Voyage of the Dawn Breaker

Chapter One - part Two: The Draoidh and the Ogre

“Be at peace, Nighean na Coille^[1],” a voice whispered behind her. “You are where you should be,” a second voice affirmed. When she felt two different hands rest on her shoulders and peace settle her troubled soul, she slowly turned to find two women watching her. 

The woman to her right was wearing a green tunic with intricate brown and red spirals adorning the loose collar and continuing down the long sleeves. One large silver and gold spiral curled around her stomach and under her breasts. Her teal skirt was wrapped loosely around her hips and fell to a spot just above her brown moccasins. She had light brown hair that framed her face in soft ringlets. 

The one to her left was wearing a red silk tunic that fell to rest just above her knees.  Her auburn hair flowed over her shoulders and pooled down the center of her back while curling around to caress the underside of her generous bosom.  She was adorned with a silver choker around her throat, silver bracelets on her wrists, and silver anklets that drew attention to her bare feet. 

Allanagh breathed deeply and whispered, “Lady Lilly, Sister Analise.”  A cold chill inched its way down her spine.  “Why are you here?”

“This is a portentous moment,” the brown-haired woman whispered. “A few of us came to watch.” 

Allanagh almost fell to her knees as something flickered in the corner of her eye, and she glanced over to see two men standing directly opposite the horned hulks. 

The first was almost six and a half feet tall, well-muscled, with fiery red hair and green eyes that watched the battle of wills before them.  The chain mail he wore over his gambeson caught the light as he listened to his companion.

His companion was a head shorter and less muscular.  His black hair barely crept out from under the wide-brimmed hat that he wore.  Unlike his armored friend, he wore a white long-sleeved shirt, brown pants, and brown boots under a leather duster.  His single hazel eye was fixed on the scene before him. 

“Is that?”

“Aodh and Rennar, yes,” Analise whispered.

Allanagh took a deep breath, “How close did we come to losing it all?”

“Shh,” Lilly made a calming sound, drawing attention to her shirt's intricate spirals.  “The moment approaches.” 

As the bone-numbing hum reached a crescendo, every eye turned to the two males in the center of the clearing. Up close, tree limbs and vines held the giant beast. It was at least nine feet tall, heavily muscled, and heavily furred, with huge tusks draping over a jaw that looked like it could grind bones to dust.

What, in Mathair’s name, is that?' She whimpered.  She would gladly take her daughter if she could disappear into thin air.

“It's called an Ogren,” Lilly whispered, almost as if she had read Allanagh's mind. 

Her attention was pulled away from the monster when a calm voice rose above the hum.

“Why are you here?” The man who spoke stood facing the Ogren.  What little she could make out looked like he was a head taller than her, at around five feet ten.  A flat-brimmed black hat rested atop the head of white hair that fell about the shoulders of the black leather duster that rustled in the wind.

“Am following my nature,” the Ogren replied.  “The strong prey on the weak.  Was going to destroy this place and take the Ciad-Ghin Bhanrigh and her people as sklaves^[2].” 

Lilly and Analise led Allanagh to where she could see the man's face.  For a moment, all she could do was stare.  His well-kept beard and mustache were as white as his hair, and his face was careworn and ageless, and she wondered how that could be so.  It was his eyes that caught her attention, hazel flecked with gold.

He stared at the Ogren and said, “That didn't work as planned, did it?”

The Ogren grunted, “You were acting on your nature, the strong protecting the weak. There is no dishonor in failing.”

Those hazel eyes pierced into the Ogren, “Who sent you?”

“Not telling you.”  The Ogren growled as it strained to pull its arms down.

The man watched the Ogren's muscles knot.  His right eyebrow arched slightly.  Without looking away from the beast, his left hand moved from the middle of the black wooden staff to a spot eight inches higher, where he traced his fingers across a silver rune carved into the wood.  “Can not or will not?”  He inquired as he reached into the right pocket of the duster and withdrew a gray seed, which he flicked onto the ground beneath the Ogren. 

As the magic flowed from the staff and into the ground, a new vine spiraled up toward the Ogren, curling around him like a snake until it stopped just under his nose. After that, it formed a violet flower and released a spray of pollen.

The Ogren instinctively drew in a deep breath, his face growing slack as the pollen made him more susceptible to interrogation.  The beast growled momentarily as if trying not to answer before opening his eyes and stating.  “Can not,”It paused, trying to gather the strength to fight the compulsion.  Unable to win over the compulsion, the Ogren relaxed into the grip of the vines and branches.  “He will throw me from the great wheel if I tell.”

The man suddenly looked as if he had eaten rancid meat and rotten fruit, and he almost stepped back out of pure disgust.  “That's not possible,” he muttered.  “Only Màthair na coille Astinmah^[3] can deny people rebirth, and she's only done that a handful of times.”

“I just tried to versklaven^[4] a village of her chosen children,” the Ogren grunted.

The man shook his head, “You were following your nature.  Mathair na Coille wouldn't deny you rebirth because of that.” 

The beast tried to reach up, and when he couldn't, he growled in annoyance.  “Your word on it, Maighstir draoidh.”

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^[1] Daughter of the forest

^[2] slaves

^[3] The Forest Mother Astinmah

^[4] Enslave

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