Cadell, Brenin of the Caru-Luth was lord of Trum Dreng and all the lands that the Stags claimed; and once upon a time he was at Lhan Tarren his chief residence, and he was wanting to go and hunt, and his favourite land to hunt in was to the North - to the Gloomglens. So he set forth from Lhan Tarren that night, and went as far as the Mournshaws where the spirits reside. And that night he rested there, and early on the morrow he rose and came to the Gloomglens, when he let loose his hunting dogs in the wood, and sounded his horn, and began the chase. And as he followed the dogs, he lost his fellow hunters; and whilst he listened to the hounds, he heard the cry of other hounds, a cry different from his own, and coming in the opposite direction.
And he saw in the distance a glade in the wood, and as his dogs came to the edge of the glade, he saw a white stag fleeing from the other dogs. And, as it reached the middle of the glade, the dogs that followed the stag overtook it and brought it down. Then he noticed the colour of the dogs, for out of all the hounds that he had seen in the world, he had never seen any that were like these. For their hair was of a brilliant shining white, and their ears were red; and as the whiteness of their bodies shone, so did the redness of their ears glisten. And he came towards the dogs, and drove away those that had brought down the stag, he set his own dogs upon it as it attempted to scramble back up.
And as he was setting on his dogs he saw a horseman coming towards him upon a large light-grey steed, with a hunting horn round his neck, and clad in garments of grey woollen in the fashion of a hunting garb and antlers rose from his hood. And the horseman drew near, he spoke:
“Brenin,” said he, “I know you, though I do not greet you.”
“Perhaps,” said Cadell,”you are of such dignity that you shouldn't’t do so.”
“Verily, though it is not my dignity that prevents me.”
“What is it then, Chieftain?” enquired Cadell, as he looked to the horseman.
“It is because of your ignorance and lack of courtesy, Cadell ap Cadwgan!”
“Where have you seen a lack of courtesy, Chieftain?”
“I have never seen such discourtesy in a man!,” the horseman spoke, “as to drive away dogs already having gotten their stag and to set your own upon it! This was discourteous, and though I will not act revenge upon you, I will dishonour you no matter the cost, be it a hundred stags or more!”
“O Chieftain,” Cadell replied, “if I have done wrong to you, I will redeem your friendship.”
“And how will you do that?”
“First, let me know who you are, for I do not know what to call you?”
“I am a crowned king in the land where I come from, The Huntsman of the Otherworld.”
“Lord,” said the Stag Chieftain, “how may I win your friendship again?”
“There is only one way I know for someone who has wronged me so,” said the Huntsman. “There is another king in the Otherworld, and he goes by the name of Andras, and he is ever waging war against me. If you rid me of this oppression, which you can easily do, you shall gain my friendship.”
“Gladly, Lord of the Otherworld. Show me how.”
“I will send you to the Otherworld in my stead, and I will give you the fairest lady you ever have beheld, and I will put my form to you so that not a member of the court, a bard, nor any other man that follows me shall know that it is not I. And this shall last for a year and a day, and then we will meet here once more.”
“And how shall I find this Andras?”
“One year today we are fixed to meet at the Ford for battle, though you shall be there in my stead, and you shall hit him with only one strike and he shall no longer live. If he asks for another, give him it not, for he shall rise again the next day with just as much strength as before.”
“And who shall look after my land while I am gone?” inquired Cadell.
“I shall, in your form, and make sure that nothing happens to your land.”
“Then I will gladly do this for you, Huntsman of the Otherworld,” Cadell said, and with a stern nod he took off down the path accompanied by the Huntsman to guide him.
So the two leaders of different lands continued together, and talked lightly until they came into the sight of a grand hall and it’s dwellings.
“Behold,” said the Huntsman, “the Court and lands in your power. Enter the hall, and they will not see you as Cadell but myself. Until a year's time.”
So he went forward to the Court, and when he came there, he saw the most beautiful hall he had ever seen, and when he went to his chamber to undress, there came youths and pages to help him out of his hunting garb and dressed in a tunic of the finest furs. The hall was then prepared, and he entered to the greatest most richest feast of foods his eyes had ever been set upon, and at the top of the table there was the fairest women he had ever beheld, wearing a robe of soft furs that reached all the way down to the ground and looked immaculately clean, and together Cadell and his new queen sat and drank and made merry.
And the year he spent hunting, singing, feasting, laughing, and drinking with his newly found companions until the night that was fixed for the battle. And when that night came, it was remembered even by those who lived in the furthest part of the Otherworld, and he went to the Ford between the Otherworld and the one that was home to the Cadell, and the best warriors of the kingdom with him. And when he came to the Ford, a man rose up and spoke;
“Men! Listen well! It is between two kings that this meeting is, and between them only. Each claims land from the other, and their right with it! Now stand aside, and leave the fight between them!”
So two kings waded into the ford to meet each other, and at the thirst thrust the disguised Cadell struck Andras on the centre of his shield, so it was cloven in twain, and his armour was broken, and Andras himself was borne to the ground, falling onto his own axe, and he received a deadly blow.
“O Chieftain,” said Andras, “Since you have begun to kill me, complete your work and finish me off!”
“I shall not do more harm than what I have done to you already,” spoke the man in the resemblance of the Huntsman.
“Then my death has come!” exclaimed Andras, as he lay in the bubbling water of the Ford.
“My men,” spoke Cadell, “Know now that there is only one king in the whole of the Otherworld, and that is I, the Huntsman!”
And thereupon he received the two halves of the land, and united it under his name. And there upon completing his oath, he came once again the next day to the Gloomglens.
And when he arrived, the King of the Otherworld was there to meet him, and each of them was rejoiced to see the other.
“You have earned my friendship once more, Cadell, Chief of the Stag Clan! Go now to your own land, and see what I have done for you,” smiled the Huntsman, as they both once again took their normal forms.
“Whatever you have done for me, thank you.”
Cadell, Brenin of the Caru-Luth came to his land once again, and began to ask his advisors how his rule had been during the past year, compared to what it had been before.
“Chief,” they said, “Your wisdom was never so great, and you have never been so kind and generous in your gift giving, and truly you have proved yourself a worthy leader to the people who follow you.”
“Then I shall keep up this rule for which we have enjoyed for the past year!” swore Cadell, and so he did.
And from that day, the strong friendship between Cadell and the Huntsman remained, and each sent to each other cattle, and hounds, and hawks, and all such furs and skins that they could give to one another, and not since the passing of Cadell, Chief of the Stag Clan and the Otherworld both, has the Stag Clan prospered as much as then.
