Alec lit upon the banister, strutting and cocking his raven’s head first one way then the other. He grumbled a low chirrup when he glanced across the room and spied Cerridwen’s sow and hen. At the sight of Cerridwen’s favorite creatures, Alec puffed out his chest and preened his feathers into glistening blue-black perfection.
Cerridwen’s glossy black hen crooned and chortled as she pecked about the room. After much strutting about, she appeared to decide there was nothing of interest among the glittering striations of silver in the marble. With a contented churdle, she snuggled down into the nest of satiny pillows beside the softly snoring sow.
“It is beyond me what Cerridwen sees in those creatures. They have absolutely no personality whatsoever.” Alec kept his coarse voice low as he pressed his beak to Ciara’s ear.
Ciara leaned close, nodding in the direction of the cauldron. She turned to whisper next to the ruffled feathers of his head. “You had best mind your thoughts as well as your tongue, jealous Alec. Cerridwen doesn’t need to overhear your voice to know what’s in your heart.”
Rich laughter danced upon the air as a hauntingly beautiful voice floated through the veils. “Ye were always wise to our ways, dearest Ciara. Alec would do well to mind your words.”
Ciara and Alec turned to greet the voice’s owner as the goddess Cerridwen emerged from her private chambers deeper within the keep. Black silk floated around the lissome goddess’s body like dark mist swirling through a stand of trees. Her long hair flowed around her pale, delicate face, the dark tresses mirroring her sparkling black eyes.
“Mother Cerridwen, you honor me with your words. ’Tis so good to see you again.” Ciara bowed her head and held out both hands to the goddess, awaiting her welcoming embrace.
“And what about me, my child? Have ye no greeting for your other mother who helped draw ye from the mists?”
Brid’s coppery, bright hair also flowed free, her fiery locks lifting as though caught in a delicate breeze. Her deep green eyes shone with love and pride as she held her arms wide for Ciara’s embrace.
“Mother Brid.” Ciara rushed to embrace the powerful goddess and pressed an affectionate kiss on each of her ivory cheeks. “I didn’t realize until I saw you both how long it had been since I’d last felt your embrace.”
Brid grasped Ciara’s shoulders and held her back, looking her up and down with a critical gaze. “I’m verra glad to see ye’ve discarded the leather attire and befitted yourself with much more appropriate wear.”
A caw of laughter echoed through the chambers. Alec ducked his head as the three women spun on him with reproving glares. “Sorry, won’t happen again. I’ll just be over here on the balcony looking out at the lovely waves.”
Ciara hid her smile behind her hand. She rubbed the tip of her nose as she turned to face Brid and Cerridwen. “Tell me, my mothers. What is so important that you would summon me here before the next new moon?”
Cerridwen inclined her head, as she floated over to her cauldron. She beckoned for Ciara and Brid to follow. “Ye never were one to dance about with words, Ciara. Ye always did get straight to the marrow.”
Brid rested her hand on Ciara’s shoulder, motioning toward the dark water within the massive cauldron. As all three women stared down into the inky depths, images stirred upon the surface.
A desolate world, void of any life at all, floated burned and gray upon the surface of the water. The land lay bleak, sterile, and inhospitable. Ruins of buildings, blackened spikes of trees, and nothing but barren ground appeared as far as the vision spanned.
Brid shuddered as she peered down at the image. She wilted against the rim of the cauldron as though the sight of the destroyed world below sapped the very strength from her body. “This is one possibility of mankind’s future, of Danu’s world, if we are unable to change the current course of events. The mortals’ world and all life upon it will cease to exist. When the destruction is complete that plane of existence will be permanently removed from among the Veils of Realities.”
With a heavy sigh, Ciara lifted her gaze. She hugged her body against the chilling desolation portrayed within the vision. “I don’t doubt this, my mothers. And I don’t think this destiny is far from where I have been battling in the year 2011.”
Cerridwen reached out and stirred the waters to dispel the dire prediction. With a steady hand, she passed her palm above the cauldron as though soothing a nightmare from the mind of a child. As she did this, another image shimmered, a brighter world filled with hope. This world spawned green and full of life. Joy swelled in the colorful auras surrounding every being on this new plane. “If we can ensure the Auld Ways are never forgotten, if we can strengthen the respect for Danu’s earth, we can nurture the reality ye now see and watch it come to pass upon this plane.”
Ciara pressed her palms against the cool rim of the cast iron cauldron as she surveyed the peaceful world. With a sigh, she pondered the image on the waters. “I’ve been battling the malevolence and greed down through the centuries and haven’t been able to change a thing. I’ve tracked them all down and destroyed them in their nests. It hasn’t made a difference. It hasn’t changed the course of events or swung the odds a bit in our favor.”
Brid wrapped an arm around Ciara’s shoulders and gave her a consoling hug. “Ye’ve fought valiantly against every evil in the world. No one denies ye have been loyal to your charge. But Cerridwen and I have thought of another way that we could possibly change the course of this world.”
At Brid’s nod of encouragement, Cerridwen passed her hand over the waters once again. A new image shimmered into view. Wild. Furious. Pure, unadulterated strength. The man’s aura pulsated power and control. Sleek black brows knotted over angry flashing eyes. Hair the black of a raven’s wings perfectly matched his surly demeanor. His square jaw was shadowed with a day’s growth of beard. Nostrils flared on a slightly crooked nose that must have been broken at some earlier time. Full, sensuous lips curled back into a sneer. Teeth clenched in barely held rage. Ciara didn’t know who this compelling human was but it was obvious he was sorely displeased.
“Who is he?” Ciara leaned closer to the waters. This mortal might be worth her interest.
Brid smiled, nodding her approval. “That is the chieftain of Clan MacKay, their powerful and well respected leader, Faolan.”
Now she knew they plotted something. Brid loved dabbling with Scotland. Straightening from the cauldron’s edge, Ciara crossed both arms over her chest and fixed the smiling goddesses with a suspicious glare. “Laird Faolan MacKay. And in what year exactly does Laird MacKay reside and what does he have to do with your solution for Danu’s world?”
Cerridwen circled the massive black cauldron, bent to scoop her hen from the nest of pillows, and cradled the chirruping bird to her chest. “Ye are currently looking at the year 1415 in the Highlands of our beloved Scotland. As to our solution, perhaps Brid could explain the plan we’ve put together better than I.”
Brid turned to glide across the polished floor and held out her hand for Ciara to join her at the balcony. Gazing out across the mist swirling over the dusky waves, she smiled as the whorls of sparkling fog formed into her beloved eternal spirals. “The MacKay family has been very dear to my heart now for many a year. Many of their clan are mystically blessed, and they have kept the legends and rituals alive. However, Faolan has experienced a great deal of loss in his life. Grief and heartache have turned him away from the Ways. He has abolished the workings of magic and ritual among the clan and has forbidden the practicing of the old religions.”
Ciara ran her hands across the smooth surface of the railing; the velvet-like marble soothed her emotions with its cool, solid touch. The life force embedded deep in the stone called out to her, begging her to save the beloved earth and all its denizens. “So, you want me to talk to him? Convince him to turn back to the Ways? You do realize diplomacy is not one of my strongest traits? And just how exactly is getting one man to return to the old religions going to save the fate of the world?”
Ciara tapped her fingertips on the railing. She couldn’t believe they’d called her back through the veils for this. She could’ve vanquished at least three dozen unrepentant mortals and punished who knows how many lower level immortals in the time she’d been here at the keep. Why had they called her here for this task? Cerridwen and Brid were slipping.
Cerridwen joined them at the railing after shooing the fussing black hen back through the veils into the room. Cerridwen’s gaze met with Brid’s and she gave a subtle nod.
