Heart of the Hill Read Free

circlet. Now that they are rested, they will help Myrddin regain his staff. Once we all have retrieved our tools from their hiding places, we can subdue the Dark Being despite her might and fury.” She turned to Myrddin. “Go, retrieve your staff of power with young Adam. This task should be simple for the place of concealment is still honored by humans though most have forgotten why. Adam understands Earth Magic. He will walk the Labyrinth willingly and enter the Crystal Cave beneath the Tor.”
    â€œWhat will you do?” rumbled Myrddin. “Assemble our defenses?” He swished his cloak and its hidden col ors danced like flames.
    Equus sighed. “You are right, Myrddin. Though war is not our nature, the time has come for defense. Ava and I will travel to the Place Beyond Morning and ready it for the Lady’s wakening and homecoming. We will use my talisman and Ava’s circlet to restore the Silver Citadel and the great Gates of Sunrise so we can rebal ance the approaching Dark with more Light.”
    â€œLight and Dark, Dark and Light,” intoned Myrddin. “The balance will not be kept until we are linked again by the Lady’s necklace.”
    Ava sighed. “Ah…the Lady! It has been so long since we felt her presence. Myrddin, take out the crystal. Let us look upon her once more.”
    Myrddin removed a small crystal ball from his pocket and set it spinning in the air.
    Ava stretched out her wings and she, Equus and Myrddin formed a circle with the spinning crystal in the center.
    â€œA talisman to hone the mind,
    A circlet old to hold and bind,
    A staff to smite with hidden might,
    Beads to link, and hold the light,” they chanted.
    The flashes of light shimmered, formed and reformed as images from the past appeared in the crystal.
    Equus, Myrddin and Ava saw themselves, once again, inside the Silver Citadel.
    Tears brightened Ava’s eyes. “I remember this moment. Look at the Lady, so calm, so wise and so beautiful. Myrddin, may we hear as well as see?”
    Myrddin sprinkled stardust over the spinning globe.
    Their ears rang with the sound of the Dark Being’s furious final onslaught on the Place Beyond Morning.
    They stared as the tiny figures within the crystal surrendered the tools of power.
    â€œThe Lady fingers her necklace,” murmured Ava.
    â€œShe felt our pain.”
    They listened intently to the Lady’s voice.
    â€œWithout these tools of power, the Dark Being will find victory brings nothing.”
    â€œDestroy these, and we are nothing,” replied the voice of Equus.
    â€œThe Lady’s smile is heartbreaking,” said Ava.
    â€œHush!” reproved Myrddin. The Wise Ones bent their heads again toward the crystal to catch the reply.
    â€œConceal, not destroy!” came the Lady’s voice. “In a galaxy known as the Milky Way spins an almost unnoticed misty blue planet. On it are many places of great beauty, among them an island known as Angel Land named after the fair-haired race that inhabits it. Those people will honor your tools and keep them safe. The talisman, staff and circlet will be hidden in the center of Angel Land.”
    Myrddin shifted as he heard his own voice interrupt.
    â€œAnd the necklace, Lady?”
    â€œThat I must guard. A smaller isle lies off the coast of Angel Land. It is home of a mage called Manannin, who keeps his isle hidden within a cloak of mist. I will hide there. Go swiftly and safely on the wings of dawn my friends. Conceal your magic tools in Angel Land, trust in the humans and leap for the stars to watch over them. The necklace and I must sleep behind Manannin’s Cloak. As long as the beads and I stay linked, so shall the magic link us all.”
    The scene faded.
    Myrddin reached out a hand. One finger gently stopped the spinning crystal. He replaced it in his pocket.
    Equus sighed. “Thank you, Myrddin. The Lady’s courage gives me hope and