Ciaran waited impatiently by the great doors that Celthair had disappeared through over five hours ago. His heart began to get heavy with dread. Gannicus arrived and motioned for him to listen to what he had to say.
“We must call a meeting of council and take full control of the city. We will guard this building, no one will be able to leave. Once that is done, we can then concentrate on what to do about Buadach and those faithful to him.”
Ciaran nodded, “I agree. But I do fear Buadach will use Celthair to attempt to take back power. I am fearful as to what he will do to her.”
There was a cry from one of the soldiers. From his viewpoint he could see a balcony up the side of the building. A soldier attached a rope to the stone balustrade.
Ciaran moved back to get a better vantage point.
He saw two more soldiers carrying Celthair to the balcony, her hands bound behind her back and her mouth gagged. Her head hung forward and Ciaran feared the worst, but her head moved back slightly of its own accord, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She was still alive.
Then his heart stopped. A soldier placed the other end of the looped rope over her head and tightened it around her neck. Then they bought her to the edge of the balcony, ready to throw her over the edge.
Those who saw this groaned in concern for Celthair.
Then Buadach appeared and the murmurs of the onlookers ceased.
When Ciaran saw this, his anger grew, and he frantically thought of ways he could save her from this inevitable death. His mind went to Dray Goen, and an idea formed in his head.
He ran from the crowds into the now silent streets, away from the droning voice of Buadach explaining why Celthair had to die.
Ciaran cried out Dray Goens name into the skies as he ran, he did so several times and the last time, breathless and frantic with worry his words faded out into a sob of despair.
It did not take long for the great leviathan to appear, and he landed heavily in a rush of wind from his wings before Ciaran.
“I know why you call me,” said Dray Goen sadly. “I have been watching. But, alas my dear Ciaran, I can do nothing, we swore to Emain that we would have nothing to do with the affairs of men. This would account for meddling in your history. We can only protect you from the dark forces of the elemental powers.”
Ciaran listened helplessly. His mind trying to find reason in this great leviathan’s refusal to help him.
“All I ask is that you drop me off on the balcony where she is held so I may do my best to save her. I would rather die saving her than live without her.”
“I cannot! Said Dray Goen, his drooping head moving heavily from side to side, his eyes sad. He prepared to take off once more.
Ciaran was now thinking as fast as he could.
“Wait!” he said loudly.
Dray Goen paused.
“Can you just happen to fly past the balcony, and I just happen to be on your back? You would not have to be involved. I will cut the rope around her neck, then she can jump onto your back with me.”
Dray Goen listened to his words. Was it a loophole to this law he was made to follow? Dray Goen paused and thought for a few moments, watched breathlessly by Ciaran.
“I am involved because I am taking you there, but I am not fighting, I am simply there. It is you that will be doing the fighting.” He reasoned aloud.
Ciaran nodded enthusiastically.
“Jump aboard,” said Dray Goen. “We haven’t much time.”
Ciaran leaped onto Dray Goens broad shoulders, and they lifted off and up toward the sound of the crowd and the voice of Buadach.
Dray Goen hovered, high above the building where Celthair was being held captive.
Dray Goen with his acute hearing, recited to Ciaran the words Buadach was saying.
“You will drop all your weapons by the gate and walk away, only then will I be lenient upon you and will not punish you for your insolence.”
There was silence for a time.
“No one is moving,” said Dray Goen.
After a while, Buadach began once more.
“If you do not obey me, I will kill this woman you call your queen.”
Ciaran tensed up. “I think we must be ready to do it,” he said.
“Leave it to me, said Dray Goen, “I will time the attack, just you be ready. Now let me listen.”
Dray Goen folded his wings and dropped lower, listening the whole time.
On the balcony Dray Goen could see the soldiers lift Celthair, placing her on the edge of the balcony, they would only need to let her go now. The crowd gasped in fear.
“If you do not comply, she will die.” said Buadach.
He looked across at Celthair and nodded to the soldiers. Dray Goen had anticipated the go ahead from Buadach and he folded in his wings and plunged like a hawk hunting its prey.
“Draw your sword,” said Dray Goen.
Holding on tightly with his knees and one hand, Ciaran draw his sword.
“Cut the rope,” said Dray Goen.
It seemed to happen in slow motion. As if time was slowed. Celthair was falling her eyes closed, resigned to death. Dray Goen dropped like a stone and as they approached at high speed, no one saw them coming except Buadach. But he could do nothing.
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Adjusting his wings, dray Goen began to level himself out so that he would reach the falling Celthair at an angle where Ciaran’s sword could cut the rope. She fell lower and lower, Dray Goen and Ciaran with his sword outstretched approached at high speed.
Just as the rope began to tighten, they reached her, and the rope parted. Instead of the rope snapping her neck at its limit, she now continued to fall.
Celthair might have survived the fall if the rope had parted so they had prepared a large sheet of material below the balcony, help by many hands and she landed safely in it and was lowered to the ground.
Dray Goen swooped upwards and then settled heavily atop the building where the balcony was situated.
The Crowd cheered to see Celthair safe.
Buadach peered over the balcony, hoping to see a woman at the end of the rope. Instead, a very much alive Celthair, peered back up at him.
He was furious and he picked up his staff.
He placed his legs apart and his hands wide each side of his body, his fists clenched, and he began to chant dark words of Sennol, mustering elemental energy through his staff and into his hands. It came from all directions, black lightning, arcing from the ground. Where people stood it killed and maimed, cutting through people’s limbs and leaving behind black acrid smoke. The balcony shook and cracked, falling from beneath Buadach onto the ground below. Some where caught in the falling rubble. With it fell the soldiers. Just out of reach of the falling rubble, Celthair watched with alarm as his power grew. The ground began to tear apart, leaving gaping chasms, people and buildings collapsing into it. From inside the chasm a scream of hate.
Buadach had awakened an elemental. He felt powerful, and had never expected he could do it. The dark lord had made him think he was not strong enough, but all it needed was one to begin it and it was self-feeding and would grow exponentially, using the dark wizard to perpetuate itself.
That was the trigger. Once Dray Goen, the great leviathan, had seen the use of this elemental power used against these people, he stepped in.
Leaping from the roof he descended before and slightly below the now hovering Buadach. The Black and purple edged lighting glanced off his scales, having no damaging effect on him. From deep inside him a glow built up, causing him to become transparent to the white-hot fire that was within every Leviathan.
Buadach clapped his hands together and a concentrated beam of lightning hit Dray Goen square in his chest, driving him back, his claws scraping along the ground tearing large furrows in it, pushing the cobblestones of the street sideways and bringing the ground below to the surface.
He roared with the pain, with the roar came the white-hot fire.
The fire roared of its own accord and the sound of the leviathans roar mixed with the sound of fire was deafening. The fire reached Buadach’s form, and it seemed to go around him as if he was protected from it by some invisible force. But the fire continued and Buadach roared back, trying to double the elemental power that was coursing through his hands toward Dray Goen.
His roar rapidly became a scream and as the fire touched him, he began to dissolve, his scream turned into a squeal and the fire overwhelmed him and all that was left of Buadach was a puff of black smoke before the fiery breath of the leviathan. His charred staff fell to the ground in front of Dray Goen and the black lightning faded away.
It did not stop the now awakened elemental. The ground was now open, and it stepped into the middle of the black city. The noise of the earthquake and the fire and Dray Goens roar faded away leaving a profound silence, except for the occasional sound of buildings and rock crumbling into the gaping wound of the abyss through the middle of the city.
Dray Goen was spent, it would take a few minutes for his energy to build for another bout of leviathan fire from deep within him.
He took off into the sky, out of reach of the Elemental. He hoped it would keep looking at him and not at the people trying to flee the city.
Celthair saw all of this from near where she had landed. When the balcony fell, along with the soldiers, one of them was holding Sith Gheal. Once more she held it tightly. She had run from the hot breath of Dray Goen and managed to jump across a widening abyss as the ground shook and parted.
Now she was standing before the elemental, taller than the tallest building in the city. It stood on two short legs, relative to it body and stood upright like a man. It’s feet and hands had long toes with claws. It had a gaping mouth lined with teeth that went in all directions out from its mouth, its tongue darted around in the space between. The end of its tongue was like the head of a serpent with its own eyes and teeth. It had no eyes of its own and Celthair realised it saw with its tongue. She could see Dray Goen far above and knew he was recovering. Lumps of molten rock fell from it, splashing around her and giving her small painful burns on her exposed skin. She looked around and found a helmet from a fallen soldier. It would protect her eyes and head from the hot splashing magma.
The elemental was still looking upwards at Dray Goen. It lifted one of its feet, slowly manoeuvred its massive bulk to the side and lowered its foot down toward Celthair. She dived to the side, barely getting out of the way. As she looked up, she planned the attack. She knew Dray Goen would attack eventually and she needed to distract it just before Dray Goen made his move. She suddenly remembered her father Tuatha’s dash across the plain of Sennol years ago when she was but a child. He had told her that he recited the words that were on Salchah, and the light of the star had come through it, weakening the Elemental that he had faced so the leviathan could destroy it.
She looked along the blade of Sith Gheal. The words she had seen before were not there. They had faded.
She looked up, trying to see Dray Goen. He appeared from behind the elemental, circling around and around.
Dray Goen could see Celthair below. He knew she would work with him when he attacked.
Celthair saw Dray Goen fly upwards and knew he was preparing to dive. She ran to the elementals massive foot and drove Sith Gheal deep into the hot hide of the beast.
It roared and moved its head, leaning over and looking down at its foot, to see what had stung it. It must have had poor eyesight because it leaned very low, and its tongue darted out and down toward Celthair. She pulled the sword from the beasts foot and ran. The tongue, with its eyes at the end came closer and closer, she could not get away, so she turned and took the wide stance of the Riangbra warrior arts that she had learned from a little girl. It came closer and looked at her, coiling like a snake getting ready to strike. Suddenly it darted at her, its own mouth agape, attempting to grab her where she stood. But it was slow, and she dove to the side, rolled under it and went into a standing position alongside it. With all her strength in two hands she swung Sith Gheal downwards from over her head. It whistled through the air and struck deep into the beasts tongue, slicing downwards at its full length. The beast roared long and hard its voice becoming high pitched as it recoiled its broken tongue that hung by a thread of whatever its flesh was made of.
Celthair was thrown backwards be its sudden recoil and she ended up on her back a few armlengths away. As she lay winded, so from on her back she could take in the beasts size.
Then she saw that Dray Goen was on its neck, biting and clawing, making a hole so he could deal the death blow of the fire of the leviathan.
Celthair got up and ran, she knew it would fall and did not want to be under it when it did. Would it fall backward or forwards? She had no idea and so just ran away from it. She ran and came across a wide abyss that she could not cross. She began to run along the edge, looking for a place to cross. As she leapt across a small crevice, her eyes caught a glimpse of Sith Gheal in her hand. It was glowing brightly, and the once invisible lettering was glowing white. The heat from the elemental had made it come alive.
She stopped to read it ignoring the roar of the leviathans fire that Dray Goen poured into the elementals open wound. The scream of the beast was cut short as the fire destroyed its voice box and fire belched out of the other side of its neck. Its head lolled and broke away as Dray Goen sliced through the rest of its neck with the last remaining blast of fire. The beast went still for a few moments as its head fell slowly and crashed into the city below, not far from where Celthair stood.
She was reading the words and began to speak the words aloud. Powerful words of prophecy that spoke of the future and the white eternity. Words that were not to be heard by any other mortals ear but if heard had the power to grant immortality.
As she spoke the last of the words, Celthair held it aloft in her two hands, the sky went dark, and a star grew larger till it was a sun and there was no more darkness. From it came the same beam of light that Tuatha had directed through Salchah. The light went through the dead body of the beast that was toppling and entered Sith Gheal. The dead elemental toppled toward her and fell with a crash that shook the ground for many leagues around them. If anyone was watching, she disappeared under the heavy torso of the beast.
The star beam faded and receded and normal light from the two suns appeared.
It was at that moment that those in the city lying sick and at deaths door from the illness that had plagued the city became well again, the fever lifted and despite the weakness that came from long illness, they streamed out of the hospitals and their houses. Having heard the noise of battle but having been unable to witness it. Now they stood in wonder at the destruction that lay before them.
Someone did witness the beasts death. A man in the armour and under the colours of Athlethan had arrived along with many other horsemen. From atop the hill of decision he had a commanding view of the battle, and he knew it was his daughter that disappeared under the dead and fallen elemental.
Tuatha cried out in pain and loss as he dismounted and ran toward the fallen beast which had begun to cool on its surface.
He ran down the hill and toward him a young man was walking. He stopped when he recognised Ciaran. Ciaran had streaks of dirt down his face where the dust and tears had mingled and dried.
“She is gone,” he said falling to his knees before Tuatha. Tuatha fell to his knees, and they embraced in their grief.
“What have you told him?” said a voice.
They turned and looked up. Standing atop a wall was Celthair, dishevelled and looking slightly annoyed.
“You had better not have told him we are getting married. That’s why fathers usually hug their future son in laws.”
They both stared at her in wonder. Their mouths agape still holding each other their cheeks side by side.
“I’m serious,” she said.
Tuatha was the first to push Ciaran away. He was still speechless but jumped up at took his daughter in his arms, kissing her on her forehead and cheeks.
Celthair began to laugh. She laughed hard and long, her words trying to come through the laughter.
“Oh,” she finally said, “you thought I was dead, is that it?”
Tuatha finally let her go and looked at her, shaking his head. Pride in his daughter welling up in his chest. He looked over her shoulder at Ciaran waiting patiently for him to finish his reunion with his once lost daughter.
“Someone is waiting for you, and as you have just told me, your husband.”
Celthair threw an annoyed look at her father and then turned around. Ciaran was looking at her with amazement that was slowly turned into love and desire for her.
She ran to him and hugged him tight. After about two minutes of her clamp like embrace he began to tap her on her shoulder, becoming more frantic as time went on.
“What? she asked, “what’s wrong?”
She loosened her grip, and he breathed in deeply then breathed out the words he was not able to say.
“I couldn’t breathe,” he gasped.
“Never mind that,” she said and kissed him hard.
Ciaran knew this was life with her now. Celthair loved people so hard and with so much passion it hurt. Pain would be his friend from now on, pain that he wanted above all else. The type of pain that meant he would be with his love forever. He too began to laugh with relief and love.