Seth and Ryan Meet a Centaur

Seth and Ryan Meet a Centaur

Seth and Ryan were bored. They had been stuck inside the house for 3 days because of icky, rainy weather. They wanted to play outside, but it was wet and muddy. Mom and Dad said absolutely not.

Ryan looked out at the gray, rainy sky and sighed as he absently rubbed the mysterious dragon scale that Lady Aislynne had given him. “Seth,” he said, “Let’s try it again. Maybe it’ll work this time. Maybe we have just been doing it wrong. She said to rub the stone, right? Maybe we are just making the wrong wish. Seth? Seth, come on. Just one more time, I promise.” Ryan looked at Seth and made the silliest face he could. “Pleeeeeease,” he pleaded dramatically. “We have to go visit. We practically promised that we would. Mom says if you make a promise, you should keep it.”

Seth looked at Ryan and sighed. “OK, one more time, but then, let’s go down to the basement. We can play hide-and-seek or something. Ryan agreed and they both took the bluish scales from their pockets and put their thumbs on the silver stones attached to them. They closed their eyes and wished as hard as they could that they would go to Lady Aislynne and Tearlach’s home.

They opened their eyes and looked around. It hadn’t worked; they were still in their messy bedroom, just like all the other times. They put the scales back into the pockets of their blue jeans and headed down the stairs to the basement without a word.

“You’re it first,” said Ryan and rushed off to find a hiding place. Seth turned to the corner at the bottom of the steep wooden staircase and began to count out loud. “One…two…three…” he counted slowly, all the way to twenty. He turned around and scanned the large, nearly dark room. The light over the stairs was on, but the light in the basement wasn’t. Ryan had spent a lot of time convincing Seth that it was much more fun to play in the dark. Seth was going along with it, but he wasn’t nearly as sure about the dark as Ryan. There were tiny windows up near the ceiling, letting in some light, not much with the stormy weather, but some. Suddenly, the room flashed and a moment later there was a loud boom outside.

“Thunder,” Seth thought to himself, “and lightning. It’s not scary unless I let it be scary. Knights aren’t afraid of anything.” He took a deep breath, squared his little shoulders and strode into the room. He looked everywhere, under the table, behind the dryer, even, but couldn’t find Ryan. He felt around in his pocket for the dragon scale and when he touched the smooth stone, he wished really hard that he would find his brother so they could go back upstairs where the thunder and lightning didn’t feel so frightening.

There was another flash, and Seth found himself in the middle of a large field, filled with tall grass and brightly colored flowers. He pulled out the dragon scale and stared at it in astonishment. The silver stone was glowing and warm to the touch. He looked around and saw Ryan, standing a few yards away, looking just as shocked as Seth felt.

Ryan blinked and turned around slowly, his wide eyes taking note of every detail. He took off his glasses, spit on the lenses and wiped them off on his shirt, then put them back and did another full turn, looked at Seth and sat down in the grass.

“What did you do?” he asked Seth accusingly, “and don’t tell me you didn’t do anything, ‘cause I was hiding behind the sofa, and I know I didn’t do anything!”

“Ry, I swear, I didn’t do anything! Honest!” As he said this he thought back to the wish and how scared he had been of the thunder. He looked down at the ground and scuffed his feet nervously, “Well, I did kind of make a wish, but I thought we had to be together, like, wishing at the same time, for it to work.” He looked at Ryan, his blue eyes wide and horrified at what he had just done, “Ryan, how are we going to get home?” He asked with a tone of panic in his voice.

Seth looked so upset and miserable that Ryan didn’t have the heart to yell at him and make him feel worse than he already did. He sighed and took another look around. He spotted something off in the distance, but it was too far away to make out what it was. “Well, let’s go that way and see what we can find,” he said, pointing toward the thing he had just spotted, “I think I see something. It looks kind of like a house. Maybe someone there can help us.”

Seth looked at Ryan and nodded. He still felt bad, but at least he wasn’t alone in this strange new place. The boys each took a deep breath and started walking. They soon came to a path and began to follow it, noticing all kinds of things that they hadn’t ever seen before. The brightly colored birds were singing, really singing, not just whistling, and the boys stopped to listen to the words for a moment….
“Welcome, Sun of the seasons, as you travel high in the skies;
Your steps are strong on the wing of the heights,
You are the glorious mother of the stars.”
They walked on slowly, not wanting to miss the song, and saw trees that seemed to move and dance with the gentle breeze that was blowing. When they looked again, they saw ladies dancing around the trees, with long flowing green hair and brown skin, wearing lovely dresses of gold and bronze.

“What are those?” whispered Seth, “They weren’t there a minute ago, were they?”

“Those, my child, are dryads,” said a deep voice above them, They live in the trees and have come out to celebrate this first day of summer with the rest of us” The boys turned around and looked up slowly, eyes taking in first the sturdy hooves, then a brown horse’s legs and body, and finally, a man’s chest, arms and face, surrounded by curly brown hair. Their jaws dropped in astonishment and they stared at the…well, they weren’t sure what it was, but it was very big and intimidating to the two small boys. “It is considered quite rude to stare, children. Please close your mouths; you don’t want to swallow a bug. I am Sir Cailean (Kah-lun), Personal Guard to the lady of this estate. Who might you be?”

“Um, I’m Ryan and this is Seth,” said Ryan quietly, then, as he realized that the man-horse didn’t seem to want to hurt them, he remembered that he was a brave knight and said in a rush, “It’s nice to meet you Sir Cailean. We don’t know how we got here, or how to get home. What are you? I’ve never seen anything like you before. I bet you can run fast.”

Seth elbowed Ryan for being so quick to make friends with a total stranger, especially one that looked so scary, but Ryan didn’t appear to notice it, he was too busy trying to be a knight.

“I am a centaur,” said Cailean, with a friendly smile, “and yes, Ryan, I can run very fast. Seth, you don’t need to be afraid. I promise I won’t hurt you.” He looked at them very closely. “You boys are very young to be out here alone,” he remarked. “Where are your parents?”

“Illinois,” said Ryan, “I think we are lost. We thought maybe our friend Tearlach or his mom, Lady Aislynne might be here ‘cause Seth accidentally wished on the dragon scale when we were playing and we were here instead of in our basement at home. Mom is going to be really upset when she finds out we are gone.” He paused to take a much needed breath, he tended to talk very fast when he was excited and he was very, very excited to be on a grand adventure like this one.

“Dragon scale? Lady Aislynne?” he asked. “Seth, might I see this dragon scale that you wished upon? It sounds very interesting, this story of yours. Ryan, you may show me yours too, of course,” he said, since Ryan was already holding his scale out to be looked at.

Seth took the scale from his pocket and handed it to the centaur. “Here. They were a present from Lady Aislynne, when we found her baby in our yard a few weeks ago.”

“Ahh, I do remember her telling me of the little one’s adventure. So you are the brave knights who took care of him. I am very honored to make your acquaintance, young sirs.” Cailean then made a very deep bow to them, handing the scales back as he did so. “It’s a good thing I was heading out to the practice field this morning, isn’t it? I can help you find the lady, for I am heading to her home this afternoon for tea. I am quite sure that she won’t mind me joining her earlier, as she has spoken quite fondly of you to me. Please, allow me to take you to her home? You may watch me practice first, if you like,” he offered graciously.

“Thank you, Sir Cailean. It’s very nice of you to do that,” said Seth, “We were trying to visit her earlier from home, but we didn’t know how to make the scales work, until I made that awful wish and we both ended up here, and it’s all my fault.”

“It’s ok, Seth,” Ryan said, as he put a comforting arm around Seth’s shoulder, “if you hadn’t we wouldn’t have heard the birds sing, or seen the dryads, or met Sir Cailean and now we get to go see Lady Aislynne and Tearlach! So actually, it’s good that you made that wish.”

Seth looked at his twin and smiled gratefully, feeling much better about the whole situation now that a grown-up was involved, even if it was a centaur grown-up. The boys followed Cailean back down to the practice field, which was where they had come from and spent a good while watching him take careful aim with his long, wooden bow and shoot arrows into bales of hay in the distance. After the centaur had emptied the brown leather quiver slung over his shoulder, he put the boys on his broad back and they went off to retrieve the arrows. There was a lot of slipping and sliding around in the beginning, since neither of them had been on a horse before, but they quickly got their balance and enjoyed the rest of the ride. Once they reached the target area, Cailean set the boys down on the ground and they pretended to shoot bows at imaginary foe’s somewhere in the distance while he drew each of the arrows out of it’s intended target. Once his quiver had been refilled, he lifted them back onto his back and they went off to find the lady.

He took them back to the path where they had met, past the singing birds and the dryads, who stopped dancing when they saw Cailean so that they could wave and call out his name, trying to get him to join in their dance. “Oh, please, let’s go dance with the pretty ladies,” the boys cried out excitedly. The wise centaur shook his head and explained to the disappointed boys that if they had joined the dryads, they might have been lost in the heart of a tree forever. For dryads are the spirit creatures that dwell in the trees and any who join them must also become a spirit creature.

After they had passed the dryads they came to a bridge made of white marble that shone pure and brilliant against the dark brown and green colors of the forest. It crossed over water that was so clear you could see right to the bottom, which was covered with jewels and golden coins. There were small people, about the same size as the boys, swimming in and around the rocks and plants. They had blue hair, with skin that was a very pale green color. Their eyes were a brilliant sapphire blue. Their clothing was simply seaweed tunics and leggings. They swam to the surface and called out to Cailean to join them. The boys wanted to go play with the people in the water very badly, but again, the wise centaur kept them out, cautioning them, for the water fairies guarded their treasure ferociously and they would most certainly get angry should the boys get some coins or jewels in their pockets while playing.

Once they passed the bridge they walked slowly, the forest becoming darker and darker until they couldn’t even see the sky anymore. Still Cailean walked. The boys were awfully glad he knew where he was going, because this was a very scary place. Everywhere they looked, they imagined eyes watching them. They could hear all kinds of noises coming from all around them, rustling here and what may have been footsteps there; something would snort and then growl. The noises did not sound friendly at all.

Finally, after what felt like forever to Seth and Ryan, Cailean stopped and called out to someone they couldn’t see. Out of nowhere, a boy appeared in front of the centaur, dressed in brown leather with a small sword at his side and a bow and quiver strapped across his slender back. He had wild wavy blond hair and flashing gray eyes. He looked to be about 14, but something in his eyes told the twins that he was much older than that. He greeted Cailean with a smile and beckoned them to follow him. Cailean did so, and they soon found themselves in a cheery clearing with a fire in the center and many more of the woodland elves (for Cailean had told the boys that was what they were) in attendance. Some were tending the fire, while others were guarding the entrances to the clearing, but most were just laughing and talking with one another.

Cailean explained quietly that they, too, were celebrating the beginning of summer. There would be a feast that would go on for several days, the elves dancing and playing among the trees where they made their homes. He told the boys to look up; and when they did they could see what looked to be a very large city built right into the tops of the largest trees, with bridges and ramps connecting all of the platforms to one another. Ryan and Seth both thought it looked like a playground and wanted to go up and play, but Cailean put a hand on each of their shoulders and shook his head no.

The boy they had first met had gone over to talk to what appeared to be a very old man. In moments, he came back over to them and introduced himself. “I am Lachlan. Welcome to our home. Please, join us for midday meal and celebrate with us,” he said after making a very courtly bow.

“It would be our pleasure, Master Lachlan,” replied Cailean formally. “This is Master Seth, and this is Master Ryan,” he said, lifting each twin off of his back and setting him down on the ground. “They have come to visit the Lady Aislynne and her son, Tearlach.”

“Master Lachlan,” asked Ryan curiously, “are your ears real? I’ve never seen ears with points on them like that before. Can I touch them? They won’t come off, will they?”

“Ryan,” said Seth, in an exasperated tone, “that’s not polite, if Mom were here, you would be in big trouble.” He turned to apologize for his brother’s behavior and found all of the elves laughing, like Mom and Dad laughed when they made a silly and funny mistake. Lachlan had even bent down so that Ryan could touch his ears. They didn’t come off. Seth gathered up his courage and touched the elf’s ear as well. “It feels just like my ear,” he said wonderingly, “but mine is round.” Once introductions were over, Cailean led the boys over to get some food. They were given a wooden bowl filled with a venison stew and a slice of freshly baked bread with butter on it. Both boys thought it was delicious and went back for more. After they had finished eating, they found themselves surrounded by elven children, wanting them to join them in their game of tag. The boys looked at Cailean, silently asking permission. He nodded with a smile and the boys quickly joined in the fun.

Soon, everyone began to clean up and the fire was put out, Cailean and Lachlan chased down the boys, who were still playing with the elven children, and they said their goodbyes to Lachlan. Cailean got them settled on his back and they headed out through the forest, soon coming to the path. Then, finally, they were out of the forest and could see the castle up ahead.

On the way to the castle there was a large lake, with water of crystal blue and a huge waterfall that Cailean told them came from the river they had crossed earlier in the day. The shore of the lake was dotted with large rocks, where mermaids lay sunning themselves, scales sparkling and shimmering in the sunlight. They were laughing and playing with the fish and other water animals. As they passed, the mermaids called out to them to come and play. Once more, Cailean shook his head and kept moving, determined not to stop and risk losing the boys. The boys both wanted to get down and play, but he told them that if they were to play with the mermaids, they would have to stay with the mermaids forever, never leaving the lake.

Right after they passed the lake, the road widened and led straight to the castle. Up close it was enormous, bigger than anything the boys had ever seen before. Made entirely of blue and white marble; it seemed to stretch all the way up to the sky. There were four towers in the front, each with a white flag, adorned with a blue dragon, on top of it. There were people in the windows and they could see knights in armor on the walsl above the drawbridge. As they approached, one of the knights called out to them, welcoming Cailean back home and telling the others to lower the drawbridge.

Once inside, they saw people everywhere: knights, squires, ladies and servants bustled about, everyone with somewhere to be or something to do. They hurried along, not paying any attention whatsoever to the centaur, bearing two small boys suddenly in their midst. Cailean moved forward, toward a large double door, opened it and they went inside. They were in a large entryway with another set of double doors to the front and doors off to each side. Cailean continued forward through the double doors and into the next room. It was very large, with tables along the sides and a large throne area along the back wall. The tables and chairs were filled with talking people and the throne area was filled with people as well. There were Lords and Ladies-in-Waiting to Aislynne and there was even a place for little Tearlach, the baby dragon was curled next to his mother in a throne of his very own, watching everything, his big silvery eyes shining and happy.

Cailean moved up to where the Lady and her son were holding court and set the twins down in front of them. He then bowed deeply and spoke. “My Lady,” he said, “May I present to you Masters Seth and Ryan? They have come to visit from the other realm.”

Seth and Ryan were both being very quiet. They had never seen such a place. The ladies all wore long dresses that were shiny and brightly colored, you could hear them swishing as they moved around the room. The men were wearing white shirts under satiny jackets, also brightly colored, and pants like Seth and Ryan had seen in paintings that Mom said were very old; they only came to their knees and had ties at the bottom. All of the ladies were wearing golden and silver jewelry, with gems of every color dangling from their necks, arms and ears. They had all been talking when the centaur had entered the room with the children, but when he began to speak; everyone stopped and looked right at them. The boys felt quite small and out of place in their grubby jeans and t-shirts.

Lady Aislynne stood up and walked toward them with a welcoming smile on her face. When she got close to them, she held out her arms and they both rushed into her embrace. “My dear knights,” she said. “How we have missed you, my Tearlach and I. Won’t you stay for tea? Come with me, my dears.” She stood up, turned, took each of their hands and led them to a door off to the side of the throne area. “Tearlach,” she called back to the throne area, “Come and play with your friends, they have come a very long way to see us and they cannot stay long.”
The dragon stood and followed, shyly, for though he remembered the twins, he hadn’t really spoken to them when last they had met. He was smiling, though, for they had taken care of him when he was alone, frightened and hungry. As he walked, he began to change from a dragon to a little boy the same age as Seth and Ryan. When he reached them, he held out his hand and said hello in a very quiet and not at all dragony voice.

Seth and Ryan were very happily surprised with the change. Playing with a dragon would be fun, but playing with a dragon that could turn into a little boy was so much better. Ryan spoke first, “Tearlach, this is so cool! How long have you been able to do this? Can you teach me to turn into a dragon?”

“Ry, you are scaring him.” Seth scolded quietly as Ryan paused to take a breath. He put his arm around Tearlach’s shoulder and led him toward Lady Aislynne, talking quietly about nothing the whole while. Before long, all three boys were talking and laughing like they had known one another forever.

Lady Aislynne led them down a long corridor and through a door at the very end that opened to reveal a large outdoor room with a round, white table, with four tea settings and a plate of cookies on it, in the corner. The walls were covered with ivy and other vines, on which flowers of every color imaginable bloomed. The floor was grass; emerald green, lush and soft. There were some trees in each of the other corners, perfect for little boys to climb and play in. The lady poured tea into delicate blue and white china cups, while the boys fidgeted nervously in the fancy white chairs. They dutifully drank it and managed to eat nearly all of the cookies, and then looked at her with pleading eyes, silently begging her to release them to go play in the trees.

She shook her head with a smile and waved them off to play. The three boys climbed up the trees, down the trees, ran around and played until Lady Aislynne called to them to join her. They ran up, out of breath and flopped down on the grass at her feet. “Seth and Ryan, it’s time for you to go home,” she said. “I’m sure your parents will be very worried about you. I know that I was very worried when I couldn’t find Tearlach.”
“Mother, do they really have to leave? They have only just gotten here and we are having fun! Please don’t make them go away,” Tearlach pleaded.

“Darling,” Lady Aislynne responded patiently, kneeling down and putting her arms around him, “it’s time for them to go home. Now dry up those tears, that’s a good boy… and say goodbye to your friends.”

The three boys looked up at her with big, sad eyes and nodded solemnly. “Yes, ma’am,” said Seth, “Our Mom and Dad would be really worried if they couldn’t find us. I remember when we got lost ‘cause we were playing in the store, Mom was really mad and scared, remember Ry?”

Ryan nodded and sighed. “Can we come back? Please?” he asked.

The lady smiled and nodded. “If you wish to be here, you will,” she said. “Thinking you want to be here won’t work, you have to wish it. Do you understand the difference?”

Tearlach spoke up, “Think with your head. Wish with your heart.”

“I think I get it,” said Ryan. “Good-bye, Tearlach. Good-bye, Lady Aislynne. I will miss you so much.” He gave the lady a hug and shook Tearlach’s hand. Seth said his good-byes and did the same. The boys held out the scales and Lady Aislynne waved her hand over them, the silver stones began to glow and suddenly, the boys were in their basement. The storm was over and Mom was calling down that it was time to clean up for dinner.

The boys went upstairs, smiling at one another. At bedtime that night, they told their mom about their adventure in the other realm. She smiled, thanked them for the wonderful story, and gave them each a hug and kiss. Then she gently took Ryan’s glasses off and set them on the nightstand, telling them both to get some sleep. It had been a long day and they were quite tired. They were asleep before she was out of the room, scales clutched in their hands and smiles on their faces.