John Lenahan - Shadowmagic

‘Anything, Prince Oisin.’

‘Make sure there are no Leprechauns in the east wing. It might get dangerous today.’

‘Leprechauns don’t go there if they can help it but there might be some servants. I will only warn the ones I can trust.’

‘Don’t stay there too long yourself.’

‘May the gods protect you, Prince Oisin.’ Aein hugged Dad quickly and left.

Dad opened the door.

The Chamber of Runes was a long way down. The spiral staircase was lit by huge candles every couple of steps. I remembered what Araf said about them being able to burn for years. I was glad they were there, otherwise we would have broken our necks. There were no windows, but I suspected after a little while that we were well underground.

Halfway down was a landing and an unconscious guard-so far, so good. I knew we were getting close to the Chamber by the glow. It got so bright I half expected to walk into a television studio. Mom and Nieve had heard our approach-they were standing at the bottom landing, posed, each holding some magical weapon: Nieve’s made of gold and Mom’s of amber sap. They lowered them when they saw us.

‘Hi, girls, did you miss us?’ I said.

Mom flew into Dad’s arms. Nieve asked, ‘Did you get it?’

‘No problem,’ I said. ‘Dad’s got one hand on his wrist, and another hand in his pocket.’

Nieve gave me a dirty look. It’s amazing how quickly the women I meet learn that expression.

The Chamber wasn’t as big as I expected, but it was sure well lit. Araf said there were a hundred candles down here-it was more like a thousand. The walls looked as if they had been there forever, seen it all. It made me want to ask them questions. It gave a new meaning to talking to a wall. The chamber had no furnishings except for a stone table. At the opposite end of the room was an archway made of oak, like a proscenium in an old theatre. Beyond that were two more just like it, and at the far end was another stone table exactly like the one in this part of the room. I walked towards the archway.

‘Don’t go near that!’ Nieve warned.

‘Why not?’

‘That’s the First Muirbhrucht. Trust me, you do not want to cross that by accident.’

I couldn’t see anything but I stepped back. I could tell by her voice that she was not kidding.

Dad unwrapped the hand and held it in place. Mom produced a wide golden bangle and opened the clasp. The gold bracelet was a clamp and she used it to secure Dad’s hand to his wrist. Dad held his amber hand up to his face. He turned it, staring at the front and back. He had that faraway look in his eyes, like he had in Cialtie’s bedroom. It took my breath away. I had always known this man as a one-handed wonder-now I was looking at him whole-the way I had seen him in my dreams.

Mom placed a piece of gold on his amber palm and then a square of oak, a blank rune. He turned to the archways-he was finally going to take his Choosing, something that he had been preparing for all of his life but had thought was denied to him forever.

He took a deep breath and said, ‘I’m ready’

‘I’m going with you,’ Mom said.

Dad, who was out of practice with his right hand, was so shocked he dropped the gold and the rune. ‘You most certainly are not!’

It was Mom’s turn to be shocked and she shot back with the same indignation, ‘Yes I am!’

Oh my, I thought, I’m witnessing my first parental argument. I wondered if I should go upstairs and hide in my bedroom.

‘Deirdre,’ Dad said, softening his tone a bit, ‘you can’t take a Choosing, it will disrupt your sorcery.’

‘I’m not taking a standard Choosing, I’m going to choose a Shadowrune.’ She placed a glob of tree sap in her palm and placed a disc of dark amber over it.

I hadn’t seen Dad that shocked since-well, never. I was shocked too. Dad had explained to me how gold was the fuel that powered the creation of a rune-Mom was going to attempt it using tree sap powered by Shadowmagic. I was sure no one had tried that before. Even with my limited understanding of all this stuff, the suggestion terrified me.

‘That is the craziest idea I have ever heard,’ Dad said.

‘It should work, Oisin,’ Mom said. ‘You and the Duir clan have had the monopoly on magic forever. You think that your gold is the only power there is, but you are wrong, I have proved it. And you might need help in there. What I’m doing may be unknown, but no one has ever tried to do what you are doing, either.’ Mom looked fierce. I made a mental note to get into as few arguments with her as possible.

‘Nieve,’ Dad pleaded, ‘help me on this.’

‘Deirdre and I have discussed it,’ Nieve said. ‘I think this has a good chance of working-possibly more of a chance than even you have.’

I heard the words good chance and possibly, and I didn’t like it. I had an awful thought that instead of having only one parent, I was soon to be an orphan.

Mom picked up the gold and the blank rune and replaced them in Dad’s hand. Dad attempted one last pleading look, but Mom was not for turning. A look of acceptance washed over his face, and they turned to the archway.

‘Wooh, hold on,’ I said, as I ran in front of them. ‘I, I love you both.’

‘You don’t have to tell me that, Conor,’ Dad said, ‘I know.’

‘And I, my son,’ Mom said, ‘will never grow tired of hearing it.’

I didn’t want to touch them and break their concentration. I said, ‘Good luck,’ and got out of the way.

‘May the gods be with you,’ Nieve called.

Then together, as if they had been rehearsing it all of their lives, they took a step towards the archway.

‘They have entered the First Muirbhrucht,’ Nieve said. I couldn’t see anything before but I sure could now. A wall of light sprang to life as Mom and Dad hit it. It was like a force field in a science fiction movie, the air filled with tiny particles that glowed every colour of the rainbow and some colours that rainbows hadn’t even thought of yet. Mom’s black hair flew up and wildly floated about, as if she was underwater and caught in a riptide. It was beautiful and terrifying.

Their progress was painfully slow. It was obvious that this was not easy. At one point, Dad turned his head enough so I could see his face. He looked like he was screaming but I couldn’t hear anything. In fact the Chamber was eerily silent. Nieve told me that no sound could penetrate the barriers.

‘The first barrier is the easiest,’ she explained. ‘A Chooser can abandon an attempt and come back after the First Muirbhrucht and survive-after that, there is no turning back.’

It didn’t look easy. I could tell that Mom and Dad were using every ounce of strength they had in order to push forward, but even so I’ve seen hour hands on a clock move faster. We watched in silence. All the muscles in my body tensed up in sympathy. I looked on helplessly for what seemed like an eternity, and then the wall of light subsided-they made it through and I found myself breathing again. Neither of them turned around or even paused. I could see Dad’s leg shake as he put his weight on it, like a weightlifter who had just overexerted himself. He was having a tough time of this.

‘Do you think they are going to make it?’ I asked.

‘I do not know,’ Nieve said. ‘I do know that both of them would rather die than fail.’

The second barrier was a lot brighter than the first.

‘The Second Muirbhrucht is the hardest,’ Nieve stated calmly.

Mom and Dad pushed on. I ached to see their faces, to get a sense of how they were doing, but was also glad I couldn’t. I don’t think I could have stood it.