by LH Nicole
“Yes,” the wizard confirmed. “I purposely kept your father from that part of the ruin, hoping to keep the chamber hidden, but then you fell in.” Merlin ran a hand through his tidy locks, the first show of frustration she’d seen from him.
“I didn’t put it all together until now,” Aliana said, “but after we left Titania, I had a dream about your last battle with Mordrid. It was like I was there, and I felt that same dark power I’d felt in the chamber.”
“But what makes you think it was Mordrid? Why do you think he was at the party?” Owen interrupted.
“Because that chamber she fell into is the grid point connecting directly to Mordrid’s prison,” Merlin explained again. “That darkness she felt was him trying to break free. When we got there and I felt his power, I pushed him back with my own magic and resealed the gate.”
“I think it was more than that.” Aliana twisted her hands together under the table. “When I had that dream about the battle, Mordrid saw me. His eyes focused on me and he somehow…realized I was there.”
“And the party?” Galahad asked, his voice tight with leashed frustration.
“The guy who tried to dance with me touched me, and I felt that same power. His eyes were that same almost black color from the dream.” She closed her eyes, not wanting to remember.
“So he has escaped,” Arthur said to Merlin.
“Yes, but only recently.” Merlin’s jaw clenched tight. “I checked on the grid point not a day before Aliana awoke you.”
“It can’t be a coincidence,” Lancelot said, his eyes far off. “The day Aliana brings Arthur back, Mordrid escapes.”
“That worries me too,” Merlin said. “But he’ll be weak. It would explain why the black knights were so easily defeated in the woods. His power was drained after the last battle, and he’s been cut off from his sources of magic for many centuries.”
“You still need to tell us what happened to you after you left Avalon, Merlin,” Aliana sternly reminded him.
The Druid sighed. “After I left, I spent years searching for Morgana, but she was always one step ahead of me. I traveled most of Europe and through most of the other realms but I never found her, just traces of her magic.”
“Other realms?” Aliana, Wade, and Owen asked.
“There are seven realms of existence here on Earth: the mortal realm, Avalon, Isle of the Blessed, Olympus, Atlantis, Tir Na Nog, and the Underworld,” Dagg explained.
“Horse honkey!” The words slipped involuntarily from Aliana’s lips.
“Not at all, but a colorful choice of words,” Dagg said.
Merlin cleared his throat. “I have already told Arthur, but like Lancelot, I was banished from Titania’s realms—Avalon and the Isle of the Blessed. However, unlike Lancelot, I am unable to die. I’ve had to use my powers over the years to keep myself from aging, but it takes more and more power each time I restore my youth.”
“That’s rough, mate,” Owen said with a wince.
Aliana agreed with her cousin but felt unsatisfied with Merlin’s story, like it had been missing a detail—much like she’d felt about Lancelot’s. She glanced over at Arthur then Galahad. Both of them seemed satisfied with the explanations, so why did she still have doubts?
“So, how do we find Mordrid? Will he be able to find Morgana?” Percy spoke for the first time since waking.
“I imagine she’s already found him,” Merlin said softly. “Several times I found traces of her magic near Mordrid’s prison.”
“Then she is going to help him regain his powers.” Galahad shoved back from his seat, pacing behind Aliana’s chair. “We need to find both of them before they get too powerful.”
“Here’s another question,” Aliana said, looking away from her worried knight. “Mordrid’s goal is to gain dominion over all the realms, right? So how exactly does he plan to do this?”
Dagg sighed, his ageless voice strained. “Every fifteen hundred years the planets form two very unique alignments. In the first, all the outer planets align with Earth, pointing to a certain point on Earth’s magical grid. That grid point’s power will be increased a thousandfold, and anyone strong enough can harness the power. Then, twelve hours later, Mercury, Venus, and the moon will join in alignment with the sun, causing a complete solar eclipse. The gates to all seven realms will open wide until the planets pass out of alignment.”
Aliana took in the expressions of utter shock and fear on everyone’s faces.
“So when those gates open, Mordrid could send his armies through and conquer the other realms.” Arthur sat back in his chair.
“With the power gained from the first alignment, his magic would be too strong for any army to stand against. He’d be utterly invincible.” Merlin’s smooth voice was somber.
“An apocalypse,” Aliana breathed, her chest tight, her heart beating loudly in her ears. “When will these alignments happen?”
“On the first full moon after the spring equinox, just before Beltane,” Merlin said softly. “We have ten months.”
“How do we stop them?” Galahad gripped the back of Aliana’s chair, his shoulders squared like he was ready to fight right now.
“We train,” Arthur said, rising from his chair. “And we find Sir Leyon. Then, like the prophecy says, we find Excalibur and the Grail of Power.”
“And,” Merlin added, coming to stand next to the king, “Lord Daggerhorne and I will train Aliana to use her magic. She will need to have full control of her powers to help defeat Mordrid.”
“Now wait just a darn minute!” Wade jumped up. “What exactly are you expecting Lia to do? No way is she going to face a power crazy sorcerer!”
“Wade…” Aliana tried to calm her friend, but no one was listening to her.
“It’s her destiny to face him with King Arthur and all the Knights of the Round Table by her side to defend her,” Merlin shot back, his fists balled against the table as he stared down a livid Wade.
“Who are you to decide her destiny and say what she’s supposed to do?” Owen growled, standing shoulder to shoulder with Wade.
“Guys, stop!” Aliana said, trying to stand, but Galahad’s large hand on her shoulder held her in her seat.
“Enough!” Galahad shouted. “The prophecy doesn’t say what role Aliana will play in the final battle. I suggest we worry about it when we have a better idea of what is coming.”
Aliana looked up. His jaw was set and his amazing blue eyes were tight.
“Galahad is right,” Arthur said, drawing all gazes back to him. “For now we need to focus on training and on finding Sir Leyon. Aliana needs to be trained to defend herself with her magic.” Wade opened his mouth again but Arthur cut him off. “No matter what her role will be, it would be foolish and deadly for her to not be prepared.”
Wade and Owen regarded her then nodded.
“I can help Aliana with a summoning spell to bring Leyon to us,” Merlin said, back in know-it-all-Druid mode. “I would also like to restore your memories of your lives in Camelot. It would do all of us good for Owaine, Percival, and Gawain to have their original fighting skills in addition to whatever they know now.” The three knights glanced at each other, agreeing.
“Then I can see no better time to do it.” Merlin led them out to a sprawling patio that opened to a large garden bordered by forest. “Kneel,” he instructed, and Owen, Percy, and Wade complied. The wizard held his hands out and they started to glow. Unlike Titania’s magic, Merlin’s looked like bright rays of golden sunlight. Those rays cut toward Aliana’s friends, violently snapping their heads back.
She moved to stop Merlin, but Galahad grabbed her. “They’re all right,” he whispered into her ear, pulling her back.
The light faded after an intense, endless moment. All three guys fell forward, barely catching themselves. Wade sat up, rubbing his forehead with his palm like he was fighting a brain freeze. Owen scrubbed his hands over his face, taking deep breaths, while Percy shook his head as if trying to clear a f
og.
“Are you guys all right?” Aliana pulled away from Galahad.
“What a rush!” Wade said, his hazel eyes finding Arthur’s. He grinned brightly, stepping past her. “My king.”
Wade bowed to Arthur, and Percy and Owen followed suit. Arthur couldn’t have looked happier as he hugged each of them. “It is good to have all of you back again.” He laughed. “Just one more and the Round Table will be complete again.” Merlin, Lancelot, and Galahad all gathered around their friends.
Aliana hugged Dagg close while standing off to the side, wishing she didn’t feel like an outsider. She couldn’t help thinking that she was going to be left behind by her best friend and cousin now that they had their memories and their king. Now they were only going to see her as the damned key to their prophecy. She had just possibly lost two of the only people in the world who really cared for her.
“So what do you think, Lia?” Wade asked, reaching out for her to join them and drawing her close to his side. Just like that, her doubts vanished. She smiled, grateful that her self-pity moment seemed to have been just that—a moment. How could she have thought Wade would abandon her?
“I can honestly say I never thought anything like this would happen,” she said, laughing.
“I suggest we all get changed into appropriate attire for training,” Merlin said, his eyes drifting over Aliana’s pajama shorts, thin top, and bare feet. Several chuckles were met by her glare.
With a harrumph, Aliana marched back inside and up to her room. Door firmly shut, she vented to her Dragon. “Why did he have to be an ass about my clothes? Percy, Wade, and Lancelot didn’t even have on shirts for crying out loud.”
“You’re blushing, Aliana,” Dagg pointed out almost gleefully.
Pursing her lips, she rummaged through her bags, grabbing a pair of hot pink jeans and an old Harry Potter shirt. The front read “Believe In Magic, Muggles” with a picture of Harry’s wand. Aliana laughed.
Slipping on a pair of flip-flops, she found the knights gathered on the patio. They’d all changed into jeans. Merlin frowned at her shirt while Wade, Percy, Owen, and even Lancelot burst out laughing.
“I don’t understand,” Arthur said.
“We need to have a Harry Potter marathon soon.” She smiled wickedly. “I think you’d love it!”
Nodding, but still looking mildly confused, Arthur led his men out to the open space of the backyard. Aliana watched as the warriors spread out and attached sword belts around their waists.
“Where did Wade and Owen get swords?” she asked Merlin.
“I’ve collected many things for them over the centuries. I’ve even created identities for each of the knights, complete with bank accounts and properties in their false names.”
Aliana’s brows scrunched together, questioning him.
“I didn’t know how we would all come together,” Merlin said. “I decided that being prepared for any circumstance was the best thing for all of us.”
Merlin led her away from the guys and into a small, cream-colored room. The antique furniture was pushed against the walls, leaving an open space in the middle. The room would have been almost suffocating if not for the large bay window that showed the backyard, where she could see the guys practicing.
“We will train in here,” Merlin said. “But before we start testing your powers, I need to teach you how magic works.” They sat down on the soft, beige carpet.
Wanting to nettle the Druid and push aside some of her own anxiety, she asked, “Will I be learning potions and spells?” Merlin’s eye twitched, and she had to bite back her laughter as he started her lesson.
“The first thing you need to know is that magic does not work the same for everyone. Potions and spells are used only by those not born to magic.”
“So anyone can do magic?”
“Not exactly. A normal person would need to have a true spell and be connected to a point on the magic grid. If they have those things, then yes, they could do magic, but it would be weak, nothing compared to even a simple bit of magic that you or I can do.”
“So I was born to magic?” Aliana said.
“Yes. Your magical ability means that one of your parents had to have had magic in their blood.”
She looked away, trying to absorb this new bit of news about her birth parents. “What would happen if a normal person tried to get the power that Mordrid is after?”
“It would kill them,” he said matter-of-factly. “Even Mordrid will need a conduit, an object to contain the power.”
Aliana repressed a shudder, gazing outside again. Seeing the knights practicing with their swords made her feel safer. “So how does magic work for those born to it?” she asked, excited and terrified at the same time. Arthur, Camelot, and his men had been nothing like what she’d imagined all her life, so it was safe to assume magic would also be different.
“We draw power from within ourselves, and sometimes from the grid points and elements, if necessary.” Merlin opened his hands, and his eyes closed in concentration. A large, almost holographic map of the world appeared between them. Amazed, Aliana watched as different colored stars blazed to life across the slowly rotating globe. Some were brighter than others.
“What do you see?” Merlin asked.
“Hundreds of lights. Some of them are closer together than others.” She frowned, looking harder. “And there are thin, white lines that connect certain dots, dots of the same color.”
“Excellent! Those connected points are places that someone can use to enter into a certain realm. Each shade corresponds to one realm.”
“And the ones that aren’t connected?” she asked, trying to count but losing track after the first thirty.
“Places to draw power, and as you can see, there are hundreds all over the world.”
“And anyone born to magic can use them?”
“Only if they know how to find one,” Merlin added. “For those who are trained, it’s one of the first things they are taught.”
Aliana leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees. “How do you find a portal?”
“Portals have an energy signature unique to the realm it connects to. We can use our magic like a homing device to find the signature.”
Aliana’s eyes drifted over the holographic map.
“Once you’ve been exposed to the signatures of the different realms, you can learn how to separate and identify them.”
Aliana lifted her gaze to his face. “So what are the copper-colored ones near us here in London?”
“Those are gates to Avalon. Gates don’t necessarily need to be in the same area. After all, the other realms are large places, worlds unto themselves.”
“So you’re going to show me how to find these today?”
Merlin shook his head, letting the map fade away. “No, first you need to understand more about how magic functions, and I want to test how strong your powers are.”
“Well, teach away.”
Merlin and Dagg regarded one another, shaking their heads. “We shape the power inside of us to do our will,” Merlin said. “We can heal, move objects, control the elements, and so on. But because the magic comes from ourselves, we have to be careful. The stronger the magic, the greater the cost.”
“Like when I was so weak after awakening Arthur?”
“Exactly. But to do magic that strong with less of a cost, you can draw on other powers—such as the elements or a grid point. You just have to form a connection.”
Aliana nodded, letting the information soak in. Her eyes flicked out to the guys again. They had moved on to hand-to-hand combat.
“You said earlier that Titania cut you off from Avalon’s magic. What did you mean?” she asked, turning back to the Druid.
“Clever girl,” he said softly. “I’m known as one of the strongest Druids because I have the rare ability to tap into the magic…core, if you will, of an entire realm. My connection was especially strong with Avalon because my father was of there, and when my
mother gave birth, I was blessed with his connection to the realm. My powers were strong enough to rival even Queen Titania’s, but when I left Arthur’s guard, she cut me off entirely from the connection.” Bitterness colored his words.
“I’m sorry.”
Merlin shook off her sympathy with a tight smile. “I knew her punishment for leaving would be harsh. As I was saying, you need to feel the magic so you can shape it.”
Merlin and Dagg spent the next few hours explaining and demonstrating how to do simple magic. Aliana focused, but her eyes would stray to the guys every now and then. More specifically to Galahad. He and Lancelot were currently facing off against each other. Sweat rolled down their bare chests and shoulders, glistening in the early summer sun.
Aliana thought of how she’d felt after they’d left Arthur’s hollow. She hated feeling that powerless, that weak. Everyone said it was crazy powerful magic that she’d used to wake Arthur, so the exhaustion made sense, but she wondered how draining average magic would be. She feared being that weak again and worried that if she did something wrong with her magic, she could put the others in danger. The warriors training just beyond the window were sure to return to being the elite fighting brotherhood they’d been in the days of Camelot, and she’d be the twenty-first century magical neophyte following them around. She didn’t want that. She wanted them to see her as an equal, not just the key to destroying Mordrid and giving them their lives back. How is that going to work anyway? Will they just go back to the past or will Camelot be reborn somehow with Arthur on the throne?
The blinds fell with a loud snap.
“Pay attention, Aliana. What was the last thing I said?” Merlin glowered at her.
“Sorry.” She ducked her head, her face blazing with embarrassment, feeling like an eight-year-old girl getting scolded by the teacher.
“I think it’s time we took a break,” Dagg spoke up. “We can test her strength after we have some lunch.”