Meraud reached into an old leather bag at her side and brought out a handful of dried lavender, some pearly white shells, and a small round of cheese.

“You take. Leave as offering for the spirit of the holy well. Put on the ground. Don’t eat!” she said, pressing the objects into Lucius’s hands.

They walked for a while in the darkness until they reached a large standing stone, upright and thick as a tree. Lucius heard trickling water nearby. The torchlight revealed a wide fissure in the bare rock, plunging into a deep recess hidden in the land.

“Careful! Very deep!” Meraud said.

“We will leave you here all night,” Hammitt added. “Lie on the stone near the well and sleep. Drink water now and again in the morning.” He pointed to a leather bucket on a rope that was tethered to a stone.

Lucius had no idea why they wanted him to do this. As a guest in a strange country, he had little choice but to honor their wishes. His survival rested in their hands.

“Chons da!” they said in chorus as they disappeared down the slope towards the village.

Now what? Lucius thought.

He dropped the leather bucket into the fissure of rock as he was told, finding that the well was quite deep. He hauled up water and drank a few sips, then set the bucket aside for the morning. He laid the cheese, shells, and herbs at the base of the menhir and lay down on the bare rock as instructed. By pulling up his legs, he curled into a warm cocoon inside the woolen cape, fervently hoping that he wouldn’t roll in the night and fall into the water and drown.

It began as a trickling sound, as if a wide and shallow splay of water were rippling over moss-covered stones in a deep forest. Very gradually, the melodious sounds of dripping were added, and then almost imperceptibly the cascade of a waterfall layered in, growing louder and louder. When the water sounds had reached the level of a chorus, the singing started: a perfect three-part harmony in some impossibly beautiful yet indecipherable ancient tongue.

In the midst of all that loveliness, a tiny blue light appeared that gradually intensified and grew in size until it was as long and wide as a human form. The blue light opened like a shell and revealed a molten golden light, within which was the shape of a woman. As the figure took on clarity, breasts appeared, and then long, wavy hair wafted upwards as if the creature were underwater. The lower half of her body was covered in iridescent, luminous scales, tapering into pure energy that swirled below her like an undulating, translucent veil.

Lucius realized with a start that he too was underwater! He too was surrounded by a bright blue light, yet he could breathe easily and speak without drowning.

“Where am I?” he asked. “Who are you?”

The golden woman smiled with pearly luster. Her ocean eyes sparkled with an infinite compassion, as if the whole world were held within them. She reached out her arms, her voice echoing in waves, as if the sound of it were simultaneously near and at a great distance.

“I am called Astarte-yam and Asherar-yam. I am Earth Mother. I am also Sky Mother and Water Mother. I am the spirit who protects the people of Mamm an Bys and all those who sail within and upon the blue oceans. I also protect the creatures of the land and of the sky. I have protected you since the day you were born, even on your island, Inissi Leuca.”

Tears of awe and gratitude welled up in his eyes, for he knew that this was true. He had felt her breath upon him like a tender mother, cushioning him from danger and fear. He had always known yet only realized it now.

She continued. “You said ‘thank you’ just now in the fogo, and I heard you. I have a wish for you. Do you want to hear it?”

“I want to hear everything you have to say!”

“Your journey is not over unless you wish it to be. There are more waters to cross and more mysteries ahead if you but choose them.”

“I know this is true, lady. There is more for me than this place.”

“Go back to your small curach and ride the waves. I will protect you always.”

There was so much more he wanted to ask, but the golden form folded into the deep blue light. The light slowly shrank into a tiny blue ball and winked out. The chorus of water sounds silenced, and he was left wide awake on the lip of the well.

The dawn came quickly. “Did you drink water this morning?” Meraud asked gently. “Did you see the water spirit last night?”

“Yes, I did. But she is more than that, much more. She is the mother of all the mountains and of the rivers and of the oceans and the sky!” He said this with awe.

“Yes, yes!” Hammitt and Meraud repeated in chorus, smiling and pleased, nodding their heads.

“Meraud knows you have the connection to spirit. She knew because you traveled alone on the waters without fear. You are a true child of Mamm an Bys,” said Hammitt.

“She told me to continue my journey if I want to. I must go,” Lucius replied.

“Yes, you must go,” said Meraud, placing her hands on his head as a blessing.