Louisa Shorney

Tom pulls the harma out of the fuelling station and heads west towards Arbridge, neurotically checking the rearview mirror every few seconds in case they are being followed. Ironically, for the first time in her memory, Cerri is feeling quite safe and calm hiding behind her red and puffy mask.

‘How about sthom road trwip tunesth? What dtho you fancthy?’

‘Road trip? This is not a feckin jolly love! If that Sec officer had recognised you….’

‘Yesth but he didthn’t. Thersth no need to get your knickersth in a twistht Misthter Stheriousth.’

‘It is serious Cerri!’

Tom digs into his back pocket for the flier he had rammed into it on his way out of the service building.

‘Here look at this….. yer wanted for questioning about a break in at Commission Central. Say y’ve stollen sensitive documents and may be dangerous.’

‘What the…..? So Dah wasth rwight, they do wanna get rid of me.’

‘Mother y’ve changed yer tune! Yer so matter of fact about it all. What happened to the anxiety queen? Has the world suddenly changed from behind that capsicum mask?’

‘I dunno Tom. May be it hasth may be it hasthn’t. Sthom really sthtrange thingsth have been happening. I thought it wasth my sthubconsthciousth playing trwicksth on me costh of the thingsth Dah sthaid. But thisth mornin, in the sthower, Mah was sthcreaming in my head to get out they’re coming. And look at thisth.’ Cerri flaps the wanted flier in front of her. ‘Sthe was rwight. And I can’t believe I’m hearing mysthelf sthay that. Sthe’sth dead. At least I thought sthe wasth. But now I don’t know how, let a lone what, to think. I feel like my mind’sth been blown wide open and all sthensth of rweality with it.’

‘Ok, put some music on, we can find somewhere to stop and take a break once we’re away from the town. The swelling should have gone down by then and I can listen to yeh with out wanting to snigger.’

‘Oh good, you haven’t lostht your sthensth of humour then.’

Cerri winks a smile at Tom and reaches towards the audiophone.

Taking the northern route out of Arbridge it is not long before the road becomes narrow and winding. From here it hugs the edge of the Great Forest all the way to the ice-line. Wanting to put as much distance between them and the Commission’s stronghold as possible, they make do with a picnic on the move. Deciding to choose a place to stop once they’ve crossed the border into the Northern Quadrant. Whilst still under Central’s control but seeking independence, this Quadrant pays no homage to its masters. Staying under the radar will be easier there.

‘How’re yeh feeling now hun? Face calmed down a bit?’

‘Yeah. Back to normal, at least on the outside. It’s not just my face that’s calmed down. I think I’ve had the fear shocked out of me, if that makes any sense.’

‘That’s no bad thing love.’

‘No it isn’t. It feels odd but nice. How are you doing? You seem to have taken all this in your stride, as if it’s a normal everyday occurrence.’

‘I’m not one to panic in a crisis but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a million questions in my head.’

‘Wanna fire some of them at me?’

‘Yeah ok. It’ll probably help me stay awake.’

‘Shit, sorry Tom. I can take over the driving now if you want.’

‘No worries. I’ll keep going ‘til we cross the border. I know a perfect place to stop. I recon it’ll take us another two or three hours to get to Megs from there. So tell me what’s been goin’ on with you?’

‘I thought it was just the stress of the report and then everything Dah said last night. But now I don’t think I can pass it off as stress fuelled, random subconscious, flotsam. Mah’s been in and out of my head all day, as if she’s somehow watching me. And whilst I can absolutely put that down to the need for comfort manifesting her in my imagination, some of the stuff she’s told me has come true. And her voice is in my head, I’m hearing it not thinking it. She touched me Tom. It was real. I can’t believe that’s just my imagination. I know I sound like I’m going crazy.’

‘Going crazy. I’ve always known you’ve been that. That’s why I love yeh.’

He grins reassuringly at her with that sparkle in his eyes.

‘Thanks. I think.’

She smiles back.

‘So what stuff has she told you?’

‘She took me up the mountain. I could see the Great Forest spread out for miles below us. we climbed up a funny little stairway to a ledge. She told me to drink from a pool at the base of the rock so I could meet my Messeer. I have no idea what a Messeer is except that it’s a bird. She had one, a raven I think. Once I’d drunk the water I could understand what it was saying. Then a little jay came and sat on my shoulder, introduced itself as Bredda, my Messeer. I don’t know what any of that means Tom. But Mah said she was as real as I was and that she was in a place where she could see all that was, is and will be. She keeps telling me to hold to my light no matter how dark it gets, I don’t understand what that means. My head says I’m havin’ a nervous breakdown and my gut says it’s real but I don’t wanna believe either of ‘em.’

‘So that was the dream you had after David called?’

‘Yeah.’

‘When has she come to you since?’

‘This morning when I was in the shower. That’s why I came running down the stairs screaming we should get out. And then in the car, when you thought I was dozing, she came to check I was alright.’

‘Did she tell you what was going on?’

‘No she was just checking I was safe. She said that Meg would teach me all she could but I’d have to learn the rest for myself. She doesn’t seem to trust anyone Tom, not even Dah. She went really cold when I mentioned him. She wasn’t happy with me trusting you either. It felt really uncomfortable. Oh Mother I sound like I’ve gone off the frickin’ wall.’

‘Not as much as you might think. Not to me anyway.’

‘I don’t understand, what do you mean Tom?’

‘All I know are the stories mum used to tell me when I was little, about a time before the separation, when man and beast and plant lived together as brothers. For me it was normal. I grew up seeing all beings of nature as my family. I understood their language and them mine. That’s why it was so hard when we returned to the Isles, I was the freak boy. It was like living in Azrael’s fire.’

‘Was that when you lost your mum?’

‘She’s not lost. She just hasn’t come back yet.’

‘But I thought she’d drowned when her boat went down in a storm.’

‘That’s the official stance yeah but….’

Cerri puts her hand on Tom’s shoulder, squeezing it gently, the loss of a mother is a pain Cerri knows only too well.

‘Tom, you don’t have to talk about it if it’s too much.’

‘It’s not that it hurts it’s just that most people think I’m a mad feck when I try to tell them. They don’t understand the connection we have Cerri, I can feel her life force, I know she’s not dead. That and she sent me messages, at least she used to, before they killed the messenger.’

‘What do you mean? Who killed the messenger? I didn’t know there’d been a murder.’

‘That’s because nobody considers killing animals to be murder.’

‘What? Did your mother use carrier pigeon or something?’

‘A chough actually.’

‘What’s a chough?’

‘A chough is a member of the crow family, like your jay. The crows bridge the gap between the worlds, they are the messenger birds. Messeer is a special bond between crow and those that have the skill to see beyond the excepted norm. Those that have access to all that is, was and will be. That chough they killed? He was my Messeer, Carag, it was like having part of my soul ripped out and with mother gone….’

‘Is that why you tried to kill yourself sweetheart?’

‘I wanted to be anywhere but there Cerri. I thought may be the sea would take me to my mother but I do not have her gift. I can talk to the land beings but the sea did not speak to me like it spoke to her.’

‘Your mother could speak to the sea?’

‘Yes. Her name is Olwin Sea Singer.’

‘But you’re Tomlin Bravewater, why don’t you share her name?’

‘We Isle-Landers do not wear names of blood. When the first flushes of adulthood rise we are sent out to the Wild Isles alone to find our way home. When we return we will know who we are, we will know our name.’

‘So why do I have one of these Messeer?’

‘You must have the Seer’s blood my love. As did my mother and by the sounds of it, yours too.’

‘And what the Mother does that mean Tom? You know for a minute there I thought I was gettin’ my head round all this stuff. I need to take a break from all this confusing shit and switch of for a bit.’

A sudden flush of anger rises up like bile in her throat then just as quickly subsides. Cerri pulls her knees up to her chest and curls up as best she can on the front seat. With her back to Tom she stares out of the window at the trees speeding by. A strange sensation is growing in her belly, not the hard, uncomfortable, anxiety knots she is used to but a warm and expansive feeling. An anticipation of something just on the edge of perception but with no sense of whether it is fare or foul. For the first time her mind is not racing through plausible probabilities trying to find the loop holes. Instead it is at rest. Peaceful and unconcerned. Just staring. Full of emptiness.

Her stillness is rudely interrupted as the harma bounces through pot holes. Tom has turned off the road and is heading into the forest on a dirt track. The trees are no longer speeding by, undefinable. Intricately individual each mighty giant commands its own space whilst their interlaced branches sway as one in the breeze. The wind rustling through the canopy creates the sound of waves lapping on a shingle beach, as the trunks and branches creak and groan with the wind-play sailing through their leaves. Even though it is darker under this canvas of trees everything seems sharper and more defined to Cerri’s eyes. It feels as though they have entered a different world. A few more bumps and the track comes to an end at a small grassy clearing where the river cuts across its path.

‘Here we are. What do yeh think?’

‘Perfect. What an idilic spot Tom. How do you know about this place?’

‘We pretty much lived here until I started sgoil, after that Mum brought me here every summer. Our real home she called it. I wasn’t sure I’d still be able to find it. Not been here for twenty years at least. Come on, let’s go sit by the river.’

Warm sunlight pours through the gap in the canopy, filling the clearing with the remnants of summer, only the chill in the breeze speaks of the coming cold. Tom spreads a blanket out on the bank by the river and they sit watching the dancing light sparkle on the bubbling water. The pleasant expansive warmth that had been forming in Cerri’s belly is turning into an irritable chill. Coiling itself inside her it begins to slowly slither up her spine. The close proximity of Tom’s warmth triggers an unexpected desire to recoil, every fibre in her body is screaming at her to push him away. Trying to shake it off Cerri returns to their conversation, hoping that the feelings will go away.

‘Did they outcast your mother, as they did you, for her gifts?’

‘No, not all. Quite the reverse in fact.’

‘But I don’t understand Tom. If they could accept that your mother could talk to the oceans why could they not accept you talking to animals?’

Cerri can hear the snapping sharpness in her voice. The coil is now unbearably tight, sprung loaded and ready to bite. Battling with a rising tide of anger, that is threatening to engulf her, she tries to keep her mind focused on Tom’s tale and not her irrational feelings.

‘In the days of old those with the gift were held in high regard, every ship had a singer at the prow to calm the sea and call the wind into the sails. There has not been a Sea Singer born for over one hundred years. I don’t think anyone believed that she actually could but she has a beautiful voice and they like to be reminded that they have gifts that the East-Landers do not. It is only known to occur in those of pure Isle-Lander blood, one of the Serpent’s Children.’

‘Serpent’s Children?’

‘It is only since the joining of the Four Lands that we have been called the People of the Isles. In the old tongue we are the Draconai, the Serpent’s Children. I’ll tell you the tale of our beginnings, as my mother told it to me, if you like’

‘Yeah ok.’

If nothing else it will give her the chance to centre herself and calm the confusion of emotions vying for control inside her. Cerri lies back in the warmth of the sun and closes her eyes, allowing her mind to drift away with the lilting tones of Tom’s voice.

*

Long ago, before man came to birth, Earth was the domain of the Giant Ones. At this time the great sea serpent Basilos ruled the oceans. His dominion stretched around Earth far to the west but to the east his kingdom was curbed by a monolithic wall of rock that rose out of the sea. The land behind it, cloaked in thick dark forest, was ruled over by the winged she serpent Draconaria. Whilst happy to share his dominion of the Earthen Elements with his brother, Caelum Ruler of the Winds and King of the Skies, Basilos’ pride would not entertain sharing rulership of the surface elements. To this end he sort to overthrow Draconaria with the aid of his brother, the greatest winged serpent known to the Earthen Elements. The brothers headed east, raising sea and wind in their wake. Intent on breaking rock and stone to dust and banishing the Lady Achren, spirit of the forest, as punishment for her allegiance to the Queen. As soon as they spied the top of the mountainous rock on the horizon, Caelum raised a tempest that would flatten the forest and smash the rock and stone with lightening and hurricane winds. Meanwhile Basilos summoned up a tsunami that would crush the fractured land to sand and bury Lady Achren in a watery grave. Seeing this raging battle gathering in the distance, Draconaria flew to her lair deep within the heart of the mountain, there she set to work at her Earthen forge. Unbeknown to Basilos, Draconaria was no ordinary winged serpent, she was in fact a fire serpent born from the eternal flame that burnt at the very heart of Earth herself. Calling upon her mother’s assistance, Draconaria turned the solid heart of the mountain into a boiling cauldron of molten rock. Before Caelum’s storm could reach her mountain fortress Draconaria released a cloud of brimstone, choking out the sky and precipitating a towering fountain of molten rock and stone. The waters around the land began to boil and steam as the air turned acrid with the sulphurous cloud. Basilos and Caelum had no choice but to retreat. Draconaria took to the air and with her giant wings fanned the poisonous yellow cloud after the fleeing usurpers. Breathing forth fire she set light to the cloud, raining down the toxic acid into the waters below.

Basilos never again questioned her right to dominion of the Earthen Elements, as she truly was Queen of Land, Sea and Sky. But Draconaria did not leave her rulership to trust alone. Once the seas and skies had calmed and Basilos and Caelum had shown her homage, she brought to the Western Waters eight Draconian eggs. There she birthed seven into mighty mountains with hearts of fire, born of the eternal flame that lies at the core of our mother. The eighth egg was hidden among these Seven Sisters as a safeguard. Only to be birthed in a time of great darkness, when no other light can be found. And that is why we are known as the Serpent’s Children, keepers of the Light.