Edith Pattou - Hero's Song

When there were enough hazel rods, Silien used a piece of the translucent thread to mark out a large oval on the ground. He stuck thirty-two rods firmly into the ground at regular intervals around the oval. Next he wove more hazel branches through the stakes, making a pattern of sturdy wickerwork. With Talisen's help, the Ellyl then bent the long hazel rods over so they met and lay side by side, where they were securely bound with more of Silien's thread.

Silien carefully placed several large rocks on top of the structure to help it set, and Talisen laughingly asked if the Ellyl planned to carry them all in a giant basket. But Silien just smiled and carried the dried kine hide down to the river, where he let it soak overnight in a shallow pocket of river water.

The next morning Collun watched while Talisen and Silien stretched the now-pliable hide over the upside-down basket and, when they were done, helped them lace it all around the edge with the Ellyl thread.

Then Silien set to work carving a tiller out of a large ash branch. He sang as he worked, and his hands flew over the wood. Soon he had not only finished the tiller but had fashioned two oars and a bench for sitting.

By the next morning the boat was ready. It was a sturdy little craft, and Talisen dubbed it Wave-sweeper.

Brie's body had shrunk in the time it had taken them to build the boat. She no longer had the strength to sit up. The dark spaces under her eyes cut more deeply into her face, and her skin felt like ice to the touch. It was the gray of approaching death.

They carried the boat down to a muddy shelf by the side of the river and loaded it first with their few belongings. Then they carefully laid Brie in the bottom. She lay there without a sound, her dead eyes staring at the sky.

Collun awkwardly stepped into the boat, and Silien and Talisen cast off. The river current immediately grabbed at the little vessel.

Holding tightly to the side of the boat with his left hand, Collun watched the land on either side of him slide by. He had never been on a body of water this large before.

Wave-sweeper suddenly slipped around a bend and was caught up in a rush of foaming white rapids. Silien guided the boat skillfully. The white water did not last long, and soon afterward the river emptied into a lake. If the river had seemed large to Collun, it was nothing compared to the broad expanse of water that stretched before them now. It was green in some places, brown in others, and everywhere overlaid with silver, like the Ellyl's eyes, where the sun caught it.

"This lake is called Ullswater," said Silien.

"It is large," replied Collun. "Is your home near?"

"Very near." Silien smiled. "The porth—or entrance—to Tir a Ceol lies underneath."

Collun's eyes widened. "Underneath?"

"We enter there." And he pointed straight ahead, over the water. "There is a cavern," he added, since all that was visible to them was a thin finger of land.

Silien got out the oars and began to row the boat across the lake. Compared to the headlong rush of the river journey, they now seemed barely to move at all. But then Silien began to sing, and the little boat skimmed over the water at an even, fluid pace.

Then Collun noticed the sky was changing. The sun went under a thin bank of clouds and stayed there. The light took on a yellowish cast, turning the water yellow as well. The breeze died completely, and the air became heavy and still. Silien looked up at the sky uneasily.

"Is there a storm coming?" Collun asked.

Silien did not answer.

The sky continued to darken, and the yellow light became more and more unreal. Their faces had all taken on the sallow color of toadflax blossoms.

Collun looked down at Brie. Her eyes had closed. Collun felt for her pulse, his own heart racing. He found it, but it was thready and irregular, more so than before. He prayed she would hold on long enough for them to cross the lake.

Then the boat slowed. Collun saw that Silien had set down the oars. The Ellyl took hold of the tiller with both hands, his knuckles white. He told them to get into the bottom of the boat and hold fast. Barely were the words out of his mouth when the first blast of wind hit them. It was as if a giant hand had come out of the sky and given them a mighty blow. As he ducked into the bottom of the boat, Collun was almost swept into the water, his breath snatched away.

Silien said something they could not hear over the wind. Then he shouted, "My father. He is angry."

"What do you mean? Where is your father?" called out Talisen.

"He is below. He has sent Daoine Ellyl, the Ellyl Wind."

"Who is your father, Silien?" Talisen shouted as loudly as he could.

"He is king. King of the Ellylon," Silien replied, his eyes scanning the whitecaps that now covered the lake's surface. Waves slapped against the sides of the boat, rocking them up and down wildly.

"Your father is king?!" yelled Talisen. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

Silien cast a brief glance at Talisen and gave his half-smile. "It did not seem important. Get your head down."

Soon Wave-sweeper was being tossed from the top of great peaks of water down into deep troughs, where the water rose like yellow walls around them. The wind was driving them toward the opposite shore at a terrifying pace.

Then a wave larger than the rest loomed over them. It almost seemed to reach out for the boat. With a sickening lurch it flipped Wave-sweeper over, throwing them all into the churning, bitter-cold water.

When he came to the surface, Collun took in a deep breath of air and looked around wildly for the others. Through the spray he caught sight of Talisen's dark head. He was next to the upended boat. Collun thought he could hear Silien's voice shouting. Then he went under again. Yellow water flooded his mouth and nose. He kicked upward desperately. It seemed to take forever to find the surface. When he did, a wave immediately slammed into the side of his head, and he was under again. His frozen arm dangled uselessly in the water. Even if he had been an experienced swimmer, this foaming morass would have been too much for him. As it was, he knew it was only a matter of time before his legs would not be strong enough to keep lifting him to the surface.

The next time he came up he was closer to the shore and farther from the upended boat. But he was able to see that Talisen and Silien had gotten Brie on top of it and were somehow lashing her on. Then Collun saw a wave crash into them. When he next caught sight of the boat, Talisen and Silien were no longer visible, but Brie remained on top. Waves of yellow water washed over her. Collun wondered if she was still alive.

Then, above the wind, Collun heard a voice. It was loud, and it sounded angry. In the confused nightmare world of seething water and wind, Collun thought he must be imagining things. Who in Eirren was possessed of a voice loud enough to make itself heard over this howling, yellow storm? But still he heard it, and it was coming from the shore. He saw something tall and green standing on the land. At first he thought it to be a tree. Then he saw it was Crann.

Another wave propelled Collun closer to the shore. As he surfaced, gasping what felt to be his last breath, he saw Crann's mouth form a circle. His cheeks were distended. Collun had the sudden wild thought that the wizard was somehow sucking the great wind into his own gaunt body. He half expected to see the old man's throat balloon up, swelling like a frog's during mating season. But of course it did not.

And then the wind began to die. The waves started getting smaller. Collun didn't have to fight so hard to keep his head above water.

He looked again toward Crann, who raised his arms above his head, as he had in the forest, and shouted the words, "Siochain gaoth!" Suddenly the wind was gone.