Journey to the Land of Erc - the gift of the shield

February 21, 2006

I was a little surprised to find myself in Erc.  Earraigh told me that if I wanted my journeyman's status I only had to come back and learn the few lessons I had skipped, but I didn't think I'd be back quite so soon.  I told him about completing my patches for my sash and that something just didn't feel right about only having seven.  He laughed and said that was because I had more than seven but that I hadn't yet acknowledged all of what I was.  He asked me to follow him and took me into a storage room filled with swords and shields.  Going over to a stack of shields he dug through a few and then held one out to me. 

"Here take this, it's yours."

"Thank you" I replied unsure why I needed a leather shield, even one as beautifully made as the one he was handing me.  Looking at the shield it was clear that it had been made for me.  Eight circles and a snowy owl didn't really seem coincidental. 

Earraigh watched me for a moment and when I didn't respond as he had obviously hoped he shook his head and muttered to himself in frustration.  "Well come back to my office and we'll talk"

The shield felt incredibly right as I carried it.  My body seemed to know know its weight and a sense of protection and power seemed to fill me as I shifted it to my left and moved it in front of me. In that moment I understood what Earraigh had hoped I'd realize.  The shield wasn't to protect me.  It was what I used to protect others.  It was my skill with it that kept those who followed behind me safe.  That being a warrior didn't always mean protecting others by attacking.  Some times it meant protecting them by taking the blows and deflecting their energy without harm coming to anyone.

"Kinesthetic memory is a wonderful thing" he said as he sat down behind his desk.  "I have to admit I expected you back a little sooner than four years after I last saw you.  You seemed to be so ready to move forward."

"Actually I did try and move forward -- it was just that I think now that I insisted on picking the direction and the terms.  You know as well as I do that humility has never been one of my virtues."

Earraigh smiled.  "No more so than it is for anyone else here.  I'm just glad you came back and I wish you well going forward.  You have used your shield most honorably in the past even without knowing it, and I know you will use it well in the future."