What is this feeling? She sat there, staring off into the distance, not really seeing it. Her thought were muddled and confused as she tried to understand what it was that she was feeling. Maybe Athair can help....
She closed her emerald eyes and took a deep breath, allowing herself
free from her body and into the Web, the maigc that held the earth together.
She appeared in the Center, clad in white, her deep crimson hair pulled
back in a low tail. She took a moment then, to regain her senses before
she turned a
small circle, looking for a sign of her mentor.
Off to her right she felt a tug, and she felt the presence of the spirit-sword. She blinked. Odd, he seemed to be near or at the stones of Callanish. She sptepped carefully out onto the ley-line that moved in that direction.
Soon she stood directly beneath the stones, seeking for Athair once again. He seemed to be on the surface, another odd thing for him. She blinked, and concentrated, allowing herself to appear in the center of the stones, still clad in white, transparent as a ghost. She turned another small circle. About twenty yards away, Athair sat on a large rock looking out over the jagged cliffs of Scotland. He was also clad in white, his long white hair flowing around him on the breeze.
She moved toward him, sitting next to Athair and waiting for him to acknowlege her presence. He turned to her slowly, gazing at her with intense silver-blue eyes. "Reighn."
"What is it Athair?"
Trouble brews over the horizon, daughter of my heart."
"What do you mean?"
"Time itself seems to wait with bated breath, hoping against hope that
what will come to pass, will not." Athiar said cryptically. "The past is
torn dear-heart. The Undying Lands are pure, white as snow, but an evil
comes ever closer. It is the Third Age in Middle Earth, and this Frodo
Baggins is carrying an evil
with him."
"Athair?"
Athair had turned to gaze out over the rocky cliffs of Scotland, waves thundering against them. "He has been touched by the dark lord, and shall forever carry a piece of him within his being... You must go and stop him from going to the Undying Lands - even if it means you must kill him."
"Why me?"
"You are the only one among the Celts with the abilty to time-travel. You must go, and you must figure out what is gonig on."
"Very well."
She stood to leave, but Athair stopped her. "Reighn."
She turned back to him, curious. "Yes?"
"There is one there with the Power.. You must protect her and the child she carries... Take Clover with you... she can do this task." Athair said before slowly fading away to nothing. The woman stared at the placed the spirit-sword hade been just moments before. She blinked, then turned to leave.
*
"Clover?"
"Yes Reighn?"
"Go saddle the horses... and pack for a long trip. We leave at dawn."
"Where are we going?"
"The past... Something has happened that requires my attention, I am taking you with me."
"Why?"
"You are my apprentice Clover, you must see these things on order to do them... Also, there is a woman there with the Sense... I wish to to watch over her." Reighn replied, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
"Me?"
"Yes... Think of it as a test to see if you are ready to recieve the Order."
Clover nodded and dashed out the door, leaving Reighn to herself. She took a deep breath and turned, moving into the bedroom. She walked over to an old trunk, opening it and kneeling down before it. Within its bound lay a pair of soft black leather breeches, magically enhanced to protect her. Over those lay a tight, tall necked, long sleeved under-tunic, alongside a black belt. A pair on black boots rested over a blackened shirt of mail, tall in the neck, and loose in the sleeves. Resting next to the mail lay a long mahogany box, this, she reached for. She lifted it from the trunk and placed it on the bed, showing the Celtic coat of arms for the royal family. She lifted the lid to reveal a pale sword. It was the length of a normal longsword, with runes etched into the base, seeming to glow all on their own. She sighed and placed her most prized possesion into its sheath before rising and dawning the armor, the belt sinched tight over the mail. On her left shoulder rested a pair of black straps that crossed diagonally over her back to end on the right side of her belt, to this she attached the sword. She then pulled her hair into a low tail with a black band before pulling on a pair of black leather gloves - soft for riding and shooting, but strong enough for sword-work.
Reighn stood, closing the trunk and moving to the desk. She opened a drawer, lifting out a knife case and opening it to reveal a long silver knife, which she tucked into her right boot. She looked at the clock on the nightstand and sighed. It was time to go... And they had a long trip before them.
*
The stones of Callanish glowed with an unearthly blue light as the sun began to appear, casing colourful hues across the sky. In the center, before the remaining archway stood two horses, one a huge black stallion, the other a dark brown. On one of them sat a woman clad in black armor, her hands held in the air. She was chanting something in Gaelic, and the stones seemed to reply. A slow glow began in the center of the archway, explanding to cover the entire arch, revealing itself as a portal.
"Go Clover."
Clover swallowed before urging her mare forward. Reighn followed closely behind on the stallion, aware of everything gonig on around her as she passed through the portal.