I have lived through many ages

Through the eyes of salmon, deer, and wolf

I have seen the Northmen invading islands, destroying all in search of gold

I have seen suffering in the darkness

Yet, I have seen beauty thrive in the most fragile of places

I have seen the book

The book that turned darkness

Into light...

~Aisling

Chapter 1

Nightmares

Be brave. I must be brave.

The broken statues grow thick with ivy that blossom delicate white flowers. It almost seems as if the entire place is covered in an uplifting green and an innocent white. Light comes in golden beams from above and cast their light on the bugs flying above my head. The stone beneath my feet have been overrun with greenery, flowers bursting through the cracks in between the stone rocks. It really is a scenic place. No one would have ever believed that this is the tomb of The Dark One.

I take a step towards the tomb that lies agape, the door broken and the inscription of the horrendous monster engraved onto the back wall of the tomb. There is a dark spot that looks a lot like a scar right over his eye. The eye was actually taken from The Dark One. I know who has it. He has offered to let me see the prize he won from the monster, but I cannot bear to look at it. But, why? Crom Cruach is dead. That horrible creature will never hurt anyone again. So, why does it still haunt my dreams at night?

I take another step. My chest tightens up and I have to force air into my lungs. I watch the entrance in horror, in anticipation for the darkness to advance, for the root-like tentacles to grow out from the cave and to take me away into the darkness. They don't come. Everything is still and quiet, yet it feels as if they are wrapping around my throat, choking me, taking my light with it. I cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality. It's not happening, but it feels so real.

I take a third step and I hear her. It comes on fast like a piercing arrow. I hear her screech of pain, distress, and fear. It happened long ago, but my mind tells me it's happening right now. My hands clamp over my ears and I fall to my knees. She keeps shrieking, calling for help, calling out to me. But, I can't help. I'm so helpless as she is taken away right before my eyes. I crouch tighter and start crying which quickly escalates into an all-out mental breakdown of awful wails. She screams louder and louder and, no matter how hard I cover my ears, or how hard I'm crying, she grows louder still.

Something inside me finally clicks and I drop to my hands and push myself backwards. My body turns and I break into a sprint on all fours, both hands and feet running, carrying myself as far away from her as possible. Just as abruptly as it started, her screaming stops. I don't stop, however, until the long line of twelve stone pillars end and I'm in the safety of my forest again.

Once I've calmed down and slowed my heart rate, I slump against a nearby tree as the flashbacks ebb off. It's all in my mind, I tell myself. But, how could something so real be all in my mind? How many times have I heard her cry and seen her dragged away as I sat idly by? How many times have I seen her precious light drained from her spirit? How many times have I watch my own mother be killed?

Strength returns to my limbs and I force myself to stand, facing the tomb of The Dark One. Why couldn't I do it? Why do I run every single time now? I was able to do it before. The two times that he came with me, I was able to get so close. I was able to open the tomb and that was when Crom Cruach was still alive, when I had a legitimate chance of being murdered. Now, even as The Dark One is dead, I still can't get even somewhat close. What is stopping me? What is making me so paralyzed?

"Aisling?" I hear his voice from far away. A smile creeps up onto my face. It's been months since I last saw him. He's been so busy lately as the Abbot and head illuminator of Kells. He rarely has time to come into the forest anymore. However, every once in a while, he comes to see me. Of course, he's also there to collect some berries for ink and other supplies.

I quickly scale the tree I'm leaning on like a squirrel. My hands pull myself up one after the other effortlessly. I'm in the treetops in mere seconds, feeling the wind toss my hair behind my face and cool my cheeks down. It feels amazing and I want to stay here forever but, that would leave me in the perfect position for him to get the upper hand in our little game we play. I leap across the branches that are intertwined with the tree next to it. "Aisling!" He calls again. His voice is right below me. I stop on a limber branch and drop down to my hands and knees, creeping silent like a spider. I search in spaces between the light-green leaves of the tree, dancing in the wind and altering my view. I wait patiently, ready to spring the second I spot my prey.

"Hi, Aisling!" Brendan pops out from the hidden treetop directly above my head. I give off a short scream of surprise and my foot slips out from under me. Suddenly, I'm free falling, my arms flailing and searching blindly for a branch to hold onto. The wind shrieks by my ears and throws my hair upwards, blocking my view to my surroundings that are flying by. By some miracle, I find a branch and I grip it for dear life. My arm is jerked behind me and my shoulder aches and twists from the sudden weight. I hang suspended in the air as my white hair falls down again to my feet. I look down to the lush, green earth beneath me. It's not very far below, so I release my grasp on the branch and fall with much more control than before.

My feet hit the ground hard, but I gracefully recover. I've been leaping off of great heights all my life. This is like jumping down a single step of stairs. Standing up tall, I smooth out my white hair, whiplashed and tangled from the wind. Something tickles my ankle and I look down to find a snow-white cat with spots of grey hair rubbing his cheek against my ankle. "Well, hello, Pangur. It's been awhile." He continues to purr as I wait for the grown man to slide down the trunk of the tree.

"Yes. It has been awhile, Aisling." He says as if I was talking to him instead of Pangur. His feet hit the ground and he stumbles to regain balance. He hasn't leaped from incredible heights like I have all my life. After all, he is only human. "You're losing your touch, Aisling. You've never let me sneak behind you before." I grin at him. Our game that we play, the one I've always won up until now. is when we try to sneak up on each other to scare the other out of their skin. Or cause them to fall off a tree, whichever one comes first.

"Well, that's one for you and how many times for me?" I challenge.

"I don't know. I've lost count after twenty."

"That's right." I proclaim. He chuckles warmly.

"Well, I can't help it. I'm old!" He bends down to scoop Pangur Bon into his arms. He's not that old, actually. He's only in his thirties, but he might as well be an elder with how little he has been able to leave the abbey to meet me in the forest.

"Well, I'm older than you by hundreds of years and I'm still twice as fast as you are!"

"You're a faery. You could be millions of years old and still be as active as a child." Brendan is right, of course. Faeries don't age like humans do. We can stay young forever despite having lived for many generations. Staying young, though, isn't all I can do. I walk over to a spot where two small oak trees form an acr with their slender branches. A thin layer of mist shrouds it. I hold my hand out and the mist thickens until the forest beyond is covered in mist. All I have to do is wave my hand and the mist falls instantly, revealing the entrance to a picturesque river that is located on the other side of the vast forest, but it's never far from me. The river babbles away inside the portal and the sun shines light onto the glistening surface of the water. I turn to Brendan and Pangur and I gesture to the forest gateway.

"So. Shall we begin?"

...

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If you don't care about my rambling, skip this:

Okay, first of all, I know, I know. I said I retired. Well, turns out retirement really sucked. I decided that fanfiction was calling me back.

Second of all, this fanfic is not pokemon, 'kay? If you're looking for pokemon, and\or already read my Skyborne, kindly look elsewhere. There are plenty of talented authors out there that would love a new reader.

Instead, this fanfic is about Secret of Kells, an amazing movie that I have loved for many years. I highly recommend it if you love movies about legends and lore. There is actually quite a few historical referecnes in the movie which caused me to do a lot of research on this so-called Book of Kells, Crom Cruack, and "faeries"(pronounced "fairies). All this new information inspired me to make a fanfic.

That, and the fact that there were only 24 fanfics on Secret of Kells and most of them were, well, lacking an actual story. Seriously, I know that one-shots are easier and take up less time, but you get my hopes up with a grabbing summary and title only to drop me into despair at a story that lasts one or two chapters. So, I'm determined to make mine longer than any SOK fanfic before me. Even then, it won't be very long. I have no reason to make this any longer than Skyborne, probably a few thousand words shorter.

Anywho, enjoy.