and hummed, enraptured by the magic they too could feel emanating from their magus and entering their very souls.
Sylvie stood at the foot of the dome gazing up at the hundreds of birds that clustered around the Green, perching blackly on the boughs of all the great trees that surrounded the area. She thought of her dear Professor Siskin who’d loved this place more than any other. She remembered his words of wisdom; how he’d believed that the Green was the remnants of a place so ancient and magical that even now the energy lingered here. He’d believed the Green had originally been a woodland temple, a clearing in the wildwood that clothed the land in pre-history, a place where the Earth Energy had been channelled long before the Stone Circle or any of the other sacred sites at Stonewylde had been built. Sylvie could feel the old man’s presence in the circle tonight, here where his small, curled body had been discovered the morning after that Winter Solstice, frosty and stiff but with a smile on his face. She greeted his spirit and felt a rush of sadness that he hadn’t lived to see Yul become the magus, just as he’d predicted.
When the Green Man returns to Stonewylde, all will prosper.
The Green Man had returned and she supposed all was prospering. She turned her gaze to her husband, tall and erect, his face tipped back in rapture. He was so powerful and strong, so rooted here. Why did she feel this need to challenge him? Why couldn’t she just accept his rule and bask in his adoration? She knew that he worshipped her; surely that was enough? Then he looked down at her and their eyes met. She saw the strange light glowing from within him, the green light sacred to this place, and she felt the love pouring from him, not just for her but for everything that was Stonewylde. She smiled at him, honoured that he loved her above all others. The air almost crackled with the power of their attraction and she felt herself literally drawn towards him, as if he were magnetised.
Yul reached down and beckoned, grasping her outstretched hand and whisking her up so her feet climbed the domed wicker walls. She stood beside him on the roof of the shelter, feeling the radiance of his power throbbing from a hidden source. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes filled with tears under the black silk mask. Yul was the true magus and she belonged by his side – this was as it should be. The drums increased in their intensity and he began to chant again, joined by the voices of the hundreds of people all around him.
Clip stood in the deepening shadows under an ash tree, its bunches of seed pods dark and shrivelled. He watched the scene on the Village Green and he too felt the power of the Earth Energy channelled by Yul. Like Sylvie, he knew that this was how it should be. Yul was ready, was already all-powerful, and Clip could safely leave the ceremonies to him. He was free to pass on the responsibility at last after all these years, and follow his own inner journey.
Clip smiled and let out a great sigh of relief. He’d be free to wander the whole earth, not just this tiny corner of it. He could travel again and commune with spiritual people from different cultures, join in their celebration of the Earth and the sky and the glorious deity that manifested itself through nature. He turned away from the spectacle as the light thickened to dusk, heading for the Dolmen where he planned to spend the Samhain night greeting the Otherworld that shimmered so close at this time of year. He’d awaken to the dawn of a new year, the year when he’d finally gain his freedom.
Clip slipped past the open doors of the Great Barn where the folk of Stonewylde would eventually finish their celebrations tonight. First they’d light the bonfire on the playing fields by the river and dance in huge concentric circles around the roaring fire to symbolise the turning wheel of the year. Then they’d break their fast with delicious food cooked outside on smaller fires, and later they’d crowd into the Barn for party games and dancing. The festivals were an important factor in bringing the community together, but it wasn’t for Clip. He had another, less worldly, path to follow tonight.
But as