Solstice - The Goddess Awakens

Lola began to feel anxious as she turned off the main road towards Brook Mill Manor. A light wind had picked up, rustling through the large oak trees that flanked the narrow avenue. The only light visible now was coming from the car’s headlights.

‘This is Arthur’s house,’ whispered Lola as if someone might overhear them. She wasn’t sure why she had decided to come here tonight, but something had guided her to Brook Mill Manor and she had decided to go with it.

‘I know. I can sense the energy and light. It’s amazing, Lola! I’ve never known magick this powerful, and we haven’t even passed through the threshold yet,’ exclaimed Aibgrene in wonderment.

For the first time in days Aibgrene felt truly safe. She had known protection spells, she’d even cast many of her own, but this magick was something she had never encountered before. The entire area from the gate, right around the perimeter wall was encapsulated in a mushroom-shaped sphere, which glistened blue under the clear night sky. It wasn’t solid or liquid but made of pure ethereal energy, shielding them from those that wished to do harm. Normally any kind of talk regarding magick frightened Lola, but she was becoming accustomed to it now.

‘Well they said at the ceremony that Arthur was their high priest, head of this Ancient Order, so he must have been into that stuff,’ said Lola. Aibgrene couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing at Lola’s flippancy.

‘Yes he was into that stuff, Lola, and according to my mum, he was the best there was!’

‘Well he mustn’t have been that good!’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Aibgrene, slightly offended.

‘We’ll if this magick, or protection spell, was so amazing, how come he’s dead?’ Lola didn’t want to disguise the hurt and anger in her voice. She was tired of hearing how great a druid Arthur was, but none of it kept him alive. So to her it was all pointless. She quickly jumped out of the car before Aibgrene could answer her. Fumbling with the bunch of keys in her hand, she finally located the right one, and opened the large wrought-iron gate, which was supported by two granite posts. Each pillar was decorated with the moulded head of a golden lion. When she was younger the sight of the two large lions baring their teeth was enough to put her off venturing up the wooded driveway, but she soon got used to them over the years, and even came to love them.

Lola hopped back into the driver’s seat and began edging the car forward. Aibgrene got out this time, secured the gates behind them and jumped back into the car, before Lola began the drive up the winding stone drive to the manor. Lola shuddered slightly as a gentle warm vibration rippled through her body; she instinctively turned on the heater, even though the sensation was one of warmth.

‘Did you feel that?’ asked Aibgrene.

‘Feel what? I’m just cold,’ said Lola flatly, her indifference clearly beginning to irritate Aibgrene.

The tension between them was quickly building; Lola could feel it and knew she herself was probably the cause.

‘I see! It’s going to be hard to convince you that any of this is real! That wasn’t the cold! We just passed through a very powerful protection enchantment. It’ll be safe here,’ said Aibgrene, with obvious relief in her voice.

As comforting as that was, Lola didn’t share her enthusiasm. After all, someone had managed to breach this invisible force-field before. But, she knew Aibgrene didn’t need to hear that right now, she had already been through enough. It was important that Aibgrene felt safe, and Lola felt it was her duty to make sure of that.

‘I take it Arthur was a Leo?’ remarked Aibgrene. ‘He had all the characteristics of a Leo.’

‘What do you mean, a Leo? As in his star sign?’

‘Yes,’ nodded Aibgrene. ‘I noticed the golden lions on the gateposts. That’s where the spell starts. I could sense it was very intricate, there’s more to it than just protection I think!’

’His birthday’s on the 23rd July, it would have been his birthday soon,’ said Lola, feeling as though she was going to cry again. She wondered if she was ever going to get used to the fact that Arthur was gone.

‘He was a Leo then,’ continued Aibgrene, in an attempt to keep up the conversation. ‘I suppose it makes sense, with Leo being a sun sign.’

Aibgrene began to explain, sensing that Lola wasn’t sharing her logic. ‘Sorry, Lola, I’m way ahead of myself. I keep forgetting all this is new to you. Well you know about astrology, you’ve heard that much?’

‘What? It’s written in the stars? Is that not just a load of nonsense?’ asked Lola, being deliberately petulant.

‘Well, we believe that it is very important, and it can tell us a lot about a person and their path in life,’ explained Aibgrene, getting frustrated with Lola’s indifferent tone.

Finally she lost her cool and confronted Lola. ‘What exactly has Arthur been teaching you all these years? I mean, I don’t expect you to be aware of all the particulars, Lola, but I assumed that Arthur would have at least explained the basics to you!’ said Aibgrene, becoming more animated.

In truth, she had been expecting more from Lola. She was sure that Lola had some answers. But, from what she had observed so far, it looked as if her hopes had been pinned on someone who was in denial of the obvious, a girl completely alien to her world and to the dangers they faced.

‘What do you mean by that?’ snapped Lola defensively. ‘For your information, I didn’t ask for any of this crap to happen to me!’

Lola tried to keep her temper, slowly bringing the car to a halt outside the house. Getting out, she slammed the door, with Aibgrene in hot pursuit.

‘We’ll I’m sorry if I seem a bit annoyed, Lola. Excuse me! I’ve bloody lost my mother. I’ve no idea where the hell she is, or even if she’s still alive, and the only clue I have is you. Lola bloody Paige!’ Aibgrene’s voice became increasingly high pitched as all the stress and worry finally found an outlet. ‘A girl that knows nothing of our world, and has no respect for the little she has learnt. A girl that has spent ten years under the tutelage of one of the greatest druids and men our path has ever known and managed to learn nothing!’

Tears began to streak down Aibgrene’s face. Stunned by her outburst, Lola stood in silence, cursing herself for being so selfish and tactless. She made no attempt to defend herself again, because every word Aibgrene spoke was true.

Lola was in denial; she couldn’t bear the thought that Arthur was something other than the idol that she had constructed in her head. She couldn’t bring herself to accept that he was part of some magickal Order, or that magick even existed. To her it was insane, even after everything that had happened, her brain still refused to accept the truth. Lola stared at the ground, unable to look at Aibgrene.

This girl had come to her for help, desperate to find her mother, truly on her own, and she had let her down. Lola suddenly felt ashamed. Celeste had sent her own daughter to find Lola. Now Lola had to honour that faith; it was time for her to re-examine the world around her and everything in it – both visible and invisible.

Reaching out she put a comforting arm around Aibgrene, ushering her towards the house. The stones under their feet crunched as they made their way.

‘I’m so sorry. We’ll figure this out, I promise. Come on, let’s get inside,’ said Lola.

Slotting the ornate brass key into the heavy oak door both of them stepped inside the large entrance hall of the two-hundred-year-old Brook Mill Manor.