“Four—in exchange for the privilege of exploring the caves you will stay out of the pool unless I am with you. Now, is all that clear?”
Gwen nodded and rushed over to her mother to clasp her around the neck with her slender arms. “Yes, Mam. Let’s practice now.” Her blue eyes were alight with anticipation. Never had she been so eager.
“All right. Get the things, please.” Gwen scurried over to the trunk and rummaged through the chest, returning with her hands full, and dumping the contents on the table. Rhiannon picked up her Dewin’s torque. A single pearl dangled from a silver-encrusted pentagon, and she clasped the torque around her neck. Next, she picked up her plain silver band and slipped it on her finger.
Gwen lifted up the crystal, etched with the triskale—three wavy lines radiating from the center and cutting the round, milky white crystal into three equal parts. The crystal spun in the air from its silver chain as Gwen held it out to catch the light.
“Sit,” Rhiannon said, holding out her hand for the triskale.
Obedient, for once, Gwen handed the crystal over and sat cross-legged on the floor, looking up expectantly.
“Now. Tell me of the gifts.”
“Those with the gifts are called Y Dawnus, the gifted. There are four kinds of gifts—clairvoyance, telepathy, psychokinesis, and prophecy,” she rendered in a singsong voice. “The Dewin are clairvoyants. They can Wind-Ride, sending their awareness to see things far away. They can Life-Read to learn the nature of another’s illness. Dewin are the physicians of Kymru. They know herb lore, and treatments for the diseases of both men and animals.”
“Good. Go on. What of the Bards?”
“The Bards are telepaths. They can Wind-Speak, communicating with other Bards. Bards can Far-Sense, which is to communicate with animals, in a limited way. The Bards are the musicians of Kymru. They track genealogies and therefore declare matters of inheritance when in dispute. They are the repositories of the law,” Gwen quoted.
“Yes. Go on. The Druids.”
“The Druids are psychokinetic. They can Shape-Move, which is to move objects around at will. They can Fire-Weave, which is to start fires. With the help of the High King a group of Druids can control the weather. This is called Storm-Bringing. The Druids lead our religious rituals. They are our philosophers and astronomers.”
“Go on.”
“Lastly, there is the Dreamer. The Dreamer has all the gifts of the Y Dawnus as well as the gift of Dream-Speaking, which is prophecy. The Dreamer can also Time-Walk, which is to look into the past. The Dreamer is the Walker-between-the-Worlds.”
“Excellent. Now, tell me of the combination of gifts.”
Gwen took another deep breath and concentrated. “Sometimes a person, if he is of the House of Llyr, can have two gifts. Of these two gifts, one is always clairvoyance. Therefore, they are always Dewin. But they must be trained in using their other gift that could be either telepathy or psychokinesis. Only the Dreamer has all four gifts. No one ever has three.”
“Excellent. Now, we will Wind-Ride. Are you ready?”
Gwen nodded her eyes wide with anticipation.
“We begin with the Body of Light. Close your eyes. Focus all your awareness to the soles of your feet. Imagine that they are filled with light.” After a moment, she went on, “Now, imagine that the tops of your feet are light.” Following Rhiannon’s steady voice, Gwen continued to imagine her body of light.
Rhiannon then picked up the chain of the triskale and dangled it in front of Gwen’s closed eyelids. “Open your eyes,” she said, “Focus on the triskale. Breathe deeply.”
Gwen, in her trance-like state, opened her eyes and gazed hazily at the dangling crystal. “Visualize your energy in the triskale,” Rhiannon continued. “It begins to glow with your inner-light. The lines are radiating outward to all that is around you.” Suddenly, the crystal began to glow, pulsing with white brilliance.
“Now, Gwen. Wind-Ride.” Rhiannon turned her back to Gwen and waited. Then slowly, hazy at first, a picture began to form in her mind’s eye of a young girl with golden hair, sitting cross-legged on the floor of a cave.
“Very, very good, Gwen,” she said, turning back to her daughter. “Now, draw back your energy from the crystal. See that it dims as you bring the radiance back into yourself. Close your eyes. Your energy is returning to you. You are filled with strength, with the radiance of Nantsovelta. Thank the goddess, then open your eyes.”
“I thank Nantsovelta, Lady of the Waters, for my gift,” Gwen said dreamily then opened her eyes. “It worked!” she shouted.