by Tom Larcombe
“And to think, I was relieved that you were back,” Nigel said. “What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking that these attacks are more than you're prepared to deal with. You can brief me on them shortly Nigel. Merlin, carry that proposition to your people. You can come over piecemeal, as a whole, or not at all. But I do want them all to know of the offer. Please go and tell them?”
Merlin recognized a polite dismissal when he heard it. He turned and left the office. On his way out the door, he heard Nigel start to speak.
“It all started a couple of weeks back, there were reports of...”
* * *
“So, they're offering us positions in their army?” Nimue asked.
“Positions in their USO at least,” Merlin replied.
“Close enough, I say we take it.”
“I've been trying to think of a reason not to do so and I can't. So I agree with you. I think we need to broach the subject gently with Anselm and Ernst though. You and I are from a different age, the countries we were technically from don't really exist anymore. They, on the other hand, are from the country they'll need to fight against.”
“They don't have any problem with it so far,” Nimue said.
“They have no problem fighting these vile creatures, but if they're ordered to take action against other Germans?”
“It might be a problem. You can break it gently to them and see what they think.”
Anselm and Ernst asked if they could talk to John before giving an answer and Merlin saw no reason not to let them. Later that afternoon they were all in John's office.
“So you and Merlin are willing?” John asked Nimue.
“We are, although Merlin has one minor request,” she answered.
“We'll get to that in a moment. Anselm, Ernst, you're worried that we'll use you against the regular German army or the German population, is that all?”
The two men nodded.
“What if I told you that so far our organization has only been used directly against the SS, German wizards, and their magic? Our other duties, so far, are spying, logistics, smuggling Undesirables out of German controlled territory, and other such things. Would you be interested then?”
The two men spoke, nearly in unison.
“Yes.”
“I'll make sure you stay under my command and if you have a problem with any mission you're assigned, you can come speak to me about it. Will that work for you? We've a variety of wizards and other magical types, many of them have some type of geas that prevents them from doing one thing or another. So we're more flexible than any other military branch.”
“I'd love to join then sir,” Anselm said.
“Myself as well,” Ernst chimed in.
“Good, then your first order is to continue what you've planned for tonight. I understand that the arrangement preferred among yourselves was for Nimue to accompany Ernst, and Merlin to accompany Gunter. Anselm is with Merlin and Gunter to ensure two wizards in each group?”
“That's how we planned it,” Merlin said.
“Do it then, I'll have two trucks standing by a couple hours before dark. They'll take you to the two areas we feel are most likely to be attacked this evening. Now Merlin, you had another request?”
“Yes John, I understand that the officer positions you're assigning us mean little in the overall scheme of things, but I'd like you to recruit Gunter and assign him to me. He's lost doing nothing and was willing to learn the use of the flamethrower to be useful. I've since found out that flamethrower operators are ill thought of amongst both the Germans and the British. So his eagerness to learn it tells me that he was falling apart doing nothing.”
“I'll do you one better Merlin. I'll assign him to you and assign him duties I think he'll appreciate. From what I know of you, they'll certainly keep him busy,” John said.
“What you know of me? Why would my actions keep him busy?”
“Simple. He'll be assigned as your bodyguard. No offense, but there's a great deal we need to learn from you and we can only do that if you're still alive. I'd assign one to Nimue also but I think she'd do violence to me if I tried.”
John looked at Nimue, who glared back at him.
“See,” he said, “but I feel certain that you'll do your utmost to allow no harm to come to her. With Gunter as your bodyguard that will leave the two of you watching over her, whether she likes it or not.”
John nearly flinched as he finished the last statement. His glance darted to Nimue who, as opposed to fuming, was looking amused.
“You've got me,” she said. “Since I'd do the utmost in my power to protect Merlin, I can't complain that he'd do the same for me.”
John's face relaxed.
“Now that all that's settled, I also have something for Merlin and Nimue.”
He handed them each an envelope.
“This is an advance on royalties for your new defensive weapon design. The sun lights should do quite nicely to defend the average soldier against these things. That's in British money so you can spend it here. You'll be paid monthly from the USO as well; this is above and beyond that. Ernst, once your design is field tested, you'll get something as well if they decide to use it.”
“Thank you John,” Merlin said.
Nimue nodded her agreement.
“Alright, you all need to get ready for tonight. Merlin, I want a meeting with you tomorrow morning, or maybe early afternoon depending on when you get back. We'll discuss what's been happening and anything you might need, that type of thing.”
* * *
Gunter, Merlin, and Anselm sat in the truck waiting. They had a different driver than several nights past and this one seemed put out by the two German men in his truck. He didn't say anything but his attitude did a fine job of speaking for him. Finally Merlin, Gunter, and Anselm all moved to the back of the truck. They almost missed the flare going off, Gunter saw it out of a gap in the fabric on the back of the truck. The driver had fallen asleep and was abruptly wakened by Merlin.
“You fell asleep. We would've missed the signal if one of my men hadn't caught it.”
The driver spluttered. As he started the truck he muttered under his breath.
“Damn Germans.”
“If it weren't for that German, you'd have failed your duty entirely. Obviously he can do your job better than you can. Now get us to that signal or you'll have British deaths on your head.”
Merlin flung himself into the back of the truck as it pulled out. Despite the bumpy ride, he assisted Gunter in donning the flamethrower.
“I'll be right alongside you. If the flamethrower doesn't work I'll take care of the creatures. But we need to find a non-magical weapon that can destroy them.”
“I know Merlin, I'll be fine. I trust you,” Gunter said.
Anselm was communicating with Rein, letting him know what to look for. When the truck stopped, Rein launched from Anselm's arm and took to the sky, searching for the creatures.
The three men got out and moved to the top edge of the beach. They waited for only a minute before Anselm pointed.
“That way. Rein says the creatures are that way.”
They moved out.
“Anselm, stay well behind us and be prepared to pull out a sun crystal, just in case,” Merlin said.
“No fear of that. I'll stay far back and be clutching a crystal,” he replied.
Merlin and Gunter walked down the beach side by side.
“There they are,” Gunter said.
An onrushing tide of ugly purple humanoid shaped spirits came charging at them. Merlin stepped well to one side and watched.
As the figures grew closer, they all veered towards Merlin. They didn't avoid Gunter, they just seemed to have a preference for wizard. When Gunter saw what was occurring he triggered a burst of fuel from the flamethrower, saturating the sand several body lengths ahead of Merlin.
Just before the spirits entered the saturated section of sand, a bright light caught the corne
r of Merlin's eye as Gunter ignited the flamethrower. He guided the flame towards the saturated section just as the first of the spirits entered it. The flame roared up as the sand caught fire and the purple figure was diminished. Several of the spirits made it through the flames, although noticeably fainter than before they entered the burning area.
“Merlin, shield!” Gunter shouted.
Merlin threw up a set of shields: physical, mental, and magical. As the first of the spirits struck, he could feel it eating away at the magic that made up the shield. The feeling lasted for only a moment before a roaring jet of flame struck the spirit, and Merlin's shield. The fiery liquid clung to the shield, dripping liquid bits of flame to the sand beneath. The remaining spirits were devoured by the flames.
Merlin was blinded from the fire, but he could feel the heat against his face and arms. His cheeks burned and his arms instantly broke into a sweat. He thrust his shields out from his body, until they were at least an arm's length away and the heat lessened.
“Gunter, see if any are still around. I'm a little blind at the moment from the flames,” Merlin called.
“I don't see any more of them,” Gunter said.
{Rein says we're all clear Merlin} Anselm sent.
“Good, I think we're clear. I don't want to move until I can see though,” Merlin said.
He could feel the two men approaching him. Gunter didn't wait for Merlin's vision to clear.
“What were those things Merlin? I know they're like what you showed me from the crystal back in Germany, but what are they?” Gunter asked.
“They're the remnants of once living people. The SS is killing people and capturing their death magic. A portion of their personality is caught up with it. They torture the portions remaining, arm them with their own death magics, and set them loose here.”
“So, you're saying they're ghosts. I just used a flamethrower on ghosts?”
“They're a bit more than just ghosts. Ghosts can't injure someone except through fright. These can take a person over or even drain them to death.”
Gunter shook his head.
“Ghosts works for me. I don't want to try to get into the intricacies of magic. Dangerous ghosts, that's what I'll call them.”
Merlin blinked as his sight slowly returned to his watering eyes.
“You do that. If you hear us talk about death magic spirits, we're talking about the same thing though,” he said.
“It does look like fire will destroy them,” Gunter said. “Although we'll want to hit them farther out than I did. They need to be on fire, or in the fire, or whatever, for a second or two. I think a well-separated squad all armed with these flamethrowers could probably do it. No casualties if everyone does their job correctly.”
“It does seem that way,” Merlin said.
“That might free up some of the wizards to do something about whoever is sending these things. That's going to be the only way to get rid of them. I'm sure whoever is doing this now will just keep picking new groups to target so he always has more of these things to continue this attack.”
Merlin shuddered at the thought but feared that Gunter was correct.
* * *
It was close to dawn when they returned to the base. The sky was lightening but the sun not yet visible. The other truck was already there so Merlin's vague worries about Nimue eased. When they entered the barracks, Ernst was in a good mood.
“Merlin, it worked! I could have dispersed them from fifty feet up with the spotlight. I got closer though, it does it more quickly from twenty feet and I don't have to use as much power from the crystal. But it works well.”
“Congratulations Ernst, I'm glad that your idea proved to be a success,” Merlin said.
“I'm going to go talk to John in the morning. If you don't mind, I want to volunteer for this duty on a regular basis. I felt like I was actually doing something worthwhile this evening.”
“That's fine if it's what you want. I'll still assign some extra avenues of study for you to explore though. I think you're coming into your power as a wizard and I'd hate for you to miss out on something because you were focusing on just destroying these spirits. It's certainly something that needs to be done, but I think you'll find that if it's your sole focus, it will begin to wear on you quickly.”
“Thank you Merlin. Yes, of course I'd like to continue to learn. I'm glad you're willing to continue teaching me while I do this. It probably would wear me down if it were the only thing I was doing and I can study or experiment with lots of different things while I wait for the signals. Anything that needs more concentration I can do during the daylight.”
“Don't forget you'll need sleep also. If John assigns you to this, I'll try to rig some sort of chamber in here where it will be dark during the day. It's difficult to sleep when the sun is up if you aren't used to it,” Merlin said.
Ernst nodded his thanks and went to speak with Anselm. Merlin entered his room to find Nimue waiting.
“The enthusiasm of youth. Were we ever that young, Merlin?” she asked.
“I'm sure that we were but, for me at least, it was so long ago that the memories are mostly lost. Was he difficult to deal with?”
“Not at all on the way out. His overflowing font of cheerfulness on the way back was a bit much to bear but I managed. I didn't want to destroy his moment for him. He's always seemed somewhat sullen and withdrawn.”
“Probably because of his talent. He's smart enough to have realized that many of the people he considered friends simply wanted to be around him when his luck overflowed. It would make most people sullen if they needed to determine who was a true friend and who was there just for the benefits,” Merlin said.
“Well, I was nice. It's much easier to control my temper when I get to spend a large amount of my time with you.”
“I agree. Life is more pleasant and far easier to deal with when I know that I'll be able to spend time with you each day.”
Nimue leaned in to kiss him and her hand went to his cheek. When Merlin flinched, she took a closer look.
“What happened to your face? You're all pink, like you were burned.”
“The flamethrower works, but we waited a touch too long before hitting the creatures. Gunter burned some off of my shields and the heat came through. I'll be fine in a day or two.”
Nimue fussed over him for a few minutes. Once she'd convinced herself that he really was okay the two of them went to bed. The sound of Ernst's good cheer in the outer barracks penetrated the thin walls but was surprisingly easy to tolerate.
* * *
Chapter 4
“So, both tests worked out satisfactorily?” John asked.
“Yes, Ernst was positively beaming at his success. We were a touch closer to problems with the flamethrower, but it did work and I'm sure a squad of properly trained flamethrower operators would be able to handle the size groups we've been seeing,” Merlin replied.
“Good. We're distributing the flashlights as they're charged. That'll cut down on casualties. We'll get some more of the spotlight-sized ones made up as well. That was a good idea to position those in the pillboxes. We'll arrange for them to be in positions where they can soak up the sun during the day and be in the protection of the pillboxes for use at night.”
Merlin nodded.
“The only problem I see is keeping everything charged. There just isn't as much direct sun as I'm used to in this country,” he said.
“I thought you were going to use your lightning tree for that but I see you haven't set it up,” John said.
“My what?”
“Your lightning tree. The living staff I saw you with when you first arrived. Don't you know what it is?”
“No, I thought it was simply an energy storage device. One that charged itself from the sun the way a wizard can.”
John shook his head.
“It's much more than that. If you plant that and give it a few weeks, you'll have a tree that appears mature and that sheds sunlight in
its vicinity. In all honesty we thought the last one was destroyed near Stonehenge about thirty years back. A wizard planted the last one we knew about just before then but before he could start to take cuttings, he was murdered and the tree was cut down.”
“Cuttings?”
“Yes, a lightning tree can provide cuttings to make more lightning trees. There's a special procedure to do so. I don't know the exact details but once a year it can provide a cutting that will grow into a new lightning tree. The trees are habitually used to charge crystals or other storage devices, as well as the wizards who tend them. You'll also find some of the lesser magical species taking up residence nearby once it's established.”
“Can you find out the procedure to plant one? I didn't know what it was or I would've looked into that sooner.”
“The information should be around someplace. Don't feel bad about not knowing though. It is, or at least was, a secret. During your long sleep there was a group of wizards that called themselves Druids. They developed the lightning tree to get around the lesser amounts of sunlight in Britain.”
“It can assist in charging any of the sun crystal devices we need to create. So, the sooner we can get the information the better. I have another request to make of you as well.”
“What do you need?” John asked.
“I realize that we just signed on, but Nimue and I would like some time off. Now that you've returned we'd like to get married. We waited for you to get back since we both want you to attend the wedding. There's this area we want to go to in Wales for our honeymoon.”
“A specific area in Wales for your honeymoon? What exactly are you planning?”
“Remember I told you about the scale in the German vault? Found in Wales in 1928? I'm sure the dragon it came from is still alive. I've localized the area from the description, and Nimue and I intend to find it.”
“Such a romantic honeymoon. Does Nimue know about this plan?”
“She told me that finding one of the remaining dragons for our honeymoon sounded very nice to her.”
“She would,” John said. “Once we have these sun weapons operational I'm sure we can find a few weeks for you and Nimue. It should take less than a month, barring any unexpected problems. Meanwhile, I'll send out word that I need the information on lightning trees and we can get it planted.”