Waves in the Wind (37 page)

“Your god would forgive such wicked men? For what possible reason?” Again my anger grew. “No matter, their filthy souls are all that remains of them, and your god can show them mercy, as he will. The gods of my people and I did not forgive them, and they received no mercy from us.”

“You mean…?” Brendan sighed, as he saw the truth of it in my eyes. “I see. This is too much, and I shall ask God’s mercy on you as well. I accepted your gold, and agreed that you may accompany us, but now—”

“Now you must stand by your word, priest, or are you a man who would turn his back upon it?”

“But, you have since killed; you have openly declared yourself an enemy of the One True Faith. How can I now permit you to join us on a mission to spread His Word?”

“You knew me for what I was before you accepted my gold, Brendan, a Druid and Irishman who lives by the ancient laws of his heritage. I remind you again of our bargain.”

Erc jabbed a finger toward me. “You have broken the bargain by sinning before God, and admitting to your crimes.”

“Crimes?” The foolish man was an annoyance. I took a step towards him and he backed away. “Again, I tell you I carried war against my enemies. Now I ask you. Why was a Christian priest, bearing a cross, the symbol of your god, leading the Corcu Duibne warriors when they streamed into my village and slaughtered our innocents? By your judgment, would that not also be a crime, or is perhaps killing acceptable in the eyes of your god when it is performed by Christians?”

“What?! You…you again dare question God’s Will?” Erc sputtered.

Why would he think his god’s will mattered to me? “I dare question you. In fact, perhaps we should put the entire question before a council of the elders of the villages hereabouts.” I smiled at him. “Erc, you have made it no secret that you accepted my gold to outfit your boat, and I think they hold you in little regard. Yes, let us put the question to them, for they are fair men who understand the importance of an agreement, and I will lay claim to your boat if you cannot repay me.”

Erc’s teeth bared as he hissed, “You bastard, you are Satan himself.”

No man who hates so much can own a soul
, I thought, but I was done with his arrogance
.
“I am a Druid priest! I am a spokesman for my gods and my people, equally the worth of you or any man on a quest to find Tír na nÓg!”

Erc stood trembling with fury, as I turned to Brendan. “What say you, Brendan? Does our bargain stand?”

He nodded. “I gave you my pledge. Yes, our bargain stands.”

“Very well. Now as to Laoidheach and Goban, they will replace your missing monks at the oars?”

Brendan crossed his arms on his chest, stepped back and looked me up and down. “I have seen you anew today, Ossian. You are no longer the timid traveler I first met. Do not mistake my words. I do not fear your threats. I fear only the displeasure of God Himself. Perhaps I made a poor bargain with you, and perhaps you are Satan, as Erc said, but I will stand by our agreement.”

I offered a small smile and nodded. “And you have not disappointed me. You are the steadfast man I knew you to be. Now…my friends?”

“Bah!” Brendan waved a dismissive hand. “You may not be Satan, but you have his tongue. Yes, your friends may come on our mission, but warn them that they had best pull hard at the oars or I will have their lazy carcasses thrown overboard.”

The faces of nearby villagers and monks turned to us, as Erc screamed, “No! I will not permit it! Father, you cannot succumb to this pagan and his followers. I beg you remember the gospel of Luke. ‘Behold, I have given you the authority to step on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.’ I daresay you not only have God’s authority to step on this,” he pointed at me, “serpent, but also a duty to Him to do so. I demand you rescind your decision immediately. This snake worshipper has openly proclaimed himself our enemy and cannot go on the voyage!”

“You demand, Brother?” Hands folded before him, Brendan cocked an eyebrow. “Ossian has fulfilled his bargain with us, and I see—”

“You see what? You see nothing!” Erc trembled with fury. “You stand for nothing, not even God Himself!”

Brendan raised a hand, shaking his head. “Brother Erc, please! I beg you call upon His Grace and calm yourself.”

“Bah! Your grace…God’s Grace…you ask that I calm myself in the face of your meek submission to the demands of a devil worshipper? Have I not stood by you even though you insisted upon proceeding with this ill-considered voyage? Have I not silently borne your blundering leadership and blind obedience to every foolish edict handed down by the Holy See in Rome? Brendan, I waste my time and words with you.”

Lines furrowed Brendan’s brow, reflecting his sorrow. “Brother, your views of me matter not at all, but you must fall on your knees and plea for forgiveness for even considering slighting God Himself and the Holy Father in Rome.”

“Dare you not to question my relationship with God!” Erc’s finger jabbed at Brendan as his eyes spit fire. “You haven’t the right! My adoration of Him equals or exceeds your own, as is made plain by your dealings with Satan. As for the Pope, he spews vile unholy rhetoric against all who question his secular views and authority.”

“The Pope speaks the words of Christ Himself. That you openly disagree with him could be interpreted as heresy.”

Erc clenched his fists; his black eyes glowed. “Heresy in whose eyes? The Pope’s? Yours? The great and wise Pelagius was also branded a heretic by the papacy and its followers, but that did not lessen the truth of his words.”

“Pelagius, Brother?” Brendan gasped and stepped back. “But, he has long been branded a heretic for speaking against the Scriptures and the Holy Father. Surely, you do not follow his teachings!”

“Yes! Pelagius, wise and indomitable man that he was, stood against the rule of Roman doctrine, as do I.”

“Why have you not mentioned this before?” Brendan’s shoulders slumped. “We could have discussed it, and I would have happily led you toward God’s True Light.”

“Why? Why indeed! Now I am done with you!” Erc spat at Brendan’s feet, and turned to me. “As for you, Druid, I say this; be wary, always wary. It was you who sowed Satan’s disharmony among us! You are the devil’s own, and now I am free to renew my mission from God to rid the world of the likes of you. I will come for you, Druid, the same as I went after others of your kind at your pagan temples and the demon’s school at Dún Ailinne.”

My heart turned cold. “You were at Dún Ailinne?”

“Of course I was there.” He smirked, hands on hips. “It was I who led the attack and rallied our men by,” his hand swung in the air above him, “waving the Cross of Christ in the center of the courtyard that all might rejoice upon our victory! And it was I who burned the high demon himself in the midst of his blasphemous school. I who lit the kindling at his feet that he might scream out his agony in life as he does now within the fiery bowels of Hell.”

Erc fell to the ground with a squeal as I leaped upon him, my hands wrapped ’round his throat. Firelit images and the anguish of that dreadful night filled my head as I straddled him, hatred strengthened my hands as I squeezed the life from the perpetrator of it all.

Hands were upon my wrists, those of Brendan and monks who rushed from nearby to aid their fallen Brother. I tried to shrug them off, striving to finish what I had begun, but was forced to relinquish my grip on Erc’s throat. The weight of their combined efforts pulled me from my position atop him.

Kicking and shouldering my way to my feet, straining to free myself, I attempted to again hurl myself upon my enemy. Brendan’s face appeared before me, a blurred image seen through my hate-filled eyes.

“Ossian! Ossian, stop this, I beg you!” His hands rested upon my shoulders and he gently pushed me back, away from the still prostrate Erc, as I continued writhing within the firm grasp of his monks. “Listen to me, you cannot do this thing, you must not kill him.”

“He…” I gasped. “He killed Master Tóla, the wisest, kindest, most gentle man to grace this earth.” Tears streamed down my face. “He burned him…he burned him…” Unable to say more, clenching and unclenching my hands, I sobbed aloud.

Again, Brendan laid his gentle hands upon my shoulders. “It is much you have seen of death, I’m thinking. Too much. Would that you could find Christ, that he might comfort you.”

“It isn’t comfort I seek.” Still in the grasp of the monks, I jutted my jaw toward Erc. “It is vengeance, and the opportunity to rid my people of a cruel killer.”

“No, I cannot permit you to kill him. You are a good man, a much better man than Brother Erc, it would seem. Would that you could see your duty as Christ would ask of you.”

He turned, gesturing to Erc. “Do not defile your hands with Erc’s blood. He is a traitor to his own faith, don’t you see. Erc is our responsibility, my responsibility. Please, I beg you. Allow me with God’s Light to do what I must with him.”

A roar like that of a charging bull burst through the ring of monks and villagers gathered about us. Goban, hammer poised in his upright fist, rushed to my side, Laoidheach close behind him.

“What happens here?’ Goban growled. Pointing the hammer towards the monks still holding me, he muttered, “Let go of me friend if you value your skulls.”

The monks turned anxious faces to Brendan, who waved a dismissive hand. “Let him go.”

My eyes found those of Laoidheach and I pointed to Erc, who now sat upright, rubbing his throat. “That son of a whore led the attack on Dún Ailinne and murdered Master Tóla. He burned him.”

Laoidheach’s face turned deathly white, and then flushed red. “Then repayment is due in kind, I say.” His knife appeared in his hand as he stepped towards Erc.

“Stop!” The bard hesitated as I turned my attention to Brendan. “You said Erc is your responsibility. What say you now? What will you do with him?”

Brendan shook his head, and then stood erect, his stern gaze falling upon the fallen monk. “You aren’t injured. Stand up like a man.”

Sullen-faced, Erc returned the priest’s stare and rose to his feet. “Brendan, you—”

“Silence!” Brendan shouted, and Erc stepped back, eyes wide.

The priest strode forward to face him. “By your own words you have confessed to being apostate and in so doing you are an avowed heretic in the eyes of God. You are hereby banished from my presence and the fellowship of your Brothers here. However, before you leave you shall be scourged for your profane thoughts and behavior.”

Motioning towards the monks who had been holding me, he said, “Take Erc there.” He pointed to a lone ash tree at the edge of the village. “Strip him of his clothing and tie him face-forward to the tree.”

Upon hearing Brendan’s words, Erc’s face turned ghastly white. Then he tensed, turned away and attempted to flee. Goban hastened forward, grabbed the hood of the monk’s robe and gave it a solid backwards jerk.

“Think ye to hurry off, me boy ’o?” Goban chuckled. To Brendan he added, “Maybe I’d best accompany your men to yon tree. It seems this lad here,” he gave Erc another hard jerk, “objects to your plans for him.”

* * *

A mournful wail escaped Erc’s lips as the lash fell across his back, opening yet another long red tear in his flesh. The rope binding his wrists to the tree trunk high above his head prevented him from collapsing to the ground. Blood streamed down his naked body as he hung there sobbing and moaning.

His face revealing his disgust, Brendan threw the lash to the ground and turned away. Fifty lashes delivered, though if the whip had been in my hand, I would have gladly given no fewer than fifty more. No, I would have continued lashing the monk until he breathed his last.

It seemed every villager had arrived to witness the spectacle, forming a half-circle alongside Brendan’s monks. He turned to face the gathering, his hands and robe spattered with Erc’s blood.

“See before you God’s justice on one who chose to turn his back on Him. For this man, there can be no salvation and he shall now be cast out into the wilderness, naked and alone. Let his name not be spoken aloud, for such an end shall befall everyone who betrays the Word of the One True God.”

Brendan’s eyes roamed across the assemblage before him. “The voyage must again be delayed for a few days. Before we can sail, I must write the formal decree of heresy, which will be delivered to our bishop at Tara, that it may be entered into the official annals of the Church. I will advise you all when I select another departure date.”

* * *

My comrades accompanied me as, slumping, I strode through the village towards my hut. While Goban’s plan had done its work and they would accompany me on the voyage, there was no joy in the knowing of it. The emotional encounter with Erc had drained away any joy I might have chanced upon.

“I’m thinking,” Laoidheach muttered, “Erc deserved to die after all he did at Dún Ailinne. Still, he is a proud, arrogant man, and word of his public humiliation will spread. Perhaps Erc will actually suffer more by his life than by his death.”

I stopped, gazing towards the nearby mountains. “The flames of Dún Ailinne have not died away within my mind. They still burn brightly, and I regret not killing him. You are wrong about leaving Erc alive. Likely it is because you did not come to fully understand him—he rejoices in killing. The man is a hater, and his hatred will only grow stronger from his punishment. Brendan, good man that he is, made a mistake. This land would all be the better for it if Erc was dead.”

Chapter 30

Never-Ending Sadness