The Bwy Hir Complete Trilogy Read Online Free PDF

you, read it and then get some rest. I’ll answer any questions you have when you wake. Oh and Gwyn, keep it hidden from your sister, she does not need to know any of this.’
    Gwyn stood on shaky legs, gave one last confused look to his father before slowly making his way up the stairs. His father waited at the bottom of the stairs until he heard the bedroom door click closed, checked his daughter was still sleeping soundly in the living room, Dafydd grabbed his flat cap and left the house.
    Judging by the sun it was well past noon, he’d lost all track of time and desperately needed a nap but he had no time to sleep. Flipping his cap onto his dishevelled hair he trudged down the lane away from the house and began to cut across the fields heading straight for the ancient oak tree in the distance.
    Once he’d passed the oak he made a sharp turn towards the pine trees beyond. He cast a glance at the base of the tree, remembering fondly the Summer days spent daydreaming under that very tree in his youth. He noticed the trampled grass beneath its heavy boughs and absently wondered whether the sheep had found a new sleeping place.
    He cut between two holly trees and followed a small track into the forest. Dried pine needles littered the floor, ancient low boulders covered with lichen marked his path as he progressed down the track. The air here was cooler, nothing stirred the shadowy undergrowth and the gentle breeze stirring the tops of the pines looming far overhead was the only sound to accompany him deeper into the gloom.
    As he approached the centre of the forest, sharp beams of sunlight punctured the canopy and spilled onto the path ahead, he could see a clearing ahead of him. In the centre of the clearing was a solitary standing stone. Its weathered face, mottled and ancient, stood upright in a shaft of perfect golden sunlight.
    The stone stood taller than him and at his head height was a perfect spiral carved into its face. He ran his hand over the spiral, tracing its path with a finger before turning away and sitting on a tree stump to the right of the clearing to wait. The standing stone was called a Cerdd Carega, the rough translation meant “music stone or here and there stone,” but it meant far, far more than that and this was where he’d find help.
    As he waited his eyelids began to droop, he shifted position and willed himself to stay awake but his resolve was not strong enough and he began to doze.
    When Awel st epped into the clearing she smiled at the sight of him. His head sagging forward, the rise and fall of his chest as he gently snored. How she’d missed this little man, as much as she still missed his father before him. She smiled at the memory of the little bird-man that used to wait by the Cerdd Carega, hopping from one foot to the other as he twittered his questions. They had formed quite a bond, she had looked forward to their little meeting, and then he had died.
    Dafydd had visited much more seldom than his father before h im, after the death of his wife he came hardly at all. Awel thought it was a shame. The Bwy Hir had become increasingly distant from the Chosen over the years and she blamed the Druids as much as herself for allowing it to happen. Awel missed the company of the Morgan men. She wondered if Gwyn would become a frequent visitor to the forest once he was initiated. She sincerely hoped he would.
    Stealing silently to stand in front of him, she gave one last smile before folding her arms under her breasts and yelled, ‘Well, this is a fine way to greet a Bwy Hir and member of the Pride!’
    Watching his eyes shoot open and falling off his perch nearly lost Awel her stern expression, but she schooled her face and glared down at him sprawled among the pine needles.
    ‘For god’s sake, Awel!’ He dusted himself down and retrieved his gap.
    ‘Your god, not mine, Dafydd ap Morgan,’ she snapped.
    ‘My apologies, Awel, I forgot myself.’ He bowed and gently took her hand before