"So, tell us, what do we need to do?" asked Dan impatiently.
The Crocodile Queen sipped her water slowly, she knew how to ease them into the conversation gently, without overwhelming them, "It is possible to release Kaan unhurt from his stone shell, it requires the use of an ancient spell but, when dealing with evil forces, there’s always a catch. The spell is useless, ineffective, and powerless, unless the person summoning this spell is a white witch wearing a very special necklace. This is where I need your help, together we must find this necklace for it contains a powerful amulet."
"Find it," repeated Ally, "So you don't know where it is? or do you?"
The Crocodile Queen lifted her head, Ally’s greeted her full on stare, "I’ve obtained two avenues of pursuit, including the names of people that we'll have to visit. This will be complicated, but we must solve this mystery and find the location of the necklace if we’re going to save Kaan."
Dan leaned forward abruptly, "What's the story behind the necklace, what power does it possess?"
The Crocodile Queen finished the water in her glass she walked slowly and deliberately to the back of the room carefully placing her empty glass upon the wooden table. She took a deep breath and decided she would have to share everything, for they deserved to know. "You both deserve to know, but the more I tell you, the more I place you in danger.”
“More danger than the most powerful, evil witch that ever existed, wanting to kill us both? Seriously, I can’t believe you got me into this stuff,” Ally directed her killer stare at Dan this time.
“Enough, have you ever heard of Merlin?" inquired the Crocodile Queen, taking them off on a timely tangent.
They both nodded, Dan stuttered the obvious, "The wizard," he said, trying to sound knowledgeable.
"Well close, but not really, no. You see, there’s a large gap in the facts that surround Merlin portrayed in the books, movies, and entertainment that you consume today versus the real events of the time. You see, Merlin as you know him today, didn't really exist; it’s a story altered many times over the ages that now represents a great fictional character in your books. There was never a Merlin."
"How do you know?" asked Ally, her voice edged with a touch of sarcasm.
The Crocodile Queen smiled, walking closer to them both, "Because I know someone who was there, I've met a person who knew the real Merlin, the man they call Myrddin. To you he's a powerful wizard rooted in Arthurian legend and depicted in Welsh poetry. He’s the blending of two men who lived at that time around 1136 AD. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote a manuscript in 1136 AD called the Historian Regum Britanniae, he blended the characters and stories of two men, Myrddin Wyllt, and a Roman British soldier named Ambrosius Aurelianus into the fictional character of the wizard Merlin. This fictional character was immediately popular, he’s been augmented, inflated, and ascended into cult status through his magic, mystery, and legend. The fact is, he didn't exist. I'd like to tell you about the man who did exist, a proud and gifted Welshman, called Myrddin Wyllt or Merlin the Wild. He was the chief bard, storyteller, and poet, he lived in Carmarthen, located in South Wales. The history books, songs, and poems, all say he went quite mad, after the Battle of Arfderydd at Arthuret, in 573AD. Many unspeakable things happened that day, history talks about Riderch Hael, King of Alt Clut, who slaughtered the forces of Gwenddoleu. It is said, Myrddin simply lost his mind, he went mad after witnessing such carnage. Stories change over time, you will learn this, facts are often exaggerated, twisted, and manipulated, to represent a message that is popular at the time. Eventually the newer generations start to believe the stories to be true, and that is how history is written. Unfortunately, Merlin the magnificent wizard, never truly existed."
"I’ve read novels and watched movies about Merlin and his ring?" said Ally, her voice trailing off with disappointment.
"All fiction, I'm afraid, Myrddin wasn't a wizard, but he was exceptionally gifted. In Celtic times, Myrddin sang songs, wrote poetry, and gave sage advice to the Lords and landowners, they were powerful people. He became well known, but it was his special gifts that garnered attention from others, for he was blessed with the sight. The ability to see into the future and predict events unfolding. He could advise the fates of battles, strategic family alliances, and other matters of great importance. Myrddin predicted a victory for Gwenddoleu, at the Battle of Arfderydd, but he was inexplicably wrong, and watched on as many unfortunate men were put to the slaughter. Evil forces had invaded Wales that day, strange soldiers appeared, impervious to longbow arrows and the blow of a sharpened sword, they cut through the oppositions soldiers with ease. Elora played a hand in the victory; she’d helped to eradicate the last Dragons from Wales, removing the mystical beasts and a real obstacle to her invasion. She'd turned the head of the King and convinced him to fight with dark magic and trickery. Myrddin got it wrong, he fled to save his life, to the safety of the woods where he went insane, wild, supposedly from his guilt and isolation. At least, that's what history books would tell us, “She paused as if reflecting, rerunning the real stories surrounding this charming, handsome, man.
"Elora hated and despised Myrddin, she detested everything he stood for, he would use his gifts to heal, to help the common man, and to divert calamitous events, accidents, and casualties, that were about to occur.
When the Battle of Arfderydd started, Myrddin could not foresee Elora's evil influence,
with her deadly interference, the result and the course of history, would be changed forever.
Elora had managed to get inside Myrrdin’s head, deceiving him with false visions. Some of the villagers took pity upon him, remembering his good deeds, but he would continue to rant and rave about demons, nightmares, evil spirits, and gates to other worlds. To them, he’d clearly gone mad, still suffering from the abhorrent sights of the battle, and the isolation of the forest. Myrddin the Wild, he was known as, unfortunately he was labelled a mad man. We tried in vain to save him,” the Crocodile Queen fell silent and sad, she bent the truth to protect Atheria’s identity, “he thought we were evil spirits, and refused our help. It was so sad for such a fine man,” the Crocodile Queen fell into a prolonged silence, a fine acting performance.
Ally was impatient, she gladly broke the unbearable quietness, "And the necklace?"
The Crocodile Queen lifted her head to face the impertinent girl and shot her a stern look, it was an uncomfortable moment, "Yes, the necklace. Myrddin had commissioned a necklace, made by one of the finest jewelers in Wales. The necklace was expensive, paid for as a gift from a wealthy landowner, a gift donated to Myrddin for saving his son, another set of white lies to protect Atheria. In the center of the necklace was a precious red stone, a Kaledral stone from the Second Realm that once belonged to the most powerful white witch that ever lived. It is said to be framed by two black crescent shaped stones, claws from the last Welsh Dragon, a mystical, spiritual animal from the old world. The amulet is suspended from a golden chain; the gold was mined from a quarry deep in the heart of Wales. The necklace’s amulet contains memories, power, old world magic, spells, and ancient knowledge, all stored within its red stone; the Dragon claws provide a protective spell effective in warding off evil. Unfortunately, Myrddin removed the necklace one night, no one knows why, but Elora seized upon this opportunity, and drove him mad. The necklace has since changed through many hands, many times, in its illustrious history, but it gained an unfortunate reputation of attracting bad luck, ill fortune, and often death for its owner. Because of this, I suspect it is now unfortunately lost. I doubt it’s known as Merlin's necklace today, but it’s clear, we need to find it, the red stone remembers the old spells, including the stone spider spell, the Dragon claws will protect us from Elora and we'll be able to release Kaan."
“What about this ring?” inquired Dan.
“That was just an elaborate hoax to redirect attention away from the necklace, Merlin’s ring is like Merlin himself, a myth,” the Crocodile Queen shook her head.
Ally listened intently, she hung upon every word, "Lost, you said. The necklace, Merlin's necklace, is now lost, how are we going to find it?" Dan watched the Crocodile Queen closely; he waited for her to flinch, an indication of anger, disappointment, confusion - anything. Instead, she remained inexplicably calm, showing no emotion to Ally's probing question.
The Crocodile Queen refused to meet Ally's deliberately intense stare, she kept her chin tucked to her chest, and stared at a dark patch etched into the stone floor, "There were two people in your world who were obsessed with the legend that surrounded Merlin. The more they studied him, and the myth that surrounded him, the more interested they became. Both realized that Merlin did not exist in the form portrayed today, both linked Merlin to Myrddin the Wild, both researched Myrddin, accessing books, manuscripts, old poetry, letters and Welsh legends. At different times, they both came to the same conclusion that Myrddin owned a powerful artifact, a necklace, described in glorious detail, but never publicized through books, songs, plays, or movies. These two researchers never knew each other, for they lived in different times, different countries, and came from very different backgrounds, yet they were united by a common cause - finding Merlin's necklace. One was motivated by pure greed and ego, the other was a scholar, delighting in solving an intellectual challenge and finding an antiquity."
Dan shuffled in his seat impatiently, his movement caused a break in the Crocodile Queen's concentration where she stopped talking, and this annoyed Ally.
Dan filled in the silence, "Did they write down their research, can we access it?" Ally was surprised by Dan's sound logic, it wasn't a bad question.
"I have a better idea. We’re going to visit these individuals and gather as much information as we can. Think of it as hunting treasure, we need to find some clues, and if possible, start to draw our own treasure map. The necklace is lost, but that doesn't mean it no longer exists, we just have to solve the mystery."
"Who are these researchers?" inquired Ally, intrigued by the task at hand.
"The first one is a librarian, a curious bookwork and researcher, I've been told she was a mousy looking woman who died in the 1940's. She worked in the research area of the New York public library, and we're going to pay her a visit."
Ally crinkled her nose, a subtle give away that indicated she was puzzled, "How can we visit her, you just said that she died?"
"Indeed, in 1942 to be exact, I suggest we all go back in time, prior to 1942, and pay this charming lady a visit. I know she worked at the library right up until her last day. She sounds like a charming, well-educated woman, who was simply intrigued by a mystery. She became obsessed with the necklace and dug out clues to its whereabouts through her intensive research at the library. I suspect for her it was a hobby, perhaps a welcome distraction to entertain her unchallenged mind during the long dreary days spent in a quiet dusty library."
"And the other one," Dan prompted.
She paused thoughtfully, "Ah yes, the other one," the Crocodile Queen gripped her hands together, squeezing them tightly in front of her body, "this one’s a bit more challenging, he's a wily old business man based in Hong Kong. He’s studied the legend of Merlin, he’s identified the necklace, and the power of the amulet. His motivations are less pure, he’s driven by profit, power, greed and ego. He's a collector of fine and rare things, we’ll find him alive today, in your time-period in the Fifth Realm, but today he's frail, weak, and heading into his final years. He collects antiquities, although his methods range from shady to illegal, and everything in between. When he sets his mind upon acquiring something of value, something he desperately wants, he usually gets it. He takes great pride in showing off his collection to his cronies, but the one thing he’s desperate for is the addition of Merlin's necklace before he dies. He thinks the amulet could contain an ancient spell for immortality, and he might be right. Throughout his entire life he's been driven by greed and the accumulation of wealth, but his frail health, and his approaching death, are making his actions more desperate; our timing couldn’t be better. He did believe the necklace would bring him power and immortality, but he’s starting to wonder if the necklace has survived. He's still totally convinced of the necklace's existence, but he’s almost conceded that it does not exist today after diverting vast amounts of his fortune towards finding it; his efforts have been futile. He grows old, tired, weary, and cynical; getting him to talk about his findings will be nearly impossible. We have to try." She raised her head, deliberately and resolutely, meeting their expectant stares straight on, they needed to see the confidence, guile, and determination, still burning behind her resilient, passionate eyes.
There was a stunned silence as both Dan and Ally waited for each other to speak - neither did. Eventually, Ally broke the tense and awkward pause, "So, if I understand this right, we're going to accompany you to 1940's New York, and then visit modern day Hong Kong, to see if we can get two people to talk about what they've found from their research, and get them to tell us any clues that they may have uncovered, regarding the current whereabouts of Merlin's necklace. Then we must piece together the location and go and get it if we're to save Kaan." Ally glanced at Dan, wanting to see his expression at the ridiculous plan she'd just summarized. Dan was shocked into silence, even he knew this sounded weak, a long shot; he was disappointed in the Crocodile Queen, this was her master plan? Was she serious?
"Do you have a better idea?" the Crocodile Queen asked, with a small dash of irritation coursing through her cold words.
Dan remained silent, much to Ally's annoyance, Dan finally spoke, "Nope, we don't, we just hope this works, for Kaan's sake." Ally flashed Dan a desperate look, but what could she do, she didn't have a better plan.
"Wait here, I have to collect a couple of things and we’ll start our quest right away in New York City." The Crocodile Queen walked to the door, her guards opening the large wooden door allowing her to pass while motioning to keep Ally and Dan secured in the great hall.
"Are you going to trust her, this sounds pretty weird? We're going to travel back in time and chase some lost necklace to save a monk imprisoned in a stone casing in another world. Do you know how crazy this all sounds?" Ally was starting to freak out and her voice was beginning to rise.
"Calm down, it’s going to be okay, if you're going to be a white witch, you're going to have to get used to some pretty interesting things. Ally, I've seen trees come to life, animals talk to me, a resurrection of a dead knight from long ago, a great beast from the underworld, I've inherited hunting and fighting skills, I'm asking you to trust her, she's been around a lot longer than us, and she’s survived far worse threats. We have to trust her - don't we?"
"Yes, yes, you're right, but this doesn't make this any less weird." Ally paced the room waiting for the door to open and the Crocodile Queen to return, "Look how weird we're going to look in 1940's New York City, you, trying to blend in with your neon tri-colored Nike sneakers."
"You’ve still got a lot to learn Ally, stop trying to figure it all out, just go with the flow and improvise along the way, otherwise this will warp your mind," Dan stopped talking in mid-sentence when he heard the unmistakable sound of the large wooden door swinging open, the Crocodile Queen emerged, walking towards them in a hurry.
She stopped abruptly, "Come here now and hold my hand," she insisted, extending her small arms out in front of her body. The Crocodile Queen did not want to leave her realm unattended, but Atheria’s words around protecting Dan and Ally above everything else raced through her head, Dan reached for her left hand, while Ally held her right, a blinding swirl of golden light filled the entire room.
* * * * *
The Fifth Realm - Earth
Chapter 7: A Different Time.
New York, New York, U.S.A. 1942.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
The air seemed different; less pure, less clean, a combination of street food, diesel fuel, pollution, and an assortmen
t of other smells assaulted their nostrils. It was raining heavily, and they were huddled together near the New York Library. Ally seemed to recover faster this time, quickly regaining her senses to notice Dan wearing a dark, but dated looking overcoat, gray flannel trousers, and big, dense looking, black boots. She felt different also; she touched her dark colored coat, made from rough wool, decorated with large oversized brown buttons. Her hair felt different, it was shorter, cropped at the shoulders and starting to drip with the falling rain. The biggest surprise was the Crocodile Queen, no longer a little girl, she was a grown woman with striking features, high cheek bones, deep brown eyes, long black hair tied up in a bun. She’d discarded the gold colored shimmering silk dress for a long black overcoat that extended down to her ankles. Below the hem of the coat she could see a pair of sensible black shoes, the style that Ally often referred to as old woman’s shoes. Ally stared at the Crocodile Queen’s face, she looked so different, it was her eyes, and they were no longer the eyes of a beautiful oriental woman. Her eyes were rounded, with an eyelid crease, like a western woman. This subtle change had altered her appearance completely, helping her blend in, but the Crocodile Queen was barely recognizable.
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