The frustrated seagulls squawked overhead, their annoyed cries echoing through the still air. They flew in tight circles around the magnificent stone swan barge, which seemed to hover above the calm, crystal-clear sea below. The water beneath the elegant barge was flat and undisturbed, creating a peaceful mirror for the stationary swan to rest upon.
A gull came down from overhead and landed in the swan barge upon a wicker basket left by the mighty Danu. She had provided provisions for her brother Lugus and her weak daughter Eriu for their journey together to Tir Na n?g. The gull picked at the wicker trying to reveal the contents within it so he and his brother gulls could feed upon it and feast! There were no fish in the sea to feast on, and the gulls grew impatient and hungrier as they flew above.
Eriu winced at the shrill cries of the gulls and the light of bright noon sun in her eyes as she awoke alone in the motionless barge. Her head was pounding, and there was pressure and a ringing in her small pointed ears. Eriu awoke cranky from a dreamless and long sleep. Her vision and mind whirled as she awoke from accidentally channeling too much of Akash at once into her from her spear Dr?mn?l.
Eriu looked around herself and realized suddenly she did not know where she was. Eriu made herself stand up in the motionless barge despite her dizziness. Eriu felt her stomach churn and she rushed to the side of the boat to heaven its contents out into the sea. Eriu’s head whirled even more as she vomited out air from her empty stomach.
Eriu dropped to her knees against the boat's smooth, marbled railing. She leaned her head against one of the barge's outstretched wings to support herself from drooping too far over as she looked around herself at what lay in the boat with her.
Eriu saw the wicker basket and the gull who chewed at it. The gull took no note of Eriu though and continued its mad tearing at the wicker to reveal what was within. Eriu did not know what the basket contained either, but it was her only clue as to why she was left alone in one of her mother’s swan barges. Eriu, feeling slightly less dizzy now that she had sat for a moment to sit upright. She peered daggers at the gull eating at the wicker of her basket. She lunged at the unsuspecting gull. The bird complained wildly and flapped its wings in Eriu’s face. The gull raged at being disturbed from its mission of entering the wicker basket by force. It assaulted her with endless pecks and blows from its angry wings.
Eriu winced in fear and fell to the floor of the barge to escape the gull, but still the furious gull pursued her down, and continued assaulting Eriu it with its beak and wings. Eriu’s eyes flamed a violet glow for just a moment. Her mighty and beautiful star spear Dr?mn?l awoke at her flaring of fear. An aura of light burst from Dr?mn?l for only a moment, but the light expanded outward like a great ball of shimmering golden fire in the air. The light of Dr?mn?l pushed the attacking gull and his gull brothers above him away from the barge. The light of Dr?mn?l expanded and glowed, its shimmering brightness in the air became a wind above the barge which drove the gulls away far out to sea.
Eriu had not controlled this event of Dr?mn?l glowing and the gulls being absconded away by the breeze. The power used by her powerful spear to do so made Eriu want to vomit again. She flung herself over the side of the boat and heaved her flat and empty tummy out yet again over the water. She stared at her reflection and her puffy red face in the crystal clear water. Her black hair hung around her messy and contorted into tangles by her suffering at the hands of Akash, and at her mother Danu’s hands also! Eriu did not have the power to make herself neat and to always be clean and beautiful like her powerful sisters and her mother Danu had always done.
“You’re ugly.”, she said looking at herself and pointing to herself in her reflection who also pointed back at her standing by the rail of the barge. “I’m ugly like mother says.”, she decided very sadly as she looked at herself in her reflection in the sea pointing at herself.
She looked at Dr?mn?l in her suffering and growled at her spear like an angry cat. As she looked at Dr?mn?l she noticed again the strange wicker basket left within the barge with her. Eriu strode on her knees past Dr?mn?l and opened the large wicker basket to see what was left inside it for her.
Eriu nearly winced in pain as she opened the basket and saw it arranged with pies, cakes, ciders, and golden mead all from apples from her friends her mother had turned into an apple grove. She could smell her friend's floral beauty in the aroma of the apples coming off of the provisions of the basket. Eriu noticed that the pie her mother always force fed her at every meal was on the very top and it alone in the basket was left spoiled from perfection and missing a single piece from it.
Eriu grew very sad and tears welled at her eyes as she looked at the spoiled pie missing a slice from it. She grew sad, but she also grew very angry. “That evil bitch!”, she screamed out in her sad rage. Eriu’s voice echoed out loudly from her tiny body and disturbed a ripple on the calm waters. Though Eriu never noticed she had done so as she thought, “She couldn’t even abandon me here and leave the whole pie! That’s very like you to take from me what should be mine but never wanted and spoil it this way! It’s very like you to also just leave me here! You’re the worst of mothers, Danu! I hate you for this! I hate you!”, she screamed at the waters of the sea hoping her mother Danu could hear her angry shouts since all waters everywhere flowed in the knots bound into her mother’s celestial crown Sruth.
Eriu cried out her furious insults to Danu, but her powerful mother Danu did not hear her as Eriu was too far out at sea from Brasil to hear. Eriu and her uncle Lugus were supposed to be heading to Tir Na n?g, but Eriu’s vessel had unfortunately been blown off course and lost to her uncle Lugus when Lugus dove into the sea to rescue the Doe Elen who had pursued after them by jumping from a high cliff into the water of the sea. Eriu was sleeping and didn't witness any of Lugus’s heroics and Elen’s foolish bravery. She knew nothing of why she had come to be in her mother’s barge. Abandonment for failing to touch Akash was as good a reason as any. “At least she didn’t eat me like she threatened to do. That’s something, I suppose.”, she thought to herself of her mother’s threats upon Brasil. Eriu began to feel even more tired and defeated after her screaming at the motionless water. Thinking of Danu now made her headache behind her eyes.
She slid down the smooth marbled rail of the barge and began to weep tired and angry tears to herself at her abandonment by her mother. Dr?mn?l began to shiver droplets of blue light around itself as it responded weakly to her sadness. The small display of Akashic light made Eriu’s stomach heave as she cried. Eriu fell forward as her stomach cramped. She had never been so depleted of her light before. Dr?mn?l’s very existing near her made her body hurt and her muscle constrict inside her. She felt agony even looking on Dr?mn?l’s beauty shining beside her.
“I hate you too! All you do is hurt me! You’re supposed to be a wishing star! Why do you never grant anything I wish, useless stone?!”, Eriu screamed in a hateful rage at Dr?mn?l which began to sizzle and shoot sparks of hot white light at Eriu’s face. It’s assault hurt double as its bright burning light burned at Eriu’s skin, but within her body her stomach again heaved.
Eriu grew pale and sickly as Dr?mn?l shined beside her. She vomited out all her hate at her angry spear, “You’re the worst thing that has ever happened to me! You never worked, and you never gave me anything you blunted old rock! Be gone from me!”, she screamed as she rose up and seized Dr?mn?l up into her hands. Eriu thought hard as she held Dr?mn?l and immediately thought of her mother and how Eriu hurt inside. Her feelings of sadness and rage coated Dr?mn?l in a faint whirl of chaotic light. Dr?mn?l hummed as she held it and it filled with her malice like a black serpent coiling itself around her stomach and Dr?mn?l, pulling them together in a tight knot. Eriu pulled her arm back and with all her strength she threw Dr?mn?l shouting, “Don’t return to me, stupid useless rock!”
Eriu extended her small arm and launched the spear with all her might, but it did not fly towards the open sea. Dr?mn?l forbade Eriu from using it as a weapon and it swiftly descended into the crystal blue waters beneath the majestic swan barge hovering in air. Dr?mn?l splashed down like a stone into the once still waters beneath the motionless barge above. Dr?mn?l had again denied Eriu what she had wanted.
Eriu screamed out at her spear, “Well at least you’re gone from me! Stay down there ten thousand years till someone bothers coming to look for you, you crusty old stone! I hate you forever so it won’t me who will come looking for you all the way down there!”
The poison inside Eriu from all the bites of Dr?mn?l’s serpents made Eriu’s vision waiver in her fury. She looked around herself for balance. Her body ached suddenly for food as her stomach churned. She saw again the basket of apple provisions left within the barge with her. Eriu smelled the aroma of the sliced pie she’d become accustom to from her mother forcing her to eat it. Her stomach churned at her friend’s sweet floral apple scent hanging on the sea breeze, but her mouth watered against her will at the thought of the taste of her friend’s sweet apples.
Eriu could not help herself. She crawled over to the basket desperately like a starving rat and began to feast on the delicious pies, cakes, and ciders in the basket. Eriu starved and needed her friend’s apples to restore her, but as she ate Eriu cried more tears. The memories of her friends that Eriu kept secret within her memory from Danu by not thinking of them at all suddenly sprang up with every bite she took of Danu’s confections in the basket.
In her mind's eye, Eriu watched as she and the young Nymphs frolicked in the ocean waves and collected shimmering shells along the beach. She recalled joyfully tumbling down the rolling hills of lush green grass with her dear friends, landing in beds of fragrant rainbow colored flowers below. Eriu missed those long past days and her lost friends more and more with every bite she took from their apples.
Eriu felt disgusted with herself that she had eaten her friends on her own. “This was what you wanted wasn’t it, you sick trout!?”, she rose up and screamed out at her mother over the side of the boat. “This is what your aim was! To abandon me and force me to eat my happiness and my friends away! Bitch!”, she screamed at her mother who could not hear her.
Eriu turned back to the basket and seized it and chucked it and all its contents into the flat and still sea. The shredded wicker basket hit the water and exploded it contents out where Dr?mn?l had fallen before and sank like stone to join Eriu’s spear at the bottom of the motionless sea.
Eriu fell to her knees and sobbed at her sadness and how pathetic she felt. Even from all the way at the bottom of the ocean Dr?mn?l pulled at her and her pain and made both worse. Eriu cried and cried. She realized she felt her spear pulling at her, even from deep below. She realized that now that she had discarded Dr?mn?l there was nothing really special about her anymore. She was just Eriu, a Tuatha with no strength, no conduit, and no chance to prove Danu wrong. Suddenly Eriu couldn’t stand that.
Tears streamed down Eriu's cheeks as she now yearned for the return of Dr?mn?l. She called out to it repeatedly, her voice filled with desperation. "Dr?mn?l! Please rise up from the water, you stubborn rock!" But her harsh words yielded no response; Dr?mn?l remained lost in the deep stillness beneath the sea. Sorrow and guilt overtook her, and she spoke more gently this time, hoping to coax her spear back to her. "Dr?mn?l, I'm sorry for throwing you down there! Please come back to me so we can find a way off this boat together! You might make a good paddle too, I didn't think of that before! Please, come up now!" Her cries echoed off the sea, but only the gentle sound of water lapping against the side of the boat answered her.
Eriu distressed that Dr?mn?l would not come to her. She began to climb out over the rail of the boat thinking of jumping in after Dr?mn?l, but just as she about to think about jumping the calm and still waters began to churn up under the barge into great waves all around Eriu. The waves tossed the swan barge which continued to always remain above the breaking waves no matter how high the waves had become. The barge held in a steady level as it rose and fell quickly to the churning sea. Eriu was forced to cling to the railing of the Swan Barge to keep from soaring off and over the side of the boat into the wild ocean waves.
Eriu heard in a booming voice that shocked the air like a clap of thunder, “Who threw that spear at me?!”, the voice boomed out from everywhere questioning Eriu who clung to her mother’s barge in fear, “Was it you who did it?!”. the voice clapped out from below the violent waves.
Ogma's massive form emerged from the roiling, angry sea, his size making him seem like a mountain rising from the depths. His skin was rough and mottled, like the surface of a weathered rock, and his limbs were thick and muscular capped with ancient stones of black shoral and brighter stones of topaz and lapis lazuli. He towered over Eriu and the barge, his head almost reaching the clouds.
Ogma emerged from the tumultuous sea, his enormous body rising higher with each powerful wave. He stood tall and imposing, towering over the barge and Eriu who watched in shock as he rose up, grasping tightly onto the railing. His skin as he grew from the sea became slicker and the color of a clear sky at noon, but still adorned with barnacles and seaweed. His eyes glimmered like lightning as his voice boomed like thunder.
“Why do you not answer me imp?! Do you know who you have assaulted with your spear?! I am Ogma, cloud rider! I am a brother of Delbáed of Mag Itha, true King of Fomorians, and I will have your due respect little Fal Bolg!”, the giant screamed, and as he did roaring lighting exploded from his eyes frightening Eriu who clung to her barge with her eyes shut to the force of wind coming from Ogma’s shouting.
The fierce winds coming from Ogma’s shouting rocked the swan barge and drowned out Eriu's screams with Ogma's own powerful shouts. Despite the chaos, and Ogma's swift movements, he followed Eriu and her barge. With his massive arms he captured the rolling waves and kept them from sweeping Eriu too far from him. The churning waves Ogma made with his arms trapped the graceful swan in a wide circle around Ogma as he rose up from below, creating a massive whirlpool in the water that tethered Eriu and her barge in a path around his enormous body.
“Do you want to begin our ancient and bitter war anew, little fool?”, Ogma the giant yelled out into the clouds which blew away from his mouth with his screaming. “I think your kin will not last long if you should be thinking to do that by throwing this spear at me, and what a little prick you are for dumping a basket of food on me after you assaulted me with your spear! I should step on you and your boat, and I think I will you cretin!!”, the Giant threatened as the sea churned up under Eriu’s jumping barge.
Ogma continued his shouting as he quickly approached Eriu, “I was minding my own down there watching the clouds pass by! I took no care of you and your little boat till you decided to be a rude little cuss! I will stomp you good, Fal Bolg Imp! Come here to me and let me stomp you!”, he insisted as he jogged after Eriu’s barge soaring along in the whirlpool he had created. Each step Ogma took made the waves leap up in his path.”
Eriu clung to the boat and pleaded to the giant Ogma. “Please, Ogma, Cloud Rider,” she begged, “I am no Fal Bolg, and I did not mean to harm you with my spear Dr?mn?l! Forgive me please! Don’t stomp me, please! I didn’t know you were even there on the bottom! I’m sorry I hurt you!”
Ogma grew more insulted at her words, “What do you mean you harmed me, you little insignificant sardine! I am unharmed here! You only insult me with your lies and your rude stick you tossed at me! No one comes here to where the sea currents come to die! Only I ever do! You must have come to attack me, Imp!”, roared Ogma out into the sky as he stomped his feet and made Eriu’s boat soar high and higher. The swan barge ascended with the waves smoothly into the clouds, maintaining a level course and never tilting even as it rose higher and higher into the sky.
Eriu clung to the railing and screamed out her lungs, “I did not mean to offend you, Ogma, Cloud Rider! Have mercy on me, I’m begging you, please! I am telling it true! I didn’t know you were down there to hit with Dr?mn?l!”
Ogma stomped his feet harder trying to make Eriu fall from the swan and into the sea so he could stomp her into a seed. The waves grew higher and higher as Ogma stomped and Eriu clung to the swan barge and screamed. Ogma stomped so hard and his anger was so great he did not realize Dr?mn?l had fallen from his powerful grasp and back to the churning sea. Ogma continued churning the waves that now towered up like mountains at Ogma’s furious stomping under Eriu’s soaring barge
Ogma cruelly laughed at Eriu as she screamed in fear, “You’re worse than the barnacles in corners of my toenails to get off! Let go of your barge so I can stomp you to seed, little Fal Bolg! I promise to feed you a drop of Theia’s water maybe in a thousand springs from now when I’ve cooled off some about you throwing your blunt little stick at me!”, Ogma laughed out, making the waves spill out from around each of his mighty guffaws.
Ogma’s joyous and cruel laugh echoed out across the sky like rattling thunder. He screamed out loudly as a threat which made the heavens quake with his voice cracking out in fury, “Let your seeding be a warning to all Fal Bolg that Ogma, Cloud Rider, brother of Delbáed will suffer no insults from lowly Fal Bolg clown-fish! I will not suffer your antics or your games!”, he screamed out loudly into the sky as he stomped his feet. “Fall, damn you, little Fal Bolg! Fall and bother me no more!”, the giant Ogma said screaming at Eriu clinging still to her barge at his assault of waves threw her small swan barge high up into the sky.
Ogma was consumed with thoughts of revenge, so much so that he and even Eriu failed to notice Dr?mn?l rolling between Ogma's toes as he stomped his massive feet beneath the sea's surface. The tiny spear, smaller than even a splinter to the giant Ogma had lodged itself in the barnacles on his toes and stabbed his foot like a pin. Dr?mn?l’s blade pierced deep and Ogma wailed out into the sky making the clouds roll with his wailing, “Ahhhoowwwww!!!”
Ogma let out a loud cry as he frantically lifted his leg in an attempt to reach Dr?mn?l, but the weight of the water held him back from reaching out to it. Despite his efforts, his leg could not rise high enough to extract Dr?mn?l from between his sensitive toes.
“Blast you, damn water! Why is it always the sea that’s the one to pester me the most! Danu you will not best me this time!”, he vowed before whining out, “Oooooh!”, over his sore toes. Ogma wailed as he hopped and tried desperately to reach Dr?mn?l between his toes, but Ogma’s big and his stony fingers could not reach Dr?mn?l poking him. “Oh, this is an evil trick you did! You’re a foul Fal Bolg, indeed! Where did you learn such devilry, imp? How did you find a weapon that can pierce my thick hide?! Speak it!”, the mighty Ogma demanded as a hiss of lightning from between his lips as he struggled to remove Dr?mn?l from between his toes, “How do I get this little splinter you gave me out, you mean sprite!”
Eriu did not know what the injured Ogma meant really. She knew that her spear stabbed him, but Ogma mentioned Danu. Eriu instead of being afraid suddenly became furious with Ogma whose stomping and jumping still caused her such panic. Eriu screamed to Ogma an angry accusation, “Did my mother Danu send you to pester me, giant?! Is that why you were hiding under my boat? You were waiting to torment me for her, weren’t you?”, said Eriu meanly.“You’re a cruel giant! I am glad my spear makes your foot hurt!”, she announced proudly to the waiting Ogma whose ears perked at the mention of Danu’s name again.
Ogma slowed his leaps of agony and turned to face Eriu, his Fomorian eyes sharp as diamonds as she soared through the clouds. He watched her descent on a tall wave, still screaming in anger at him. As the wave shortened, he reached out with his hand and caught Eriu. Ogma felt a small smile spread across his face despite his pain. Ogma stopped jumping and carefully placed his sore foot at the bottom of the sea on his heel to avoid stepping on Eriu's spear again.
“What do you want from me giant?!”, said Eriu squinting her eyes hatefully and blocking the shine of light refracting as rainbows off of Ogma’s sharp eyes. Eriu gritted her teeth furiously looking up at Ogma from her barge in his palm. “I have nothing!”, she admitted flatly to him. “Nothing of value! The only thing I have you already keep between your toes, giant! Return it to me if it pains you so!, she insisted loudly up at him. “It’s worth nothing! It’s a useless rock, but my mother Danu you also complain of gave me that stupid rock so it is mine! Return it, Ogma Cloud Rider!”, she screamed furiously shaking her head as she did.
Despite the pain coursing through his body, Ogma couldn't help but burst into loud laughter at the words coming out of her mouth. She was so small next to him, yet she was furiously screaming at him. He let out a deep laugh reminiscent of thunder and replied, "Haha! What a clever jest! You believe a mere rock can harm a Fomorian? But we are made of rocks ourselves!"
Ogma furrowed his brow, disapproving and disappointed as he began to speak in a booming voice. "In the ancient past before the first great war ended, we tore all the stones you find from our own fallen kin to use them as weapons against the Fal Bolg during The Making of the Stones! Didn't your mother Danu ever tell you about their origins?!" Ogma asked, suddenly feeling offended. "With old Dagda around, you'd think you would know more about our history and songs, little starlight!" He added with a touch of kindness in his tone, for reasons unknown.
Eriu's anger was evident as she yelled at Ogma while clinging to the marble railing of her mother’s swan barge in fear of falling into the sea and under Ogma’s big feet."Do you really think those two would tell me anything? They hate me," she cried out, her voice full of raw emotion as she told the giant of her parents. "Dagda won't even look at me or share one of his stories with me, and Danu, that hateful shark of a woman, abandoned me here with a basket full of my friends whom I could not bear to look at! I apologize for it falling on you, but I can't even use the spear she forced upon me that bothers you so much. And now, because of all this, I have been cast out by Danu to wander aimlessly on her sea and to be bothered by you, Ogma Cloud Rider!" Eriu's words were filled with fury as she vented her rage at Ogma holding her in her palm.
Unbeknownst to Eriu her venomous serpent created from her spear, manifested from her rage and spewed a venom into Ogma’s toe. The unsuspecting giant fell to a knee in pain, sending rolling waves out from him as he caught his balance from falling over. He almost dropped Eriu, but he managed to not. Eriu remained clung to the swan and the rail in Ogma’s enormous palm.
“Oooooh, Ahhhh! That stings, it does!”, he complained and pouted over his sore toe as he struggled to stand back up from the water. “Please don’t assault me, little Starlight! I am sorry I made you cross!” Ogma’s eyes began to drop tiny blue and clear topaz gems from the corners of his eyes at his pain as he yelled, “Please do something about your spear sticking in me, little one! You’re burning me with it!, I beg you.
Eriu gazed down at Ogma, his tears sparkling like jewels in the sunlight. Despite causing her great distress, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the giant. She saw how her spear pained him, and how he cried. She also saw how Ogma, despite his struggling, could not lift his body fully from the sea. Unsure of how to react, she remained seated atop her majestic Swan and observed him crying. She debated whether or not to intervene, considering his previous rudeness.
She considered also though the fact that she had accidentally injured him with Dr?mn?l and spilled her basket of her friends over him. Ultimately, she reluctantly offered her assistance by saying to Ogma with a warning tone, "I can try to retrieve Dr?mn?l from your toe, but only if you promise not to stomp me. I will leave it otherwise!", she promised the sobbing Ogma who looked at her expectantly now.
With a deep, rumbling voice like thunder, Ogma asked, "Would you do that kindness for me, little one?", he asked happily now as he rumbled the still waves beneath him with his every word. “I swear I would not harm you if you do remove the spear! It stings like a fire on my foot! I swear on my honor as Ogma, Cloud Rider, Brother of Delbáed of Mag Itha, that I will not crush you, little one! You have my word!”, Ogma said placing his giant hand over his heart as he promised to Eriu he’d not crush her for helping him.
Eriu was still hesitant, unsure if she should trust Ogma's words. After all, he had been rude to her earlier trying to stomp her to death. But the sight of him crying and in pain tugged at her heartstrings. She knew that she couldn't leave him with Dr?mn?l stuck in his toe. Eriu was beginning to regret throwing her spear, and she even missed Dr?mn?l by her side a little.
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She looked at Ogma for a moment before finally nodding her head. "Alright, but you must keep your promise," she said firmly, not wanting to take any chances.
Ogma released a sigh of relief and gave a nod of his mountainous head. He spoke in his booming voice, "I swear to you, little Starlight, I will not harm you. But how do you plan to help me with your spear stuck in my toe?" There was sincerity in his tone as he spoke on, "My foot is firmly planted on the ground and it's quite deep for someone as small as you. Even if I lift my leg as high as possible, it's still a perilous dive down. Can you truly manage it?", he asked with genuine concern etched on his face and evident in his low yet powerful voice.
“I can handle diving down if you can simply balance on one foot and not topple over!”, she said giving Ogma a serious look of her own, “I've swam with my mother's Nymphs before - they go deep into the sea, and so can I. I am not as weak as you seem to believe, Ogma Cloud Rider!”, she declared proudly yet also feeling insulted by Ogma suggesting she would struggle to help him. “Just stand still with your foot up, like a proper giant, while I retrieve my spear from under it!”, she commanded in her small but fierce voice, glaring at the towering figure of Ogma who couldn't help but smile at her courage. Eriu added firmly, “And after that, I want an explanation for why you keep calling me starlight - we are not acquainted, Ogma Cloud Rider!”, she insisted before releasing her grip on the railing of her mother's barge and diving into the frigid and tumultuous waters below.
The icy water crashed against Eriu's face, the impact feeling like a rough rock. She dove gracefully from her mother's swan into the water, but the currents were strong and threatened to pull her the wrong way down along Ogma's legs . Despite this, Eriu was grateful for the secret diving lessons she had with her friend Elen on the secluded beaches of Brasil as she curved her body to catch a better current of water moving down to follow.
As she dove Eriu couldn’t help but think of Elen more. Elen and Eriu would often bask in the sun, discussing with one another how they’d one day escape from Brasil and Danu. They both yearned for freedom, and as they lay there, Eriu couldn't help but feel like she was diving into the unknown, searching for a giant's toe along his thigh. His skirt of hulking green seaweed and hefting metal pteruges cast from every kind of metal imaginable glinted sharply in Eriu’s eyes under the faint sea light, the dark depths only added to Ogma’s imposing figure. “I hope this giant honors his vow while I’m diving this far down for him. I don’t think I could get away if he tried to stomp me now. He’s so enormous!”, she thought as she dove further down.
Eriu felt the urge to look back and see how far she’d come, but she did not as doing so would have disrupted the current carrying her down into the dark depths beyond her. “How tall is this giant Ogma?!”, she thought as she ran out of current and had to begin to kick her way down along Ogma’s femur searching for his toe waiting at the end of it.
Eriu noticed a flickering light near Ogma's feet in the water below. His long, twisted braid dangled and churned like smoke, creating bolts of lightning as it tangled around a massive anchor resembling a golden mountain. The braid wrapped itself tightly around the anchor, securing Ogma to the ocean floor. “That’s why he cannot reach his feet and my spear! He’s tied down!”, she realized looking at Ogma’s feet in her free dive down to near the ocean’s bottom.
Eriu swam towards Ogma's toe with determination, her hair flowing around her like a dark cloud in the water. Her chest was starting to feel the strain of her breaths, and the depth of the sea weighed on her. The currents were strong and she had to use all her strength to push against them, but she refused to give up. She was determined to retrieve Dr?mn?l and fulfill her promise to Ogma Cloud Rider.
The cold sea was an abyssal black, enveloping everything in its depths. The only source of light was from the glinting reflections off of Omga's Pteruges skirt, shimmering in the darkness like a beacon from high above her.
The deep, dark sea seemed to swallow everything in its reach, stretching out into endless abyss. Eriu could barely see her hand in front of her face, but above her, she could make out the faint glint of light reflecting off of shimmering metal strips hanging from Ogma's skirt. The light cascaded down like a dazzling waterfall into the black depths below.
As she reached Ogma's toe, she could see the glint of Dr?mn?l embedded in the giant's flesh. Without hesitation, Eriu grabbed hold of the spear and pulled with all her might. The giant's braid tightened around the anchor as he struggled against it, causing his whole body to shake. “Don’t fall stupid giant!”, she thought as her eyes widened at Ogma’s shaking at her pulling her spear from his toe.
Eriu clung tightly to Dr?mn?l, all while Ogma wriggled his toes and tried to shake off his sudden discomfort. “I must really have hurt Ogma when I threw Dr?mn?l.”, she thought feeling bad for the suffering giant. She couldn't help feeling sorry for Ogma, imagining how painful it must be for him. In her mind, she spoke kindly to her spear, pleading with it to stop hurting the gentle giant. “Dr?mn?l, please stop hurting the giant Ogma. I think he might be a nice giant!”, she insisted, meaning it and pulling hard with all her strength.
As Eriu pulled on Dr?mn?l she felt a surge of power coursing through her body. She didn’t really understand why or how, but in that small moment of her pleading with Dr?mn?l she was able to rip both Dr?mn?l and the barnacles that had been stuck in the corners of Ogma's toes out of from his rocky toenails where Dr?mn?l had been lodged. She cracked the barnacles and they fell away from Ogma like brittle sand all in one mighty pull!
Eriu was pushed back through the currents by the strength of her powerful tug, sending her and Dr?mn?l flying backwards into the dark sea. She felt relieved to have retrieved her spear, but as she floated in the water with it, she wondered, "How did I manage to control Dr?mn?l? Why did you help me now, but never any other time!" Eriu questioned her spear feeling frustrated that Dr?mn?l was so picky and choosy about helping her, but as usual, there was no response. The shimmering light emanating from the weapon faded into darkness once again. “Ugggh! Stupid rock! Why did I come rescue you?!”, she thought loudly at her spear as she got ready to ascend up along Omga’s legs.
But just as Eriu thought she had succeeded in freeing Dr?mn?l from Ogma's toe and was about to be free from the cold sea, the giant suddenly lost his balance and began to fall backwards into the water. Eriu and Dr?mn?l were swept up and pulled along with him by the force of his fall.
She struggled against the strong currents and managed to swim out from under Ogma before he hit the ocean floor. Eriu managed to grab hold of Ogma’s skirt of Pteruges. She clutched hold of a coppery stud on one of the hulking strips of metal. She looked up in shock as Ogma's massive body crashed down in front of her, creating a cloud of sand and debris that made it nearly impossible for her to see anything.
Amidst the chaos, Eriu held onto Dr?mn?l tightly in her hand. She struggled to comprehend what had just occurred as the pteruge she clung to bounced up and down on Ogma's skirt, colliding with the other pteruges. The force of the collision launched Eriu off the stud she was holding onto, propelling her upwards and away from Ogma and the ocean floor. Despite feeling shaken from the impact, Eriu was given a stroke of luck: a wave caused by Ogma crashing into the sea floor propelled her closer to the surface as the water was displaced by the giant's fall.
Eriu's vision blurred as she tumbled through the water, her eyes desperately searching for any glimmer of light that could lead her to the surface. The darkness of the ocean seemed to swallow her and she could barely make out the shapes of Ogma's massive body and the floating debris.
As Eriu tumbled through the water, she strained her eyes to see any glimmer of light in the dark depths. The murky water swirled around her, making it difficult to see, but she kept her gaze fixed on looking for the surface, hoping for a way out of the churning clouds of sand.
In her tumbling through the water Eriu watched closely for any sign of light coming for the surface, “Elen would tell me look for the light and don’t lose it! Look Eriu, Look!”, she implored herself as she tumbled through the cold water looking for the way back to the surface and air. She was rapidly losing air. The shock of the pteruges had made her lose her breath and almost Dr?mn?l as well, but she managed somehow to still cling to her silver spear.
Eriu's vision blurred as she tumbled through the murky water, but she still strained to see any glimmer of light from the surface that Elen had taught her to look for. The distant sunbeams filtering through the water seemed unreachable, mocking her as she struggled to find her way back to the surface. In her hand, she could see the glint of her silver spear, a small source of hope amidst the chaos.
“Help me, please, Dr?mn?l!”, she begged her spear in her mind, but Dr?mn?l did not respond to her thoughts or fear. “Stupid rock!”, she shouted at it, “I might die like a Fal Bolg here! I don’t know if Tuatha become seeds! Help me!”, she begged again, but still Dr?mn?l refused to help her. “Fine! I don’t need you to help me!” she thought harshly at her spear, “I can help me better than you ever have, dumb rock!”, she complained as suddenly a break in the debris appeared.
A small ray of light flew past Eriu’s eyes, “There! It’s there!”, Eriu thought happily as she kicked for the light and the surface. Eriu felt her fatigue plateau suddenly from struggling to swim, Eriu forced herself to move towards the faint glow ahead. But her limbs felt heavy and her vision dimmed as she realized that all this time that she had been screaming at Dr?mn?l in her head and searching for the light in the dark she’d been in a state of suffocation. She began to choke on the salty sea water she struggled to breathe in her panic. Her vision went black, and as it did a hand of a giant came up from below the darkness and seized her in its grasp.
Eriu was whisked through the water and up she emerged with the giant’s fist to the surface of the water. The breakwater poured over the giant’s hand and over from Eriu and Dr?mn?l against her as she was lifted up and through the air to face Ogma, with a look of guilt on his face.
“Are you okay, little one?”, Ogma asked, concerned. Ogma opened his fist and saw Eriu lying there motionless still gripping her now glowing spear. A shielding aura of light held around the unconscious Eriu from Dr?mn?l who protected Eriu from Ogma’s grasping her from the water when she fainted.
Ogma peered at Dr?mn?l with his sharp and exacting gaze and he let out a little moan, “Hmmmm. Yes. I see.”, he hummed as he examined Dr?mn?l and the aura protecting Eriu in the giant’s palm. Omga let out a small sigh as he stood up to his full height from the water carefully so he didn’t drop Eriu back into the water. Ogma exclaimed as he rose up from the seabed, “You’re a good spear, but you’ll be needing to free her from your barrier. I need to help her breathe! You’ll have to trust me. I didn’t mean to fall on her. I swear I didn’t!”, the Giant Ogma professed to Dr?mn?l who glowed angrily at Ogma for harming Eriu, but its shine began to dull and the barrier around Eriu faded.
Ogma let out a sigh of relief, making the clouds disperse from around his head. "I'm grateful that you trust me," he said, sounding a bit more at ease as he addressed Dr?mn?l before placing his massive finger on Eriu's tiny stomach and gently pressing down. Eriu coughed up sea water onto Ogma's blue fingertip, eliciting a gasp from her as she struggled to catch her breath. Ogma smiled down at her with an expression of relief. "Thank goodness! I was so worried about you, Little Starlight! I thought I may have accidentally crushed you when I slipped. How did you manage to pull my foot so hard? I’m not exactly the smallest of the Fomori!" he asked chuckling, but his happy eyes looked at Eriu with a hint of suspicion, "How did you even do that?" he added softly as Eriu continued to cough up water onto his large and open palm.
Eriu looked up at Ogma as she spit out more briny seawater into Ogma’s hand. Her glare was scathing as she looked at the happy towering giant looking at her with his wide grin on his face, “Who are you to be bombarding me with all these questions when you just nearly fell on top of me! You said you wouldn’t!”, she exclaimed furiously between her gasps for air and struggling to catch her breath. Her lungs burned her and she began to choke more making her fall forward, but she caught herself with Dr?mn?l’s hilt before she fell the full distance.
Eriu took some deep breaths into her stinging lungs and calmed her mind a moment before returning her angry eyes back to Ogma and exclaiming loudly despite her shallow breathing, “Why do you keep calling me Little Starlight? You aren’t my father, and even he has never once called me that, so why should you?!”, she accused Ogma as she then pointed Dr?mn?l at him accusingly. “Answer that before you begin to bombard me with all your questions, Ogma Cloud Rider, light of foot!”, she added venomously, still glaring fiercely at the giant Ogma who smiled at her.
Ogma let out a shallow chuckle that caused ripples in the sea below him. "I apologize for being so formal," he said, "but I've known your mother for many years. It feels like I've known you since birth, but of course, you wouldn't remember me at all. I have not seen you since you were very small, indeed! Though you have not grown overmuch since I last saw you.", Ogma said with a curious look on his face as he examined Eriu closer with his strong Fomorian eyes that can see through even the thickest of stone. He nodded his head as he spoke, "Would it bother you if I called you Little Starlight? I won't if it offends you, my young one," Ogma said in a more relaxed tone to ease Eriu as he continued to examine her and Dr?mn?l in her hand.
Eriu thought on if it did offend her that Ogma called her Little Starlight, and she decided that it really didn’t. She even really liked it a little that Ogma did call her Little Starlight. It felt paternal and fatherly to her a little. Eriu had never really had a father before. Dagda was no father to her, but she felt a little embarrassed she did instinctively feel that way about Ogma whom she just met calling her that, so she said, “Call me what you will, Ogma Cloud Rider! It matters not to me, but know my name is Eriu! You can always call me that!”, she said with a hint of aggression as she crossed her arms and watched Ogma looking at her with a peculiar look on his enormous face, “What are you doing, Ogma? Why are you looking at me like that?”, she complained, feeling uncomfortable suddenly under Ogma’s diamond sharp gaze.
“Hmmm..”, he began as he examined Eriu in his palm, “Did you know you have a knot?”, he asked pondering over Eriu as he looked on at her glaring at him angrily. “How long have you had it, your knot, do you know?”, he asked Eriu sincerely as he watched her face, gauging her response as she spoke.
"What are even you going on about, giant?! What knot? I don't have a knot!", Eriu exclaimed, looking at Ogma like he was a fool. "Did you hit your enormous noggin on something when you fell?"
Ogma chuckled and shook his head. "No, little one, I did not hit my head," he said, still holding her in his palm. "I am talking about the knot in your heart!"
Eriu's eyes widened in confusion. "What knot? I have no idea what you are talking about!"
"Everyone has an aura, little Eriu.," Ogma explained patiently. "It determines who we are and who we will become. But yours is different than most."
Eriu's brow furrowed in distress upon hearing this news. "What do you mean I'm different? Is there something wrong with me? My mother always says I'm broken, but she never explains why! What do you know?" She turned to Ogma, hoping he had the answers to the questions she had been longing for.
Ogma shook his head again and smiled reassuringly at her. "I do not think you are broken, child of Danu. I think you are a puzzle yet solved, but I know someone close by who loves puzzles and games!”, he declared to Eriu with a kind smile.
Eriu felt a mix of emotions flood through her - fear, excitement, curiosity. She had never heard of such a thing before as someone having a knot in their heart, and this new hope of finding someone who could help with it sent Eriu into a fit of happiness. Dr?mn?l shined in her hand with her excitement though Eriu seemed to not notice it doing so.
"How do you know all of this?" she asked Ogma with her young and expectant smile beaming on her childlike face. Eriu clutched Dr?mn?l against her as she looked to Ogma for answers.
"I am a Cloud Rider," he replied simply, “Or once long ago I was, anyway. A cloud rider must have sharp eyes to see where they are going and what lies below them.”, Ogma said with a smile as he began to walk through the deep water towards the east and the setting sun.
Eriu looked at him expectantly for further explanation as they strode together through the waves, she sitting now comfortably in Ogma’s upturned palm.
"We Femorians are beings that can see the knotted roots of Akash. We follow her roots deep into the earth and beyond, even.," Ogma continued, his voice taking on a far-off quality as if lost in thought. "Some Femori can help guide those knotted roots that are tangled or unclear, but I don’t think I possess the power or knowledge to undo your knot, but I know others who may have those gifts. I will take you to Atlantis and your aunt Brigid. She may have answers for you, little Eriu. If anyone would, it’d be her.", Ogma said sounding sure of his decision to bring Eriu to Atlantis and her aunt Brigid.
As they walked, and Ogma carried Eriu in his palm through the deep ocean, Eriu couldn't help but feel a little scared at the mention of Atlantis. She had heard stories about the legendary city from her mother, but she had always dismissed them as just that - stories. But now it seemed like she was actually going to visit this mythical place she’d only ever heard of.
An excitement suddenly took Eriu as she shouted up at Ogma’s smiling face, "What is Atlantis like?" she asked Ogma, trying to hide her anxious fear with curiosity.
"Well, I have only visited a few times myself, but it is quite magnificent. It is ruled by your aunt and… Well.. Someone else," Ogma replied with a somewhat terse, but otherwise fatherly smile. "It's a city built entirely of crystal and light, with towering buildings and beautiful gardens. The city is built on three rings that turn in the sky above three rings that lay in the sea. The people who live there are just as magical as the city itself. Well…", he paused a moment to collect his words before continuing speaking, “Most are anyway. There are some who are lacking in that regard who are welcomed into the city, but they are few and kept far from where those belonging to the Sidhe reside. You will understand better when you witness it yourself, little Eriu.”, said Ogma, letting his voice trail off into the cloudy sky.
Eriu watched how Ogma struggled to move quickly in the water. “Ogma, you never answered why you are tied to an anchor! Can we undo it? You will walk faster if we do, but don’t fall on me if we try to untie you!”, said Eriu pointing her spear Dr?mn?l accusingly at Ogma who looked perplexed at Eriu asking again about his braid being tied to an anchor.
Ogma shifted uneasily, struggling to find the right words when asked about his peculiar braid being tied to an anchor. Ogma’s eyes shifted to the far horizon as he stuttered out, “I.. Um..Well..”, he stammered.
"Are you tangled up with the anchor by accident?" asked Eriu out of the blue. "If you're embarrassed, it's fine. You don't have to explain how it happened. But I can dive down and try to untangle you if you promise not to accidentally fall on me again!"
“No, no! Don’t go trying to touch it! It’s a foul thing that’s tied to my braid, little Eriu. I..uh.. I made your grandmothers upset a long time ago. They had my braid tied to that anchor of Oricalculm for something I should not have done. The knots of my braid cannot be undone, little Eriu, but thank you for wanting to help me. You are very kind, indeed.”, said Ogma graciously as he bowed his head in thanks for Eriu’s offer of assistance.
Eriu's only response was a soft "oh." Watching Ogma limp through the sea, trying his best to help her reach Atlantis and undo the knot in her heart that he had told her about, she felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. She had accidentally injured him with Dr?mn?l and even spilled her basket of food on him, yet he still persisted in helping her.
"Ogma, I could go back to my boat. I'll figure out a way to get to Atlantis on my own. You don't have to keep fighting the sea for me. You've already done so much. Thank you!" she exclaimed, attempting to ease her feelings of guilt.
Ogma chuckled heartily at her naivety and her hesitation to accept his assistance. After finishing his jovial laughter, he flashed a wide grin with a mouth full of rough diamond teeth and proudly declared, "Once upon a time, I soared among the sky. That's how I gained my name, Ogma Cloud Rider - that's what my brethren called me." He took a deep breath of the sea air and let out a sigh so powerful that it created great waves that reached up to his waist. Once the ocean settled, Ogma collected his thoughts and continued speaking to Eriu, who listened patiently from the palm of his hand.
"In those ancient times when I still soared through the heavens, we Femori were at war with the treacherous Fal Bolg. They were not the shadows and fiends you know now," he said with a shake of his head. "No, in those days, the Fal Bolg were formidable creatures belonging to nature. They wielded mighty magic, and their sorceress priestess Ole Gran was a force of destruction and calculated horror for us Femori.”, Eriu watched Ogma struggling to walk through the ocean as he told her more of his tale, and her guilt grew more with his every word.
“We were nothing more than slaves to our Wyrd mothers who commanded us as loyal warriors.", said Ogma as again his crystal blue tears fell from his eyes into the sea. “I lost many fellow Cloud Riders trying to breach the walls of Fal Bolg temples and their strong holds for the Wyrd. I have brought countless Fal Bolg to return to seeds again with these hands that hold you.”, he laughed weakly now as his eyes drifted away in his remembering the past as he spoke on, “I am no innocent with these hands stained with the blood of my friends and the Fal Bolg, so any good I can do to balance the scales I try to achieve. Think no more of my trying to help you, little Eriu. It is really just me being selfish.”, Ogma said smiling his fatherly smile again at Eriu who looked away from his smile in her feelings of guilt.
Eriu was at a loss for how to feel. All she could do was sit and listen as Ogma shared his emotional story of his past. His tears pained her, and she desperately wanted to help her new friend, but she didn't know how. "How can I be of any use when I'm so small and weak? I can't even wield my spear properly," she thought sadly, feeling powerless. "Mother would say I'm useless and incapable of helping anyone, especially a giant like Ogma," she mused in frustration. But then, Eriu remembered Ogma's mention of knowing her mother Danu for a long time. This sparked a new curiosity in her, and she suddenly blurted out, "Hey, Ogma! You said you've known my mother for a while now. Was she always so mean? Did you know her when she was young?" Eriu couldn't resist asking about her mother's past behavior in her youth.
Ogma's nerves were suddenly on edge when Eriu mentioned Danu. He stammered, trying to find the right words. "Well...um...your mother hasn't always been unkind," he finally managed to say. "I'm sorry that seems to be your only experience with her. I don't know why that is, but I can imagine she still carries a lot of pain from her past. Still, that's no excuse for how she treats you, my dear. And for that, I apologize." Ogma's eyes filled with sorrow as he struggled to meet Eriu's gaze.
Ogma shifted nervously before starting to speak. "Back when I was younger and I had the pleasure of knowing your mother better," he began, his words carefully chosen. "She was a vibrant soul who adored music. She had the kindest heart I've ever known." He looked away, fixated on the waves below instead of meeting Eriu's gaze as he spoke about Danu. "She and your aunt Brigid were the only Tuatha who truly showed us Femorians any kindness. We even considered making her our queen at one point, but it never came to fruition. I believe she still carries the pain of that rejection." Ogma wiped away more tears of blue crystals with his free hand. "I know many Femori still carry that sadness to this day, but choices were made. That is fate’s design," he said, giving Eriu a weak smile as his eyes glistened with tears of topaz.
Eriu's mind was in turmoil as she processed Ogma's words. She couldn't reconcile Ogma’s kind, loving description of her mother with the woman she had known all her life. "That's not my mother. That's not Danu!" she thought bitterly to herself. "Danu isn't kind to anyone, and she isn't vibrant, just violent." Her heart ached at the realization that there may have been a different version of her mother, one who could have shown her love and kindness. “Why was she never kind to me if she was kind to Femorians?”, she thought as her own tears began to sting her eyes thinking of her mother.
But even as this new information stirred something within Eriu, her hatred for her mother still burned strong. She couldn't let go of all the pain and hurt that Danu had caused her throughout the years. The memories flooded back- harsh words, punishments for no reason, neglect and abandonment. Eriu felt herself getting angry again and she shook her head in disbelief. "No," she said firmly to Ogma. "I can't believe that my mother was ever kind or loving. I don’t know that Danu."
Ogma sighed, understanding Eriu's struggle to accept this new information about her mother. He knew that it would take time for her wounds to heal and for forgiveness to be possible. But he also knew because he was older than the stones that holding onto anger and bitterness would only bring more pain in the long run. "I understand your feelings, my dear Eriu," he said gently. "But I hope someday you can find it in your heart to forgive your mother, and I hope she can learn to love again. It sounds like you both need to relearn that particular lesson, maybe."
Through tears, Eriu spoke loudly and with a flat tone. "I can't forgive her," she said. "There's too much to forgive, I don't even know where to begin." She cried bitterly, as she gazed at the waves below while sitting on the edge of Ogma's palm next to Dr?mn?l, her feet dangling over the edge.
Ogma sympathized with Eriu's anguish and her reluctance to forgive Danu. He could see the pain etched in her eyes and understood that it would take time for her to recover. All he could manage in response was a quiet, "I understand," before his attention was drawn back to the rolling waves of the ocean. As they made their way to Atlantis together, Ogma's large legs dipped into the blue sea, causing ripples around them as they limped their way across the vast expanse of water towards Brigid and her potential solution to help with Eriu’s troubled heart…
As they made their journey through the shining waters of the sea Ogma grew uncomfortable with Eriu’s sad face and the uncomfortable silence between them and he began to tell her another story. “When I was a young stone back in Mag Itha I remember a time your mother had a long face like yours, little Miss.”, Ogma said down to Eriu who looked up to him with teary eyes.
“Why was she sad?”, Eriu asked genuinely interested in knowing more about her mother from her youth.
Ogma looked to her with a small nod as he began, “There was a time before your mother had her pretty crown she wears and a time when she was just a girl,” Ogma said smiling, “Once Danu had made the Wyrd very cross when in a moment of silly desperation.”, he said now shaking his head, “Your mother took one of the wyrd’s Bobbins from their loom Kismet they guard so jealously.”, Ogma stated darkly, “She claimed, to me at least, she wanted to change the future so we Femorians did not have to live so far from Tir Na n?g.”, he laughed at remembering, “She thought she could use the bobbin to move Mag Itha, our ancient stronghold at the bottom of the sea. She wanted to set Mag Itha below Tir Na n?g’s waves. She thought if we were all closer she could see us Femori she cared for every day, but she didn’t accomplish what she set after. Kismet only has one master and that’s the Wyrd.”, Ogma said with tears clinging to his eyes now. “She just wanted us to be more visible and less forgotten in court. She was kind.”, Ogma said then smiling down at Eriu. “You’re kind like Danu, too, little one. You just have to remember not to lose that light in you like Danu sounds like she may have.”, Ogma said weakly and with a frown, “You should be proud of what you did today. That was very brave, and I am grateful to you, little one.”, he said smiling at Eriu who looked up at Ogma feeling confused by his kindness to her.
Eriu asked, baffled. "Why are you being kind to me even though I accidentally threw a spear at you? Shouldn't you still be angry with me?" Eriu genuinely didn't understand Ogma’s kindness and his willingness to help her.
Ogma only laughed at her as if what she had asked was funny, “You must return kindness, little one!”, he mused, “Kindess is like a stone on a hill, and it stops when we stop digging the hill that stone called kindness rolls down. It’s up to each of us to make the stone roll and see it never stops, little one!”, Ogma said nodding. “I’m just doing my part. You were kind, too! You saved my toes and even got the gunk between them out! I couldn’t be more grateful, little one!”, he said beaming as they strode through the waves and a warm breeze blew off the ocean and swept Eriu’s long black hair as she smiled back at Ogma from his palm.
Eriu grew curious and asked up at Ogma casually, “What is your home like, Ogma? You said you live under the sea, so it is dark?”, she asked, looking up with her interested eyes to wait for Ogma’s reply.
Ogma smiled his fatherly smile down at Eriu who he carried. He looked at her and said, “No, Mag Itha is not so dark, little one. We have the light from Akash’s roots to warm our halls and grow our fields. They grow twisted in the secret places down below, and we Femori harvest Akash’s sap for the court.”, he said more darkly. “Our great halls extend deep into the darkness of the world and we follow the roots and her sap wherever we find it, little one.”
Eriu listened to Ogma’s words with wonder as she said, “I want to see Mag Itha and Akash’s roots. Do you think I would be able? I cannot even Ascend, so do you think I can go see the roots of Akash and your home?”
“Oh yes!”, he said excitedly as he carried her with him through the sea, “I will take you the the shining halls of my brother someday, little Eriu! It would be my honor to bring you to our court to greet my brother Delbáed. I think he would be very happy to meet you, little one!”, said Ogma jovially bounding along in the waves thinking on their journey they would have to Mag Itha, but he said with a more stern look crossing his face, “First we need to take you to your aunt. I think she will want to meet you as well, little Eriu. You need to be meeting her too to take care of that knot.”, he said nodding and bounding a little quicker with more of a sense of urgency to his limping steps.
“We're getting closer to Atlantis, but I'll need a break soon,” he explained as he stretched his neck trying to see beyond the horizon. “There's a lagoon nearby where the Mer reside in a palace made of coral. They call it Péarla Bríde and their stronghold stretches from the island into the depths of the sea. You'll find their history and culture fascinating if you continue your journey all the way to Mag Itha.” He smiled warmly as he shared this information, “The Mer share many of our Femorian customs and are like cousins to us. It will be a good place for you to gain insight into life in the deep sea and see how my brothers live in Mag Itha.” He nodded enthusiastically, revealing his rough diamond teeth once again to Eriu.
Eriu smiled back at Ogma who turned his head to look back out to sea. Eriu grew so excited. She had never been anywhere, and now this Ogma was promising to take her to see all these new places. He was going to help Eriu with her knot, even. Eriu was overwhelmed with joy as she bobbed along with Ogma in the sea. “I can’t wait to see this Péarla Bríde, and Atlantis after! I wonder what my aunt will be like” she thought as she laid back in Ogma’s palm and let the sun bathe her in its warm glow.
Eriu leaned up on her elbows and turned to Ogma, inquiring, "Do you know anything about my aunt? I've only seen her once." She couldn't help but remember the elaborate veils her aunt wore, and how she would giggle while her handsome husband Bres insulted her and Danu before the court. “She wasn’t very nice and she wore a lot of veils when I met her. I don’t think she liked me much then.”, Eriu said with a lilt of worry to her tone.
Ogma stopped in his tracks and glared at Eriu hard, shaking in a near rage as he spoke in a furious whisper, “That’s not your aunt! Don’t ever confuse them!”, he shook more as he said, “I don’t know what black art or sorcery Bres did, but that thing that sounds like your aunt that he parades at court under those veils is not her!”, he shouted and the clouds boomed away from him as he gasped in and exhaled deep furious breaths of wind that shook the waves.
Eriu was forced to stand as the waves began to swallow up Ogma’s palm in his panting. “Ogma! Ogma please calm down! You’re making me all wet, and I might get swept away!”, Eriu begged as she clung now to the outside of Ogma’s thumb.
Ogma calmed his breathing and raised his hand higher from the water for Eriu as he sighed out, “I am sorry, little one. I did not mean to get so upset, but what my brother has done is unforgivable!”, he declared shaking his head, “But that’s a matter for adults.”, he said smiling his diamond smile at Eriu, “But do know your aunt is not what you might have thought of her. You will love her when you meet her,” Ogma said reassuringly, “We all love our Queen Brigid!”, he announced quite loudly into the heavens as if he was speaking to someone other than Eriu in his palm.
Eriu didn’t really understand, but she settled back against the skin of Ogma’s palm with Dr?mn?l in her hands. She refused to let her spear go again until they reached land, and so she laid with it in her arms and let the sun warm her. She laid her head in the crook of skin between Ogma’s thumb and his index finger. The fold of it cradled her and Dr?mn?l from moving too much as the sun shone above. The warm light made her lull.
Eriu was tired from surviving her perils under the water, and all the questions and new information Ogma had given her swirled in her head. Eriu laid back and wondered what it would be like to see this Péarla Bríde and then Atlantis. Eriu began to dream about what her aunt might look like and what Mag Itha was like below the sea. She even wondered about her mother and her stealing from the Wyrd for the Femorians as Ogma had told her.
“I wonder what it would have been like to know her then? Would she have liked me? She doesn’t now, so probably not.”, she decided with a pout, but still she dreamed of a kinder Danu and of seeing all the places Ogma had promised to show her. “I hope my aunt Brigid can fix my knot.”, she said to Ogma from her lying comfortably in his palm, “I don’t want my mother to hate me forever.”, she said then, “I would like to see her the way you said she used to be.”, said Eriu as she began to yawn from her warm comfort.
“Me too, little one. Me too”, said Ogma smiling at Eriu as she slipped off into her dreaming in Ogma’s hand, and as he continued to walk his way out to sea towards the enchanted island of Péarla Bríde...
