I was frustrated that my new skill wasn't developing as quickly as I would have liked. Brenda helped me of course, if anything she was more excited about it than I was.
She had me holding progressively heavier items with my mind and frequently she would throw things at me unexpectedly. A couple of times I wasn't quick enough and I was hit in the eye by an orange and on the side of the head by a small lump of cheese.
"Hey!" I whined. "Quit it, will you?"
"You won't get any better unless you practice harder," was Brenda's reply.
Around then my dreams returned and they grew stronger and stronger. Almost every night, now, I found myself flying with the birds across a strange countryside ... and always there was the voice.
"It's hard for me to describe the voice to you. Hearing the voice was a bit like meeting someone you knew in the street. Although it was only a voice, in my head it was so much more. There was an entity there, a personality that I could feel.
"Fly the Road, youngling. It is time to accept your birthright. Fly the Road!"
I somehow knew that the voice was old, and that he was wise. Hearing him tell me to 'Fly the Road' every night, was beginning to wear a little thin however, as I had no idea what he was asking me to do.
Of course I shared my dreams with Brenda and it was down to her advice that I made a significant breakthrough.
"Why don't you just ask the voice what he means? You know, Sean - if you were lost you'd ask somebody for directions wouldn't you? Why should this be any different?"
It sounded so simple when she said it that I turned red with embarrassment. I tried to excuse myself for missing the obvious by thinking something as mysterious as the voice and what it wanted me to do couldn't possibly be so easy.
The same night I slipped into my familiar dream-state. Once again I was four-years old and poised on the lip of a steep ridge. I could hear the strange birds flapping all around me, and the voice spoke the now annoyingly familiar words.
"Fly, youngling. It is time, fly the Road!"
I remembered Brenda's advice and to be honest I was getting pretty cheesed off (perhaps from being hit on the head by the said dairy product!).
"Look, would you stop saying that over and over? It's kind of dumb to just repeat yourself all the time when it must be clear to you that I don't have a clue what you mean!" I snapped.
The birds squawked and wheeled around my head, as if startled.
"Well why didn't you just ask?" said the voice.
"What? It really is that simple?" I asked in surprise.
"Of course it is. Now, what is it you don't understand?"
"Well for one thing, who are you, and why can I hear you inside my head?" I asked.
"I am Charles, or Teàrlach, if you prefer the Gaelic," he replied, "I am your appointed teacher and mentor."
"Well, that makes everything as clear as mud then," I mused in reply.
"You have much to learn, youngling, much to learn," said Charles.
"Why do you keep telling me to 'fly the road'?" I asked next, "I'm not a bird, I can't fly."
"More than just birds can fly, Sean. You need to learn how to fly the Road, as it will bring you to where I am so that your training can begin in earnest."
I still had no idea what he was talking about. Yes, we were having a dream conversation, but one of us wasn't understanding, and I decided to tell Charles so.
"Listen, Charles. I know the words you're using. The order you're putting them in is even grammatically correct. They make full sentences. The problem is that they don't make any sense to me!"
"Feel this, youngling," said Charles.
Immediately, I had the sensation of being surrounded once again by a vast untapped reservoir of power. It was the same awesome feeling as I'd had when I had stood at the bottom of the ravine.
"You have tapped into the Road's power before, although you stupidly used it to build a snow fortress to impress your girlfriend," said Charles.
"What is it?" I asked, impressed by the way it made me feel.
"I've just told you, don't you listen? It is the power of the Road. You need to connect to it, and use its energy to fly to where I am."
I remembered that in previous dreams I had simply launched myself from the ridge and found myself flying with the birds. Charles' words were still not making sense to me so I did the only thing I could think of - I leapt from my high vantage point and let the air whistle past me as I fell.
The birds squawked their pleasure at my actions and flocked round me as I plummeted towards the ground. I could feel the power growing inside my body. Then suddenly, magically, I was flying with them, instead of plunging towards the valley below.
"Yes! Well done, Sean. Now, follow the Road and we can begin your training," said Charles.
I heard his words in my mind and at that moment something seemed to flick a switch and I could see a shimmering network of lines below me. The power thrummed along each line but there was one that stood out from the rest. It was thicker and just looked more substantial than the others.
Swooping, I flew until I was directly above this thicker ribbon and sensed a further increase in the power that was available to me.
"Is this 'the Road'?" I asked.
"There are many roads as you can see, but this 'the Road'. It will lead you to me eventually."
I stared down at the shimmering, silvery threads below, marvelling at how they criss-crossed like the highways on a road atlas.
"Are they ley lines?" I asked.
"Some people in the other-world call them that, but in Gael we call them ròidean, in the plural, or rathad (road, in other-world speak)," Charles answered as if he was speaking to a child.
I remembered then that he was speaking to a child. I was only four-years old, after all, in my dream.
"Why does it seem that I'm only four?" I asked.
"You have many years of training ahead of you, Sean. Four-years is the normal age for one of our kind to begin," said the voice.
"But I'm almost eighteen, how can I suddenly be four again?"
"You're almost eighteen in the other-world, Sean. I am able to return you to being four here in Gael. That way we can fit in all of the things I need to teach you and undo your mother's foolishness."
I was a little distracted by the fact that I was flying. The sensation was wonderful and I was trying to soak up everything I saw and felt. I wasn't that distracted however, and I hadn't missed the fact that Charles had used the words 'the other-world' several times. He had also referred to a place called Gael that I was sure I had never heard of but which sounded oh so familiar.
"Charles, why do you refer to where I'm from as 'the other world'?"
"You should know that that place is not where you are from, Sean. You were born on Gael and that is where you will return. Your mother took you to the other-world when you were very young. It will take you some hard work, but you will be able to overcome your years in the other-world eventually."
Something was pulling me down towards the ground and I pulled my arms in tight against my side. Doing so increased my speed and the birds around me squawked excitedly as they followed suit, tucking their wings in and rocketing downwards.
I watched the first of the birds flare, spreading their wings until they landed gracefully. I tried to mimic their actions and it worked after a fashion. Unfortunately I misjudged the speed and instead of landing softly on my feet, I toppled and fell flat on my face.
I sensed Charles laughing at my attempts at a landing, as I sat up and dusted myself down. Just like with other dreams the next thing I saw was a line of robed figures walking towards me along a worn path. The birds were surrounding me and they squawked as if in greeting to the robed figures.
"Sean! Sean! You have come at last!" shouted the foremost figure.
It was my Grandmother, of course. It always had been in my dreams and I wasn't surprised that here she was again. Unlike other times when I'd had this dream, I didn't wake up at this point. Normally I would hear Grandmother shout 'Sean!' and then I'd be awake in my bed.
Not this time. Grandmother threw back the hood of her robe and rushed to pick me up and hug me tightly to her. The other figures waited patiently for Grandmother to do her greeting thing, their heads bowed with what seemed respect.
"I think Charles was beginning to worry that all those years in the other world had robbed you of your abilities, Sean. He's been trying to call you to us for quite a while now," said my Grandmother, almost as if she was gently scolding me.
I looked at her. She was short, perhaps only just five foot. Her hair was as black as coal and her eyes a piercing blue. The robe she was wearing looked heavy and was of a dark green colour, tied around the middle with some basic kind of homemade rope.
"Why is it that I remember you Grandma? Mom has told me that you died before I was born," I said.
"I've always been with you, Sean. Your mother should know better, she cannot deny your birthright, no matter how hard she might try!"
Despite claiming to have always been with me - she didn't seem at all surprised that I appeared to be only four-years old. She put me down on my feet again, and took my hand.
"Come. We shouldn't keep Charles waiting any longer. He's already been very patient and I know he wants to start your lessons right away. There is much for you to learn, Sean, much."
She tugged me along, as she headed back along the path she had come by. The other robed figures dropped in behind us, and the birds rose to fly above, and in front.
"I see your iolairean have stayed with you, waiting for you to emerge," said Grandma, gesturing to the birds.
I somehow knew that iolairean was Gaelic for eagles although the birds looked like no other eagles I had ever seen.
"Why do you call them mine?" I asked her.
Grandma laughed.
"I had forgotten just how many questions children of your age tend to have, Sean. It does my heart glad to have you with me, boy! The eagles were the first to acknowledge your birth, the first of the creatures to come to you. It is customary for your kind with this skill to adopt those that come first and claim them as your own."
I was starting to see a pattern in the conversations with both Charles and now Grandam. Every time I asked a question, the answer they gave raised three more questions. I wanted to know how I understood the word iolairean. I wanted to know what Grandma meant when she said the eagles were the first to acknowledge my birth and I wanted to know why she had used the words 'your kind'. Was I somehow different from her? How could I be, she was my Grandma.
I decided to keep my questions for now. The risk was that if I asked them, her answers would simply create even more and I would be in danger of being swamped by new information.
I paid attention to the path we were on and realised that it was still 'the Road' and that I was still soaking up power from it as we went.
"You'll want to stop doing that soon, or you'll be in danger of exploding," Grandma warned.
"Explode?" I asked fearfully, forgetting my resolve not to ask any more questions.
"You are storing power. I can see from the glow surrounding you that you're already at full capacity for one of your age. If you take in any more it will be dangerous."
I searched inside myself and found that Grandma was right! My subconscious was acting on its own to soak up as much power as it could.
I focused and formed a picture in my mind of my connection to the Road and then imagined a tap. I mentally turned the tap until I could feel the flow of power slowing and then eventually it stopped. Good! I certainly didn't want to explode.
The Road wound its way through some trees and then climbed quite steeply. We came round a bend and I saw a basic settlement spread out on a plateau. The Road passed through the huts and continued up the hillside.
Grandma didn't stop at any of the huts and I could see nervous looks on the faces of the few people who watched from the doorways. They didn't seem afraid exactly, more awed and respectful.
As we passed through the camp and climbed higher I could make out a circle of huge standing stones on the summit of the hill. The eagles swooped and circled over the stones and I could make out a solitary figure at the centre of the ring.
To one side I could see a building that had been built out of smaller stones. It looked surprisingly like Brenda's family's cabin.
Grandma halted and tugged my arm to stop me too. She pointed ahead.
"Go to Charles now Sean. You must approach him alone, as it is time for your training to begin. I will see you later."
She dropped my hand and I walked forward alone. Incredibly I found the power of the Road bloom even more as I reached the standing stones.
I somehow knew this was a safe place for me, and for those like me. Inside the circle was a hunched figure, old ... no that wasn't right, old wasn't the correct word I realised. The word that fitted the figure was ancient, yes, that was much better. The figure straightened and no longer looked frail.
Arms were flung wide apart and a staff was held aloft. I could sense the full power of the Road and felt the intense scrutiny of two steely grey eyes ... assessing me, weighing me up, measuring all that I was, searching deep within me.
"Aye, you'll do youngling, you'll do. Come, we have much to attend to," said Charles.
I took my first step inside the circle and was immediately blanketed in a sense of peace and security like I had never felt before. I knew instantly that nothing could harm while I remained within the perimeter of the huge stones. The eagles squawked their pleasure and now I could make out the words that they were shouting at each other.
"He has returned, he has returned! The youngling has come home, he has returned!"
"Why are they saying that I've returned, that I have come home?" I asked the ancient Charles.
"Is that what they're saying? I'm afraid that's one of your talents that I don't share. Only the truly gifted among us can understand the creatures. I know of only two who have gone before you with that skill," said Charles.
"You didn't answer my question," I mused.
"No, you're right. What the eagles are saying is true. This is your real home and you have returned - well, in a sense you have returned. There is much that I need to teach you before you return in more than just your dreams though, Sean. Sit and let me try and explain some of what your mother has kept from you."
Charles gestured to a sturdy stone bench and I managed to haul my four-year old body up until I could sit on it properly. From somewhere inside his robe he produced bread, some kind of cold meat and remarkably, a beaker of milk.
"Let me talk while you eat and drink," said Charles.
The powerful aura that had surrounded him when he had flung his arms wide had dimmed a little and I was able to study my new teacher/mentor. I've already mentioned that his eyes were a steely grey. The eyes matched the long straggly hair and the bushy eyebrows in colour. He had a long thin nose, almost like a beak, but his mouth was full and generous, hinting at a happy and humorous individual. Charles' skin was a deep brown, the kind of colour that a person turns when they spend all day outdoors - 'weather-beaten', that was the word that came to mind.
I realised that what I saw in the man before me reflected all of the properties that I had given the voice in my head. Charles in the flesh and the personality of the voice matched, perfectly.
"This world is called Gael," he began...
Edited by TeNderLoin