by Tom Larcombe
Merlin sent out the tiniest thread of awareness that he could and asked the owl for permission to stroke its feathers. The owl's head swiveled up, staring at Merlin's face. He reached forward and scratched it between the ears in the same location as Anselm.
“A fine beast, intelligent also. It responded right away when I asked its permission to touch it. So your task now will be to establish communication with it. I'll get you a list of the appropriate transcripts,” Merlin said.
Dieter looked at Merlin as he gestured to the corner of the room they used for speaking to one another. The two men sat down and Merlin began speaking immediately after willing a shield into existence that would distort their words to anyone listening.
“You were entirely correct. I know more of the Germans now and like less of what I know. I'll be leaving soon. You'll want to leave also, whether you accompany me or not. Herr Schreiber has informed me that, by next week, the research facility will be headed by an SS officer.”
“Herr Schreiber informed you?”
“He was rather grateful. Both for my healing of his lungs and for our removal of the spell riding him. He'll be leaving himself, if he hasn't already. He fears for his life.”
“Merlin, why the sudden change?”
“As you suggested, I didn't know much about the Germans. I thought there was time to learn about them but with everything that's happened around me these last few weeks? I was uncomfortable making decisions without any knowledge to back them up. I went searching for the knowledge, found it, and made my decision. I'll be leaving.”
“Just that? Just leaving?”
“I don't know yet. I now have authorization to view the main reason this place is here. I also have a tacit request to destroy it if that's what I feel necessary. I'll be looking at it tomorrow.”
“What is it?”
“I don't know exactly, just that it's some sort of energy storage device. It's somehow related to the Undesirables from what I discovered. Oh yes, I know what Undesirables means now also. Essentially it's anyone those at the highest levels of authority don't like, or disapprove of.”
“Okay, I'll believe you did that research now. How exactly are you supposed to destroy it on your own?”
“I don't know what it is and I don't know if I can destroy it, either on my own or with assistance. Herr Schreiber just assumed that I'd be able to.”
Dieter chuckled with a morbid humor.
“That's the problem with being a living legend. People assume you're willing to do legendary things. Whether you can or not.”
Merlin nodded wearily.
“That's about the gist of it.”
Dieter's eyes widened as he looked over Merlin's shoulder. Merlin turned to find Conrad, Manfred, and Karl staring at him.
“Dieter, over with Anselm and Ernst,” Merlin snapped.
Manfred's hands were alive with flames. As Merlin spoke, Manfred launched the flames at him. Merlin immediately strengthened his shield against magic. The flames struck it and passed through. An inch beyond the shield, they flickered and went out.
Merlin concentrated on a lamp and a gesture brought the flames swirling out. The swirling flames surrounded Manfred, leaving him just enough room to remain unburned if he didn't move.
“Manfred, what do you think keeps your flames alive? A shield that blocks magic removes the fuel from the fire and it's extinguished.”
Merlin stopped speaking as Conrad charged him. The student's fists were closed and the veins in his arms bulged out from beneath the skin. Merlin recognized the signs that Conrad had increased his strength tremendously.
“Contego,” Merlin said.
A shimmer appeared on the arm the shield pin was attached to. Conrad's forward rush ended with a punch that could have gone through a stone wall. Merlin moved his shimmering shield to block the punch and Conrad screamed as his hand shattered on the magical shield. Merlin was forced back an inch or two even though the shield absorbed most of the blow.
“I'll heal that for you tomorrow if you like,” Merlin said, “Overnight you can consider the wisdom of trying to attack a prepared wizard physically.”
Merlin's eyes darted up to find Karl. Karl's eyes were slits, whatever he was doing required all of his concentration.
He's been working on remote manipulation recently, Merlin thought, that's probably what he's doing.
Merlin glanced all around himself. When he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he looked up. Above him, a rope was lowering itself towards him, the end tied into a noose.
A moment's thought and the rope flared into flame. Ashes rained down over Merlin's corner of the room. He glanced at Karl again and saw a look of panic on the student's face. A brief glance with his Sight showed Merlin what he expected to see.
“Karl, I warned you repeatedly. You really need to make your shields in a sphere, not a circle,” Merlin said.
Merlin followed his words by launching Conrad and Manfred into the air, over the top of Karl's shield. Merlin removed the flames before launching Manfred since he wanted to teach them a lesson, not kill them. The two briefly flying students landed on Karl, and the three men fell into a pile on the floor.
“Guards,” Merlin shouted, “I need you.”
The two guards burst through the door, looking around the room.
“These three of my students just tried to attack me. I recommend you detain them and ask Herr Schreiber what he would like done with them. I'll send him a message in the morning detailing what occurred here.”
“Yes sir,” one of the guards said, “Alright you three. Get up. You're coming with us.”
“I would recommend you bind Manfred's hands, he can be dangerous with them. Conrad may need a doctor to look at his hand as well.”
Merlin turned to face the three students who were just straggling to their feet.
“Don't give these guards any trouble. If you do, I'll be the one who gets called and you won't like what is done with rogue wizards,” he said.
After the guards escorted the three prisoners out the door, Merlin turned to his remaining three students.
“I thought that might happen sooner or later. Thank you for the warning Dieter.”
“I didn't say anything, you reacted as soon as I figured out what was happening,” Dieter said.
“You showed me that there was something that needed my attention behind me. That helped a great deal, so thank you.”
Dieter nodded curtly in acknowledgment.
“Now, where was I?” Merlin asked, “Oh yes, suggested reading for you to further your skills.”
Merlin handed out the recommended areas of the transcripts for his remaining students to study, then he returned to his cottage.
* * *
Chapter 14
My evening isn't over yet, Merlin thought. If I'm leaving this place soon, I want to find out what happened to Nimue first. I'm sure the only record of that is here in her journals.
Merlin sat back and sent out his awareness. He entered the warded room where the journals were kept. There were different books under the glass cases now but when he advanced to the first he could see that it was still Nimue's writing.
He turned the pages with his mind gingerly, trying to keep the brittle paper from powdering.
I don't care if the books are damaged so they can't use them, but I want to read both sides of each page and I can't do that if they fall apart, he thought.
The first journal he looked at was new to him. Evidently they'd finished transcribing the last one he viewed and started a new one.
'A hundred and thirty years and Merlin is still a statue. I begin to believe that he will never return to me. I have a plan that will take years to finish but which gives me a chance to fulfill the conditions of his spell.'
Merlin skimmed most of the entries. They referred to people who were born after he fell into his enchanted sleep and meant little to him. He paused to fully read the entries where Nimue put her thoughts and feelings on paper. One por
tion wounded him to the quick even though he knew there were good reasons.
'I've taken a lover. I won't marry him even though he has asked me to repeatedly. I know better than that. I've moved out of Merlin's cottage and out of the area. Merlin warned me that we would live longer than others. That we would outlive friends and lovers who were not wizards. So I'll return to the cottage when my lover dies. Merlin has left me alone for so many years. I'll take what comfort I can in the ten or twenty remaining to my lover and then return to the cottage for a while.'
Merlin felt ashamed as he skipped most of the following entries until Nimue's lover died sixteen years later. When she returned to Merlin's cottage after her lover's death, it seemed that she was in a better mood regarding him.
'I'm ready to finish the spell that may break Merlin's enchantment. Thierry was a wonderful man, but knowing that he would die long before I would stopped me from loving him as strongly as I might have otherwise. He deserved better but always insisted that he was fortunate that I felt about him as I did. All that despite my telling him that he deserved more than I could give.'
She was trying to bring me back, Merlin thought, I wish she had succeeded.
He continued skimming the journal. In an entry made nearly a year later he found what he was after.
'My creation is done. It is a statue of a dragon. Much smaller then the living ones but perfectly to detail from how I remember them. The day the dragon was killed trying to help me I saved some of his blood. I put a small amount of it in a stasis spell. The largest stasis I could create only held a few drops. I infused the living blood into the statue and have animated it. It should even be able to fly. My hope is that my creation flying in the skies above Merlin's cave will be sufficient to fulfill the conditions of his spell. The appearance is correct and the essence should be fulfilled by the drops of living blood. Tomorrow I will release my dragon to fly the skies above Merlin's cave.'
He eagerly looked at the next entry.
'For some reason my creation did not break the spell on Merlin. The creature is self-willed and friendly though. Perhaps he'll be good company for me. Someone that will neither age nor die. I shall name him after the dragons, in the Latin that could be Anguis. It seems a suitable name for him.'
Anguis? Is this the same Anguis? Merlin thought.
Anguis, hearing Merlin thinking his name, woke and pulsed about the neck of Merlin's body. Merlin felt his awareness snapped back to his physical being from the shock of the entry combined with the physical stimulation.
{Anguis? Do you know who made you?} Merlin asked.
A picture of a youngish looking woman, by Merlin's standards, appeared in his mind. Despite the smudges on her face and the dirtied hands Merlin recognized her immediately. Nimue had blossomed from a beautiful youth into an even more beautiful woman.
He knew the smudges and dirt were from concentrating on a project to the exclusion of all else. In this case, he assumed it was Anguis' creation. He'd seen her in a similar state before when she was much younger. If he gave her a task, she focused on it utterly until it was complete. Frequently she would realize what she looked like when she finished and immediately clean herself up. Merlin was always amused when it occurred though. Each time it was as though she forgot that the same thing occurred previously.
{Were you with Nimue for long?} Merlin asked.
A series of pictures of Nimue flashed through Merlin's mind. Each one was different, sometimes subtly and sometimes drastically. Nimue remained unchanging in her physical appearance throughout. The clothing and hairstyles changed but she didn't appear to age. There was no sense of time to the pictures either.
{Anguis, do you understand time?}
A helpless confusion was the only answer Merlin received. When he gave it a moment's thought he wasn't surprised. A creature as simple as Anguis, whose lifespan could possibly last forever, wouldn't have a very good grasp of time as people used it. Due to his excitement Merlin hadn't considered that when he asked his question.
His thoughts were in a turmoil and Anguis tried to soothe him, to no avail. He lay down on his bed, wondering how he might ask Anguis all the questions he wanted answered about Nimue.
What would the little dragon understand? Merlin thought, How could he make his answers known to me. To be so close to knowing exactly what happened to her and not know how to ask for the information in a way Anguis could answer is intolerable. If I don't find out from her journals, I'll devise a way for Anguis to tell me. I don't know how, but I will. Tomorrow night, I'll go back and read more tomorrow night.
He tried to relax and allow Anguis to soothe him to the point where he could sleep. At some point in the night he was successful because when he became aware again, sunlight was streaming in through the window.
Merlin reviewed his plans for the day. He needed to determine exactly what activated the feather. He needed to view the energy storage device and decide its fate. After dark he would return to the room with the journals and read more about Nimue's life. There was some spare time in his schedule, so he might be able to find Gunter and speak with him. There were sure to be other things that popped up over the course of the day though, at least it seemed there always were.
He sat down and wrote out his account of the altercation with the students the night before.
I'll find a messenger to deliver it right after breakfast, Merlin thought.
He took care of breakfast next. His energy wasn't dangerously low any more but he wanted to continue to build it up. He might well need it in the days ahead. When breakfast was over he walked over to the administrative section and found the young messenger he dealt with previously. The boy took Merlin's report and promised to deliver it immediately. Then Merlin returned to his cottage to test the feather.
The silver feather was exceedingly easy to levitate and, he discovered, it could lift a good bit of weight along with itself. He only needed to hold an image of it in his mind and then change the image to one of the feather floating. When he fed it a trickle of energy while doing so the feather barely hesitated, even when he placed it under the table with himself on top of it. He was floating atop the table, several feet above the ground, when the guard arrived, knocked once, and walked in.
“Sir...” the guard said, seemingly at a loss for words.
Merlin visualized the feather lowering to the floor again. Once the table legs were solidly on the floor he slid off and recovered the feather.
“Surely you know what my task here is?” Merlin asked.
“Yes sir, I hadn't actually seen much of anything that I would call magic yet though.”
“Well, now you have,” Merlin said, “We'll need to make a different trip today. Herr Schreiber has asked if I can examine an energy storage device here at the castle. I have a ward that may cause it to be more efficient in retaining its energy and he wants me to see if I can add it to the device. Here is the authorization.”
Merlin held out the authorization regarding the device that he was given the day before. The guard scanned it.
“That area is highly restricted.”
“Is Herr Schreiber not in charge of the facility? Do you wish the device to be less effective than it could be? What does it matter to me? I've been given a task and if you will not assist me in it, as you were instructed to, then you can just leave and I'll request a guard who follows orders.”
The guard paled.
“I can't take you into that location.”
“Why not?”
“There are other guards there. They won't allow me to pass.”
“They will allow me to pass, no? With that authorization in hand? What would you do with the device anyhow? So far as I've been able to determine you know nothing at all about magic.”
Merlin allowed a hint of scorn into his voice as he berated the man. Once again he was trying to emulate the command tone that Gunter used. The guard's response was to flush and instinctively stand at attention.
“Yes sir,” was
the only reply the guard made. Then he turned and led the way out of the cottage.
The guard went to a different area in the underground section of the research facility. At the bottom of the stairs he stopped and stepped to the side. Merlin continued forward to find four men in SS uniforms watching him intently. He handed them his authorization and waited as they carefully read it.
“This is the wizard they said might be able to improve it,” one guard said.
“He's on the list then?” another asked.
“ He's on the tentative list. I think that his authorization papers move him to the full list, no?”
“They are signed by Herr Schreiber though.”
“He's still in charge for two more days. All seems to be in order.”
One guard turned to Merlin.
“You may pass, but your man there will need to stay out here.”
Merlin spoke in a haughty tone.
“He is not my man. He is a guard assigned to assist me.”
“Either way, he stays out here.”
“If he must then.”
Merlin passed through the checkpoint and approached the door he was directed to. He realized that the room was warded when he was halfway to the door. It was one of the wards that he'd been unable to breach and fearful to try since he sensed some of the mad dragon's magic in it. He slipped a portion of his awareness out to view the ward.
It's vaguely similar to the one from the book room. This one is intentionally set to break when the door is opened. It will also reset if the door is closed. I must remember to leave it open when I enter. But a part of the ward is reversed. It's designed to contain something as well as prevent access to it. I wonder how dangerous leaving the door open would be?
Merlin raised his shields, both physical and mental. Then he stepped forward and placed his hand on the knob. He shivered as he was filled with a sense of foreboding but turned the knob anyhow. The door opened and he stared into the room.