Prophecy
Tir na n-Óg

I tapped my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, as I waited for the garage door to open.

Under the slow hum the car engine I could hear the small gears turning and creaking as the door slowly opened. The whole point of having anything automatic was to make the job easier and quicker and having a rusty garage door just defeated the purpose. Modern technology could only do so much and no more. Quicker, better, convenient but with time it still broke down. It still dies. The cruel cycle of life.

Adding to my annoyance the sound of my sixth sense buzzed softly in the background of my mind. My sixth sense or as our people call it, Aegni or enlightened songs has been there since birth. Most Lunes only had one, it was the same thing that humans would call a conscience, but for us it was stronger not just a tool to govern right or wrong. Ours was connected not just to our emotions but to everything we came in contact with in the physical world. For most Lunes, the songs were diluted, just a string of meaningless melodies. The stronger our bloodline was the clearer the voices were. My father and I had the strongest voices in our entire clan, it is because of the strength of our internal songs that we gained the right to be Grand Lune.

I thought I would have gotten used to it by now, but as I aged the voices only intensified. Most days they were like the soft rustle of a gentle breeze whispering brief songs in my ear. Today it had taken on the force of mild gale, the voice mixed with monotones of thunder. Something was up. I didn’t know what but I would find out soon enough. The door finally wound open and I drove in and parked beside my other car.

I rubbed my fingers over the hood of my red Viper as I passed. I missed driving it here, but it was too impractical to have a sports car in a traffic-ridden city. Now, I only drove it when I was headed up to our other house on the north coast, where I could really test its speed on the new highway. I could already hear and feel the billions of air molecules pounding on my face as the wind blew in heavily.

So much useful data could be gathered from the air : pressure, wind direction, velocity, humidity and the contaminant levels. From data alone I could tell if there was an annoying long line of traffic a mile ahead of me and could choose an alternate route. Forecasting the weather is also an added benefit, but the main issue to most people is the rain, but I didn’t particularly mind water, so that skill was basically nil pro quo to me in event. Frankly, it would be a waste of a ride to have the windows rolled up.

Maybe I’d bring Summer with me one day. I bet she’d just love the speed. She’d probably hurl out a tirade of fricks and crosses by the time I’d hit a hundred. My driving still terrified her as the last experience in my Viper wasn’t one her more pleasant memories. Driving in the middle of the lanes and cutting in front of traffic wasn’t particularly to her liking. At least for now. She will get used to the speed. I smiled.

I made my way down the stairs and pushed through the door into the kitchen. There was a pile of duffel bags that lined the counter. My brother must be going on one of his excursions again. Since he left school or rather, stopped coming to school, he hardly spent any time on home. He only stopped in for a few days, before he was off again to God knows wherever. By the look of this pile, he was probably headed somewhere cold and far.

I turned slowly, as I heard my father come up behind me. I was surprised when I saw him with two other bags, which he flung unto the counter. His shoulders slumped lower than usual and his feet dragged slightly as he walked. I could see an unhealthy sheen of sweat across his forehead. The look was unnatural on him. It was as if he was tired. He looked tired. It was either tired or ill. But dad was only two hundred and thirty nine years old, which was still very young by our standards. Illness would not trouble him until a couple more centuries.

“Dad are you alright? You look don’t look too good.” he rested his hand on his hips and inhaled deeply after which he seemed slightly better. “Are you going somewhere?” I asked leaning on the counter.

“I am fine son, just a bit weaker than usual.” he feigned a smile and straightened up. “Grab two of those bags and help me to carry them outside. When you’re done, you should probably see if I’d left anything that you would like to bring with you.” he bent to take up the bags at his feet and then started towards the door.

“You have to excuse my confusion, but am I going somewhere?” I leaned off the counter and pulled two of the bags from the worktop. “These are heavy.” I muttered as the two bags jerked me down with them as they fell. I took them up again and waited for him to answer.

“Yes, we all are.” answered my brother who entered the kitchen from the living room, in an as-a-matter-of-factly tone. He grabbed the other bags from the table and flung them over his shoulders. “We are going to Ireland.”

“Ireland? The cove house?” I asked as the small house was one of the many properties we owned across the world. It was handy to have somewhere to stop when we went on our little globetrotting escapades. The cove house was more special to dad than the others as it was close to where he was born. We didn’t go there often, only during the winter break when I was out of school.

“No. Well an island a little to the west of Ireland to be more specific,” he added before bolting up the stairs. I heard the trunk of a car slam and then he was beside us, in less than two seconds. “This thing has really weakened me, maybe we waited too long.” he said addressing dad.

“I think we still have enough time.” Dad replied.

“Are we going to Tir na n-Óg?” I asked with a cool reserve. He nodded once.

Tir na n-Óg was the original home of the Lunes. I had never been there, but I’d read about it in my studies. The existence of the island was recorded in Celtic mythology as a place of eternal youth. It was a place where sickness and death were non-existent, and where music, strength, life and happiness were supposed to last forever.

Only a few humans have ever been to the island in the earlier years, as they’d met upon storms at sea and had landed for safety reasons. The stories they brought back after they left had become a part of old Irish myths. The stories weren’t completely true as we did age but very slowly and we didn’t live forever. Humans just died before they were able to see the whole process unravel. It was also the place my great grand uncle and Grand Lune Ay lived.

Warning sounds triggered in my head immediately.

This would be dangerous, risky, unsafe something bad was going to happen. Danger, don’t go…

I silenced the voices in my head. They we right. They were always right. The voices were my sixth sense. Dad had his own voices. They were what gave us insight and why we could never be wrong. His voices must have said the same. There had to be a reason for him ignoring the warnings.

“Why?”

“There is a lunar eclipse coming up. During the approaching days, we start getting weaker and at the moment of the eclipse, although we do not lose our abilities entirely, we are at our weakest. The eclipse is just two weeks away and we are already feeling the effects. Those bags should feel like paperweights to you, even in your human state, but you’re struggling with them already. We and most of the Lune community make our little pilgrimage to our safe house in Ireland, our original home.” he started for the stairs and I followed behind him. We were taking his black Subaru. I flung the bags in the trunk and he shut the door.

Danger, don’t go, something bad….the power of evil is against you….

“I understand that the eclipse weakens us, but I don’t get why we are going among other Lunes. Isn’t it more dangerous for us to be exposing ourselves to a group that wanted our bloodline to end years ago, forcing us to live in hiding for generations?”

“Yes. However, there is also safety in numbers. You have to remember son, that not all Lunes are evil. Some may be consumed by greed and lust, and their minds clouded by power, but we are mainly a happy and peaceful people.”

I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes at this little speech. I already knew that we weren’t all sadistic and power hungry beings, well for obvious reasons; I was one and I didn’t consider myself or anyone in my immediate family, to be an inherent danger to humans or anyone else in our world.

I cared little for the fact that I was to be amongst other Lunes. Usually I would have no qualms about travelling anywhere when it was just the three of us. We didn’t have to worry about anything, as we could each take care of ourselves. However, things have changed. Someone had recently been added to the equation. I couldn’t leave her now. The timing was off, way off.

She will be fine, angry, hurt but fine.

Fine wasn’t enough.

“You said that we would be gone for two weeks,” he nodded. “Well do I at least get time to tell Summer where I am going. We’d made plans I would hate for her to think that I’d forgotten about them.”

“I don’t think that would be such a good idea son. I know that it is difficult for you to just leave her behind like this, without any warning. But I am sure that she will understand once you explain the situation after you get back.” I was about to protest before he cut me off. “There is no time Rain. You should go and put away your things.” He pointed to my knapsack, which I’d forgotten that I was wearing. “You should also leave your cell phone and the gem you have tied around your neck. The island is guarded against such charms. Although you might be able to see her, she won’t be able to reach you using the gem. We don’t want anybody to be able to trace us back here or to anyone else that we’ve left behind.” he said with a hint of wariness marking his tone.

He speaks truth, she mustn’t know, not yet. Cannot know. Will be safer for her.

Nick had joined us at the top. I knew that he had probably heard everything from downstairs. He watched us charily, as if deciding whether to say anything. It seemed like he decided not to intervene and he kept his silence before jumping into the front passenger seat.

I turned defiantly and headed silently back into the house. As soon as I was in the kitchen, I dropped my bag on the floor. I opened an empty drawer in the cupboard. I removed all the pins from my shirt and placed them along with my cell phone in it. I carefully unhitched the black cord from which the citrine gem was suspended.

I hesitated a bit before I rested the gem in the drawer and then closed it. He was right. It would be too dangerous to bring something that could lead to anyone finding Summer. I would rather not be able to see or speak to her in two weeks, than having to spend a lifetime knowing that she was put in danger or harmed because of my selfishness. I’d promised her that I would keep her safe, and I intended to keep my promise.

“We have a plane to catch.” I heard Nick howl from above.

“I am coming.” I muttered and before I slammed the drawer close.

When I arrived at the top, everyone had already been boarded. I opened the back door and went into the car. Dad started the engine and we drove out.

“Hold this,” said Nick handing me a small maroon book. I took it from him. It was a UK passport with two plane tickets hitched in the centre. “Well let’s see who I am today.” added Nick, who seemed to be in high spirits about this trip. “Ethan O’ Shea, sounds very Irish.” he quipped.

I rolled my eyes and dad let out a soft chuckle at the jibe. I flipped open the front of my passport. I looked at the picture of Oisin O’ Shea. The photo looked a lot like me, well, my human self except for the emerald green irises, which he was wearing.

“Great, green eyes,” I miffed. As if it’s, not hard enough not seeing her for two whole weeks.

She will be unhurt, safe, fine…

“Quit being so sour. Your woman will be fine when you get back.” said Naeht who had obviously sensed the reason for my dour mood.

I was slightly irked by the fact that my brother had noticed the colour of Summer’s eyes in her true form despite the fact that he’d only been around her twice since the change. However, the way he said ‘your woman’ sounded like he’d finally accepted the fact she was with me and not him.

Accepted no, dealing with it yes.. But accepted no. Don’t let guard down.

I glanced over at him briefly and then stared at my reflection in the rear view mirror. Green eyes it was, exactly the same verdure shade of hers. If I was to mimic anything, it would be the same hue of perfection.

It took us ten hours to board and land at the Heathrow airport. It was another five hours before we landed in Dublin. Although we were all jet lagged, dad decided that it was best that we didn’t stop until we gotten to our destination.

I loosened the green muffler from around my neck as we entered the train. I had put it and a jacket on when we were about to get off the plane in England. It was annoying that I had to keep up with the façade of being affected by the weather. It was just a little snow, pure water after all.

From Dublin, we travelled to Galway where we debarked. Although my eyelids were heavy from weariness, I couldn’t fall asleep. I was constantly awakened by every sound I heard, ranging from the rattling of luggage in the cargo car to the shuffling of the other passengers.

I looked over at Naeht. He sat in the sat adjacent to mine. His head was turned to one side and his mouth hung open as he shamelessly snored away. I envied that he was able to sleep and was able to temporarily escape the madness upon which our whole existence was based.

Dad hadn’t fallen asleep either. He spent most of the journey staring outside the frosted windows. I knew that he wasn’t really looking at the snowy white scenery of the Irish countryside, but he was probably contemplating all the possible outcomes of our little sojourn to the north. His Aegni were speaking to him too. The closer we were to Tir na n-Óg the louder the voices became until they were raging in my mind. Each screaming at me to turn back.

Our trip offered two possible outcomes; we could safely spend our two weeks without notice on the island, and probably even find a few allies.

Unlikely …unsafe …danger. More likely, friends…friend…

On the other hand, our whole family could face extinction if our true identities were discovered. This eclipse sounded like it would be serious from what dad and Nick had let on. It wouldn’t be a surprise if I would finally was going to get a chance to see or even meet my great-grand uncle Ay. This encounter could prove to be dangerous, deadly even. We would have to be very careful.

Very careful….

We got off and from the Ceannt Station and took a taxi to the edge of the city. We had gone to one of the more secluded coves as most of the area housed busy marinas, factories and warehouses. I slowly followed behind dad and Nick as we trudged across the rocky shore. There was a thin cover of fog along the coast, which partly obscured the dark basaltic and limestone cliffs at the southern end of the bay.

I panted heavily, issuing cloudy mists of condensed water from my mouth and nostrils. I stopped briefly, readjusted the bags over my shoulders, and then hurried to catch up to Nick and dad.

We walked out unto a small metal jetty at the far corner of the bay. The darkened wooden planks protested under our weight.

“Where do we go from here?” I asked, because I hoped that dad didn’t intend for me to swim. I was excessively tired, and thinking about it now, I was starving. I hadn’t eaten since I’d left Jamaica. Usually I could go for days without eating or drinking and not feel a thing, even in my human form, but the dawning of the eclipse seemed to have weakened even those abilities.

“We’ll travel northwest from here. Tir na n-Óg should be right over there.” I looked up as he pointed to a group of seven stars arranged like an arrowhead with the central star being the brightest. It was only dusk but you could already see the small constellation appearing over the horizon. “When we get there, we have to be extremely careful. If anyone asks your name, give the one on your passport. You should say nothing of where you’re from or details of your hours of travel. As for our relationship to each other, as far as they’re concerned, the three of us are brothers, Oisin, Ethan and William O’ Shea. Do you understand?”

I nodded in consent.

“It is imperative that you remember these details. One slip of the tongue can cost us our lives.” he said addressing both Naeht and me.

“We have company,” said Naeht dropping his bags and turning to face shore. We turned to face a man of small build who seemed to be around his late fifties. He wore black pants and a padded grey jacket. His face was partially hidden by a grey woollen tam, which was pulled down to cover his ears.

Safe…. safe man…

“Hey what are you doing out there, that thing is old and dangerous?” said the stranger in a harsh Gaelic accent.

“We are looking for a boat,” my father replied using a similar accent.

The man stopped and pushed his hands in his pockets and took out a cigarette, which he pushed in his mouth and lit with a silver lighter. He took a few draws and watched as we walked up to him. “Maybe I can help you. But it is going to cost you.” he said after puffing a stream of smoke through his nostrils. I cleared my throat as the fumes irritated my nostrils.

“Money isn’t an issue.” said dad pulling out his wallet and placed a generous amount of cash into the man’s hand.

“Well it looks like we can make a deal.” he said stashing the money under his jacket. “Where are you headed?”

“To the isle under the crescent moon.” replied my father, who stood at the forefront of the three of us.

“I know just the place,” said the man smiling and then he put out the cigar between his thumb and index finger. “Follow me.” he said and trudged off towards a huge boulder.

Dad turned to us and smiled. I took up my bags and followed.

“So you blokes aren’t from around this side are you?” asked the man.

“No we are not.”

“Mind me asking you where?” he asked politely.

“We’re from further east.”

He turned and eyed our party speculatively. “A man of few words, a company of even fewer.” He paused. “This way. We have to walk around the rock. You don’t mind getting a little wet?”

“I think we will manage.”

“Hmm,” he nodded and then continued walking.

The water barely covered the top of my shoes. I hedged carefully along the stony trail. I could feel the jagged edges of the pebbles even through my thickly soled shoes. The water shimmered silvery blue as the sun had completely disappeared under the horizon.

“Well here she is, my old faithful.” said the man indicating to a small vessel hitched at the centre of a smaller cove.

“Can that thing even sail?” I asked looking at the old boat. The boat squealed softly in response as a wave rocked it gently back and forth.

“She’s old, but still has many miles left in her. Besides I am sure a fellow like you isn’t afraid of drowning, even if she starts to sink.” He said before letting out a gruff chortle.

I frowned. I walked over to the starboard of the boat and flung the bags I was carrying in. I dusted off my hand as some of the paint had stripped from the boat and was stuck to it. Dad and Naeht were already in the boat and settled closer to the bow.

“I’ll need a little help to push out into deeper water. I’m not as young or strong as I used to be.” said the man just as I was about to board. I turned to face him. He was wrapping the rope, which he’d used to hold the vessel in place around his forearm.

“I’ll help to push.” I said and walked to the back of the vessel. He flung the rope in and both of us held on to opposite sides of the motor. It was hard at first to move as the bottom scraped against the rocks, but as we got deeper, it glided along more easily on top of the water.

“I think we can board now lad.” he said climbing over the side and I followed suit.

The boat roared to life as he powered up the engine. I sat silently behind the man at the staring wheel. As the night air rushed passed, it blew the excess water from the foot of my pants and I was dry in no time. I stared at the crescent shaped constellation that seemed to draw nearer with each mile. I was sure that I could feel my strength slowly returning to my limbs, or maybe it was just a classic case of mind over matter. I had heard the stories, so my mind must just be playing along.

“So how long before we get there?” I asked the man who was whistling a tune.

“The sea is relatively calm tonight so we’ll be there in about an hour and a half max.” he said before going back to his whistling.

In the distance you could see boats appearing motionless in the vast openness of the sea. The boats soon disappeared as we passed the darkening coastlines of Inisheer, Inishmaan and Inishmore. The scenery before me reminded me of a stanza from one of Poe’s elegies:

Dim vales- and shadowy floods-

And cloudy-looking woods,

Whose forms we can’t discover

For the tears that drip all over!

Huge moons there wax and wane-

Again- again- again-

I stopped my musing and turned back towards the sailor. “So have a lot of people been heading this way lately?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen more action in this past week than I have the whole of last year.” He smiled. “You are a rather inquisitive fellow. It seems that I was wrong about you.”

“People generally are.” I tilted my lips slightly.

“They are, huh.” he chuckled.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the cool, night air. My mind was taken miles away to somewhere warm, but it wasn’t very comfortable as arrows of worry and anxiety stabbed at my brain. I felt an alien consciousness of another invading my own. My innate reaction was to resist the force and protect my mind from the invasion. However, I knew that it was Summer and I dropped my guard and allowed her mind to envelope my own. From the tenor of her emotions I could tell that she was extremely worried. I conjured feelings reassuring her of my safety hoping she could feel it.

Thorn, where are you? I’ve been trying to get you for days. Is everything alright? I heard her voice echo in my mind. There was still worry hanging on to every word.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry but I had to leave. I’ll explain everything when I get back in two weeks.” I whispered softly so that no one else could hear.

Where are you? Thorn, Thorn . . . her voice trailed off. The stabbing stopped and I could no longer sense her. The only whispers in my head were that of my extra sense.

“We are here. Tir na n-Óg.” said the man. His voice had lost its gruffness and had become more even. I stared at his face. All the creases of age had been smoothed out and his long, silvery hair wisped from under his hat.

I looked at my hand. It glowed under the pale moon light. The island had changed us before we landed. I looked at dad. I could only see his silvery mane, as his head was turned towards shore. Nick had already caught his up in a ponytail.

“Well we are here lad. I hope you’ll enjoy your first time here.” he said shutting off the engine.

“How did you know that it was my first time?” I asked as I jumped out of the craft.

“Well it was easy. I am very good at remembering faces and I’ve never seen yours around here before. More importantly, it’s usually the same with the newbies. They ask a lot of questions.” he smiled.

I grabbed my bags from the boat and flung them over my shoulders. I hardly felt their weight. It seemed like my strength had indeed returned. I returned the smile.

“So I assume that I will probably be seeing you again soon . . . I didn’t get the name.”

“The name is Marc. I’ll probably stop by later in the week. I have a few more jobs to do.” he turned the boat around and sped off in the opposite direction.

I slowly waded out of the waist deep water. I paused as I stepped on dry land and looked up at the high rocky cliff, which was only a few metres away from where I stood.

“Well, this was not what I was expecting.”

“We are in the middle of the North Atlantic. What did you expect palm trees and straw skirts.” said Naeht coming to stand beside me.

“No, but . . . more.”

“This is just the outside. Why do you think humans didn’t settle here? To them it is just a big rock in the middle of the ocean, nothing interesting here for them to see. All the interesting stuff is on the inside.” said dad coming up on my other side.

“Well what are we standing around out here for, let’s go inside.” said Naeht stepping out in front of us.

The snow fell from the dried limbs of a small shrub as I pushed past it. We were standing at the base of the cliff. Nick walked back and forth rubbing his hand against the smooth surface of the stone.

“Where is it?” he asked exasperatedly.

“What exactly are you looking for?” I asked impassively.

“The door,” he said without looking back and continued feeling along the crevices of the rock. I rolled my eyes as I already knew that. “I give up, Seidon you have to find it.”

My father got up and walked over slowly from a small boulder from which he was leaning and watching. He’d allowed Nick to look for the opening after he’d asked to.

“Like with every other door, this one also has a key. But it is up to you to find it. But you will never know where to look unless you know the story.” He said coming between us. “Look at the stars directly above us.” I looked up. We were standing directly under the crescent-shaped constellation. “You have to be directly under Niamh, the brightest off all seven.” He said moving to the left. He then outstretched his middle finger and placed it in a hole in the wall.

“She was the founder of this settlement four thousand years ago. She had two siblings Abalach, her brother and Sidhe her sister, who moved here with her.” he then pushed his index and ring finger in two other holes, forming a triangle. I was surprised by the grinding sound of rocks rubbing against each other, but neither Naeht or dad had flinched, so I also stood my ground.

His fingers were still lodged in the cliff, but there was now a circular slab of stone, projecting out from the wall.

“They wanted somewhere to live after they’d left their father’s house.” He twisted his fingers to the left, turning the stone with them. “They came up on this island and thought that it would be completely right for them.” He then spun the slab in a full circle moving right. He then pushed the stone back into the wall and withdrew his fingers.

A light shower of snow fell from the rocks above us as the ground around us shook slightly. There was another bout of grinding boulders and then a huge circular shaped hole appeared in the wall. I followed the others inside the stone room. As soon as we were all in, there was another rumble as a huge boulder rolled back in place, sealing the entrance.

I was disconcerted at first by the sudden darkness of the cave, but I relaxed as my eyes adjusted to my new surroundings. It was still dark, but I could clearly make out every mangled crevice and feature of the cave just as if it had been broad daylight. It was an advantage that we, Lunes had over the Coronas. They were stronger during the day, but we were rulers of the night. I made out my father’s figure, which stood a few feet away from me. I walked over to where he stood.

“That was quite a story. Too bad we’re still not there as yet.” I said coming up beside him.

“It’s not finished as yet.” He said starting further into the cave. “Niamh and her siblings had remembered the teachings of their father when they were younger. He’d often spoken the different roads that life would present. The wide and straight; filled with excitement and was easily trodden, but would ultimately lead to your destruction. And the narrow and winding; the one less travelled due to the many hardships one would face during the journey, but if you kept on track, would lead you to a place of inexplicable happiness and peace.”

We came to a stop. The cave had split into two separate tunnels, one bigger than the other.

Large death, small safe…

“Let me guess, we are going to take the narrower route.” I said stepping ahead of him.

He chuckled softly. “You’re listening well.”

The passage was a little more than shoulder length apart. I had to squeeze my bags against my chest for them to fit through the fissure. I began running through the passage, I could hear the others close behind. I slowed down as I heard the sound of crashing water coming from ahead. I walked out into a wide-open ended room. Well it had an opening, but it was curtained by a thunderous cascade of water.

Dad and Naeht had joined me in the room. “So what else does that story say?” I asked.

“The story ended as soon as we hit the narrow road. It’s all up to you now.”

“Figures,” I muttered. “Well let’s see what’s behind that curtain.” I dropped my bags on the floor and walked over to the waterfall. I placed my hands in the water and pushed it open, splitting the cascade into two separate streams.

This was definitely the more that I was expecting. It wasn’t palm trees and straw skirts as Naeht had said, it was better. Copiously better.

“Well there it is Tir na n-Óg, in all her glory.” commented dad, who came to stand beside me. “I’ve been here so many times but every time is just as momentous as the first.”

Momentous was just the word to describe what we were seeing. I had never been this overwhelmed by anything, since the first time I kissed Summer, and when I finally realised that she was mine. Well, nothing could come close to that moment, but this definitely took second place. It wasn’t like the other times weren’t well ... wow, but there was something special about that moment, knowing that it was her first also and there would be other firsts that we would experience together.

Extended far above us, was the smooth limestone rock which peaked to form a dome, covering the entire area, except a small hole in the centre, through which leaked the faint light of the moon, whose rays were scattered into a million shimmery specks by the huge, midnight blue lake into which the waterfall descended.

Long stalactites of ice and rock adorned the rocky cone, some extending down into the valley forming glassy pillars. Surrounding the bow-shaped lake was a forest of tall, snow-whitened pine trees, whose limbs drooped from the weight they held.

A narrow pathway meandered away from the lake up to the far end of the valley. There stood a huge icy, bluish-white building, resembling the temples of Ancient Greece, but much grander, carved unto the face of the cliff. Each of the four semi-circular, pillared storeys ascended like a giant staircase up to the limestone ceiling. Small lights flickered on and off in the walls adjacent to it.

I removed my hands from the spray and the two falls I’d created, converged forming just one shower again. “So how do we get down from here?”

“Any way you like. We are water benders.” said my father moving over to the white liquid curtains. “But I prefer less...intrusive methods.” he pushed his hand into the water and moved it back and forth until, the water seemed to stop flowing, and formed a series of steps leading to the lake below.

“Convenient,” I mumbled.

He then stepped onto one of the stairs and turned to face me. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, yes I am.” I said hesitating a bit and then I moved over to grab my bags from the ground. I hopped from the enclosure and landed unto the icy staircase. Dad was already halfway down the falls, so I hurriedly skipped down to catch up with him.

“A walkway?” I asked as we touched a cement structure at the base of the falls.

“Recent addition. Actually, it is the top of a dam; we built a few years ago. We generate our own electricity as most of us have come accustomed to using more modern conveniences.” he replied nonchalantly.

We walked on the top of the dam until we stepped unto the edge of the lake. As soon as we did, the stillness created by icy stairs forged by my father disappeared, and erupted into the thunderous clashing of water against stone as the water started flowing again.

“Where is Nick? Isn’t he coming down here?” I turned to look at the powering cascade.

“Your brother will be with us in a second. He has his own way of coming down.” As soon as he’d said that, I saw my brother immerging through the falls, diving headfirst.

A few seconds later, he hit the water; the cloudy white spray of the waterfall concealed his splash. His head then reappeared at the surface and he pulled himself towards the dam.

“I could do that a thousand times and still not get bored.” he said coming up to us, grinning from ear to ear. “You should try it while we are here.” he said coming beside me.

“Maybe I will.” I grinned back. It was exciting just thinking of the rush I would get from the experience. I wasn’t a masochist, but this was something new and I could let an opportunity like that pass.

“Enough time for jumping from hundred foot cliffs. How about we get somewhere to sleep first?”

We silently agreed and headed through the pine forest.

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