"It shouldna' take more than a few minutes." Pan mimiced.

"Look, I didna' know that he would hide himself beyond the bloody mountains of Doom, protected by lava and dragons, okay?"

That wasna' a completely accurate. There were na' any dragons, mountains, or lava. Pan and I had traveled for two days, hitch-hiking across the Irish countryside, 'cause Pan couldna' teleport there without going there the normal way at least once. She had, however, gone back to get some extra clothes, food, and my uniform.

At the moment, we were standing on Inchagoill (an island), in the middle of Lough Corrib (a lake). We had swum across the lake in the dark, and were resting ourselves on the shore.

Pan just shook her head. We waited a while longer then I got up. "Well, we might as well go in."

There it was, the remains of a Romanesque church. Once inside, we looked around for any sign of Doctor Strange. After a while of looking at cobwebs, we sat down on the floor.

"So let's get this straight." said Pan, "The note told us to walk through the portal, and we did. Once we were through, we both heard a voice, Doctor Strange's, we think, which told us to come here. We're here, and..."

Before she could finish, the whole floor began to shake. Then we saw it was moving slowly downward, with us on it.

Pan shrieked in surprise and began to fly. I called her back. "Come back, Pan. This be what we be looking for."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, no. But if it not be Doctor Strange, you can always teleport us out, right?"

Pan flew down and joined me on the now steadily lowering floor. It went down, for what seemed like hours. Just as I was starting to drift off, our "elevator" hit the bottom. And just off to the side, was Doctor Strange.

"Welcome, children."

We just stared. Finally, we stepped off the piece of flooring, which immediately began to rise again.

"Don't worry," said Strange, looking at me, "I will call it back down when you need to leave, if you like, but I suspect your friend here knows how to teleport."

Pan looked shocked. "How'd you know that?"

"I'm a wizard, my girl. Now if you'll kindly follow me, both of you."

He strode through the underground hallways as if they were his own. "Then again," I thought, "they probably are."

As if in answer to my thought, Strange said, "The place isn't mine. It was created by your forefathers, Angus. Through careful study of the place, and the books in it, I believe I have the answer to your question."

Just then, I realised, I hadn't even greeted him properly. "I be sorry, sir. I do na' know half of what be happening..."

"It's perfectly alright, Angus."

******

We were in a sort of sitting room, which was comfortably furnished. I sank into one of the old sofas, and Pan sat beside me. Strange found himself an armchair, and sat in it heavily. The fact that we were underground and using torchlight to see added to the mystique of the whole situation.

"Now, children, I am sure your quite eager to find out what this is all about."

Not needing to say anything, Pan and I nodded.

"Very well, I will tell you the story, without all the small details. Then I will give you some documents I translated, if you are interested in hearing the rest.

"The story begins over three milleniums ago. According to the annals I have found, the progenitor of your line was an angel. I do not know what his name was, at the time, but he was apparently quite powerful. Only the archangles were between those of his class, and God.

"This angel fell in love with an Irish woman, whose name is also unknown to history. He gave up his immortality for her. Unfortunately, while she appeared to love him when he was an angel, she could not bear his presence as a human. She ultimately spurned him in favor of the son of her clann's chief.

"Angels are not much given to thoughts of anger or revenge, but they do know sorrow. Your ancestor roamed Ireland, bemoaning his fate. He took on the name 'Angus', which means 'one choice', to reflect the one choice that had taken him from the heavens, to being a broken man.

"In his roaming, he came across an order of Druids, called Fallen Sun. They thought Angus was a being of great power, but what they saw was only the shadow of his former power. They sought to convert him to their cause, but Angus was horrified at the things they did. Human sacrifice, and the like...

"Anyways, instead of joinging, he fought them. The Druids he first encountered were unarmed, and he finished them quite easily. But then they came after thim in the hundreds. Instead of letting him die, God took pity on Angus. He gave him a very small measure of his former power. Small in relation to what he had before, that is.

"For years he fought and when he finally died, he had all but extinguished the Fallen Sun. Since then, his power has been given to one individual in your family every fourth generation."

We were silent for a few minutes after Strange finished his narration.

"Did me father know about this?" I wondered aloud.

"Probably not," replied Strange, "Fallen Sun seems to have left Ireland six centuries ago. There hasn't been one of your kind since, until now that is."

Pan stood up. "So then there's nothing to do now, except go home."

I sighed. "It seems like it. Thank you, Doctor."

He smiled, "It was my pleasure, boy."

******

Outside, on the island, Pan and I said goodbye to Strange. Strange cast a spell, which opened a portal, and he was gone. Pan and I took each other's hand, and she prepared to teleport us home. Just then, I felt someone's emothions. There was the pre-strike build up, and I pushed Pan away from me.

I dropped to the ground, and a firy blast nearly singed my head. I turned Fade, and got up. pan and I were surrounded by men and women in dark robes.

"Angus, spawn of the Devine, surrender to Fallen Sun, or die."

I felt their emotions. There was nothing in them except hatred. I made my reply.

"I be Fade. Die, or I'll make you die."

Hey, that could be me tagline!

This entry was posted by Fade, on Monday, October 09, 2006. You can leave your response.