Scáthach held Alanna from entering the fog until she was certain the young druid would have her best chance to survive the challenges she would face within. The young woman came a long way in a very short period of time which impressed the older warrior. Her body was sensitive and was finding its balance throughout each movement even when Scáthach would try to unbalance her. She was as ready as she could be in the time frame they had to work with and that would have to do. The trials were meant to be challenging but not impossible for the average person. For beings at her strength they were laughable. Especially since she had completed them several times before. Alanna was a bit different though. If she was who the Queen and the old ones believed then how the test reacted to her was anyone's guess. She was an unknown variable so all Scáthach could do was to train her up to the best of the old warrior's ability then send her off to her success or failure.
The pitcher plant flailed about searching for a target yet finding nothing. Alanna nodded in acceptance. The spell was cast without much issue and the strength of it seemed normal. However, she could feel the mists were blocking her ability to regenerate her energies even only a step inside the haze of fog. She had great stamina from her training and being in great physical shape so she was not concerned with the physical side of things. However, if she could not regenerate her magical energy then she really would rely on her weapon for the challenge.
She walked back out of the mists and shared her findings with Scáthach. The old warrior woman nodded in acceptance. "Then it is as I feared. You will be reliant on your sword and spear." "You have not taught me more of the sword and I do not own one." Alanna pointed out. Her instructor nodded along with the statement. "You know the basic movements of the sword from what Sétanta has explained of his instructions but body movement is more important than the weapon itself. You prefer the spear or staff and that is the weapon your body is more used to. The sword has a different weight and is applied to combat differently. If a sword is required then the tests will provide an opportunity to collect one. If you use the sword then focus on the basics and your balance. There is not enough time to master multiple weapons nor should you attempt to do so until one is truly mastered.
They spoke a bit longer before they rested and centered themselves. How long the journey through the mists would take was unknown as it was dependent on the individuals. Unless they somehow remained together then it would go fairly quickly but Scáthach did not hold out much hope for that. The pair collected their belongings and walked together into the mist.
"I want to stay with Scáthach. I want to stay with Scáthach. It is my utmost desire to travel through this area with Scáthach." Alanna said over and over in her mind. She tried desperately to believe that as she entered further into the mists. She clasped Scáthach's hand which startled the older woman but they said nothing as the mist swallowed them. Alanna was not sure when nor how it happened but one moment she was with the older woman the next she was not. "So much for what I wanted." Alanna thought. "Perhaps what I want in this moment is irrelevant. If so then to what extent is it reading my desire? That seems pretty fickle."
The land before her was not overly difficult to see through at least compared to moving through fog. The sun shone from on high but the light scattered strangely as it passed through the mist. She could see several meters in every direction and even though it was darker than she would prefer there was an almost ethereal light that allowed her to see anything she would have seen with normal visibility. The land did not look healthy and while there was a tentative link to the greater concept of the land it was a flimsy thing. The grass was dead or dying in the sparse patches where it could be seen. The land was broken with scattered stumps and stacked yet blackened stones scattered throughout due to the moisture that saturated everything. The remnants of buildings long abandoned sat in uniform rows on either side of what used to be a road which stretched out into the distant horizon where the shadowed shape of a large castle hung like a painting in the sky.
The druidess could not see the details of the large structure from where she started but it was clearly in better shape than anything else around. She started walking toward the structure and with each step could see that the castle, which seemed to float upon the clouds, was actually perched atop a hill where the mists did not reach. From her position she saw the main keep's barbican had an open portcullis and its massive iron banded oak doors were rotted and split in several places. She could see several curtain walls complete with their own gates that ran around the hill and disappeared into the mists along its side. She could not be sure how many there were as the fourth she saw was nearly concealed in the mists.
She started to move forward automatically toward the great structure but her her subconscious mind screamed out a warning that she was acting foolishly. She shook off the impulse and glanced around with more clarity then she had before and she was glad that her subconscious mind had been able to pull her out of the stupor she found herself in. There were shapes just on the edges of her vision that seemingly darted through the structures. She could only see them on the periphery of her vison but she was certain that she saw shadowed things that were undefinable as they contorted and elongated from shadow to shadow.
Alanna gripped her spear tightly and found her muscles tensing up as her adrenaline spiked and her instinctual fear triggered her fight response. She took a slow breath and relaxed most of her body so that she could properly engage a potential foe. She walked forward slowly and opened her senses to land around her straining to hear, see, or smell anything. Yet nothing appeared directly. In irritation she moved toward the last place she saw the movement which was inside the husk of a stone building. The doorframe was no longer whole but the perfectly stacked stones on either side gave clear indication as to what it had been.
The stone remains on the exterior of this building were covered in the black growth that was prevalent in this overly wet environment. However, upon entering the doorway what she saw inside defied understanding. The inside was that of a warm and cozy cottage compete with a weaved straw covered dirt floor. Upon entering there was a worn but sturdy wooden table clear but for a large clay bowl filled with water. Three wooden chairs were tucked neatly into the table indicating the number of occupants that stayed in this abode. To her left a large hearth with an active fireplace spread warmth throughout the small home. Three bed frames with straw mattress sat against the walls near the hearth. The roof was straw thatched and wooden framed that was held together by a massive wooden beam that ran across the length of the cottage and was embedded into the stone and mortar of the exterior wall.
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There was a large cauldron with an equally large ladle sitting on a stand over the fire. The scent of simmering stew mixed with the cooking fire permeated the area. The impossibility of the home was not what gave the druidess pause but the translucent figures moving about the place certainly did. She stared in dumbfounded awe as a woman in rather plain homespun moved about the home competing various tasks. A small boy of perhaps 6 years old sat on one of the beds and stared directly at the intruder in fear and confusion. It took a few moments before the woman noticed Alanna but when she did she rushed over to the child and hid him behind her back. The look of fear on the woman's face had Alanna raising her hands and backing slowly out of the opened front door.
The whole scenario was wonderous and odd but there was something that had been bother Alanna subconsciously. It was not until she found herself outside and once again staring at the ruins of the building that she recognized the issue. The sounds coming from the fireplace, the bustling woman and the playing child had been wrong. They were disconnected from the actions taking place like an echo through time. Alanna shuddered at the encounter. She looked around but the dark ruined landscape was all she could see.
Alanna moved from building to building and peeked into the remnants of the past. This only seemed to work on the structures that had an intact door frame. When she walked over the crumbling wall of one abode she found the interior matched the exterior in death. Most of the buildings were homes and shared a similar layout. A few, however, were also businesses of sorts. She found herself in what appeared to be a smithy attached to a house. The echoes of a hammer impacting metal sounded out across time and through the structure.
Alanna wandered through the home and out into the smithy where a large man with a thick leather apron tapped on a piece of heated metal with a hammer. She stared in wonder as the man used the edge of the hammer and anvil to change the shape of the metal in minutes. She had known the concept of blacksmithing of course she even had some vague memories of doing it but coming from a modern world and viewing everything through that perspective seeing the man at work was enlightening. She stared for several moments before the the man looked up and noticed her. He looked her up and down before nodding in what appeared to be approval. "I am almost done." The man's voice called out in an ancient version of Gaeilge that sounded a bit off from any of the versions she remembered. Alanna just nodded as she watched the man finish the area of the metal he was working on then stick a part of it into the coals of the forge.
Once he was finished he pulled a water bladder from a shelf and took a long pull from it. Then he turned and looked her over once more. He saw the spear she held in her hands which he inspected with interest. The shaft was just at 2 meters in length and made from a single piece of carved bone that had intricate patterns and grooves carved throughout. The spear head was an unknown metal Alanna assumed was steel but never really considered and so did not know to inquire on. It was nearly 50cm in length and held a pear shape with a long rib running down the center that was also engraved with intricate patterns of Celtic braids. It was a beautiful piece that felt like it belonged in Alanna's hands. The blacksmith nodded in approval but frowned after a few moments more of looking her over. He cocked his head and looked at her pack then turned toward a barrel with several handles, of what she assumed were swords, sticking out.
The smith pulled the handle from the barrel and a short ring sword around 35cm. It was a well made iron blade but the blacksmith set it off to the side and pulled out another. He continued pulling out blades until he found one that was quite a bit lighter in color and held an almost silver sheen to it. He grunted in satisfaction then moved it over to his anvil where he pulled out what appeared to be some sort of vice and set it on top. He then placed a large piece of wood down and set the flat of the silvery blade atop it. He found a smaller peen hammer and a small chisel then started to scratch out a pattern into the flat of the sword.
It took more than an hour for the finer engraving and when it was finished the blacksmith moved toward the forge where he dropped an iron mold then pulled a bag of gold shavings and dumped it into the mold. The gold melted fairly quickly and the smith dumped it into the carved channels in the flat of the blade. After another long period of time the man called her over and nodded toward the blade where the word Solas was engraved in gold and in the center of what appeared to be the sun on either side of the blade. He handed the silvery blade to Alanna who took it up and stared in fascination at the ringed sword. After a moment the blade pulsed and Alanna felt a pull on her energy reserves. The silver blade took on a golden hue that radiated over the edge of the blade.
"It is beautiful." Alanna said and handed the blade to the translucent man. He nodded and smiled then sheathed the sword into a leather scabbard then set it on the anvil and looked expectantly at the girl in front of him. "Well what do you have to barter?" The old man asked with a predatory grin overtaking his visage. Alanna was about to shake her head when she recalled some of the trinkets she found in the boggarts cave. She removed her pack and pulled out some jet, a silver cuff, and a pouch of bullion and then shrugged at the old man. "I have these items that you may find a use for." She offered. He looked over the items then nodded in acceptance and picked up the bracelet and the pouch then handed Alanna the sword. She grinned happily and attached it to the side of her pack opposite the blackthorn staff.
The blacksmith sighed wearily but moved back toward the forge where he pulled the hunk of metal he had been working on out. It glowed brightly but the orange at the edges showed how rapidly it was cooling. The man wasted no time and picked up the bigger hammer and started pounding out the shape he desired. Alanna smiled and said goodbye then made her way out of the building. This was a strange place with strange ghostlike people that seemed out of place and out of time. She found the experience fascinating but there was a trial to complete and a teacher to reunite with. She carefully made her way toward the castle on the hill watching the shadows flitting about on the periphery.