Merlin and the Land of Mists Book Three: Galahad

by P. J. Cormack

  The thin lips parted and a deep, sonorous voice could be heard that sent a chill down the spines of all those who were unfortunate enough to see and hear the approach of the Lord of Chaos. The huge mouth spoke only eight words but they were such that would bring great terror to the inhabitants of all of Britannia and to Avalon and Camelot in particular.

  “I am risen. Beware of me all mortals.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  AVALON

  MANTA GORE

  The water at Manta Gore was as cold as ever as it ran sparkling and chattering over the many small waterfalls and rocky eddies. The source of the river was high up in the Great Mountains that ringed Avalon and Camelot and the water ran pure and clear down into the hills and valleys that surrounded Camelot Castle. Manta Gore was a place that Merlin loved beyond all others in Avalon. It was a haven that had drawn the boy enchanter to it from the earliest years of his childhood and it was to here that he came when he needed to think and this was most definitely one of the times that he needed to think to try to understand just what was happening in Avalon and Camelot.

  Merlin was confused by the boy warrior. He knew that his elder-self had sent Galahad back in Time but he didn’t understand why it had been necessary to wipe so much from the boy’s memory or to put up some kind of enchanted shield that stopped any enchantment from learning more about the fair haired boy.

  That Galahad was an outstanding warrior was evident from the way that the boy had learnt so quickly from his fights with the Silver Warrior and Achilles. As Galahad bathed in the deepest part of Manta Gore Merlin had noticed that although the boy was only a year or so older than he was the boy warrior was covered in scars and wealds and while some were obviously quite old there were others that were more recent. Was it possible that this twelve or at the most thirteen year old boy had actually fought in pitched battles for Camelot? If not then these were scars earned on the training field and the boy must have had some very hard instructors Merlin thought to himself.

  One thing Merlin had learnt about Galahad from the boy’s encounters with Achilles was that Galahad had courage and he had it in spades – he was also, the boy enchanter knew, stubborn and the boy had that in plentiful supply too.

  “You will never defeat Achilles,” Merlin had to almost shout to Galahad over the noise of the waterfalls.

  “We’ll see,” Galahad replied pushing the wet hair out of his eyes, “Was he ever defeated?”

  “Not in battle,” Merlin answered, “But he was slain.”

  “Was he?” Galahad’s surprise was evident in his voice, “How?”

  “He was shot in the heel with a poisoned arrow.”

  Galahad’s face clouded over, “That was dishonourable,” the boy said, “Achilles deserved better.”

  “Yes it was,” Merlin agreed, “But his treatment of Hector’s dead body was also shameful.”

  “Merlin,” it was Queen Alona’s voice that broke in. The boy enchanter had been aware of her approach but had deliberately ignored her.

  “Queen Alona,” he said now acknowledging the queen’s presence, he like all of Camelot was fond of the queen but he could see what no one else could see that there was a black shadow that followed Camelot’s queen.

  “Did you know that I was here?” The queen asked with a smile.

  “How could I not?”

  “And this must be Galahad,” Queen Alona said turning her attention to the boy warrior, “Please introduce us, Merlin.”

  “Galahad,” the boy enchanter said almost grudgingly, “This is Queen Alona, the wife of King Uther Pendragon.”

  Galahad gave a most formal boy, “My queen,” the boy said graciously pushing his fair hair out of his eyes where it had fallen during his ‘formal’ bow.

  “Galahad, Merlin,” the queen said looking very much like a young girl who has a secret to keep, “I have a favour to ask of you.”

  Merlin didn’t answer but gave the queen one of his cold, intense stares for the boy was absolutely certain what was coming next.

  “Uther is getting very annoyed that you don’t come to Court when he requests it,” Queen Alona said.

  “He doesn’t request me to come to Court,” Merlin told her bleakly, “He orders me.”

  “He can be very blunt,” the queen agreed, “But he is my husband and he is a good king.”

  “If you say so,” Merlin was very much of another opinion.

  “Raven Boy!” Galahad was outraged by what he saw as downright rudeness to a very gracious lady who also happened to be Camelot’s queen.

  Merlin deliberately ignored Galahad, “Would the king answer an order from my father?” He asked bleakly.

  “He probably would but not willingly,” Queen Alona knew that this certainly was the truth. King Uther Pendragon, like so many of Camelot’s inhabitants, was drifting away from the worship of the Elder god.

  “Exactly,” Merlin told her.

  Galahad stared at the boy enchanter, he had known that Merlin could be brusque up to the point of rudeness. He had experienced that himself after his magical and almost unbelievable appearance at the Great Stones of Avalon. But this beautiful woman who also happened to be Queen of Camelot and Avalon had done absolutely nothing to upset the boy. This was a side of the Raven Boy that the boy warrior did not like at all.

  “Merlin,” the queen persevered, “Please, for my sake, come to Camelot and see Uther. There will only be trouble if you don’t.”

  “That sort of trouble really doesn’t bother me,”

  “Uther has threatened to send the Knights of Camelot to drag you to Court if you don’t come within three days,” the queen was well aware how the boy enchanter would react to the king’s ultimatum but she was desperate to make peace between the Raven Boy and her husband the king.

  “They wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on me, their hands would burn and shrivel” Merlin told her grimly and in that instant he was, once again, the very image of his father, Mithras Invictus, the greatest and cruellest of all the Elder gods.

  The queen looked truly shocked, not only at what Merlin had said but also at the way that he had said it.

  “You could do that?” She asked in a voice that was barely more than a whisper.

  “Without even trying,” the boy told her grimly.

  “Then please, Merlin, for my sake and for the sake of Avalon. Camelot will only suffer if you and Uther continue to defy one another.”

  “The Raven Boy will come to Camelot,” It was Galahad who spoke, “And I will accompany him,” he told Queen Alona with a cold stare at the boy enchanter.

  “Thank you, Galahad,” the queen gave the boy warrior one of her radiant smiles, “Will you do that for me, Merlin?” She asked turning back to the boy enchanter.

  “The Raven Boy will be there,” Galahad replied for Merlin stressing the word ‘will’ with great force. “I promise you,” Galahad said while being careful to ignore Merlin’s furious look.

  “Once again, Galahad, I thank you,” Queen Alona said, “And thank you too, Merlin,” she added, “I know this is not easy for you. Please try to bear with my husband, it is a heavy burden that he has to carry.”

  To the queen’s surprise the boy enchanter gave her one of his rare smiles, “I will try,” he told her, “I can’t promise you any more than that but I will keep Galahad’s word. We will both be there.”

  “Thank you, Merlin,” the queen said looking greatly relieved, “I know what you do for Avalon and how you mediate with your father for us and I am most grateful to you. Now I must go,” Once more Queen Alona laughed in a way that made her sound very much like a young mischievous girl. “Uther doesn’t know that I’ve come here. He won’t be best pleased if he can’t find me. Farewell Galahad, Merlin.” With that Camelot’s queen walked quickly away from Manta Gore.

  “Farewell, Queen Alona,” Galahad called after her.

  Merlin at least had the decency to wait for the queen to be out of earshot before he rounded on the fair haired boy.
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  “You will never make a promise for me again,” he shouted at Galahad, “If you do I will not honour it. Do you understand me?”

  Galahad was taken aback by the anger in the boy’s voice. He had expected that Merlin would not be best pleased but he had not been ready for the ferocity of the boy enchanter’s words.

  “Why are you so rude to Queen Alona?” Galahad could not understand Merlin’s anger, “She is very concerned about you. She worries for you.”

  “I don’t need her to,” was Merlin’s reply and he had a face like thunder.

  Now it was Galahad’s turn to lose his temper, “You can be totally obnoxious, do you know that, Raven Boy,” he shouted back at the boy enchanter.

  “Yes, actually I do,” Merlin told him bluntly, “And if I had the power I’d send you back to wherever it was that you came from,” he added for good measure.

  “Trust me,” Galahad replied grimly, “I would gladly go.”

  For a moment the two boys just stared at one another and then with a shake of his head Galahad climbed up onto the river bank and picked up his clothes. Still dripping wet the boy pulled them on and without another glance at the boy enchanter he walked away from Manta Gore.

  “Galahad.”

  The boy warrior paused but did not bother to turn back to face Merlin, he had had more than enough of the boy’s offensiveness for one day but Merlin’s next words stopped Galahad in his tracks.

  “I have seen Queen Alona’s death.”

  It was not even what Merlin said that had affected Galahad so much but the anguish with which Merlin had spoken the words. It had come like a cry from the boy enchanter’s very soul and it had been heart-breaking to hear. Galahad turned slowly around doubting what it was that Merlin had said but the anguish in the boy enchanter’s face was proof enough.

  “Is that true?” Galahad asked in a quiet voice.

  Merlin nodded before he spoke, “Yes, it is.”

  “When?”

  “I’m not sure,” Merlin told him and Galahad could still hear the deep sorrow in the boy’s voice, “But it’s not long in the future.”

  For a long moment Galahad could not trust himself to speak, “That’s truly terrible,” he finally managed to say in a quiet voice, “She’s such a gracious and kind lady.”

  “Yes, she is,” Merlin agreed and once more the words seemed to come from deep down in the boy enchanter’s soul.

  For a moment all Galahad could do was to look at the dark haired boy who was still standing in the waters of Manta Gore and it was sometime before he could trust himself to speak.

  “That is a terrible power that you have, Raven Boy,” and there was the look of true concern on the boy’s face. “Can you not alter the future?” He asked as a desperate hope. The thought of Camelot losing its beautiful and gracious queen was almost more than he could bear.

  “If I could, I would,” Merlin told him fiercely, “But even the Elder gods cannot do that.” Merlin looked miserably up at Galahad, “Not even my father can alter the future,” he said.

  “Will you tell the king?”

  Merlin shook his head and looked even more miserable if that was possible, “He wouldn’t believe me and he could even think that I or my father caused Queen Alona’s death. It could bring about the fall of Camelot, Galahad. Uther Pendragon will look for someone to blame and he will kill anyone he even remotely suspects of causing the death of his queen. The truth never matters much to King Uther Pendragon.”

  Galahad continued to look in horror at Merlin. He totally believed what he had been told and yet it was almost more than he could take in.

  “You don’t like the king very much, do you?” The boy warrior felt that he was stating the obvious but he needed to turn his mind away from the terrible prediction of Queen Alona’s death.

  Merlin too was grateful for the change of direction, “I don’t like King Uther Pendragon, at all,” he told the fair haired boy, “He will do much harm that he will need to answer for but he is needed for what will one day will come to Avalon.”

  Galahad didn’t understand anything of what Merlin had just said but recognised it as the voice of prophecy. He knew that this was most definitely not the time to question the Raven Boy further.

  “You will keep my promise to go to Camelot’s Court, won’t you?

  Merlin nodded his agreement, “Yes, Galahad,” the boy enchanter said, “I’ll do that for you but only this one time.”

  “Thank you for that, Raven Boy,” the boy warrior answered and there seemed little more for him to say and he walked away from Manta Gore leaving Merlin shivering in the water. It was not the coldness of the water that made the boy enchanter shudder so strongly.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THE SKIES BEYOND AVALON

  The storm clouds of the Lord of Chaos had passed beyond the boundaries of the Isle of Britannia, there had been much to contemplate for the Eternal Being. Many places had tempted him but none had reached his high expectations of what he wanted to take to himself. Now from the great height of his darkest thunder cloud the Lord of Chaos had seen a land that would suit very well his desire to bring Britannia into his Dark Realm. This land, although the Lord of Chaos did not know its name, was Avalon. This would do very well the dread Lord decided and the fact that it already had inhabitants was only a mild inconvenience as they were puny and could easily be extinguished.

  This would do very well the Lord of Chaos decided and the Black Clouds of Chaos swirled and dipped around their Lord. Once again the huge face of the Lord of Chaos was seen in the formation of these dark, forbidding clouds. Once more the Voice of the Lord of Chaos thundered out and this time it was aimed straight at the heart of Avalon.

  “Come to me my Warriors of Chaos,

  Come and take for me, thy Lord,

  That which I would make mine.

  Come to me.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  AVALON

  THE GREAT STONES

  It was many years since a griffin had stood among the Great Stones of Avalon, in fact no griffin had walked in Camelot or Avalon since before the Roman legions had arrived and that too had been Firewing for, like dragons, griffins live for many times the span of a human life. Griffins are most solitary creatures but they are of the Old Magic and are always ready to fight when called upon and they are mighty fighters indeed for they have the soul of a lion and a courage to match and their sharp talons that can rip a man to shreds in less time than it takes to tell it.

  But Firewing had not come to the Great Stones of Avalon to fight he had come to speak with his old friend Stormrider the golden coloured King of the Unicorns.

  “Greetings to you old friend,” it was Stormrider who spoke first.

  Firewing bowed his head to return the unicorn’s welcome.

  “What news of the griffins?” The golden unicorn continued.

  “We wait and we watch,” the griffin replied, “For these are unsure times.”

  Stormrider nodded his agreement, “Twice we have been assailed by the Dark Lord,” he agreed, “And twice the Raven Boy has defeated him. Know you anything of the Dark Lord’s whereabouts, Firewing?”

  “Like you, we have heard nothing,” the griffin replied, “He’s probably licking his wounds and wondering why a young boy has been able to best him.”

  “And best him twice,” Stormrider agreed.

  “The Dark Lord still doesn’t know that Merlin is god-born then?”

  “No,” the golden unicorn said, “And not just any god but Mithras Invictus himself.”

  “Who would be more than a match for a hundred of the Dark Lord,” Firewing spoke almost to himself.

  “The Bull Slayer has lost interest in Avalon,” Stormrider put in, “The Raven Boy says that his father spends very little time here and soon will leave Britannia forever. I fear that should that happen then Mithras Invictus will never return, that is his way of things.”

  “Avalon still needs Mithras Invictus,” Firewing continued,
“Even more so with that idiot, Uther Pendragon on the throne.” The griffin was obviously not a fan of Camelot’s king. “I hear that he has allowed Mithras’ altars to crumble away and so to leave Camelot all but defenceless.”

  “Not quite defenceless, the Raven Boy will always fight for Avalon,” Stormrider corrected his friend, “And he has Kraak and Draago, the last of the Dragon Kind, who will always stand by his side and unbelievable as it may sound the ghouls too have sworn to come to the Raven Boy’s aid should he have need of them.”

  “If they don’t fall apart at the first conflict,” Firewing put in bleakly, “Some of those ghouls are many hundreds of years old and they don’t age too well. They are very liable to the odd arm or leg just falling off and they don’t smell too good either.”

  Stormrider knew that to be true, he always made sure that he was always upwind of any ghoul and in particular Grim. Unicorns have a very keen sense of smell and that was not helpful when you were dealing with someone who didn’t appeared to have washed in the last couple of hundred years. Even so the unicorn felt that the ghouls would have a part to play when the final battle with the Dark Lord and his Dark Forces came and it was, after all, the ghouls who had reported Galahad’s unheralded arrival at the Great Stones.

  “There is another who has come to Camelot,” Stormrider wasn’t sure how much, if anything, Firewing knew of the boy warrior’s spectacular appearance.

  “We have heard something but very little,” the griffin agreed.

  “A boy from the Future or so it is rumoured,” Stormrider informed his friend, “A boy who apparently comes from a warrior lineage but who knew nothing more than his name and that he must find Merlin.”

  “To kill him?” Firewing suggested with a hard edge to his voice.