Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nStill seated as he had been in the cold, dark chamber, he alternated between doubting the existence of Sc\u00e1thach to cursing her for her tardiness. His thoughts went suddenly to Vanora, unaccompanied and God-knows-where on the dark and wild isle. He began to stand to go in search of her, but managed only a twitch before the tiny twinkling of those few stars disappeared and returned, as if a large hand had passed over the hole. It froze him in place, staring upward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He released a long, slow sigh when the phenomenon repeated itself, and he knew it for what it was \u2014 a bird. A bird, or perhaps several, circled above the fortress, passing over the hole in staccato patterns. They announced themselves formally with a single squawk, which was echoed by another, then accompanied by many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What began as a delicate song of gulls in dulcet concert with the sound of the waves, grew piercing and shrill. Louder and shriller it rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere must be thousands of them!\u201d Lindsay yelled, but not loudly enough to hear himself over the riotous scream from the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The noise turned painful. He stood, buckled over, and cupped his ears with his hands. As he did, and the hovering chaos muted, it began to transition in tone, or so he imagined. It transformed slowly from the united squawk of a thousand gulls to a voice, a feminine, melodic voice, seeming to hum an ancient lullaby. He removed his hands from his ears, expecting a painful resurgence of noise, but the noise was gone, and the feminine song remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song came from above him, from the circling birds, as if they had been possessed by a thousand angels sharing a single voice. No light came through the hole in the roof. The gulls formed a flying curtain that shut out the heavens. But in the complete darkness, David Lindsay felt like he faced the brightness of paradise. Such was the intoxicating effect of the song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The voice seemed to descend, to saturate the fortress and echo from the deep cracks between each stone. It moved up and down mysterious scales, with notes that would have been incongruent with one another had they come from a less heavenly voice. The hummed melody began to take the form of syllables, of consonants and vowels that danced so comfortably with each other that they blended seamlessly. When those syllables became language he could understand, it chilled poor Lindsay to the bone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSc\u00e1thach?\u201d he whispered timidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Echoing simultaneously from each stone in the fortress, the voice spoke,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This floor where you now stand
You are of sun
The council of gulls
You are the one
As the echoes of the final verse died away, a striking realization settled on Sir David. Sc\u00e1thach, the gulls, the Pictish ancestors of the island, Vanora, and the old man at the coronation \u2014 there was a strong connection between them. He could see that clearly, but the nature of the connection was still out of his grasp. He suddenly swelled with pride in being the one man, of all the noble lords of Scotland, to be in that cold, dark fortress, to be part of this intimate circle of arcane understanding into which he was just taking his first steps. There was no more anger, no frustration or fear, only loyal determination and open-hearted obedience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He dropped to one knee and declared himself her willing disciple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRise!\u201d she answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he returned to his feet, the room brightened just enough for him to make out the dark cracks in the opposite wall \u2014 and a shadow! The chamber was still very dim, and the shadow moved so fluidly that he could not discern where it ended and where the darkness of the room began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlease hold still, Sc\u00e1thach,\u201d he begged, \u201cI cannot make out your form.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The voice went deep and stern, and echoed more reverberating, as if in a hollow chamber four times the size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These shadows you see
This castle you see
I am with you
Chills ran across every inch of his skin as he drew his sword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He waved his weapon haphazardly in front of him, then declared, \u201cBut I see only shadows, and not the figures that cast them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do not fear
Follow the gulls
Despite the lesson, he winced his eyes, straining to see what was not there. Without warning, Lindsay felt the steely strike of an armored fist across his cheek. His knees buckled beneath him, but he did not drop. The invisible attacker was no phantom, the pain, no trick of his mind. Blood ran from his cheek and dripped from his jaw onto his shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sc\u00e1thach repeated,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do not fear
\u201cYes!\u201d he said, \u201cI understand. I must not seek with my eyes what is apparent to<\/em> the eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nDo not strike at shadows
Lindsay sheathed his sword and darted forward to the wall. Facing the wall, he shuffled to his side until his own body covered the elusive shadow on the wall, then he turned, drew his sword, and thrust it forward. A hideous, screeching scream rang out. The shadow fell onto the floor and disappeared, as its pitiful holler turned into the normal squawk of a gull above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe gulls and the spirit,\u201d he thought to himself, searching for a connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He began a question he could not finish, \u201cAre the gulls a sort of\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was struck in the back. The blow felt as if it slashed him deeply. The sting swam through his blood to saturate everything beneath his skin. Again, he did not fall. He hunched forward slightly, drew one quick breath, then stood erect and sought the shadows, with no thought of the figures that projected them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindsay swallowed his reason. He pocketed his logical thoughts and gave way to his instincts. His hands and feet seemed to act on their own, as if controlled by a puppeteer high above him. His sword flew with wild precision, not at the shadows on the walls and floor, but at the invisible phantoms that cast them. One shadow after another fell into the floor and disappeared, and each wretched scream turned into the normal call of a very normal bird. As each fell, another appeared. Sc\u00e1thach allowed no break for rest or instructions, but struck him with damaging effect each time he paused or took a wrong step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For endless hours it went on, and when Lindsay thought he could not raise his sword to the level of his waist, the first rosy brush of the morning\u2019s light stroked across the wall opposite of the archway. The shadows dissipated. The gulls scattered. And David was left with an empty fortress, the sounds of the waves, and more bruised and bloody wounds than he had ever suffered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He dropped his sword, collapsed against the wall, and cried, not from the physical pain. That was nothing to him. It was the surge of understanding, the sudden and violent opening of doors in his mind that swelled his emotions beyond containment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Stefan Scheuermann<\/strong> is the award-winning author of a dozen books. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in literature. Having taught writing at his local university, he now serves on the board of the Colorado Authors League. Scheuermann’s lifelong drive to tell the stories of our species has spilled over into multiple mediums. After a long career as a ballet dancer, he now teaches and choreographs and has served as editor to new and aspiring authors. He partnered with local poet and storyteller Paul Alexander to write the historical fantasy novel, “King of the Gulls.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
In “King of the Gulls” by Stefan Scheuermann and Paul Alexander, a medieval knight’s lyrical exchange with a phantom warrior princess through the night leaves him battered but enlightened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":491202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"credibility_indicators":{"original_reporting":false,"on_the_ground":false,"sources_cited":false,"subject_specialist":false},"gigafact_has_fact_brief":false,"gigafact_remote_fact_brief_post_id":0,"gigafact_remote_sync_timestamp":"","gigafact_remote_sync_status":"","gigafact_remote_sync_response":"","gigafact_has_been_published":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"His lyrical exchange with a phantom warrior princess through the night leaves David Lindsay battered but enlightened","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[142,139],"tags":[226,135,1707],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[20821],"class_list":["post-491214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-excerpts","category-sunlit","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-historical-fiction","entry"],"credibility_indicators":[{"description":"This article contains firsthand information gathered by reporters. 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