Chapter One -Oíche Samhain

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Trinity

Chapter One -Oíche Samhain

It was Halloween. All Hallows Eve. Night of the Dead. The end of the light months and the beginning of the dark. The one night of the year when the veil between the Immortal and Mortal realms crossed. When the dead walked and the Kailack came, the Crone Goddess. An old woman dressed in black, marking the beginning of a barren winter. Halloween was the night of the Wild Hunt.

The Celts called this night Sowain. They said it was the day the first Gods arrived, descending from the sky. They were the Tuatha Daydannan. They brought the magic, the fairies and the druids. They cast a shadow over the sun for three days, and with four amulets they marked the cornerstones of Tara. The Hill which all High Kings of Ireland were crowned. Or so the legends say.

It was dark, and for once the skies were clear of clouds. The moon was full and illuminated the hilly landscape with thickets of trees scattered. The largest hill was black and foreboding, like an ebony ship sailing across the skyline. Knocknashee, hill of the fairies. And at it's base in the middle of a circular mound were three such creatures.

“I want to go home, I'm scared.” The youngest fairy whined, who appeared to be a small blond haired girl of six, tugging at the eldest Fae's gossamer wing so hard it snapped the coat hanger wire keeping it up.

“Don't be silly! We'll go home after we've made our wish.” The older girl of about twelve exclaimed in a manner that suggested she had said it a hundred times already and had tones of eldest sister thrumming through it.

“Yeah, Mummy and Daddy won't be worried yet, and we swore we would make the wish on the way home from trick or treating.” The middle sister said, equally distributing goodies in piles around the trio.

“She's right. You want the fairies back don't you?” The senior girl declared bossily, flitting the most junior girl away to her own pile of goodies. “Now we make the wish,”

Together as one, the sisters stood in the middle of their horde of candies and faced Knocknashee. Counting down from three, the girls began to turn with their eyes screwed tightly shut. Once. Twice. Thrice. Skirts flares and the moonlight reflecting on their wings really did make them ethereal. They chanted softly with tilting voices which carried on the slight breeze.

“Bring them back. Bring them back. Bring them all back.”

In order for the wish to work they would have to all be facing the mountain. On the third turn they stopped suddenly and their eyes snapped open. Success. There was Knocknashee. Had it worked? Had the fairies answered them?

There was a crack of thunder, the mountain was rendered in two, right down the middle. The girls were thrown back in a blast of wind which rushed from within the mound as the nightmares withheld poured out. That night the Wild Hunt would ride again.

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*AUTHORS NOTE* I have spelled the names of characters and places phonetically so that people can read them easier. These are not the actual spellings. I shall be using the proper spellings later in a way to differentiate the Fae from their mortal counterparts. Hope you enjoy, please tell me what you think of it and how I can make it better. Thank you!

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