Return of the Unseen
July 24, 2004
By Dana/Nessa
Disclaimer:
this story contains violence and a rape. Please be warned if you cannot abide
reading about these things.
Thanks to all who participated.
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The day was getting cooler now as the sun moved. Nessa felt clean inside.
Memories of Morgan brought the realization that what she loved in Killian was
what she loved in Morgan. That feeling of a squeeze around her heart since
Caitlin was found and restored to her true love, was gone now. Relief was
sweet. Recalling the voice inside that spoke the words, “It is of the Earth
Druid. You will satisfy your hunger… always” gave the Celt a hint of a smile
as she led Tuttle through the forest.
Before she could think another thought, a shadow charged through the Druid.
It was filled with howling, anger and urgency. A wolf shaped in her mind’s
eye, a black wolf, killing for the survival of one of his own. Nessa
understood the connection immediately. The struggle for life was felt more
than seen. She broke into a run allowing the sight of the black wolf to lead
her as she streaked through the forest. Blood ran and men scrambled. She heard
the yelling from outside her mind now. There was another, the one the wolf
would die to protect and one Nessa recognized. Fury drove her.
Nessa broke onto the scene bleating the battle cry of all Celtic warriors.
Three men were left standing and stunned to see the wild screaming warrior
barreling upon them with a sword in one hand and a double-edged ax in the
other. Fear paralyzed them all. The warrior was a blaze of movement. She
cleaved the scull of the closest buffoon with her ax then pivoted fast and
hard to swing her sword across the shoulders of the next one, slicing his head
clean off. The last man fell to his knees before the savage Celt and began a
plea for mercy. Nessa shot a glance over at Kaie, naked and brutalized. The
black wolf stood silently beside her. The animal’s stare gave Nessa the answer
she needed. She showed the man mercy by running her sword through his heart.
Tainted life made a quick exit to wherever such damaged spirits went and
Nessa the warrior dropped her weapons. Before making a move toward Kaie, she
acknowledged Sgath with reverence for his loyalty and wild power. The wolf
moved away from Kaie allowing the Druid to come close. She lifted the brute
Kaie managed to kill and swung his lifeless, stinking body aside. “Kaie” Nessa
breathed. The lass was barely conscious. Nessa could see the swelling and
bulging bone of one of her hands. She was covered with blood and bruises. Her
back was raw and bleeding. The Druid knelt down and carefully lifted Kaie,
cradling her gently. “You’ll be alright lass. You’ll be alright,” she
whispered.
Kaie struggled to focus on the face surrounded by that wild shock of red
hair. “Nessa, I never see you at parties… so glad you could make it” she
managed to croak before she passed out.
Nessa carried Kaie through the forest. They were followed by the ever-faithful
mare, Tuttle and the black wolf. Finally, they reached the stream. She lay the
lass down on the soft grass beside the trickling water. Signs of shock were
apparent now. Nessa grabbed a blanket from her saddlebag and covered Kaie
while Sgath and Tuttle drank from the stream.
While she knew enough to drape Kaie’s arm over the bank so that the icy stream
covered and rolled over the broken hand, Nessa was a Druid and a warrior, not
a healer. The young girl’s face was a swollen mass of bruises and blood. She
was most likely injured on the inside, maybe even bleeding. Nessa was taught
long ago to use her unseen resources. She sat in silence beside the injured
lass and closed her eyes. Subtle movement of the air flowed around her like a
gentle whirlwind. Suddenly she was standing in a tunnel facing Killian.
Killian’s face showed concern. “You have never come to me through these
passages before, Nessa. Tell me what you need.”
“The lass, Kaie lay by the stream outside the great oak grove. She has been
raped and broken. I will stay with her but you must come.”
“Is there still danger?”
“There is no one else but a black wolf. They were all men who died by my sword
and the wolf’s teeth. The wolf is a friend.”
Killian shook her head slightly then said, “I must tell Caitlin. Then we'll be
there as quickly as Flame and Kiera can carry us. Stay with Kaie, sweet
friend. We may have to take her between the worlds.”
~~~~~~~~~~
July 25, 2004
Healings by Killian and Nessa
The great guardian whispered through the breeze as Killian gazed up at her,
"friend of the Faery, it is a great honor to have you back among us. I have
been told by the Druid what is needed. Tell me, do you wish to pass through
the veil, friend of the Faery?"
"Yes, Great Maple, I wish to bring healing to my friend here, who is passing
into Shadow as we speak. I humbly ask you to allow us to enter.
"Very well friend. You, all may enter."
"Thank you, dear Maple." Killian hugged the Maple.
Nessa stood silently beside the injured Kaie and Sgath the black wolf. She was
watching Killian. The way the Lass cocked her head to one side as if she were
listening to some invisible guide intrigued the Celt. Many mannerisms about
Killian were always strangely familiar to Nessa. But before this afternoon’s
trance of memory about Morgan and all that happened in Britannia, she couldn't
place the resemblance. For the first time Nessa realized that except for being
slightly shorter and much more stubborn, the lass could almost be Morgan.
Killian took the hand of Caitlin and held the other out to Nessa and said, “We
are ready now my friend.”
Nessa turned and raised her arms slowly, her eyes were closed as the veil
lifted and the group was transported to the center of the great circle of
oaks. When she opened her eyes, she saw Killian already on her knees before
Mother Oak.
Killian whispered, "Great Mother. I humbly come before you, not for myself,
but for my friend here, who lay dying. I beseech your assistance, Mother."
Killian heard the familiar tittering of the bustling small Faery creatures all
around them. She could feel the heavy cloak of warmth coming from the giant
stand of Oaks. She felt a comfort in this place, like no other. The entire
glade waited as the Eldest Oak, the Great Mother of them all, considered her
earth child.
The huge gnarly trunk seemed to shift in their vision. It became a floating
sort of body within the trunk itself. A voice so musical and beautiful it
brought tears to the eyes of the three conscious women. It rang across the
short distance between the humans and the oldest living Spirit. “This is the
work of great evil… the evil of men.” The face of the Mother, though sad, was
as soft as the air. She gazed upon the kneeling healer. “You brought this
broken child to me, psychic walker. What can I do that you cannot? Or do you
not yet know who you are among the spirits of the Earth?” Killian felt some
confusion and yet a familiarity, almost a memory that came and faded quickly.
Nessa read the meaning behind the words of the Mother. Killian was obviously
more than she yet knew she was. She was also filled with her own illness from
the burden of the Fearweight tide she was now free from but still wore like a
scar. Killian took on all of the fear of her young friend Tris after the
insane Dalton tortured Tris to near insanity, herself. Killian felt it had to
be done. She knew she was stronger than Tris in every way.
The Mother spoke sweetly through the air and into their hearts. “Of course I
will heal this wounded young woman. But you too must undergo a healing,
psychic walker between the worlds.”
Killian felt a wave of energy float through that nearly knocked her flat down
to the ground. A wave of nausea followed, and the young psychic gave her
stomach contents up to the moss she knelt on. The Aged Oaks words about her
own need for healing cut through her as if she stood bare in that cave in
Denmark, her back being ripped open by Dalton's psychic whip. Killian
convulsed again. Caitlin came to her, laying her strong hands on Killian’s
small shoulders, steadying her with her powerful presence.
Killian felt Nessa's strength pouring into her as well. Her nausea subsided
enough for her to speak. "Great Mother, I will do anything you wish of me, for
I trust in your guidance above all things. I feel selfish even considering
myself at a time when my friend lay dying, but since you have so graciously
agreed to heal Kaie, I will undergo anything you see the need for me to do."
Killian broke down in tears, her ache felt centuries deep. It's weight felt on
the verge of crushing her, " Mother, I love you so. I am deeply humbled that
you see me for all that I am,” she said. Killian thought only Nessa had any
real sense of it. Not even Caitlin knew of this great burden. Killian tried to
hide it from even herself. “I ache with gladness for your knowing Spirit.
Thank you for seeing me. I am ready to do anything you ask." She whispered
reverently. Killian bowed her head in complete surrender to the enlightened
one who towered lovingly above her.
The great oak nodded in silent communication with the small folk around her.
Killian stood there with Nessa and Caitlin watching with trust as the Faery
folk carried Kaie’s unconscious body away trailed by her faithful Sgath and
out of their sight. “Where are they taking her, Nessa?” Caitlin asked.
“They take her to the waters of Muirios. It means strength and vigor. She will
be immersed and revitalized.” Nessa didn't wonder where Killian would be taken
for her own healing. Nor did she offer what she knew. She didn’t have to.
Killian turned to Mother Oak and said, “Is there a lake of strength and vigor
for me, Mother?”
The beautiful old tree seemed to be breathing with the sounds of the forest.
“No, Shamaness… you will be healed by another of your blood. She is arriving
on the wind and has been waiting for this time so that she could come to you
at last.”
Nessa and Killian
~~~~~~~~~~
A breeze so faint it barely moved the auburn hair of the kneeling lass, passed
between the three figures before the ancient Oak. But something was different.
Nessa knew it. She felt it in a part of her still left open and raw from loss.
Caitlin had her own experience with the presence as if she was under scrutiny
and then approval. A scent like rain on Cedar filled the air around them.
Killian was still gazing at Mother Oak in wonder when a shape took form from
out of the air in front of her. She stared up into what looked like her own
eyes.
“Killian, my sister, I have found you at last.” The voice was filled with
natural cadence, hypnotic and rich. The Fianna reached for the younger woman’s
hands.
Killian felt like her hands were being moved by something other than her own
will yet she would not resist. Four hands clasped together and Killian was
standing on her feet facing someone she knew once and lost in a dream
somewhere. “Who are you?” she asked, “and how do you know my name?”
“I am Morgan,” answered the older woman. She stepped closer. Letting go of one
hand she caressed the softness of Killian’s face with her fingers. “I am your
sister. You did not know me really. We lived in Britannia with our brother
Caracticus. But the tribes were warring and we sent you to Greece where the
Amazons taught you to survive. I am so sorry they couldn't love you.” Morgan
shifted her dark eyes to Caitlin. “But you have found one who does.”
Killian shivered with something more than excitement or fear. “You are my
sister? I have a sister? I never knew” she whispered, thinking of all those
days of loneliness during her teenage years, feeling so like an outcast and
rebelling because it was the best she could do in defense of her poor aching
heart. She felt only a slight sense of bitterness that dropped like a falling
leaf, replaced by a joy unknown to her ever before. Tears rolled down her face
as she repeated Morgan’s name aloud as if to make a spell to keep the woman
real.
“I will not leave you again, Killian,” said Morgan wrapping her arms around
her sister. She could feel the burden of the Fearweight Tide within her
sister's firm body. It was not an enviable burden, though it furnished a depth
to psychic abilities few would know in any lifetime. Nevertheless, Morgan
estimated that her beloved sister had a depth of psychic skill enough for
several women. It was time to release her.
As Killian allowed Morgan to embrace her she felt a melting of something
frozen inside her. It dripped away to soak into the Earth where it would stay.
____****____
The End - Return of the Unseen - by
Nessa &
Killian
Nessa's
Main Celt & Kin Page
