L.S.Berthelsen’s Scotland; THEN & NOW
For many, Scotland is not just a place to visit, filled with magical tourist spots. It is a feeling, a mindset, and indeed, a state of mind. And while I am no expert on Scotland or a anything Scottish, I am certain of my own experiences and how they influenced the written creation of The Häling and the Scottish Templars . The next few blog posts will revisit several passages from the Häling and the Scottish Templars, and in doing so, pull back the veil on characters and places in the book.
(Pages referenced will be from the hard copy. Chapter listing should give Kindle readers an anchor as well. All the photos belong to the author and may not be copied without written permission.)
So let’s begin!
As I have written extensively in My Templar Way and My Templar Way ~ Pt 2 Scotland took me by surprise. Back in 1996, I had no idea that I would be so affected by the vibes of the land, let alone Scotland’s history. From my first night in Edinburgh, imagination took flight. And it was from the first paragraph of the Häling Prologue that my intentions of writing a historic fiction unexpectedly turned to visionary fiction, set in historic context of the beginning of the Scottish Wars of Independence in 1296.
Prologue (xvii)
The headwaters of the underground stream spat steamy vapors into the dark air. Enoch the hermit, his black panther, and his wyvern kept vigil over a dark spring-fed pool in the emerald cavern. the panther lay motionless in rapt concentration. She flicked the tip of her tail, calmly observing the play of light below the water’s surface. The wyvern perched in the shadows on a thin ledge, preening her delicate pearlescent claws. The wizened elder stroked the panther’s head, patiently waiting for a sign.
Quicksilver oozed in thin heavy threads from fractures in the grotto wall, disappearing into the underworld gorge below. one indigo plume emerged from a pile of small rounded stones lodged deep in a crevasse of the pool. The luminescent blue bead of light floated to the water’s surface, bathing the iridescent stones in its plasmic essence. A spark bolted from the blue flame toward the cavern ceiling, refracting crystalline shards of lightning across the vast underground chamber.
The wyvern flapped her shadowy wings and hissed at the thunderous reverberations. Another flame bubbled from the blackness and crackled on the watery surface. The winged serpent took flight, circling ’round the green crystalline chamber. Life quickened inside the indigo embers at the bottom of the pool, and the wyvern plummeted like an arrow to her nest within the stony embers below the water’s surface. the stones began to glow from within.
Welcome to the Häling!
Get your copy here: Amazon to follow along!
L.S. Berthelsen 