Book THREE: the chyrons The Immortal Caelan

EXCERPT    Contains spoilers

CORACH 7848

Cai of the Caelan dismounted near the drawbridge of the Tower of Corach and immediately felt the presence of evil. The leaders and representatives of the other ruling families and their retainers joined him, many glancing fearfully up at the brooding fortress and tower that stood at the head of the narrow, forested valley in the upper hills of Corach. The very name of the Tower of Corach evoked trepidation and horror in their hearts. All those present knew why they were there. Most had been present on the same mission exactly one year before and many had attended in the years before that, following the example of their forefathers. They had come, at Cai’s behest, to bear witness.

Cai had begun the tradition eighty years before when the Triune had returned Drystyn Wardyne to Arcaikos from where ever they had removed him to at the time of Belenus’ demise. They had rendered him comatose and promised Cai he would remain so, but Cai did not trust them.

Cai expected members of all the ruling families to participate in the pilgrimage by being present either at the Tower or in the Basilicas in their towns and cities, thus ensuring no one ever forgot the appalling events of the past, perpetuated by Belenus and Drystyn Wardyne. It was a time for families to remember their ancestors, recalling bitter memories of acts committed against them during the time of the Terror, by reading out their names on rolls of honour. 

Belenus and Drystyn had partaken of the Heart of Sulyan, which gave them additional powers and longevity. Cai too had partaken, in a weak moment, but at the time, he had rejected the Heart and had since strived to find ways of destroying the evil relic and other partakers. Unfortunately, his half-sisters, the Triune, had distributed pieces of the Heart to all their family members before partaking themselves. Their parents Mair and Caradoc were able to hide the Heart safely in Ynys Rhith with the help of Reya, Spirit of the Earth but fear that its removal by someone very powerful was always a possibility, preyed on all their minds. Drystyn had managed to separate Belenus’ spirit from his body, so he was no longer a threat but Drystyn’s return and restoration was another matter.

Cai and the other partakers had now reached ages beyond that of a normal life span. Cai was now one hundred and fifty-nine and Rhiannon a few years younger but they all still looked and acted very much the ages they were when they partook. The entire family were particularly keen not to remind people about partakers or about the Heart, to avoid further temptation and comment. They kept low profiles and while they all continued working for the overthrow of the Cult of Sulyan and helped to train new members of the Veleta, they were happy to let people forget the old rulers, apart from Drystyn and did not correct people who assumed they were descendants of the original family.

The windows of the room at the top of the Tower seemed to stare down balefully at the visitors, making them feel uneasy. They had no doubt they were being watched but feared to speculate by whom.

Paol Tryduana felt the unease and disquiet gripping his mind. It always intensified when he was close to the Tower. He was one of few who knew the truth about Cai and had made the journey before. He was the direct descendant of Acelyn Tryduana who was his three times great grandfather. Acelyn had been Cai’s friend from childhood and had accompanied him on their last mission when, with Hywel of the Druantia, they confronted Belenus and Drystyn for the final time. His descendants had continued the tradition, always accompanying Cai on this day. Paol’s father had explained to him, on his coming of age that Cai, like Belenus and Drystyn had partaken of the Heart of Sulyan and so enjoyed an extended lifespan and other powers. He said it was a curse and that Cai had rejected the Heart and worked towards destroying all partakers and the Cult of Sulyan. Acelyn had requested all his descendants remain loyal to Cai and Paol had accepted and continued the tradition without question.

Paol tried to distract his mind at this point by staring at the thick ivy covering the walls. It had reached the sills of the narrow windows on the fifth floor, the dark leaves glistening with moisture from the dank, misty air that dripped down the thick gnarled stems and over the green patches of damp on the stones. It represented eighty years of growth. He shuddered and turned away. The inevitable curtains of drizzle began to sweep up the valley from behind them. Afterwards, he remembered thinking earlier that the weather in these mountains was unusually mild for the time of year. 

The retainers stepped forward to take the reins of the horses and moved back to the shelter of the forest. The drizzle turned quickly to heavy rain. Paol glanced up frowning. Surely, their presence was not attracting Chyrons, but it had become noticeably colder. He pushed thoughts of being held there, trapped by unseasonable, early snow, to the back of his mind. If Chyrons were present, anything could happen.

Cai walked out in front of the witnesses and stopped. “We will make the inspection now.” He said in a loud, clear voice. 

Paol stood at his side and took a deep breath. Drystyn, even at this distance and in his deep sleep intimidated him. His ancestor’s stories of his youthful exploits in the company of Cai and Drystyn came into his mind, especially the one about Drystyn casting a controlling spell over his childhood companions when he was only eleven years old and … 

He glanced around knowing that they all felt the menace increase. Bryce Caelan and his son Meuric of Condoria Biarma, standing immediately behind, looked similarly wary, their senses heightened. Only Cai did not appear apprehensive. Many of the current rulers of the cities and larger towns of Arcaikos, some with their wives and siblings now formed into a group behind Cai and together they approached the drawbridge, expecting at any moment, the guards, whom they knew dreaded the compulsory tour of duty at the Tower, to appear to conduct them inside. It was a time-honoured ritual but riven with tension. 

The rain was now falling heavily, soaking their outer coats and making it difficult to see. There was unusual movement on the far side of the bridge. Paol tensed; sensing something was wrong. Through the deluge, he made out three figures.

Cai stopped abruptly. He stared through the rain. “No … it cannot be …” he breathed. 

“What is it, my lord?” Paol glanced at him apprehensively.

Suddenly the rain ceased as quickly as if someone had turned it off. The three bent figures, wreathed in black robes, pushed back their hoods to reveal their ugly lined faces, hooked noses and thin dirty hair. They leaned on their staffs and cackled.

Cai paled. “It is the Triune. I thought they had gone … elsewhere,” he murmured. "I would have prepared if …"

The old women spoke with one discordant voice that grated on the ears of the visitors.

“Cai, half-brother, welcome. We greet you and your companions. It has been such a long time since we were last together!”

Cai swallowed hard, “Sisters. I did not expect to see …”

Paol shuddered. His family had passed down detailed descriptions of their varied appearance and a variety of unpleasant stories about the Triune. Acelyn had described them very unfavourably, but the reality was the stuff of nightmares. Their hideous image was of crones, ancient and wrinkled, their voices melding eerily together as they spoke in unison, their greasy hair moving slightly of its own accord, like thin silver snakes, sinuously, slowly, stretching out towards those approaching.

“Why are you here?” Cai managed to say, his voice shaking.

“Why? Because it is time for the awakening.” The strands of snake hair stretched out from their heads forming writhing halos. Their faces became younger and more pleasant.

“What do you mean?”

They now spoke one after the other, a habit that was often more disquieting than their speaking together. Their individual voices were high and childlike. Paol shuddered.

“You can’t have forgotten brother."

"We told you last time; when we returned him to you."

“We put him to sleep to keep him out of your way.”

“That was what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

“So he has slept peacefully,”

“For a hundred years.”

“Like in the story our father used to tell us.”

“But you and our sister Rhiannon said we were being childish.”

“We have thought about this.”

“So we have come to put matters right. “

“And show you we have grown up.”

“So now the time is up.”

"We are here for the reawakening!"

Cai, remembering their dangerous naivety, summoned all his will power and in a calm tone said, “Drystyn must not be awakened yet, Sisters. He must remain asleep until the time comes when we can destroy him. Do you not remember the Prophecy of Rhiannon, your sister? Your father explained it to you. We await the coming of the Osanë. Only then should he be awakened.”

“We prefer the other story we were told by our father when we were small.” Their voices were harsh and discordant. Their snake hair recoiled into tight curls and their faces resembled young girls.

“No,” Cai said sternly, “the stories of princes or princesses who sleep for a hundred years are merely made-up tales for children. That is what we meant when we said it was childish to think that way. This is not a story. Drystyn is … real and … evil. You must not wake him."

"It is one hundred years since he killed Hywel and we took him away."

"Yes but only eighty since you returned him and put him into a deep sleep," Cai said lamely. “I need more time. We desperately need more Veleta, the Cult of Sulyan still exists and we have yet to discover who the Osanë are. Only they can destroy him. He must sleep until then.”

“Cai, you must remember that time is different where we live." 

"And we wished to see him again. Awake and …”

"We like Drystyn."

Cai shuddered, remembering the time when He, Acelyn and Drystyn had first encountered the Triune. His sisters had seduced Drystyn and always wanted to bed him again, much to his horror.

“And he did ask us nicely, last time he was awake.”

"He asked you what nicely?" Cai said coldly. He was becoming angry and they sensed it. The snake hair began to lengthen again Their faces aged twenty years.

"Why, to reawaken him of course," Vevina said, irritated.

"We could have made him sleep a lot longer."

"Then why didn't you?" Cai said, exasperated. "If you waken him now, there will be war again. People will die. We live in relative calm now. It has taken me all this time to establish peace and begin to reduce the influence of the Cult."

"Well, You remember that first occasion in Condoria Biarma?"

"When we took him away,"

"We taught him a lot more than he knew then."

“He was a quick learner!”

"And we thought it was about time we continued his education in the art of …"

They stopped and tensed. Cai stepped away, his face expressing cold anger. Their selfish unreasonableness and unpredictability frightened him.

Suddenly, they joined hands and raised their arms in the air. They shrieked and shouted in unison, “We came to witness the reawakening. Your objections are too late brother!” They stepped aside.

A tall, handsome, bearded man dressed in black, who like Cai, appeared to be in his mid-forties, stood behind them silently watching and leaning on his sword, his cold blue eyes taking in the scene. When he spoke, his voice was unpleasantly sinister.

“Well, well, Cai of the Caelan. You are still alive, which can mean only one thing. You too have partaken! I assume you are the Ruler of Arcaikos? You were once my friend but I fear, from what I see here, we are now bitter enemies.”

Cai was horrified. “Drystyn Wardyne! You are awake! Sisters, what have you done?”

They sniggered and giggled, “We like Drystyn, Cai. Don’t you remember, that night in Condoria when …?”

Drystyn raised his arm. From his fingers, a stream of dark power engulfed the Triune and they disappeared with a high shriek.

“Never again,” he muttered. He turned to face Cai. 

“Where have you sent them?”

“Back to where they belong. Ynys Rhith.”

“You can come and go from there?”

Drystyn frowned. “No, they took me there and kept me for a while and the returned me. I could see the path they used to come today. I sent them back. I cannot and do not wish to follow.”

“Tell me about Ynys Rhith. Did you meet Hywel?”

“No, I will not speak of it.” He paused, “It must end here I think Cai. There can be only one partaker and that is me. I will not tolerate another. You should have resisted and remained my friend,” he paused, “but if I recall correctly, you came to Cazam Goral with Hywel the Traitor to deceive my father!” 

“No, it was an old obligation and you were there when your father laid the quest on me. I had to fulfil his demands or he would have ordered you to tell Acelyn to kill me. The mark you placed in our minds meant you only had to give that order!”

“But Hywel did not bring the Heart and you knew.”

“He could not. The Heart had been put where no one can reach it Drystyn. Mair of the Caelan took it to Ynys Rhith and Reya herself helped conceal it.”

“Not before you had partaken of it. You appear to be the same age as you did when I last saw you. How long has it been?

Cai shook his head. “A hundred years, I suppose. What you should know is that unfortunately, before it was hidden, The Triune acquired some of the Heart and gave it to people without their knowledge.”

Drystyn glowered. “Who are these people?” He hissed. "I thought I was the only partaker remaining alive!"

Cai hesitated; he would not betray. “You must ask the Triune. They put it in the food they had prepared. I cannot say for sure who they offered some to, or who partook and who refused. Only they know for sure.” 

“I don’t believe you. Let me guess. They gave it to their family.”

Cai's face remained impassive. Drystyn knew him too well. 

Drystyn began to count on his fingers, “so, you Cai, your half-sister Rhiannon and her children certainly. Let me remember their names. Yes, two girls, Aeronwy and Angharat.” He thought again. “Then there are their children and the unfortunate children of Angharat, conceived like myself and Hywel in violence by my father; the three little incestuous, Caelan bastards! What were their names? Ah yes, Gwydion the feeble, Arianwen and … yes, Ceridwyn if I recall correctly. Rhiannon had boys too didn't she? Branoc and Balendin.” He smiled slightly, “I killed Branoc didn’t I? He was in that old city in Calmondia where the water supply was poisoned. So … anyone else?”

Cai glared at him.

Drystyn smirked at Cai's reaction. “There is more to this, I can tell.” He frowned. He would find out. Rhiannon Caelan was his sworn enemy. She had been his half-brother Hywel's wife whom he believed, together with Cai had stolen the Heart of Sulyan from where Belenus’ Master Guardian Ignatius, had hidden it in Condoria Biarma and now it seemed her mother had taken it to Ynys Rhith, putting it out of his reach. His anger with the Caelan family intensified.

Cai read Drystyn’s thoughts. “You will not find out anything about any of them from me.”

Drystyn paused, “We will see. Are there any more? Your clever wife, Eleni the Alchemist? Was she actually a Sorceress as was rumoured, Cai? She certainly charmed you! Did you know she murdered people?”

Cai sought to divert him. “She refused to partake and died a natural death as did Acelyn. The Triune themselves partook, of course.”

Drystyn turned pale with anger. He raised his arm and pointed at Cai. “So their parents, the famous and powerful Sorcerer Caradoc Dewin and the Sorceress, Mair of the Caelan lost control of them. Why did they not keep them confined? Did they not partake of the Heart too?"

"No, they did not."

"Who else Cai?"

"I will not say,” He glanced at Drystyn’s frowning face, “But I will tell you how it happened. Certain … um people prevailed upon Reya herself to hide the Heart. Reya agreed and Mair took it to Ynys Rhith. She gave Mair and Caradoc the task of supervising and controlling the Triune, who she had confined there too. It would seem that the Triune read the mind patterns of Reya when she opened the portal to the secret place where she intended to conceal the Heart. At some point, they took pieces of the Heart and baked them in cakes. They distributed these to favoured people, who unknowingly partook. 

When you and your father killed Hywel, you did not realise that he too had partaken, so his body and spirit went straight to Ynys Rhith. His arrival instantly released Mair and Caradoc, who returned to Cazam Goral. They were very old and could do no more. They retired to the forests in the south and died trying to control a Chyron attack, a fierce conflagration, a few years later. Since then, the Triune have been out of control. They returned to Cazam Goral immediately, seeking revenge for Hywel’s death and they almost destroyed the citadel in the process. They took you away but returned you, in a state of deep sleep five years later.”

Drystyn’s eyes narrowed. “And you deign to visit me once a year to make sure I stay that way!” his voice rose in anger.

Cai did not baulk, “Yes. I needed to be sure and the occasion also commemorates all those you and your father killed.”

Drystyn’s expression turned venomous, but Cai continued unflinchingly.

“The Triune, Drystyn? I hope you returned them to somewhere safe. Are you able to hold them there? Can they escape again? It is vital they are contained wherever it is. Is the portal closed? Did you consider that in your eagerness to get rid of them?" 

"I will not have them near me again," Drystyn said in a low sinister voice.

“I doubt if you can stop them. I cannot.”

Drystyn frowned, "You Cai are their nearest relative, so it is fitting that you take responsibility for them. You can join them and I charge you to keep them under control!” 

“I cannot control them,” Cai said quickly, “and we have decided that when they next appear they will be killed.”

“Another lie! If they have partaken, like you, they cannot be killed.” He thought quickly, “If they reappear I will render them comatose, and you can replace me in the Tower.”

Before he could reply, a burst of power hit Cai and he fell to the ground, apparently asleep. 

Cai's companions: the rulers and nobles, the friends and relations, representing all the ruling families across the land, had observed this exchange with mounting horror. As Cai collapsed, they turned to run. A longer burst of power scythed them down. One person only survived. Paol Tryduana remained, standing alone in the centre of the carnage, trembling with fear.

Drystyn smirked, “Paol Tryduana, a descendant of Acelyn Tryduana who was also once my friend. First, you will be my ambassador, as your ancestor was, for a time. Put Cai of the Caelan in the Tower and give orders to keep him as you kept me, except there will be no visits; he stays asleep. You must ensure he is guarded well. You will tell no one where he is. There will be no daring rescues by the Caelan. I will give you the appropriate spells of confinement."

Paol nodded; his mind a swirling confusion. Drystyn looked at him frowning. Then he put his hand on Paol’s head and muttered the words to a spell he had first used on his eleventh birthday, on his companions he called the Oath Takers. Paul’s eyes glazed over. He blinked a few times and then relaxed. Drystyn smiled to himself.

“I appoint you Paol, as my Master Guardian in Cazam Goral. Your role will be to visit all the cities in this land, return their dead and give them a message from me. Tell them a new leader has come to save Arcaikos and soon, his appointees will arrive to administer their city or town and in the meantime, they must lock up all surviving appointees of the Caelan. You will tell them that the new ruler’s name is Mordaunt D’Alneto.  

 REVIEW        

 THE IMMORTAL CAELAN        5.0 out of 5 stars 

This series is so exciting! Dragons and treachery, awesome! Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 May 2021
 

 Questions?  Email the Author thechyrons1.2020@gmail.com