by Tom Larcombe
{Nimue said someone pretending to be you attacked her mentally. So I need you to prove who you are. What's the name of my old goat that I left in Wales?}
She didn't have a goat, he thought, she lives in the city. Wait...
{Would that be Grigor?}
{It is you! Nimue told me what happened when she was attacked. She said she recognized your energies and was starting to let you in when whoever it was sent an attack at the child. Her own shields were down but she'd built separate ones for the girl.}
{So that's why she was drawing off all my energy.} Merlin sent.
{She who?}
{Ave took me prisoner. It was brief to me but evidently in the real world several weeks passed while she held my awareness prisoner. It's a long story. If you have a chance to tell Nimue, let her know that the attack was not from me. It was done by someone draining me of my energy and using it to attack her.}
{I'll do that, although she's less communicative now than she was prior to the attack.}
{Once I'm fully recovered, if I get a chance, I'll send my awareness back and try to contact her. I'll let you know first so you can tell her I'm coming.}
{I don't know if that's a good idea Merlin. She's liable to lash out at you if you do that. She barely trusts those of us back here. Now that she's been fooled into thinking you were there once when you weren't, I wouldn't try it.}
{We'll see how things work out. Tell her what I said though. Now I need to conserve my energy to continue healing.}
Merlin muttered under his breath, cursing Ave and her plans. When Gunter arrived Merlin pulled him aside.
“We need to get moving again,” Merlin said.
“Are you ready for that?”
“I will be in another day or two. In the meanwhile, can you get us ready to be on our way again?”
“I can, I have all of our belongings ready. Do we need anything new?” Gunter asked.
“I need to know how many of my crystals are still charged. If I've too few we may need to try to get some more, otherwise we just need to replenish our rations.”
Merlin's face turned dreamy for a moment before he continued in a slightly harsher voice.
“Fresh meat,” he said. Then his nose crinkled and a slight sneer took his lips, “fish would do I suppose. Either of those would help also.”
Gunter stared at Merlin.
“That doesn't sound like you, are you sure you're alright?” Gunter asked.
“I know, it isn't my normal type of request but I try to listen to my body and it's craving those things desperately.”
“I'll see what I can do. I know I can get us restocked, but fresh meat or fish in a war zone? That's going to be difficult.”
“Just do what you can. I think I can do without it but I can't remember craving anything this badly, ever.”
Merlin sank back onto his cot when Gunter left the tent to see about getting them resupplied. His mind was trembling at the thought of tearing into fresh meat. Fish would do, but not nearly as well. He stayed trapped in his cravings until the itch on the back of his neck began to spread up towards his scalp. The one on his wrist had already claimed his forearm earlier in the day. He'd been using magic to prevent himself from scratching the areas after he caught himself tearing off strips of skin with his fingernails. The edge of the scale patches had quickly expanded to fill in the areas he'd torn the skin from.
When he slept that night Merlin dreamed of flying He was hunting prey like a raptor or an owl. He'd seen the process through the eyes of his own owl centuries earlier and the dream was very familiar, until he saw the prey he was after. The boar was much larger than any prey his owl would ever have dreamed of trying to take down.
* * *
The following day saw Merlin driven to distraction. The itching was spreading at a rapid pace and he was having difficulty keeping it under control. Around noon Gunter showed up carrying their gear. Merlin noticed something else as well.
Merlin's nose crinkled at an unfamiliar scent.
“Gunter, what is that I smell?” he asked.
“The best I could do,” Gunter answered, “and I had to trade some of the things you were given at the show to get it.
He pulled a small package out of a bag and handed it to Merlin. Inside the wrappings were two smallish fish. When Merlin smelled them directly, instinct took over.
Gunter stared in horror as Merlin devoured the two fish; heads, tails, guts, and all. Merlin looked confused when he caught Gunter's stare.
“What?” Merlin asked.
“Did you just eat those fish, heads and all?”
“I suppose I did, didn't I?” Merlin said.
He was unconcerned about it. For the moment the itching had stopped. As soon as he swallowed the first bite of raw fish the itching began to ease, by the time he was done with both of them the itching had ceased entirely. He sat back and relaxed for a moment.
“Thank you Gunter, you have no idea how much those fish helped.”
“I can see you're more at ease, but eating them whole?” Gunter asked.
“It seemed like the thing to do once I had them in hand. So I did. I'm sorry if it disturbed you,” Merlin said.
“Every time I think I'm used to being around you, something like that happens,” Gunter said.
He shook his head before continuing.
“Do you need more? I can see it helped make you more comfortable and I might be able to find some more.”
“It isn't urgent but I think I will eventually so keep looking please.”
“When do you want to leave?”
“Right now, but I think one more night here would be a better plan. I know I'm not quite full strength but I'm unsure why. I'm trying to figure that out still,” Merlin said.
Gunter nodded.
“Then should we plan on leaving in the morning?”
“Yes, we'll do that.”
When Gunter left the tent, Anguis leaned his head against Merlin.
{I think you should be eating something else.} Anguis sent.
{Oh really. What do you suggest?} Merlin replied.
{You were itching fiercely aren't you?}
{How did you know that? I haven't told anyone.}
{It's how I feel when I'm growing. Normally I eat a bunch of metal or ore and it takes care of it. You need it to form your scales.}
{Anguis, do you know something you aren't telling me?}
{I might know what's happening but I can't tell you. Praesagium made sure I'd be able to tell you something at the right time but I don't know exactly what it is or what will trigger it. It has to do with scale formation though, I made that association when he told me and since those were my own thoughts I can remember that.}
Damn Praesagium and his secrets! Merlin thought. I wonder if he's right, would it harm me to ingest some metal and see what happens? I know some metals are normally safe to ingest and with what's happening to me I wonder if that might be a good idea?
{Anguis, can you find me a small chunk of metal? Whatever type it is that eases your discomfort the most when you're itching.}
{It won't be a problem Merlin, there's so much scrap around here a dragon could gorge until they were full and still have weeks worth left over. I'll be right back.}
Anguis zipped out through the tent flap.
I don't know how a dragon his size can still be that fast and agile, Merlin thought.
Anguis returned minutes later with a chunk of metal the size of a baby's fist in his mouth. He dropped it in Merlin's lap and waited patiently.
{What's this from?} Merlin asked.
{A destroyed tank out there. It's a piece of the front.}
{How did you get it?}
Anguis drew a claw down the piece of metal, scoring a quarter inch deep gouge in it.
{My claws are sharper than it is hard. Now stop avoiding it. Eat the metal.}
Merlin stared at the chunk of tank armor.
I can't eat it like this, he thought, my teeth would shatte
r. I'll need to break it down.
Merlin placed the metal on his latest meal tray and concentrated. As he removed the cohesion holding the metal together as a single piece, it slowly crumbled into a pile of dust. He filled his cup from a canteen and sprinkled a healthy dose of the metal into it. Then he grimaced and drained the cup.
{That's odd, I expected to at least feel it in there when I swallowed.} he sent.
{If you're as desperate for that as I get sometimes, you could just swallow it dry and your body would find a way to get it down and keep it there.} Anguis replied.
Merlin repeated the process several times until all the metal dust was gone.
{So tired now. I hope you were right Anguis.} he sent.
{Sleep Merlin, your body needs to concentrate on the metals for now. It gets easier when you're used to it.}
By the time Anguis had finished sending his thoughts Merlin was fast asleep.
* * *
Merlin woke to the ringing sound of metal on metal. He looked down and saw Anguis tapping his claw against the patch of scales on Merlin's forearm. The ringing sound resulted from the impact. Anguis proceeded to take his claws, which had handily cut through the tank armor, and draw them across the patch of scales. A faint scratch showed but there was no gouging and as Merlin watched there was a tiny draw on his energy and the scratch faded away.
“Well that could be useful,” Merlin mused aloud.
{It's how I can be armor for you. You still get bruised up if you're struck by an impact weapon as opposed to a bladed one but it takes a lot to penetrate.} Anguis sent.
Merlin got out of bed, picked up his satchel, and went out into the sunshine.
I need to recharge myself as much as I can before we leave tomorrow morning. It looks like I've another few hours of sun today. I'll charge myself and my crystals as much as I can.
He rummaged through the satchel and found a single crystal that was still charged. There were another seven that were drained and the rest were missing.
I guess that after I was trapped no-one remembered to return the crystals. Hopefully I can recover a few more of them tomorrow morning if any of the wizards are still nearby, he thought.
He arranged himself and his crystals in the sun and simply existed for a while, recharging his energy while his mind rested. When the sun began to set he gathered up his minimally charged crystals and tucked them back into the satchel.
After dinner he separated his awareness and examined his tether.
It isn't what it once was but at least it's much stronger than the last time I Saw it. I think it's strong enough now though.
Merlin dropped himself into a trance and increased the amount of consciousness in his awareness. He sent it flying back towards Britain as quickly as he could to decrease the amount of time he'd spend out of his body.
The lightning tree was easy to home in on. It was like a beacon to his Sight. He approached it and saw that Nimue was covered by some sort of portable shelter. Scrapes in the dirt showed that it was frequently moved and he assumed they took it away when the sun was up and used it to protect her from the elements when it was dark.
Nigel was standing guard, when he saw Merlin coming, he raised a shield around himself and Nimue.
{Nigel.} Merlin sent.
{Merlin, is that you?}
{Yes Nigel, I've come to check on Nimue.}
{I wouldn't do that if I were you. Anytime something non-physical comes near her, she lashes out at it.} Nigel sent.
{Then how am I to let her know I'm alright and that it wasn't me that attacked her?}
{She knows intellectually but her emotions are controlling her actions right now. We manage to communicate with her a little and we told her that she was attacked by someone using your energy. So she's aware of it but I think that if you get too close, she'll lash out.}
{Can I at least look at her?}
{Stay back about five feet. I'll illuminate her for you.}
Nigel walked to the entrance of the shelter and drew out a sun crystal. In its light Merlin saw that Nimue was not in good shape. She'd lost weight and was still wearing the clothes she was in when he left. Her hair was lank and greasy. As he watched she shifted uneasily in her sleep.
Merlin started to move closer to her but Nigel held up a warning hand.
{Merlin, you're overdue on your leave. I understand why but I had to change our story. Now, you taking leave was the cover for a mission I sent you on. I didn't discuss it with John because I'd noticed his changed behavior and was worried that he was being influenced.}
{Nigel, no... You'll get in trouble over this, won't you?}
{That depends on how things work out. It's always more difficult to punish someone that hands you a strategic victory, so now my career, as well as your daughter's life, is in your hands.}
Merlin began edging closer to Nimue again. Nigel noticed the motion and shook his head but made no other move to stop him.
Merlin filtered his thoughts into the ring on Nimue's hand.
{Nimue?}
The return thoughts were laced with confusion and fear.
{Nimue, it's me, Merlin.}
At the sound of his name, Nimue calmed for a moment.
{I've come to visit you, I wanted to let you know that I wasn't the one to attack you. I'd never do that. Ave—}
Merlin's sending was interrupted when Nimue lashed out at the mention of Ave's name. His awareness was sent flying since he hadn't raised a shield. His tether began to unravel once more and he fled towards his body, fearing that the damage to his tether might leave him stranded.
He settled into his body and his head sagged from the terrible headache that blossomed in his skull.
I'll sleep soon, he thought, but first to let Nigel know I'm okay.
Merlin's sending was weaker than normal
{Nigel.} he sent.
{Merlin?}
{She didn't lash out at me, but at my mention of Ave's name. If she realizes what she did, tell her I'm alright. But now I need to sleep, she packs quite a wallop.}
{I'll tell her.} Nigel sent.
Merlin slumped down on his cot and was quickly asleep.
* * *
Chapter 10
When Merlin woke the next morning he was starving again. The original areas that itched no longer did, but now the new borders between the scales and his skin were itching. He sent Anguis to go get more of the metal, hoping that he didn't need to eat more raw meat as well.
Anguis returned quickly and Merlin managed to powder the metal and mix it in with his extensive breakfast. His hopes were partially fulfilled. The metal alone didn't remove the itching entirely but it did make it less severe.
Gunter arrived shortly after Merlin finished eating.
“Are you ready to go?” Gunter asked.
“I will be in just a moment,” Merlin replied. “First I need to see if any of the wizards are still in the area and have spare crystals. After that we can leave.”
Merlin mind-spoke to the wizards who had assisted in the assault on the strong points. Only two were still in the area, and of those two only Anthony had a fully charged crystal.
{Anthony, is there any chance I can get that charged crystal from you?} Merlin sent.
{What for? All the strong points are gone now.}
{That wasn't my purpose in coming here. Gunter and I need to continue on, through enemy territory, in order to complete my mission.}
{Then you can definitely have it. I don't envy your job in the slightest. Where are you?}
{I'm just discharging myself from the medics now.}
{Head north and look for me. I'm about five miles away from the location where we based ourselves to attack the strong points. Mind-speak me again if you have problems finding me. We'll meet and I'll give it to you.}
Merlin picked up his gear.
“We need to start out by heading north. Anthony has a crystal he'll give me but he's a few miles north of us.”
“Berlin is north and
east of where we are now so it isn't that much out of the way,” Gunter replied.
Merlin grunted in reply. He was too busy trying to reign in his emotions to answer properly. His anger was rising and he didn't know why. Accompanying it was a second emotion he wasn't familiar with; the lust for battle.
Never in my life have I looked forward to fighting, he thought. Why am I so eager for it now?
Anguis swarmed up onto Merlin, forming himself into armor. The dragon remembered his promise and the armor rode high on Merlin's neck as well as hanging down past his wrists.
The two men strode out of the tent, over the objections of an orderly who saw Merlin put his gear on and tried to prevent him from leaving. Merlin had to consciously resist the temptation to strike the man down. He kept his blood lust under control, barely, and they walked off to the north along trails whose dirt was hard-packed by the passage of heavy machines.
Two hours passed before Merlin thought they were in the correct area to meet Anthony. When they crested a hill and saw a river in the distance, Merlin stopped.
“Let me contact Anthony and arrange to meet him,” he said.
Gunter took the opportunity to sit down for a moment.
{Anthony, where are you?} Merlin sent.
{I'm at the Sieg river. My unit was sent farther north to assist with the cleanup of some resistance.}
Merlin sent the image of what he was seeing along with his next message.
{Is that the river I can see ahead of me?}
{That's it. Can you see the column of troops to the right of where you were focusing? I'm there. If you can make it to the river within an hour, I can meet you on this side of it.}
{We'll be there.}
Merlin pointed.
“Alright Gunter, see those troops over there? We need to catch up to where they'll cross the river within the next hour.”
“We'll need to quicken our pace then, can you manage that?”
“Yes, I'm hungry but I seem to be feeling energetic now that we're on the move again.”
“Good, follow me then.”
Gunter broke into a jog and Merlin followed. The path they took appeared to lead directly to the troops they wanted to meet. Because of the large number of men and machines that had just moved this way the path was clear so they made good time.