Chapter 7

Eoric sat on the white sands, looking out to sea as he simply contemplated how much his life had changed in the past days and weeks. His talks with Eochaid had broadened his understanding of the political and religious context for his life. As trade expanded so did horizons he thought, lifting the gaze of the individual and bringing new relationships, new alliances.

He understood that humans were fundamentally social animals with a need to have other humans around them. That was in all likelihood the basis for the tribe and clan structure he was used to and there were good reasons for it. Survival chances were increased within the clan, as skills were pooled and tasks shared - more could be done, more food produced. A clan also brought greater security from others that might want to take whatever you had of value - be that food, livestock or even womenfolk.

The ability to seize land and hold it against others allowed a clan to grow crops, hunt and raise domesticated live stock. And what was it that held the clan together? They had loyalty to the clan leader, a sense of identity within the clan and in most cases a pride in belonging to the clan.

Eoric could see the importance of these common reference points and how they acted to bind people together. As horizons lifted and the clan was exposed to more and more so the need to establish groupings based on common interests was scaled up he thought. As clans looked at new commodities and traded for them, as the clan grew more prosperous, so alliances were formed to create a much larger clan, loosely based to be sure, but with many of the same principles underpinning the association.

One of these common reference points was undoubtedly religion and he could see how the spread of Christianity was already acting to bind disparate groups together.

Arthur's vision became far clearer to Eoric now. From talking to Eochaid he had realised that the greatest threat to the Celtic people throughout Britain came from the Anglo-Saxons and the Picts. Yet the Celts continued to fight against each other, coveting each other's goods and possessions while the real threat grew ever more powerful.

He knew that the Saxons in Bernicia were expanding their borders and Eochaid's father's battles against them now made much more sense. The Picts seemed to be simple savages and attacked out of sheer blood lust, but the Saxons played an altogether different game. Their expansion and war-like nature stemmed from a policy of consolidation. If they could stamp out the opposing cultures and clans then they would have all of the land to grow into. That in turn would increase their power and wealth, give them room to increase and support their numbers, which would improve their security.

Uniting the Celtic clans - the Britons, the Cornishmen, the Welsh and the Gaels - was perhaps the only way to save all of the Celtic lands from being swallowed up by the Anglo-Saxons. Arthur had seen that and had made his gallant effort at bringing it about. Ultimately it looked as if he had failed and Eoric could not see another leader with the charisma and strength to take up Arthur's mantle.

The position in Ireland was a case in point. Eochaid had explained how his strength in manpower in Dalriada had been drained through the need to continually send troops to defend Antrim against the Celtic clans of the Ui Neill. At the same time, Dalriada was under more threat from the Picts. Worse, another clan of Celts, those from Strathclyde, were weakening Dalriada further and all the time the Saxons in Bernicia grew more numerous and more powerful.

With his newfound awareness of the wider context, he now wondered about the poisoning of King Eochaid by the druid. Was that a random act of an individual with a personal grievance or part of a bigger agenda? Was he just becoming paranoid?

He shook his head to try and shake off these weighty thoughts and tried to soak up the simple joy of the setting he was in. His new status allowed him to 'feel' the sea and the creatures in it, 'feel' the wind under the wings of the Gulls and the Cormorants that swooped and dived for fish. He was connected to the sands and the rock. It was an altogether pleasant feeling to be so in tune with nature he decided.

His relationship with Gemma was an aspect of his life that brought both extreme pleasure, but also pain, as he didn't think there was any hope for them to be together. He was determined to enjoy it while he could.

An image of Merlin appeared in his head and he frowned as he realised it had been over a week since he had last connected with the wizard. That last connection had been cut abruptly and he was concerned at the cloud that seemed to occupy part of Merlin's mind. It had an unwholesome feel to it; cankerous even and he couldn't help but believe it was somehow attacking the wizard's ability to think properly.

Eoric concentrated and tried to link with Merlin. He let his awareness expand outwards, felt it flash over the sea and the islands to the mainland as it searched for the familiar thought patterns of the wizard. Just as he was about to give up he detected a faint stirring and he focussed himself, locking on to it before it could disappear.

What Eoric found appalled him. The wizard's mind was almost completely taken up by the black sticky presence. Its make-up became clear to him now that it had grown and was more tangible to his thoughts. Eoric could see that this was a series of mental traps and bonds, put in place by someone or something to control Merlin's thinking. How that had been achieved without the wizard being aware was beyond him, but the implications were that a powerful entity was at large and had targeted Merlin.

He tried to mentally remove the traps and found them to have the consistency of very strong spider's webs. They clung and cloyed at his senses and he had to direct more energy down the thread that connected him to the wizard to stop himself being trapped. As he gradually built up the energy he was relieved to sense the traps begin to break down and he began to methodically sweep through them, feeling Merlin's thought patterns growing stronger as he did so.

"Stop! Who are you and what do you think you are doing destroying all my hard work?"

Eoric flinched and his connection to Merlin was severed. He lay back, rubbing his temples, which were throbbing from the effort he had expended. He had caught a glimpse of the person behind the voice that had challenged him. It had been the same beautiful woman who had appeared in a previous connection to Merlin. Eoric didn't know who she was, but it was clear she was behind the mental attack on the wizard and he feared that she was being successful. He didn't know why, but he sensed Merlin was important to him in some way and he increasingly felt the need to try and protect him.

Merlin became increasingly aware that he was connected to the apprentice blacksmith once more. He could feel the boy working inside his head on something and as Eoric's energy increased and some of the mental webs collapsed, Merlin was able at last to see what had been going on.

He was appalled at his lapse. How could he have allowed this to happen to him? He was able to sweep through his own mind now and could see that his awareness had been blocked, blocked effectively not with powerful magic, but with what were basic woman's spells. The spells were the kind of thing that were sold to the ordinary folk - spells for love, spells for happiness - but somehow they had been adapted and made more effective for another purpose.

When the Lady of the Loch, Nimue challenged what Eoric was doing, Merlin became aware of her immediately and he knew he had found the culprit. The very one he had been training in his lore had been silently attacking him. His anger began to rise and, as Eoric's connection was cut, he swept the remaining mind traps away himself using his own abilities.

Once the last of the cloying webs had been cut from his mind, Merlin felt a renewed sense of energy and purpose. He was able to trace back to the point where Nimue had first planted her spells and could see how utterly clueless and inept he had been. She had diverted his attention by displaying her charms for him and he had fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book of spells - a woman's wiles.

"Nimue! You are discovered and I will have to deal with you. Why have you deemed it necessary to attack me in this way? Who are you working for?"

"Do not take me for a fool, Merlin. I know that you were only going to teach me your low-level lore. After all, I'm only a woman and not fit to be entrusted with your greatest secrets. Well that's not good enough! I wanted it all and now I have leeched most of it from you while you sat drooling in your chair like a simpleton."

"Nimue, Nimue. How wrong you are. Is that how little you've come to know me after all the time we have spent together? Always it was my intention to impart all of my gifts to you. I believed I had found a worthy successor and want nothing more than to withdraw from this world. A world without Arthur and his bold vision is no world at all. But enough. I would have given it all to you freely. Now that your treachery has been exposed I realise you are not fit to be in possession of such power. I'm coming for you Nimue. I'm coming!"

Three or four more days of walking, eating and receiving daily infusions of energy from Eoric had Eochaid declaring that he was ready to complete the passage to Antrim. He was amused at how Eoric and Gemma acted around each other and suspected what the cause of it was. It was common to use marriage as a way of cementing alliances and friendships, of building or expanding a Kingdom's power base and he might have expected his daughter to be married off in that way. However, he could see the love they had for each other radiating from them like a tangible thing and it wasn't in his heart to take that away from them. His daughter had been good to him over the years and he wanted her to be happy. Eoric had already demonstrated his abilities in many ways. He had reversed the poison administered by the druid and then shown himself able to get them away from the attacking King Beli. Even while here on Iona he had shown his ability to provide food aplenty and the talks they had had nearly every day had shown Eochaid that the boy had a nimble mind and intelligence far beyond a mere blacksmith.

Eochaid said nothing to the youngsters, simply allowed them to share their feelings without interruption. The tenderness of it all almost brought a tear to his eye and he wondered about his own life mates, a little jealous that he had never had a love match like this. Both of his wives had been arranged marriages and both ended when the wives succumbed to fever and illness. No, his was not a happy record of marriage. He fervently hoped his daughter would do much better.

The ship's captain was eager to set off too. A week and a half anchored at Iona, while pleasant, was not what that man was cut out for. The prospect of putting to sea once more cheered him up and he reported that the ship was ready to up anchor at a moments notice.

Eochaid, Eoric and Gemma took their leave of the Abbot and his monks, thanking them for their kind hospitality. The Abbot would hear none of it, proclaiming Eoric's ability to provide food for the monastery payment beyond measure. They had salted fish and stored enough to see them almost through the winter he declared. Eoric smiled and his chest puffed out a little more at the fulsome praise.

The ship set out on the morning of their eleventh day on Iona, the Abbot and the monks coming down to the bay to wave them off. The captain headed almost due south for the coast of Ireland and told them that if the winds stayed favourable, they should make landfall in three of four days.

The journey was a delight for Eoric and Gemma as they remained close together, sitting in the prow and exclaiming at the scenery the islands and the sea conjured up. They laughed at the antics of the birds that followed them and of the seals that kept pace with the ship at times. Eoric continued to amaze them all with his prowess at catching fish and these were cooked over a small brazier on the ship.

On the afternoon of the third day they sighted land, a more substantial landmass than any of the many islands they had passed in the last few days. The captain explained that he would need to wait for the tide in order to sail directly down the North Channel, passed Reachlainn (modern day Rathlin Island) and on to Gleann Airimh (modern day Glen Ariff).

As the ship rose and fell on the sea swell, Eoric felt a connection seeking him out. He was cautious and explored the thought pattern before allowing the connection when he sensed it was Merlin trying to contact him.

"It seems I owe you my thanks young Eoric. I must be getting too old for this world if I can allow even the most simple of spells to confound me so easily. But thanks to you my young friend I have thrown off the web that kept my eyes dim... Eoric, what has happened to you? I sense great changes have taken place within you since last we were connected."