The Fifth Beast (ManxMan Chinese/Celtic Fantasy Story)

Chapter 6

Eventually Niall put on his green hunting cotta that old Matha had packed for him just in case, although there was no reason to believe that his lord would find something to hunt in the northern lands. However, the luxurious furs that merchants brought from the North suggested that there were plenty of fur-bearing animals here, with thick winter fur, not shorter and thinner summer one, as in Mag Tuired. Cumal's fur coat, which he put on over his short tunic and began to look more or less decent, was made of incredible silver fox.

Niall, too, threw a fur-lined cloak over the cotta, feeling utterly underdressed. Yes, his cotta was made of beautiful thick silk, with embroidered sleeves and collar. Wide sleeves could be pulled up to the elbows for freedom of movement, and the hem could be tucked into the belt (which is why such a piece of clothes was called 'a hunting cotta'). The sleeves of his undershirt, visible from under the cotta, were embroidered with silver thread, his pants of fine soft wool were tucked into high boots of embossed leather (not as high and exquisite, however, as Cumal's boots). But the whole ensemble looked modest, not particularly suitable for the Steward of the North.

Niall completely forgot to take any jewelry with him, he didn't wear it very often, because metal interfered with lightning. His suede belt had no silver or gold plating, and only the scabbard and the hilt of his sword were inlaid with colored enamel and mother-of-pearl.

But Cumal, Lord of Fire, had absolutely no problem with gold rings, bracelets and necklaces, so he was hung with them, like a walking showcase of a jeweler, and even put on two matching earrings made of colorful jasper. He was one of the few Tuatha Dé men who dared to pierce both their earlobes. He also persuaded Niall to do the same. Before coming to Mag Tuired, the Tuatha Dé knew no earrings, and many of their women still wore only old-fashioned temple rings. It was clear from whom the Tuatha Dé picked up this barbaric custom — from the Kirinches, and from southern merchants. All those, however, preferred a single plain earring in one lobe, leaving elaborate matched earrings for women.

As usual, Cumal chatted about everything that came into his field of vision. It took some effort for Niall to turn his thoughts in the right direction, namely, towards kelpies/kirins.

"Kelpies, my dear Niall, are nothing more than the fruits of the Tuaths' superstitious ignorance. Have you ever seen a kelpie in all your one hundred and twenty-two years? Do you know anyone trustworthy who has? Exactly! Fairy tales. Yeah, according to them, a kelpie is a magical black horse of incredible beauty, which strongly suggests a kirin. By the way, there is a man riding a black horse. Come on, guess — is it a kirin or an ordinary horse?"

Niall looked closer. The black steed was unusually tall and hairy. Its mane hung down to its knees, and its pasterns were overgrown with tufts of long hair.

"A kirin?" Niall suggested hesitantly.

Cumal burst into laughter. "No, this is an ordinary northern horse, they could be even bigger and hairier. Their hooves are wide in order to walk better on the snow, and to dig out grass from under it. Look, there is a kirin, there, turning round the corner!"

Niall opened his mouth to say that Cumal was kidding him, because the brown colt did not look like a magical beast at all. Then he noticed short sharp spurs on its hind legs.

"Generally, in fairy tales kelpies are described in such a way that it's very tempting to suspect a masterless kirin, so to say. It wanders along the river bank, looking for a master. And if a fearless man puts a saddle on it and binds it to his will, the kirin will serve him until the end of time. But if a coward tries to do the same, the kirin will drag him underwater and drown him. Let's leave aside the problem that a kirin cannot harm a human. Let's assume that it doesn't attack a human directly, just arranges an accident. Who knows how those barbarians bind their kirins. This is a very personal question no one dares ask or discuss. Maybe someone did break his neck, falling off his newfound steed, or was dragged into a lake and drowned. But there lies the real problem. The victim of a kelpie dies an accidental death, not a violent one. And your hunter was torn to pieces."

"Why not assume that kirins, like ordinary animals, could be either harmless or predatory? Kirinches can bind only the harmless ones, while the predatory ones are left to roam free, without a master. And since you don't know anything about how they call them out for the first time, why not assume that kirins originally come from Anghaine?"

Cumal fell silent, which rarely happened to him, pinched his lower lip, and nodded his head.

"True, why not assume. Your version is not without merit. Kirins could even be white, although very rarely."

"What did you say about the Kirinch chief and his white wolf?"

"Junior chief, the Yuizhen. They have, you see, a strange system of triple power. According to the epic "Sanguo", which can be roughly translated as "The Three Kingdoms", this is a result of the unification of the three Kirinch tribes after a civil war. The famous hero Tenghis with his white beast — mind you, white again! — defeated the leaders of two other tribes, but didn't kill them, as obviously was the custom, but made them his co-rulers. And since then, the Kirinches have three chiefs: senior, middle and junior. The Caozhen, the Xiaozhen and the Yuizhen. My understanding is, the middle chief rules in peaceful times, the older, usually a gray-haired old man, serves as a judge and advisor, and the youngest one is a typical lazybones who indulges in feasts, hunting and debauchery, like our glorious Keeper of the North. Faolan of the Three Swords is his name, and I imagine how much mischief one should make to be called such."

Seeing Niall's blank look, Cumal explained, "Well, he has two ordinary swords, he is said to fight with both, in each hand, and I can imagine how deadly he is in battle, like a steel mill! But the barbarians also poetically call a man's penis his manly sword. His other nickname is Three Beasts, and I think the explanation is pretty much the same."

Cumal did not even think to lower his voice, even though they were passing along a rather busy street with shops on both sides. However, they spoke Gaelic, and there were no Tuaths around who could understand them. They did not take Sencha along.

Tuaths were easy to notice, they were for the most part fair-haired and blue-eyed, with fair skin, though not as white-skinned as most of the Elemental Lords. There were few exceptions: for example, Cumal's skin was golden, like fire, while Daire's skin, on the contrary, was dark, like tree bark, which looked a bit funny combined with his green hair and great height. Cumal used to jeer, "The Lord of Forest looks like a big log and has a brain of one to boot!"

Niall was surprised to notice that the Kirinches were on average taller than the Tuaths. For some reason, he used to think they were all short and bow-legged, after spending half their lives on horseback, often going hungry or getting cold. But no, the barbarians were tall and often had finely chiseled, muscular torsos, which they flaunted shamelessly, as Cumal had warned. The Elemental Lords, again minus Daire Mac Cormac and a few others, were slender and lean as a vine, not at all muscular, although, of course, dozens of times stronger than an ordinary human. And two, or one and a half, heads higher.

As they entered the Firebird Tavern at the edge of the village, Niall's belief in the absolute physical superiority of the Tuatha Dé Danann over humans was somewhat shaken.

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I decided to change Niall's title to 'Steward of the North', it sounds better and means the exact same thing as Seneschal. His superior, Daire Mac Cormac, is now Keeper of the North. Although I thought of 'Regent' and 'Governor'. It's not very important, but titles will be mentioned quite often. So I need something both I and my readers are comfortable with.

I have no picture of Daire Mac Cormac, but this was my inspiration: