Dreamer: The Seeker Series Book 2

Chapter 6

Dec . 27

The next day the ladies wanted to see more of my 'powers', for lack of a better term. I certainly wasn't comfortable referring to them as such, but whatever. It turned out Bridget was the one with the ability to touch me and see, like Cassie had done. The room was deathly quiet while Bridget held my hand, nodding and humming a little.

"Yes, yes." She set my hand back in my lap and patted it. "There is so much going on in your head." She turned back to the council. "It's as Cassie told us, sisters. She has remarkable powers, and I sense much more to come. It's waiting in her mind, ready to spring forth!" she enthused.

Aw, crap. I really, really didn't want to hear that. I am seriously freaky enough, thanks anyway. More powers showing up were really going to cramp my style.

"But could she be the one?" asked Iona.

Wait, what?

"That's not at all clear yet, but she is the most promising Seer in many years. We will have to wait and see," warned Fionnuala. "This will take a lot more time before we can be sure. She has barely turned 17. She has an entire year to finish developing her powers."

I was pretty close to losing it by now. What in the heck were they talking about?

Caoihme noticed my distress. She seemed to be the one most attuned to my feelings. Perhaps it was part of her gift? "Sisters, it's time to tell her. She needs to know."

"Yes, yes," said Fionnuala. "Eithne, you tell the story better than any of us." She nodded to one of the ladies I had yet to hear from.

The thin lady wearing black leggings and a red tunic cleared her throat and began to speak. "The Celtic Seers trace their lineage back to the time of Oliver Cromwell and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, when Cromwell and his forces landed in Ireland. Their brutality was legendary. Cromwell hated the Catholics and absolutely refused to tolerate anything he considered pagan, including the Druids. The Druids were the keepers of the ancient knowledge, the true intellectuals of the Celtic world. They refused to write anything down, so much of what they knew has been lost forever. A priestess, whose name has been long-since lost to history, escaped the siege of Galway in 1650 and found sanctuary with a local farm family. She was very beautiful and kind and she and the farmer's son fell in love. They married and had several sons, although nobody remembers exactly how many. The priestess lived the rest of her life as a simple farmer's wife, all her Druid knowledge and power apparently lost when she passed. But the couple had one daughter. She began to show astonishing mental powers when she reached young adulthood. Those powers were passed on to her daughters, who passed them on to their daughters. This continues to this very day, however weakened and diluted the powers have become. Every few generations, however, one daughter is born who has the powers of the original Druid priestess. We call this woman the Oracle. Our last Oracle was born 75 years ago."

"Who is she? What happened to her? Is she one of you?" I looked around at the elderly faces surrounding me.

"No, dear. None of us are the Oracle. It is a very sad story, the saddest story we have experienced since the time of Cromwell. Fifty-five years ago, when our beloved Oracle was 20 years old, she was taken from us," Aine responded.

"How did she die?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Oh my dear, she didn't die, at least not then. She was literally taken from us. She was stolen, kidnapped by the Gaulish Seers. We have never heard from her since, and all of our requests for her return have been ignored. We have no idea whether or not she still lives."

"What? Gaulish Seers? There are more of us out there? What does that mean? And how can they just steal our Oracle?" I was outraged.

"So many questions." Fionnuala shook her head. "Yes, dear Ally. There are more of us out there. Wherever there was a significant group of Druids, there appears to be some vestige left in the form of Seers, although not everyone calls them that. We used to have a tentative relationship with the Gaulish clan, but it ended when they stole our Oracle. We continue to send missives every few years requesting her return, but we have been ignored completely," she ended with a disgusted sniff.

"Well, why doesn't someone go get her? You know, rescue her? Who are these Gaulish types, anyway?"

"It's not that simple, Ally. There is quite a rivalry between the two clans, made so much worse when they stole the Oracle. But maybe we can finally begin to recover now."

"Oh, how are we going to..." I let my words trail off as I noticed them all staring at me expectantly. "Wait, you don't think I...I mean I couldn't..." They stared at me, eyebrows raised, some of them nodding slightly. "Do you seriously think I should go rescue her?"

They all exploded into peals of laughter. Even Cassie joined in the apparent hilarity. I sat with my arms crossed, staring back at them. I didn't see what was so funny. They finally laughed themselves out and Fionnuala said, "No, sweet girl. We don't expect you to go rescue her. I'm sure she's long gone by now. No, Ally, we are hoping you are the next Oracle."

Talk about dropping a bomb. I can honestly say I didn't see that one coming.