Brighid’s Quest

Know that my blessing goes with you, my children…

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Coming back into their bodies was definitely not the gentle experience departing them had been. Brighid found herself gasping and coughing and struggling not to retch.

“Here, drink this. It helps.”

Cuchulai

“Your turn,” she gasped, handing him back the wineskin so that he could drink his fill.

“My father,” he said, then paused as he drank. “He was always pale after a spirit journey, and when I was a boy that used to frighten me. Then he explained that it was really not so bad as long as he ate and drank quickly after his spirit returned.”

While he was talking Brighid unwrapped the loaf of bread and cheese, broke off a hunk of both and handed them to Cuchulai

“Next time I see Father I’ll have to tell him that ‘really not so bad’ does not come close to describing being tossed back into your body.”

“I’m grateful that because of him you thought to leave all of this ready for us.” She bit into the bread and then frowned. Brighid sniffed the cheese. She looked at Cuchulai

“It’s old,” he said.

“The bread is stale and the cheese is half covered with mold.”

Then their eyes met and widened with understanding.

“I left the venison hunk hanging in a tree.”

He chugged another drink of wine, then stood unsteadily. Brighid surged up, hating the way her legs quivered and her powerful equine muscles twitched. Cuchulai

“Drink some more of this. I’ll check on the venison.” He stumbled from the cave.

She was too weak to argue with him. Instead she knocked the mold off the cheese and ate several bites quickly, as well as forcing herself to chew a hunk of the stale bread. When her legs felt like they would carry her, she followed Cu out of the cave. It was a clear, warm night. Brighid thought back. When they began the spirit journey it was early evening, and it felt as if they had been gone from their bodies only minutes. But the facts were that the bread was stale and the cheese…

Brighid had been staring out at the night and suddenly what she was seeing registered in her mind.

“The meat is totally rancid, and the damned gelding broke his hobbles and is gone. First thing in the morning I’ll have to-” He broke off, noting the shocked expression on Brighid’s face. “What is it?”

“The moon. It’s in its fourth quarter.”

Both of them gazed at the crescent-shaped sliver of light that hung in the inky sky.

“But it was full just last night. Wasn’t it?” he said.

She nodded. “It was full the night before we entered the Otherworld. I remember it because it illuminated everything so clearly.”

“During your Magic Sleep journey to MacCallan,” he said.

“Ten days, Cu. It is at least ten days from the full moon to the phase of the last quarter.”

Cuchulai

“Cu, it might have been days since Bregon left the grove. We have no way of knowing how long we were in the presence of the Goddess.”

He took her hand. “It’s true. We have no way of knowing right now-and there is nothing we can do about Bregon or the other centaurs of your herd tonight.” When she started to speak he shook his head. “No,” he said firmly. “It would be foolish of us to do anything tonight except eat and sleep and replenish our bodies and spirits. In the morning I’ll track the gelding and we can decide what to do from there.”

“I already know what we must do,” Brighid said. “Bregon’s words were blustering and bragging. I won’t need an army to take my rightful place as High Shaman of Dhia

“What of the centaurs who are loyal to Bregon?”

“There will be a few, but much less than you believe.” Finally she smiled. “You see, my warrior husband, no centaur female would ever refuse allegiance to the first-born daughter of their High Shaman.”

He returned her smile. “So those who side against you will be choosing very long, lonely lives.”

“Exactly,” she said.

He linked his arm through hers and they made their way slowly back to the cave, leaning a little on each other and occasionally stumbling.

“That does make me feel more hopeful about this. Perhaps the transition to your leadership won’t be as traumatic an event as we anticipated.”

“Perhaps,” she said thoughtfully. “But there is still my brother to deal with. He’s made it clear that he will not easily give up the position he has usurped.”

“Then we will simply have to show him that he has no choice.” Cuchulai

“Cu, when the basin showed me Bregon drinking of the Chalice I saw something else. When he left the grove ghostly wisps of his spirit stayed behind in the Otherworld. His soul has been shattered, Cu, terribly.” She touched her husband’s face. “Promise me that you will remember that he is not whole when you confront him.”

“I promise,” he said, and kissed her hand. “But you need to understand that no matter what pity I might feel for him, I will not allow him to harm you.”

“I can’t believe that he would really hurt me, Cu. I still remember the sweet child he used to be who wanted nothing so much as his mother’s love and approval.”

“He’s not a child anymore. But don’t worry, my beautiful Huntress, I will always remember that he is your brother.” He kissed her hand again and then began feeling around the dark mouth of the cave for the fire starting implements he’d left ready at hand. “I think if we boil some of the dried meat left in our packs it would make a decent broth to soak that stale bread.”

“I’ll knock the mold off the rest of the cheese,” Brighid said.

“Thank Epona for my mother’s love of wine, at least we have plenty of that.”

They built a quick fire and pieced together a decent meal, talking quietly about their experiences in the Otherworld, most especially about the awe they both felt when in the presence of the Great Goddess. Brighid watched Cuchulai

When Brighid opened her eyes the cave was just begi

She left the cave and made her way quickly to the waterfall. Taking off her vest she stood naked under the cold spray. Lifting her face to the crystal current she opened her mouth and drank of the water. By the Goddess, she felt so incredibly alive! Her skin tingled under the water’s caress, but it was more than that-Brighid felt an awareness in the world around her that she had never before experienced. It was as if until that morning the trees and rocks and the very earth herself had been slumbering-and now everything had awakened with her.

Laughing softly, she stepped from under the waterfall and gazed out at the Centaur Plains. There wasn’t light enough yet to see definitions in the waving grass and gently rolling land. It was still shrouded in darkness, but the sky had begun to blush in anticipation of the sun and her eyes drank in the hazy morning view.