man stepped back out of the way and knocked over a table with several bottles of potions.

  “Watch where you’re going,” said one of the three faces.

  “Not my fault,” said another.

  “It was your fault,” said the third face.

  “You big clumsy rock,” bellowed Faelan as she looked at the stone man with disdain. “Now I have to remake the potions.”

  She turned and muttered to herself, “I should have brought the two-headed dragon to life. At least it only would have had two heads to argue with itself.”

  The stone man stepped back out of the way and stood next to Father Fahey against the wall. The guards grabbed the priest’s arms and dragged him to the room next door. They opened the door and threw him in.

  The priest picked himself up off the floor and looked over to the opposite end of the room. There was a boy chained to the wall huddled up in a ball with his head in his knees. Father Fahey recognized him immediately from the pictures he had seen. It was Tevan. He immediately ran over to the boy and spoke quietly to him.

  “I am Father Fahey,” he told the boy enthusiastically, “I was sent by your Da.”

  Tevan immediately looked up and stared at the man in disbelief.

  “My Da?” he asked with wide eyes. “How did you get here?”

  “I was captured and brought here almost like you were, except I came down here with some others,” responded the priest trying to give the boy hope.

  “It’s kind of hard to explain, but we are in another place and time. The important thing to know is that help is on the way. We’ll get you home,” he told the boy with conviction.

  Although unfortunate for himself, he felt fate had sent him here to give comfort to the lad.

  “What do you remember about coming here?” asked the priest as he sat down next to him.

  “I remember playing hide and seek with my brother and sister when a bright, blue light started to form around me. There was a flash of light. Suddenly I found myself in a round room. I ran around the room trying to find a way out. All I could find were some stairs but I heard someone coming so I tried to hide under a cot. A big stone man came into the room and saw me. He picked me up and put me over his shoulder. He had three faces. He talked a lot to himself,” said Tevan gesturing with his hands.

  “He took me downstairs and put me in a room with the woman. She called for the king and made me sit in the corner. The king and the woman seemed to be very happy that they caught me. They grabbed me by the hair of my head and looked me over. The king made some comment about me being perfect for him and had me chained to the wall,” he added with a sad face.

  “You don’t need to worry any more. We’ll get you out of here and back home,” encouraged Father Fahey as he patted the boy on the back.

  A few minutes later, the door of the prison opened and two guards entered with chains. They fettered the priest and chained him to the wall next to Tevan.

  About an ho
ur later, King Dubhshlaine and Faelan entered the prison room.

  “We demand to know who you are and why you have come!” yelled the king standing with his hands on his hips.

  “I am with a group of rescuers who have come to take the lad back home to his parents,” said the priest defiantly. “I know who you are King Dubhshlaine and you too Faelan. I also know of your evil plan which failed so many centuries ago and that your current plan will also fail,” continued Father Fahey, his chains clinking as he stood.

  “Ah, so the living world knows me and fears me. What could you possibly know of my plans?” said the king with an air of arrogance. “I also want to know by what power you are able to defend against my demons and sorcery?”

  “First of all, the world knows nothing of you and never will. We have our own magic and power. Good will always overcome evil. Just as you were defeated by my predecessor centuries before we will defeat you again. I also know you are planning something in the next few days,” said the priest smiling defiantly.

  “Arrogance!” screamed Faelan as she slapped the priest across the face. “You know nothing of my power. I’ll succeed in getting the king back to the living world to rule and reign with fear once again.”

  “So you claim to know of my plans,” said the king with a sly smile.

  “We know parts of your plan,” answered the priest looking into the king’s face. “But why do you need the lad?”

  “We need both of you,” answered Faelan as an evil smile crossed her face. “We’ve been trapped here for centuries with no way of escape. Several days ago, my crystal indicated a disturbance. I gazed into my crystal and could see out of the castle into the real world. It was our good fortune that someone removed one of the protective symbols in the northeast tower,” she added glancing at her crystal.

  “With Faelan’s magic we sent a few men into your world when we learned of the removal of the protective symbol,” interrupted the king. “One of them went into a dwelling nearby but was only there for a few minutes before being taken to the afterlife. We tried sending more out with the same result. Once we discovered this, we knew we had to come up with another plan. Faelan searched her books of magic spells and discovered the spell to transfer one’s soul into another. That’s when we seized the lad and brought him here. I’ll be placed into the lad’s body. Then I can re-enter the real world and rule with power and fear. Soon everyone will bow down to me,” he added pounding his fist to his chest.