by James Riley
“Right, no hunting them!” he said quickly, eyeing the inside of the cottage. “In fact, you should watch over them for me. Can you do that? Can you be a good girl and protect them?”
She snorted, a little plume of fire rising from her nose. “Don’t speak down to me, Father. I’m almost three days old, after all. But I will protect them until you return.” She paused. “Though if you don’t return, then we shall see what we shall see.”
Fort snorted. “I will return, in just a few minutes. Okay?”
“Whatever you say, Father,” the dragon said, and settled in around Jia’s golem protectively. At least Fort hoped it was protectively.
He turned back to the door and slowly stepped through, closing it behind him.
“Merlin! Come out and face me!” he shouted in English again, holding Excalibur up.
“Forsythe?” Merlin said, appearing out of nowhere in a burst of black light. “Ah, you have the sword. Are we that far along already?”
Fort wasn’t sure what that meant but aimed Excalibur right at the old man. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you and I are going to have a talk. I think it’s time for the truth, don’t you, Timeless One?”
Merlin smiled. “Ah. That.”
- THIRTY-TWO -
YES, THAT,” FORT SAID, HIS flaming sword aimed straight at the old man. He knew it wouldn’t exactly be much of a threat to Merlin if the man was still in a different time, if this Merlin before him was just a hologram, but there was no way to know that now. Besides, it couldn’t hurt to show the Old One that the sword was letting Fort wield it, just in case Merlin decided to try a spell on him. “Now tell me why. Why you’ve lied, why you’re using humans for your sick little game, and what happens if you win. I want to know all of it.”
“You spoke to Cyrus, then,” Merlin said. “Good. I was beginning to wonder when he’d show back up. Funny how that boy can consistently knock things off schedule, yet still somehow manage to be late when I’m waiting on him.”
Fort narrowed his eyes. “Cyrus doesn’t matter. I want to know why you’re having us fight your younger self.”
“Cyrus doesn’t matter?” Merlin said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “If you say so. Still, did you know that none of this was supposed to happen yet, Forsythe? Rachel was meant to face the Timeless One as a fully grown adult, after magic had been back for over two decades. Remember, none of the other Artorigios were children. Why would I ever send an apprentice against someone so powerful?”
“I don’t know why you’re doing it to begin with!” Fort shouted. “Whatever game you’re playing here—”
“Is a game to save humanity, Forsythe,” Merlin said, sitting down in one of the chairs around the dining room table. “And is only a game so that there are rules to follow, rules for both sides.” He patted a chair next to him. “Have a seat, boy. I intend you no harm. You can put down that ridiculous sword before it sets the cottage on fire.”
“I’m good standing, actually,” Fort told him. “And this sword is protecting me, so nice try.”
Merlin sighed. “Forsythe, do you really think that sword could save you if I wanted to hurt you? I have access to all time. If I chose, I could keep you from ever being born. That’s the power of Time magic.” He patted the seat again. “But I am not my younger self. I only want to protect humanity, not see it punished, as he does.”
“So you admit you’re an Old One!” Fort shouted, feeling victorious at catching Merlin so easily.
“Of course I am,” Merlin said. “What do you think I told Rachel and Jia on the first day of training?”
“Right, the secret!” Fort said, gritting his teeth. “Jia wanted to tell me, but Rachel wouldn’t let her.”
Merlin raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. You think this is what I asked them not to share?” He slowly smiled. “But yes, I told them from the start. They had to know every strength, every weakness of their opponent. And one rather large weakness is that the Timeless One’s older self is their ally, if they were only able to accept me as such. It took them each a few days to come around, but eventually they did, though it took showing them my history.” He shrugged. “If I knew you’d handle it so calmly, perhaps I’d have shared this with you, as well.”
“Don’t get sarcastic with me, Merlin,” Fort said, glancing back at the door to where his friends were still frozen outside. “They should have told me, so I’d have known not to trust you. No wonder you had me reading a book of magical language without warning me. You probably wanted me to set myself on fire!”
“I’m afraid that was entirely on you,” Merlin said, leaning back. “And I imagine they didn’t tell you because they knew what you would think, especially as they themselves had thought the exact same thing when they found out. They also learned to trust me again, and took my word that you would find out when you were meant to.”
“I don’t believe it,” Fort said, shaking his head. “There’s no way they’d trust an Old One.”
“Then why come back for training?” Merlin asked. “Perhaps that bears considering. Still, I didn’t mean for you to find out just yet, but as I said, Cyrus has a talent for sending my plans off schedule.” He smiled. “And vice versa.”
“What plans?” Fort shouted, not liking any of this, but especially not that his friends did seem to have trusted Merlin. “What is this big game between you and your younger self?”
Merlin looked away for a moment, as if he were collecting his thoughts. “You and Emrys share one thing in common,” he said finally. “You both experienced losing your families when you were very young. Emrys will be born in the far future on a world from where his family has been exiled for millions of years, never knowing what it was like to have their companionship. All he wants in this universe is to bring them back, much like you felt with your father.”
“I’m nothing like an Old One!” Fort shouted. “His family—your family!—wants to wipe out humanity so they can rule over our world again. You’re monsters!”
Merlin looked slightly hurt. “I didn’t say it was exactly the same thing. But you may wish to look at things from his perspective in the future. It might help with what is to come.”
“And what’s that?” Fort said. “What’s your part of the plan here? Why are you even fighting against your younger self? Because I don’t buy that you’re really on our side just because you got older, like you flipped a switch and all of a sudden turned good.”
“Oh, definitely not,” Merlin said, folding his arms. “I’m easily as capable of horrible acts as he is. But as I aged, I had the good fortune to meet some humans, and it opened my mind to the… consequences of my actions. In fact, I became such good friends with one that I decided I couldn’t go through with my original plan, and instead helped humanity exile my own family in the past.”
Fort rolled his eyes. “And I’m just supposed to believe you did all this?”
Merlin gestured toward the door. “You can ask Jia and Rachel. I showed them everything I’ve done, so they could witness it for themselves. As your kind was learning magic from dragons, I worked with two of my more sympathetic siblings to send our family away. It caused a bit of a ruckus, you might say—a bit of a civil war in my family. But it led to a golden age here on Earth for your kind.”
Fort frowned, not understanding how this was possible. An Old One had become friends with humans and so worked against his own family? That didn’t track, not with what he’d seen of the monsters before. They’d tried to kill him several times, not to mention brainwashing Michael, Colonel Charles’s son, and attempting to take over the world with the Dracsi. None of that really spoke to them being particularly sympathetic.
“So now you’re playing a game with your younger self throughout time, trying to keep him from bringing your family back?” Fort said, furrowing his brow.
“Oh, yes, that, but it’s become even simpler at this point,” Merlin said. “After realizing I’d never let him bring our brothers and si
sters back, he’s decided I must be erased from existence completely. If I’m gone, then the Old Ones will never have been exiled, and his family will exist all the way to the ends of this world, even to his birth.”
Fort opened his mouth to respond, then realized he had no idea what to say to that. Instead, he focused on something Cyrus had mentioned. “I thought you couldn’t hurt each other, or the world would explode.”
“Indeed,” Merlin said with the hint of a smile. “He knows that if he tries to destroy me directly, I will defend myself, creating a paradox with unknown consequences. So instead of potentially wiping out all of existence, we agreed to a contest, one with rules that each must follow. I would only operate through chosen heroes, my Artorigios, with a sword created by the greatest smiths in Avalon.” He snorted. “Can’t tell you what I had to pay the queen of the faeries for that. Helped her save her entire race by de-aging them into children, and she still blames me for it.”
Fort frowned. That part was definitely true, since the queen had explained things pretty much the same way. But Fort still couldn’t bring himself to believe that Merlin was trying to help humanity. “If you’re an Old One, why did you decide to help send your family away? Especially if you didn’t have them when you were younger, like you said?”
“Because unlike my siblings, I can see all of time,” Merlin said, looking away. “When I was younger and saw them only from a distant time, I justified the horrible things they did because of their exile, and their right to self-preservation. But as I grew older and saw more of their history, I knew that there was a darkness in them from the start, born of rage, arrogance, and fear. They wanted all the power of magic to themselves, and would destroy any race that could possibly stand against them.”
That sounded more like the Old Ones Fort was used to. But he wasn’t here to figure out why the monsters did what they did, just to learn how to beat them. “Even if Jia and Rachel confirm all of this, it doesn’t matter,” Fort said. “Cyrus told me that the only way to win is not to play your game. Then neither you nor the Timeless One would gain an upper hand.”
A brief flash of anger passed over Merlin’s face. “Perhaps Cyrus wasn’t as honest with you as you believe. If an Artorigios does not appear to face the Timeless One at the proper time, then my younger self automatically wins. I will be wiped from existence, and the Old Ones’ exile will never have happened. In that event, the very best case for your species is that you return to an eternity of servitude, assuming my siblings don’t just destroy you altogether.”
The matter-of-fact way Merlin described the end of humanity made Fort’s blood run cold. “Cyrus wouldn’t lie to me,” he said quietly. “And considering you come from a family of horrible monsters, I’m going to believe him over you anyway.”
Merlin nodded, then spread his hands. “If so, there’s nothing I can say to convince you. And the rules bind me in what I am allowed to reveal as well. But I would suggest you take a look at your friend, and his plans. Where has Sierra gone? And why have you seen nothing of Damian since the attack on London?”
“You sent Sierra away!” Fort shouted, not wanting to even think about Damian. “You said she had something she needed to be doing!”
“She is as much a part of this as you are,” Merlin said. “Just not in the same way. She won’t need to face the Timeless One. Instead, she works on what is to come next.”
Fort growled in frustration, not liking any of this. Sierra? he shouted in his mind. Please, if you can hear me, say something. I need to know you’re okay, and what you’re doing! It’s important!
But again, there was no response.
“You won’t hear from her,” Merlin said. “You can’t. She and Damian aren’t presently in this time. They’ve been sent to the near future, where they’re retrieving the remaining books of magic.”
What? Sierra had been sent to the future? But how? Why? “It’s so convenient that these ‘rules’ keep you from telling me more,” Fort said, raising Excalibur again. “Maybe I should touch you with this sword if you keep refusing to tell me everything, how about that?”
“Then you would take my magic from me permanently, and I would still refuse,” Merlin said. “The rules are there to save all of reality, not for your annoyance, Forsythe.”
Fort stared at him for another minute, then lowered the sword, having no idea what to think about any of this. “So if we face your younger self and win, then what happens?” he asked quietly. “Wouldn’t you lose your magic too?”
“It would appear that way,” Merlin said, his eyes twinkling slightly. “But don’t worry about me—I’ll be just fine when all is said and done.”
“I wasn’t worried about you!” Fort said, even more confused now. “And Cyrus said you’d take over if we beat the Timeless One for you.”
Merlin smiled. “Unfortunately, if I told you what is to come, or how to beat the Timeless One, then I would again be forfeiting the game, and my younger self would win. But you know all you need to know, Forsythe. Consider what I’ve said now, and what I told you before: You cannot fight Emrys, the Timeless One. You don’t have that kind of power. Once you accept that, you’ll have learned all you need to know.”
And with that, he disappeared, leaving Fort alone in the cottage.
- THIRTY-THREE -
FORT WALKED THROUGH THE IMP’S door and back into the clearing, Excalibur still flaming in his hand, his mind reeling with everything he’d just heard. Was any of it even true? Why would Merlin have hidden his true identity from him if it was?
Okay, yes, finding out Merlin was an Old One was bound to make anyone suspicious of the old man—old monster, really. But he’d told Rachel and Jia. So why keep it from Fort?
“Are you well, Father?” Ember said, coming up to him with a slightly worried look in her eyes. “I did as I was told, and kept this sad human and disconcerting doll from harm.”
He couldn’t help but smile at that. “Thank you, Ember. You did great.”
A small burst of fire exploded from her nostrils, and she grinned, showing a row of razor-sharp teeth. “Of course I did,” she said, but still sounded proud of being praised. “Will you release them from their spell now with your weapon of undoing?”
Weapon of… oh. Fort almost slapped himself in the forehead, which would have been dangerous while he was holding a flaming sword. Of course he could have used Excalibur to unfreeze them from the beginning! It’d worked back in London, but in the panic to see if he could pick it up to begin with, he’d completely forgotten about that.
“Yes, um, I believe it’s time,” he said to Ember, trying to make it sound as if he’d always intended to wait. “But thank you for the reminder.”
She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, which made Fort feel uncomfortably like she saw right through him. “You are welcome, Father. Not that you asked for my help, of course.”
Just what he needed, his baby dragon turning into a sarcastic teen dragon.
Carefully he brought the flaming sword down close to Rachel first, making sure not to let the sharp side of the blade touch her. If he cut her by accident, she’d lose access to magic forever, so he moved as slowly as he could. As soon as the flat of the sword touched her, she immediately came to life.
“Fort!” Rachel shouted, staring at the sword. “What happened? How did you get Excalibur? What happened to Cyrus? Where’s…” She glanced down at the golem on the ground next to her and immediately panicked. “Jia! Is she okay?”
Fort pressed the sword to the doll, but nothing happened. Why hadn’t it freed her from the Time spell?
Or wait, did it undo too much and take away Jia’s original spell on the golem? If so, they’d have no way of communicating with Jia, and she could be in trouble, now that they’d stolen the sword!
“Hey,” shouted a voice from inside the open cottage door. “There you both are. Took me forever to get out of the bag I left this in!”
They both turned to find a duplicate golem standi
ng in the doorway, waving at them.
“Jia!” Rachel shouted, and ran to her, picking the golem up and hugging her close. “You’re okay!”
Whatever problem the two of them had had seemed to be less important at the moment, and Fort for one wasn’t going to jinx it by saying anything.
“Yup, still in the cafeteria,” she said, hugging Rachel back. “What happened? I lost access to all my golems at once, like they were completely shut off!”
“I’ll get to that,” Fort said. “They didn’t blame you for the sword being stolen, did they?”
The golem shook her head. “Agent Cole came by to interrogate me, but she didn’t seem to expect much. From what I can tell, they must not have been able to see through the disguises. I don’t think they know who it was. But she had Cyrus with her.” The golem paused. “I had no idea he was even here, but that explains a lot.”
“Yeah, we had a fun run-in with him,” Rachel said, still hugging the golem close.
But Cyrus being there for Jia’s interrogation sent Fort’s mind spinning again. Cyrus had clearly known who was underneath the disguises, but he hadn’t told Agent Cole. Why not, if he was on her side? And if he wasn’t, did that mean he really was there to try to keep Fort, Rachel, and Jia from facing the Timeless One?
“He’s the reason the sword showed up early,” Fort said. “And he knows it was us. But I guess he’s not going to turn us in, which is lucky.”
Jia sighed. “I’m not sure it’s luck, Fort. You still don’t know everything that’s going on right now—”
“I know that Merlin is the Timeless One,” Fort said, giving her and Rachel a long, guilt-inducing look, which wasn’t easy to do with a wooden puppet. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rachel and the golem traded glances. “You know I wanted to,” Jia said, looking away miserably. “I’ve… had too many problems with keeping secrets from the most important people in my life.” She looked up at Rachel. “I’m so sorry, Ray. I should have told you from the beginning that I’d made a bargain with the faerie queen. I just couldn’t let a world war break out if we failed, and if she could stop it somehow…”