The Sword of Feimhin by Frank P. Ryan Read Free Book Online

do better.’
    â€˜How?’
    â€˜You must determine to do, not to try.’
    Kate hesitated. In the distance a giant bird, possibly an eagle, hovered over a pinnacle on which she presumed there might be a nest. The bird was magnificent in its ordered movement, the perfect symmetry of its flight and its delicate landing on the topmost point.
    Then she realised that it was no eagle.
    â€˜Oh, my goodness – it’s another dragon!’ There had to be … oh, wonder of wonders, a nest. Baby dragons.
    Driftwood ignored her wonderment. ‘I fear for you.’
    â€˜What exactly do you fear for me?’
    â€˜Of all the races on this world, the Cill are the least predictable.’
    â€˜In what way?’
    â€˜They answer to a central being – a force, a mind – which can hardly be entirely unselfish.’
    â€˜You’re talking about the Momu?’
    He made a sound that might have been the dragon equivalent of a
tsk
. She looked around herself again, with new eyes. How exhilarating was this landscape? It had been a dragon graveyard, but was now utterly transformed into a landscape of life.
    â€˜Please explain to me what you are really worrying about.’
    â€˜I would urge you to think again – to consider the true nature of the people you call the Cill.’
    â€˜Why? They are the most beautiful, the most perfect beings I have ever seen. Their city is a wonderful union ofocean and land. They take pains to protect the ecology and environment of their world. They venerate the cycle of life, in a perfect balance of people and nature.’
    â€˜There are no perfect beings any more than there are perfect worlds.’
    â€˜The Great Witch, Olc, weakened it, as she destroyed all the other Cill worlds.’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜No?’
    â€˜You were invited into her realm. What did you learn from your time with the Momu?’
    â€˜I – I don’t rightly remember all of it.’
    The dragon snorted. Maybe it was meant to convey irony.
    â€˜We met in her chamber – well more like a cave. There was a birthing pool I had to wade across. She was waiting for me in the roots of the One Tree.’
    The dragon reared, his wings extending to a monstrous proportion, before settling back onto their beautiful, if terrifying, prominence. Kate had to cling on to her perch at the root of his long neck.
    â€˜There you have it.’
    â€˜What do I have?’
    â€˜The nature of what will most likely threaten you.’
    â€˜And what is that?’
    â€˜Where is her power derived from?’
    â€˜The One Tree?’
    â€˜And the One Tree in turn?’
    Kate recalled her experiences back in the roots of theTree. The Momu had attempted to persuade her to stay in Ulla Quemar, when she was so desperately needed to help end the tyranny of the Great Witch, Olc, and the more dangerous Fangorath. She recalled the words of the Momu, desperate to save her world.
    â€˜Nidhoggr, the serpent-dragon – who gnawed at the roots of the world – fertilised a seed of the Tree of Life. That seed grew into the One Tree whose branches make up the roof this chamber: a chimera of serpent-dragon and Tree of Life. Sadly, the One Tree is dying, as is her beautiful city, Ulla Quemar. I, the first child of Ulla Quemar, I who am almost as old as the One Tree herself, am dying with her. There will be no more Shaamis.’
    â€˜The One Tree is an offshoot of the Tree of Life.’
    â€˜Indeed. And thus you would stumble headlong into a maelstrom of peril.’
    Kate sat back, deep in thought. ‘This peril? Are you referring to the Tree of Life – or the serpent-dragon, Nidhoggr?’
    â€˜Both.’
    â€˜Then all I can do is to promise you that I will take the utmost care to conserve my own safety.’
    It took Kate a moment or two to recognise that the thunderous resonations that were booming and echoing through the landscape were the dragon’s