The Haven High Book Series (Wattys2017)

Chapter 29

The Sisters of the Mist: The Nine Morgens of Avalon. Moronoe, Mazoe, Glitonea, Gliten, Cliton, Tyronoe, Thitis, Thetis and Morgan la Fey.

Donnie and his crew landed at the Cardiff International Airport at 8am Greenwich time. Once they reached Wales they chartered a bus to take them from the airport to the South West coast of the country. The bus driver drove aggressively to the distant shore having been offered an extremely large tip by the ever generous Xander. They were heading directly for the docks in a tiny coastal town near the booming metropolis off Swansea. The nearly hour long drive was a quite one. Mostly everyone was feeling a bit jet lagged. They'd spent most of the flight wired and excited about the adventure before them, but now most of them just wanted to sleep and prepare mentally for the task ahead.

Donnie was shocked by the sheer magnitude of the cities that they passed. He had imagined that Swansea was once a tiny fishing village, but that was no more. Now it could boast hundreds of thousands of people. And even though it was the most direct route to their destination it wouldn't be practical at all to try to secure a boat at such a busy harbor front. So Zach had made the call to choose a less busy fishing village nestled into the extreme South West coast of the country.

Now the teens stood on the docks an hour later waiting for some fishing boats to dock and haul their catch so that they could compel the captain to bring them to the remote mystical island of Avalon. They watched from the dock as an old boat laden down with barnacles and sporting a rusty hull made its way towards them. It puttered up to the shore as a brave soul leapt off the side and onto the dock to secure the rickety vessel to the key.

A crotchety old crone barked orders in Welsh from behind the wheel, meanwhile the men on her boat dance to her merry tune and Lauren and Marley fist bumped each other. They had guessed right, the captain was indeed a woman after all.

Three crew members jumped on the dock and three stayed behind to chuck containers of fish at the ones on the shore. They piled them high on the back of a pick-up truck. And with all the helpful hands the job was done in minutes; then the Captain seemed to give them their marching orders in the local language and off they went to complete their last tasks before the end of the working day.

As they drove away she waved a cheery goodbye.

Even though the woman looked as old as Methuselah she leapt from the bow of the boat on to the dock with surprising ease. She fixed them with a warm smile and greeted them in Welsh. The old woman sported deep lines on her face and curly hair in every shade grey imaginable. Her hair resembled a stormy sky on a cloudy day. Her clear sea blue eyes seemed to capture him in their depths as she looked them all over one at a time.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and everything about this woman was screaming Fae to him. He was beginning to understand as a Cait he should always trust his instincts. And they were telling him now that she was most definitely Enlightened. He couldn't smell it on her, but he could sense it.