“That was my first thought also,” the golden unicorn said, “And in truth I think that was also the Raven Boy’s belief. But it seems that it is not the case, the boy truly seems to have been sent from the Future to aid us here. His name is Galahad,” Stormrider added almost as an afterthought.
“Does the Dragon Lore speak of this Galahad?” The griffin knew that the Dragon Lore foretold much of what had and what would happen in Avalon.
“Draago assures me that it makes no mention of him,” Stormrider confirmed, “The boy is as big a mystery to Draago as he is to us but the Raven Boy trusts him. I’m told that at first he didn’t but now he does. He is helping him to regain his fighting skills or at least trying to.”
“But can he remain here?” Firewing asked what he thought was an obvious question, “Surely this Galahad belongs in his own Time. Will it not upset the Balance if he remains here and who is it that has the Power to so break through the Barriers of Time in this way? There are many of the Elder gods who could not do this.”
“What you say is correct,” the King of the Unicorns agreed, “It would take great power and as far as I know it has never been done before there must have been reason that such power was so employed. It is one that has not been revealed to us and probably never will be.”
“There is great danger here,” Firewing continued, “It is never wise to play with the Laws of Time, for if it possible for one to so tear the Fabric of Time Fabric then it may be possible for another to so do.”
“And for another to follow the boy through into to our world,” Stormrider said bleakly, “Although the ghouls saw only the boy.”
“Even so,” the griffin was more than a little apprehensive, “It could still have happened.”
For a moment both creatures of the Old Magic were silent each lost in their own thoughts. The danger that had been brought to Camelot and Avalon by the presence of the Dark Lord was still fresh in their minds and the possibility that another Being of such Elemental Evil could enter their world was not a happy thought.
“Some of my herd have reported that they have heard a distant rumbling not unlike the approach of a fierce storm,” Stormrider said more to himself than to Firewing.
“Perhaps that’s all it was,” the griffin suggested, “Just a thunder storm.”
“But this is not the season for such things,” the golden unicorn continued and they also mentioned that there was a sense of foreboding that seemed to hover over the very boundaries of Avalon. It was as if something was there but deeply hidden and was waiting to descend onto to Camelot or so it seemed to them although I have sensed nothing.”
“It would be wise to warn the Raven Boy, would it not?” Firewing suggested.
“It would,” Stormrider agreed, “But this will take a Deeper Looking we should seek more before we bring our concerns to him.”
Suddenly the Circle of the Great Stones of Avalon was shaken by a massive crack of thunder so that the ground shook as if subjected to a huge earth tremor. It was exactly as if the griffin and the golden unicorn were being mocked by some Elemental Force that they could neither sense nor see.
“The Dark Lord?” Firewing’s response was instantaneous, like Stormrider his first thoughts turned to that Being of the Dark Magic who had brought so much suffering to Camelot and Avalon.
The unicorn gazed intently up into the sky, his blue eyes were as hard as ice and he seemed to be almost scenting the wind to try to know just what it was that had caused this unnatural crash of thunder. Up above the sky was the calm blue of summer and there seemed no reason for the disturbance that had shaken the ground so heavily. Very far in the distance Stormrider could see dark clouds massing behind the Great Mountains of Avalon but these were too distant to have so affected the Great Stones. Yet there seemed to be no other cause for what he and Firewing had just experienced. Stormrider had eyes that could see the wind but whatever it was that hid behind or in those clouds was invisible to him and it should not have been. Quickly the golden unicorn came to decision.
“We must speak with Draago,” Stormrider told the griffin, “There is something here that neither you nor I can see or understand. It may be that Draago has greater wisdom than us or that there is something hidden deep in the Dragon Lore that will explain what it is that is rising against Avalon. Do you sense what I sense, Firewing?”
Firewing’s voice rumbled with a roar that was more than a reminder that he was part lion.
“Whatever is there wishes us and Avalon no good,” the griffin agreed with the golden unicorn. “Somewhere beyond those clouds is a Great Evil and it could threaten us all.”
Stormrider turned again to look far into the distance at the Great Mountains of Avalon. The answer, he knew, was out there and yet the clouds appeared to melt down onto the snow-capped peaks that ringed and protected Avalon. It was as if, the golden unicorn thought to himself, that the clouds were hiding something far from his sight or more likely were playing some tantalising game with him. If that was the case, the golden unicorn very quickly decided, it was a game that he most definitely was not prepared to play. The King of the Unicorns turned back to face his friend Firewing the griffin and spoke only two words.
“To Draago.”
Firewing nodded his agreement, “To Draago,” he said and with the powerful flapping of his wings the griffin drove high into the skies of Avalon and flew like a golden arrow towards Dragons’ Keep where he knew that Draago, the last of the Dragon Kind could be found.
For a moment Stormrider paused to look at the clouds that once more seemed to be amassing over Avalon’s Great Mountains and then with a toss of his silver mane he was galloping at breakneck speed away from the Great Stones. Stormrider gathered himself and leapt, as only a unicorn can, for the skies of Avalon and followed the griffin towards Dragons’ Keep.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
AVALON
CAMELOT CASTLE
THE GREAT THRONE ROOM
It was an encounter as old as Time itself, the clash of an immoveable object meeting an irresistible force. Two guards were stood guarding the door into Camelot’s Great Throne Room and there was the hint of anticipation in their eyes and not a little fear. Merlin had noticed how the two mailed soldiers had closed behind him as if blocking any way out of the Throne Room for him. If that was their or King Uther Pendragon’s intention they were all going to be very disappointed the boy enchanter thought to himself.
The dark haired boy and the fair haired boy warrior approached the Great Throne. If Galahad felt Merlin’s unease he gave no sign of it and bowed graciously to King Uther Pendragon and his queen. The boy warrior noticed that there was another who stood on the dais of the thrones, this was a big red haired knight who looked more than capable of handling himself in any fight.
There was a pause before the king spoke, he had been waiting for Merlin to bow to him as Galahad had done but he was enough of a realist to know that this was not going to happen.
“So Merlin, you have decided to finally answer my summons,” King Uther Pendragon managed to make this simple statement sound insulting but for once Merlin held his temper in check. The king turned to look, with a hard cold stare, at Galahad, “And you must be Galahad,” he told the fair haired boy.
Galahad bowed his head in agreement, “Yes, sire,” he said.
“This is Sir Lauriston du Lac, Camelot’s Knight Commander,” the king continued indicating the big red haired knight, and this is my queen, Queen Alona.”
Galahad heard the softening of the king’s voice when he mentioned his queen and the boy warrior could see the love in King Uther Pendragon’s eyes. This had been no arranged marriage the boy decided, this had been a love match from the start and he thought more of the king for it.
“My greetings to you, Sir Lauriston du Lac,” the boy warrior said courteously and also to you, Queen of Camelot.”
The queen’s eyes briefly sparkled with mischief and Galahad knew with absolute certainty that she had not told her hus
band the king of her meeting with the two boys at Manta Gore.
“Merlin, you do not speak,” the king said to the boy enchanter and Galahad immediately heard that note of antagonism which always seemed to be there when King Uther Pendragon and the son of Mithras Invictus met.
“I leave that you,” Merlin told the king adding, “sire,” after a very long pause.
Queen Alona was the next to speak, “Thank you for coming here, Merlin,” she said.
“I am pleased to see you again, Raven Boy,” the big Knight Commander said, “It has been too long.”
Galahad could hear the genuine note of affection in the big knight’s voice and a quick glance at Merlin made the boy warrior realise that there was a genuine respect between Camelot’s Knight Commander and the boy enchanter.
“So Galahad,” the king turned his attention to the boy warrior, “I have heard much of you – a great deal of it unbelievable. Perhaps you could be so good as to explain yourself and how you come to be in my realm.”
“I know very little, sire,” the boy told the king, “Why I am here is as much a mystery to me as it is to everyone else.”
“Even so I would like to hear it from you,” the king replied.
“I have no memory of my past, sire,” Galahad continued, “It simply isn’t there.”
“You have no memory of a mother or father, no memory of where you lived?” The tone of King Uther Pendragon’s voice was very disbelieving.
“None, sire,” the boy confirmed, “I arrived in the middle of the night in a big circle of Standing Stones. I believe it was magic that brought me here.”
“The Great Stones of Avalon,” the king said more to himself than anyone else, “And what else do you know, Galahad?”
“Only that I should seek out Merlin and tell him that I was sent by Myrrdin Emrys.”
“And who is this Myrrdin Emrys?” The king asked for obviously the name meant nothing to him.
One look at Merlin’s bleak face told Galahad that the boy enchanter would not thank him if he told the king the truth and the boy warrior very much doubted whether King Uther Pendragon would believe his story. For the first time in his life, Galahad told a deliberate lie.
“I do not know, sire,” the boy said, “I have only his name.”
“And you expect me to believe this fairy tale?” the king’s famous temper was beginning to kick in once more.
“It is the truth, sire,” Galahad said while crossing his fingers behind his back.
“Galahad is not a liar,” it was Merlin’s voice that rang flat and cold around Camelot’s Great Throne Room.
“And you would know?” The king asked sarcastically turning his attention to the dark haired boy.
“Yes - I would,” Merlin told the king his eyes never flinching from King Uther Pendragon’s face.
“Perhaps he was sent to kill you,” the king looked as if he would actually welcome the idea.
“The Dark Lord would have sent someone very much better than him,” Merlin said flatly, “Galahad has no magic.”
“I am tired of constantly hearing about your supposed great skills at magic, Merlin,” the king told the boy enchanter. Even Galahad had to agree that was pretty insulting to the boy enchanter for there was nothing ‘supposed’ about the boy’s power - it was god-driven.
“Without it,” Merlin pointed out drily, “Avalon would not survive a day.”
“Why do you trust Galahad, Merlin?” The queen once again was trying to calm the situation down. If her husband knew the reasons for the boy’s trust then perhaps he might accept it as well.
“I just do,” Merlin thought that was quite reason enough but even so continued on, “And my father tells me that I can trust him with my life.”
The king turned to his Knight Commander, “Sir Lauriston, what are your thoughts on this?” He asked grimly.
“I would always rely on the Raven Boy’s judgement, sire,” the big knight replied diplomatically.
“Above my own?” King Uther Pendragon asked once again rather petulantly.
“I did not say that, sire,” Sir Lauriston corrected. There was no one in the whole of Camelot who was more loyal to the king than his Knight Commander but even so he had no cause to doubt Merlin’s words and he also happened to like the Raven Boy.
“I hear that a tourney field has appeared as if by magic,” the king said still looking accusingly at Merlin.
“Not as if by magic,” the boy enchanter replied bleakly once more, “But by magic, by my magic.”
“I did not give you permission for this,” the king’s temper had noticeably gone up a few notches and a vein had started to throb at side of his temple and that was never a good sign.
It was news to Merlin that he needed anyone’s permission to perform magic and he answered accordingly.
“I wouldn’t have asked for it anyway.” The boy enchanter told the red faced king quite bluntly, “I only answer to my father and sometimes not even to him.”
That wracked the king’s temper up even more and for a moment he just glared at the boy as if he could not believe what he had just heard.
“This is impudence,” he finally managed to half splutter half shout at Mithras Invictus’ son.
“Gently, gently,” Queen Alona’s quiet voice broke in, “We all desire the same thing,” she said looking at her red faced husband and the dark haired boy who stood glaring up at him. “We all worry for the safety of Avalon and Camelot.”
Sir Lauriston also spoke up in an effort to try to take the heat out of what was becoming an out and out conflict between the king and the grim faced boy enchanter. The Knight Commander guessed quite correctly that if he didn’t do or say something quickly then it would become a slanging match with goodness knows what consequences.
“I hear, Galahad,” Sir Lauriston said that you have been in combat with Ghost or Spirit Warriors.”
“The Raven Boy calls them Mist Warriors,” Galahad informed the Knight Commander.
“And how do you fare against these ‘Mist Warriors’?” Sir Lauriston asked hoping that the mention of combat would calm the king down. Also as Camelot’s Premier Knight the Knight Commander was genuinely interested in what had gone on at Merlin’s magical tourney field.
“Most of the time they give me a good thrashing,” Galahad ruefully said knowing that this was the truth. “But gradually I have improved until there is only one that I cannot defeat. His name is Achilles and the Raven Boy tells me he was the greatest hero of the Trojan Wars.”
For a moment Sir Lauriston was stunned, “You have fought the great Achilles?” The Knight Commander asked with more than a touch of awe in his voice.
Galahad smiled again at the memory, “He’s kicked my backside on a number of occasions, begging you pardon my lady,” the boy warrior realised too late that it was possibly not a great idea to use the word ‘backside’ in the presence of Camelot’s queen. “I wouldn’t call it much of a fight,” Galahad continued, “He always beats me and he’s got some unstoppable moves but who knows, perhaps one day I might…..”
King Uther Pendragon cut across the boy’s words, “I am not happy with what I hear and see,” the king looked around to include everyone in his displeasure, “And you, Galahad,” he said turning back to the fair haired boy, “You I do not trust.”
“I’m sorry, sire,” Galahad said bowing his head in deference to Camelot’s king, “I understand that my story must appear unbelievable to you, but I swear that it is the truth.”
King Uther Pendragon now turned his anger back on the boy enchanter, “And you Merlin, I tire of you and your arrogance.”
“Good,” Merlin told the king while giving him another of his cold hard stares, in fact the very look that Galapas always said ‘could curdle milk’. “We’ll leave now.”
Merlin turned to walk back down the Great Throne Room and was amused to see that both the guards at the door made the sign to ward off the evil eye.
“I did not give you permission
to leave,” the king roared at the boy’s retreating back,
Merlin stopped and turned back. In that instance he was the very image of his father, Mithras the Unconquered and the greatest and cruellest of the Elder gods.
“And once again,” the boy said in a voice of ice, “I do not need to ask it. One day,” he warned the king, “You will have great need of me.”
“That I find very hard to believe,” King Uther Pendragon told the boy in his most sarcastic voice.
“There is one to come,” Merlin continued his eyes appearing to almost cloud over and fix on some place far in the distance that only he could see, “One who will save not only Avalon but the whole of Britannia. He will come from you, Uther Pendragon, and that is the only reason that I put up with you.”
“Riddles,” the king roared at the boy.
“Prophecy,” Merlin replied in his ice cold voice, “I’m going now and understand this, King of Camelot, both Galahad and Galapas are under my protection.”
With that the boy enchanter turned away and stalked down the Great Throne Room the two guards made a move as if to prevent the boy from leaving but one look at the hard eyes that glared up at them made them quickly stand aside. They were both afraid of King Uther Pendragon but that was nothing as to the fire that they had seen burning in the eyes of Mithras Invictus’ son.
“Merlin,” the king yelled after the boy and he was almost beside himself with anger.
“Goodbye,” the boy replied as the doors opened completely by themselves and then Merlin had left Camelot’s Great Throne Room. The doors slammed themselves so hard behind him that the two guards were sent spinning helplessly to the floor.
Galahad looked back from the boy enchanter’s spectacular exit.
“Sire, Queen Alona, Sir Lauriston du Lac,” the boy said deferentially to them, “I hope that one day you can learn to trust me.”
And with that the fair haired boy warrior also left Camelot’s Great Throne Room and certainly left it a lot less spectacularly than Merlin had.
Merlin and the Land of Mists Book Three: Galahad Page 9