by Tom Larcombe
He grew excited.
This is a magic that must have taken incredible skill and precision to create. I would that I could meet the wizard who created it, he thought.
The creature's wings began to beat and it lifted into the air to circle Merlin's head again.
It reacts to excitement. I bet it began to animate when my emotions were engaged by my dream. Could it be that the creature reacts to the same things that create magic in one's life? It would tie in to the style of ward that was used on it.
Merlin tried to control his excitement, but it was more difficult than he thought. Normally he encouraged the feeling since it would provide more power for him. This time he needed to contain it so the creature would come to rest again.
When the creature landed, Merlin held out his hand once more. The creature walked onto it and cocked his head to look at Merlin's face. A word formed in Merlin's mind.
{Anguis}
“Yes, you are a dragon,” Merlin said.
{Anguis} formed in his mind again.
“Oh, is that your name? Is your name Anguis?”
The small creature nodded its serpentine head.
Merlin's empty hand reached out, trying to tug on a non-existent beard.
“Well Anguis, it is my pleasure to meet you. You are one of the most cunning pieces of magic that I have ever seen.”
The tiny dragon seemed to glow momentarily. The features of its face were difficult to read but Merlin was sure that what he was seeing was pride.
The dragon tossed itself into the air and performed a series of aerial acrobatics. It ended its frolic by landing on Merlin's shoulder.
“Anguis, my name is Merlin.”
The dragon's head was softer than it looked. Merlin found this out when it nuzzled the side of his neck affectionately. It stretched itself out and curled about him. The sinuous neck and long tail allowed it to almost encircle Merlin's throat. When he reached to touch the creature, he found it stiffened into immobility. He was certain that it was still aware, he could feel the occasional movement in its body, but to all intents and purposes it was now a torque.
Merlin wanted nothing more than to return to sleep but the excitement over his discovery prevented that.
I need more sleep or I'm going to be useless, he thought.
As he completed the thought he felt his excitement draining away, in time to small pulses in his new torque.
It not only senses strong emotions but it can do something about them as well, he thought as he drifted into a deep, and dreamless, sleep.
* * *
When Merlin entered the students' room to teach his next class, he was surprised to find that only six students were there.
“Where is Horst?” he asked.
“Horst said he had an assignment. He left yesterday. Took all his gear with him too,” Dieter replied.
“Well, no-one told me about that. I'll check when I have a chance.”
Without Horst in the room, things would go faster. The students wouldn't constantly check over their shoulders for him and Merlin wouldn't feel the need to shield himself as strongly as before.
He now knew the general strengths of his students. He had most of them to the point where they would have to start studying individually. Of all the students, only Dieter possessed the potential to be a wizard with well-rounded skills in anything resembling a reasonable amount of time.
Anselm was charming, literally. His magic worked best on other people, not to control them but to make others trust him. In talking with the student Merlin discovered that he had cut quite a swathe through the women in his village before being volunteered for the occult program.
Ernst was lucky, at least that's how most people perceived him. His magics influenced events occurring near him, normally improving the outcome. He was the type of man people loved to be near because, with no control over it, the luck spilled over onto others as well. Merlin was teaching him how to keep a tight rein on his skill and also how to cause it to work on the things he wanted it to instead of at random.
Conrad could have been another well-rounded wizard, but he was convinced that his talents would only work on himself and only in a physical manner. He could cause himself to have massive strength or excessive speed for a short time, or even great endurance over a period of days. When Merlin tried to get him to work on something outside of his physical body Conrad flatly insisted, without even trying, that he couldn't do it. There was no way for Merlin to force the man to use his skills so he concentrated on teaching him the various means of enhancing his senses and physical prowess.
Manfred was fascinated when Merlin demonstrated control over fire and was struggling to learn how to do the same. He could light a candle with his mind already but he was slow to learn and still had a problem detaching a living flame from its source. From what Merlin could tell, Manfred would be able to learn anything that caught his interest but it would take a great deal of time.
Karl was a large man physically, but he was somewhat slow mentally. He took a long time to grasp any concept, although once he did he knew it well. He was very good with shields of all types. The original mental shield that Merlin taught the students was similar enough to all the other types of shielding that Karl learned them quickly. He was now struggling with remote manipulation, the ability to move things with his mind and not his body.
Merlin moved about the class, ensuring that none of the students had any unanswered questions and asking them about their progress on their current projects. He finished the circuit with Dieter and they sat down to talk.
“Merlin, I have a question on something I just read.”
“Show me the transcript.”
Dieter picked up a sheet of paper and handed it to him.
“See the paragraph about halfway down the page? I don't understand your reference there.”
“That's because it isn't my reference. This transcript is not something I wrote, although I think I know who did.”
Merlin scanned the entire page quickly. It dealt with healing magic and how to perform it with a minimal amount of energy. This particular procedure described an alternate means of cleaning infestations. Merlin just forced them out but the writer developed a lure to draw them out on their own. The procedure described would only use about one tenth the energy Merlin did to achieve the same result.
He recognized both the style of the spell and the word choices used in its description. The feel of the work was more mature than he was used to from her, but he was positive that it was Nimue's. The two of them had known that she'd never have the ability to control as much raw power as Merlin and they spent a goodly amount of time devising alternatives that used less energy. The knowledge that Nimue continued to do so after he went to sleep, and obtained such good results, mingled with the feeling of loss he experienced whenever he thought of her. His pride in her continued research both eased and enhanced the loss he felt.
After Merlin explained the reference, Dieter looked at him.
“Can't we use something similar on the worm in that man's brain? Find something to lure it out or draw it out then slam a mental shield behind it to prevent its return?”
“It's possible that we could. Give it some thought. I hadn't planned to do anything but assist him in overcoming it himself. If there's a chance we can do it in an easier and less energy intensive fashion, we should look into it.”
“Me? You want me to try to figure it out?”
“Yes, there comes a time when any wizard must begin to develop on their own. If they try to mold themselves directly in the image of their teacher, they limit themselves. You have the skill and control. You have access to many of the concepts in the transcriptions. Research it and we'll continue to discuss it. Between the two of us we may be able to come up with an alternative.”
Dieter relaxed when Merlin's words suggested that the two would work on it together. Their conversation continued with Dieter relating what skills he tried recently and how they worked ou
t. When Merlin got up to leave, he felt a pulse in the torque.
{Anguis?} Merlin thought at the dragon.
Merlin experienced a visual image of himself sitting back down, Anguis uncoiling from his neck, and moving to Dieter.
{Are you sure?}
The image repeated itself.
Merlin sat back down.
“Dieter, don't be alarmed or startled. Something strange is about to happen,” he said.
Dieter was looking at him curiously so he caught Anguis' initial movement out of the corner of his eye. The small dragon slithered off of Merlin's neck, reforming into its dragon shape in mid-air. It fluttered over to Dieter and landed in his lap.
Dieter's eyes widened as he stared at the creature. His lips moved soundlessly then repeated the movement as he spoke aloud.
“Anguis?”
“That's the creature's name, I know little about it so far. Since you're the only other person it's reacted to, I think it likes you.”
“He's amazing.”
“I think that Anguis is neither male nor female. It is a creation of magic.”
The tiny dragon turned its head towards Merlin, its tongue slithering out of its mouth to gently hiss at him.
“I could be mistaken on that though. Anguis, are you a male?”
The dragon lifted his head proudly into the air, mimicking a human nod to the best of his ability.
“I stand corrected and I must agree. He is quite amazing,” Merlin said.
“Why did you decide to show him to me?”
“I didn't decide, he requested it.”
“But why?”
“I can only guess. Were you, perhaps, excited by the idea of researching a means to remove the spell from the man's mind?”
“Yes, I was excited by both that and by the prospect of working with you on it.”
“That might be the reason then. Anguis reacts to strong emotions. It seems that the emotions that generate energy for a person are the same ones he reacts to.”
An image flashed into Merlin's mind. It was Anguis, but in some way bigger than he was now. His physical size was the same but there was more of a depth of power to him.
“Anguis, do you gain energy from the same things that people do?”
Once again the dragon nodded.
Merlin was fairly sure of the answer to his next question but needed to ask anyhow.
“You don't steal it from them so that they don't receive it, do you?” Merlin asked.
The dragon solemnly shook his head. Another image appeared in Merlin's mind. This time of himself and Anguis, first separately, then together. In the second image, the same additional depth of power was present as in the earlier one but on both dragon and wizard.
“So, both you and the person gain the energy. The wizard can tap your stores of energy as well?”
The dragon nodded enthusiastically enough that he nearly fell off of Dieter's lap.
“So that's your purpose? You can seek out energy, share in it, and then bring it back to the wizard?”
Anguis flew the short distance to Merlin's neck and settled around it, once more going immobile.
“I'll say this Merlin, I've yet to be bored around you. Are things always this interesting?” Dieter said.
“No, they're not. I get my share of drudgery as well.”
“I'll think on our problem and see what I can come up with.”
Dieter reached up to stroke Anguis as Merlin began to rise. For a moment, Merlin thought the little dragon was going to start purring like a cat. The dragon stilled again instead but Merlin could feel a sense of contentment radiating from the small creature.
* * *
Chapter 10
Merlin was unable to sleep later that evening. He found that, full of energy as he now was, he required less sleep. It was days since he last viewed the journals and his curiosity was getting the better of him.
How long was it after I left before Nimue worked out that clever lure spell for infestations? There are probably other interesting and useful things she did as well. Perhaps I can find out, he thought.
He split his awareness and sent a trace of it out. His familiarity with the path into the building that avoided the electrical lines sped his efforts. He arrived in moments and found that his journals were now racked on the shelves and all of those currently on the table were from Nimue.
Merlin skimmed the pages of the books that lay open.
'Twenty years and still no sign of the dragons. Although I've agreed to watch Merlin's cottage, I may take a trip to the northeast to see if I can find anything out about them.'
'Two years wasted. Whatever spell holds the dragons behind it is tied directly to the life force of the caster. Until they die, this spell will remain intact. All signs point to it being cast by another dragon, so they could be trapped for all eternity.'
'Fifty years to the day since Merlin went to sleep. I know he warned me to expect an extended life span but I haven't changed at all in almost forty years. I still look the same as I did the day I realized that the dragons were not returning.'
'I must be a hundred years old now. There have been lovers but none have engaged me in my body, mind, and soul like Merlin did. All my lovers age as I remain the same. I can't stand watching it happen and so I shall devote myself to the study of magic. As Merlin and I did years back, I'll try to duplicate the effects of the spells he used but in a fashion that uses less energy. He was a dear man but always profligate with his power. Even he would be using the more efficient spells were he still around. Power is now precious and no longer plucked up like a wildflower from a field.'
Merlin returned to his body. He guessed that the transcription Dieter was working with came from the last book he skimmed.
Poor Nimue, I wish I'd been beside her through those long years. It sounds as though she was one of us whose body simply doesn't age. Most wizards like that have their age quickly catch up to them in their final years. I hope she stayed healthy throughout and found a measure of happiness somewhere.
His melancholy thoughts caused Anguis to pulse gently against his throat. Rather than continue on with the evening, Merlin decided that he'd sleep as much as his body would allow and get an early start in the morning.
Merlin's dreams were haunted by Nimue again. In these dreams she moved through the centuries, unchanging, until her age caught up with her in her final years. He dreamed that she found a lover near the end of her life and that they aged together as a normal couple would.
He woke with tears streaming down his face. Rather than stay lost in his thoughts, he buried himself in his work. The tooth gave up its secrets to him that day. Pin a man to the ground with it, either through his flesh or his clothing, and he would be held immobile until it was removed by someone else.
* * *
Merlin began the following day by meeting with Herr Schreiber.
“What has happened to my student Horst?” Merlin asked.
Herr Schreiber's voice was colder than Merlin remembered.
“He's been sent away on assignment. You remember that I told you we needed to show some proof of our results? Horst is that proof.”
“So he's being sent out to take control over people's minds?”
“That and to simply scan their minds. There are questions about the loyalty of some highly placed people. He'll be answering those questions. If the answers are wrong, he'll be ensuring that accidents occur to either discredit or remove those same people.”
Merlin looked at Herr Schreiber. He detached a portion of his awareness and examined the spell on Herr Schreiber's mind. It had been renewed and was now more of a blanket than a chain. The edges were frayed as though he were still fighting it, and succeeding in part.
Merlin took the opportunity to once more treat Herr Schreiber's lungs. There was no sincere gratitude as there was in the past. The man gave him a simple thank you and dismissed him.
His mind is being smothered. Herr Schreiber will be made into some sort
of automaton if we don't help him soon, Merlin thought.
When Merlin returned to the cottage, he sank into his chair. He wanted to go to the vault again but if he were to keep Anguis, and there was no question about that, then he'd only be able to remove one item per trip. He wanted to complete the task set upon him and then find some way out of this place.
I need to help Herr Schreiber, I need to fulfill what was asked of me, and then I need to find a way out. This place is a madhouse and a country that would willingly use a man to control the minds of people is not a country I want to stay in.
As Merlin's thoughts raced, he felt a sense of agreement coming from Anguis. As he puzzled about how to get more items from the vault a picture popped into his brain. Two small dragon statuettes, identical to one another. One flew up to wrap about his neck and turned into a torque. The other shimmered back into a stone about the size of Anguis.
Merlin caught the meaning directly and walked outside. He searched among the stones in a field until he found one the right size. Returning to his cottage, he used magic to craft the rock into a duplicate of Anguis. It now appeared to be a dragon statuette, closely resembling Anguis' original form. He used a small charm to finish the job, making it appear identical to the original statuette. He gathered up the tooth and spoke to the guard.
“I need to go down to the vault again and exchange these,” he said.
The guard looked at the statue and the tooth in his hands and nodded.
The swap went off without a hitch. Evidently there was no security except the visual check by the guard. When Merlin returned from the vault he had two items selected at random from the many remaining to be identified.
The days passed in a blur. When the weekend arrived, Merlin considered a bit of rebellion. He sought out Gunter's mind to find if he was still in the area. He was and he was miserable. Merlin gave the man an uncontrollable urge for fresh air, with a suggestion that walking near where they kept the trucks would fulfill it. He slipped out of his cottage using the light-bending spell that rendered him nearly invisible. He was sure someone was watching him over the past few days but couldn't spot them. The spell, and a light left in the cottage, should convince them he was still in there.