His reticence masked both his true worth as a person and his abilities; he had shown before that he was a font of wisdom, but they had no idea he had a smattering of what can only be called magic; an ability to control, if only in small ways, the blue fire. As they fell to the waves, he somehow focused his mind enough to move them along the lines of energy to another powerful node of the earth force.
And so, as Ruth, Laura, and Shavi sat atop Glastonbury Tor waiting to seek out the third talisman, they were shocked to see Church, Tom, and Veitch fall from the sky nearby, their lungs filled with sea water, on the highest point in the surrounding landlocked countryside.
Thus the five Brothers and Sisters of Dragons assembled for the first time; and after entering Glastonbury Tor, they made their initial crossing to the other place, T'ir n'a n'Og, the Land of Always Summer, home of the gods. The third talisman was deep inside a temple guarded by a strange hall of mirrors; the reflections cast by the glass tormented the five with their worst fears, but Church battled through and seized the cauldron. If only I could have been there when they returned to Glastonbury to see the Grail, the manifestation of God's love and power, for the first time in an age. Even though it harks back to a time before Christianity, thus disproving many of the apocryphal stories of the crucifixion, something so wonderful could only have come from God.
But the five were not concerned with such matters; to them it was a tool to save our world. From Glastonbury, the six companions traveled into South Wales to reclaim the final talisman, the Spear of Lugh. Part of it was held in a grove of severed heads on Caldey Island near the resort of Tenby, and the spearhead was hidden underneath Manorbier Castle, which lay on a nearby headland. Once the two were joined, the task appeared to be complete, but of course the Fomorii would not cede victory in that way.
That night the Wild Hunt attacked in earnest. The companions fought bravely, but their strength was nothing compared to the terrible supernatural power ranged against them. Finally, in a valiant act of sacrifice, Ruth launched herself at the Erl-King with the Spear of Lugh, ramming the weapon into his chest. When the two of them disappeared down a hillside into the night the others thought her dead, but Ruth had survived to witness an amazing transformation in the Erl-King. The monstrous form he had adopted as part of the Wild Hunt was just one of his aspects; he was a Golden One, one of the senior entities with an affinity for nature, whom the Celts had named Cernunnos, among many other shifting identities. He had been corrupted and controlled by the Fomorii Wish-Hex, but the Spear had freed him. In gratitude, he offered Ruth his patronage and branded her hand with his seal to mark his support.
With the Wild Hunt departed, the storm was over, and the companions were free to continue their mission, or so they thought. The next morning the others sought provisions, leaving Laura to guard the talismans. She was attacked and left for dead by Callow, whom they had not seen since that night in the Salisbury pub. He had accepted the patronage of the Fomorii; became a quisling, a betrayer of his entire race. He took the talismans and gifted Laura a face scarred by his razor.
Of all the players in this great game, Callow still haunts me the most. I often wonder what motivated him to throw in his lot with creatures so alien and powerful they could have crushed him in an instant. His life had been difficult, certainly, but was that justification enough for him to seek personal gratification at the expense of everyone else on the planet? It seems to me now that Callow was the antithesis of the five Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. Faced with hardship, they gave of themselves selflessly. Faced with the same choice, Callow simply did what he could for himself. There we have it, the best and worst of humanity given flesh.
With Laura on the brink of death, the others had no choice but to take her with them in pursuit of Callow. They raced across the country and prepared to head him off in the Lake District, where the first of the great betrayals took place. And of all people, the betrayer was Tom, although he was not truly to blame. While a prisoner of the Fomorii, they had inserted a Caraprix into his head; these, as we have all since become horribly aware, are small, shape-shifting creatures with which both the Fomorii and the Tuatha De Danann have some strange relationship. In Tom's case, it attached itself to his brain and controlled his actions, forcing him to lead the others into the hands of Calatin; all, that is, except Ruth, who escaped. Encountering a wise woman, she was shown her destiny as a controller of the powerful forces which came from the moonlit realm of the triple goddess. Within hours she had once more proved her remarkable worth by rescuing the others while Mollecht and Calatin's tribes foolishly fought over their prisoners. With the talismans once more in their possession, they fled for Scotland.
But they had another problem. Only Tom knew how to use the talismans to summon the Tuatha De Danann and he was still under the control of the Caraprix. While Laura grew closer and closer to death, Tom still had enough free will to direct them to another fluid spot where they could cross over to the Far Lands, and there they met Ogma, keeper of wisdom, one of the few Golden Ones to escape the Wish-Hex. Using the medical lore he had learned from the god the Celts called Dian Cecht, he removed the Caraprix from Tom's head and cured Laura. Here the companions also learned of the Fomorii's true aim: to bring back Balor and thereby damn us all. Tom, too, had a revelation which shocked them all: his real identity was Thomas Learmont, a thirteenth-century landowner who became known as that famous figure of Scottish mythology, Thomas the Rhymer, after he fell through into the land of Faerie and was given mystical powers by the Queen of Faerie herself, or so the old legends said. Only the reality had been much harsher than the myth. After finding himself in T'ir n'a n'Og, Thomas had been subjected to the torments and wonders of the Tuatha De Danann, a race so far beyond us they barely noticed the suffering they were inflicting. What is understood is that he was significantly changed by his ordeal, both psychologically and physically. He received the gift of prophecy and his long life was attributable to his repeated stays in that other world where time does not flow constantly.
There was a brief time for refreshment and revitalization which also allowed Church and Laura to consummate their long-simmering affection and then the companions returned for the summoning, which was to take place at Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye.
By the strange warping of time which takes place in the Far Lands, they arrived back on the day of their deadline, the feast of Beltane. As they headed towards the Kyle of Lochalsh for the crossing to Skye, they passed what resembled a mediaeval battlefield, slick with blood where numerous soldiers had been butchered, obviously in final battle with the Fomorii. When they arrived at the Kyle of Lochalsh, the place was in flames, all the inhabitants dead. The Fomorii had massed just across the straits on the shores of Skye, an impenetrable barrier between the companions and Dunvegan.
The only option was to take a boat and attempt to sail around Skye to the castle on the northwest coast, but the waters were guarded by a ferocious sea serpent which could only be controlled by Shavi's shamanistic abilities; the effort, however, scarred his mind.
At Dunvegan, they left him in the boat while Ruth, Laura, and Tom went to summon the Tuatha De Danann. Church and Veitch were dispatched to another fluid place known as the Fairy Bridge to at least try to delay any Fomorii attack. None of the companions truly realized how devious the enemy were; they had sown the seeds of their plan long in advance. The Roisin Dubh given to Church by Marianne's spirit was Fomorii in origin; it was the Kiss of Frost, a subtle force which gradually corrupted the holder, and Marianne, his great love, had had her spirit imprisoned and tormented by the Fomorii and used by them to manipulate him. In a battle with Calatin, Church was slain, as had been foretold in the Watchtower.
But in this terrible new world, death was not the end. The others had succeeded in freeing the Tuatha De Danann who rushed to the bridge, driving the Fomorii away. The Cauldron of Dagda, the wondrous Grail, was brought to Church's lips and its tremendous power gave him back his life. Reborn into the world-I shy away from saying resurrected although I wonder in years to come how this event will be seen-Church was changed in a fundamental way; some essence of the Tuatha De Danann had been instilled in him by the contact with the Grail, but he also still bore the corruption of the Fomorii, the light and the dark fighting within him.
Then came the bitterest blow of all. Because of Church's own weakness in allowing the Fomorii corruption into his life, the Tuatha lle Danann refused to help. Worse, the companions discovered the ones they had counted on as saviours were as devious and amoral as the foe they faced. The Tuatha lle Danann revealed their own plans had been put into effect many years ago; the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons had been manipulated throughout their lives, secretly, from beyond the barrier. To bring the Pendragon Spirit to the fore in force enough for the companions to help the Tuatha lle Danann they all had to experience death. And so the Tuatha lle Danann had controlled an agent: to murder Marianne; to slay Shavi's boyfriend; to kill Laura's mother; and they manipulated Veitch into killing Ruth's uncle, which led to the death of her father. That their entire lives had been condemned at the whim of a higher power was a revelation of such abject heartlessness, it almost destroyed the five. The fact that they survived is a testament to their enduring spirit which gives me so much comfort and hope in these dark times.
