Children of the Moon 04 - Dragon's Moon

answered the call of the stone.”
    “I am sorry.” Heat stole into her cheeks as shame at her own cowardice engulfed her.
    “You learned to fear your gifts before you learned to use them.” The understanding in the old man’s still bright gaze soothed the pain in Ciara’s heart. “’Tis understandable, but ’tis also reason for rejoicing that you are here now.”
    “You know of my dreams.”
    “I have a story to tell you, child. Will you listen?”
    “Yes.” How could she do anything else?
    Boisin cleared his throat, took a sip of wine, and then cleared his throat again. When he began to speak, it was in a voice that could mesmerize an entire clan.
    “In the days before our people settled into homes of wood and farming, the Chrechte wandered the earth. We hunted for our food and gathered what the earth provided. Some years were bountiful, some lean, but always we waged war for the right to hunt in bigger territories. Much as the clans fight for bigger borders on their holdings today. In those days, there were three races of the Chrechte. The Faol, a fierce people who shared their natures with the wolves.”
    “I know what the Faol are,” Ciara said with a tinge of exasperation.
    “A good story cannot be rushed.” Boisin frowned reprovingly. “And it loses its strength when you interrupt, do ye ken?”
    Properly chastised, Ciara nodded. “I apologize.”
    “’Tis understandable. You are impatient to reach the end of your journey, but if you rush, you may miss the signs for which way to go.”
    “I understand.”
    “Good. Now, as I was saying.” But he went through his sipping his wine and clearing his throat ritual again. Atthis rate the elder was going to be inebriated before he finished his tale.
    Ciara was determined not to interrupt the flow of words again.
    “There were the Paindeal, another people fierce in battle and fond of war as well. They shared their natures with the big cats of prey and even a wolf would think twice before engaging them in battle. The final race were the Éan, the people of the Chrechte most likely to remember the true spiritual ways. Though they shared nature with eagles and hawks, birds of prey, they also shared their nature with the ravens, birds with no instinct to kill. ’Twas the ravens who were charged with keeping their sacred stone and designated the rulers of their people.”
    Ciara had not known that, but it made sense to give those with the greatest power a nature not so warlike. The wolves and cats of prey did not have any species like the ravens in their races.
    “Among the Paindeal their keepers of the stone came from the cats as black as night and larger than any wolf in the wild. But the wolves connected to the Faolchú Chridhe were white as the snow. The only wolves whose males had the ability to control their shift from their first transformation.”
    He took a long drought from his goblet. “Each of the races had a protector. The Faol were protected by their conriocht , the Éan by the dragon and the Paindeal by the griffin.”
    Ciara was not the only one to gasp at the confirmation that not only did Paindeal exist but they could become griffins.
    “If you would lay your swords on the table,” Boisin said to Eirik.
    “One is Ciara’s.”
    “Aye.”
    Ciara nodded her assent when she realized Eirik was waiting for it. Both swords were laid carefully across the table, their hilts in easy reach of Eirik’s big warrior’s hands.
    Boisin pointed to the handle of Ciara’s sword with a finger shaky with age. “See for yourself. The conriocht , the dragon and the griffin.”
    Ciara and Eirik had already seen the handles, but Lais and Mairi took a moment to look closely at the decoration on the swords.
    “But then where are the Paindeal?” Eirik asked.
    “All in good time, Éan prince. All in good time.”
    Eirik sighed, but nodded.
    Boisin cracked a grin. “Ah, the impatience of youth.”
    “I apologize, elder,” Eirik said.
    “No matter. Listen well, young prince and you will learn things the Éan have forgotten. Each race had its own particular strengths and weaknesses. The wolves reproduce with the most ease, though not as prolific as their human counterparts. The Paindeal healed from any illness or wound short of a mortal one with a shift. The Éan could shift at a younger age and were gifted with more seers and often had special Chrechte gifts with greater impact than their other brethren.”
    “So, the Faol can have gifts