Flint, Kenneth S

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The two released his arms and stepped back. He lifted his hands to his
face. The onlookers watched with curiosity as
he worked his long fingers through the mat of beard and dug them deeply
into the flesh of his jowls. Then he pulled outward. The beard and part
of the face beneath pulled slowly away with a faint tearing sound. He
dropped the limp mass of flesh and hair, then yanked away part of his
eyebrows and the sharp end of his nose. Lastly, he pulled the ragged
mass of hair from his head.
The face revealed by this seeming violence was much Jess awkward and
absurd, but still pleasantly unusual. The nose was still considerable,
the eyes still bright gray. The face was squarer, the chin more
pronounced, the forehead wider. The hair, of a distinctive silver-gray,
was short and lay in smooth waves on the large head.
"Well, there it is," he announced with a triumphant air. "Do you find
the 'true me' more acceptable?"
"The true you?" Mathgen repeated. The lipless mouth curled back in a
ghastly, rotting smile. "The true you has yet to be revealed, old
friend."
Chapter Fourteen
MAlWilWi'S SECRET
The prisoner looked over the creature in the tank with interest.
"I've decided that you must be Mathgen, the Druid," he said
thoughtfully. "You really don't look very well, you know. Perhaps if
you got out more?"
"Still playing the fool?" Mathgen sneered. "Well, Manannan, I have
learned a great deal about you from Balor's visit to your little isle."
The vast image of MacLir that had filled the screen behind the tank now
began to waver, its colors dissolving, shifting, re-forming into the
hazy green image of Manannan's home.
"Why, that's amazing," the tall man said, honestly impressed. "Can you
do other tricks as well?"
"My own magic and the science of this Tower allow me
102
MASTER OF THE SIDHE
MANANNAN'S SECRET
103
to project my own thoughts here, as well as those I absor from others.
But even my powers cannot penetrate mysterie protected by another's
magic, as your island is. Still, Baloi has managed to enter your
domain, and the impressions has brought me tell me much."
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Other vague images swept across the screen in a confusing and somewhat
overlapping procession. They included brief views of a strange mound of
earth, a dreamlike landscape, and airy beings in bright garments.
"This dwelling place you call a Sidhe, the inhabitants you call your
people, the powers you have given Lugh Lamfada these all suggested
something else to me," Mathgen went on. "I couldn't be certain of it
until I saw you unmasked. I know you, and I know what you really are.
You're no sea-god. Your power comes from Tir-na-nog!"
"Tir-na-nog?" Balor's metallic voice was sharp with impatience. "What
is this about, Mathgen?"
"This man is a servant of Queen Danu," the Druid explained. "She has
sent him to Eire to aid the de Dananns and see that Lugh fulfills the
Prophecy!"
Balor had heard these names from Mathgen before. He knew that it was
this powerful sorceress who had befriended the de Dananns long ago. It
was she who had given them new strength, new knowledge, and new magic
skills and sent them to make Eire their own land. Since the day one of
his ships had found the ravaged body of Mathgen in the sea he had heard
the Druid speak often of the marvels of Tir-na-nog's four shining
cities. And since the de Dananns had appeared in Eire he had constantly
heard the warnings of what a threat those Children of Danu might be to
the Fomor power.
"But if he is from Danu, why has he acted in such secrecy?" Balor
asked.
"The de Dananns are a very proud race," Mathgen replied, his husky
whisper touched by scorn. "For them to know that the magic of their
great patroness was winning Eire for them would be a tremendous blow to
that pride. So Danu provided a guardian for them in the form of a
mysterious god of the sea. Am I right, MacLir?"
"You are a very clever ... ah, can I call you a man still?" the
prisoner replied amiably.
"I know Danu's thinking very well," Mathgen told him, ignoring the
insult. "Remember, I lived in Tir-na-nog. I had a command of magic that
rivaled even hers!"
"I remember," Manannan said. "And I remember you used it to betray your
own people and her trust in you. I'm afraid it makes you very hard to
like."
"I am the one with just cause to hate," came the wheezing reply. "I
meant to give the de Dananns power, a power Danu's people waste, hidden
away on their tiny isles. We could have used it to conquer any land,
move nature to our will, create vast wealth. And for my dream I was
given this useless rack of bones, barely kept alive by these things
that hang upon me like parasites. But now the time is coming for my
revenge. Danu made one mistake in sending you here: She didn't know
that I was still alive, that I would see through your attempt at a
disguise."
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Manannan listened patiently through his tirade, then nodded. "Yes,
that's quite interesting," he said politely, "but I don't see where
your having me will give you much revenge. The de Dananns have
apparently won Eire. The war is over." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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