• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

'You saw what Emrys brought back from Earth. I had a sort of psychic link with Bat. It's broken irretrievably now. I feel empty - as though some part of me has been taken away.' Her voice was weighted with sadness and affected Stevens strangely.

'I .. , I don't know what to say. When my wife died .... I imagine I felt much as you do now. What can I say? In time, it will pass … perhaps.'

Behind them walked Jack and David, still bemused by the turn of events. It was still something of a shock that the source of the centaur that they had found was a mysterious world of fantasy. It was something akin to finding out where babies came from.

'I mean, is it a parallel universe? Jack whispered. ‘Or what?’

'Don't give me those sci-fi clichés, Jack. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this.'

'So what is it?'

'Hey, how would I know? Since when have I been perfectly reasonable? It's strange, you know ...’

'Oh, yeah? I hadn't noticed.'

'No, no!' David said. 'There's something about this place. I can't quite put my finger on it. I wish I could figure it out.’

A silence fell over the ascending group as they emerged out into the open air as though the brightness was stilling the air and muffling all noise. Caeryon turned, faced them all and spread his arms wide.

'Behold! Dagda's Wheel! Fall down on your knees, and worship the Land Mother!'

'Be silent, Caeryon,' Nuada ordered.

'Silent? This is a time for rejoicing, we have been saved by Dagda. He has judged us worthy.' He turned to the sun and held out his hands in supplication. 'We should shout!'

Even as they stood, a small bird began to trill its song from where it had rested momentarily on the grey rock of the wall. With a flurry of wings it flew from its perch and settled on Caeryon's hand, then resumed its hymn of joy.

Dryfid shook his head in wonder. He felt tears begin to prick at his eyes as the wonderful refreshing light flowed around and into his body. He rocked back and forth on his heels, revelling in the incredibly sensuous, almost sexual thrill that coursed through his old body. He too, like Caeryon, wanted to cry out to the beautiful azure blue sky and praise the gods. It didn’t matter that the air was as chill as Fomoir steel, for the heat sent by Dagda warmed his flesh and, far more importantly, rekindled the fire in his soul.

'This is indeed a time for rejoicing,' he agreed. 'Not only has Dagda's Wheel been restored, so has our High Druid's faith. Rejoice, friends! We must make all haste to negotiate a peace with our fellow Tír na n-Óg-ians. There is no longer any need to leave our home.'

'You forget the demons, Dryfid,' Barras of Teirion warned.

'Cast away that sad face, Barras. United we can drive them back. They are still scattered and we may hunt them down.’ The return of the sun had invigorated Dryfid considerably - all the despair of the time of darkness had evaporated in the light.

'Let us descend to the gates. Fling them wide and demonstrate our friendship to the assembled armies.

Come!' He led the council back into the darkness of the wall.

Ace, gazing at the panoramic view of Tír na n-Óg which had hitherto been hidden, and marvelling at its beauty, found herself being left behind. She looked out across the marvellous snowclad hills and felt for a moment the magic that she had experienced when she and the Doctor had first rode out across the land. But the feeling was soured by what had happened to Bat. Ace cast a glance towards the towering quartz mountains in the south, but then her gaze was drawn northwards, past the millling armies at the foot of the wall and settling on the barely visible outskirts of the forest of Coed. Her thoughts reached out across the miles, searching for the Doctor amongst the trees, but then she turned on her heel and hurried after the others down the stairs.

She discovered that she was looking at a familiar back. It wore a chainmail vest and brown hair hung in coils around its shoulders. She shivered at her remembrance of the other time she had encountered this man - General Nuada