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Run Fast joins us nearly an hour later I thought he’d be quicker than that, and orrying, thinking about going back for hi-he stopped to pick flowers and weave a necklace out of the the necklace at us

There’s a big group cheer and we surround hi at the sa!"

"I’ve never seen anything like it!"

"You ht they had us dead but they didn’t count on Run Fast!"

Run Fast smiles hazily, unsure of what all the fuss is about In his head, I don’t think leading demons a merry chase counts for much He’s far prouder of the necklace of flowers

When we’re through congratulating Run Fast we set off again, anxious to cover as htfall It’s a showery day and we’re soon soaked But that’s a s after our unexpected escape from the de the ring of stones with Fiachna, wondering how old it ho built it, what its original purpose ham stones back then," Fiachna says "They could have told us who they were and lived on through their writing"

"Can you read ogham?" I ask

"A bit I learnt it from a bard who couldn’t pay me for haic shouldn’t be recorded, that history should be kept alive by word of mouth"

"Perhaps," Fiachna says "But many stories are lost forever that way I think" He stops, eyes narrowing "Connla!" he calls-the young would-be king has been leading for the last couple of hours When Connla looks back, Fiachna points to a spot off to the right "A large, strange hut I think it’s a church"

Everyone gathers around us I can see the tip of the building now that Fiachna’s pointed it out It’s not like any I’ve seen before but I’ve heard of its type A Christian church I didn’t know they’d built any this close to our tuath

We advance on the church My insides are tight It’s a feeling I always get when I hear of the upstart religion

Christians are new to our land, but already it’s hard to iine a time when they weren’t here They’ve spread as fast as rabbits, bringing their churches and unnatural ways into tuath after tuath, converting everyone they encounter I’ve never met a Christian but from what I’ve heard they’re powerful and persuasive, with no tolerance for other ways of thinking They believe all people should follow their faith, that no gods are real except their own

The threat of Christians was a h ere far removed from any of the infected tuatha, we knee couldn’t hope to avoid them forever

From e heard, they’d converted all of the north and east It was only a h priest, Padraig, would come himself-and then

Would they convert us too? Would Conn grant thes had, and order us to follow their ways, abandon our gods, adopt their custoods are sacred, as real to us as our ancestors We lead our lives based on ancient, just laws, handed down frohter How could we turn away from all that within a matter of days and become another people entirely?

I’d have said it was impossible, except I knew from the reports that it isn’t While the Christians don’t have our understanding and control of e powers of their own They’ve co over ested we’d be no different, no more immune to their persuasive spells than any other clan

We thought Christianity was the worst disaster that could befall us Then the dereater eneod they call Christ

Creeping up to the door of the church I sense poithin A dark, throbbing, painful power It gives me a headache This church doesn’t have the natural feel of our own holy places It’s a building of power but not ic

We stop at the door of the church, unwilling to enter in case deht a church would be protected fro of stones But as powerful as they are, Christians lack the skills of the Old Creatures, because it’s obvious this church has been attacked and demons have been at play

We can see the h the open door Blood everywhere Bits of human bodies A man’s head-maybe a priest’s-stuck on the tip of a spear set in the centre of the church Eyelids ripped off, eyes gouged out, demonic symbols scrawled in blood across his forehead and cheeks

"I’ve never seen de the flesh over his own lost eye "They usually strike and kill, make off with the bodies they want, leave the others just scattered around This is different"

"It’s like e do with our enerees "If you add this to the trap they built around the ring of stones, there’s only one conclusion Tiernan was right-they’re becoent"

I feel sick when Fiachna says that If the de like huth and powers they’re certain to crush us all within months

We stand in the doorway a fewthe face of the dead man Then we retreat, spirits dampened, and continue on our trek to Run Fast’s ho if we’ll find si Worrying about the night ahead and where we’ll stop It’s too ical stones We’re tired from the march and lack of sleep If we don’t find shelter soon, we’re in trouble

All of a sudden, without warning, Run Fast darts ahead of us He stops, looks back and beckons hastily "Bus!" he shouts "Run fast!" Then he tears ahead, disappearing through the trees

"Looks like our journey’s at an end," Connla sht we’d have a ods runts, then catches Connla’s aret e’re here These people are in trouble There’s no telling e’ll find The de of stones"

Connla hesitates, then takes a step back "What do you suggest? Go in together or send a scout first?"

"Together," Goll says after a second of thought "To separate is to weaken But everybody draw your weapons and tread carefully"

When we’re all prepared, we advance cautiously, scanning the branches of the trees overhead and roots at our feet-so unsuspecting passers-by

A couple ofand find ourselves at the edge of a lake A crannog has been built on an island in thehalf a dozen huts There’s a sentry post built above the gate, and from the marks beneath it and here on the shore, I think there was once a bridge connecting the island to the mainland But that’s been demolished, probably because of the threat posed by de or in one of the curraghs tied up close to the fort’s gate

"Hello!" Goll yells Echoes, then silence