John Lenahan - Prince of Hazel and Oak

It was only a couple of hours before dawn by the time we were finished. I saw Essa almost swo when she placed a spell over the last of the strips of gold. I ran to her and placed her arm around my neck and walked her back to her tent. She was almost unconscious when I laid her down, but before I could go she said, ‘Stay.’ I held her as she instantly dropped off into a heavy sleep. I was glad she asked me to stay; if I was to die tomorrow she was the one with whom I wanted to spend my last hours.

As I held Essa I slid seamlessly into a dream. Her tent faded away and we were lying in front of the fireplace back in my house in the Real World. I knew at once that this was just a dream and not a prediction. I never had the courage to ask Essa how old she was but I wouldn’t be surprised to find that she had like fifty years on her. Although that makes you a youngster around here, I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate a couple of decades worth of wrinkles just for a tour of my old high school in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Shame, I’d love to show her around where I grew up. I have no idea what she would make of the Real World – it would be fun to find out.

Saying that, as I watched the fire dance in the fireplace of my old living room, I realised that I would never in reality see that sight again. I would never go back to my home. I lived in The Land now and if I made it through tomorrow’s battle, I knew I would only be taking one last trip to the Real World. That would be to tell Brendan’s mother and daughter how he had died. They probably wouldn’t believe me but it’s the least I could do.

Still in my dream, I was grabbed from above by the talons of a dragon. He zoomed me into the sky as the sun was setting and flew me to Castle Duir. Ah, the more accustomed I became with dreaming, the more my dreams became just like everyone else’s. There in my subconscious I acted out my heart’s desire. The dragon dropped me into my father’s room where he was sitting up, drinking a cup of tea (there seemed to be no ceilings in my dreams), and standing next to his bed were Tuan and Brendan, all fit and smiling. I reached for my fallen companions…

I awoke with the euphoria that for a microsecond follows a dream into wakefulness – before the realities of life crush it. My father and my friends were gone, and soon I would engage in a hopeless battle. I turned to Essa but she too was gone. It took all of my will to get out of that bed.

I expected everyone to be a hive of busyness but they weren’t – they were just sitting around waiting. Some were writing letters, others were polishing their swords or fussing with their bows. Morale was definitely not good.

Spideog spotted me having breakfast in the canteen. ‘You must speak to them.’

‘Speak to who?’

‘Your troops.’

‘There not my troops, they’re Dahy’s troops.’

‘Dahy is their general,’ the old archer said, ‘but you are their prince.’

‘Look, I told you before I don’t feel very comfortable with all of this royal stuff.’

Spideog scoffed, ‘Since when is your comfort an issue? You are what you are – and what you are is the royal heir to the Throne of Duir. These men and women need to know what they are fighting for and you must tell them.’

‘I don’t even know what we are fghting for.’

‘Well, you had better figure it out fast, Conor. Dahy is massing the troops now.’

Dahy was finishing up explaining the battle plan when I finally emerged from the canteen. It had occurred to me that none of these guys knew anything about the Real World and I thought about stealing a choice speech from history.

The first thing that came to mind was, ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ That might have been appropriate for Americans safe in their homes during the Great Depression but these guys did have something to fear – screaming Banshees.

I toyed with ‘We shall fight them on the beaches,’ but the beaches were miles away. And ‘Ich bin ein Tir na Nogier,’ would most certainly go way over their heads.

So as I walked to the front of the eager faces of the troops… my troops, I still didn’t know what I was going to say.

‘Friends, Tir na Nogians, countrymen, lend me your ears.’ I instinctively looked around for someone to get the joke but the only two who could, Brendan and Dad, were not there. I paused and looked at the eager faces waiting for me to orate some great wisdom but all I could think of were the people that weren’t there.

‘I have only been here a short while,’ I said quietly.

Someone shouted, ‘Speak up.’

I cleared my throat. ‘I have only been here a short while but during that time I have lost much: my cousin, my friends, and as I speak my father lies dying in Castle Duir.’ I looked at the soldiers, they were all silently nodding. ‘I know I’m not the only one. You Imps and Pookas have lost your princes and we all know of the hardships that you Leprechauns suffered when Cialtie held the Oak Throne. It would be easy to say this battle was about revenge.’ A few cheers popped up in the crowd but I waved them quiet. ‘But my father once told me that revenge was a poisonous emotion. He said, if we must fight, we must fight because it is right.

‘This battle didn’t start today. Decades ago the same people who attack us now trashed the Hazellands. They wrecked the Hall of Knowledge and they destroyed everything in it. You know, I once had a teacher in high school – he was a real jerk but he did say one thing that has always stayed with me. He said, “History is not about what we did, it is about who we are.” By destroying the Hall of Knowledge, Cialtie and Turlow are not only trying to kill us, they are also trying to kill what we are as people. My mother, using Shadowmagic, has invented a way to get much of our history back from this place. We must hold the Hall of Knowledge. By holding the Hazellands long enough for reinforcements to come, we will not only be giving ourselves a chance to live tomorrow but we will be saving what we were – and are – we give ourselves a chance to be remembered. That is what immortality truly is.

‘We stand together at the brains of Tir na Nog. Let’s kick some Banshee tail!’

A cheer rose up that was so loud and fast, it shocked me.

Spideog walked up to me and did something he had never done before. He bowed and said, ‘My Prince.’

‘I did good?’ I asked.

He smiled – a rare smile. ‘You did good.’

I spent the rest of the day visiting with the troops – basically acting like a prince. I walked around faking being brave and I actually think it helped calm people. Maybe that’s what bravery is – pretending not to be scared. Many soldiers told me stories of their homes and their families that made me realise just how little I truly knew of Tir na Nog. It made me determined to save as much of it as I could.

Essa was doing pretty much the same thing. I was watching Essa help a man write a letter when Spideog caught me staring at her. ‘Can I ask you a personal question, Conor?’

‘Sure,’ I said.

‘I thought you and her…’ the old archer nodded his head towards Essa, ‘I thought you two were… you know… wooing.’

‘Oh Master, that was a long time ago.’

Spideog looked confused and said, ‘I thought you only first arrived in The Land last summer?’

‘I did,’ I said and laughed. ‘I guess you and I have a different definition of “a long time ago”.’

‘So what happened between you two – so long ago?’

‘Well, she tried to kill me.’

He turned and took a long look at Essa, then looked me in the eyes and said, ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t let a little thing like that put me off.’

It was well into the afternoon when I found myself with Dahy standing on the makeshift battlements.