Annaldra

Donald crept into Ann’s bedroom. With the curtains drawn, the room was dull. In the half-light, he could just make out Ann’s face on her pillow. In her slumber, she looked peaceful, almost childlike, he thought, without a care in the world.

Then he heard the toilet flush. ‘Who is in there?’ he demanded in an angry whisper.

‘It’s me, Norlu,’ came the timid reply.

‘Oops, sorry Norlu.’ He rolled his eyes, feeling somewhat foolish for not realising it would be her.

Norlu opened the creaking bathroom door and skulked into the room like a naughty puppy. Her face was blotchy and her eyes red and puffy from crying. ‘Donald, I am sorry. I really am. I didn’t—’

‘Shush,’ he silenced her tiptoeing over to Ann’s bed. Something was not right, and for a moment he froze, the hairs rising on the back of his neck as his blood chilled. ‘Oh my god, no, please no!’

‘What is it?’

‘She’s dead. Ann is dead. She has no breath.’ Donald was bent over his friend holding her wrist, ‘Or pulse. She’s as cold as ice.’ He tilted her head into the kiss of life position.

‘Wait stop, she’s not dead, stop it,’ whispered Norlu rushing over to pull Donald away from her. ‘She’s not dead. Her soul has left her body, it is travelling, that’s all. If you try to wake her now, you could kill her.’

Donald looked at Norlu his face distraught, but at the same time a glimmer of hope flickered in his eyes. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘I’ve seen this before with my grandmother. On her vision quests, she would go into a cataleptic state where everything slows down to the absolute minimum. That is all it is.’

Donald looked even more confused.

‘Even though the soul leaves the body, it remains attached by an invisible silver thread. If it is broken the soul has no way back to the body, and they separate forever. Wakening her when her soul is not in her body could have broken the thread. Trust me she will return to us when she’s ready.’

‘Oh my god, you mean I could have killed her?’

‘Yes, you could have, but you didn’t.’

Donald shook his head. ‘How did you know?’

‘When I got back she was like that, so I checked for a pulse, but you must be patient. It took around ten seconds until I felt it. I waited until I felt the next one, then I knew. The first time I found my grandmother like that, I almost killed her. I was shaking her and crying until she eventually came back. She was in a terrible state when she woke. She threw up and was shaking so bad she could not walk. That’s how I know. My grandmother told me how dangerous it was to waken someone in that state. It could kill them.’

Donald sat on the floor beside his sleeping friend and took her wrist again. He needed to be sure. He thought about yesterday and how sick she had been when he woke her banging the door. Later she mentioned she had been to the Otherworld. It tied in with what Norlu had just told him, but she seemed so corpse like, he was not convinced. Then he felt it: a single pulse; it was faint, but real.

‘I felt it. You were right,’ he beamed.

Norlu gave a knowing smile. ‘Where do you think her soul has gone?’

Donald shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ was all he said, thinking it best not to divulge any more.

Norlu looked disappointed by his answer. ‘Listen Donald, I am sorry I never told you about the… you know the… human purge.’ Her head dropped and her voice lowered as she said the words human purge. ‘I know it is unbelievably horrific, but my grandmother believes it has to happen. She said the time it will be held in living memory is so minute in the grand scheme of the universe, and the long-term benefits would be immeasurably immense.’

‘For who?’

‘For the planet.’

Donald gave a sarcastic snort. ‘What no gain, without pain, eh! Is that what you’re telling me?’

‘I suppose… Look, I did not want this to happen anymore than you did. I just didn’t want to worry anyone, and to be honest I wasn’t certain myself it would happen. Even if I had told you would you really have believed me?’

Donald shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t, but Ann might have.’

’Please forgive me. Please.’ Norlu looked so sad. Her once sparkling eyes now were dark, bottomless pools brimming with water.

Seeing her like that was crushing Donald. It wasn’t after all her doing; there was more chance it was actually his. After all, he was the reason the geis broke, and she was just trying to protect them a little longer from the horror they now faced.

‘Come here,’ he said, his arms outstretched.

Norlu flung herself into them letting her emotions overflow as she wept. He held her tightly. Slowly her sobs began to subside until only the occasional fragmented gasp remained. ‘I don’t think I should be here when Ann wakes up,’ she said when at last she composed herself. ‘I doubt she will be as forgiving as you.’

‘She will forgive you, I am sure of it. Ann loves you, but I can talk to her first if you’d like?’

‘Yes, I think that would be best.’

Donald placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. ‘Okay, leave it with me.’

Norlu sniffed and nodded. ‘Thank you, Donald,’ she said breaking their embrace. ‘I had best be off now, before she wakens. I will see you later.’

‘Bye.’ Donald blew her a kiss as she left.

Ann became aware she was in the Otherworld. She had gone to bed when she returned to the hotel and had fallen asleep straight away, but how long she had been asleep she could not tell.

‘Annaldra.’

Ann recognised her mother’s gentle voice. ‘Mother!’ she cried out, before flinging herself into her arms sobbing. Her mother held her close, stroking her head. In that moment, she felt safe, wrapped in a warm blanket of love.

‘Whatever is the matter?’

Ann looked up; her mother stroked her cheek looking pitifully at her. ‘Why such a sad countenance child?’ she asked.

Taking a deep breath Ann tried to compose herself. ‘Something terrible is happening in my world, everyone is dying. Shadows are killing them, and it is my fault. I think I broke the geis. I am sorry, so sorry.’

From the corner of her eye, Ann could see her father. He had appeared from nowhere and now stood beside them. He did not look pleased.

‘You broke the geis. You knew the consequences would be grave. The Elders should hear about this. She must go before the King’s Council.’ His disappointment was clearly visible in his eyes.

His sternness sobered Ann up from her emotional state.

‘No!’ her mother snapped grabbing Endrick by the arm. ‘They cannot know… Please, she is our daughter.’

Endrick turned to look at Ann and he seemed to sense her fear as his face mellowed. ‘Why have you come?’

‘For answers…’ she sniffed, ‘—and hopefully help. Please I must speak to the Elders.’

‘She cannot tell them she broke the geis,’ said Mary, her face taut as she spoke.

Endrick inhaled deeply as he considered, then he nodded somewhat reluctantly. ‘You may see the council and tell them of the troubles in your realm, but it is your choice, whether you tell them you broke the geis.’

Ann now found herself in a large hall, her mother and father at each side, unaware how she got there. It was as though she were in a film where scenes just change, but then, this was, after all, a dream of sorts. The hall was oval. Adorning the centre band of the wall was an elaborate white marble frieze with handsome people carved into it: hunters rode on horses, musicians and dancers, lovers, warriors, mothers with infants. At the far end of the hall, there was a large semi-circular wooden table, around which eleven, intricately carved chairs that resembled thrones sat facing the hall.

Drawing her gaze upwards, she observed the ceiling was a dome of glass, some fifty feet above her. Through it, she could see a large lacy butterfly flying overhead. Its shining, copper coloured wings contrasted exquisitely against the bright turquoise sky. It settled on the glass dome. For a moment Ann watched it, envious of its blissful contentment as it bathed in the light, unaware of the torment she was suffering below.

Somebody clearing their throat brought her attention back to the hall. An elderly man with white braided hair and a long white beard had appeared. He wore a long white robe embroidered with threads of silver. It had wide flowing sleeves and a broad silver sash tied it at the waist. He sat in the centre chair, which was elevated and larger than the rest. In his hand, he held a carved wooden staff with a black crystal on the end that resembled the crystal on her dagger. His eyes were emerald green, even brighter than hers, and he had a wise and kindly look about him. She assumed he was the king though he wore no crown.

Ann turned when she heard a noise behind. Through a door, she had been unaware of, a procession of tall striking men and women entered the hall in single file. As they elegantly paraded past, she counted ten: five women and five men dressed in either forest green or scarlet robes that flowed like chiffon in the wind. One by one, they each took a seat at the table. Most had long straight, platinum hair like hers, though two had black and one woman had red hair. Some wore their hair straight while two of the men with platinum hair and the woman with red hair wore theirs in a long braid. The red-haired woman had green and gold ribbons and yellow flowers woven into her braid. All the women wore a golden head chain with a tear shaped crystal that hung mid brow. Most had violet or turquoise eyes, but the red-haired woman had bright green eyes like her own.

Surely they cannot be the Elders. Not one looked a day over forty. ‘I thought the Elders would be old,’ she whispered to her mother.

Mary squeezed her hand. ‘They are. Some are thousands of years old.’

The kindly old man smiled at her. ‘Welcome, Annaldra, welcome. I am Aeties, King of the Otherworld,’ he said confirming her assumption. ‘Beside me sit the Elders, who give me their counsel.’ He gestured to the people on either side.

The Elders tipped their heads respectfully to Ann.

‘You have done well, we are most pleased,’ continued the king. ‘Our strength is returning thanks to the magik you created.’

She smiled and curtsied, but inside shame and guilt gnawed away at her, even though she kept telling herself she was not entirely to blame. She had made a promise, and it had been broken when Donald discovered her secret; something she had no control over. Donald, on the other hand thought these people might be responsible. However, Ann’s instincts told her they had nothing to do with the catastrophe unfolding in her world.

‘My daughter has come with news from her world,’ said Endrick bowing his head.

The king gave her a warm smile, but it did nothing to ease the writhing in her gut. ‘What news have you brought, Annaldra?’

‘In my world, people are dying. Dark shadows are taking the souls of those who are not pure, the souls of sinners. It is something to do with the spell. Something must have gone wrong. It started after that.’ The words stumbled awkwardly out her mouth, in a manner Ann was certain revealed her guilt.

‘What are these shadows you speak of?’

‘Th-th—they are the souls of evil people who have died, souls that never crossed over.’

‘Did you break the geis?’ the king asked curtly. All the warmth from his face had vanished, and something about the way he stared at her made her afraid.

Ann felt nauseous. Even without a physical stomach, she could still feel the snake ball nerves in her ethereal abdomen. She looked at her parents. Her father had his arms around her mother who was weeping. Her chin quivered as tears welled in her eyes.

‘Did you break the geis?’ repeated the king much louder, demanding an answer.

Gasping deeply she managed to keep her emotions under control. ‘Yes.’ Her body shuddered. ‘I am so sorry, truly I am. My friend Donald suspected something, so he followed me. I had no idea he was watching when I performed the spell, I swear I never knew he was there. I don’t know what I could have done.’

‘But before the spell did you speak to him or any other mortal about it? What it was for?’

‘No, he followed me. He watched me do it.’ Ann sighed as her head fell, covering her face with her hands. After a few deep breaths, she looked up, staring directly into the king’s eyes. ‘I did tell him, but only after the geis was broken. The shadows were already reaping havoc… I only told him because he guessed a lot of it, but I never told him what the spell was for.’

Everyone started laughing and her mother was smiling.

‘What is it? Why are you laughing?’

‘You did not break the geis. To break the geis, you had to tell someone about the spell before performing it. If you speak the truth, this you did not do. The geis was only in place until then, now you have cast the spell the geis is no more. You can tell your world what you wish.’

‘I swear it is true, but I don’t understand then, why is this happening? Something must have gone wrong. I must have done something wrong.’

Mumbles rang round the hall as the Elders whispered amongst themselves.

Bang! King Aeties thrust his staff on the ground, silencing the hall. ‘Bring forth the Seer Senerg Roy.’

Ann watched as a blind old man, hunched and crippled, dressed in dirty ragged robes, shuffled into the hall. His eyelids were sewn shut over sunken sockets and he tattoos of magical looking symbols that reminded Ann of the symbols on her pendant. He was filthy, with long matted grey hair that looked like badly managed dreadlocks. He looked nothing like her father’s race. Apart from his eyes, he looked more like a London beggar.

‘Seer, do you know what we seek?’ asked King Aeties.

Senerg Roy nodded. ‘You want to know about the shadows in the outer realm?’ The old man’s voice was soft and croaky, and sounded sore as though his throat was parched and in desperate need of water.

‘We do. What can you tell us?’

‘I will consult the ancestors.’

The old man reached into the small dirty sack he held and brought out about a dozen small bones. He whispered something into his hands as he held them, then he flung them high. The room fell silent as the bones danced into the air. Time appeared to slow as they took longer than expected to fall. One by one, they clattered onto the mosaic floor. Senerg Roy stood motionless with his head tilted as if deciphering the sounds.

‘A geis has been broken. It is an ancient geis, a thousand years old.’

Ann glanced at the council then her parents and finally the king; all of them looked confused.

‘What more can you tell us, Seer?’ asked the king.

Everyone turned to look at the old man as he crawled on the floor gathering the bones. When he finally put the last one in his bag, he shook the bag before reaching in for a handful of bones. Again he whispered something to them, but this time he flung them down like dice. Crawling on his knees, he located them one at a time, carefully feeling the lay of each bone, before picking it up and returning it to the bag. The last two bones he retrieved he kept in his left hand before flinging them down again. This time, when he felt them he did so simultaneously, one with his left hand the other with his right. When he appeared happy with what he read in the bones, he popped them in his bag and stood up to face the council.

‘This geis was placed on Annaldra and one other soul, their love was forbidden—they should never again be lovers. Doing so would break the geis.’

Ann’s head swam; she felt nauseous as the room spun. A million thoughts from her life as Eleanora swirled inside her head, but in the shadows of her mind, the memories she sought stayed hidden. A geis was placed on us, why, when? It made no sense. Why would someone do that to us?

‘Annaldra,’ her mother gently shook her arm. ‘Annaldra, what have you done?’

Slowly Ann turned her head to look at her mother. ‘Our love was forbidden. I don’t understand who would do this to us, who would curse us so cruelly?’

The king cleared his throat again, drawing her attention back to him. ‘The Great Goddess Danu placed it on you and this other soul. I assume he is a mortal?’

Ann thought he looked disappointed as though he thought mortals were lesser beings. She nodded confirming his assumption.

‘It is the Goddess Danu who creates all geasa.’

‘But why would she do this to us, I don’t understand? You must ask her, she has to make this stop.’

‘It is not for us to understand or question her reason. Her wisdom is pure and true, but I can tell you this…’ He paused and inhaled deeply through his nostrils as if what he was about to tell her was of great importance. ‘A geis is like a coin, it has two sides, both with consequences. Breaking a geis never has good consequences as you have discovered, but keeping a geis often bestows the subject with great powers or amazing luck. Whatever would have been yours is lost to you now.’

‘Please I must meet with this Goddess,’ said Ann, her voice tremulous.

Laughter erupted from the council; even her parents laughed.

‘What is it, what’s so funny?’

‘We sorry Annaldra you cannot meet with Danu. She chooses who she will commune with, we do not decide, but…’ The king stopped mid-sentence and twirled his beard before turning to face Senerg Roy. ‘What more can you tell us, Seer?’

The seer cleared his throat. ‘Tonight night in the outer realm is Samhain, the time of year when the veil between the realms of the living and the dead is at its weakest. Breaking the geis has weakened the veil further, tonight night it will diminish completely.’

Several Elders gasped, but all looked horrified.

‘So the spell has nothing to do with this, it’s because it is Hallowe’en and I broke a geis?’

‘Yes and no. The geis has been broken, but what is unfortunate is the timing of it as the release of new magik into the world will increase its power tenfold. If the spell had not been cast its influence would be significant, but probably not catastrophic.’

Ann buried her face in her hands. That was the last thing she needed to hear. She already felt awful, but to discover on every level it was her fault… sleeping with Finley broke the geis, and if that wasn’t bad enough, she then made the consequences of breaking it far greater by casting the spell.

‘You are not wed and you are not a maiden? What did you do, Annaldra? Who is this man?’ her mother persisted more concerned with her daughter’s virtue than the human purge that was unfolding in her world.

Ann slid her hands from her eyes and looked at her mother. She could see disappointment in her eyes. Dropping to her knees, she bowed her head, shame now added to her suffering. ‘I’m so sorry,’ was all she could muster, unable to look at either of her parents. How could she possibly tell them? They would not understand. Even if he was her husband from another life, he was somebody else’s husband now. What she had done was so morally wrong she might actually deserve this.

Mary crouched down and put her arms around her daughter, but the warm blanket of comfort and love remained absent. Looking down she noticed the light of her being was as pale and as dull as a five-watt bulb. No stars flashed in her now; only a few slow moving dim lights.

‘You are not pure,’ her mother whispered to her. ‘You said the shadows can take the souls of those who are not pure.’ Turning to face the council she cried out, ‘They will kill Annaldra. Tonight night, the shadows will kill her!’

‘No!’ Ann was quick to reply. ‘They can’t, I have protection. I have a pendant, an amulet that will protect me.’

‘What amulet? Are you sure it will work?’ her mother’s voice shook.

‘Yes, I have seen its power. Tunkeeta gave it to me. She knew this would happen. She knows about the shadows.’

‘Tunkeeta, how?’ the confused voices echoed around the hall.

‘What does she know of the shadows?’ asked the red-haired woman.

‘She knows what is happening. The first night they took the souls of wicked people, last night they took souls of bad people, and tonight they will take the souls of the impure. Only those with pure souls will be spared.’

‘And then what will happen?’ asked the king.

Ann shrugged. ‘Tunkeeta said they will be gone forever. The shadows will die.’

The king was twisting his long white beard into a point. ‘How does Tunkeeta know this?’

Something in the way he said it made Ann wonder. ‘Do you know Tunkeeta?’ she asked.

‘Indeed, we do. Her soul has visited often.’

Ann shook her head. But she never told me, why wouldn’t she tell me? she whispered to herself before addressing the council. ‘Tunkeeta knew this would happen when you didn’t. She knew when and how it would happen. How could she know and you did not?’

‘We do not know,’ said the king.

‘Tunkeeta hated the human race. She wanted this to happen.’

The king tittered. ‘Tunkeeta did not hate the human race. The behaviour of the human race is what she hates. Where her knowledge of the shadows came from is not important, Annaldra. It is clear what the consequences of breaking this geis are. What is done cannot be undone.’

Ann scanned the Elders’ faces. They were nodding in agreement. King Aeties was right, what did it matter how it happened and who knew what. What mattered was fixing it.

Ann stood up. ‘Can you stop it?’

‘No…’

Dropping to the floor, with all hope lost she began to weep before the king had finished.

‘But you can…’ she heard the king say through her plaintive sobs.

Ann raised her head, relief washing away her tears. She waited for king to speak, to tell her how to end this nightmare, but he did not. He just sat there with a troubled look on his face as though regretting what he had just said.

‘Please, what must I do? I will do anything. Tell me!’

The king came back from his thoughts and looked at her with a half-rueful smile. The Elders of the council looked anxious, their expressions fixed as though frozen in time until the king’s words would release them. Whatever she was about to be told was not going to be good. That she was certain.

‘You must break the bond.’

‘I don’t understand,’ her voice broke up. She prayed she did not understand.

‘This geis forbade you and this man becoming lovers. You broke the geis, and the consequence is the veil weakening. If you break the bond, the consequence will cease.’

‘How do I break it?’ she asked nervously, not wanting to know the answer.

‘You must kill this mortal.’

‘No!’ she screamed. ‘I can’t. You are asking the impossible. I love him too much.’

‘You must,’ her father said. ‘You have no choice.’

‘Please anything other than that. I will do anything.’

‘Well, there is another way,’ continued the king. His statement made the council gasp; a look of terror fixed on each of their frozen faces. A few of the women had raised their hands to cover their open mouths.

The knot in Ann’s belly tightened to the point she wanted to retch. ‘Please, whatever it is you must tell me.’

‘No,’ screeched her mother. ‘No, no, nooooooooooo…’ her wails echoed round the hall like a siren.

The sound made Ann’s soul judder, leaping in shock, and she found herself above her mother clasping her hands as though suspended on a rope that was jerking at her, trying to pull her away from her mother. ‘Please Mamma don’t let go,’ she begged, but her mother smiled her sweetest smile and mouthed the words I love you, before letting go her daughter’s hands.

Drifting up in a spiral slowly at first, the scene began to fade as she floated farther and farther into darkness. Then, when she could no longer see anything swirling lights flashed in the darkness as she spun round and round through a vortex getting faster and faster, and heavier and heavier, until THUD! She was back in her body.

The usual warm feelings of love and ecstasy did not fill her when she woke. Her spirit was desolate all hope had diminished. Before at least she had hope even though there had been so little it had still given her something to cling too. It had relied on two almost impossible factors; firstly she had to go back to the Otherworld when she had no idea how to, and then they had to give her a solution to fix it. Neither had seemed likely, but hey-ho someone up there must like her as miraculously both were attained. Rolling into a foetal position, she pulled the blanket over her head. She had gone seeking answers, and they had given her the worst answer possible. How could she kill Swain? She did not have it in her to kill anyone, let alone him. She tried to think, to imagine the solution, but it was hard; her mind kept obstructing the thoughts. Why could there just not have been an answer? It would be easier not to have this choice. Ann sighed, with the weight of the world bearing down on her.

‘Welcome back.’

Turning she saw Donald perched on Norlu’s bed watching her.

‘Hi Donald, have you been there long?’ she asked rubbing her eyes.

‘About an hour,’ he said watching her as she stretched and yawned. ‘So it worked then. You’ve been back to the Otherworld, haven’t you?’

Ann could see his clasped hands were shaking; he had the same distressed look about him he had the day she saw him withdrawing from heroin.

‘Yes…’

‘Thank god,’ he said jumping to his feet sweeping his hair from his brow.

‘No it’s not.’ She pulled herself up and leant against the headboard.

Donald slumped back down on Norlu’s bed with a heaviness that reflected the hopelessness of the situation. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked his strained face motionless waiting for the response.

Ann heaved a sigh. ‘They are not responsible.’

‘Was… was it us?’

‘No. The geis wasn’t broken.’

‘Phew, that’s a relief, but who is then?’

Ann stared at a bald bit of the carpet, roughly in the shape of Greenland unable to meet his gaze. She could not tell him, not until she decided herself what to do. Until then it must remain secret. ‘They don’t know,’ she said. ‘It’s something to do with Samhain… I mean Hallowe’en. The walls between the living and dead are weakening. It is something to do with that.’

‘But that doesn’t make any sense. We have Hallowe’en every year.’

‘I know. I don’t understand it myself.’ She hoped her guilt was not evident.

‘But they can fix it, can’t they?’

Ann buried her face in her hands and shook her head.

Donald stood up and wandered around the room. ‘Well, that’s it then,’ he said throwing his arms in the air. ‘Everyone in the world will die.’

Ann watched Donald as he perched on the windowsill and stared out to the square. He looked tortured, his youthful face creased like a scrunched paper ball.

‘I’m sorry,’ was all she could say. She really was sorry for causing his suffering when she could so easily stop it. She doubted she could kill Swain, but she knew Donald might and plenty of other people would as well if they knew his death would end the purge. However, getting someone else to kill him was weak. Like a meat-eater who cannot kill. Her dad had taken her trapping when she was seven, and made her kill, and prepare the hares they caught in their traps. He had taught her if she wanted to eat the flesh of an animal, she must be capable of killing it herself. Those, who were not, did not deserve to eat it. Even though most of the meat they ate came from the butcher’s, you had to earn the right to shop there he told her. This situation felt similar. Getting someone else to do the deed for her would be weak, and even though she herself would not be killing Finley, his blood would, ultimately be on her hands. If it was to be done, she would be the one to do it.

‘Norlu was here,’ said Donald breaking the silence.

Guilt now added to Ann’s cocktail of negative emotions. ‘Where did she go?’

‘Dunno,’ he shrugged combing his hair from his face with his fingers. ‘She’ll be about somewhere… probably the caravan. She is really sorry. She thought she was doing the right thing.’

Ann nodded. ‘I know. I feel terrible. If she had told me I probably would not have cast the spell and the purge would still have happened anyway, ’but to a much lesser degree. ‘The two things were never connected it’s their timings that clashed. Poor Norlu, I will straighten things out with her at the church later.’

Donald looked relieved at that, his face smoothing to hint at a smile.

Ann half smiled herself. ‘You really like her, don’t you?’ she said patting his hand.

Donald’s face flushed and his smile grew. ‘I do. I cannot help it. She has this naiveness about her. I don’t think she ever really understood the enormity of what would happen. In some ways she reminds me of a child… kind of innocent.’

‘You are right she is. It as though she sees the world through a child’s eyes, always seeing things for the first time, even when it’s not. Everything is so exciting for her,’ said Ann with a half-laugh.

‘I know she’s so positive and bubbly about everything. She makes me laugh. I cannot stop thinking about her.’

‘I’m glad, really I am. You deserve some happiness. Now you go and find her. Tell her I am sorry. I will meet you both at the church. I just hope Finley has been successful in persuading the village to go,’ she said giving her friend a farewell hug.