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"Hey! Hi, buddy! How are you? Want to join us?" – I said, patting his feathered chest, which he didn't mind at all.
I don't know if O'Connell minded, but he looked at me strangely.
"What are you, a raven whisperer?" – he asked me, smiling. – "I've never seen the local ravens behave like that. They're pretty wild here. We feed them, so they're not afraid of people, of course. But to sit on someone’s shoulder like that – that's the first time!"
"He must have liked me", – I smiled back. – "I love birds. I've always gotten along with them. I've never had any ravens, though… Only parrots".
At that moment, the raven apparently decided that it had paid us enough attention and, with a loud flutter, flew back to its nest.
"Oh… He made me bleeding…" – I rubbed my shoulder where the raven had just been sitting. – "Such a beautiful bird, but those claws… It hurts, damn it!"
"It's okay, we have a first aid kit. Let's finish here and I'll give you some antiseptic", – Bridie waved her hand.
"Yeah, go ahead, it's getting close to midnight. I wouldn't want to spend All Saints' Day in this chapel!"
"Well, dear inhabitants of this castle, good night to you! Forgive us for this uninvited visit. We are not here to harm you or offend you in any way. We simply want to talk with you", – Bridie finally began the conversation.
"Bridie, we have already offended them by not introducing ourselves…" – I noted.
"Ah! Please forgive us! Yes, it was very disrespectful of us to barge into your home without even introducing ourselves. That brown-eyed brunette shaking with fear is called Katherine, or simply Kat," – Bridie took revenge on me for my comment.
"And that red-haired witch is called Bridie", – I responded in kind.
Bridie and I had known each other since high school and were very close friends. When the paranormal investigations became popular, I decided to start my own company that would organize such activities in the haunted locations. In Ireland, I was one of the first, so the business quickly took off. We have lots of such mysterious places in our country, so there is plenty of work.
"I have a small box with an orange light on it", – Bridie continued, raising her hand with a recorder. – "Please talk into this light, if you don't mind. We would be very grateful. I will put it here".
Bridie put the tape recorder on the floor near the altar and took a couple of steps back.
"Tell me, did you live in this castle?" – she paused, giving the ghost time to answer. – "Perhaps you were the owner of this castle or one of the employees?"
Pause. Then Bridie nodded her head at me, as if to say, go ahead and ask something too.
"Tell me, do you know what happened in this room?" – I asked.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door behind me. I immediately jumped away from it with a squeal.
Jesus! It was right behind me!
I pointed the camera at the door, praying that no ghost would fall out on me from there…
"Let me check, maybe one of the staff suddenly came", – our knight suggested to us. He slowly opened the massive door, behind which… there was no one…
"Guys, as you can see, there is no one behind the door", – I said to the camera in a trembling voice. – "Bridie, let's listen to the recording. I hope it managed to catch that sound. Although I’m sure it will be on the video too. I almost went deaf from that knock… Not even a knock! A strong blow even!"
Bridie took the recorder and came over to us so that the recording could be heard on the camera microphone. She rewound the recording, and we began to listen intently. After the second question, I thought I heard something.
"Stop! Rewind a couple of seconds… Right here. Some kind of whisper? It sounds like someone says "No"…
All three of us put our ears over the recorder and listened to that part several times.
"I don’t hear anything", – said Bridie.
"Neither do I", – agreed O’Connell.
"Okay… Let’s listen further. I must have imagined it", – I lied, because I clearly heard that "No" every time we listened. We leaned over the recorder again and continued listening. After my question, a sharp hum was heard on the recording, followed by that loud knock on the door.
"And there was no hum then", – said Bridie.
Finally! She heard what I heard. I was starting to attribute paranoia to myself…
"Well, it’s not much", – said Bridie in a calm, professional tone. – "But that knock on the door was definitely interesting!"
Oh yeah! Interesting enough to make your hair gray…
Bridie returned to the center of the room and, putting away the recorder, took out the headphones with the radio.
"Yes, guys, we know that this is just a broken radio that picks up words and phrases from different radio stations. But ghosts can manipulate it and try to communicate with us in this way", – Bridie explained and looked at me. – "Kat, you or me?"
"Please, you do it first, and then I'll try".
Somehow, I didn't really want to listen to ghosts right now… Especially near the altar, where Bridie was standing, putting on her headphones and turning her back to us.
"Okay, guys. Bridie can't hear us, so we can ask questions. Hello again, inhabitants of this castle. My name is Katherine. What is your name?"
"Blood!" – Bridie's loud voice rang out, making me jump.
Goosebumps ran all over my body…
"Whose blood?" – I started asking leading questions. – "Yours? Did something happen to you here?"
"Call!.. Gates!.."
"Were you called here? Were you the one knocking on the door just now?"
After this question, there was silence for a few minutes. Bridie took off her headphones and turned to us.
"Nothing", – she said disappointedly. – "At first, a couple of words were really clear. A loud female voice. And then everything turned off… Here, maybe you should try?"
Bridie came to me. I reluctantly took the headphones with the radio from her and gave her the camera.
"Just please, don't ask the ghosts to pull my hair, like you usually do. I swear, if I feel anything, I will disappear from here the same moment, and you'll go home by yourself!" – I immediately warned her menacingly, to which she only smirked slyly.
Yeah, like hell she'll listen to me… I'll see how you'll smirk when I cut your salary!
I went to the middle of the room and stood in the circle of lights. At least a little further away from this creepy altar.
Bridie was standing by the door with a camera pointed at me. O'Connell was still standing quietly by the wall, but his face seemed very tense. Or maybe I just didn't see him well in the semi-darkness.
The lights around me began to blink chaotically one by one.
"Clearly from the radio", – I said, putting on my headphones and closing my eyes.
I didn't immediately understand what had happened… A female voice was loudly shouting a lot of words in my ears. My head started to hurt. Little by little, I concentrated and began shouting out words that I could clearly hear.
"World!.. Dead!… The call again!.. Gates!.. Blood!.."
After the last word my shoulder suddenly began to hurt unbearably. Maybe I should have treated it with antiseptic right away after all? Who knows what kind of infection this raven carries… It eats mice…
Sweat appeared on my forehead. It was getting harder to breathe.
And suddenly I clearly heard a whole phrase and, of course, immediately shouted it out to record everything on camera.
"Blood of descendants, hear my call! Open wide the gates of the world of the living to the restless soul!"
My head began to spin, and I fell to my knees, supporting myself with my hands. I couldn’t open my eyes; my eyelids were terribly heavy. I felt blood flowing from my shoulder down my arm, making its way to the floor.
"It's hot… I can't breathe… Help…", – I wanted to say, but my mouth would not obey me. I continued to shout the same words, repeating them after the woman in my ears. After the third time, the woman said the last phrase.
"So be it!" – I repeated after her before losing consciousness.
Chapter 2. Samhain Night
Ireland, October 31, 1524
The moonlight was getting brighter.
"There's not much time left", – I said out loud to myself, already starting to get nervous. – "Where is that banshee?!"
I looked up.
"Finn! Look up there. Is she anywhere nearby?" – I shouted into the darkness and immediately heard the sound of spreading wings. My black raven didn't need much persuasion to help me. Love you, buddy!
The seconds dragged on like hours. I began to nervously tap my foot. "Calm down, Eithne. You still have time…" – I said out loud to myself.
The next second, Finn landed on my shoulder, flapped his wings and cawed twice. Aha… So, no one nearby.
"Okay, my friend. Let's go without her".
Taking one last scanning glance into the pub, I closed the door and hung a sign on it that said: "The Tipsy Moon" pub is celebrating Samhain tonight! A free mug of ale to the first guest!"
"Ready?" – I asked Finn, who flapped his wings happily in response. – "Fly ahead. I'll catch up!"
The raven soared upward, and I turned to the thicket of the forest to the north. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. As I exhaled, I slowly let out a soft, high-pitched sound. Almost a whistle that only the certain inhabitants of this forest could hear.…
Will-o'-the-wisp,
Hear my call.
May my path be bright,
On sacred Samhain.
After another breath, I opened my eyes and saw three silvery will-o'-the-wisps next to me.
"Happy Samhain, my friends! Thank you for your help. Well, shall we run to the Fairy Meadow?"
I smiled, anticipating the fun, and ran into the thickest part of the forest, now well lit. I wouldn't have gotten lost anyway, but with such guides it's much better, right?
Moss, grass, twigs… Roots, trees, bushes… Nothing stopped my legs from running. I loved this forest, and it loved me back. This is my home. The energy that I live by, which I also share with the others by brewing the best ale in all of Erin. The inhabitants of not only this forest come to my pub every full moon, but also the inhabitants of the neighboring mountains and hills, rivers and lakes, plains and ravines.
I ran, and the headwind carried away my tears of happiness… Happiness and gratitude to this forest and its herbs that made my ale so magically delicious. And tonight it will flow like a river! Even the noble fairies will visit my pub today. I want to see them madly! Such an honor falls only once a year on the night of Samhain, when the border between the worlds is erased.
I wonder who will be at the Meadow today? Abcan promised to write a song about my pub… I should remind him… He probably forgot. I think the chief bard of the Tuatha De Danann has enough topics for songs without my modest brewery…
"Eithne! Where have you disappeared to?!" – a ringing voice in my left ear pulled me out of my thoughts. – "Everyone has already gathered. The ceremony is about to begin!"
A little elf, who lived not far from me in the crown of an ancient ash tree, fluttered next to me.
"Kitty! And why aren't you there yet?" – I asked, frowning. Maybe something happened…
"I just came from there. I flew to look for you. I thought maybe something happened".
Wow! The neighbors' thoughts coincide! I glanced at Kitty's worried freckled face and smiled.
"Everything is fine. Thank you for your concern, dear. I was just waiting for Ashlyn. We agreed to go to the Meadow together. But she never came… By the way, is she not there?"
"I haven't seen her", – Kitty answered thoughtfully. – "But Cl?odhna is there. Let's find out from her?"
My eyebrow flew up.
"Yeah, right, I'll ask the queen of all banshees: Can you tell me, your honor, where the hell your subordinate is hanging out?!" – I answered with a dull face.
Kitty's ringing laughter seemed to spread throughout the entire forest. Like hundreds of little bells falling on the leaves of the trees.
To be honest, this thought didn't make me smile much… I was worried about Ashlyn. I hoped she was just howling on someone's roof in Ardara, foreshadowing another death. No, of course I didn't wish death on the inhabitants of the coastal village. That's just the way things are in the world of fairies. Everyone has their own purpose. I wonder what mine is. Not to serve ale to everyone of course…
Thinking about the sublime, I didn't even notice how I reached the Meadow, and Kitty had long since flown ahead. It's good that the forest helped me not to stumble over every snag and not get a bunch of slaps from branches, otherwise I could have forgotten about dancing! Of course, I could have used the portal, but on sacred Samhain I just wanted to run through the forest and breathe in the magic of this night…
Having thanked the forest and the Will-o'-the-wisps once again, I came out into the Meadow, flooded with the light of the full moon and fluttering fireflies. In the very center low heather grew, forming an even circle. In this circle were the fairies of the highest rank, including representatives of the Tuatha De Danann. As always, a bright aura of strength and age-old wisdom radiated from them. They were wearing the most beautiful clothes and jewelry. The women were wearing weightless flowing dresses, it seemed as if they were floating in them, and not walking. The rings and bracelets sparkled with multi-colored gems, and stars shone in their hair. The men were no less beautiful and graceful, with their luxurious robes and jewelry in their long hair.
A fascinating sight… I can't take my eyes off it every time…
It's a pity that I missed the ceremony. At it, the noble fairies praised the gods for the fruitful year and sang spells, calling for the new year to be no less successful. So be it!
Among the rest in the main circle was the Master of the Forest. He was wearing simpler clothes, without jewelry. In my opinion, his main decoration was the long, flowing branches of mistletoe that grew straight from his head, intertwining with his long golden hair. And this did not cause any surprise, because the Master of the Forest was the forest itself: every blade of grass, every branch, every animal and bird, every drop of morning dew… Often I communicated with him through Finn, or through the hawthorn tree that grows in front of the entrance to my house, when the winged one was not nearby. I loved the Master infinitely, because he gave me the shelter in his forest and accepted me as his own daughter, knowing nothing about me. Maybe he sees something in my aura that I don’t? I would like to know at least something about myself and my past… But for hundreds of years now I have not been able to remember anything since the hermit Fenias found me on the bank of the Ardara.
The sounds of music pulled me out of my sad thoughts. That's it, I have to stop this! You've become very thoughtful lately, Eithne. You'll miss all the fun! It's not the time for sad thoughts during the celebration of Samhain!
