by V M Jones
The great hall and the well room were in chaos. The stone man was hitting his fists against the shields knocking one of the prince’s men down. The king’s men were using both swords and spears attacking Prince Nuallan and his men. The kitchen was blocked by the king’s guards so the prince and his men began to retreat into the great hall, still engaged in battle with both human and stone adversaries.
Faelan opened her eyes and tried concentrating on the ceiling of the potion room. It swirled around until she was able to focus on the hole that allowed water to drip from the natural spring down to the well in the potion room. She instantly pushed herself up from the floor and ran to King Dubhshlaine. His eyes finally focused on her face. He pushed himself up from the floor and looked around.
“Where are the lad and the priest?” he roared realizing that they were gone.
The two guards were starting to rouse.
“I’ll deal with you two later,” he said angrily pointing at them. “We must get them back before they can escape. How long until the lunar eclipse is gone?” he asked nervously.
“They will not escape,” said Faelan with a sneer. “We’ll get some extra help.”
With those words she immediately grabbed two jars from the shelf and threw them against the inside of the well shattering them. The glass shards and the jars’ contents dropped into the well. She began reciting an incantation from memory. The well was dark and shallow but began to glow orange and red from deep down in its recesses. The light drew nearer and nearer to the surface. The light suddenly burst into the room where two demon creatures glowing orange and red appeared.
“Demons of the dark,” she said with a hiss, “Hear my cry, find our enemies, and make them die!”
The king rushed to the door and tried to open it. It was locked.
“And where is the key?” he demanded as he pointed to the door lock.
One of the guards produced a key and opened the door. The demons rushed through the potion room door, down the dungeon hallway and made their way up the stairs. Faelan and King Dubhshlaine followed behind them.
The fighting in the great hall stopped as all heads turned towards the well room. A terrible shrieking sound was coming from the stairway. It began to glow red from down in the dungeon.
“Here they come!” yelled Prince Nuallan in anticipation. “Prepare the shields and protect yourselves!”
The prince and his group backed up towards the west wall of the great hall with their shields facing the large double doors of the well room, with Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, Patrick, Tevan, and Father Fahey behind them.
“Shields up!” yelled the prince.
The king’s guards lowered their weapons and stepped back in fear.
As the demons entered the room, bolts of red lights emanated from them. The flash of lights hit the shields of the prince and his men. The force hit the shields and seemed to push them back a little but they held. Instead of knocking them down, the light was absorbed by the emerald crystal in the middle of the shields. The light then ran along the entire design of the shield knot and glowed bright green.
“First group, return fire!” commanded the prince as he raised his sword in the air.
Two of the prince’s men banged their sword handles hitting the green crystal on the edge of the shield. The shields immediately sent out a green shock wave of light and sound. The green wave of light hit the demons and drove them back.
“Next group, return fire!” commanded the prince.
The remaining guards banged their sword handles hitting the green crystal against the edge of the shields with the same result. The wave of green light drove the demons further back towards the well room and down the stairs to the dungeon. Faelan was knocked to the ground at the doorway to the great hall. Faelan looked around and could see Tevan in the middle of the prince’s group.
Suddenly, from the doorway, a red bolt of light appeared from the tip of Faelan’s staff. The light wrapped around Tevan’s legs and began to pull him from the safety of the shields. Upon seeing what was happening, Patrick knelt down in front of Tevan and quickly placed his shield on the ground in front of the bolt of red light. The light was instantly absorbed by his shield. He banged his sword handle on the shield sending a wave of green light throughout the room which pushed Faelan to the corner of the room. It also knocked down the king’s guards. Patrick picked up Tevan and pushed him behind him and the shield.
“What are you waiting for, attack them!” yelled King Dubhshlaine pointing to Prince Nuallan and the others.
All the king’s men picked themselves up off the floor along with Three-Face then turned and ran towards the prince and his small group.
“Time to leave,” yelled Prince Nuallan as he charged forward.
The small group moved along the west wall towards the well room door. They fought hard until they were able to break through the line of soldiers. As they pushed through the entrance of the well room, however, Father Fahey slipped and fell behind the others.
Upon entering the room, they raised their shields and kept Dr. Ryan and his group in the middle. Dr. Ryan turned and noticed that Father Fahey had fallen behind.
“We’ve lost Father Fahey!” shouted Dr. Ryan to the prince.
“We can’t go back or we won’t get to the kitchen,” shouted back Prince Nuallan. “Move quickly or we will be flanked,” he yelled as he pressed forward.
The stone man turned around from the great hall and faced the door into the well room.
“We have limited space here,” said the prince to Dr. Ryan, “If they push us too hard into the soldiers in the kitchen, they may be able to get Tevan.”
“Not if I can help it,” replied Dr. Ryan with conviction.
He looked towards the west wall built into the mountainside and noticed the spring that flowed down below the floor. He remembered the thin layer of water they had encountered while exploring the well room in the real world and how slippery it was.
“Keep the guards busy. I have an idea to help Father Fahey and slow down the king’s guards,” shouted Dr. Ryan to the prince.
He flipped over his shield and pushed the top of it against the wall where the spring flowed down the wall to the side of the floor. The water began to flood onto the floor of the well room and out to the great hall floor. Dr. McNamara quickly understood what Dr. Ryan was trying to do. He grabbed the bucket from the well and tossed the water onto the floor near the room.
Dr. Ryan called out to Father Fahey who was pressed up against the west wall facing the king’s soldiers. The priest looked over to Dr. Ryan in the well room and noticed he was signaling to him. Dr. Ryan pointed to the wet floor and motioned for him to slide. Father Fahey nodded that he understood.
“I’m not going to be captured and tortured again. I’m not staying here any longer,” he told himself as he waited for an opportunity to lunge forward.
He looked over and saw the rope used to lower the candle chandelier. He also noticed that the tall stone man was in the doorway to the well room. Father Fahey saw that the stone man had his feet apart at the door. He noticed the thin layer of water trickling into the room. The priest decided to take a chance. He quickly untied the rope to the chandelier. It came crashing down on the king’s men that were blocking his way.
He ran as fast as he could towards the door. As he did, he grabbed the loose end of the chandelier rope and held it to his chest. He dove under the legs of the stone man along the slick floor. He saw Three-Face looking down at him as he slid under him. He slid under the shields of a couple of Prince Nuallan’s guards and slid into Dr. Ryan, knocking him down.
“Nice move,” smiled Dr. Ryan as he picked himself up from the floor.
He grabbed the priest’s hand and helped him up. Father Fahey was soaking wet. He handed Dr. Ryan the end of the rope while he kept a grip on part of it. Together they pulled on the rope. The rope tightened all the way to the large chandelier lying on the floor.
As Three-Face saw the priest slide
under his legs, he lunged forward. He began to lose his footing in the slippery water on the floor. He almost caught his balance until the taught rope from the chandelier hit the side of his leg. He fell with a loud thud and took out several of the king’s guards in the fall blocking the entrance to the well room.
“Good thinking,” said the prince to Dr. Ryan and Father Fahey.
“A wet stone is a slippery stone no matter how big it is,” said Dr. Ryan with a grin.
He looked back to the king’s men trying to move the stone man to get into the well room.
The prince’s men fought their way through the kitchen. As they reached the door to the soldiers’ hall, they found it had been shut in an effort to trap them in the kitchen. The other side of the door was being held by some of the king’s men. The rear of the group was still defending against a few of the guards who were attacking from the kitchen. The attacking guards from the great hall started jumping over the stone man to get to the kitchen.
“We’re trapped. Now what do we do?” asked Father Fahey with a worried look.
“Just wait a few seconds,” replied Prince Nuallan looking confident.
The group could hear a commotion on the other side of the door. They heard a few of its occupants hit the floor. The door burst open to reveal one of Prince Nuallan’s men standing in the doorway.
“I told you we have access to the passage ways. They come in handy in times like these,” said the prince with a smile.
Prince Nuallan and his small army burst into the soldiers’ hall with Dr. Ryan and the others in the middle. They made their way to the center of the hall.
King Dubhshlaine and a few of his guards had entered the hall right behind the prince and his group. They began throwing spears which made a thud as they hit the defending shields of the prince’s army.
“Capture them!” the king roared as he raised his arm gesturing for his men to chase after them.
His army lunged forward. The prince led the group to the door of the supply room. As the last of the group passed through the door, he ordered his men to hold the door shut.
The prince tapped his sword on the northwest corner of the supply room. The corner of the stone wall opened up to reveal a narrow passageway in the wall.
“Hello my love,” said the Prince as Caoimhe squeezed through the narrow opening.
Caoimhe moved to the middle of the group with Tevan and Father Fahey for protection.
Suddenly, a red string of light appeared through the crack under the door and wrapped around one of the soldiers and pushed him to the ceiling before letting go. The soldier’s shield dropped to the ground before the soldier did. Several of the prince’s guards rushed to help hold the king and his men from coming through the door. Several of them held their shields close to the door just as another bolt of red light hit their shields. The door burst open.
The shields began to glow a bright green as they absorbed the red light. Three of the prince’s men banged their sword handles with the crystal against the shields almost simultaneously and emitted a bright green wave of light. The shock wave knocked over the army who were still in the hall.
From back of the room came the red and orange demons, followed by the stone man still slipping with each step.
“I won’t let you leave and ruin our chance of escape,” shouted Faelan in anger.
She raised her staff and chanted a spell while a red light burst from the crystal on its handle. The bolt of red light shot out at the small group and knocked over several of them. The demons also began shooting bolts of red light at them.
The prince and his soldiers held up the shields to create a protective wall for the group. The bolts of red light hit the shields which began to glow bright green again. Instantly Faelan and the demons stepped back behind the king’s soldiers who ran to fight the prince.
“Hold steady!” commanded Prince Nuallan.
As the soldiers ran forward, Faelan and the demons shot another round of red bolts of light at the shields, which again absorbed the shockwave.
“Hold!” the Prince shouted to his men. “Shields forward!”
The soldiers pushed the shields forward as the king’s guards approached.
“Now!” ordered the prince as he hit his sword against his shield.
The soldiers hit the shields with their sword handles touching the crystal. A huge green wave of light with a low sound permeated the hall room. It knocked down the soldiers, Faelan, and the king and pushed back the demon creatures.
Patrick led Tevan toward the entrance of the northeast tower stairway but stopped abruptly as he saw three guards moving towards him, two of which were stripped to their underwear.
These were the guards previously overpowered by Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara. They had gotten loose again. They were now moving to attack the group from behind. Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara raced past Patrick yelling at the top of their lungs with shields in front.
“Stay behind us!” he shouted to Patrick and Tevan.
The sight of the two men running towards them baffled the guards who hesitated for a moment. Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara took advantage of the moment and hit the guards with full force of the shields. The impact knocked the guards to the ground and left them unconscious.
“There isn’t much time left,” shouted Dr. Ryan to the group. “The lunar eclipse will have already started. It might be almost complete. You have to give the signal before Father O’Brian can seal the tower and pronounce the curse.”
Patrick turned to run to the tower wall containing the end of the rope. As he turned he tripped. He picked himself back up and raced to the tower wall.
18 from darkness to light
“It’s been about eight hours since they left,” said Aine anxiously as she turned to Brody and Father O’Brian.
“We are almost out of time,” said Father O’Brian as he stared up at the moon.
“The lunar eclipse has already started and will be done in about 60 minutes,” observed Brody as he glanced at his watch.
They all looked up into the sky and could see the moon starting to turn a reddish hue. Brody had been keeping his hand near the power switch on the portal generator awaiting the signal from Patrick. He kept looking back at the bell as if it were going to ring any second.
Garda Bracken stood silent taken in all he was witnessing. He still couldn’t believe what was happening.
Father O’Brian was pacing nervously for about half an hour. He looked up at the moon to see the eclipse nearing its peak. It looked red and ominous. He was hoping for the best but feared the worst.
Ansley stood holding Siobhan and Declan close to her with fear in her face.
Noticing her fear, Aine said, “Don’t worry Ansley, they’ll be here soon.”
Ansley looked at her and nodded but still felt hopeless and scared. Time had seemed to move so slowly when they had waited earlier in the day, but now it was cruelly speeding up as time was running out.
The moon was now an eerie reddish hue. Father O’Brian opened the piece of paper he had been keeping in his pocket which was copied from the old canon containing the ancient curse.
“No Father, please,” said Ansley as she dropped to her knees, “Give them more time.”
She began to sob uncontrollably. The two children also began to cry.
Aine and Brody looked at each other in disbelief. She had already tried to signal Patrick by tugging on the rope but there was no response. They had been sure that Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara would succeed in getting everyone back through the portal in time.
As bad as he wanted to ignore Dr. Ryan’s instructions, Father O’Brian knew that if Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara had failed, the consequences would be far worse if he did not proceed. He made his way down from the tower deck. He pulled the protective Celtic symbol from his pocket and walked over to the ladder under the tower loophole. He climbed up the ladder and pushed himself under the hanging shield. He placed the metal object above the opening and attached it to the stru
cture where it had once been.
He stepped down and looked up at the moon. It was beautiful yet awful. It was starting to turn white on one corner. He straightened the piece of paper containing the curse. The moon was still bright enough that he didn’t need a flashlight to see the words written on the paper. He looked up to the top of the tower and could see Ansley and the children crying and begging him not to proceed. He looked at Aine and Brody who both looked down at him and gave a big sigh. They nodded at him to proceed. Father O’Brian raised his hand and began to make a cross. He started to recite the curse.
Suddenly, the bell began to ring. Brody jumped at the sound of it then regained his composure.
“They made it. Stop Father!” said Aine as she jumped up, yelling as loud as she could.
Ansley dropped to her knees and hugged her children. Brody hit the switch and the generator began to hum. From the deck of the tower, a faint, blue light began to glow from deep down inside the tower. The blue light began to grow brighter and brighter. The portal was opening.
Patrick had just finished ringing the bell for the third time when he saw small, blue light start glowing in the air which quickly engulfed the entrance to the tower stairway.
Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara moved closer and stood near the tower stairway. The rest of the group soon followed.
“Tevan, it’s time you went home,” said Dr. McNamara with a smile. “You’ll pass through the portal first with your father.”
Patrick was teary-eyed as he put his arm around Tevan’s shoulders and walked with him into the glowing, blue light.
“Father Fahey, you’re next,” said Dr. Ryan with a nod.
“See you on the other side,” said Father Fahey as he gave Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara a hug then began walking towards the blue light.
Faelan picked herself up and regained her composure. She caught sight of the blue glowing light and let out a long mournful wale, “It can’t be. We’re doomed to this place forever.”
