Merlin's Travels (An Untimely Error Book 2)

by Tom Larcombe

  {Are we at war with this man? Did he greet us at gunpoint? Did he have a say in Germany attacking the rest of the world? I don't think so, but I do see an opportunity to make another person happier, reward his endeavors, and possibly keep his business afloat.}

  {I may have married you, but I still don't understand the way you think. When you put it that way, I understand, but I would never have thought of it myself.}

  {Look at his clothes when he comes back Nimue. I would guess that he's married and that he has an infant or toddler at home. The stains on his shirt are barely noticeable, but they're located where they would be if he were burping a baby and it spit up on him. Perhaps it isn't his, perhaps the child belongs to someone else. But would most men consent to burping a baby that wasn't their responsibility?}

  {Alright, enough already. Next you'll tell me a sob story about his crippled wife and justify that somehow.} Nimue sent.

  {Sorry, but you asked. You're my wife, so I felt a full explanation was in order. I'll stop now despite having several other observations to make.}

  The proprietor returned and took their order. Nimue surreptitiously looked at the back of the man's shirt, rolled her eyes at Merlin, and then placed an order that was nearly twice what she would ordinarily eat.

  The rest of the party took their lead from Nimue's order and the proprietor was smiling as he went back to prepare their food.

  “Even if we don't finish all of it, I imagine it won't go to waste,” Merlin said. “I'm pretty sure the man has a family at home and, if I were him and money was tight, I'd bring the leftovers home for them.”

  “You're a good man Merlin,” Verruckt said. “You understand that the populace is not responsible for the war and that they must suffer through it as well. There are, of course, exceptions where the citizens strongly support the war effort, but I believe that most of the Germans away from the large towns fall into the first category.”

  “I can tell you that the ones I know feel that way,” Anselm added. “I came from a small village and we had as little to do with the war as possible until they came and took the young men away to serve. I avoided the first conscription efforts but was brought in later by Gunter here.”

  Verruckt's eyes lit up.

  “There's a story there, will you tell it to me?”

  “Perhaps tonight. This is no place for such a conversation and I don't want to try to talk while we're hiking later on,” Anselm replied.

  The proprietor brought out each dish as it was ready. Since he was waiter, cook, and host it ended up being a leisurely meal and by the time they were done eating it was only an hour or two until dusk. Merlin paid the proprietor and they ventured outside.

  “We should start out immediately. If we do we can crest that first hill before dark and camp on the other side where we won't be seen,” Nimue said.

  “Lead on then. You're the one with knowledge of the area,” Merlin replied.

  Nimue stepped off, muttering under her breath.

  “I was here once, more than a thousand years ago, and he claims I have knowledge of the area.”

  She shook her head.

  “The worse part about it is, he's right. I recognize the general terrain.”

  Nimue lapsed into silence as she led the party to a trail northwest of the town. She examined the trail and nodded.

  “This was a game trail when I was here before, but it seems to be a hiking trail now. If it stays true to its original path, it should take us most of the way to the cliff,” Nimue said. “We should find some acceptable campsites just the other side of this hill if things haven't changed too much.”

  They made good time on the trail, cresting the first hill just before dusk. Nimue paused to gaze down into the valley on the other side and Merlin hastened his final steps to the crest when she broke into a volley of invective.

  Nestled again the hillside on the far side of the valley was an encampment. As Merlin examined it he saw that there was a mine dug into the side of the hill. The encampment consisted of a series of buildings on one side and a fenced in enclosure on the other. The fenced in area contained several ramshackle shelters and around twenty people. He could tell right off that they were being used for slave labor. There were guards around the fence and another group of guards were leading ten more people back to the enclosure.

  As Vadoma crested the hill, she stopped abruptly.

  “We're here,” she said to Besnik.

  “Is this the mountainous region you saw in your vision?” Merlin asked.

  She nodded.

  “I know how we'll be of use to you now also. Besnik and I will free these prisoners and work on getting them out of Germany. We'll be pursued and, as a result, there will be fewer soldiers to search for your group.”

  Anselm looked at Vadoma.

  “That's suicide! How will you smuggle this many people out of the heart of the Harz mountains and out of Germany?”

  “I don't know how, but I've seen us doing it,” she replied.

  Anselm wasn't paying close attention to her words, but Merlin was. He looked from Vadoma to Anselm.

  “Merlin, we have to help her,” Anselm said.

  “No Anselm,” Merlin replied, “I believe that you will need to help her. My mission is important, but it seems that you may have found one of your own as well.”

  “Me? How can I help?”

  “You're a skilled wizard. I'm sure those skills will come in handy. Also, you have Rein. If you only travel at night he can scout for patrols and find you hiding spots for the daytime. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I think that you have skills that will allow it to be done.”

  Anselm looked at Vadoma. She stared steadily back at him. Merlin admired the fact that there was no pleading in her eyes. Her face let Anselm know that he would be welcome to assist her but that she wouldn't ask him to do so.

  He glanced back at Merlin.

  “Are you sure you won't need me?”

  “Anguis can do the same scouting that Rein can. We have Verruckt, who we didn't expect to come along with us, so our numbers are the same and the number of wizards is the same. If you feel the need to assist Besnik and Vadoma, I'll detach you for that duty. Didn't John say one of the things they used wizards for was to smuggle people out of Germany?”

  “He did say something along those lines, didn't he?” Anselm said, “Yes, I want to assist her. I don't feel that I'm very helpful for your mission but for this, I think I can help a lot.”

  “Consider yourself detached to escort Vadoma, Besnik, and any of these people we can free back to Allied territory. Report back to the base as you can. Report to me if I'm there or John if I'm not.”

  “Yes sir, Merlin.”

  Anselm saluted Merlin, something the wizards normally ignored among themselves.

  “Don't get overeager Anselm. We need to free them first,” Merlin said.

  * * *

  They made a cold camp with no lights and no fire. Once it was fully dark Merlin gathered everyone in.

  “Alright, here's what we're going to do. Anselm, you can send Rein up to start scouting now. If you can ride his sight, you'll give us a sketch of their camp.”

  Merlin turned to Anguis.

  Anguis, when you were eating that scrap metal before, did the sharp edges bother you at all?”

  “No, they kind of tickled going down but...”

  “Good. Are you still hungry?”

  The dragon nodded enthusiastically.

  Merlin continued assigning responsibilities to the group until Rein returned and Anselm sketched out the mining camp on the ground. Merlin used the sketch to give even more details to everyone.

  “Now, stick to that plan as best as you can but we all know that plans don't mean a thing in the midst of an action, so use your initiative if you need to. Don't stick to my plan if there's something we missed or you're in danger.”

  They took turns getting a little sleep. Merlin's plan was to start in the early hours of the morning when mo
st people's senses are dulled and they find it hard to keep their mind on their task. Verruckt arranged to be awake with Anselm and managed to wheedle at least part of his story out of him. When it was time for Anselm to sleep, he told Verruckt to get the rest of the story from Gunter.

  * * *

  Chapter 19

  Merlin couldn't see Anguis as the dragon approached the fence on the prisoner's enclosure. But he could see the two guards on that side of the encampment. He detached a portion of his awareness to take care of them. First one guard, then the other, slumped over as Merlin put them to sleep. He made sure that they'd stay that way until dawn. Then he gave Anguis the signal to begin.

  The group moved in towards the encampment as Anguis started. They couldn't see the dragon but they could see the wire slowly disappearing as Anguis ate his away across the top strand between two supports. Before they reached the wire, the second of the three strands began to disappear in the same fashion.

  Once they were up close, Anguis was visible as a dark patch against the ground. He turned and began to eat his way down the third strand of wire, leaving a path open to exit the enclosure. Nimue and Vadoma were the first ones in. Since the SS didn't recruit women, their presence should let the prisoners know that it wasn't the SS entering the enclosure.

  Merlin sent his awareness into the camp and, one after the other, he put the rest of the troops who were awake to sleep as he had with the guards. Besnik and Gunter were already relieving the first two guards of anything that might be of use to either group.

  Merlin was stunned for a moment when he saw Besnik pick up a guard's storm rifle. When Besnik picked it up, the large, muscular, slightly dull-witted man Merlin saw whenever he looked at Besnik changed. He checked for a round in the chamber, removed the magazine and checked it, replaced the magazine, and slung the assault rifle in an easily accessible position all in the space of a few seconds. Once his hands left the gun, he returned to looking like Merlin normally saw him.

  There's more to that man than meets the eye. Truly a different man with a weapon in his hands. Perhaps they have a better chance than I expected to get these people out of the country, Merlin thought.

  Anselm stood behind Merlin, watching the camp through Rein's eyes, ready to warn Merlin if things went sour.

  Anguis took to the air after he finished eating the last strand of barbed wire. He flew across the camp and landed near where the mined ore was stored before shipment to the smelter. He began to help himself to bite after bite from the ore piles.

  Verruckt was in the mine itself, rigging it to collapse. With any luck the camp would be devastated enough that it would written off once they were done here.

  Merlin heard hushed voices inside the enclosure and waved Besnik and Gunter in to assist Nimue and Vadoma if they needed it. Prisoners began to leave the enclosure, slowly. Merlin thought their hesitancy was from fear until he saw the first of them.

  His anger rose when he saw the condition of the people they were helping escape. They were beyond gaunt, fully emaciated from hard work and little food. Their clothes were in tatters and they had nothing but those rags to their names.

  “Anselm,” Merlin snapped.

  “Yes Merlin?”

  “Does everything look alright? No-one awake, no-one moving around?”

  “It's fine Merlin.”

  “No, it isn't. Look at these people. I want you to take Besnik and the two of you are to go raid the barracks, get every scrap of clothing you can find and come back and distribute it to the prisoners. Tear any insignia off as you find it, they don't need that kind of reminder right in front of them.”

  Anselm looked through his own eyes, saw the prisoners and their condition, and sprinted into the enclosure to get Besnik.

  “Gunter,” Merlin called softly.

  “Yes, Merlin?”

  “These people are going to need food. Would you go and get Verruckt, once he's finished. The two of you raid the kitchens, make up some sort of bags, and bring that food back for them?”

  “Yes Merlin, soon as I'm finished here. I'll just be a moment.”

  Merlin watched as Gunter leaned over one of the prisoners who was still collapsed on the ground. The prisoner shook his head in a negative fashion, then after Gunter spoke, he nodded as vigorously as he could. Gunter handed him something, spoke a few words, and came back to Merlin.

  “Where's the kitchen?”

  Merlin wanted to know what just occurred but time was tight so he gave Gunter the locations of the mine and the kitchen. Gunter trotted off into the night just as Nimue left the enclosure.

  “We can get most of them out but there are three who just aren't in any condition to travel. They don't have much time left, I'm surprised one of them is still alive at all with the way he's been treated.”

  “There's no way they'll be able to carry extra people, not in the shape they're in. I'm doing what I can about that, but those three will have to be left behind,” Merlin said.

  “I thought you'd say that, I want to offer them the choice of a merciful death but I...”

  Nimue shook her head.

  “It isn't in me to do that.”

  Merlin's mind raced, reviewing the scene with Gunter and the prisoner that he just saw.

  “I think that Gunter may have already arranged for a fighting death instead.”

  Nimue looked at him quizzically.

  “He just gave something to that prisoner who can't move. If I don't miss my guess, it's one of those grenades he's been carrying around. I think Gunter would find taking the enemy with him to be his preferred manner of death and that he offered the same to the prisoner.”

  Nimue sighed.

  “So be it. It's no worse than what I wanted to offer and the man who uses it may feel that he dies with more dignity by taking his tormentors with him. If those three are staying behind, then we've got everyone out who's going.”

  Merlin did a quick count, twenty-six people were shivering in the chill of the night.

  “Anselm and Besnik are getting them clothes, Gunter and Verruckt are getting them food. As soon as they all return we can go our separate ways.”

  Vadoma was standing beside them, having approached during the conversation. She held the storm rifle Gunter had removed from a sleeping guard, although she was more awkward with it than her cousin.

  “Good. I hadn't given any thought to either of those things. Those should make the escape easier,” she said.

  “Make sure you make good use of Anselm and Rein. They can go a long way towards keeping you safe and making the escape easier as well,” Merlin said.

  “I will. I'll try to keep him safe also.”

  “I think that he'll be trying to keep you safe. Perhaps Besnik will need to watch over both of you.”

  Vadoma choked off a snort of laughter.

  “Besnik would sooner Anselm and I were on different continents,” she said.

  “Perhaps, but he doesn't strike me as someone who would let that interfere with the job of keeping these people safe. If you and Anselm concentrate on only trying to keep each other safe then Besnik would be the only one left to watch over all these.”

  Merlin nodded at the freed prisoners.

  “So, keep your head about you and convince Anselm to do the same. At least until you're out of the country.”

  “I see what you mean. I'll do what I can about that.”

  “That's all I can ask,” Merlin said. “I'll trust you to get it right since you know what the stakes are.”

  With each look at the freed prisoners, Merlin felt his anger growing.

  I ought to do something constructive with that, he thought, except I'm not feeling constructive, so...

  As he waited for the clothes and food, Merlin channeled his anger into one of his crystals. He used the power generated by the same anger to lay a spell and trigger on it.

  Finally, the ex-prisoners were outfitted with clothing and several meals worth of food. It wouldn't get them to the border b
ut it was a good start. Merlin turned to Anselm.

  “Remember how I told you that negative emotions worked best for destructive spells?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “I found myself rather angered by the state of these people. I put it to a good, if not constructive, use. This is for you.”

  Merlin handed him the crystal full of his anger before continuing to speak.

  “You'll find that if you tap the crystal for energy, it will remove the shield I've set around it and start a countdown. You'll have about five seconds to get it well away from you. When the countdown ends the crystal will explode in a ball of intense flame. I don't know the exact range but make sure the crystal isn't within thirty feet of anyone you don't want to harm.”

  Anselm stared at the crystal in his hand.

  “Is it safe?”

  “So long as you don't tap it for energy it's fine. I suggest keeping it away from any other crystals you're carrying as an energy source.”

  “You're sure?”

  “It's safe until triggered, I'm sure. I don't know that it will help but if you run into a severe problem it may give you an edge.”

  “I'm scared Merlin. You've been with me for most of my time as a wizard. Who do I turn to if there's a problem?”

  “There's always Vadoma. She may not be powerful, but she does appear to be trained. If there's a problem you'll have to solve it, with or without her help. That's not being a wizard, that's just a part of living in this world.”

  Merlin paused for a moment, considering what to say before he continued.

  “You're skilled Anselm, don't limit your imagination. Most problems can be solved or worked around, many of them without magic. You can do this. Consider yourself a graduate from the Merlin school of wizardry. Ernst is another graduate and you saw what he's doing. You're on the same level as him, possibly more powerful since you've a greater range of skills to call on. You'll do fine.”

  Anselm took a deep breath and sighed.

  “Well, darkness is wasting and I think we want to be well away from here before dawn. I guess this is good-bye Merlin.”

  “It isn't good-bye. I'll see you back at the base after we both return.”