Page 224 of Sigils & Spells

Something was wrong with Ravyn.For whatever reason, Daniel couldn’t figure out what. She’d declined going anywhere with him over the weekend, but it was midterm week, so it made sense she was busy. However, she didn’t want to see him. Hadn’t even made time to eat in the cafeteria. A diet of ramen or peanut butter sandwiches couldn’t possibly be better than taking a break and getting something with a little more substance.

She doesn’t owe you anything, dude. Get a grip.

Try as he might, he couldn’t help worrying he had done something wrong. Everything had been fine Friday, and by Saturday evening…she’d gotten distant.

Dean Caelan opened her office door and beckoned him in from the waiting area. He’d scheduled his meeting with her about his prospectus for his research paper right before class on Monday. It seemed a good idea at the time, but now he was anxious about seeing Ravyn. If he had done something to upset her, he really hoped she’d tell him.

“You don’t have to look so dejected, Mr. O’Connor. I’m sure your topic isn’t that bad.”

His focus snapped back to where it needed to be for the moment. Ravyn was an enigma he hoped to solve, but he couldn’t let his grades slip in the meantime. “It’s early, and I have one of my midterms this afternoon.”

“Ah, yes. I was nice and gave you all the full week to study for ours.”

Small favor, that.

At his lack of comment, other than what he hoped looked like a polite smile and not a cringe, the dean clasped her hands together on the desk and nodded. “Okay, then. Did you bring your prospectus?”

Oh, crap.Daniel quickly riffled through his bag for his binder and pulled the stapled document out of one of the inside pockets. He handed it to her and let her look at it while he put his bookbag back to rights. When he sat up, the dean was flipping through what he’d presented with a slight grin.

She glanced up at him, eyes bright. “I had hoped you’d pick something from Celtic lore. It’s my favorite.” He nodded at her name plate on her desk, which read Dean Morgan Caelan. “Why does that not surprise me?”

She laughed. “It’s true, I might have a certain bias for anything Irish. But the Dullahan is such a little-known figure this side of the pond, despite any influence it might have had on Washington Irving’s legacy.”

“I thought so. I vaguely remember my mother telling us stories about the Dullahan as a kid. I never really connected it with ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ until recently.”

With a nod, the dean looked up at him. “Now, I have to be the Devil’s advocate for a moment and ask if you’re sure you’ll be able to find enough sources to write this paper. He is a more obscure figure.”

Daniel had been prepared for that question. Smiling, he said, “Since there’s not a lot on the Dullahan himself, I can focus on the figures surrounding him in the legend.”

“Which are…?” she asked, though something in her expression implied that she knew all there was to know on the topic. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. As excited he was to start researching his death omen, if it didn’t live up to her expectations, how badly would his grade suffer?

“The key to this figure is the circumstances surrounding him. He’s regarded as an Unseelie, so researching theTuatha Dé Danannis essential.” At her broadening smile, he continued. “And King Tigernmas of the Milesians, who used to decapitate human sacrifices for an old god named Crom Dubh. From my research so far, that’s where the legend originates.”

If he wasn’t mistaken, her eyes seemed to almost glow at the name Crom Dubh, but that was impossible. Obviously, he hadn’t been sleeping well. Dean Caelan lifted her hand toward the collar of her shirt and started fidgeting with a gold charm on a dainty necklace. He couldn’t quite make out what it was.

“Crom Dubh is a tough one to find solid resources on as well, being so old his true legends outdate most written records. Be sure to check resources on his older name as well, which is Crom Crúaich.” She pulled out a sticky pad, wrote the name on it and handed the top note to him.

Daniel thanked her and sighed while he slipped it inside of his backpack. “And Christianity has altered a lot of the documents that do exist.” Supposedly, Crom Dubh was driven out of Ireland and the mortal plane of existence by St. Patrick. How this was done, however, he hadn’t been able to determine. Yet. Somehow, he doubted good ole St. Patrick had compelled the old pagan god out with the power of Christ. It sounded good for church, but not for his research paper. There was more there. He was sure of it.

“Be very careful,” the dean said softly, rising to her feet. “Crom Dubh was a powerful deity, and a primordial god at that. Some would say all myths hold a grain of truth, and when looking for answers, what you find might be more than you’d ever want to know.”

Not knowing what to make of the strange caveat, Daniel rose to his feet and shook her outstretched hand. “I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks.”

Suddenly, making it to class and handling whatever strange issue had caused tension in his relationship with Ravyn felt one hundred times better than remaining in that office with the dean. Her eyes held knowledge he could never fathom, and it made him nervous.

Daniel shook himself and collected his bag. Sometimes his imagination was completely unfounded.

*.*.*.*.*

Ravyn had just sat down nextto Aoibhe when Daniel flopped into the chair next to her. “Wanna go to the dance with me?”

“What?” she asked, taken aback. Ravyn knew there was a formal event coming up, but she assumed it wasn’t as big of a deal in college as it was in high school. She had never gone to Homecoming or Prom in high school because she might fall in love with a boy or whatever.

“They’re having a Halloween formal this year. KIU tries to do something fun once a semester since going back and forth to the mainland can be a hassle.” They’d had a lot of casual events on campus in the wake of a student dying, hoping to keep people safe and on campus as much as possible.

“You’re serious?” she looked at him. “You do know that when I dance, I look like a chicken trying to escape a fox in a hen house, right?”

Daniel laughed. “I’m going to be so disappointed if the reality doesn’t match that description.”

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