Drust implores, looking deep into my eyes in search of a key to the cryptic words tumbling out of my mouth, but imbas forosnai is upon me and I answer with a rhyme.

The lady on the dragon's back
Has come to shore and we must track
Her down before the Eagle hacks
Her life off at the very root,
And feeds her to its eagle bairns,
And places her bones in foreign urns,
Never to rest in Cruithni cairns,
Then tramples her people under foot.

"I don't understand," Drust says, imploring me to please stop speaking riddles and spell out my vision in plain language.

In my present state, I cannot seem to hear or see him, however, which prompts him to take me gently by the hand and lead me back his cave, away from prying eyes. A few sips of cold spring water seem to work magic on me, waking me from my trance as though it were the source of life itself.

"Wha...where? Drust!" Wild-eyed and frantic I command, "Quick! Pack a bag and grab your weapons. We must leave at once."

"Where must we go, and why?" Drust demands, wanting to know what is so important about this woman that he should drop everything, leave his post and follow me into the wilds for. In an attempt to communicate the urgency of what I see to someone without the sight, I take a deep breath, curb my impatience and answer his questions in the quiet, measured tone one would use when speaking to a child.

"We must go south and find the Cruithni lady before she is captured and killed, or worse. If she dies, her clan will perish also."

"But who IS she?

"A princess of this dunn. Her name has not come to me yet. Odd. No sounds..."

I fall still and strain my ears, but the void between me and the lady is silent.

***

imbas forosnai = "manifestation that enlightens" (Cormac's Glossary, trans. by Whitley Stokes, "Transactions of the Philological Society," p. 156f, Bodleian Library, Oxford, 1891-4)

For an comprehensive examination of the meaning, see Nora Chadwick's essay on Imbas Forosnai.