The Black Stone of Elu

by Darrin Long

  “I just had a strange dream and when I awoke, you were gone,” she said.

  Neilan stroked her hair. “I haven’t gone anywhere,” he said, “I am right here.”

  She squeezed him, but she knew that she could not tell him about the dream; not yet anyway. He had enough on his mind and he didn’t need that added to it. They sat for a while just enjoying the beautiful weather. Soon, it would begin to change and the snows will come; they won’t be sitting on the bench much after that.

  “Neilan, I have to gather some things on the mountain today,” she said, “I want to make you something special tonight.”

  “Ok,” Neilan said, “I’ll go with ye.”

  “No!” she said quickly “it’s a surprise.”

  “Oh, ok,” he said.

  “I’ll go when you are training with Kaylu,” Iri said.

  “Be careful,” Neilan said “Ok?”

  “Ok,” she said, smiling up at him.

  She knew he would not have let her go if he knew what she was intending to do on that mountain.

  They were cleaning up the cave when Kaylu arrived; something that Neilan had not done much before Iri came into his life, but she had him cleaning on a regular basis now. The door was wide open, but they did not hear nor see Kaylu arrive. Suddenly the door and the items next to the wall burst into flames. Neilan pushed Iri back towards the back wall and stepped closer to the flames. Iri could feel the heat even from where she stood, but she already knew that it was not real; she could smell the magic.

  “What could have done this?” Neilan asked, but then he stopped, took a deep slow breath and smiled. “Fine, if ye don’t want to come in, ye can stay out there,” he said reaching out and closing the flaming door. Just as the door was about to close a hand reached out and stopped it. “Hello Kaylu,” Neilan said.

  Kaylu stepped through the door with a smile on his face.

  “Very good,” he said, “That was a subtle magic, not a lot of smell, very good.”

  Neilan turned to Iri and saw that she was smiling and showed no fear at all.

  “Iri, did ye know that Kaylu was going to do this?” He asked.

  “No, why?” she replied.

  “Well, then can ye smell the magic?” he asked.

  Iri quickly realized her mistake. “Of course not,” she said, “besides the Dream Crier, you are the only one who can do that.”

  Now Neilan looked surprised. “Is that true?” he asked Kaylu, “am I the only one?”

  Kaylu nodded his head.

  “Wow,” Neilan said, “but why?”

  Kaylu ran his fingers through his hair and frowned. “I don’t know,” he said “but I knew that you could, just like I knew that you could see your dreams through tears as I do. There is a lot about the Reiteach that has not been revealed to us.”

  He placed his hand on Neilan’s shoulder. “Perhaps in time it will all be revealed,” he said. “Are you ready to start your training?”

  “Ya,” Neilan said, “but Iri isn’t going with us, she wants to collect some things on the mountain today.”

  “Oh?” Kaylu said giving Iri a questioning look.

  “It’s a surprise for Neilan,” she said with a smile.

  “Well, then we’d better not stand in her way,” he said to Neilan while placing his hand on Neilan’s shoulder again. “Ready?”

  Neilan nodded and they disappeared from the cave. The moment that Neilan and Kaylu disappeared, Iri headed out the door, transformed and flew to the west over the mountain. She knew exactly where to go; for she had been going there for two years now. In fact, it was where she had come from when Neilan shot her that day. She flew low over the trees peering into the darkness caused by the large evergreens. Then, she spotted it; a clearing next to a small river that ran south and then forked to the west and the east. She flew below the treetops and landed next to the river.

  “It feels good to come back here,” she said to herself. “I miss it.”

  She smiled as she walked over to an old stump and reach inside, pulling out a package wrapped in a gold fabric. Sitting down on the ground next to the river, she opened the package to reveal a book. It was her most treasured possession; the book that she wrote Kaylu’s spells in. She read through the spells one by one, slowly absorbing the words and the smells of the magic but then, she began to feel guilty.

  “What would Kaylu think if he knew I could smell magic,” She said. “I did not intend to mislead anyone or lie to anyone, but I have to do what I feel is necessary… for me… and for my family.”

  Standing up with the book opened in her hand, she looked around the forest then, she said three words that she had spoken in her dream and she disappeared. A second later she reappeared on the other side of the river and squealed with delight as she spun around several times.

  “This is the most amazing feeling I have ever felt,” she said.

  Then, she tried it again, this time reappearing back on the other side of the river and sitting on the edge of the stump.

  “I’m getting the hang of this,” she said, “but I have to be even better; I must.”

  Over and over again she used the spell, each time trying something different; something more challenging. Then, when she was satisfied, she returned to the book and found another spell. One by one she wielded the magic of the Dragoine and her senses came alive like never before. She was so enthralled with the magic that she did not notice the tears that were running down her face. She was leaned over the book reading a spell when a tear fell on the page before her. She reached up and wiped her eyes and fear instantly gripped her.

  “Oh no,” she said dropping the book “what have I done?”

  She wiped her eyes again, as the tears continued to flow. She knelt by the river to wash her face, her tears falling into the water causing her reflection to distort in strange ways. She scooped up water and splashed it on her face and the cold water felt very refreshing, for her face seemed to be very warm. Then, she noticed in her reflection that her eyes had become completely white and fear gripped her again. She sat down next to the river in disbelief.

  “What am I going to do?” she thought “I can’t go back like this, Kaylu will know.”

  She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate; tried to block out the tears, but she was not able to. Finally, she gave up trying to stop the tears and leaned against the stump and closed her eyes.

  “How can I stop the tears?” she thought “there must be a way, there must be. What am I going to do?”

  She grabbed the book and looked through it, but found nothing to help her there and soon exhaustion overcame her and she fell asleep leaning on the stump and began to dream. For several hours, she dreamed; one dream after another. Each dream seemed so real, it was almost like she was there. Never had her dreams been like this and for some reason, she was sure that dreaming would never be the same again. She awoke to the sound of a howl and she could feel the cool mountain breeze. Looking around, she realized that it must already be close to evening.

  “Oh no, they will be looking for me,” she said, “they will be worried about me.”

  Then she reached up and touched her face and there were no tears.

  “Yes,” she said, but then tears began to run-down her face and she became scared.

  “No, no,” she said, trying to calm down. “Stop, stop.”

  She took several deep breaths and waited for her body to stop shaking then, she reached up and touched her face again.

  “No tears,” she said with relief “they stopped.”

  She leaned over and looked at her reflection in the river and to her delight, her eyes were green again. She wanted to laugh out loud, but then she heard another howl and it was very close.

  “I better get out of there and quickly,” she thought.

  She put the book back into the stump and took flight. She had just made it over the treetops when she remembered that she had promised Neilan a surprise, but she hadn’t really thought that throu
gh and had no idea what to bring him. Then she remembered a meal that her mother used to make when she was very young. It was a simple dish, but it made her feel good when she ate it; it reminded her of home and family.

  “That’s what I will make him,” she said as she turned and flew north over the mountain.

  An hour later Iri landed next to the cave with a bag full of ingredients. No one was waiting outside for her and she wondered if they had even made it back yet.

  “How lucky,” she thought, as she breathed a sigh of relief.

  She checked her eyes one last time and there were no tears on her face, so she went into the cave. As she entered, however, she could see Neilan lying on the blanket sound asleep. Kaylu was nowhere to be seen and she was glad for that; she didn’t want to answer any questions tonight. She sat the ingredients down and started to prepare the dish her mother use to make. She remembered the times when her mother would let her help make this dish.

  “Maybe that’s why I love it so much,” she thought as she put the ingredients together and placed the pot on the fire.

  Then she sat back and relaxed, thinking about what had happened to her in the woods. She would have to be more careful in the future because it would be very hard to explain the white eyes and the tears if she couldn’t stop them next time. She shook her head in disbelief as she realized that she had already made up her mind to do the magic again, despite what happened.

  “It is worth it” she kept telling herself.

  She walked over and sat down next to Neilan and stroked his hair, causing him to stir and open his eyes.

  “Hey, where have ye been?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, “I’ve been here for hours, but you’ve been asleep.”

  Neilan rubbed his eyes, “Kaylu is wearing me out” he said, “but I think I did well today.”

  “Great,” she said to him “I made you that surprise I promised. It should be done in a minute. I wanted to let you sleep for awhile so, I didn’t make it right away.”

  She returned back to the fire, unsure if she could hide her lies very well from Neilan. It would be best to try to just pretend it never happened and try to enjoy a good meal. When the food was finished, they sat and ate together beside the fire.

  “This is really good,” Neilan said.

  “Thanks, my mother use to make it with me when I was very young,” she said. “I really miss her and this makes me feel better.”

  “She would be proud of ye,” he said, reaching out and touching her arm “and not just for the food.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a smile.

  She didn’t want to keep secrets from Neilan, but she just was not ready to tell him what she had been up to; not yet.

  “Kaylu said he is going to teach me to see magic tomorrow,” Neilan said with a questioning look.

  “Magic has its own colour,” Iri said, “Your Drag will see the colour that it knows when magic is used.”

  “Wow,” Neilan said “growing up, I would never have imagined that I would have a Drag,” he said with a smile. “Nor would I have even been able to imagine such a thing existed, or that ye existed.”

  “Well, I do,” Iri said playing with the pin that she had given him.

  “Kaylu asked me where I got the pin today,” Neilan said, “he said that I don’t need it anymore.”

  “That’s ok, I can put it away,” she said as she reached for it.

  “No,” Neilan said stopped her hand, “it was a gift from ye, I want to wear it.”

  She smiled and they finished eating their meal. After dinner, Iri and Neilan went outside, as they had become accustomed to doing in the evening and sat on the bench. Iri turned to Neilan with a smile and placed her hand on his cheek.

  “Neilan, I want to share something with you, but you must not tell anyone about what we are about to do,” she said.

  Neilan gave Iri a surprised look, but he trusted her.

  “Ok,” he said.

  “Neilan, do you love me?” Iri asked him.

  Neilan couldn’t believe what she was asking him.

  “Yes,” he said, “I do love ye.”

  Iri smiled and her eyes sparkled.

  “Close your eyes and listen to your heartbeat,” she said, “block everything else out.”

  Neilan closed his eyes and tried to relax, listening to his own heartbeat. Then he felt Iri’s forehead against his and he opened his eyes.

  “Close your eyes,” she whispered “and try to concentrate on your heartbeat.”

  He would rather just enjoy being this close to her, but she was adamant about teaching him this trick of hers, so he closed his eyes again. He concentrated on the beating of his heart, which at first was very difficult with the sounds of birds, the breeze and Iri’s breathing so close to him. But having her so close also caused his heart to beat a lot harder and he began to hear it. Then, the other sounds all disappeared, one by one and the only sound he could hear was his heart beating. The drumming of his heart filled his head and he could feel it beating throughout his whole body. He allowed it to take control; to block everything else out and consume him. Then, he heard Iri’s voice echoing in his ear.

  “All that I am, I pledge to you. Now and forever bound together; two but one.”

  He suddenly felt an amazing feeling that started where their foreheads were touching and spread throughout his whole body.

  “Open your eyes,” she said.

  Neilan slowly opened his eyes, still hearing his heart beating. He stared into the beautiful green pools of her eyes and felt a love like he had never felt before in his entire life and he kissed her.

  “What was that?” he asked her.

  “It is what we call Tighinn Comhla; the joining,” she said, “now we are bound, Neilan; I to you and you to me.”

  Neilan smiled “I wouldn’t want it any other way,” he said.

  “Look,” Iri said lifting his hand for him to see.

  The sight scared him, for on the back of his hand were scales. He jumped at the sight of them and they disappeared.

  “What was that?” He asked.

  “That was your Dragoine blood,” she said giggling “no need to be so afraid.”

  “I’m not afraid,” he said, “I was just surprised.”

  “Ok,” she said with a teasing smile.

  “So, what was that?” he asked.

  “That was as close to a transformation as you will be able to come,” she said.

  “Oh,” he said, “well, that was a nice trick.”

  “What?” Iri said giving him a scolding look.

  Neilan didn’t answer because he wasn’t sure what he had done wrong yet and sometimes talking only makes it worse.

  “Neilan, that was not a trick,” she said “your Dragoine blood has the power to heal you when you are wounded or injured. When you transform, your body will begin to heal faster.”

  Neilan remembered when he saw Iri flying after he had shot her.

  “Iri, I saw ye transform a few days after I brought ye here,” he said.

  “I know you did,” she said with a smile “I waited for you to say something, but you never did, Why?”

  “I didn’t want ye to get better and fly away,” he said with a guilty smile on his face.

  “I had to transform to heal,” she said, “but I didn’t want to leave anyway.”

  She lifted his chin with her hand and looked into his eyes.

  “Neilan, I don’t want to ever leave,” she said.

  He took her in his arms and held her close to him.

  “Then I will never let ye go,” he said.

  That night both Iri and Neilan slept very soundly; so soundly in fact, that they did not hear the thunderstorm that blew in from the south. Trees were torn loose by their roots and large rocks were knocked from the mountains into the Glen, but Neilan and Iri slept peacefully in the safety of their cave, lying in each other’s arms.

  Morning came with the usual sound of birds singin
g in the tree out in front of the cave. Neilan opened his eyes to see the most beautiful sight he had ever seen, lying right there in his arms.

  “Good morning,” he said softly.

  “Good morning,” Iri said without opening her eyes.

  They slowly made their way out of bed and started their normal morning routines, only this morning was different; there was an understanding between them now. A commitment had been made the night before; a commitment that changed everything. They finished getting ready and went outside to wait for Kaylu; he was never this late before.

  “I wonder where he is?” Iri said stepping out the door and looking around at all the large stones lying in the Glen.

  They walked out into the Glen to get a closer look for the stones were twice Neilan’s height.

  “What could have knocked something that large off the mountain?” he said. “Magic?”

  “Maybe, but why would someone do it?” Iri replied.

  They turned around when they heard a popping sound behind them and saw Kaylu standing next to the tree and waving to them.

  “I see you survived the storm,” Kaylu said, “terrible thing, worst we’ve had in many years.”

  Neilan looked at Iri and they smiled.

  “We hardly knew it was storming,” Iri said giving Neilan a wink.

  “Well, it’s a good thing you live in a cave Neilan,” Kaylu said.

  “Are you ready to begin your training for today?” he asked.

  “Yes, I am” Neilan replied.

  “Wonderful, today you will not need the blindfold,” Kaylu said, “will you be joining us today, Iri?”

  Iri looked at Neilan and then back at Kaylu.

  “No, I have something that I want to do today,” she said, “besides, Neilan needs to concentrate.”

  She gave Neilan a teasing smile and a kiss on the cheek as Kaylu placed his hand on Neilan’s shoulder. A second later, they were gone and a few seconds after that, Iri too was gone, flying over the forest to a very special place by the river.

  Chapter 10

  Strength and Weakness

  Kaylu and Neilan arrived at the cave on the mountain and entered.

  “Stand where you stood before Neilan,” Kaylu said, “now I want you to concentrate on what you see, not what you hear.”