The Dark Age (46 page)

Tory considered that the nine statues should have been a large enough hint. Surely it was obvious that the statues represented the nine muses who guarded the cauldron, all he had to do was study the local mythology. The cauldron was also commonly referred to in druidic script as the Chair, the Honey Isle or Avalon. Thus, was it not as plain as the nose on his face that the
site was considered by the ancients to be a doorway to the Otherworld?

‘The mysteries of this planet exist so you can solve them for yourself, Miles, not so I can solve them for you. For heaven's sake, just open your mind. Anything is possible, until proven otherwise.'

Miles looked very perplexed and he said nothing for a while. ‘I have a confession to make,' he announced finally. ‘I had a dream about you last night.'

The hair on the back of Tory's neck stood on end, and her eyes opened wide at his words. ‘Describe it to me.'

He grinned. ‘I don't think I should somehow.'

Oh shit!
Tory raised a hand to her mouth. ‘Just tell me where it took place then?'

‘Well, actually …' Miles scratched his head, seeming a little embarrassed about it now. ‘In a wood.'

Tory jumped into the air, slapping her hands together. ‘It is you!' she announced excitedly, taking hold of Miles by the shoulders and giving him a hug.

‘What do you mean?' Miles was happy to learn he'd said something right, yet he hadn't a clue what that was.

‘You can't make a mockery of my psychic episodes anymore my friend, because you've just had one.' She laughed at his look of despair. ‘That's the past you saw.'

‘I hate to be a stickler for convention, but you could never prove that.'

‘I was there, wasn't I?' Tory challenged him.

‘Alright then, what were you wearing?'

Tory began to back up, a large smile growing on her face. ‘A dress made of a mysterious white shimmery
fabric that sparkled the colours of the rainbow. Of a sort of seventeenth-century, nymphish design, I recall.' Tory giggled at his bewilderment, and bounded back towards the house.

‘It's psychological ambush, she's trying to drive me mad!' Miles concluded, in a daze.
How could she have seen a dream?
Perhaps Tory had more psychic ability than he'd given her credit for.

 

They all drove out to the site that evening and waited around for Professor Paradis, the last person on the site to leave. Brian tried very subtly to persuade Naomi to wait for him back at her place, but she wasn't about to leave him before she had to. So the four of them watched from the office window as Paradis drove out the gate.

‘Okay, now what?' Miles was dying to know what this was all about.

‘Shut off all the power on the site and wait here,' Tory instructed, grabbing her bag and heading for the door. ‘Brian.' She beckoned for him to follow.

Miles protested. ‘Hold on a minute, you said —'

‘I know.' Tory cut him off. ‘But I have to check it out for myself first. No offence, but you're like a walking negative charge. So please, just shut off the power as I ask and we'll get this show on the road, okay?'

‘What about me?' Naomi moved to follow Brian.

‘I'll be back in a second.' He kissed her then darted off after his sister.

Naomi folded her arms, irked that he would rather spend time with Tory when he saw her every day of the
week. ‘Who does she think she is, anyway? Just taking over like this?'

‘Unfortunately, I promised. And I do sort of owe her a favour or two,' Miles explained, shutting off the power.

 

‘Wow, you can sound like a real bitch when you want to.' Brian congratulated Tory on her performance as they made their way down into the dig.

‘You liked that?' Tory was rather pleased with it herself. ‘Question is, did they buy it?'

The lights went out.

‘Guess so.' They both laughed as they paused for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. The waxing moon was nearly full, and after a moment they could see their way by the beautiful blue light it cast over the site.

Tory approached the large hole in the ground where the altar stone lay, avoiding the other pits from whence the statues had been raised. She wanted to cry at the sight of the pillage, as the energy was so much weaker now. She slid down the earth bank, coming to land on the stone. ‘I hope this still works, or I'm in deep shit.'

‘Check it out!' Brian admired the rock he landed on. ‘I kind of recognise this.'

‘No doubt,' Tory assured him. ‘Let's see if anybody's home, shall we?' Tory took a deep breath and prayed to the Goddess that the Merlin heard her. ‘Taliesin! In the name of the Dragon, I seek an urgent audience with thee,' she cried out into the night sky.

After a couple of minutes, when nothing had happened, Brian cocked an eye. ‘Are you sure about this?'

Tory was looking a bit doubtful herself. Taliesin hadn't met her yet, so it was no use announcing herself. Still, there was another whom he might answer. She gave Brian a pat on the shoulder for assurance, and readied herself for a second attempt. ‘Taliesin Pen Beirdd, my name be Sorcha Lawhir, wife of King Caswallon of Gwynedd and messenger of the Goddess. I ask thy counsel in her stead and in the name of the Dragon that guards this island,' she yelled with zeal as the light began to burst forth from the ground beneath their feet.

 

Miles was back at his desk, going over some data on his computer when Naomi entered with two mugs of coffee.

‘Thanks.' Miles glanced up to find her staring out the window behind him, and he turned quickly to see what had her so mystified. A huge expanse of light emanated from the location of the altar. ‘God damn you, Tory!' He made for the site as fast as he could with Naomi following close behind.

They reached the excavation in time to see the last of the glowing mist retracting into the stone. Then all was dark and still as before, and there was no trace of Tory or Brian.

‘It's some sort of doorway, Miles.' Naomi freaked, she'd never witnessed anything like it.

‘That's impossible, Naomi, people don't just disappear. I'm sure we'll find them around here somewhere.'

‘No Miles, you're wrong. This place is even marked as sacred. It's something beyond our understanding and we shouldn't be messing with it.'

Miles stared down at the cross that taunted him with guilt for ever daring to try to move it. Was that why he'd been denied passage to wherever it led?

‘You bastard, Brian, you'd better be coming back,' Naomi yelled into the pit.

‘Don't worry. Tory left her son behind, she won't be long.'

‘But if she has no idea what she's doing?'

‘She knows.'

 

After dinner on Sunday night, Renford went upstairs to fetch the book he was reading from his bedside. As he passed Tory's room, he was surprised to find Teo creeping around. The professor could have sworn he'd just heard Teo in the kitchen, but he quietly ducked to one side of the doorway to see what he was up to.

Teo approached the cot where Rhun lay sleeping and watched the babe a moment, a smile crossing his face. He reached down to touch the child and a flash, like blue lightning, lashed out from the dragon medallion that hung above the child's bed. Before he left, Maelgwn had given Tory his medallion and asked her to hang it over their baby's bassinet to protect him. The impact of the energy force had obviously hurt Teo, and it cast him halfway across the room, yet he maintained his silence as he recovered from the shock of it. A moment later he bounced back up, appearing most annoyed. He held the palms of his hands out towards the child and his fingertips began to glow like hot coals.

That was enough for Renford, he quickly and quietly crept to the stairs then thumped his way back
down the hall to the doorway. He barged into the room to find nobody but the sleeping child. The professor searched all the possible hiding places, but to no avail. All the windows were shut and he hadn't taken his eyes from the door. Now he really thought he was losing his marbles! He took up the sleeping child, resolving to watch him until Tory returned. He fetched his book and returned downstairs to the kitchen to get a cup of tea.

There, once again, he encountered Teo, wiping up dishes as Rose washed them. This confirmed what Renford had thought all along. ‘Did you just go upstairs for any reason?' he asked; if Teo lied, Rose would certainly correct him.

‘No.' Teo seemed surprised by the question.

Renford looked at Rose, who shrugged. ‘We've both been in here since dinner.'

The professor wasn't so sure of what he'd seen, as any possible explanation for it escaped him. He'd never had any reason to distrust Teo, but he would keep Rhun close in any case.

 

When they appeared at the Merlin's hideaway, Tory attempted to set straight Taliesin's initial confusion. He knew she wasn't Sorcha, though he commented on the resemblance. She had every intention of introducing herself properly, but Taliesin interrupted her.

‘You are Tory Alexander, who I gather, was once Sorcha Lawhir … a sad, sad loss for Gwynedd and indeed all of Britain.' He shook his head. ‘And Brian, my it's good to see you.' The Merlin shook his hand.

‘How do you know me, we haven't met before?'

‘I seem to recall I was your
sensei
once.' Taliesin struggled to recollect when exactly. ‘I've been doing a lot of past-life regression lately, I could have my lifetimes mixed up.'

‘What?' Brian looked at Tory, who urged him not to worry about it.

Tory dispensed with the formalities, preparing the Merlin for her tale. ‘This may sound a little strange — you told me yourself that you wouldn't understand it all at first — but I promise, you will.'

She recounted the story of her plight, informing the Merlin about the role he had played in it. Yet she omitted the part about the immortality potion he'd given her, as it was up to the gods to inform Taliesin of this, in accordance with what the Merlin had already told her. Moreover, Brian was present and Tory wanted no one to know her secret. As she spoke, she noticed that where once Taliesin's abode was enormous, it now only comprised one chamber. Although it still housed many beautiful antiques, the room no longer contained anything dating beyond the period of 2000
BC
–1994
AD
, as this represented the span of Taliesin's life so far.

‘Keridwen said I must learn the sacred mysteries on my own. This is my cursed punishment.' Taliesin was so despondent, not himself at all.

‘Well, you told me that you'd grown so disheartened with the state of Britain that you besought Keridwen to teach you the proper use of your knowledge, so that you might instigate the plan I have spoken of and change the fate of this land altogether! Now the Goddess will not agree, but she will compromise in the end and send
you back through time to learn the greater mysteries from the Old Ones in Atlantis.'

‘Atlantis! How grand, I tire so of the modern world.' Taliesin sounded excited by the prospect. ‘And I actually did all this, already?'

‘Aye.' Tory was pleased that he was looking more eager.

‘Splendid! I should summon Keridwen at once.'

‘Wait a minute.' Tory took hold of his arm. ‘You must not forget the reason why I'm here.' She made sure she regained his full attention. ‘You have to remember that I don't return with Maelgwn to the Dark Age as planned. I'm stuck here in the twentieth century, as I have already explained. You must remember, therefore, that when you calculate the first return, you also have to consider my return the following hour, or none of this will ever come to pass.'

‘What?'

‘Look, I don't need you to understand this right now, I just need you to promise that when the time comes, you'll remember what I've said.'

‘I shall remember, gracious lady.' He took up her hand and kissed it.

Brian thought this was rather gross; he still saw Taliesin in the image of an old man, as had Brockwell. ‘So, how do we get out of here?'

‘The same way you came in,' Taliesin answered, motioning to the stone in the middle of the room.

‘Oh yes, I nearly forgot to warn you.' Tory frowned, anxious. ‘People upstairs are trying to remove your altar stone from its resting place.'

Taliesin laughed away her fears. ‘Good luck to them, nobody else has managed it. And even if they do move it, the stone shall only return by the next morn.'

Tory smiled at this, as he led her to the stone.

‘Hey, Taliesin,' Brian turned to them, already in position. ‘You wouldn't happen to know where Myrddin is hiding out, would you?' Brian wondered if Taliesin could shed some light on their father's dilemma.

‘Why no, I haven't seen him since the battle of Arthuret,' the Merlin replied.

Of course, Tory realised, if Taliesin has not yet returned to Atlantis, then he has not yet learnt the secrets of time travel. So he had yet to return to fourth-century Britain to free Myrddin from the tree, and hatch the scheme that would change the course of Britain.

‘Fear not great lady, I look forward to embarking on this quest, and I shall leave as soon as I can persuade Keridwen.' Tory took her place next to Brian, and Taliesin bowed to her in parting. ‘I will see you in the past, Tory Alexander.'

‘And I look forward to seeing you, sir, in the future.' She gave him the thumbs-up, turning her attention to Brian as the mist began to rise. ‘When we get back, I have to get out of there quickly. I don't want to have to answer any questions.'

‘You got it,' Brian assured her, grabbing hold of her hands.

 

Miles had just started to doze off when a blinding light burst forth from the cross, and the mist began to rise
before his eyes. It felt like the apocalypse as he watched Brian and Tory emerge from the haze, unscathed.