Gifted

The Cave

Magnus followed Alina and soon recognized the overgrown trail that led to Iona's hut. The wizened crone was outside feeding her goats and waved in response when they called out in greeting. They rode through untamed forest for a while before coming upon an eerily familiar hidden hollow. He dismounted quickly so he could help her down. Then they secured the horses before entering.

Magnus had to crouch to enter and she reassured him that she'd lead him to larger spaces. Darkness quickly overtook them but Alina pulled two lanterns seemingly out of nowhere and lit both before giving Magnus one. He shone the light around to show a dusty, low-ceiling cave with no distinguishing features other than a very long rope looped around a narrow boulder. She handed him the rope then led him to a narrow crevice at the back. It was revealed to be an entrance to another part of the cave. He had to slide in sideways and still nearly didn't fit through.

This next space was tall but narrow and went in several different directions. Alina never hesitated as her sylphlike form turned this way and that. He had a feeling she could do this in the dark. It was dry in the cave but, as they progressed, Magnus started to hear watery sounds. Just when his rope ran out, she was at another crevice. This time, he knew it led to another cave because there was a faint spectral light coming from it.

"This one is an even tighter fit," she warned. "But it's the last squeeze. Turn off yer lantern so yer eyes can adjust. I'll carry them in."

Magnus had to put considerable muscle into getting through and landed facedown on the other side. He looked up and, for a moment, he thought he'd passed out and entered into one of Alina's dreams. It was a cathedral of a cave, sloping walls and high ceilings glowing an otherworldly blue. The faint lights reflected in small pools scattered here and there. There was a music to the drip and dribble of the restless drops of water.

"What is this place?" Magnus whispered.

"I found it when I was five, after I had my first vision," she said softly. "Every soothsayer in my family has found it in the exact same way. In our fear, we run lost until we arrive here and understand what has come before."

"Ye were five?" Magnus asked, frowning. "That was when yer mother died."

"Aye," she said. "Grandmother said she didn't know visions happened that young. She had her first vision when she was thirteen. Hers came to her in dreams."

Their voices echoed as they moved through the glowing cathedral. Closer inspection showed that the glow came from tiny creatures attached to the cave walls. It didn't diminish the sacred feel of the place. Eventually, they walked through one of several passageways. This cave was lit by natural light and again was oddly familiar to Magnus. It finally clicked when they reached the source of light. The opening to the cliffside looked exactly like the one in that first dream he shared with Alina. He looked down, half-expecting to see Ulysses's ship below.

"This cave is just one of many coming off that main one back there," she said. "Some are big. Some are small. Some are dry. Some ye can swim in. I asked grandmother once if she thought it was bigger in here than it was on the outside. The cliffs our castle sits atop doesn't seem like it could possibly cover all these caves."

He asked, "What did she say?"

"She told me that was impossible," she said. "She wasn't a fanciful woman."

She stopped in front of a wall of the cave and pointed out a charcoal drawing of a head-sized sun swirl surrounded by its wavy rays.

"Grandmother drew this on the day she found out she was pregnant with her first child," she said. "Kerr clan's crest features this sun and she made it her mark on this cave because the clan was important to her. I will draw my own symbols here when I first get with child."