"Seanachie," said the Dark Master in a terribly piercing voice, "who is this standing in my way, standing between me and Brian of the hard eyes?"
The blind harper began to tremble, but again came the clash and the watcher's voice from the doorway.
"Master, there is snow mingled with the fog, and the wind is shifting to the eastward."
"Light the beacon and remain on watch," said the Dark Master. But at the watcher's word new terror seized on the men in the hall.
"Seanachie, who stands in my way? Speak!"
The beard of the blind harper quivered and rose as if the wind lifted it, but men felt no wind through the hall. Then the old man began to writhe in his chair, and twisted to take his hands from the table, but he could not, although only he alone held them there. Suddenly his mouth opened, and a voice that was not his voice made answer:
"Master, two people stand in your way."
"Describe them," said the Dark Master, and those near by saw that sweat was running down his face, despite the coldness of the hall. After a moment's silence the old harper spoke again; he had lost his eyes twenty years since, yet he spoke of seeing.
"Master, I see two people but dimly. One is a man, huge of stature and standing like Laeg the hero, the friend of the hero Cuculain, leaning upon an ax—"
"That is Cathbarr of the Ax," broke in the Dark Master. "His bane comes not at my hands. Who is the other?"