This is a story i wrote, and had put on a website called Tír na nÓg
about 6 years ago. I told Wanda about it, and she read it, and liked it,
so i thought i'd share it with jsh.

A long time ago, at the time of the great wars of Eire and Greece, there
were two brothers
named Seamus, and Amen. Seamus was just shy of 2 meters tall, and topped
out at 20 stone.
Amen, the smarter of the two, was just a bit shorter, at 1 meter 90,but
only weighed about
15 stone..They were the best of friends, but still fought like brothers
would.

They had both fought valiantly against the Grecians ,and had both gotten
wounded.
Seamus would chide Amen by saying "I got cut by a sword my height,
taking off my hand,
and you just got cut by a dagger, losing just a finger,Hahaha." Amen
would stare at his
brother,not knowing what to say,not of fear,but of love for Seamus. They
were the only
children of Laratel and Loka, and the reason for this, we will get into
shortly..
They had a multitude of cousins, as Laratel alone had 6 brothers, and 4
sisters,
all of them with good size families of their own..

On the day they were born,Amen arrived first.
He was a small baby, weighing about 3Kgs. Seamus, on the other hand,
was born a full 7Kgs,and caused the death of their mother when he was
brought unto this world.. With her dying breath, Loka asked Laratel to
raise the boys like they were complete equals,then she closed her eyes
and slept the sleep of the Angels..

Laratel tried his best with the boys,but,it was difficult for a single
man to raise
two boys alone..He moved onto his brothers' land, and his brother's wife
watched after
the boys along with her own..

By the time the boys were 3,there was a big difference not only in
size,but in attitude,
and strength. This only grew over time. What also grew over time were
tempers,and their love
for each other.. Their philosophy was that they could rile,fight,and
terrorize each other,
but no one else had better attempt to do this..

Amen, for what he lacked in size,made it up by having the heart and wit
of two lions.
Seamus, having the strength of two bulls,had a laziness about him, and
would often slack off
at his chores,knowing that Amen would pick up the slack, to save them
both from their Father's
hand. Even though, at 15,Seamus was already looking south to see his
Father's eyes,
he wouldn't dare tempt the fates.

When they turned 18, they both thought that they had enough of living
out in the fields,
and they set out together for the the sites of the world. They were on
their way to Ulster,
when they were approached by a group of soldiers. The soldiers asked
them if they would fight
for their country, and for The Crown. The brothers knew nothing from
crowns, but would fight
for a free Eire.
They were taken to the barracks of King Conor himself. The King had an
interest in meeting
all new prospects,and was intrigued by the brothers after the
introduction. He told them he
needed to see them fight,and wanted them to fight each other.
They looked at each other,and jointly asked the King to say again his
request.
The King looked at them brashly, and started to become irate at the
boldness of these two.
Amen, the wiser, spoke to the King as a courtesan would. "Your Highness,
we were born of
the same Mother, and would request to fight ten men, than to fight each
other."

The King, being a brother as well, understood the situation. He called
for the Captain
of the Watch to bringforth 10 men for the brothers' test.
An hour later,and with 8 men laid-out, the King decided he'd seen
enough.
He called again for the Captain, but this time to bring equipment for
his two newest
soldiers. Seamus ate like a horse at supper,like usual,but Amen ate
little.

Later, at night, Amen asked Seamus what he'd have done if the King
insisted they'd
fought each other. Seamus said he didn't know,but was happy Amen was so
quick-witted,
and spoke before that was a needed reality,for to refuse a King meant
possible death,
a flogging at least.

As their Father had trained them for battle, there was little that the
two had to learn
from the soldiers,save the knowledge of the weaponry, and tactics of
battle itself.
They had used logs for spears as children,and had play-fought at least a
thousand times.
The training went quickly for the two,and was tiring for neither,for as
a team, they were
unbeatable.
They were brought to the attention of one of the fiercest Warrior
soldiers of the time,
Cuchulain.

It was told that Cuchulain would change into the Devil himself in
battle, and go into
such a frenzy, that he'd kill friendly troops as well, if they happen to
get into his way.

Cuchulain was the nephew of King Conor,and respected his Uncle's ideals.
He also liked
the thought of these brothers fighting for Conor, and got along with
them famously.
He would sit and tell them tales of war,but left out details that he
himself could
not remember,for the frenzy was upon him at the time of battle..

Amen and Seamus would listen quietly for hours without a word parting
from their lips,
mouths open in awe. Of the battles, the women, the bounties of War..
They had never heard
such stories from their dear Father, nor from their Uncles..

The day came,not long aft, that the brothers had to prove their keep to
the King.
By this time, they were getting along well in the army of the King,and
had been entrusted
to lead the Kings' men into battle,alongside Cuchulain.

When they arrived at what was to be the battle field, they both felt a
sudden longing
for home, as most soldiers do when this time arrises.
But,they knew that they had a job to do, as the safety of the Emerald
Isle could wane on
this date. As inexperienced as they were, they were better prepared than
most of the others,
even those a few years older. The day passed along, and they watched as
the Grecian soldiers
prepared for this battle as well.They were the foreigners here,as this
was not Eire.They had
travelled for two weeks on a ship that had too few bunks, and enough
room for only half the
men theirs' held, and had marched the rest of the way.

They hadn't seen Cuchalain during this time, he had arrived on his
chariot, pulled by
the Grey of Macha,and the Black of Sainglend.

At dawn,when the moment of Honour arrived,the Brothers took their place
alongside Cuchalain,
and led the men into what they themselves knew not.

When the first of the Grecian soldiers met them, Amen took him out at
his knees,
and Seamus took off his head. They had no time to think, as the rest of
the army was shortly
behind this fallen man.The brothers fought well alongside eachother, and
saved each others'
hides many times. As the battle got fiercer, they lost sight of
eachother, and this they
feared most. Seamus got into a battle with a man just slightly smaller
than himself,
and bore his sword down on the man's head with such force that it
knocked Seamus off
his feet. When he hit ground, it happened that his head hit squarly upon
the soldier's shield,
and this was his soft spot. He blacked out,but soon awoke to searing
pain. His eyes opened,
and he found that his sword was between himself and the two Grecians
that were bearing down
upon him.

He rolled to his side, and got up quickly, and tried to find a weapon.He
picked up a dagger
that the first Grecian was wearing on his waist, as this was all that
was available. As the
first Grecian raised his sword to fell Seamus, he saw his dear brother
Amen coming up quickly
upon them. Amen had his sword raised overhead with two hands, and he let
out a yell that was
talked about for years. The first Grecian still bore down upon Seamus,
but the second turned
to meet his Death. As big as Seamus was, a dagger will never equate with
a sword, and he was
losing the battle quickly. He lost his concentration, and started to
flail with the dagger
in his right hand, and used his left to attempt to grab hold of his
enemy. With Amen still
10 meters off, the Grecian bore his sword down upon the hand of Seamus,
cutting it off in
one fell swoop. He screamed out in pain, just as Amen arrived to save
his brother from
certain death.

The Grecians' attention now diverted towards Amen, Seamus picked up the
dagger again,
and came up behind the Grecian. As it is a soldiers' Honour to fight
face to face, he
instead brought the dagger around the stomach of the enemy, and sunk it
deep into his
stomach from behind. He then heard Amen yell out in pain, and thought
the Grecian had
done his brother in. He worked his way around the enemy, still holding
onto the dagger,
to find that Amen's hand was there as well, and that he, Seamus, was the
cause of his
brother's pain.

The battle was over within an hour hence, and both Amen and Seamus
fought well.

There was never another word spoken of this mishap between them. Not
because of anger,
but out of a love that brings families so close.

They both settled down and had huge families, Seamus' of course being
bigger,
and Amen's being the wiser. The stories are still told around the skirts
of Ulster of
a bond that can't be bettered.

A beautiful piece written by a beautiful man, inside and out...

WoW!!! Beautiful Story