‘I shall.’ Tory had one last look at them all. She released a deep sigh as she closed her eyes and her thoughts turned to Maelgwn and Rhun, to the masters and the stones. She concentrated harder, believing nothing had happened, when the cheers of a familiar crowd reached her ears, and Tory opened her eyes to find that she had at last made it home.
Maelgwn lifted her out of the chariot and, after a long kiss, set her down on the ground.
‘Sorry to have kept thee all waiting around like this, the twentieth century be hell!’
From the garbled sound of thirteen excited people all talking at her at once came a ‘Here, here!’ from Brockwell. ‘Although the women art mighty fine.’
Katren kicked Brockwell for his observation, as she had her arms full with Rhun.
‘But not as fine as here, of course,’ he quickly appeased his wife.
Katren handed Tory her child. ‘He be sovereign, Tory, in every sense of the word.’
‘I know.’ Tory smiled, pleased to see her dear friend. ‘He takes after his father.’ Tory turned to her husband, but the fond exchange was disturbed by Taliesin’s incessant chuckling.
‘Alright, old man?’ Maelgwn asked. ‘Doth thou wish to share thy amusement with the rest of us?’
Taliesin, who was so hysterical and exhausted that he could barely move, had somehow managed to drag his near useless carcass into the chariot. ‘I shall see thee all back at Aberffraw.’ He contained his amusement as he closed his eyes to concentrate. ‘In a couple of thousand years.’ He burst into laughter once more and vanished without a trace.
‘I told thee he would be pleased,’ Maelgwn said.
‘Come Majesty, tell us everything,’ Ione urged her, the others echoing the request. ‘We have several hours till sunrise.’
Come first light, they broke camp. Although sorry to part, the masters were all eager to get home to their own estates, kingdoms and kin.
‘See thee all in Arwystli on Lughnasa,’ Vortipor declared, as he and Cara took their leave to the southwest, towards Dyfed.
‘Indeed,’ Brockwell confirmed, then turned to Maelgwn. ‘Art thou quite sure we cannot tempt thee all to a feast tonight?’
‘Any night but tonight, friend.’ Maelgwn helped Tory up onto his horse. Rhun was nestled in his pouch, fast asleep for the moment.
‘Lughnasa, then,’ Brockwell said with a wave, and rode off towards Powys in the west with Katren close behind.
‘Ready to go home?’ Maelgwn asked.
‘Yesterday.’ Tory beamed, still unable to believe they were really going home.
So the King led the rest of their band once around the stones, then away to the north-west towards the sweet fairy lands of Gwynedd.
Within moments of Tory vanishing, the spirits of everyone in the cave waned considerably.
‘Oh, come on,’ Myrddin encouraged them all. ‘It’s not the end of the world.’
‘Yeah, but it’s the end of living in Tory’s world,’ Brian grumbled as he left the room of treasures to trudge back down the stone entrance hall from the chamber. Teo and Miles followed him out, not much happier about the state of affairs.
‘Oh ye of little faith.’ The Merlin rolled his eyes, as he and Rose fell in behind Naomi.
Both Brian and Miles had their eyes to the ground as they passed through the rock face into the bright daylight.
‘No way!’ Teo exclaimed, thumping the other two in the shoulder, and they looked up to discover a woman who, judging from her appearance, they could only assume was a goddess.
She was of sturdy build and wore a large sword on her hip. Her attire had a distinctly tribal feel, though it was of pure white. Her long, golden hair fell in thousands of tiny braids, weighted at the ends with ornate silver beads. There was a band of gold around her crown and her waist, and she wore matching silver bands around her upper arms.
‘Did you miss me?’
My name be Tory Alexander
and my memory burns eternal.
I have been a traveller
through the Otherworld,
through time, reality and dimension,
I have known no bound.
I have been with the Dragon
in his lair at Aberffraw.
I know the strength of his roar,
the sweet passion of his fire.
Proud are his people
and brave are his warriors.
The Goddess shall evermore sing thy
praises, Maelgwn of Gwynedd,
great King among Britons.
I have sought the greater mysteries
from the wisest of souls.
Myrddin and Taliesin
know my plight.
How wondrous their teachings,
how widespread their journeys.
Oh for their reunion,
and the sweet purification
of the mother country.
I have seen the mist rising on the land,
I hear the four winds,
seek the four elements,
I follow the phases of the moon and stars.
Messenger and warrior of the Goddess,
I have felt Pan’s healing ray,
sent on the aroma of a thousand flowers,
and a million tiny beings of light.
As sure as my name be Tory Alexander,
my quest shall always lead me
in search of the greater truths,
that have been forever lost
in the Dark Age.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alcock, Leslie, Arthur’s Britain, Penguin, London, 1973.
Ashe, Geoffrey, The Landscape of King Arthur, Webb & Bower, London, 1987.
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Penguin, London, 1990.
Berresford Ellis, Peter, Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Constable & Co, London, 1992.
Bletzer, June G, Encyclopaedic Psychic Dictionary, Donning Co, Virginia, 1986.
Chadwick, Nora K, Celtic Britain, Newcastle Publishing Co, California, 1989.
Coghlam, Ronan, An Illustrated Encylopaedia of Arthurian Legends, Element Books, Dorset, 1993.
Devereux, Paul, Earth Lights Revelation, Blandford Press, London, 1989.
Devereux, Paul, Places of Power, Blandford Press, London, 1990.
Frederic, Louis, Dictionary of the Martial Arts, Athlone Press, France, 1991.
Hope, Murry, Practical Celtic Magic, Aquarian, London, 1987. See section on The Nine Metaphysical Laws.
Maclean, Fitzroy, A Concise History of Scotland, Thames & Hudson, London, 1970.
Matthews, Caitlin, Mabon and the Mysteries of Britain, Penguin Arkana, London, 1987.
Matthews, C and J, The Little Book of Celtic Wisdom, Emement Inc., London, 1993.
Matthews, John, The Song of Taliesin, Aquarian, London, 1991.
Matthews, John, Taliesin, Aquarian, London, 1991.
Matthews, John, A Celtic Reader, Aquarian, London, 1991.
Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, Penguin Classics, London, 1966.
Nennius, Historia Brittonum, British American Books, California. [undated]
Roberts, Anthony, Atlantean Traditions in Ancient Britain, Rider & Co, London, 1977.
Somerset Fry, P, Castles of the British Isles, David & Charles, London, 1990.
Stewart, R J, The Way of Merlin, Aquarian, London, 1991.
REFERENCES
The author gratefully acknowledges the use of the following quotations.
The extract from The Primary Chief Bard in Part One, page 114 and the The Chair of Ceridwen in Part Two, at the top of page 308, are both taken from Taliesin: Shamanism and the Bardic Mysteries in Britain and Ireland by John Matthews and are reproduced with the kind permission of The Aquarian Press, HarperCollinsPublishers, London.
The extract from Artorius by John Heath-Stubbs in Part One, page 115 and the extract from The Chair of Taliesin in Part Two, page 239, are both taken from Practical Celtic Magic by Murry Hope and are reproduced with the kind p
ermission of The Aquarian Press, HarperCollinsPublishers, London.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
What is a storyteller without the captive imagination of an audience? I would, therefore, like to thank all the girls and boys who have been following this adventure since its conception, especially Karen and Lisa, whose enthusiasm encouraged me, chapter by chapter, to finish this work.
I praise the universe for the unconditional love and faith of my husband, David. His creative genius, and many a late night in front of the computer, produced the fabulous cover artwork for this book. This could not have been closer to what I’d envisaged if he’d taken the picture straight out of my head; the ability to read my mind is only one of the many reasons I married him.
My gratitude also goes to my father, Terry Ludgate, for his creative stimuli and ongoing support.
I am deeply indebted to my three fairy godmothers, for weaving their magic to make this book a reality. The first being my earthly mother, Toni Ludgate, for her neverending belief in me. Lynny Rainbow, for helping me to find the right connections. And Selwa Anthony, my agent, a godsend, not only to me, but to the entire Australian literary world.
Most of all I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my editor, Susan Moran, to whom I dedicate this work. She took a thousand-page nightmare from me — a dyslexic with no spelling sense — and turned it into a beautiful read of which I am most proud. I could not have written this without her.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Traci Harding lives on the Hawkesbury River, with her husband David and their two beautiful children, Sarah and John.
Traci has written two best-selling trilogies — The Ancient Future Trilogy and The Celestial Triad — as well three standalone novels, The Alchemist’s Key, Ghostwriting, and Book of Dreams. Traci is currently working on the second book of the Mystique trilogy.
Thanks to the web team at HarperCollins, Traci has a very lively website and she visits the message board in the community section daily to discuss the greater mysteries with her readers. At the website there are glossaries of the terms used in Traci’s books and there are author notes for those interested in delving deeper into different esoteric and historic aspects of this author’s work.
Visit Traci Harding’s website
and message board at:
www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding
For information about Traci Harding and her books,
plus all the latest science fiction news, visit:
www.voyageronline.com.au
the website for lovers of science fiction and fantasy.
OTHER BOOKS BY TRACI HARDING
The Ancient Future Trilogy
The Ancient Future: the Dark Age (1)
An Echo in Time: Atlantis (2)
Masters of Reality: the Gathering (3)
The Alchemist's Key
The Celestial Triad
Chronicle of Ages (1)
Tablet of Destinies (2)
The Cosmic Logos (3)
Ghostwriting
The Book of Dreams
The Mystique Trilogy
Gene of Isis (1)
COPYRIGHT
Voyager
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in 1996
This edition published in 2011
This edition published in 2006
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Traci Harding 1996
The right of Traci Harding to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright.
Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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10 East 53rd Street, New York NY 10022, USA
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Harding, Traci.
The ancient future — the dark age.
ISBN 0 7322 8374 4.
ISBN: 978-0-7304-4580-7 (epub).
I. Title
A823.3
Maps and castle plans by David Harding
Traci Harding, The Dark Age
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