My hands ‘caught’ fire. Engulfed in a blaze of energy that emanated more warmth and gentleness than destruction and wrath. The energies slowly spread around and in Cedric as blood flowing from wounds was staunched. Wounds were not so much cauterized as they were sealed shut, more like woven and rewoven to follow the structures, form, and function that was homeostasis.

My perception followed the flowing energy and allowed me to guide that energy to examine the internal injuries Cedric had been ignoring in his stoic determination to protect me. Most of the organs and vessels I found conformed to anatomy I might find in any human. Where the differences occurred, they were dramatic.

Four lungs instead of two. The lobes of the human lung seemed to have developed separately for Seelie two in front, two behind. Meridian clusters existed, tied to a physical network that allowed for channeling magic. And an energy core, that was tied to the bloodstream, nerve, and meridian networks.

He had been shot in the upper chest. Far enough from his heart to not be immediately life-threatening, but the torn blood vessels and punctured lung would certainly have been life-threatening on Earth. The chances of him bleeding out before reaching a hospital and surgery almost certain.

Here the cells of his body cooperated, moved, and repaired as I focused my will and my intent. White blood cells and platelets multiplying and gathering where I directed. Speeding up the rate of healing exponentially. Scabs formed and flacked off as wounds healed, only to be replaced by healthy tissue in seconds. Scars smoothed and faded.

Blood cells multiplied and replaced lost fluids, dividing and replicating, until a balance was achieved. What amazed me was how little actual help and magic I needed to use. Cedric’s body’s natural healing ability was prodigious. In fact, if I had simply removed the arrow, the rate of healing that was normal for him would have healed the wound in a matter of seconds, moments at best.

It made sense that his healing ability was so advanced. The Sidhe were, for all practical purpose, immortal. They had to have fast healing and adaptive abilities to live as long as they did. It explained why cell division was so uniform. There was no breakdown in cell reproduction.

Even though I hadn’t been needed to heal or save Cedric, this was the single most amazing thing that had happened to me since I’d arrived on Talahm. This ability to heal. To save a life. The energy to renew and extend the existence of others was soul nurturing.

I wasn’t sure how anyone who ever had this power over death. This power to restore life and health could ever turn from the path of healing. The ability to understand the why’s and how’s of life on a microscopic level was as close to understanding the mind that created the Universe as was mortally possible.

As I finished my healing, a gentle wind began stirring. Stronger and stronger. Embracing me and those with me.

Wild magic was stirring. Frolicking and joyful. Danu the Goddess of creation. The goddess that was the mother of all Tuatha de Danann was strong in this realm. And she was pleased by what we had done here.

Standing.

Uncertain why or how.

I began releasing my energies and magic in a fog of white mist that grew until the clearing we had fought in was saturated with those energies.

I began to chant a prayer. A dedication to the Earth Goddess Danu.

Warm and moist beneath the hill,

Voices and laughter are soft and still

Glints of light and shadows long move.

Earnest crafts folk of diminutive size.

Dance with creativity before the eyes,

And tumbling out the treasures come.

The land is quiet and still above,

No hint of the secrets within the hill.

This place between, below and above.

The magic is and always was.

Words are treasures polished bright,

Poems by day and rhythms by night.

Words of Danu, Druids, and Sages,

Thoughts and truths for the coming ages.

Return to her breast and find comfort there.

Warm and moist beneath the hill,

Voices and laughter are seldom shrill.

Danu's children are spun of light,

Sleep in safety, everlasting night. ©

The words were an old ritual, a ritual that could be found even on Earth. It allowed supplicants to ask for the Goddess’ blessing, and in this case, entrusted the fallen into her gentle care. As I finished the chant, the energies, and magic I had released combined with the Wild Magic and time stopped.

Everything stilled for just that one second to remind us that the Gods and Goddesses were real.

That they may have entered a type of slumber and dreamt, but they were not as far from us as one might think. We were the gossiper whispers that made up their dreamscape. We gave function to the Divine. And Danu was pleased that I had remembered the old ritual to summon her blessing and gift those slain into her soft embrace.

These Greek enemies. Satyrs, Gorgon, and Artemis’s daughter were ripped from the destination in the afterlife they were promised, their souls forbidden and stolen from the lands of Tartarus and Hades. Instead, they joined the thread of life and fabric of creation that welcomed them to the Summerlands as new children of Danu.

The cycle of life and death, their reincarnation and next birth that had been stalled and forgotten since they died in this place was re-awoken, and these souls that I had dedicated to Danu represented a fundamental shift in the paradigm of this Universe. And with this change, the Gods and Goddesses of our paradigm began to stir and wake.

'Rejoice', the Wild Magic seemed to sing as time resumed. 'For you are truly blessed. Danu smiles upon you!'

Priests have been blessing the land with blood offerings since stone weapons came into existence. An offering to Beleros and Danu. A blessing on these lands, and a prayer for guidance and protection.

Danu who makes the crops grow.

Beleros who warms the soil and brings life and renewal to the lands.

Wild Magic.

Danu breathing softly as the wind gently caressed our cheeks. A kiss from a Goddess long forgotten but stirring softly in dreams and worlds of simpler times. A blessing and a reminder that they lived and were happy with what their children had done here.

The words here had meaning, and the detritus of our battle, the bloodshed, the bodies of the dead, responded to those words and began to glow, shimmering softly as these images of death and battle slowly faded along with the bodies until nothing remained but those living, the peaceful clearing, and the sounds of small animals and insects.

“Who are you?” Ril asked reverently.

“He is Prince Mac de Beleros. And from this moment forward, he is my liege,” Cedric answered as he tentatively tried to sit up. Succeeding, he continued moving until he was able to kneel in front of me.

“My lord,” he continued. “I pledge my life as yours. Forsaking all others, in the sight of Danu, the wellspring of the Tuatha De Danann, I dedicate myself to you and yours, and offer you my fealty, my sword, and my power.”

“We Witness,” Ril and Gil said in response to Cedric’s pledge giving a formality and reverence to his actions acknowledging his pledge as a ritual.

*Cedric has pledged to become your vassal.

Accept Yes / No *

“Arise.

“We accept you and name you the first of our Vassals.

“Arise, Cedric de Mac. You have proven your bravery and skill. You have defended us and sacrificed for us. And we return your pledge with our own. As long as our house stands. You and your heirs shall be forever known as the first amongst our vassals.”

I had no idea why I responded in that matter. The words just felt right. The response expected and based on a millennium of tradition and history. The ability to accept Vassals, part of my royal prerogative.

The system seemed to agree.

[You have accepted Cedric de Mac as your vassal and taken the first step in creating House de Mac.]

[Quest Rewards - For defeating the Olympians and returning to Danu those that defiled the Summerlands you have been awarded your first Vassal.]

[Experience - Promotion from Prince level 1 to Prince level 2 (to take effect during the next cultivation of accumulated experience)]

Deciding to take a moment and read the rest of the messages I’d had Caraid save for me, I opened up the chat interface and quickly scanned previous announcements. I ignored combat messages, quickly dismissing them, I had dealt with injuries already, so knowing where, when and how I was injured was meaningless. I could get into the math’s of the fight and worry about min/maxing my build later.

[You have created a new spell Fire + Air: Spell Fireball - Damage contains an AOE effect, splash damage ticks for 3% damage every five seconds (effect lasts 5 * (Rank + Level) seconds.]

[Spell ignores Armor Rating.]

[Damage mitigated based on targets Magic and Fire Resistance.]

[Beleros Aura has been upgraded to allow you to negate illusion. Note: Light reveals the hidden and dispels the shadow as such, sight and sound have no sway in the light of Beleros reach.]

[Spell Fire: Absorb Shield level has increased - Level 2

[Spell Nature: Heal Other level has increased - Level 2]

[Spell Fire + Air: Fireball level has increased - Level 3]

[Spell Air: Wind Blast has increased - Level 2]

[You have been blessed by Wild Magic and the Goddess Danu - Blessing Danu’s Kiss - The wee folk, sprites, and earth elementals will obey your commands.]

[You can call upon the Wild Magic to enhance any spell cast once every third day.]

[When claiming land, you have been granted the ability to open a Sithern as your place of power. The Sithern you create will conform and move to your will after creation.]

[Actions have consequences. All Seelie factions have increased by 1000]

[All Olympian and Asgardian factions decrease by 1000]

[You have been rewarded the Title - Summerland’s Protector]

[Summerlands Protector: 25% increase to all stats while in Summerlands]

[You have discovered and thwarted the plans of the Olympian Pantheon. You have been rewarded the Title - Zeus’ Bane]

[Zeus’ Bane: 5% increase to spell power against Olympian enemies.]

“Status,” I thought opening my stat window to see how the changes were applied.

Name:

Mac De Beleros

Prince:

Level 1 (Pending)

Title:

Summerland’s Protector

Title:

Zeus’ Bane

Danu’s Kiss: You have been blessed by Wild Magic and the Goddess Danu. The wee folk, sprites, and earth elementals will obey your commands.

You can call upon the Wild Magic to enhance any spell cast once every third day.

Sithern’s created by you will conform and move to your will after creation.

Health Pool

2400 (2804)

Magic Strength

3600 (4004)

Strength

14.01 (2.02)

Agility

14.01 (2.02)

Intellect

20.01 (2.02)

Will Power

20.01 (2.02)

Affinities:

Earth Affinity

15%

Air Affinity

32%

Water Affinity

15%

Fire Affinity

85%

Nature Affinity

70%

Death Affinity

15%

Mind

55%

Skill:

One-Handed Sword

Master Rank

Dagger

Journeyman Rank

Medium Shield

Master Rank

Armor

Master Rank

Perception

Expert Rank

Beleros Aura:

An ability associated with those whose lineage and bloodline trace back to the God Beleros, allows the user to create a fiery aura that protects the individual, heals damage and inflicts burning effect damage to enemies. True sight is active within Aura radius, dispels all illusions.

Spells:

Nature’s Blessing: Allows the individual to commune with and claim lands and bind with the land’s spirit: warning the binding process works both ways. The individual is claimed by the land as much as the land is claimed by the individual.

Fire

Fire Blast (Level 1)

Fire

Absorb Shield (Level 2)

Fire + Air (New)

Fireball (Level 3)

Nature

Heal Self (Level 1)

Nature

Heal Other (Level 2)

Air

Wind Blast (Level 2)

Air

Gale-Force (Level 1)

Air + Fire

Light Globe (Level 1)

Portal

Summerland (Personal Lands)

Portal

Talahm

Faction:

Seelie

+2000 (Liked)

Unseelie

+2000 (Liked)

Olympian

-1000 (Not Trusted)

Asgardian

-1000 (Not Trusted)

“Caraid?” I wondered. “Why does it say level ‘Pending’?”

[Experience and advancement earned are only potential until incorporated.]

[They are the possibilities of what could be if you are able to add them to your realized status.]

[Think of the experience as a form of battery. Storing the energy, you need to break through and advance. But this potential energy is inert, it needs you to incorporate it, to somehow transform it from potential to actual.]

“How did you actualize your experience then?” I asked.

[I didn’t.]

[I hadn’t Ascended yet. Before Ascension, skills may be added and leveled up, but Rank is fixed.]

[But I know how it is done. Meditation, cultivation, or channeling.]

[You cycle the potential energy as you meditate, cultivate or channel, selecting a technique that you are most comfortable with, and enhancing those stats you wish to advance.]

“So, no level-ups during fights that restore me to perfect health and refresh stamina and health?” I guessed.

[No. Your ‘build’ will reflect the decisions you make, but only after you have reflected and have the time to make those choices.]

“How about attributes? I don’t gain strength as I level up?”

[You do. But it is linear.]

[You can choose to add points you gained as you level to Strength to increase it that way. But all stats increase by .1 each level. So even if ignored by the time you reach level 10, that stat point will have increased by 1.]

[A Prince level 2 with a strength of 12.2 is a tenth of a point stronger than a Prince level 1 with a strength of 12.1 By the time you reach Prince Level 10, although you attribute points and distribution may appear to have only increased by 1, the real value increases exponentially, more than the 1 point increase suggests.]

[The system makes a distinction based on levels. Your attributes allow you to compare numbers with another individual of equal rank.]

[You have to remember a ranked Prince with a strength of 12 is exponentially stronger than a ranked Commoner with a strength of 12.]

“I get it. The numbers are really only there to allow me to understand how I compare with someone of the same rank. So, there’s no way for me to min/max my abilities?” I asked.

[There are three ways to increase attributes, so it’s possible to ‘min/max’ as you suggest. One is hard work. Weight train. Study. Build up your strength and intellect through hard work.]

[The second, you receive 4 stat points to distribute each time you level up. You can use those points to create a ‘build’ you are most suited for.]

[And finally, the other is to wear gems, armor, weapons, and jewelry that have an effect that adds to attributes. That is the most common method. Sidhe, especially Royal Sidhe, tend to rely on artifacts to inflate their abilities.]

Watching as Ril piled the loot he’d accumulated from looting in front of me, I decided it was time to focus on more immediate issues. “Would the two of you like to explain your actions?

“Why and how you disappeared?

“And why did you wait to enter the fight until you did?” I demanded.

Exchanging a glance, Ril seemed to give permission for Gil to speak for them. “Our affinities are mostly light-based. We can bend and refract all spectrums of light making it appear as if we have disappeared.

“We haven’t of course, we just bend and light so those items around us to seamlessly appear as if we weren’t there. It allows us to camouflage our location.

“Our light abilities are how we killed the last three Artemis’ daughters. Concentrated light rays are hard to defend against,” Gil explained.

They’d developed freaking laser beams!

“We’ve been trained in this method of fighting. Hidden from sight gives as a true advantage” he continued. “At the first sign of trouble, we fade from sight. Assess the situation, and only reveal ourselves when it is strategically possible to make the greatest impact, or if our ward is in imminent threat of death.”

“You hid, I get that. But why didn’t you help when we were surrounded and attacked?” I asked.

“You are a ranked Prince. Even with what appeared to be overwhelming odds, we reasoned you would be able to defend yourself. And it made no sense for the enemy not to have hidden forces in case the ambush failed.

“Until we could identify those forces, or your we determined your life may be in real danger, it made more sense to remain hidden.”

It made sense. Intellectually, I even agreed with the tactics employed. If I knew about them in advance. If I had been a Ranked Prince for more than a few hours. I had no training, no time to practice and get used to my skills.

Emotionally? Emotionally it felt like they had left Cedric and me as front-line fodder to withstand the initial attacks. And if there had been no hidden forces, they would have never engaged.

It seemed as if they had abandoned us. And although I knew Cedric wasn’t a child. He had reached ascension and was ranked a Squire, higher than the Commoner rank of Gil and Ril. I still considered him inexperienced.

Even if he was twice my age, the Squire label was messing with my perceptions of who and what he was capable of. Pages and Squires in my world were children being trained in the way of battle. And children had no business having arrows shot into their chests.

Danu’s poem is based on and can be credited to Abby Willowroot ©2008. I referenced and edited her original work