John Lenahan - Shadowmagic

‘Mom, I’m eighteen years old.’

‘Some think youth has a certain kind of wisdom.’ Her eyes twinkled and I didn’t like it.

‘No thanks. One Professor O’Neil in this family is quite enough.’

I was loath to leave this place. Not just because I enjoyed it so much, but because I knew I was now forced to make a decision. During most of the ride back I wrestled with comparisons between the Real World and The Land. When we reached Glen Duir I let everyone ride ahead except for Araf, who insisted on remaining as my royal bodyguard.

‘ Oh my, my,’ Mother Oak said to me as she swept me into her limbs. ‘ You have a difficult decision to make’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘and I don’t know what to do.’

‘My poor dear, I can feel the conflict inside you. A choice between the heart and the brain – is it not? Most say one should go with the heart but I have touched many a brain that has regretted that decision.’

‘What should I do?’

‘ Oh dear, do not ask me. My advice would be to grow bark and sprout leaves. There is nothing I would love more than to calm your mind but that decision, I am afraid, my son, is yours.’

I hugged Mother Oak and dreamily mounted Cloud, but I didn’t go anywhere. I sat there thinking, long enough to try even Araf’s patience.

Finally he asked, ‘What do you want to do now?’

‘I think,’ I said, making up my mind on the spot, ‘I want to buy a new pair of sneakers.’

We buried Fergal in the family plot, next to his great-grandfather’s memorial. Gerard and Dahy sang a lament. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

When it was finished, I was left alone except for about ten Imps. They lifted a massive flat rock across two upright stones that stood on either side of the grave. It was just like the dolmens that the ancient Irish chieftains were buried under. That was my idea. I threw a pebble on top for good luck and said goodbye. On the way back to the castle I got a stone in one of my sandals. It hurt but it made me laugh. I had an image of the ghost of my cousin slipping it in there, for a joke. I had buried Fergal in my Nikes.

Gerard and Dahy were standing next to me when I stood up.

‘I don’t think my dagger will work in the Real World,’ Dahy said, ‘but it might come in handy anyway.’

‘I won’t need it,’ I said, ‘I’ve got an even better weapon.’ I cocked my wrist and Fergal’s Banshee blade, newly equipped with a gold wire, dribbled out of my arm and then I missed it. It hung from my sleeve like a child’s mitten. ‘I still haven’t got the hang of it yet.’

Gerard laughed that hearty laugh of his. ‘There is always a beer waiting for you in the House of Muhn, Conor.’ He gave me a bear-hug that lifted my feet off the ground. When I got my breath back, he asked, ‘Have you spoken to Essa?’

‘No,’ I said, a little ashamed.

‘Speak to her at least.’

I spotted Lorcan outside the castle before I went in. He was supervising the rebuilding of the east wall that had been destroyed by Cialtie’s Golden Circle. He had traded in his sword for a straight edge and a hammer. He was an engineer again and looked happy. He climbed down from the scaffolding when he saw me approach.

‘I’m sorry I missed the burial, but I need to get this done before the winter sets in,’ he said.

‘That’s OK, I don’t even think Fergal would have minded.’

‘He was a good man, Conor. I’m sorry’

‘Thanks,’ I said.

I shook his hand. As I walked into the castle I shouted, ‘Goodbye Lorcan the Leprechaun!’

‘Do not call me that!’

I smiled. One of his workers, who must have been listening, yelled, ‘Look, it’s Lorcan the Leprechaun!’ Lorcan shook his fist at him but he didn’t look that mad. He wasn’t a general any more and that suited him just fine.

Araf was in the courtyard planting flowers.

‘I’m leaving today, ‘I said. I can’t thank you enough for all you did for me. I’ll miss you.’

He nodded and said, ‘Goodbye.’

That’s all he said. I think I would have been disappointed if he said more.

I hesitated before I knocked on Essa’s door. This was going to be difficult. She stood up like a nervous schoolgirl when I came in, and brushed down her dress. She looked fantastic.

‘You’re leaving today?’ she asked.

‘Yes.’

‘I wish you wouldn’t.’

‘It’s not because of you,’ I said. But if I was honest with myself, a lot of it was. I couldn’t get over what she had done to me in the Chamber. I just didn’t think I could trust her again. ‘So I guess this is goodbye.’

She threw herself into my arms. I could feel her warm tears fall down my neck.

‘Oh, Conor, I am sorry. I am so sorry about everything.’

‘I know,’ I said, stroking her hair. ‘I know.’

Then we kissed. Not counting that attack kiss in the Hall of Knowledge, or the movie kiss in the Reedlands, this was our first real kiss. It almost made me want to stay.

Mom, Nieve and Dad were waiting for me in the Room of Spells. Mom explained that it was the most magically charged place in the castle and she could get me back to the Real World from there.

Nieve’s arm was in a sling. I know it was mean of me, but I hoped it hurt like hell.

‘I was wrong,’ Nieve said. ‘I will never again try to force the hand of fate.’

‘Well, I’d certainly be a happier guy if you quit the prophecy-fulfilling business.’

‘I’m sorry you are leaving, I’d like to be a proper aunt to you.’

‘Well-maybe I’ll put you back on my Christmas card list, if you promise to behave.’

‘What is a Christmas card?’ she asked, as another joke bit the dust. Then she kissed me on the cheek. ‘That is what I really wanted to do when I first saw you,’ she said, and left me alone with my parents.

Mom was wearing her new rune around her neck. It appeared to be made of amber but it was almost insubstantial. It looked like if you tried to touch it, your hand would pass right through. Engraved in it was a marking that I didn’t recognise-no one did. ‘Have you figured out what your rune means?’

‘No. When things calm down around here, Oisin and I will organise an expedition to see if there is any new land.’

‘If it is your land, then I know it will be wonderful.’

Mom hugged me even harder than Essa. ‘I only just got you back.’

These women, who were so strong in battle, were killing me with just their tears. ‘I know, Mom,’ I said, ‘but I…’

She pushed back and wiped her eyes. ‘No, no, you don’t have to explain. You have to make your own way.’ She wasn’t the first mother to have to say that. ‘Here, I have a present for you.’ She picked up a velvet bag and took out two Emain slates and handed me one. ‘Write to me.’

I looked down at the wood-framed sheet of gold. ‘Will it work?’ She smiled-my mother is the most beautiful woman in The Land-in any land.

‘It is worth a try,’ she said.

I embraced her again-I thought my heart was going to break.

My father stood in front of me-all of him, right hand included. That was going to take some getting used to. He looked ten years younger, a picture of vitality in his royal clothes, standing in his castle. For the first time I can remember, he looked like he belonged somewhere.

‘You know, you look great, Pop.’

‘Deirdre here thinks I have my immortality back. We’ll see.’

‘What about Cialtie?’ I asked.

‘We’ll find him, and if not, I’m sure he will find us.’

‘Maybe he didn’t survive.’

‘Maybe, but if I know my brother, he probably did.’ He put on his concerned father look. ‘There is nothing back there for you,’ he said. ‘This is your home.’