Islene

Islene was the firstborn child of Sawyer and older sister to Cait. On the eve of the solstice, Islene brought Cait to the beach where their mother had brought Islene before her solstice, and Islene imparted the same wisdom to Cait that her mother had given her: being a girl is the best thing in the world until you become a woman, and that she doesn't always have to listen to their father. Islene was forbidden to speak to Cait before the solstice, and Cait was forbidden to talk to Islene, otherwise they would disappear. Islene was killed on the solstice, in the night when the Romans invaded Britannia, which Cait believes happened because they spoke to each other before the solstice.

When Cait rescues her blinded father from the Roman Camp, she lies and tells him that Islene is alive and back home. But she eventually tells him that she was killed in the raid, and Sawyer became upset. He tries to bring her back by offering a prayer to Sulis using a collection of bird feathers and bones, but it doesn't work. He reminisces about Islene, saying that the Gods only give red hair to their favourites, which begins to make Cait jealous.

Islene appears later on as a vision projected by Divis, who had been possessed by the demon Pwykka. She tells Cait that the dead are calling her name, before she vanishes back into Divis.

Three years after the Roman invasion, Roman General Aulus Plautius is taken to the underworld by the Druid Willa. In the underworld, he meets with Islene, as his plan is to get Islene to appear to Cait as he knows Cait will do anything Islene tells her to. But before Aulus is able to do anything, Islene morphs into the Druid Veran, who shows him former Roman Prefectus Lucius and Cait, holding a flaming spear, which she holds aloft to summon a cross made of light.

After Sawyer's death, Cait runs away from former Regni Queen Antedia and meets with Islene's spirit. Cait tells Islene that their father has been killed, but Islene already knows this and says he is at peace now, knowing he played his part. Islene discusses the plans that she had, to have six daughters and teach them all how to hunt. She also says she knows why the Gods chose Cait, and tells her to go back. Cait says that she can't go back because she killed Veran, but Islene already knows what she did and tells her that she hasn't seen Veran in the underworld, meaning he's still alive.