Secondly there was the riddle of Galahad and what was he doing in Camelot – or more to the point in this Time in Camelot. There seemed to have been nothing but arguments and bad feeling since the boy warrior had so mysteriously appeared that night in the centre of the Great Stones of Avalon. Merlin’s father had told his son that he could trust Galahad with his life and yet the very being of Galahad had somehow made life a hundred times more difficult, or so the boy enchanter thought. Thirdly Merlin was falling out with just about everybody that he was meeting and the boy knew that this was no one’s fault other than his own. Merlin also knew that there were times when the blood of Mithras the Unconquered, the greatest and cruellest of the Elder gods, ran fiercely through him as if he was the god himself. That was all very well, the boy enchanter thought to himself, but there were times when he was very much an eleven year old mortal boy who found the protection of Camelot and Avalon far too much to bear and this was how Merlin was feeling now. He looked and felt as if he was bearing the whole of the weight of the world on his small shoulders.
“Raven Boy is sad,” Grim said, “Grim can tell.”
Merlin turned a careworn face to squint up at the ghoul and for once he was not up to playing his games with the smelly ghoul.
“Everything is happening so fast,” he told Grim, “And I can’t seem to stop any of it.”
“If Raven Boy is unhappy then Grim will let Raven Boy throw hurting balls at him. Grim doesn’t mind,” the smelly ghoul suggested.
Merlin gave his friend a watery smile, “Thanks, but I don’t want to do that, Grim.”
“Perhaps Raven Boy needs to talk with Raven Boy’s father,” the ghoul suggested showing more insight than Merlin would have expected from him.
“He wouldn’t help,” the boy told the ghoul, “He’s forgetting Avalon and soon he will leave completely and never return,” he finished with a heartfelt sigh.
“But not forgetting Raven Boy?” Grim asked his anxiety sounding in his voice.
“No, not that,” Merlin replied, “Not yet anyway.”
“Grim is sorry for Raven Boy,” the ghoul told the boy knowing that there was very little that he could do to help.
“There’s so much that I don’t know – or can’t see,” the boy enchanter’s voice rang with frustration, “My father sees and knows everything but he won’t tell me. Who is Galahad, where is he from and why is he here?”
“Grim doesn’t know.”
“How do I stop Uther Pendragon from becoming the monster, the Deathbringer King that he will become? And Queen Alona…..”
Here the ghoul did something that he would never normally do, he cut across the boy enchanter’s words.
“What will happen to beautiful queen?” Grim unhappily asked.
“She’s going to die quite soon,” Merlin told his friend and there was the sound of utter desolation in the boy’s voice. “I know it and there’s absolutely nothing that I can do about it.”
The ghoul’s face was a mask of despair, “Poor beautiful queen,” he said echoing Merlin’s dark mood.
“I seem to be falling out with everyone these days,” the boy said unhappily to his friend. “Galapas, Galahad, Sir Lauriston, even Queen Alona. Am I too much my father’s son, Grim? I don’t want to be cruel like him.”
“Raven Boy can be cruel,” the ghoul said, “But Raven Boy can also laugh and be kind. Raven Boy doesn’t kill unless he has to. Raven Boy’s father enjoys killing but Raven Boy does not.”
Merlin looked at the ghoul in amazement. It was the longest speech that he had ever heard his friend make and it was also the most intuitive.
“Thanks, Grim,” Merlin said for he appreciated the ghoul’s attempts to bring him out of his ‘black dog’ mood. “But be careful it is not wise to say such things so close to the Crystal Cave. The Guardian Spirits might hear you and they are always ready to carry tales to my father.”
“Grim doesn’t care,” the ghoul said defiantly, “Grim tells the truth and Raven Boy needs cheering up.”
“You’re a good friend,” Merlin told the smelly ghoul.
“Grim is a hero of Avalon,” the ghoul said remembering back to the battle with the Minotaur at the Great Stones of Avalon.
“Yes, you are,” Merlin agreed with sincerity.
“Grim has an idea,” he said in a further attempt to lift his friend’s mood. Grim only had an idea about once every hundred years and he was very proud of this one.
“You do?” the boy enchanter asked in amazement, his mood lifting.
“Grim has a very good idea,” the ghoul stressed.
Merlin waited for Grim to expound his very good idea but the ghoul said nothing.
“Well go on,” the boy urged, “What is it?”
“Grim will tell Raven Boy,” the ghoul said with a smug expression on his face.
Merlin sighed with exasperation, “Get on with it, Grim.”
“Grim thinks that Raven Boy should talk with Draago. Draago is wise and the dragon is a good friend to Raven Boy.”
For a moment Merlin was stunned. It was a very, very good idea and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t thought of it himself. Draago was the last of the noble race that was the Dragon Kind. Draago had been enslaved by the Dark Magic of the Dark Lord and sent to kill the boy enchanter. The dragon and the boy had met at the Great Stones of Avalon and it was there that the boy enchanter had used the Old Magic to free the dragon. Merlin had become the dragon’s Dragon Master and together they had flown to Camelot where the Blood Riders of the Dark Lord were destroying King Uther Pendragon’s capital with their powerful bolts of lightning. Draago had swooped down onto the Blood Riders and breathing great bursts of Dragon Fire had driven the Blood Riders away from Camelot. It was then that Merlin had stood on the dragon’s back and cast the Great Spell of Destruction. The Blood Riders had been sent whirling beyond the Abyss and there would be no return for them from that dread place.
All this was running through Merlin’s head and he looked at the smelly ghoul with new respect in his eyes.
“That is a very good idea,” he told Grim, “In fact it’s a very, very good idea.”
“But Grim will hide when dragon comes. Draago is very big and makes Grim a little scared,” the ghoul said with a shudder that always made it look as if his head was about to fall off his shoulders which in fact it never did and that was a great relief to Merlin. The boy enchanter liked his friend’s to have their heads where they should be – on the top of their bodies.
“It would be good to see Draago again,” Merlin said, “I would like that.”
“Raven Boy has magic stone that Archer gave to Raven Boy,” Grim reminded Merlin, “Raven Boy can call Draago now.”
“That was a mighty battle,” Merlin recalled his fight with the Dark Lord’s Minotaur at the Great Stones of Avalon. His friend Archer, the one-time assassin, had died in that conflict and although Merlin had finally, using his father’s sword, cut off the Minotaur’s head it had been a very close-run victory and the boy enchanter had lost a good friend and ally with the death of Archer.
“The lodestone,” Merlin said, again wondering once again why he had not thought of calling Draago from the dragon’s fiery home high in the Great Mountains of Avalon. “It was the last thing that Archer gave me,” the boy remembered.
“Raven Boy will call Draago now?” Grim suggested.
“Yes, I will,” Merlin agreed.
“Grim will wait with Raven Boy,” the ghoul told his friend bravely but his bones were starting to rattle at the thought of the dragon and its Dragon Fire.
Merlin pulled the small shiny lodestone from his pocket and held it high over his head. As the Old Magic flowed from the boy into the stone the talisman began to glow with all the Power of the Elder gods. Waves of light emanated out from the lodestone and these were so bright that it was almost impossible to look directly at either the lodestone or the boy enchanter. Grim turned away, as much as he wanted to support his friend, enchantme
nt whether it was the Old Magic or the Dark Magic always frightened the ghoul.
Finally Merlin and the talisman glowed as if they were one single impossibly bright slender flame and the boy knew that now was the time for the Spell of Summoning in the Spell-Speak of the Old Magic.
“Draago, instige dum Earto ut Are ut Igno ut Acheno,
Ruely dum Steltata ut Pones Altora,
Mea requtto thu accedo ar me.
Me Dragone Ultra es tut Me tuh summone.
Me calto thu asi Dragone Majesto,
Me tut accedo Dragone, Me tut accedo Draago, Me accedo.
Which being translated is
“Draago, creature of Earth and Air and Fire and Water,
Ruler of the Skies and of the High Places,
I ask that you to come to me.
As your Dragon Master I summon you to me.
I call you to me, dragon, for I have need of you once more.
Come Dragon, Come Draago, Come.”
The words from Merlin’s Spell-Song built up into a crescendo so that the blue flame that was the boy enchanter and the lodestone reared up and then as Merlin released the Spell of Summoning the fire raced away from the boy. The spell rushed across the plains of Avalon, soaring high over the Great Stones. Then, almost faster than the eye could see, it climbed up to the Great Mountains of Avalon and headed at a vast speed to its destination, the home of the last of the Dragon Kind which was known as Dragons’ Keep.
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE GREAT MOUNTAINS OF AVALON
DRAGONS’ KEEP
The bolt of fire that was Merlin’s Summoning Spell hurtled through the peaks and crags of the Great Mountains that ringed and helped to protect Avalon. The Spell seemed to take on a life of its own as it twisted and turned and then went as straight as an arrow towards Dragons’ Keep.
Dragon’s Keep was the home of Draago, the last of the Dragon Kind as Merlin was his Dragon Master. Dragons love fire being creatures that are born in fire and Dragons’ Keep was surrounded by flames that did not consume but only burnt. To the dragon it was a place of great beauty and Draago appreciated it more in the light of his being held prisoner in the Dungeons of the Dark Lord’s Castle Despair. The Dark Lord had held Draago there by the use of his Dark Magic and had forced by the use of this Dark Magic to fly to kill Merlin. The Dark Lord had misjudged the son of Mithras Invictus and Merlin had broken the Dark Spell that held the dragon. Draago had been eternally grateful to the Raven Boy for granting him his freedom and had sworn only to fight for Camelot and Avalon. It was a Creed of the Dragon Lore that a dragon can only come to his Dragon Master if so Summoned and for all the Dark Powers that were now building up around the boundaries of Avalon Draago had to wait for Merlin’s Summons.
Draago had felt the onrush of the Summoning Spell long before he saw it. Dragons can sense even the smallest movement in the air and the Spell was travelling at such a speed that the air was pushed aside as it continued on its rush to Draago. At first it was just a pin point of light on the distant horizon but even then Draago knew it for what it was. The dragon waited as the Summoning Spell drove its way to Dragons Keep and there it reared up and spread out its flames as if in greeting to the last of the Dragon Kind. The flame widened still further and then at the centre of the fire Draago could see an image of Merlin with Grim the ghoul alongside him and the words of the Spell-Song hung in the air over Dragons’ Keep.
“Draago, instige dum Earto ut Are ut Igno ut Acheno,
Ruely dum Steltata ut Pones Altora,
Mea requtto thu accedo ar me.
Me Dragone Ultra es tut Me tuh summone.
Me calto thu asi Dragone Majesto,
Me tut accedo Dragone, Me tut accedo Draago, Me accedo.
Draago knew that he must leave immediately for this was no idle Summons and the dragon could see the anxiety that was etched on his Dragon Master’s face as he had cast the Summoning Spell. Draago knew that he could now join Stormrider and Firewing in their fight against the Evil that was threatening to envelope Camelot and Avalon and it was with a huge sense of relief that the dragon answered his Dragon Master’s call.
With a beating of his enormous wings Draago flew up from the craggy top of Dragons Keep and drove powerfully into the sky. Draago, like Merlin, ran with all the Power of the Old Magic. The last of the Dragon Kind was flying at great speed to answer Merlin’s call and that was exactly as it should be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
AVALON
THE GREAT STONES
It was a very disgruntled Galahad that made his way to the Great Stones of Avalon. To say that the Raven Boy confused him would be the understatement of the century. Galahad had been brought up in a completely different world to the one that Myrrdin Emrys’ enchantment had sent him to. Even though he had no memory of it the ways and manners of his future existence were part of his very being. The world of King Uther Pendragon was a much more brutal existence than the one that Galahad came from for in this Time Camelot was under a constant threat from the Forces of Darkness and King Uther Pendragon was barely up to the job of keeping it safe and secure.
In Galahad’s time the king was always right in everything that he did and was treated with politeness and courtesy which was certainly not the way that the Raven Boy approached Camelot’s present king. The Raven Boy was a complete enigma to the boy warrior. At one moment he could be the best friend that you could ever have and then, in the twinkling of an eye, he would be surly and even downright rude. What made it so hard for Galahad to understand was that the fact that, in his time, Mithras Invictus was almost totally forgotten or was seen as some kind of fairy tale or bards’ creation.
If Galahad could have understood the greatest of the Elder gods then this would have helped him in no small way to understand that god’s son. Mithras Invictus was the cruellest and most vengeful of the Elder gods and, at the height of his worship, the god’s altars throughout the whole of the known world had run with blood and it had not always been purely bull’s blood. Mithras was the Bull Slayer the god who sat astride the bull while effortlessly cutting its throat and he had been the god of the Roman legions as they had pillaged and conquered their way through all of the known world.
Like his father Merlin carried great power within him but fortunately his mother had been mortal and this had tempered the anger that he had inherited from his great father. Even so there were times when the power of the Elder god ran wildly through his son’s veins and this was most definitely not a good time for anyone to stand in the way of the son of Mithras Invictus.
Galahad was so lost in his own misery that he did not see Kraak before he nearly bumped into the King of the Raven Kind. The huge raven was stood on one of the Great Stones and was gazing down at the boy with some concern.
“Did the Raven Boy send you to spy on me?” The boy warrior said while immediately regretting his words.
“Kraak has not seen the Raven Boy,” the raven replied with almost too much politeness. “And why should he wish to spy on you?” The King of the Raven Kind finished rather brusquely.
Galahad sat on the ground and his unhappiness was plain for the raven to see, “Take no notice of me, Kraak, I’m just in a seriously grumpy mood,” the boy apologised.
Without warning there was the sound of granite grinding on granite as the four statues that formed the boundary of the tourney field pushed themselves upwards and then, as they had done before, they all turned in unison to face the centre of the training field. So intent were the boy and the raven on watching this mysterious sight that they failed to notice the clouds of the Lord of Chaos that were forming so threateningly directly over the peaks of the Great Mountains of Avalon. These clouds were not stationary but were now rolling fast down the mountainside and at their centre was the massive face of the Lord of Chaos.
There was a shimmering in the centre of the tourney field as a huge warrior materialised in the middle of the tourney ground. It was not a Mist Warrior that Galahad had seen befor
e.
“That’s not Achilles,” the boy warrior told Kraak, “But it’s another of the Raven Boy’s tests for me.”
There was something not quite right about what was happening the King of the Raven Kind thought to himself. “Kraak is not sure,” he told the boy, “You should wait for the Raven Boy.”
A crack of thunder echoed over the Great Stones of Avalon, it was so loud that it made both Kraak and Galahad almost jump out of their skins. It was only then that they looked up and saw the massive thunder clouds that were rolling down the Great Mountains of Avalon. There was something quite supernatural about the speed that the clouds were rolling across the sky. In fact to Kraak it was almost too similar to what had occurred when the Dark Lord had launched his attacks on Avalon.
“There’s an enormous storm coming this way,” the boy said, “Just look at the size of those clouds.”
Kraak was looking at ‘the size of those clouds’ and the King of the Raven Kind didn’t like what he saw.
“Kraak does not think that it is a good thing to stay here,” the raven bleakly told the boy warrior, “We should leave here – and leave now.”
“And not fight the Mist Warrior,” Galahad replied, “If I do that then the Raven Boy will think me a coward.”
Galahad’s last words were almost drowned by another huge clap of thunder. Looking up the boy and the raven could see the rain lashing down as the clouds fast approached the Great Stones.
Merlin and the Land of Mists Book Three: Galahad Page 11