Mira's Reign At Tara

By Paul McCann

A heavy stone was placed over the grave where the King had been buried .

Mira and a few other warriors cast their swords into the soil and walked away into the Blackthorn Forest  as the sun set .  

Mira was the last of the Clan and his Fathers Castle was now occupied by a new Clan . Mira's home was a  cave by Acorn Mountain that he shared with the remaining members of the Clan . .

Darkness fell as Mira and his men walked into their cave .

Every head turned as Mira sat down by the fire and  immediately the cave was full of whispers . Suddenly  a few vowed to avenge the killing of their King .  

“There has been enough killing this day . My Fathers death will not be the reason for more loss of life in our Clan . Have you not had enough  blood spilt We must keep together . For our numbers are few and the enemy is strong .

Let us rest now and return to the flame “  

All the Clan sat around the fire and fell asleep .

The night passed quickly and Mira left the cave to get some water from the stream . He walked alone down to the Lake and as he came to the edge of the water a mist fell down on the lake and a swan emerged from the mist like sunlight piercing through the clouds .  

As the swan to Mira he heard his Fathers voice  .

“Mira this is a place where you must escape from . look my son  “

Suddenly a beautiful lady walked on the still water of the lake .

“ Be brave my son , my strength is with you “

The beautiful lady came over to Mira and said ,

“Mira look at your reflection “

As Mira looked into the water he could not see his  face >
”You have no reflection because you have no future Mira . You must return to the Castle at Tara and reclaim the throne of your Father .You must kill all of those who have robbed you of your inheritance . Mira  only then can you have a future here in this place ”  

The swan swam over to Mira and the Lady stood motionless.

The swan transformed into the King  and suddenly  Mira  found himself surrounded  in a thick mist on the lake that turned red and then purple and as Mira found his strength being sucked away the King himself was locked into a terrible fight . The lady of the Lake was really the witch of the mist ,

that wanted to keep Mira a prisoner of the Lake  but she was soon defeated  .

Eventually the mist lifted and the spell over the Lake was broken .

Mira  watched the white swan swim away far out of sight behind a rock in the centre of the Lake . With a scoop of his hand he trapped a trout , and doing so he noticed his reflection in the lake and he began to scoop out more and more trout  from the water on to the bank , now there was enough for everyone .

He speared the trout with a long sharp stick and made his way back to the cave . On the way back to Acorn Mountain he found the path different than before . In fact now there where three paths . Not knowing which one to take Mira  went to the path in the centre but as he did some rocks fell from down

from the mountain side and blocked the way . The same thing happened when he went to the path on the left and also the one to the right . So now Miras way was completely blocked  by these strange large stones .  

A beautiful lady appeared before him and said ,

“My name is Girack, the keeper of the stones . There is nothing to worry about   Mira let the music of the stones ease your mind “

Suddenly the strangest music came from stones .

“Again he heard the voice of his Father .

“Block your ears my son or you will turn into a stone yourself “

Mira did as he was told and the mountain side shook and the stones began to sparkle .again he heard his Fathers voice ,

”Mira ,Don’t look at the stones for they will try to put you to sleep and you too will turn into stone , turn away .my son “

That very second the rocks blocking the paths shattered and two of them disappeared .Mira continued on his journey to the cave .  

Suddenly it started to snow . Ice now covered the ground where Mira walked .

Every step was difficult for Mira . He slipped and fell  many times After a while Mira gave up and sat down . He was shivering and couldn’t feel his ears .

The wind seemed to whisper, “Sleep  Mira “

Then a bright golden light appeared and in the light he once again heard his Fathers voice .

“Take this torch that is the light of truth . May it shine from you in this land.

 Take this  crown that is the fire of the sun rise and wear it so that all will know that you are  now ruler and King “

Mira felt a power rush through him and that instant the ice melted and the snow stopped falling .The light enveloped Mira for  a moment but in that brief moment every question he had was answered , every thought he ever had was heard .In that second an eternity seemed to pass . He heard every song that was ever sung , he watched every sunrise and sunset , he saw the future for his people and a purity of thought filled his being with such a sensation of peace he had never felt before .

When the golden light left Mira found that he was standing there outside the cave .He called out to the all the Clan . They all came outside and looked into Mira’s face . There was a glow and a radiance there . Everyone was filled with new hope and as they followed Mira back to the Castle at Tara they sang and danced for their new King . They had no fear and all where ready to fight for the right to be the new residents there in their castle at Tara .

But when they reached the castle they found that the castle was littered with corpses . It looked like a plague had went through the place and not one drop of blood had been shed . After a short time life had returned to the Castle at Tara where Mira ruled for an age that saw great things take place.

  The End