Fear, that was the overriding thing that Niall was feeling. In fairness, he had been pretty uncomfortable with all of the Celtic magic, and dreams that may not be dreams stuff. This shadow realm he was now in though, this place was just plain scary. The pitch black of the fog behind was just horrific and the field in front of him, with the single tree in the middle of it and a lone crow flying over it was extremely unsettling. The crow was circling like a vulture, as if an animal was dying on the ground and it was just waiting for the creature to breathe its final breath. He watched the movements of the bird for a moment. It circled the tree; it wanted him to go to it. Niall stepped carefully over the stone wall into the field of wild barley.
The barley swayed in the wind, brushing gently against his legs. It was nice. It made him think of home. He thought of the field around his house when the farmer who owned it would plant crops in it. How it looked in the summer sun, whenever there was the customary two weeks of actual summer weather. The swaying had always calmed him, it was something he could focus on whenever he looked out the window at it. The relaxed movement from side to side was so carefree, it just went with the wind, with the flow, no agency of its own. Niall wished things could be that simple for him sometimes. Not having to make decisions, be asked what he wants to do, what his plans are, what he’s looking forward to. It seemed much easier to be like a stalk of barley, bending with the direction of the breeze, growing and moving with the weather. No need for schools, jobs, exams, studying, memberships; just growing, swaying and being harvested.
Niall came back to reality from his barley daydream, realising that he had made his way to the base of the hazel tree. At some point the crow had decided to stop circling the tree, instead perching itself on a low branch, looking at him with its beady eyes. Niall was just as curious about it as it was about him. Somehow, this animal, which Niall would have normally considered vermin, had a personality that he was able to both identify and communicate with. Then, without any warning, the bird spread its charcoal wings and shot straight up into the air above the tree. Niall couldn’t believe the speed that it took off with. He’d never known crows to be that fast. When it reached a height at which it could hardly be seen in the black sky, the feathered guide turned and divebombed down towards the tree. Tucking its wings into its sides, the small black missile plummeted back down at such speed that Niall could hardly keep track of where it was. Watching the crow’s descent, he was certain that it was leaving it too late to pull up from its descent. Every metre closer it got Niall became more anxious about witnessing a pile of feathers crashing to the ground with a ‘splat’. Faster and faster the creature hurtled towards certain doom. But then, about two metres above the ground, the crow unfurled its wings, swooped over Niall’s head, gliding around the tree and over him with such speed that it kicked up a cloud of dust from the ground around the tree. It rounded the tree, once, twice, three times until it flew right behind the trunk of the tree and seemed to disappear from existence. From the other side of the tree, a tall, strong woman with long black hair and fair skin emerged from where the crow should have.
She had piercing green eyes that felt like they could see into Niall’s soul. She wore an iron headband on her head that was black in colour. Her leather armour covered her entire body but didn’t restrict her movement, as if she was always ready for a fight. It was almost entirely dyed black, with hints of dark green and brown accents here and there. She wore a black, feathery cloak that hung off of her shoulders and ended halfway down her shins. She approached him with purpose. There was a fierceness to her that intimidated him.
“Dia duit, Niall Óg,” she said as she approached him.
“Erm, dia is Muire duit,” he answered. “Is this another dream? Where am I? How do you know my name as well? And who are you?” he asked, completely perplexed.
She chuckled. “No, this isn’t ‘another dream’. None of it has been a dream. Brigid, Lugh, Donn, and everything else you’ve seen has been as real as you or I.”
“Then why am I here?”, he asked, hoping for some kind of helpful information.
“Let me show you,” she said as she placed her hand on the back of his head. When she did, he felt his body become weightless, his brain went silent, and he saw that she was showing him a vision. In a calm, disembodied voice she explained, “you, Niall, are in our world, the world of the Tuatha Dé Danann, because, as it turns out, you’re very special. You are the key to preventing the end of our worlds. You can stop Lugh from burning this beautiful tree in front of us, the Crann Domhan. You’re seeing him do it right now. Look at his eyes, so full of rage and fire. He doesn’t even know that he’s doing it, and he won’t know it at the time either. You see, I’m not a fan of the direction our worlds have taken. Not at all. So, on Oíche Shamhna, when the divide between your world and ours is at its weakest, I’m going to use Lugh to fulfill his destiny, set fire to the tree and bring about the end of both worlds and I’m not going to let you get in my way.”
By Owen Coyne
Taken to the Corner 