Roimh Dhiaidh

"They called her Roimh Dhiaidh, The Great Seer," the old woman begins. "The last known of her kind. If she is even still alive." The woman sits in a chair beside a glowing fire, her audience of one watching her every movement. "They say there lies a cave not but a day's journey from... well ... anywhere, nestled beside a small stream always running, and whose trees are always green. Vines bare fruit the year long and flowers never drop their petals. It is here that Roimh Dhiaidh lives."

The boy shifts a little at this thought. "How can it be a day's journey from anywhere?"

"How can the trees always be green?" the woman interrupted. "Or the fruit always ripe? Magic, my love, magic." She let the last word hang in the air, weightless, ethereal. Then she continues, "The Great Seer is a curious thing, especially for a dragon."

"A DRAGON!!"

"A dragon," smiles the old woman, pleased with the boy's reaction. "But she is not a the gold-hoarding type. No. Or that kills knights for sport, or steals princesses for maids. As far as I know she has never even stolen a single cow or goat. She merely sits in her cave, her third eye always open, Watching the world pass before it does, reliving days as if they are the here and now." The woman looks off into the fire, blinking back tears. "Much like your Gran does I'm afraid."

"But, if she never leaves her cave, how do we even know she exists?"

"Because, child, when someone seeks her out by name, and if she sees fit, then the path will be made clear and the cave will be open to them. But, the future can be a terrible thing to know, any many have lost hope in the search for it."

"Gran, do you know what she looks like? Roimh Dhiaidh?"

"She is graceful and wears a great amulet around her neck that rests against her breast. They say she wears a moon shaped crown above her head that rests there without chain or claps, but that is all I know."