This part of my story begins with a tumble down a steep slope that ended with a broken leg. I had journeyed far on this outing, and felt drawn to the area I was exploring as if my name was being called out at a great distance, and in that way that makes one always follow.
It was while walking along a rift cliff that I lost my footing and tumpled down a steep slope. I think I was unconscious for a several hours. When I awoke it was to a sharp pain in my left shin and to the wet sensation of being licked by some animal. Then I heard the sound of men talking. My vision was blury, but slowly my eyes began to focus. These men were talking in a dialect that was different from the Rhean dialect that I had learned from my teachers. As my eyes focused enough for me to see that it was a dog, or something very like a greyhound dog, only more beautiful, I heard one of the men say in the Rhean dialect, "thank the great ones you are all right Beaulani," then he laughed a little, as did the rest "we thought you might be coming here, but we had no idea that you would drop in so unexpectedly." Then they all laughed some more, hearty laughs, very manly laughs. And even though I was in intense pain from what was so obviously a broken leg, I laughed a little too.
I expected that some ship would come to take us all away somewhere, but I was suprised to find them gently moving me onto a litter made of cloth and poles, and then to have them pick me up, two men on a side and all run off with me into the woods below the rift cliff. I was I must admit very afraid of being dropped, and protested this mode of transportation. "Hush Beaulani," said the four men carrying me, "we will not drop you." And then they laughed at my expression of fear. I had never heard of such men before from Pellenas or Brignatia or Dame Katherine, but I have always thought afterwards that it was because they did not want me to be prepared for this meeting, because nothing could prepare me for what I was to learn from the Fionnin, which even the Irish on our world have heard of, in the tales of the Red Branch Heroes.
The pain was not as bad as I had thought it would be, they had put some kind of poltice or field dressing that made my leg feel numb. But the road was so long that eventually I fell asleep. I awoke inside a wicker hut of some sort, which was round. My first thought upon waking and looking around at my surroundings was "who are these primitives?" Not even the rural residents that I had seen lived in such a primitive state. This is not to say that everything was not neat and in it's place, but it was to me like something very ancient that was somehow still alive and thriving on its own, for a specific purpose.
I heard men talking outside, and as I was not in pain I did not call out for anyone to attend to me. So I looked around as best I could, to see what kind of place I was in. It was a simple dwelling actually, with interwoven wicker poles covered with a stucco of mud and plant leaves and stems. The mud looked to be hard like clay, with the interwoven poles appearing and disappearing through the layer of mud stucco. There was a hearth in the center. But there were no logs for the fire anywhere to be seen. Hanging on the walls in spots were graceful drawings on some kind of woven fabric. Around the outside of the hut were the beds, which were if they were all like the one I was in soft and close to the ground. There were a few instruments leaning up against the walls in spots. And there were elaborate carved wooden chests at the foot of each bed, which I imagined were for extra clothes and special belongings.
It was not long before a tall man wearing a plaid kilt of home spun fabric and an off white long sleeve shirt with a long v-neck, and a golden torque around his neck, a sleek greyhound at his side came into the hut and said in very eloquent Rhean, "Old Finn will see you now. But I imagine we shall have to have the dogs drag you there, since we are all very tired of dragging your sorry arse all this way." And then he laughed, his eyes twinkling brightly.
I laughed too, but did not forget my manners completely, "My name is David," I said, "I am Pellenas' student."
"I know," he said, still smiling, "my name is Corwin Dai, but you may call me Corwin for short." And then he bowed deeply. I returned the gesture with a hand sign that Brignatia had taught me which means "gratitude to the heart." Then he added, "And this is my hound Kilmaeth Kethee, but you may call him Maeth, or Kethee for short." It was a very beautiful tan colored greyhound, with large black eyes, and a black stripe that outlined his ears and the backs of his legs.
"I shall call him Kethee then," I said, and began to whisper "Kethee!" over and over, as anyone will when talking to a loved animal.
Corwin chuckled when Kethee began wagging his tail and panting, the dog signs that you have just made a friend. "We shall return shortly," he said, "to take you before an ancient one, who wishes to have words with you. Rest for the time being. We will drag you by your broken leg soon enough." And then he let out a great "Ha Ha!" and strode out of the hut, his long plaid mantle flowing behind him, and the dog as a shadow by his side.
I tried to stay awake after Corwin and Kethee left, but it was not long before I was asleep again. It was dark but for a fire when I awoke. A very gold fire it was too, and it danced about like it had a life of its own. I did not see any wood burning, and there was snap of sparks either. Huddled around the fire gazing at me were three young men, who were just old enough to have started their own beards, but too young for them to amount to much. One was playing a harp, while the other two stared at me as with curiosity clearly written upon their faces. I said hi, but they did not say anything in return, and the harpist kept playing. He played on for about five more minutes before stopping. He then put the harp down and looked at me a little preturbed. "Don't you know it's rude to interupt while someone is playing?" said the young man.
He was so right. "I am so sorry," I said, "but I liked your piece very much. Nice melody line, and the base part compliments it very well, very grounded base. I'm David," I said, introducing myself.
"Little man," they all said, "everyone knows who you are." They all laughed, even the harpist. Then the harpist spoke again. "This is Neear," he said pointing to the young man on his right, "and this is Kieldo Naa, we just call him Naa, it's much easier since you can also say no while calling his name at the same time. It makes it easy to say hi and no I don't want to follow your silly plan today, and all in a little word." Everybody laughed, except Naa who pretended to pout. "And I am Kian, but there is one more of us, the little one, but he's not here. Alas, he is never where you want him to be, and most certainly never when you want him to be there. You'll be staying with us for a while I think. Till your leg mends, maybe longer. Do you mind?"
"Not at all," I said, "but I should let my teacher know that I'm here. . ."
"Already done," said Kian, "I imagine he knew you'd be coming here anyway. Not much comes as a surprise to the ancients. I thought you knew that."
"I do I guess," I said, "but formalities are always important, even when you know they know your every thought, and quite possibly all your futures ones too." We all laughed.
"I see you are wiser than I thought," said Kian with a smile. Then quite suddenly they all looked at me with a mischievious grin. "Let's see," said Kian, "didn't Corwin say that we were to drag him by his broken leg?"
"Yes, yes!" they all said in unison, and before I could protest they ran over and grabbed me by my good leg and began pulling me out of bed, then two took a side each while one helped support my back and they walked off with me out of the hut into the night sky. They were very strong for their age I thought. They carried me through the village of huts out through the gate to the village and down a long row of standing stones until they came to a temple where there was a thrown, and below the thrown was several steps leading up to the thrown, and the temple was like a U shaped open enclosure with fine mason work and sculptures set in open niches in the temple walls. Sitting on the thrown was a man with long white hair and a long white beard. There were torches on either side of his thrown that lit up his features. One could see that he was a tall man, and there was still fire in those ancient eyes, despite the fact that his skin had several oval age marks. Yet it was not terrible wrinkled, as one would expect after finding out that he was over 3,000 years old. "Leave us," he said, after they had set me down gently on a one of the lower steps. Kian applied a new poltice to my leg, which he pulled out of a little sachel at his side. My leg was soon quite numb again. "Leave us," he said again, "and go find that brother of yours Kian, he is running through the woods again. That boy chases his tale like a demented hound. Ha ha!" he laughed. It seemed that everyone of the Red Branch heroes had a sense of humor, and were not at all afraid to use it whenever they pleased.
Kian smiled in an amused way at the old man and said, "No Finn, he is just this thing that you have never been," and then he paused for dramatic effect "Young!"
We all laughed, Finn the most. But then Finn got a serious look, and nodded to the young men, who then disappeared like the shadows of fast animals moving by in the dark. "I see you have not changed much since last we met," said Finn after they were gone, "this is good I think. Why did you come here?"
"Something was calling me," I said.
"I was calling you," said Finn, "because the great all spirit Hu Gadarn was calling you here. You are worried that you are going to fail your teachers by staying here for a time. Always there are so many projects to finish. Always we don't want to fail our teachers. Such a disgrace. You are thinking in earth time. Try thinking in Rhean time. You probably will not believe me now, but your teacher will tell you the same thing when you leave here, and then it will sink in. Something in you wants to learn the Great Shout. What you learn here must remain hidden deep inside you, hidden even from yourself. At times you will feel it's power, and will want to use it to destroy the obsticles in your life. But it is not for you, it is for the freedom of all. If you use it selfishly, you will go insane, and do insane things to people or to yourself. But enough of that. You will have many friends here, and I am sure you will have fun too. Be patient with yourself. Be gentle with yourself, and your life will be easier."
"Now," he said less seriously, "I did not bring you hear just to lecture you on what you already know deep down inside of you. I want to hear you play the harp."
"But Great Sir," I said, "I do not have a harp with me.
"Not a problem," he said, and clapped his hands three times. A beautiful woman came out of the shadows behind the throne. "Bring the harp my dear," said Finn kindly. The girl went back in behind some tapestries hung on both sides of the thrown. It sound like there was a fairly large storage area back in behind the thrown area. She soon came out again carrying a wooden very triangular shaped harp with almost no sound box. It was made of some very highly polished red wood. It was beautiful. "Kian's father made this harp," said Finn proudly, "he was a great harpist, as his son promises to be. Do you agree?" he said inquistively.
"Yes, I do indeed," I said. "I doubt that I can match his skill, but I will try to produce something nice."
"Just do your best," he said with a mischievious grin.
The harp had a wonderful airy tone, that made one think of wood sprites dancing. I began very conservatively, but soon I found myself totally engrossed in the playing. I began to find wonderful syncopated rythyms that I had never dreamt of while playing with Pellenas. I played and played, never tiring of it it seemed. Something in me wanted very much to please this tree of a man, but something in me also wanted to please the lady. Then suddenly I realized that I had been playing for a couple of hours and had not looked up once to see how my audience was taking my music. I found them both smiling at me with bright quizzical eyes. "I thought so," he said, and laughed. "Well then, your punishment for falling into my lands unannounced is to play for me whenever it pleases me, agreed? Until you take your leave of us."
I laughed too, "Agreed," I said, "but I have a feeling that you have much better harpists to choose from than I."
"Yes," he whispered, "but I have heard them all a thousand times. I am getting old and impatient for something new. You will be my something new. Very well then, it's settled, Lana tell the boys they can drag him away and feed him now. One or two old bones should do. Ha ha! Be well my child, and do have fun, you deserve it." Soon I was back in the village with my new friends at a feast fit for a king. It seemed that the Red Branch heroes were some of the Rheans who still ate food, and as famished as I was I was extremely glad that they were great cooks as well. There is nothing like good food on an empty stomach, of this I was sure.
The feast was like something out of an ancient story. It was out doors, in the center of the village, where a great bon fire burnt a bright flaming gold, and with no wood ever added to the fire. There were long tables set in several rows, making the shape of a crescent, with the tables at steeper angles to the fire at the tips of the crescent, and at shallower angles toward the middle of the crescent, with the guests facing the fire at each table. And although all the food was vegetarian, there were so many kinds of dishes that one could not hope to try them all. But the food was only a small part of what I saw, as I sat with my three friends, as it seemed that the younger brother had not returned from his adventure in the woods, I saw beautiful women, handsome men, increidible hounds, all dressed in colorful garments with interwoven designs in the fabric, and that most wore jewelery also, subtle pieces with incredible artistry; I heard joyful talking everywhere, and I heard the melodic sound of a harp as if from a great distance, which seemed to lead everyone's mood toward greater and greater joy and mirth; a playing that was like a blanket that kept the warmth of everyones regards for each other close and warm to the knit of its fabric.
After one very beautiful piece that eventually brought everyone into silence, the silence of longing, I asked the young harpist beside me "Kian, who is that, his playing is marvelous?"
"Better than yours?" said Kian with a mischievious grin
"Yes," I said, a little bit ashamed to admit it, "much better. But I'm no harpist Kian.
"Oh, I don't know about that," he said, "but right now you have other ideas about music. But perhaps one day, to your great surprise, the most important thing you will own will be a harp."
"Do all you Rheans see my future?" I said, flustered.
Kian laughed loud at that, and the quiet ones too. "It's not our fault that God shows us everything about you," and then they laughed the more, and some of the people at our table too.
After blushing, which they also thought was quite funny, the conversation turned towards hints of the next days adventure. They seemed to be talking about me in some kind of code, and their was also talk about my leg, and how I would be a great nunsance to them all for many weeks, all said with smiles and eyes brimming with joy and playfulness. No matter how hard I tried to be angry, I found myself laughing as much as they. My leg had not hurt for hours, and for that I was very grateful. The feast went on late into the night, carried on the wings of a harp. But eventually it ended, and everyone disperced with kind goodnights. My friends took me back to their dwelling and put me gently into bed. Kian played for a while on his harp as everyone got into their beds. And just before he himself got into his bed he said to me "You met the harpist earlier, his name is Lugh.
"But he said his name was Corwin," I protested.
They all laughed in unison, "He was riddling you dummy," he said, and they laughed some more. Then one of the quiet ones said unexpectedly "Go to sleep now, or we'll have to break your other leg too." They laughed louder at that. Then a beautiful woman with long black hair poked her head in and said in a lilting voice, "hush you vagrants, the wind has ears. And Finn will tack your hides to the wall if you damage his little harpist. Now go to sleep, or I'll damage you all." Then she winked at me, "I'd introduce myself little one, but it's very late, and you've had a rough day of it, healing herbs or no healing herbs. So ta'marra I'll be hunting ya down for a bit of a talk. And ya must meet my girls, if I can pry you away from these vagrants for a time."
"I would love that very much," I said.
"Goodnight then," she said, and was gone.
"I would love that very much," chimed in the three vagrants, and laughed the more. I laughed too, despite a twinge of anoyance. "Goodnight vagrants," I said, and pulled the thick covers up over my head, but they were having too much fun laughing and mocking to pay attention. But soon enough they all fell quiet. In the distance I could hear the beautiful voice of a woman singing and blessing the village with a song that called one softly to dream. You could feel the smiles of a billion stars overhead, as the indigo blanket of sleep hushed the night, and called each sleeper, one by one, into the neather land of dreams.
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