by W. C. Peever
Charlie held her more tightly, letting the fragrance of her honey blond hair drift lazily around him. “We need to get away from here fast, Till. Grayson, Joelle and hopefully others as well are waiting for us in the forest. Do you know if Samuel contacted Vali or not?”
“He never talked with him directly,” she said snuggling deeper into his warm embrace. “He always spoke through someone in the castle. Whoever it is, he had a lot of influence with Vali.”
Charlie grimaced. “You mean there’s more than one mole in the castle?” Tillie, feeling stronger and more herself by the minute, nodded affirmatively. “Then they might already know everything that we are about to do,” Charlie shook off the thought as he said it. “Okay, let’s go.” The two untangled and together ran off towards the caves, Charlie holding Tillie’s hand good and hard.
Bailey, Mick, Joelle, Marley and Professor Grayson were all still waiting when he and Tillie reached the first mound. Out of breath and still bleeding from the hand, Charlie smiled, then paled and collapsed on the ground.
Mick raced over to him and instantly began healing his wound. “You have got to stop getting yourself cut up like this man; my energy reserve is not unlimited,” Mick laughed.
Professor Grayson was less amused. “What happened, Charlie?” he asked, looking from Charlie to Tillie and then back. Charlie told him everything as Mick administered the first aid. “Marley,” Grayson ordered “go find Samuel and bring the boy to my study. Wait there with him until I return.” The Guardian nodded and ran back towards the school.
“Now, Charlie,” Professor Grayson glowed as he spoke. “Bailey has filled me in on the last few days and I must say I am proud of you all. You have done more during the short time you have been at school than most of us do in a lifetime.” His broad smile lessoned. “But I am afraid that the job is not yet finished. May I see the sword, please?” Charlie handed the professor the ornate blade. Grayson raised it up tip first and the metal sparkled brilliantly even in dim light. “Excalibur,” the professor whispered under his breath. “It seems the Oracle knew what he was talking about, after all,” he smiled. “And may I also see the ring?” Charlie handed him his father’s ring. “I believe the stone in the sword does indeed fit in Merlin’s ring, right here as you deduced.”
The Headmaster held the sword and ring down so that Joelle could examine them to the light. “Look how the gem was inlayed into the hilt. That required something more than good craftsmanship. It must be Dwarvish. How shall we get the gem out of the sword?” Joelle asked, her tail switching anxiously, from side to side.
“When we were in the tunnels in the other world, I saw a table that had the shape of this sword cut into it. I think we need to put Excalibur onto that table to get the gem out. I think that is what the inscription on the sarcophagus meant,” Tillie nodded, wanting desperately to regain the trust of the group. Grayson looked at Charlie and Tillie with renewed wonder, his eyes sparkling with pride.
“That sounds like a splendid plan, Charlie. Will you lead the way?”
Charlie worked his way free of Tillie, Bailey and Mick and quickly scrambled down the hole, followed in single file by the others. He was surprised at how nimble the Headmaster proved as they made their way through the tunnel, aided in front by the glow of Mick’s staff and a short distance back by a sphere of fire that Professor Grayson kept floating above their heads.
“This way,” yelled Mick. “I remember that rock on the floor. Charlie tripped over it on our way out.”
“Excellent!” proclaimed the Headmaster. In no time at all they found themselves in the room where Charlie had met his father for the first time. “Perfect, there are Elementalist torches along the walls.” The professor noted. He created four fireballs and sent them to the four corners of the room, where they were sucked into large ceramic urns, and sent a light that lit the whole room.
“What are those, Professor?” asked Bailey, staring at the lights.
“Elementalist torches are special urns that hold a fireball and then use it to create light that can last for weeks. Let us examine the table, quickly now.”
The table was made of one slab of polished marble. It had, as Charlie remembered, ornate runes engraved into the stone, along the edges and in the center was a perfect cut-out of Excalibur. “What do the runes say, Professor?” asked Tillie.
“It is interesting,” the Headmaster said, rubbing the silver stubble along his chin. “All of these runes are Norse, or at least parts of them are, but I only recognize one or two of them. It is almost as if this is a whole different language. Charlie, why don’t you do the honors?” he said, handing Charlie the sword.
“Are you sure, Professor? Don’t you think you should be the one to do this?” asked Bailey, a look of worry on her face as she glared from Charlie to Tillie to Grayson.
“You are forgetting the poem,” said the Headmaster. “I am not a descendant of Merlin. Only Charlie can claim that right and I believe that if anyone of the rest of us were to place the sword to the table, we would only find that the sword fit quite nicely.” Grayson turned back to Charlie. “However, I believe that you, Charlie, will receive a quite different result.”
The weight of the sword seemed to have increased since they entered the room, and felt to Charlie as if the table was pulling on it now. Slowly, Charlie lowered the sword into place. The moment it touched the altar there was a clicking sound that reverberated through the tunnels. The room began to shake. A deafening crack resounded as the table broke in half, tossing the brilliant blue crystal skyward. Bailey reacted instantly and used her power to suspend the crystal mid-flight.
“Nice one,” said Charlie as the dust began to settle and he saw what she had done. This time it was Bailey who blushed. Charlie grabbed the crystal from the air and placed it carefully into Merlin’s ring. A sudden wind extinguished the Elementalist torches, and the ring glowed a brilliant blue. Then it exploded with light, and the walls of the room were covered with blue and white images of the past, numbers, runes and words written in a slanted hand in an ancient, long forgotten language.
Grayson gasped. “Merlin’s map…The numbers are dates, I think. Goodness, he hid some of the crystals in the past! The words are from the same language that it is on the table, but for the life of me I do not know it. How irritating. The runes at least I know to be Norse. We will have to research the rest from there.”
“How about the images, Professor? Do you recognize any of them?” asked Bailey.
“They seem to be snapshots of the past. That one looks like Merlin,” Grayson said, pointing at a young boy in a thick fur robe.
“Excuse me, Professor,” Joelle interjected. “They are snapshots. Some of them are of Merlin’s life, other are…well, not. I believe that these are more than just home videos. Rather, they may be dimensional directions, like landmarks or clues. The date must give us the time period, the words give us well… we can come back to that later, and I believe the pictures give us a clue to the dimension we need to focus on to get there.” The Headmaster nodded, and stroked his beard.
“But…” Charlie seemed worried. “I can’t travel through time, I don’t have that particular ability, and from what I have heard traveling through time can’t be learned.”
“Very astute, Charlie, but I am not worried. There is always Stonehenge,” Professor Grayson added.
“Not worried!” blurted out Bailey. “How can you not be worried, sir? The fate of the Order rests in Charlie’s being able to retrieve and destroy the crystals.”
“I think that some would argue with you about the destruction of the crystals.”
“But they need to be destroyed!”
“Allow me to finish please, Miss Relling. I do not share in this opinion. I believe that Merlin knew the crystals would have to be destroyed at some point, and I agree with that premise. There will be requests, legitimate at least on the surface, for you to give the crystals over to the Order, to let them decide what is best. No! It was a wa
rning, Miss Relling, not a requirement.” This seemed to put some of Bailey’s misgivings to rest, at least for the moment.
“I am not worried, for the simple reason that together you all found the sword of Merlin. The fact that you lost it for a time to Samuel McKenna seems to me to be irrelevant. The Oracle offered the prize of an extra ability to the person or persons who found the sword, and that would seem to be you Charlie, and you Bailey and Mick, and yes, you too Tillie; for without your sacrifice the sword and Charlie might have been lost forever. You need but all to wish for the gift of time travel, and it is yours. This must be a personal choice for each of you, and a hard choice it is when you think of all the other equally amazing abilities.” Grayson smiled politely at each. “I will arrange separate resting quarters, so that you may each think about the choice that you must make. I will contact the Order and inform them that we have a winner of the contest, and that the ceremony will be held at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. I am sure everyone will be very excited at the news.
He continued, “Joelle, will you take the children to the castle and inform Ms. Welling of my requests? I would like to study the runes and words a bit more, but first I would like to have a word with Charlie.” The werecat nodded and escorted the other children back to the castle.
“Professor?” Charlie asked when his friends had disappeared.
“There comes a time when we all have to make a decision that will affect the direction of our life, Charlie. What you must remember is that our abilities do not define us. It is the decisions that we make that define who we are. Just because you inherited the ability to Jump, does not mean that you are stuck in that role. You can choose to lead a normal life, even ignore the Order, and never go after the crystals. After some time, Vali will not consider you a threat, and you will be able to live just a normal a life in a normal school.
“If, however you choose to embrace your Jumper ability and add travel through time, and if you choose to regain control of the crystals, you will be like Merlin. In this, you will have my utmost support. But the decisions must not have anything to do with your friends, or their individual choices. It must be based solely on what you are willing to do, alone, perhaps for eternity.”
Marley came running into the dark room.
“Professor!” He was out of breath. “The McKenna boy, sir – he’s gone.”
“Search the castle, Marley. We cannot allow him to harm ro to communicate with anyone! I will escort Charlie to Ms. Welling, and will then join you.” Marley nodded and hurried to secure the castle, leaving Charlie and the Headmaster to walk back in silence.
Chapter Sixteen
United We Stand
It was a rough night for Charlie, but at last the sunlight poured through his bedroom window. It did not, however find him any closer to resolving his dilemma. Professor Grayson’s last words kept resonating in his head. The choices we make define us. For his entire life he believed he was defined by his abilities, his ability to do well in school, his ability to kick a soccer ball. And now he had a choice to make, he would decide not only the course of the rest of his life, but the person he would grow into. There was a knock at his door and Ms. Welling entered, carrying a tray of freshly baked croissants, a fruit cup, a cheese omelet, an apple Danish and a large pot of tea.
Charlie sat up in his bed. “Ms. Welling, you didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me.”
“Nonsense, boy. It was no trouble. Now eat up. From what I hear you have a lot to do today seeing as you are the main attraction.” Charlie nodded and accepted the tray. “I’ve set out new robes, your last pair. Where on earth did you find so much mud and slime?” she scolded, with the faintest trace of a smile and left.
Charlie jumped out of bed, grabbing the croissant and his new robes. His stomach began to churn. He hated going up in front of a crowd. He poured himself a cup of tea to settle his stomach, and another knock came at his door. This time Professor Grayson entered the room, smiling paternally at him from behind gold-rimmed glasses. “I see you have not yet eaten your apple Danish. Do you mind if I…?” and hesitated with his hand right above it.
“Go right ahead, Professor. Would you like a cup of tea also?” Charlie asked politely.
“Yes, please.” Grayson wiped his mouth with a napkin from the tray. “Yes that would just hit the spot. Is it lemon? I thought I smelled lemon when I came in the room.”
“Yes, sir,” Charlie said, handing the professor a second cup that had been judiciously placed on the tray by Ms. Welling. The steam clouded up the old man’s glasses. “So Charlie, how do you feel this morning? Are you ready to face the world, your friends, and more importantly, yourself?”
“Truth be told, Professor, I wish that I didn’t have to go through with all of this. I hate crowds.”
“Would it affect your choice if I made it a private ceremony?”
“Not really, sir. I think I’ve already made up my mind. I need to finish what my father started. Merlin hid these crystals, and he thought he was doing what was right. Maybe at the time he was. But the difference between us and the Vanari is that the Order has left those crystals alone all these years. We know how dangerous they are. The Vanari want to use them for their own power and greed. I cannot let my great–great-grandfather’s oversights bring down the Order. The crystals must be destroyed.”
“Ah, well, they are indeed a temptation for both sides,” Grayson agreed. “There are now, as there always have been, people in the Order who would use our Jumpers to gain access to the crystals. These people were for a time at least partially successful, with your grandfather.”
“Wasn’t he forced to retrieve a crystal by the Vanari?”
“No, the Order sent him on that mission. Vali intercepted your grandfather and gained control of the crystal. Vali has many Seers constantly watching the Order.
It would not have been hard for him to capture a Jumper.
“I had no idea that the Order could be so stupid!”
“Not stupid, greedy with a great lack of foresight, but never stupid. Never underestimate the Vanari, or Vali.
Never! Not only is it the height of hubris to declare your intelligence to be greater than another, but in this case you would be wrong. Freyr Vali, or Robert Lester as I knew him, was the top student in his class, and perhaps the brightest boy I have ever taught. I would also caution you, not to call him evil. Although his actions are horrible, do not confuse misguided thoughts with malicious intent. Vali truly does believe that what he is doing is right and just. He dreams of a day when the Gods of Asgard fall, and we dream of a world without the Gods of Vanaheim. Neither is more ‘evil’ than the other.” The Headmaster looked down at the tray on the bed. “Well, it would seem that we’ve exhausted your supply of food and drink. I believe that it is time to face the music.” Grayson smiled down at Charlie, whose foot was tapping the floor nervously. “All will be fine. Let’s talk as we walk to the coliseum, shall we?”
The two began their long walk. “This reminds me of your trials. They seem like only yesterday, yet you have come so far. Have I told you how proud I am of what you have accomplished?”
“Yes, sir. But thank you again, sir.” Charlie was more nervous now than he had been before his trials, perhaps because before his trials he had no idea what he was getting into. He had been excited more than anything. Now he knew exactly what he was facing, an enemy who wished to use him for his abilities, and his allies that would not hesitate to do the same. Before his time at Thornfield, Charlie had always seen his world in terms of black and white, good and evil. Now the lines between good and evil seemed to be blurred. He sighed.
“Professor, how can I tell when someone is well…” Charlie searched for the right word. “Well, evil sir?”
“Interesting and very wise question, Charlie.” The professor rubbed his stubble. “Perhaps if I rephrased your question you could answer it for yourself. How can you tell when a person is doing what they believe to be right, as I believe th
e case to be with Vali?”
“I’m not certain, sir. Is there any way to tell what a person believes to be right?
“Not that I am yet aware of, and I am very old. But if a person is doing what they believe to be right, then are they committing evil? Samuel never appeared to be an evil person, yet he made some very unfortunate choices. I knew the lad for many years. He could be cruel to the other students at times, as every adolescent can, but I would never have imagined that he would be involved with the Vanari. Incidentally, we did not find him in the castle. Somehow he found a way out of the school, despite all of my security measures – a troubling problem that must be addressed as soon as we are done here. But, what are your thoughts on good and evil now?”
“If what a person is doing is inherently evil, then I think I can tell sir. If they are stealing or murdering someone, for instance, how can it be anything but evil?”
“So you believe that it is evil to steal bread to feed your starving family? I believe that the greater evil would be to let a poor family starve.”
“Okay, so there are exceptions, but you must agree that murder is evil.”
“I agree with the premise, Charlie. But if you were put into a situation where a man held a gun positioned at your mother, or Bailey, or Mick, or Tillie, would you hesitate to kill him first? Is something really evil just because our current society labels it that way?”
Charlie was now even more confused about his original question and sighed in resignation as they approached the entrance to the coliseum.
A short man bustled in front of Charlie and took him from Grayson, pulling him towards the doorway. “Come now, Master Burrows, everyone is waiting for you to claim your prize. The others have already met with the Oracle, to much applause.” The Headmaster smiled and waved as Charlie was dragged into the coliseum.