by Ardis, Priya
“Which would you choose, Merlin?” she asked. “To save your brother or save everyone.”
“My brother,” I answered without hesitation.
“I know,” she said softly. “That’s why I did what I did. Why I had to send him away. I hope you will understand someday.”
She put the knife on the potato. “Remember this, Merlin. Whole, it can keep one full. Cut it and it will feed us all a little bit. Cut it and the risk to you is great. Keep it whole and the risk to everyone else is great. Either way a choice must be made.”
The Lady cut the potato in half. Only it was no longer a potato.
A choice must be made.
And I had my answer.
The secret the Lady had only unconsciously revealed to Merlin. The one deemed too risky. The one Poseidon had known.
I opened my eyes.
Above us, the sky turned red. The Fury would be upon us soon.
Matt picked up the trident. He hit the ground with it as I reached Excalibur.
The ground cracked and rumbled. A mist began to form around the gates.
My hands closed around Excalibur.
“Ryan,” Matt yelled. “What are you doing?”
“I’m finding another way.” I grabbed Excalibur out of the rock.
The mist died. The gates never opened. The apple fell.
“No!” Matt lunged for me.
It was too late. I brought Excalibur smashing down on the golden apple.
In that moment, I gambled. Because that’s how we lived. I risked the entire human race on one belief—for a few to survive wasn’t enough. To simply survive wasn’t enough.
The apple exploded. Spots of black and white sparkled out of the apple’s hollow middle like fairy lights.
The sky screamed as the Fury neared.
“Matt,” I cried.
He stood frozen, looking at the destroyed apple.
The Dragon’s Eye heated in my hand. I called to the monster. It rose.
Vane’s body shuddered as the monster took over.
“It’s time,” I told the monster.
It roared. The fairy lights floated all around us. The exotic particles from the apple spread farther and farther up in the air. It took seconds. Precious ones while no one evacuated. The gates, the passage out, remained silent and closed. Far away energy spiked in our yellow sun, causing the monster’s energy to spike and spill. Around us, the fairy lights changed. The whole planet stood suspended in space for a moment.
Then in the span of a wink, the earth disappeared.
Like a two-dimensional character suddenly thrust into a three-dimensional world, I saw beyond myself. Where once the blue planet had stood, only empty space remained. I held onto Excalibur as we shifted to another phase of existence, one made only from our consciousness.
Instead of creating a passage connecting two endpoints, the exotic matter from the apple created a hole in one spot, a hole big enough to fit one planet.
The Fury hit.
The sun flared and its tentacles slashed at us. The inferno passed straight through, only meeting with empty space where the earth should have been.
We watched from outside it, like holograms who saw but didn’t feel.
Seventy-six seconds passed. Precious seconds. And in those seconds we changed the fate of all and saved our souls.
The Fury continued.
The fairy lights danced with increasing brilliance as the Fury intensified and I had to close my eyes at the lights’ twinkling ferocity. Beside me, Vane’s body shuddered harder. The monster struggled to hang on. I could do nothing but watch as bit by bit the monster burned away under the onslaught of eternal fire.
The Fury passed.
Inside Vane, the monster roared mournfully, a blistered husk. It sighed when Vane finally let go, his body stilling completely.
I choked back a cry.
Matt put his hand on Vane’s unmoving chest. He took the monster into himself.
Green colored Matt’s amber eyes.
I held onto Excalibur, the lone tether back to our physical existence.
Matt’s arms came around me. He used Excalibur to focus. Green swirled around us in huge waves, calling the fairy lights back to the sword. He commanded them into the broken pieces of the apple. They refused.
Excalibur stayed hot in my hands.
I threw the sword at the gate. As soon as Excalibur neared, the middle of the trilithon lit up. Mist flared inside the gate and Excalibur sailed through the doorway between worlds. The fairy lights, like bees to pollen, swarmed after the sword. As the fairy lights receded, around us the world began to solidify.
The planet reappeared in space, winking back into physical existence. I looked up from the ground. A translucent sky became colored with a thick blanket of homogenous blue. But it wasn’t over.
As soon as the last of the fairy lights passed and the world fully materialized, a sonic boom blasted us from the open mouth of the gate. A tremendous tornado churned in the sudden vacuum. Like the mythical whirlpool, Charybdis, it tried to suck us into the gate.
The broken pieces of the apple flew though the gate and to the other side.
Matt stuck the trident into the ground. His arm still around me, we held on. Vane’s still form flew past and I grabbed him with one hand. Matt helped me pull him close.
Trucks and busses flew around us like huge asteroids of metal. Some passed through into the gate and disappeared past the mist. Some tumbled off onto the plains on this side of the gate. On the ground, many others hung onto the trilithons. Grey, Gia, Leonidas—all held onto rough rock. The wind got worse. It buzzed loudly against my ears.
Matt held on to me.
He dug in his pocket and took out the Kronos Eye.
I shouted past the wind, “What are you doing?”
“I should have believed in him more. Believed in you more.” Amber eyes smiled sadly at me. “You saved them, Ryan. I know you can save him.”
“Matt, no!” My hands tied up with Vane, I couldn’t stop him from swallowing it.
“It’s time for me to let go,” he said huskily. “Take care of him.”
The monster cried out one last time. Matt put his hand against Vane’s chest. Green flowed from him into his brother. The green in Matt’s eyes snuffed out. He slumped over the trident. But Vane didn’t wake either.
Fiercely, I held on to them both.
Through the mist, I saw the shadow of a kingdom and its castle, high up on a cliff, its turrets boasting with flags of a red serpentine dragon. But I sought another place.
I pulled the trident from the ground. Matt, Vane, and I went flying into the gate. In the mist, in between sea and land, the hole in the cosmos gaped opened. I saw the shadow of a kingdom and its castle, high up on a cliff, its turrets boasting with flags of a red serpentine dragon. But I sought another place. I pictured where I wanted to go. I held Matt close, the Kronos Eye within him, and I said, “Elysium.”
We landed on its banks. Above me, blue sky winked in and out. The power of the monster was fading, the gates closing. I didn’t have long.
I used the trident to make a jagged cut across Matt’s stomach. I tore out the Kronos Eye. Then, I dragged him and Vane to the edge of the bank. They floated in shallow water.
For several heartbeats, nothing happened. Serene waves of the river flowed without disruption. I remembered Rawana saying Matt had defiled Elysium.
I refused to give up. I yelled into the air. “They’ve done everything you asked! You owe them a life.”
The wind took my words, examined them, and tossed them aside.
I picked up the trident and slammed it down on the bank. A wave jerked in the river. I slammed the trident again. The river reacted angrily, more waves rose. I slammed the trident a third time. Before me, the waves rose high like a hand until it towered over me. The watery hand came rushing down with furious speed. It crashed onto the riverbank.
Water slammed into me, threatening to drown me.
&nb
sp; I struggled to stay afloat. I lost track of Vane and Matt. Behind us, the trilithon gate opened. The river washed me toward it and dumped me into the mist.
A whisper came out of the dark. Camelot.
CHAPTER 22 – CAMELOT
CHAPTER 22 – CAMELOT
He was a conqueror, fashioned by the sea. Arrogant and merciless, yet also containing the essence of life itself, and he’d saved us all. Gentle surf tickled my feet. I recognized the beach. It was the one where I’d let the monster heal me. I didn’t know quite where we were, but I knew we hadn’t gone far.
We were still on Earth. I knew by the two suns hovering in the sky, one yellow and one red, one to stay and one to fade. Kronos’s Fury had passed. Yet, the blood spot of the supernova would remain in the sky for months until like a scab it healed. The memory of the Fury would remain burned in our minds, until it, too, would wane. But for today, the world was saved.
We’d done it. And we’d come home.
I hoped my family was all right. Grey. Gia. Matt.
I looked down at Vane. He lay still on the beach. I lay on top of him. Where I wanted to be. I watched the breeze play with his hair. I watched his chest rise and fall and I hoped.
He was alive. We were together.
“Together, does that mean you have a thing for me?”
I nearly shrieked when his voice sounded in my head.
Hazel eyes popped open. I smiled. Probably a really idiotic smile, but I couldn’t help it. My fingers dug into his shoulders. His slid into my hair.
“Am I alive?” he said huskily.
A cold wave slapped our feet to answer. I moved to sit, my knees dug into the sand. Vane pulled me back down to cover him. “Don’t go. Ever.”
“How are you talking to me?”
Vane reached into the pocket of my cargoes. A hand tickled a small hole in the pocket. I squirmed. With a wicked grin, he pulled out the Kronos Eye. Its odd shape had solidified into green crystal. Vane’s hand glowed with faint green, and it shrank even more.
He held it out in his palm as a promise. “I always wanted to make you an amulet. It seems as if you could use a new one.”
I touched my neck. The wind had taken the Dragon’s Eye. Like Excalibur, it lay somewhere between the mist and the stone circle. I moved to take the Kronos Eye. With a baiting smile, he tried to close his palm on it, but I was faster. I gave him a triumphant look. He returned it with a smug one of his own.
Life would never be dull with him. I sighed, though all I really wanted to do was smile even more idiotically. I asked, “How did you make this? The monster…” Is gone.
Vane inclined his head. “A bit of him remains. It’s not tangible, but I feel stronger. I doubt I’ll be able to move mountains, but a bit of Poseidon will always be within me. I am a mermaid, after all.”
Behind me, a wave rose up high and danced as if it agreed. It hurtled forward onto the beach. I tensed. The wave stopped suddenly, as if it hit an invisible wall. It dissipated and fell harmlessly back into the ocean.
I looked down at Vane. Amused hazel eyes watched me.
Godlike powers. He was going to be trouble.
“Oh, yes.” Sensuous lips curved. “You could use some trouble.”
“Matt gave the power back to you. To save you.” A tight feeling came over me. I glanced around the beach. We were in a cove. In front of us, a rocky hill rose into woods. On either side, black lava rocks formed sheer cliffs. I saw not one person.
Vane tugged at my hair, drawing my attention back to him. “He’s alive. I would know if he weren’t.”
“Then where is he?” I scanned the cliffs.
The shadows where he’d stood before remained dark.
Vane stared at the same cliffs. “It’s done. The story is done. Merlin has to find a new one. Seems this one was meant for me after all.”
I looked down at him. “Will you ever call him Matt?”
White teeth flashed in an unrepentant grin. “It’s one and the same.”
His grin turned wistful. He asked, “Will you always love him?”
“Almost as much as you will.”
He gave me a very male look. “I don’t think I like you knowing me so well. I will have to work harder to distract you.”
I repressed an urge to melt onto him, and instead traced a finger along the hard length of his jaw. “How did you know the Lady accidentally told Matt about the other way?”
“I didn’t. I remembered what Poseidon and I took a chance. She was with Merlin a long time.”
Took a chance. As I had done. “But why did you do it? Why let me take the risk with the apple? Matt wouldn’t.”
“It was what you said in Westminster. We’re human. It’s what we do. And I finally realized, it’s what you would do.” Vane smirked. “I told you I would save you.”
“I saved you.”
Mischief danced in his eyes. “Don’t get cocky.”
He’d said the same thing the night of our first kiss in the basement. I had no intention of listening to him—then or now. I arched a brow. “Then, don’t fall for me.”
“Too late, Dorothy.”
Dorothy. The name rolled off his tongue like the sweetest caress. My lips curving up, I turned to gaze out at the ocean, an open expanse of never-ending water. “Where do you think we are?”
“Home. Camelot. As long as I’m with you, I don’t care.” Catching my hand, he brought it to his lips and kissed the back in an old-fashioned gesture. Just when I began to surrender, he shocked me by sinking his teeth lightly into the skin.
I shivered and looked up at the yellow sun. Our sun. Vane understood me well. Camelot had always been here. At Home. A figure lurked in the shadows. It pushed back green fronds at the base of the cliff and walked slowly down to the beach. He came closer. I cried out happily. Grey.
He waved at me. I moved to get up.
Fingers wound tightly in my curls. Vane’s legs tangled around mine, holding them in place. “You belong to me.”
“Yes.”
With a tug, he flipped me over. I sunk into damp sand. His muscled body completely enveloped mine, and lips grazed up along a tender column of my neck. He bit an earlobe, causing me to buck under him. He demanded, “Tell me you love me.”
My heart filling at the hint of urgency in his voice, I said, “You know I do.”
He added, “Vane.”
I put my hands on his stubbled jaw, reveling in the way the rough bristles prickled the soft skin of my palm. It was real. He was real. I replied, “I love you, Vivane.”
He smiled, a sweet smile. It held a hint of the boy in the cottage, the one beneath all those red-stained layers who still survived. I pressed closer to him.
He would never be alone again. And neither would I.
***
I lost her. I watched them from the shadows.
I got my brother in return.
That I didn’t regret the exchange may have been why I lost her.
I shrank back when she glanced in my direction. Under me, Grey walked from the base of the cliff and onto the beach. He’d go to her instead.
Beyond him, I saw others. An upside down truck—its passengers shaken but unharmed. Regulars, wizards, mermaids, and gargoyles wandered the woods. I suspected some of those drawn into the tornado had crossed the mist to another world, while some were dumped here. Like lost ducklings, a few of those wandering below would seek the beach and wait to be shepherded back. Others would turn and find the city on the other side. I glanced over rainbow-covered mountains, painted surfboards on crowded sand, and a resort’s well-maintained beaches. I recognized the spot. A picture of this place hung in Sylvia’s study. Ryan looked at it sometimes with wistful eyes when she thought no one watched. I did.
I was up on the cliff. For the moment, I was alone.
She had Vane.
And I was free. The weight of my brother was lifted.
He forgave me for planning his death. I forgave him for being the source of my guilt.
As much as it killed me to see him with her, I also wouldn’t have her with anyone else. The two who filled me, but completed each other more.
I would miss them.
I would see them again. Someday. When the time was right. When I could be with them without this savage jealously wrenching through me.
Vane understood.
I saw his piercing eyes fix on my spot. He knew time healed. It would be slow. Turning on my heel, I walked into the tropical jungle. Just beyond the stretch of green trees, the outline of a high-rise resort rose above the horizon.
On the other side of the gate, after we’d left Elysium, I’d glimpsed the kingdom in the mist. More than anything I’d wanted to fling myself toward it. Ryan wouldn’t have gone. Her Camelot would always be here. In a sense, she was right. This was the moment. Camelot had to be made.
Every day and with every fight.
As much as I’d wanted to, I hadn’t crossed the mist to the other world. My place was still here. With her. With my brother. Our lives finally together. I looked up at the twin suns. It would pass and the Earth would have one sun again soon. We saved the garden. The cradle of life.
I would live, too. Someday I would breathe again.
Until then there would be a lot of questions. The Queen would need me. I was not meant for obscurity. I had a lot left to do.
A world to right.
And maybe I would look for the second apple.
After all, my name has always been Merlin.
But now, I was Matt too.
***
EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE
Much later, I asked Vane what was next.
A wicked gleam shone in his eyes. “A university in New Haven keeps begging me to accept a tenure. It has a penchant for secret societies that intrigues me. It’s a stone’s throw from Boston. You’d be close to home. Think of the fun, Ryan.” A hand reached around to lightly touch my back. He added low into my ear, “I know my way around a ruler.”
I let out a small moan. College with Professor Vane. Oh, Greek gods.
——THE END——