Children of the Moon 04 - Dragon's Moon

like the Éan,” Ciara mused to herself.
    Boisin didn’t chide her for interrupting again, but nodded. “They can indeed, though only the Éan have healers like the eagle here, and only those found most worthy by the stone at that.”
    “Oh.” Lais looked dumbstruck as he seemed to realize how very unique and special his gift was.
    Mairi merely smiled and nodded at him serenely.
    Ciara wondered what the seer had experienced in her dreams of the elder. Whatever it was, Mairi was obviously content to be at the old man’s table and listening to his stories.
    “In addition to having more children, the wolves’ protectors were more numerous. The Paindeal had one, perhaps two griffins who would live for centuries. But when one died, it could be a generation or more before their stone called forth another. The same was true of the Éan’s dragons.”
    “Eirik is going to live hundreds of years?” Ciara asked in shock, forgetting her vow not to interrupt.
    “Aye, barring treachery. He will. As will you.”
    Hope blossomed inside her. “What do you mean?”
    “You are the first true kelle born in more than a century. All others that have come before you failed to find the Faolchú Chridhe , but you will. And you will live to see your loved ones die, though not your mate. You must live , for you will save the Faol from utter destruction.”
    Eirik reached over and took her hand. “All will be well, faolán .”
    She tried to believe him, but the old seer’s words were not comforting, despite his promise of long life for her and Eirik. “Utter destruction?” she asked in a hushed tone.
    “Aye.” Sadness came over Boisin’s features. “A plague is coming. A quickly spreading illness so great, the likes of it have never been seen before. Many will die here and in the lands across the sea. It will attack the Chrechte with even greater a virulence than it does the humans. Without the Faolchú Chridhe and its power to heal, the Faol will all die in that time.”
    Horror sent chills through her. “No.”
    “Aye. A seer is not always pleased by his visions,” Boisin said, whether simply in acknowledgment or warning for Ciara and Mairi, she did not know. “You must follow the stone to its hiding place behind the stone wall that is not a wall at all and bring it to the sacred caves on Sinclair land. You will return it to its proper place in the cavern of the Faol. You will know this hidden cavern by the etchings on the wall.”
    She thought of the cave she had seen in her vision and thought he was right, but that didn’t help her in finding the stone or the hidden cavern for that matter. “I don’t understand.”
    “To be sure, I don’t, either. If I did, I would tell you. My own family’s descendants’ lives depend on it.”

Chapter 21

Fortune and love favor the brave.
    —O VID
    “B ut why is the Faolchú Chridhe hidden to begin with?” Ciara asked.
    “Because in the time so long ago, when our people wandered the earth, the high kelle had a son,” Boisin continued in his storyteller’s voice. “And this woman of great strength and honor saw a lust for power in her only offspring. He wanted to be king, though his cousin who was but a child was heir to the Faol throne.”
    “The high kelle ’s son thought he was superior to other Chrechte, that he deserved to be king. Fearghall believed men were more valuable than women and wolves more valuable than all. He devised a foul plan to ensure his ascendancy to the throne. Already a conriocht himself, he would take the Faolchú Chridhe and hide it so his young cousin could not be blessed with the spirit of the conriocht .”
    “But the stone would call to the kelle . She would find it.”
    “Not if she were dead,” Boisin said in a tone that sent shivers down Ciara’s spine.
    The others at the table looked equally affected and disgusted by the ancient Chrechte’s plan.
    “It is within the high kelle of the Faol’s power to draw forth the conriocht . She can determine how many need to exist to protect a generation.” Boisin shook his head. “Fearghall knew this, but had convinced himself that he could control the Faolchú Chridhe on his own. The keepers of the stone have always been women though. The men of their families can draw on certain powers of the stone, but only the high kelle could bring them all forth. Only she can bestow the spirit of the conriocht through the laying of hands on the sacred stone.”
    So, Galen would have failed in