Author's Note: Sorry this took me so long…I got buried under some stuff and it's taken me a while to get back on top…theoretically the next chapter shouldn't take that long I the majority of it thought out but it still needs to be put together.
Artistic License Note: The way I depict the Hollows of Ireland and the Tuatha De Danann is almost completely different than the way Irish / Celtic mythology depicts them. They are an actual part of Irish / Celtic Mythology connected to the Tuatha De Danann and also possibly connected to the Thirteen Treasures of Britain. This is a link to an article talking about them that I found while researching them for this chapter: http:en. , it also appears to be the most widely accepted description of them. )
Guardian of the Hallows
Chapter 10
In a time before record there existed a people called the Tuatha De Danann. They were an extraordinary people gifted in the ways marked them as different. They walked a path between two worlds, the world of the living and the world of the dead, seeing both sides and hearing both voices. For most mortals that alone would be enough to begin a decent into madness, however for many of the Tuatha De Danna it was merely one of several gifts. Fate gave some Tuatha De Danann the gift of healing, others the gift of seeing what had happened to person or object thru touch and yet another ability to see that which had yet to happen. These abilities caused the Tuatha De Danann to be both shunned and sought out.
For more years that then Tuatha De Danann thought to count they lived in harmony with those around them, using their "other worldly" abilities to ease the lives around them. They healed the sick, settled disputes, eased the minds of those whose loved ones had died and warned their fellow mortals about the dangers they foresaw. However there was born into their time a powerful ruler, whose name time chose to forget, who united the men and women of the land. With this ruler's birth the Tuatha De Danann became divided, for the first time in their history, over the matter of whether to follow this ruler or to stay on the outside and not interfere.
Ultimately it was the division of the Tuatha De Danann that led to their end. When the Tuatha De Danann supporters joined those following the Ruler they gave him a taste of the power he would have at his disposal should all of the Tuatha De Danann follow him. This taste of power led to an addiction to power that tore the land apart. In his arrogance he demanded the council of the Tuatha De Danann disband and all Tuatha De Danann kneel before him as his subjects. The council sat in deliberation for many weeks trying to find a solution to the ruler's demands. For as long as their history could recall they had never knelt before a ruler that wasn't Tuatha De Danann, they had never allowed them selves to become involved in the politics of their human cousins.
As the Tuatha De Danann sat in council seeking an answer, the ruler grew impatient and began to gather and army to him. In his power addicted mind a thought that once upon a time would have been immediately dismissed as wrong or unethical was now nurtured until it became his reason for being. If the Tuatha De Danann would not kneel before him and acknowledge him as their Ruler than he vowed they could no longer be allowed to draw breath, for alive they were a threat to his authority and power.
Among the Tuatha De Danann the most respected group of all was those with the gift of foresight. It was that group and their gift that had allowed the Tuatha De Danann to survive so many generations in world of chaos. As the council debated and the Ruler planned, a young woman with the gift of foresight has a glimpse of what was to befall the Tuatha De Danann as well as the mortals that lived under the banner of the Ruler. Her vision was of chaos and death, with neither the Tuatha De Danann nor the Ruler surviving the conflict that was set to occur. While most would have thought to change the circumstances leading to the vision the young woman knew better. While they had the ability to foresee what would happen the cruelest twist of fate allowed for no intervention, to intervene had been shown to cause worse things to happen. Instead the young woman called forth the Tuatha De Danann's 3 most talented craftsmen and commissioned 4 artifacts to stand against the darkness she knew would come. Each artifact once crafted was infused with a certain amount of "magic" to protect it and to protect the one's chosen to fight against the darkness set to take hold of the land.
From Falias in the North came the Stone of Fal, Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny in the form of ring. Once created it was infused with its maker's gift of foresight, allowing the wearer a glimpse into what could be.
From Gorias in the East came the Lance of Lugh or Spear of Destiny. Infused with its maker's gift of hindsight, it allowed it's wielder to see all that was significant in a person's past.
From Murias in the south came the Cauldron of the Dagda or Cauldron of Destiny. Infused with its maker's healing gift it granted its wielder the ability to heal the injured and depending on the purity of motive revive the dead.
As the 3 craftsmen completed their task the young woman finished hers as well. In Finias, the south, she crafted the Sword of Nuada or Fragarach, the Answerer. As the craftsmen had she infused it with her gift, only unlike the craftsmen she had more than one. She was a rarity among the Tuatha De Danann for she carried all the gifts that their kind was blessed with and so the sword granted its wielder access to all that the Tuatha De Danann has had.
Weakened from the crafting of the sword the young woman knew her time was running out and sought to get the artifacts into their destined hands. Time proved short, for not long after she gave artifacts into their wielder's care the Ruler attacked, killing all he found. Though the Tuatha De Danann were his true target the Ruler's rage grew to include all that would not kneel before him all that he believed slighted him , and so he slaughtered the majority of the county he had united, bringing to pass the young woman's vision.
In their wielders hand the artifacts were safe, but in a war torn land there is little to keep a person safe, and so the artifacts passed from champion to champion, the mystery of they creation and purpose growing with each generation, until they like the people who had created them were immortalized in the myths of the county where they had been created. But what no myth ever showed was that with each generation the artifacts changed and grew. The power that had infused them making them almost sentient with personalities as unique as those that had created them and those who had wielded them.
Of the 4 artifacts the Sword of Nuada or Fragarach, became the most known. It's appearances in the history of the world in the hand of a woman causing it to be called the Witchblade. With tastes as fickle as a cat it allowed for false wielders as well as true wielders unlike the Lance of Lugh which while virtually unknown would often drive even a true wielder to madness should its wielders motives become anything less than pure. The Stone of Fal and the Cauldron of Dagda slipped out of site, quiet counterparts to the most powerful weapons to ever be created. For thru some trick of fate the 4 artifacts were divided into 2 groups, the Sword of Nuada and the Stone of Fal, and the Lance of Lugh and the Cauldron of the Dagda.
Jerking awake, Sara tried to shake off the lingering effects of her dream. Since meeting Rhiannon the dreams from the Witchblade had changed, from scenes of past wielders to a sort of narrated story and as of yet she wasn't sure which was preferable.
Looking at the alarm clock illuminated on her nightstand she fought the urge to groan, even though the dreams were more peaceful in nature they still left her with her mind too awake to sleep. Knowing it could be hours before she could get back to sleep unless she did something Sara kicked the covers back and cleared a five foot square of space before picking up the Staff Ian had given her. Reluctant at first to learn what Rhiannon and Ian had to teach she'd quickly found it intriguing.
