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Authors: O.R. Melling
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were dark with concern.
Dana shivered, feeling suddenly cold. Slipping off her knapsack, she took out her anorak and pulled it on.
The older girl began to fuss over her, tightening the hood on Dana’s head and tucking in stray strands of hair.
“Keep your ears covered. The winds will be colder out in the open. Have you brought food and drink? Travel always westward. Into the setting sun.”
“I know what to do,” Dana said, backing away from her. “I’m all right.”
She wanted to leave immediately, before the other could change her mind.
The Lady brightened suddenly.
“Wait, I almost forgot! I can give you something! It’s tradition. A special gift. To help you on your way.”
Dana half expected her to produce a Swiss Army knife from the pockets of her khaki shorts; but instead it was a little golden box with a jeweled clasp. Inside was a red pomade that smelled of apples.
“Close your eyes,” the Lady said. As she dabbed the sweet-smelling balm onto Dana’s eyelids, she explained its use. “This will let you see what mortals cannot. Your eyes will pierce the veil that cloaks our world. You will know that Faerie is all around you. And those who think they are hidden will be made visible, yet they will assume you are blind. This will give you time to judge friend from foe.”
A chill ran through Dana. There would be other enemies besides the shadow she had spoken of? It wasn’t a question Dana could raise, for fear that the older girl would get upset again. She was clutching Dana’s hands, reluctant to let her go.
“Okay, I’m off!” said Dana, breaking away. “Goodbye!”
And hurrying down the trail that led into the mountains, she didn’t stop to look back till she was some distance away.
There stood the Lady in the shade of the forest with boughs of oak leaves overhead like a green canopy. Her gown shimmered with dappled light. Her long fair hair was wreathed in white hawthorn.
“My blessings go with you,” she called out in a silvery voice. “May you be of good courage as you follow the greenway.”
iding deep inside its human host, the demon returned to track the Bright One unbeknownst to her. It suspected she was its prey, for it could sense the power beneath her mortal guise. Crawling through the greenery like a serpent, it dared to draw near. Thus it heard of the mission and the message .
Where is the light to bridge the darkness?
The words caused a storm of confusion. The Bright One herself sought something more powerful! Doubt needled its tortured mind. Was she not the one it was sent to destroy? She spoke of a King. Was he the light? Or the key to the light? And what of the child?
It lay in the understory, gnawing on its thoughts like a starving beast who had unearthed a pile of bones. The child must die before she warned the King. And then the King. But not before it had torn from him what it needed to know. One way or another, the light would be extinguished .
Devising the plan helped to cool its feverish brain. Caution was essential. It was not yet strong enough for open battle. There was also the struggle with the one it possessed. Despite their dark kinship, their wills did not meld .
Hours passed before it crept from the shadows of the trees. As it approached the marker that declared the borders closed, it hesitated for only the briefest of moments. Then it passed the great stone and set out on the road into the Mountain Kingdom .
ana stepped gingerly along the hiker’s trail that wound through the Wicklow Mountains. The great hills rolled all around her, like great mottled beasts lolling in the sunshine. To her right rose the pointed peak of Djouce Mountain, its purple flanks of heather brindled with gray stone. Ahead lay the wooded vale of Lough Tay in the shadow of Luggala and beyond it, the glen of Lough Dan below Knocknacloghoge. It would take her the rest of the day to reach Lough Dan and that was only a third of her journey. She stopped to study the
Dana shivered, feeling suddenly cold. Slipping off her knapsack, she took out her anorak and pulled it on.
The older girl began to fuss over her, tightening the hood on Dana’s head and tucking in stray strands of hair.
“Keep your ears covered. The winds will be colder out in the open. Have you brought food and drink? Travel always westward. Into the setting sun.”
“I know what to do,” Dana said, backing away from her. “I’m all right.”
She wanted to leave immediately, before the other could change her mind.
The Lady brightened suddenly.
“Wait, I almost forgot! I can give you something! It’s tradition. A special gift. To help you on your way.”
Dana half expected her to produce a Swiss Army knife from the pockets of her khaki shorts; but instead it was a little golden box with a jeweled clasp. Inside was a red pomade that smelled of apples.
“Close your eyes,” the Lady said. As she dabbed the sweet-smelling balm onto Dana’s eyelids, she explained its use. “This will let you see what mortals cannot. Your eyes will pierce the veil that cloaks our world. You will know that Faerie is all around you. And those who think they are hidden will be made visible, yet they will assume you are blind. This will give you time to judge friend from foe.”
A chill ran through Dana. There would be other enemies besides the shadow she had spoken of? It wasn’t a question Dana could raise, for fear that the older girl would get upset again. She was clutching Dana’s hands, reluctant to let her go.
“Okay, I’m off!” said Dana, breaking away. “Goodbye!”
And hurrying down the trail that led into the mountains, she didn’t stop to look back till she was some distance away.
There stood the Lady in the shade of the forest with boughs of oak leaves overhead like a green canopy. Her gown shimmered with dappled light. Her long fair hair was wreathed in white hawthorn.
“My blessings go with you,” she called out in a silvery voice. “May you be of good courage as you follow the greenway.”
iding deep inside its human host, the demon returned to track the Bright One unbeknownst to her. It suspected she was its prey, for it could sense the power beneath her mortal guise. Crawling through the greenery like a serpent, it dared to draw near. Thus it heard of the mission and the message .
Where is the light to bridge the darkness?
The words caused a storm of confusion. The Bright One herself sought something more powerful! Doubt needled its tortured mind. Was she not the one it was sent to destroy? She spoke of a King. Was he the light? Or the key to the light? And what of the child?
It lay in the understory, gnawing on its thoughts like a starving beast who had unearthed a pile of bones. The child must die before she warned the King. And then the King. But not before it had torn from him what it needed to know. One way or another, the light would be extinguished .
Devising the plan helped to cool its feverish brain. Caution was essential. It was not yet strong enough for open battle. There was also the struggle with the one it possessed. Despite their dark kinship, their wills did not meld .
Hours passed before it crept from the shadows of the trees. As it approached the marker that declared the borders closed, it hesitated for only the briefest of moments. Then it passed the great stone and set out on the road into the Mountain Kingdom .
ana stepped gingerly along the hiker’s trail that wound through the Wicklow Mountains. The great hills rolled all around her, like great mottled beasts lolling in the sunshine. To her right rose the pointed peak of Djouce Mountain, its purple flanks of heather brindled with gray stone. Ahead lay the wooded vale of Lough Tay in the shadow of Luggala and beyond it, the glen of Lough Dan below Knocknacloghoge. It would take her the rest of the day to reach Lough Dan and that was only a third of her journey. She stopped to study the
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