Chapter 26

The return to Dunadd was made in good spirits following the defeat of the Saxons. King Neithon was grateful to Eochaid that he could once more dine in his own hall and Eoric sensed the alliance between Dalriada and Strathclyde had if anything been strengthened further. He had recovered somewhat from his reaction to the death and carnage at Dunbarton, but the feeling of the blood seeping into the earth had not fully left him as yet.

Eochaid's mood brightened even further if that was possible when they found Domnall Brec waiting for them at Dunadd. Before the King could speak of the victory over the Saxons, Domnall had launched into an account of a victory of his own in Ireland.

"Our sweetening of the Clan Cholmáin at last bore fruit, Sire," he explained, "a messenger arrived just after I had landed with our Dalriada men, a messenger from Connal Guthbind mac Suibne."

"Hah! So, the Irish turn on each other," Eochaid exclaimed.

"Yes, Sire. The message advised that the Ui Neill planned a meeting to discuss their plans for the coming summer and that a hurried advance could catch them unprepared. I was wary of treachery and a possible trap, but the opportunity to at last bring the Irish to battle was too good to miss. I led our men west and my scouts reported mac Suibne had over four hundred men ready to join me.

"With our Dalriada levies and our own Antrim force, I had a combined army of nearly two thousand. The Ui Neill were gathering at a place called Cebb Delgthan (in modern day Meath) and we fell upon them before ever they knew we were there.

"They fought well, particularly the chiefs, but I tore the Ui Neill standard from its pole and shredded it before their eyes and the spirit went out of them. From then on it wasn't a battle, more mac Suibne and his hounds savaging their countrymen," Domnall ended.

"How many Ui Neill dead, Domnall?" asked the King.

"Enough, Sire. They will not be a force to be reckoned with for some time. I've spent the last week scouring the country to find whatever pockets of the survivors I could to consolidate the victory," Domnall replied.

This was what Eochaid wanted to hear. Having shattered their leadership it was important to follow that up by ensuring the Ui Neill were dealt a significant blow so they couldn't re-group. The King now put his arm around his son's shoulders and happily led him up to the hall to continue his tale. He glanced at Eoric, flashing him a smile to indicate he recognised the details of his vision in Domnall's account of the battle. It had been just as Eoric had predicted, right down to Domnall shredding the Ui Neill banner.

Eoric was keen to return to Taynuilt as quickly as possible but the King had started to drink in celebration and he demanded Eoric attend on him.

"Show us some of your tricks Eoric, entertain us with a vision my young friend," said Eochaid.

Eoric shrunk in upon himself, embarrassed at the King's attempt to turn him into some kind of court jester. He began to realise just how others saw him - some kind of freak, a curio. It was not a pleasant realisation and he was immediately deeply depressed. He asked Eochaid for permission to return to Taynuilt and the King gave him leave to do so, disappointed that he was not providing entertainment.

Once again he left Fergus to lead the men home and he set out at the run on his own. Spring had only just begun and already Dalriada was celebrating two significant victories, but Eoric was in a glum mood.

His growing family was delighted by his early and safe return and Eoric received warm hugs from the three girls and cheerful messages inside his head from Connall and Angus. The two Saxon princes were more reserved, just smiling broadly, as Eoric swooped to pick up little Isla, twirling her round and round until she squealed.

The next month was one of hard work for the people of Lorne as they prepared the land so they could plant their crops for the year. Despite his dark mood, Eoric had insisted the two princes and his own two sons should begin training in the use of weapons and they now had several hours a day with pike, sword and spear. The weapons were all miniature versions of the deadly adult sized ones and Fergus worked the young boys hard in their use.

Eoric was also determined not to let the princes forget their own rightful heritage and the family regularly spoke in the Saxon tongue to keep the language alive for Oswald and Oswui. He also made sure that the travelling monks shared every scrap of information they gathered about the state of life in Northumbria, impressing upon the princes the importance of their birthright.

It was during one of his talks with the monks at Taynuilt that he was told a strange tale. The churchmen informed him that Edwin had abandoned his conversion to Christianity and reverted to paganism. This reversal had brought with it a sudden increase in the influence of the druids in Northumbria and the monks even claimed there were rumours of human sacrifices. King Edwin also made no secret of the fact that he coveted the lands to his north and Eoric knew that the defeat at Dunbarton would only have fuelled the Saxon's desire to invade yet further.

The monks informed him that Edwin's chief advisor now seemed to be a senior druid who was called Aseree, a woman who had no love for the Celts if the stories were to be believed. The churchmen shared a number of rumours about the practices of this Aseree, most of which would have been beyond belief for anyone other than Eoric who of course could do many strange things himself.

"I have heard that she can call down fire from the very skies, my Lord," said one churchman, "it is said that she did this when the Saxons attacked the Picts in Lothian. Many men are said to have perished under a hellish, fiery rain."

"Aye, and there's more, my Lord," said another monk. "It is rumoured that the druid was also with King Edwin at the battle on the River Idle when Aethelfrith was defeated and that she put a curse on Aethelfrith's men that day. Men were scared of their own shadows and fled in the face of Edwin's army."

Eoric knew this last was not true as both Oswald and Oswui had been present at that battle and he himself had witnessed the fighting in a vision. He assumed that the druid was resorting to what many of her kind did - starting rumours about herself to gain a reputation and to further her own ends. So long as this Aseree had no designs on Dalriada Eoric was content to simply ignore what he heard about her as being rumour and fabrication.

Another area that was taking up an increasing amount of Eoric's time was the exploration of the otherworldly talents that he had inherited. Merlin's presence inside him resulted in frequent reminders that he had yet to test himself fully in many areas. The voice of the old wizard nagged at him to begin to try and exercise his mind, particularly in relation to the spells and lore that seemed to come to him on demand.

"Eoric, everytime you need a spell or a cure it comes to you unbidden. You also told me that the faeries indicated you had access to all the lore of the winds, the earth and the creatures who live upon it. You have been able to fly when in desperate need and have performed other miraculous deeds. That suggests to me that there is vast potential within you, as yet untapped. I implore you to devote more of your time to trying to connect with this store of knowledge and these other skills."

Eoric could see the wisdom in this and recognised he also had responsibilities to those around him to make the most of the gifts that he had been given. So he started a regular training regime for himself. While the boys joined Fergus for their weapons training, Eoric ran high up onto the peaks of Cruachan, out of the sight of others.

At first his progress was very slow and he even found it difficult to repeat some of the things he had already done. He tried in vain to bring the cloud base down around the summit of Ben Cruachan and his attempts at flying would have looked comical to anyone who stumbled upon him.

"I think the problem is you're focusing too much, Eoric. Try not thinking about it all and just doing it, when you have been under stress or in trouble it's just happened for you," came Merlin's voice.

After a frustrating week where he spent two hours every morning trying to clear his mind of everything, he was at last rewarded when he opened his eyes to find the thick fog of the clouds surrounding him on the mountaintop. He was so elated that, without thinking, he leapt into the air and quickly found himself flying above the clouds, looking down at Cruachan's summit.

Thereafter Eoric's progress was much swifter and Merlin was delighted at the spells and feats he began to perform. The continuing practice was undoubtedly adding strength to Eoric's abilities and raising the level of what he could achieve. Unfortunately he also realised that the greater his abilities, the more of a curio he would become for others and that made his depression deepen.

Eoric's progress coincided with a number of sinister and terrifying incidents in the Taynuilt village. The first involved the prized communal bath and washhouse that Eoric had built. On this particular day it was the men's turn to have free rein of the baths and Eoric was brought running when he heard agonised screaming coming from it. When he arrived he found dire ruin, with several men writhing around outside the baths, their naked skin blistered and burnt. Eoric was told that the water in the baths had suddenly begun to boil, literally roasting the men alive. He quickly set about tending to the injured, bolstering his own powers by leeching energy from the rock under his feet.

His ministrations saved all but two of the villagers, but their loss hit Eoric hard. On top of his distress and depression at how his abilities set him apart from others, Eoric couldn't stop himself thinking he was somehow to blame for the deaths. The remainder of the villagers also now looked on the bathhouse and Eoric with deep suspicion. No explanation could be found for the water suddenly reaching the temperatures it had.

A joint funeral was held for the dead men the next day and Eoric felt the weight of responsibility heavy on his shoulders as the monks led the service and lowered the bodies into the ground. He had examined the bathhouse and had found no rational explanation for what had happened. He also mentally explored the wards he had cast over the village to protect it from evil magic and to prevent any with malicious intent from entering. So far as he could see the wards were undamaged and as effective as when he had first cast them.

The second incident happened barely a week after the first. Three of the Taynuilt womenfolk were walking round the inside perimeter of the village when a section of the stone wall collapsed, crushing and burying them all under an immense weight of rocks.

Once again Eoric was in the village and reacted to the incident quickly, using his enhanced strength to effortlessly clear the rubble and pull the women clear. His efforts were to no avail however, as all three women were lifeless, their breath cruelly squeezed from their bodies by the rockfall. Again Eoric could find no simple explanation for the tragedy and he fretted as he watched a superstitious dread begin to settle over the remaining villagers.

Another funeral was held and Eoric could see the villagers eyeing him nervously as if he was somehow at the root of the two fatal incidents. He questioned his inner voice and Merlin, but they were as stumped by the 'accidents' as he was. His depression deepened and the girls noticed.

On the afternoon of the day following the second funeral Eoric was returning from a tour of the various projects he had underway around Taynuilt when he suddenly felt an excruciating pain inside his head. He collapsed onto his knees, raising his hands to clutch at his temples and a silent scream escaped his lips. He rolled onto his side and writhed on the ground before lapsing into unconsciousness. Some of the villagers witnessed his collapse and ran to alert the girls.

Gemma, Sarah and Megan came running to where Eoric lay and shouted for others to help them carry Eoric up to the house. He was laid out on the bed they shared and the girls ushered the villagers out as they rushed around trying to find out what was wrong with their lord and husband. When they stripped away his clothes they were appalled at the heat coming from his body, a sweltering heat, surely hot enough to flay the skin from him. They immediately began to bathe him with cool water, taking turns at fetching fresh cloths.

Inside Eoric a battle was raging. When his body had been suddenly attacked, that part of him that was human immediately shut down and his inner faery self had to take over. The faeries were fighting to stop the pressure building up inside Eoric's head, a pressure that threatened to make his very skull explode. They were frantically drawing energy into Eoric's body from their surroundings but the more they drew, the stronger the force pitted against them seemed to become. They tried and they tried to push the force back from his mind, but its progress was relentless and the faeries despaired for Eoric's life.

"Cease this folly! Can you not see what is happening?" Merlin tried to communicate with the faeries.

"You have him fighting against himself! The power and energy you are drawing up is the very energy that is slowly killing him. Cease your struggles I say!"

The urgency and command in the old wizard's voice reached the faeries, but they couldn't believe what he was telling them and the very idea of ending their resistance of the powerful source attacking Eoric was out of the question. If they gave in they knew he would surely die and do so quickly.

"Fools! There is a loop at work. The more power you use to push, the stronger the force against you becomes. If you don't believe me just try and ease up a little and see what happens," Merlin pleaded.

Tentatively the faeries did as Merlin suggested and allowed the force they were using to relax, but only fractionally. They were amazed to immediately feel a corresponding reduction in the energy pushing against them. The truth of what Merlin was saying now registered fully with them and they began to gradually reduce the amount of energy they were exerting, feeling relief as the pressure inside Eoric's head began to drop. When they stopped fighting altogether the energy disappeared leaving a different sensation for them all to feel.