The Paranormal Cave Guardians of Iona

                                                    Travel The Two Realms: Iona, Scotland

Part Two

The chilly June morning promised rain as my daughter and I joined a few of our fellow travellers and our guide Scot to the landing where the sailboat Birthe Marie and Captain Mark awaited us. While sailing around Iona, we pulled into a quiet cove, disturbing a colony of seals resting on a narrow island. A few disappeared into the water as we approached. A delightful young seal kept a consistent distance from us as it swam in a half-circle around the boat, popping up here and there to check on us.

Captain Mark of the
Birthe Marie

 

After tea and shortbread thins to warm us, we reversed course. Now heading against the wind, Captain Mark switched from sail to motor to propel us through the choppy blue-gray, green-tinged waves.
Eyeing the coast, a sinister sight skipped my pulse. Where two rocky hills almost met, stood the blackest of black caves. The downward point of a giant boulder wedged between the two hills stabbed the cave opening. Malevolent eyes set in a circular, seemingly disembodied face, stared at us from the cave’s dark maw. 
Not a human face. Not an animal face. Something else.
What is it? I wondered, my knuckles whitening as I tightened my grip on the ship rail.

I had to find a way to include this frightening sight in The Viking Mist. Here is a brief excerpt from the published novel:

Barely visible in the mist-dimmed light, and hunched in the depression between two rocky peaks, nestled the blackest of black caves. ’Tis as I remember, Disa thought when she spied the long, narrow boulder wedged into the cave’s roof; its distinctive downward point, as pale and sharp as a dragon’s fang, impaled the darkness just inside the hollow’s inky maw.

Beneath the stone tooth, two glowing amber eyes popped open, piercing the impenetrable gloom.

Disa stiffened and held her breath.

The disembodied orbs scanned the calm sea within the island ring. Then, as if sensing her human presence, the predatory eyes narrowed and searched beyond the inner waters, halting to fasten their malevolent gaze upon her.

In the fixedness of that stare, the monster and years faded, and as though bewitched, Disa saw instead the half mad glare of the Norse slaver and the smear of blood across the man’s knuckles when he grabbed her wrist and little Bree’s arm. Fear stole the strength from Disa’s limbs, and the oars clattered at her feet as a silent scream rose from her core.

                         AMAZON KINDLE                 KOBO

As we continued back to Iona, Captain Mark steered us into another quiet cove, where we encountered a giant boulder wedged between two cliffs. To the right of the gap, a naturally formed basalt staircase named "the Fairy Stairs," rises to nowhere. Magic is all around us!

In next Tuesday's Travel The Two Realms, we will explore Scotland's Loch Ness. Meanwhile, you can visit The Two Realms on my Pinterest board.

Until next week, stay kind and magical.

Copyright March 2022 by Ariella Moon

The Fairy Cat of Iona

 Travel the Two Realms: Iona, Scotland

Part One

Many see only the human realm.To them the second realm, inhabited by fairies and mythical beasts, goddesses and gods, sorceresses and wizards, is invisible. But if you steady your gaze on liminal spaces at just the right time, you'll discover the Two Realms coexist. One such place is Iona.

Iona, a small Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides, inspired I-shona (the sacred isle) in The Viking Mist. I confess, Iona's overwhelming association with Saint Columba and Celtic Christianity placed it low on my Must See list during my second research trip to Scotland. But how could I ignore a small island that was the also the target of Viking raids and the final resting place of Scottish and Viking kings?

Scot AnSgeulaiche
www.ansgeulaiche.co.uk

Modern-day bard Scot AnSgeulaiche led our Celtic Spirit Journey. Scot and a few others from our small group were ahead of me the day we hiked to Iona's fairy mound. A cat crossed the path as one woman asked, "Do you think we will see any fairies?"

Scot pointed to the cat. "There's one."

Right. Being allergic to cats, I paid scant attention to the tabby. My daughter, however, stopped to pet the cat.

After we spent some time on the grassy fairy mound, the sun grew low in the sky, signaling the onset of dusk (gloaming), a liminal "between" time. The air chilled. Descending the mound,  we again encountered the cat, which appeared to have been waiting for us. The fairy mound must have gifted me with the Sight, because now I noticed the cat's eyes were abnormally large and round, not at all as they had initially appeared. The cat's bright eyes now swirled with colors, magic, and mischief. Seeing my shock, the fairy feline grinned.

The encounter fostered within me a new understanding of the Fairy realm. It also gave birth to a new Two Realms character, Muirgen, a shape-shifting fairy cat. You will first meet Muirgen in The Viking Mist.

The coves and caves near Iona proved equally surprising and magical. I will tell you about them in next Tuesday's Travel The Two Realms, when a sailing adventure led to a scary paranormal discovery.

Until then, be kind and magical.

Copyright March 2022 Ariella Moon