Realm of Miotas

By Marcia Carter

Is my fictional tale of a hidden location set in old Ireland that reveals a mythical doorway to another realm; Miotas. (Miotas is Gaelic for Myth)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312304123

Book preview

Realm of Miotas

Realm of Miotas

By

Marcia Carter

Published by Lulu

Copyright © 2011 Marcia Carter.  All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction.  Names, character, places and

incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or

are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual events or

locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or

reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written

permission of the author.

Second Edition 2014

Distributed by lulu.com

978-1-312-30412-3

Dedication

To my daughters:

Jessica and Kasandra.

Thanks to my family and friends:

For encouraging me not to give up on my dreams.

Special thanks to:

Caleb, Meryl, Nat, Katrina, Malika, Georgina, Tony and Phil.

To All:

Gra Anois Agus Go Deo

- Chapter 1 – Realm of Miotas -

In the darkness she hears the eagle owls call, hooting to each other from distant sally-rusty willow trees in the forest.  The majestic birds soar through the night searching for mice to prey upon in the thickness of the woods.  Walking along the bend of trees in the clearing, the moon shines down upon her.  She stares up in wonder, captivated by a flying owl lit by the moonlight.  The cool night air is filled with the sounds of leaves bustling in the wind, as she walks further around the woodlot to an area cleared away from the underbrush.  Slowly moving inward she proceeded to the center towards a group of large noble stones.

Similar to the monument at Stonehenge, she makes her way in between a gathering of pillared rock structures.  Inside the larger than envisioned area, she can feel the quiet as the stones prevent the gusting winds from penetrating.

Sitting down on one of the seven bench seats made from rock, she notices the moon is gleaming down through the center of the rock formation.  Looking up, she sees that it is not quite full, but almost.  Soon it will glow with all its powerful rays from afar, illuminating a doorway within.  Activated by the moon’s might, this doorway reveals the entrance to another realm.

This area’s location, unknown to the outside surrounding towns, is considered to be a story or a myth told among children.  The realm, Miotas, is an elusive world hidden to most mortal eyes.  Containing vast lands of mysteries, it was said that only the true in heart find their way.  It is hidden deep in the forest between the towns of Lingh and Rinsuel.  A paradox opening only for a few hours, once every twenty years, when the hunter moon lies above the entrance as it aligns in the center of the stone formation.

Arlanya speaks to the heavens as she stares into the starry night sky; she reveals only her hands as her method to communicate to the universe her pain.  Her palms facing upward, they bear her story to be told, she holds them open.  Looking up hoping that she doesn’t have to mutter what she feels from within, she tries to release the deep rooted hurt afflicted upon her.

Slowly she drops her head and her hands fall onto her lap, still facing upward, shaking her head back and forth.  Closing her eyes, she listens to the stillness, desiring to hear a similar voice calling to her from the man that she loved so.  They used to meet in this place created by the elders of the past. 

While waiting for the others to return she sits and remains motionless.  Quietly, another walks into the circle; her name Cerna.  She sees Arlanya and kneels down at her side.  First looking into her hands, as they hold nothing, she then reaches to lift her face so she can look into her eyes.  Upon Arlanya’s face being lifted, Cerna notices that she is stuck in a stare.  Cerna speaks, but can see that she isn’t being heard.  She stands up and lifts Arlanya from the seat to hold her.  Arlanya’s arms slowly move to her side, lifeless, and she leans her head onto Cerna’s shoulder.  Cerna holds her tight.  Arlanya cannot speak, words are frozen and trapped within her, she can’t even cry.  Cerna holds Arlanya, rubbing her back, telling her softly and calmly that it is okay, reaffirming that she is safe within the circle of healing.

Others start emerging from the outer edge of the forest, approaching the stone entrance, each bringing with them items to carry through the portal while waiting for the moon’s alignment, praying that the door would open.  Looking through the distance they see Arlanya, each feeling in their hearts the pain of the trauma that she has suffered, knowing that no words offered will truly be of any comfort to her.

Arlanya’s true love, Lyrum, had been beaten and killed trying to rescue gypsies who were caught, accused of stealing, while they were taking back their possessions that were stolen by the townsmen during a raid.  They were seized and put into a holding area within the confines of the castle.  He knew of the raid that the townsmen had made and valiantly entered the castle in an attempt to save them when he was captured.  The gypsies escaped back to the forest and to their families.  Fleeing quickly for their lives they had not noticed that Lyrum had been captured.  Not until later was it discovered of the sacrifice that Lyrum had made, for the men and their families.  One of the town’s guards said his body was dumped into the ocean nearby, so that Lyrum’s family were not allowed the proper rites of burial as they labeled him a traitor to his town’s law.

Cerna tries to draw Arlanya from her state of being, as she still holds her tightly and coerces her to sit, then speaking to her the story of how Miotas was created and discovered.  She tells her the tale, just like she had heard it, carried down from generations by an elder named Samuel.

Softly, she begins to speak, "Samuel said for years he and some of the other druids traveled, healing people in local villages.  They would be sought out for when the villagers would not know what else could be done.  The druids had many different beliefs and also had home remedies and healing aids that had been passed down to them.  Not always were they successful, but would try their best and many times they did heal sick people that had been looked upon as lost to their illness.  A sense of comfort and relief was felt by their arrival because many believed in their abilities.

A message traveled out to them from afar by a small town messenger that a few homes were stricken with pneumonic influenza.  After visiting, praying with and for the families, they entered into the forest to regain their strength.  Samuel and his group of druid healers used to find a spot in the forest to sit and gather while praying, asking nature to heal them from their encounters before traveling home.  After visiting sick homes, they would stay in the forest for at least a week to make sure that all were free from illness.  It was a custom and a practice learned to lessen the chances of contamination and the spread of any sicknesses or plagues that they would take back with them to their own town.  On that early evening, they walked a distance until coming across an unusual clearing.  Samuel said immediately that he felt drawn to it as he sat on the ground and placed his hand on the grass. 

He placed his satchels down, urging the others that were leading them to the clearing, to set up camp for the night.  There were seven of them - Samuel, Jacob, Enor, Martin, Sean, Patrick and Zahn.  All from different areas but grouped as one, they together placed their items down.  They gathered timber and branches from the surroundings to make a bonfire for warmth.

Sitting around the fire, all were comparing what was felt there; one spoke of feeling a profound keenness and clarity of thought.  Another claimed that he felt very calm, a type of inner warmth and expressed feeling elated.  Mostly in agreeance that they felt electricity in the form of static in the air while walking around the fire, then turning to the wooded lot and turning back again to the mid-center of the clearing.  Watching his steps, Enor who was a large built man, stood with his hands and arms extended out a bit to the ground, tuning in to feeling the difference each time, then stopping.  Trying to grasp and describe aloud their sensations, all felt a magnetic pull towards the newly found spot.

Scattering about they investigated the area more thoroughly.  Jacob took a stick that he had brought for the fire and called to the others to place a marker where it was felt that the pulling vibration stopped.  He plunged his down about an inch into the ground, making sure it would stand up.  Each of the others took a stick, walked until they felt the location and drove them far down into the soil, standing next to the spot where their twig was.  Upon looking around to each other, it was discovered that it resembled a shape of a large circle.  Shaking their heads in confusion, they contemplated theories back and forth.  Looking for clues or signs of something that would indicate an answer as to why they each struggled to come up with a fitting solution.

One theory was that it might have been an ancient spot of worship that Vikings had made.  History had said that many Viking groups had arrived and made their way into the forest to settle in the woods, making their claim onto the land as their own.  A couple of them agreed that it might be a possibility as they themselves were from Norse decent.  They scanned the area for any remnants to add some light to this, as they knew of the Viking cultures and rituals to the Gods they believed in.  Sometimes it was customary that carved talismans would be left behind in the areas of worship.  Although they searched, they didn’t find any traces of a single talisman or clues, but decided that the theory was the most feasible to satisfy their need to define the cause.

As it grew darker, a decision was made to camp there.  Nestled in the quiet night they slept around their bonfire until daybreak came, when they would wake to its greeting of a new day.

All were feeling quite tranquil, full of energy and tidied the area from the fire pit debris created the night before.  Gathering more twigs, brush and debris to burn for the next evening, the men headed into the forest.  There, with the aid of daylight, large pillar type stones, that had crystal formations encrusted and imbedded into their layers, were discovered, lying in different areas of the thick.  Two were found covered by soil that created mounds within a close perimeter of the clearing.  Comparing their finds, they also located lots of odd shaped smaller stones scattered among the region.  Marked with carvings and notches in them they appeared like they were connected to each other.

With time on their hands and at least six more days and nights to spend there, all agreed feeling this, that it was now going to be their spot to re-energize and heal after their town visits.  Martin, being a true mathematician, decided to calculate a way to relocate the pillars around the area to create a semi-solid circle.  They always carried supplies such as ropes, axes, and other necessities to make temporary makeshift shelters.  Mostly they would take their ropes to tie around medium size tree limbs, pulling the branches down to the ground level while tying them to small stakes and creating little hut type dwellings.

Martin was trying to brainstorm, and formulate a way of cutting down a few larger trees to use them to roll the colossal pillars over to the field from the edge of the woods.  He convinced Jacob and Zahn first of his strategy, they took their axes from their satchels and chopped down the first tree.  The others soon joined.  Once the trees were cut down, they stripped the limbs so the logs would roll.  One by one, four trees were cut down.  Next, they struggled and retrieved the great stones from the forest.  The hardest part was sliding the logs underneath, rolling forward until one log was clear in the back while quickly picking up the last log and placing it in the front to keep moving and not lose Momentum.  It was grueling and tedious, but with time they succeeded in their efforts.

Days went by and the men had merely relocated a few of the pillars from the woods into the vicinity of their new location, laying them next to the edge of the circle.  Upon their many returns, they gathered and slowly affixed the stones while building their safe haven.  Digging holes to create a cavity for the pillars to be erected and stand, from Martin’s devised mechanism, they then utilized the materials of the forest to raise them.  Amazingly, it was as if the structures rooted themselves while settled into their newfound site, and in no time they seemed virtually unable to be moved.  Almost like they had been standing there for all time.  Solid and sturdy, not one had fallen that the group had placed.  The notched stones were found to fit together to make bench type seating as they assembled them inside their refuge.

This took a year of hard labor and planning.  The men felt it was their own home away from home, and had an extreme fondness to keep its location secret.  None of them could quite explain why.  It had become a pact that they had amongst themselves to not reveal it to the villages.  It was almost like they believed that it could lose its healing ability if they were to expose it to many.  They were fearful that it would draw its energy force from it and potentially weaken its integrity.  Thus, upon each return, the men were healed of any sicknesses encountered.  Recharged each time of the ailments and traumas from what they had come in contact with, the men had also become better healers from the positive strength gained.  At first, they thought it was just their hopes to have found a place so magical and giving, but as time went on they found it really was such a place.

A local villager set out for them.  A family was stricken with an unidentified illness.  They had seen it once before as the family had high fevers and scarlet colored rashes that looked like they had been struck by sticks, leaving wide and long welts, but the cause still evaded them.  The druids gathered from their homes, they healed and gave solace to the villagers whilst leaving themselves drained.  When finished, they returned to their parcel of the forest to gain back their