Beyond the Highland Myst(542)

"Verily, m'dear, I doona think man should possess the power of the stones," Silvan said softly. "I canna tell you how many times I've wanted to topple them, to destroy the tablets and the formulas."

"Do it," Dageus said intensely. "After we've gone again, do it, Da."

"It would be outright defiance of them, you ken," Silvan pointed out. "And what if the world—"

"The world should have the right to either prosper or destroy itself, by itself," Dageus said quietly.

"I agree with Dageus," Chloe said, reaching for her cup of cooling tea. "I don't think man should have power he's not capable of understanding and discovering himself. I can't help but think that by the time we're evolved enough to fathom how to manipulate time, we'd be wise enough not to do it. Besides, who can really say that any of the times the stones were used, the outcome was better?"

Dageus had explained to her the only conditions under which they were permitted to use the stones: were their line in danger of extinction, or were the world in great peril. He'd told her of the few occasions they'd opened a gate through time: once to relocate sacred, powerful objects belonging to the Templars, in order to whisk them from the grasp of the power-hungry king who'd destroyed their Order. Yet, who could say that, had man been left to his own devices, he wouldn't have found another way that would have served as well?

Dageus met her gaze and they shared a long intimate look. There was such heat in his eyes that she felt it like a sultry caress against her skin. I doona ken how this may end, Chloe, he'd said to her that night.

When it ends, she'd replied firmly, it will end with me at your side and we will have freed you.

I love you, he mouthed to her across the chamber.

Chloe smiled radiantly. She knew that. Knew it more completely than she'd ever thought a woman could know. Since discovering what his "curse" truly was, she'd not wavered in her feelings for him, not for even a moment. What was inside him was not him, and she refused to believe it ever would be. A man who could withstand such a thing for so long was a man who was good to the very core. I love you too, she shaped the words soundlessly.

They fell silent again, returning to their work with quiet urgency. Though Dageus had not admitted his condition was worsening, both she and Silvan had noticed that his eyes no longer returned to their natural color. They'd discussed it earlier, when Dageus had slipped out to fetch Chloe some tea, and knew what it meant.

They took a brief break when Nell brought the midday meal down into the chamber. Shortly after Nell had cleared the dishes away, Dageus straightened abruptly in his chair. "Och,'tis about blethering time!"

Chloe's heart began to pound. "What? What did you find?"

"Aye, speak, lad, what is it?" Silvan pressed.

Dageus scanned the page for a moment, translating silently. " 'Tis about the Tuatha Dé. It tells what happened when the thirteen were…" He trailed off, reading to himself.

"Read aloud," Silvan growled.

Dageus raised his gaze from the fifth Book of Manannan. "Aye, but give me a moment."

Chloe and Silvan waited breathlessly.

Dageus scanned the page and flipped to the next. 'M right," he said finally. "The scribe tells that in the early days of Ireland, the Tuatha Dé Danaan came to the isle'descending in a mist so thick it dimmed the rising of three suns.' They were possessed of many and great powers. They were not of man's tribe, though they had a similar form. Tall, slender, entrancing to gaze upon—the scribe describes them as'shining with empyreal radiance'—they were graceful, artistic people who claimed to be seeking no more than a place to live in peace. Mankind proclaimed them gods and tried to worship them as such, but the rulers of the Tuatha Dé forbade such practice. They settled among man, sharing their knowledge and artistry, and so ensued a golden age unlike any before. Learning attained new heights, language became a thing of power and beauty, song and poetry developed the power to heal."

"That much is similar to the myths," Chloe remarked when he paused.

"Aye," Dageus agreed. "As both races seemed to prosper by the union    , in time, the Tuatha Dé selected and trained mortals as Druids: as lawgivers, lorekeepers, bards, seers, and advisors to mortal kings. They gifted those Druids with knowledge of the stars and of the universe, of the sacred mathematics and laws that governed nature, even inducting them into certain mysteries of time itself.

"But as time passed, and the Druids watched their otherworldly companions never sickening or aging, envy took root within their mortal hearts. It festered and grew, until one day thirteen of the most powerful Druids presented a list of demands to the Tuatha Dé, including among them, the secret of their longevity.