Chapter 34 - Rite of Passage, The Revealing

When he sat up gingerly, feeling tremors go through his body, the forms of tens of Druids surrounding him and Sarmach in a large circle, made his heart jump in fear for a minute. Their large, black hoods, looking quite imposing, framed all their faces.

His heart was pounding so hard against his ribcage, he was afraid it would crack a rib. His face was moist with sweat, and he had a feeling that it had been for some time. Sarmach reached a hand out towards him, and Sage's instinct forced him to attempt to scramble backwards on the ground. He struggled to get up and defend himself, and it was at that moment that Sarmach grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him up, moving close to him.

"You yelled, I have no fear in that I must give my life for you, and I have no fear knowing that my blood will take my place, in time. Fate will reunite us in the end. You have nothing to fear, as I have nothing to fear. All in the Sign of Eternity. What did you see, tell me, that you said this?"

Sage's eyes were as wide as his eyelids would allow. Gradually his body relaxed under Sarmach's eyes. He was only slightly aware of all the Druids watching him.

"I saw my father. He was holding me as a baby as I watched. I know he dreamt his own death. That is what he said to me, those words you say I yelled."

"Do you know what this means?"

"It's already happened, sir, its meaning has already been shown."

Sarmach shook his head slightly, "Sometimes, what you see in your llywen, is not as plain as it may seem. Especially not on your first trip there. There could be many meanings."

Sage's eyebrow went up.

Sarmach nodded in understanding, giving Sage the impression that the man had been through this before.

"Your llywen is a place that you go in your mind, like an otherworld, in order to see visions. When you focus and your find your llywen, you will learn to control your visions. They will become purer. You feel pain during visions because they take you, you do not choose to have them. I believe if you visit your llywen and allow your visions to be expressed, you will feel less pain or no pain. You went today because you were focused and relaxed, your powers knew to take you there, because you are here. It is not easy to find your llywen, especially when you are not here. You will need to learn."

Sage nodded, feeling dizzy and slightly transfixed. A brief thought crossed his mind that the only thing keeping him conscious was Sarmach. The man was still holding him up and he felt a strange connection where the man was touching his arm.

"Do you know what the Sign of Eternity is?"

"No, sir. Other than that I heard it in the vision."

Sarmach held his hands up in the way that he and Severus had greeted each other earlier – with his fingertips pressed together such that his hands made a circle.

"It is the symbol of the Ancient Ways. It represents Druidic tradition as a sign of respect for the balance inherent in all things. It represents many things: The sun, the moon, the balance of two sides, the circle of life, the earth, and of course infinity or something which is eternal."

Sage did not respond, he did not know what to say. So much had been revealed to him in so little time. He felt his mind begin to swim. Confusion was losing him. His sense of consciousness was dwindling, he knew.

Sarmach turned from him and faced the circle.

"Severus, come."

Sage saw his uncle detach himself from the circle and stride forward with his usual gliding grace. Sage barely saw Sarmach nod to Severus, who took Sage's arm from him. Severus turned him around and held his other arm, looking hard into his eyes.

"You were out for hours. When you yelled out those words, your body was still shaking. They are whispering that they have never seen anything like it. I know you think you are going to pass out, but you cannot. You must hold on a while longer. Take this now."

His uncle dropped one arm and held out a small phial. Without a second thought, Sage took it and drank it. His body instantaneously felt warmer, but he felt very beaten. He was awake, but he was in a lot of pain.

Sarmach said to Severus, "The Brothers are present, it will been witnessed, we will do it now with your permission and his. There is no reason to wait now."

Severus nodded. With his free hand, he yanked Sage's hood up.

"Our Brother Severus Snape has brought his nephew, Sage Severus Snape, before the brotherhood for permission to enter him into the Rite of Passage. He has come from one of our oldest families, his great-great-great grandfather having been Chief Druid when I underwent this Rite. You have all witnessed him enter his llywen, being one of the four proofs of Druidic blood, and the most difficult proof. As this Rite requires I ask for two more of you to vouch for him, in addition to his advocate."

Sage watched as the entire portion of the circle in front of him stepped forward.

Sarmach surveyed the circle before saying, "Come, Maledun and Ruyan."

The two men walked towards the center of the circle. Sage could not help but look around him for a moment, while they were walking up.

The first made the Sign of Eternity and bowed to Sarmach. Sarmach, his silvery, white hair coming out of his hood slightly, handed his staff to this first man.

"Maledun, you will perform the Rite as I will undergo the Rite as his Master."

This statement set off a slew of whispers, and the shock on Maledun's face told Sage that this was not something that happened very often. Maledun was not a very old man, but rather looked as if he were in his mid-fifties. Sage could not make out anything else other than the fact that he had a silvery-grey liner to his robes.

Ruyan took his place to the right of Maledun, looking shocked as well.

Sarmach stood in front of Sage, facing him, and Maledun and Ruyan stood to their side. Severus was still next to Sage holding him up.

Maledun cleared his throat, looking a bit uneasy.

"Severus Snape, do you hereby submit your nephew, Sage Severus Snape, to this Rite of your own free will and transfer all authority over your nephew, Sage Severus Snape, to he whom I appoint as his Master during his time of training while here at Lyon Llyonyss? Giving your assent, signifies your willingness to allow your nephew to stay here for a period of at least two months, up to however long his passage shall take, and to maintain a stance of complete non-interference."

Sage's heart was pounding again.

"I do."

Maledun turned his glance then to Sage.

"Sage Severus Snape, do you hereby agree to undergo this Rite of your own free will and abide by all the facets of this Rite? Giving your assent signifies your willingness to remain here for a period of at least two months, under the tutelage, authority, and supervision of he whom I appoint as your Master during this time of training while here at Lyon Llyonyss."

Sage's mouth opened and said, "I do," before he had even thought it completely through. He did not even know what a Rite of Passage was.

"Chief Druid Sarmach, so you hereby agree to undergo this Rite of your own free will and abide by all the facets of this Rite? Giving your assent signifies that you are willing to commit yourself to teaching, training, and disciplining Sage Severus Snape as his Master under this Rite for a time of at least two months, until he has completed his passage to the satisfaction of this Brotherhood."

Sarmach nodded, "I do."

"All parties have signifed their assent. I vouch for this young man's worth to undergo this Rite, having given proof of his Druidic blood."

Ruyan, an older man, probably close to eighty years old, repeated the second phrase, followed by Sarmach, and then his uncle.

Maledun cleared his throat again. Sage had a good feeling that it was a nervous habit.

"Once the initiation into the Rite of Passage has been completed by Severus Snape, the Advocate, Chief Druid Sarmach, the Master, and Sage Severus Snape, the Neophyte, they will be bonded by Blood Oath to abide by the terms of this Rite. If any Brother objects to Sage Severus Snape entering into this Rite, speak now."

Sage's ears were met by an eerie silence. It seemed that even the wind was not going to whisper through the trees.

Sage's body surrendered to unconsciousness. His physical and mental state had been so weakened that he could not manage to hold himself up any longer – even with his uncle's potion. The last thing he had seen was a bright jolt of light as Maledun had finished the Rite. The last thing he had felt was a electricity like lightening flying through his fingertips and through his body, as his fingertips were touching his uncle's on one side and Sarmach's on the other.

He opened his eyes in a tunnel with torches that set off a golden glow against the dust colored walls. Voices echoed off the walls, beckoning him to its source. When he reached the end of the tunnel he saw men, tens of men. They were sitting around fires that were reduced to glowing embers. One man, a tall man with dark hair, tanned skin, and a dark beard, was standing. Sage edged closer, trying to hear what he was saying to the rest of the lot. He pressed his hands up against the sandy walls, kneeling on the ground.

"We must rework the translation, start over again. Years of work. Years. Ruined. We must not make the same mistake again. One man, this time, will do the translation. As it is not an enjoyable task, I will take it up myself. It is our only hope. That text contains the keys to spells that Magi made, or discovered. There must be one to rid us of this Darkness. Or we all shall die."

The other wizards nodded and muttered their acquiescence.

A taller man stood and walked over to the bearded man, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We are all feeling this Fawkes. Inside the Darkness is consuming. By nature it offsets our balance. It creates withing ourselves fears, thoughts that we do not want. Thoughts about the death of our kind, of our own deaths, of the deaths of our families and all life. The people out there are enslaved, as poisoned by the Darkness as is Ra. With all these things, only a man of incredible strength and resolve could keep his clarity. No matter what is happening around us, we must remember that inside of us is the key to aiding what is not inside of us. It is only when we let the scale tip over inside of us, that we fail."

Fawkes spun around quickly, "We will not fail, not one of us. We are stronger, stronger than the others out there who have already given in to it, to Ra. They are not us, they are not Druids. We are all either dead, or in hiding. Not one of us is in the service of Ra, save the Dark Creature: Nag. How I loathe that name. Pride, arrogance, sent him on a path of Darkness. He was once one of us, and we can undo what he has done."

A boy stood up. He could not have been a day over thirteen.

"We will, Master, we will."

The man called Fawkes smiled at him. "And here, we find our source of hope. You are more certain than any of us, my son."

He put his arm around the boy and kissed his forehead. As he did this, Sage got a good look at the boy's face. He had untamed dark hair and large brown eyes. It reminded him strangely of Harry.

"Anything that has been done, can be undone just as easily, father. Must we simply find the means?"

Fawkes smiled again and looked down over the faces of the other Druids, "Yes, we must simply find the means. If it were only just that easy."

Sage's vision swam and he felt himself being pulled away, as if someone had grabbed him around the midsection. His vision went black and the Druids faded out of view.

He felt as if he were swirling around in a funnel before he finally slammed to a halt on the ground, as if he had just been flushed down a drain. He opened his eyes slowly.

A small fire threw shadows onto the wall; shadows dancing dangerously as the flames flickered. The light was reddish and menacing. Out a corner, a man emerged, cloaked in black, with something large over his head.

Sage's eyes adjusted to the darkness. The man had chalk-like, sallow skin, and dark eyes that barely had any whites. As the man moved closer into the room, toward where Sage still lay prone on the ground, Sage saw that his eyes were black as his uncle's and like bottomless pist. He raised his glance, and his blue eyes lighting upon what was on the man's head. Spanning from the man's shoulders and upper back, all the way over his head at least six inches, was what looked like a cobra's head. The hood was the snake's upper jaw, with its fangs extending down toward the man's hairline in front of his head.

He knew who this man was. It was he whom Fawkes had been talking about. The one called 'The Snake', which in their language was Nag. A man who drowned himself in Dark magic, who sought the blood of powerful wizards in an attempt to gain power himself. As Sage was staring at him in silence, he realized that the man looked very similar to himself, or his uncle. The long, dark hair, and the intense, menacing eyes were just as that of the rest of his family.

Sarmach had said to Sage, just as the prophecy had, that this man was his ancestor. It made his stomach uneasy, but it made something inside himself rise. He wasn't sure what it was. He was mesmerized by this man. He was a man that had rose along with Ra. A man who sat alongside and on equal status with, the Darkest wizard that had ever lived.

He felt a strange sense from this man, a power. Nag was tall and graceful and self-confident. At the same time, he was the kind of man to inspire the worst kind of fear. Whatever strengths he had as a youth, he had squandered on a desire to have more, to have everything. Nag had wanted the ultimate power, and he had succeeded to an extent.

Sage's eyesight fluttered and blackness was closing in. He knew that he was being dragged out of his vision.

When consciousness dawned upon him again, he felt a headache like two hands squeezing his brain in between them. He moved an arm and winced. Exhaustion enveloped him. Everything hurt and ached, and his mouth was drier than parchment. Faint light bounced against his eyelids. It made his eyes throb so much that he was loathing opening them, but he did.

It took moments for his eyes to adjust to the light. He knew that Severus was there. He could feel his presence.

Questions beat against his throat, yearning to all be released at once. What had he just done, committed himself to? What was a Rite of Passage? What had Sarmach been telling him?

Severus's black form was illuminated underneath the bleak light in such a way that his skin looked even more pale that usual. He turned to Sage as if he knew that he had finally opened his eyes.

Sage offered him a slight nod as Severus arched an eyebrow at him, putting his book down.

"You will do well here, Sage."

Sage frowned, wondering what that statement was supposed to mean.

Severus had deduced as much. "This is a vastly magical place. It will facilitate your control and your focus. What happened last night, when you had the vision, has been talked about constantly. You shook the entire ground, yelled out those words, and attracted everyone's attention."

In complete silence, Sage stared at his uncle, studying his face intently. He wanted to know if he could ask the questions he wanted to ask, desperately, or if they were inappropriate. He wondered if he should already know the answer, and if his uncle would be upset with him if he did not.

Severus looked to be strangely relaxed here. Sage felt it too. It was as if there was something about Lyon Llyonyss that was calming. He sighed, trying to ignore the pain.

His uncle looked straight at him, "Like I said, it is very magical. It is a place void of all the distractions of life. It is a place where you go to gain balance within yourself. Of course it should be calming."

Sage raised his brow, "Are you. Reading. My. Thoughts?" His throat was so dry that he was croaking.

"You cannot talk very well, can you? I know you have questions. I can read that in your eyes. I can know things that you allow me to know, boy. You are well aware of that."

"Yes. sir," he answered quietly, hardly able to sneak the words out.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He asked shortly.

"Can. you. please explain. everything. to me. so that. I. will understand, sir?"

Severus sighed, he had apparently been preparing for this since Sage had passed out. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Before now, it was too much for you. Much like the prophecy was. Now that you know what was written in the prophecy, you must know what you will learn here. What Sarmach told you was the beginning. There is a lot about your history, our history, that has been kept from you, until now. This too will be too much, but you will grow into it. By the time you leave here, you will be ready for what you have learned."

Sage scowled, "I understand. that I don't. understand. what was it. that he told me? This Rite?"

After the words left him, he took in a huge breath. His vision stopped bubbling.

"Succinctly, Sage, you are, or will be, a Druid. Your great-great-great grandfather was Chief Druid. He taught Sarmach, as Sarmach will teach you, during your Rite of Passage. The Passage is a time when you learn the Old Ways and strengthen yourself. You prove yourself. You earn your right to be a Druid. Our line streams back thousands of years. It has been in our blood since the first Druid. Until your father and I, none of our recent family had taken this Rite. Your great grandfather refused it, delving deeper into the Dark Arts. I knew nothing of any of this until I was brought here.

"What it is important for you to know about our history, is that we are descended from Nag. What he did in order to gain power, is still in your blood. You reap the benefits, so to speak. Many of the magical talents that run in our family are due to that man. So far as the Druids know, Nag was the first of the Dark Creatures known as Vampyres. He drank the blood of powerful wizards whom he killed, in the hopes that the blood would increase his own power. Prescience. Prophetic dreams. Stealth. Legilimency. Occlumency. All of those abilities that all our family has had, stem from him."

"When our ancestor was Chief Druid, he ran many different tests on our blood, using potions. He compared it to the blood of his children. There were very few differences. From what I have been able to tell from his work, which Sarmach has shared with me, is that our genetic make-up changes only miniscule amounts. I have compared it to mine and yours as well. Fathers pass on over 90% of their traits onto the children. All male. No females, ever, in our line. What this means is that since Nag our genetics has changed very little. It seems as if the man's traits in the marriage are all dominant to his wives. You look almost exactly like your father, the older you get, except for your eyes. Your child, should you ever have one, will look like a carbon copy of you.

"While Nag failed in his attempt to make himself a Magi, he succeeded in giving his line an edge over others. The reason those in our family have been very powerful, is that our like has not been blemished, because of that genetic anomaly. He found a way to keep his line very pure."

Sage stared at him. That was why Nag had looked so much like him and his uncle in his dream? He still didn't understand what any of it meant, but maybe he was not supposed to, yet.

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