Sàmhach, the Silent One
Copyright© 2026 by CaptainPig
Chapter 1
Glossary:
Sorcha (Sor-ka)
Keflavik (Kef-lah-vik
Fagradalsfjall (Fu-gra-dalls-fy-utl)
Reykjanes (Ray-kjaynz)
gath fada (Gath fa-dah, far speaker)
Háskólakennari (Hɑs-ko-lɑ-ken-Nɑ-ri, ‘professor’ in Íslenska)
Reykjavik (Reh-kya-veek)
Màiri (Mary)
Bana-cheann (bawn-uh-khawn, wife of the clan chief)
April 12th, 2021.
Sorcha NicAngus bounced excitedly in her seat in the motor carriage. Seated beside her, her best friend Cheryl McCready rolled her eyes at her friend’s barely contained enthusiasm. Seated across the aisle from them, their friend, Sophy Fergusdóttir, was only slightly less excited than Sorcha. In the seat behind Sorcha, her twin brother Conall briefly looked up from his book, then turned his eyes back down to its pages.
Their Grade Twelve geology class was taking a field trip from the dependent’s school at the Keflavik aership base to view the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
The volcano had begun erupting three weeks earlier. It was only a two hour drive by motor carriage and a short hike of two miles to reach the best place to view the volcano and lava flows.
Off to the right, they could see a United World Aership Lines aership, 190 feet of gleaming aluminum body with a wing span of 145 feet and five rows of windows along each side. The aership was a hybrid craft, using both lift from its wings and buoyancy from helium gas filled lifting bladders. Driven by two large counter rotating propellers at its tail, it was climbing out from Keflavik after an overnight rest and refueling stop.
“Look,” Sorcha said. “There’s the Monday flight from Edinburgh to Berwick. Imagine it, 1200 people flying from Scotland to the United Provinces in only two days.”
Cheryl said wistfully, “Someday, I’m going to fly in an aership.”
A column of armored motor carriages from the 3rd Squadron, City of Baltimore Regiment of Dragoons passed them, the carriage commanders standing tall in the turret hatches, their two inch auto-cannons pointing alternately to the left and right...
Sorcha cried excitedly, “There’s Daddy,” as she waved exuberantly to the man in the turret of the lead carriage. Bannerman Angus McKerr turned his head to look at her, smiled and slightly raised his hand in a low wave. Sorcha knew he had to be careful about waving because the Dragoons commonly used hand, arm and flag signals so that they wouldn’t have to use their wireless gath fada sets.
The girls turned their conversation to the grade reports they had received the day before.
Sorcha asked, “Cheryl, how did you do on your Orals?”
The motor carriage reached the parking area. The students and their teachers disembarked and made the two mile hike to the viewing area.
The students listened raptly as Háskólakennari Birna Ragnarsdóttir from the School of Geology at Reykjavik College lectured on volcanism, lava flows and their role in forming the island.
“This is the first eruption of this volcano in 6000 years,” she said. “The last volcanic activity in this area was in the year 1240 in what was known as the Reykjanes Fires. This area, the Reykjanes Peninsula, is a zone of active rifting in the plate divergent boundary between the Eurasian and North American plates. Fagradalsfjall is a tuva volcano which formed under the ice sheet during the Pleistocene Era...”
At that moment, the Háskólakennari was interrupted as with a loud bloop sound, the volcano seemed to burp out a large glowing globe of lava which floated down the lava stream towards them. As it floated, it seemed to shed bits of molten rock until suddenly, the form of a four-legged winged creature was revealed. The creature leapt into the air and with a few flaps of its wings, lightly landed just in front of the group.
The Dragon, for that is what it was, stood on its hind legs, balancing itself with its tail. The top of its head was about seven feet from the ground. From the top of its head to the tip of its tail, it was about nine feet long. Its wide spread wings were nearly twenty-four feet from wing tip to wing tip. From the visible genitalia, it appeared to be male. Its smooth, slightly pebbled skin was a warm golden brown in color and its eyes were a brilliant green, with golden vertically slit pupils. There were two slit openings above a wide lip-less mouth which appeared to be nostrils and two openings above and behind the eyes which might have been ears.
The Dragon gently flapped its wings and shook Itself slightly, shedding the odd bits of lava which had stuck to it. Folding its wings, the Dragon walked up to the group and eyed them closely. Everyone stood frozen in place, unable to run, scream or move in any way.
Sorcha found herself unable to move except to breathe. The Dragon leaned down until it was just a few inches away and looked into her eyes. Sorcha felt as if her soul was laid bare and everything that she had ever thought or done was examined and judged. The Dragon sniffed as if it was taking in her scent. It then moved off and subjected each of the others to the same inspection.
The armored motor carriages from the 3rd Squadron roared up the hill towards them, but were suddenly brought to a halt by an unseen barrier. Several cannons fired at the Dragon, but the shells simply stopped in mid air a few feet from the muzzles and hung there motionless. The Dragon took as little notice as if the motor carriages and their cannon were no more than buzzing insects.
All of the students and their teachers remained as frozen as if they were encased in amber, held in place by the same force which had stopped the motor carriages.
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