Chapter 21

We had just finished taking our seats and Lady Caoilinn had signaled for the first dish to be served when everything was interrupted by a long, loud, high pitched, agonizing scream that was suddenly cut off. I immediately sent out my Magical senses to determine what had happened. I didn't like what I found.

"What on Earth was that?" Lady Caoilinn demanded in the sudden silence that followed the scream being cut off. Captain Sean Og was already on his feet and calling for the guardsmen, two of whom soon appeared.

"Where did that scream come from?" he demanded of them. Both men looked to still be in shock from the sudden scream.

"We have no idea, Captain," one man managed to reply. I had risen from my seat at the table while this was going on. The Mac Sweeney Sisters had also been frightened by the scream and appeared ready to hide under the table.

"I know where it came from," I told the Captain and the others, as I helped the Sisters up. "We will need to go upstairs to check it out," I finished.

"You two come with us!" Captain Sean Og told the guardsmen, as he retrieved his sword from where he had left it during the meal.

"I don't believe that you'll need that, Captain, but bring it along if it makes you feel better," I told him with a smile, as I started toward the stairs to the upper floors of the Manor House. The Sisters followed along behind me.

"Are you going to allow those women to go with us?" the Captain demanded sharply.

"Certainly. We will be in no danger. My wards are more than powerful enough to protect all of us. Lady Caoilinn should also accompany us," I told him. This did not receive a favorable response from the Captain, as he frowned deeply.

"I will go along, Sean," Lady Caoilinn told the Captain, who turned to his men.

"If anything happens, get Lady Caoilinn out of there!" he charged his men, who acknowledged the order.

We made a fine procession going up the stairs to the second floor. I was in the lead with the Mac Sweeney Sisters, and we were followed by the Captain and Lady Caoilinn who were followed by the two guardsmen. Upstairs, we proceeded down the hall to the locked door at the end.

"Did the scream come from here?" Lady Caoilinn asked in a choked voice.

"Yes, it did. I've already checked with my Magic, and it's safe to enter the room," I told her.

"The locks are both locked. How will you get in?" the Captain demanded just as both locks opened together. He just stared in shock at the sound of their opening. I removed the locks and leaned against the door that squeaked as it opened.

The room appeared much as we had left it earlier except there was no Master Cahir there. The five of us moved into the room carefully and spread out. The guardsmen remained in the hall.

"Where is Cahir? You said that you left him in here!" Lady Caoilinn asked looking around.

"Yes, I left him here, and warned him several times not to try to use any Magic inside the wards around this room. It would appear that he didn't listen," I told her and pointed toward the circle in yellow chalk now on the floor.

"Have you some basic knowledge of Magic, Captain?" I asked before continuing.

"I have some basic knowledge of Magic, yes!" he replied.

"Please follow my explanation then," I requested and turned to the Sisters. "This will be your first introduction to Magic -- pay close attention to what I say," I told them before I began the explanation of what I saw.

"Observe the circle in yellow chalk on the floor. It is still whole and not broken. This would indicate that the spell or other Magic started inside it was never completed as intended.

"Now smell the air in the room. You can detect the smell of brimstone even this long after the event happened? The room being closed helped to preserve the smell. Brimstone is a sure sign that a member from the demon underworld is involved," I told them.

"Do you mean the Tuatha De Danann?" Lady Caoilinn asked with a shiver.

"No, these are demons from hell, and not the sidhe," I told her before I continued.

"Next observe the bowl inside the circle. It contains a liquid, a stone and from the tint some blood. This would appear then to be a summoning circle except everything about it is wrong.

"First, the circle should be constructed of sea salt, not chalk and especially not yellow chalk.

"Second the bowl. It appears to be half full of urine from the smell. No spell that I know of is ever cast using urine. Only fresh water is to be used in Magic.

"Next the stone in the bowl is a Magic stone. Some Wizards use them to hold a part of their Magic so it can be used instantly. This is usually only used by those with small Talents when they attempt to cast spells that require more Magic than they possess.

"Lastly, the presence of blood would indicate the use of Black Magic. Blood is never used in Regular or White Magic.

"From these appearances, I believe that Master Cahir was attempting to summon some demon or devil to break him out of the wards around this room. The problem, as I have pointed out, is that he did everything incorrectly or wrong, and I imagine that whatever he conjured wasn't what he intended, but something much stronger and hungrier for it appears that it either consumed Master Cahir here, or dragged him back to whatever hell it came from," I finished.

Most of those in attendance were staring at me in absolute disbelief and horror. The Captain had pulled Lady Caoilinn behind himself, had his sword in his hand, and had backed up to the doorway as my explanation progressed. The guardsmen had backed well away from the door at the first mention of demons and Black Magic. The Mac Sweeney Sisters were staring at me with rapt attention. The Eternal Flame chose that instant to appear above the summoning circle.

"Kellen is correct. Cahir attempted to summon a demon that he was familiar with. Instead he summoned one of the Denizens of Hell, who dragged him out of this plain of existence and into its own. You may consider yourself a widow, Lady Caoilinn," the Eternal Flame told us before its fire consumed the circle and everything inside it. Shortly there was only the blackened outline of a circle where the chalked line had been.

"What was that?" Captain Sean Og asked in a trembling voice after the Eternal Flame had vanished.

"That was the Eternal Flame. It is my clan's protector and the source of our Magic Power," I told him.

"And ... and it can just appear and disappear like that?" he asked.

"Yes. So can I and my relatives," I assured him.

"I'd have to see that to believe it!" he said in a challenging tone of voice.

"Return to the Hall, but leave your guardsmen here to ensure that we don't follow you. We'll appear in the Hall once you are there," I told him to a shocked look on his face. The Sisters also appeared shocked.

"You men stay here. Don't allow these people to follow us," the Captain directed. His men didn't appear to be very happy with this last order, but complied and blocked the doorway after he and Lady Caoilinn departed. I gave them plenty of time to reach the the Hall before gathering the twins to me.

"It's time that we rejoined the others in the Hall," I told them. I cast the transfer spell, and we vanished from the room much to the guardsmen's shock. We instantly reappeared in the Hall at our end of the table. The Captain and Lady Caoilinn had just taken their seats at the table and were staring at the soup of the first course which was cold by now.

Our sudden appearance at the table shocked them more than I would have thought, and they just stared at us, as I helped the twins into their seats then took my own.

"I believe the soup needs warming. I'll take care of that if you don't mind," I told them, as I heated the bowls of soup on the table. Our hosts were even more shocked at this, but the Sisters required a little assistance with their spoons, and I was too busy with them for a time to check the expressions on our hosts' faces.

The two guardsmen arrived as I was helping the twins. They went directly to Captain Sean Og to report what had happened before hastily returning to their posts. By the time I had finished instructing the twins in the use of spoons and forks, our hosts were finishing their soup. The Sisters quickly finished theirs.

"You are a very proficient Wizard for one so young," Lady Caoilinn said, as the bowls of the first course were being cleared away and the second course was being served.

"All of the children in our clan start the study of Magic at a young age," I told her.

"And you are an ... O'Connell? From the Province of Munster from your accent, I would say."

"Our clan was originally from County Kerry, but we haven't lived there in quite some time."

"Where are you from then?" she asked. I just knew that this would come up sooner or later and here it was. What to tell her? The truth might be too much for them to believe, but I didn't have any convenient lies handy.

"We are from a different Reality ... one of less Magic. My Cousin Kennard and I came to this Reality to look for Wives just as our Fathers had. We couldn't find the type of woman that we wanted in our Reality, or even in Dublin in this one. I was directed to come to County Donegal, and my Cousin Ken was directed to County Limerick. I'm to meet him in Sligo Town in several weeks," I explained, to the looks of disbelief that I had expected from them.

"And just what kinds of Wives are you looking for?" she asked, curious.

"Wives with strong Talents and any who are Mages also. The Mac Sweeney Sisters have very strong Talents, but they aren't Mages. Mages are rare even in the more agricultural times here," I told her.

"Why would you seek them if they are so rare?" she asked next.

"Because I am even rarer. I have the Talents of both a Wizard and that of a Mage. My Mothers shared a mental link, and that is how I believe that I was able to communicate with the Mac Sweeney Sisters before I cured their deafness and blindness," I told her, to even more doubtful looks.

"You say that you cured their deafness, but they have said nothing so far," she pointed out.

"They can hear now, but are not used to speaking with their voices. I will be working with them on that as we travel to Sligo Town."

"If you girls can hear me, hold up a hand," Lady Caoilinn requested. Both Sisters held up a hand, much to her shock.

"If you can see what I'm doing, do the same thing," she asked next, and the Sisters repeated her hand movements exactly.

"That's quite amazing. You really are quite an amazing and powerful Wizard. I don't suppose that I could convince you to stay here, could I?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not. I need to meet my Cousin, and then we and our future Wives will return to our Reality so we can continue our schooling and complete our education," I told her.

"Well, I had to ask. It's hard to get people to remain here in the north of the country. We don't have many of the opportunities that the major cities have.

"You said that you would be returning to school. Haven't you finished your education? Surely you are more knowledgeable about Magic than most here in Ireland," she stated.

"Our system of education is very extensive and one is usually well into his twenties before he is finished his normal education. My Cousins, Brothers, and I are due to start college in the fall," I told her. "However, I finished my Magic Education several years ago when I became a Senior Master in Regular Magic, and also as Senior Master Mage with Green Magic in our Reality," I finished.

"This trip to Sligo Town to meet your Cousin, will you use your Magic to travel there?" Lady Caoilinn asked.

"Unfortunately, no. I need to have actually been to a place to be able to transfer back there, and I have never been to Sligo Town. We will need to travel just as normal people do. I will be able to transfer back to Letterkenny when we leave here, but I will need to get horses, or a cart for the Sisters to ride in when we reach there. Then we will start on the road to Sligo, and ask directions as necessary," I told her.

"Let me understand this. You are able to return by Magic to any of the places that you have already been to?" she asked.

"Yes, that's correct. I could return to Dublin if there were a reason to do so, but I don't foresee any such reason," I told her.