“Agreed. Neither one is a pressing concern right now. We need to speak more with Morgana and then prepare for…” then he stopped.
“...The funeral,” she continued for him. "Sebastian...I know how hard that’s going to be on you. Things have been so busy the last few days since Syracuse we haven’t had time to talk. We were just released from the hospital this morning and we’re already back on the job. I want to help you as much as I can.”
“You just being there for me is all I need. I’ll get through it,” he replied. "Unfortunately, like everything in our lives now, there is so much going on that finding the time to do it is the problem. We have the funeral, two more Masters to find, Mordred to find, the ALF to shut down...we need more people on our side. To have Alexander back and then refuse to help us, that’s a blow we didn’t need,” he told her.
“I don’t trust him. There’s more to this but you’re right, that’s the least of our concerns right now. He wasn’t a loss. He was a potential gain that didn’t work out. We still have two more Masters out there. Morgana is back, and Ra, Nefertiti, and Boudicca are on our side for sure. I have no doubt about those four. Merlin...who knows. Right now, let’s just get home. I have so much to ask Morgana. She’s a real, living Atlantean. That’s huge. I have so much I want to know. Maybe she can shed light on the dreams,” Chelsea said.
A short while later, they landed back at Camelot and found most of their friends in the common area. They were not just team members. They were friends. Except for Merlin, most of the Wardens and Masters had become quite close and the fact that the people were fighting to save their friends was comforting. He recalled a conversation with Chelsea back during the beginning of their relationship about personal connections and he was sure it was better to have those ties than not.
“I don’t need a psychic connection to your mind to know what you’re thinking about, but it helps. You were right. Connections keep us human. They keep us grounded. I think that’s why Merlin is so different from the others. The others still laugh. They still love. They still cry and hurt when those they love are hurt,” Chelsea said gripping his hand tighter.
Bethany came running up to Sebastian, which wasn’t especially fast considering she was beginning her third trimester. She hugged Sebastian and Chelsea saying, “I am so sorry about your father. If there is anything you need, you come to me or Bruce. We’re there for you anytime you need us.”
The rest of their team offered similar condolences. He thanked them and did his best to stay strong. He lost his father and while they weren’t the closest family since the Seal and the cataclysm and all the death and loss he’d been making real inroads in rebuilding their relationship. He had come to realize how important your friends and family were when so many were lost so fast.
Nefertiti was absent but that was no surprise. She wouldn’t leave Ra. Ra was still in a coma after the events of Syracuse and in the days since that had passed he had shown no change in his condition and no sign of waking up. In addition to the internal injuries, he had also taken a significant blow to the head. He was being kept in a secure ward at the UniGov complex in Montreal at a military hospital. It was reserved for key members of the government, military and other figures of both high importance and high risk. There were enough enemies of the Wardens that they were afraid a Master in Ra’s condition would make a prime target for the ALF, so they kept him well guarded.
Morgana approached them after the rest of the group finished their condolences over the loss of Abraham.
“Excuse me. May we talk in private?” she said.
“Of course. How long do you need? We have a briefing in an hour,” Chelsea told her.
“I need a hundred lifetimes to tell you all that you should be told and say all that should be said but for now, an hour shall do,” Morgana replied.
“Well a hundred lifetimes is a bit difficult to fit into our schedule, but an hour can be managed,” Sebastian told her trying to force a smile through his pain.
“Your wit was always dry but refreshing,” she said and smiled.
"They have been kind enough to assign me a living space. Would you meet me there?” Morgana asked.
“Of course. I would like to speak with you anyway about some dreams we’ve had,” said Chelsea.
Morgana seemed surprised at the mention of dreams but regained her composure quickly. “My dearest, I will answer all questions you pose. I shall see you momentarily,” Morgana told her then left.
“Well that was odd,” said Sebastian.
“Odd is a word for it. She knows something, and the mention of dreams caught her off guard. Maybe she’ll make more sense after we talk,” Chelsea replied.
#
A few minutes later, they were in Morgana’s private suite sitting at a table.
“I didn’t like coffee in the beginning. After the new world was re-discovered, it was all the rage in Europe, but I found it bitter and not at all palatable,” Morgana said sipping on a hot cup of coffee. "It was a couple of centuries before I finally gave it a second chance and found its subtle charms to be most pleasing. It had been greatly enhanced by selective breeding and improved brewing processes and is not the beverage it was,” she told them.
"But we are not here to discuss my taste in hot drinks. I want to tell you everything I can and had a prepared a short synopsis but now I am intrigued. You mentioned dreams,” Morgana said. "Dreams, as they say, are glimpses into the soul. What are you seeing through those glimpses?” she asked Chelsea.
Sebastian looked at Chelsea.
"It’s okay, we can trust her. I know we can. I can feel it and I want her to know everything. Are you okay with that? I mean everything,” Chelsea told Sebastian.
He reached out and took her hand. "You have my complete faith. If you believe we can trust her then I believe we can trust her,” he replied.
“You two always made such a sweet couple. Even when you disagreed it was always with love,” Morgana told her. "Now, tell me of your dreams.”
Chelsea spent a few minutes relating the story of Boudicca’s spell, the crowns, and red robes, the vampire’s words and the great city of concentric rings. "Merlin thinks they are just shared dreams, pulled from our random fragments in our collective subconscious and don’t mean anything. What do you think?” Chelsea asked her.
“I think you’re going to want another cup of coffee,” said Morgana. "I also think it’s time you know the truth. Where to begin...I guess in the beginning.”
Morgana took a deep breath. "Many thousands of years ago, the only magic-using creatures on the planet were dragons. They likely evolved from some species of pterosaur much as we descended from primates. Sometime in the distant past, their evolution reached a point where they discovered magic. For untold ages, they were alone. They were the only sentient species.”
“They were peaceful by the time of Atlantis, but their history was not without strife. In their early days, they warred with each other as factions grew stronger and more powerful. Their own memory of those times is nothing but stories and songs as they never had the desire or need of a written language. They struggled but, in the end, found peace.”
“Eventually other species evolved to the point of sentience but were primitives. This was of no consequence to the great creatures until those new sentients discovered magic. The dragons took those sentients under their wing and taught them and guided them, so they would not know the wars and pain the dragons had endured. They called them fey which in their language meant child. In the beginning, there were many of us. Reptilians, saurials, drebs, humans and many other fey who learned from the dragons. Those fey used their magic to make other creatures that populated Atlantis and gave rise to many of the legends of today.”
“Wait,” Chelsea interrupted. "Humans are not fey. Fey are magical creatures and humans are natural.”
Morgana smiled at her. "You are indeed fey. Magic is as much as part of humans as any other fey. It is a part of all life. We are no di
fferent than any other. Fey is simply the name the dragons gave to all the sentient creatures taught by the dragons. Humans were among the first students. That Wardens only refer to fey as monsters is an abomination of the term. You are as much a fey as any of the creatures you hunt.”
“The dragons taught us and guided us and helped us understand our power, so we didn’t destroy each other as they nearly did. Atlantis was built by fey and dragon alike to serve as a place of learning and cooperation among all the magical species of the world. No city that grand had ever stood and nothing would again for many thousands of years,” Morgana told them.
“Where was it?” asked Chelsea. "We’ve searched every archive and historical record we could find and there are no references to it other than vague legends. Plato had the most descriptive location handed down from Socrates, but we can’t find anything matching it.”
Morgana continued. "Socrates had the location correct. He used to talk about it at length. It was misinterpretation and poor transcription by Plato that caused the error in his later descriptions. I spoke with Socrates at length about it, pretending to be oblivious. Atlantis was an island in the Mediterranean about halfway between Europe and Africa. With no real ability to cross the ocean by non-magic species, we were protected, and our culture thrived. “
“As children that could use magic were born into the world, our diviners found them, and we took them to Atlantis. It was often heartbreaking to take a child from their parents, but their safety required it. We saw too many children die from a lack of ability to control their power or jealous and frightened adults killing them.”
“The island you describe in your dreams is Atlantis. Our city encompassed the entire island and had tunnels and grottos far beneath the surface. Some fey preferred the darkness and dwelled underground, some of the tunnels even went into the ocean itself for the aquatic fey. It was built over a span of a thousand years and was glorious.”
Sebastian interrupted. "That’s all good and well but it doesn’t explain the dreams.”
Morgana smiled. "You used to be more patient. Atlantis was ruled by a group of those considered to be the wisest among us. They elected a single person to serve as our leader for a span of one pass of the Dragon’s Eye or what today we now call Haley’s Comet. The last king was Baldric and his wife, Malka, was his queen.”
“The king and queen were benevolent and loved by most. Their reign, though short, was marked by wisdom and clarity not seen in a monarch in many hundreds of years and even the dragons appreciated and respected the decisions of Baldric and Malka though they were not bound by them.”
“The king’s chief advisor and good friend was a dreb named D’lom. Drebs are a species of reptilian humanoid that is extinct. The king was betrayed by his friend when the drebs attacked during the celebration of the new year. We celebrated that during what we call the Summer Solstice today. I still don’t why they betrayed us. There was no reason for the attack, no hint, nothing.”
“You, my dear,” she said looking at Chelsea, “Are Malka the last queen and you,” she turned to Sebastian, “Are Baldric the last king.”
“Okay, this is getting a bit weird and I’m not sure I’m buying any of this,” said Chelsea. "That still doesn’t explain how we have survived, why we’re being reborn and why you were in the dreams as well.”
“You were barely a score into your rule when they struck. It was a violent and bloody fight with most of our people dying and the drebs winning thanks to their sneak attack. It was over in a matter of hours. Their attack was well planned and swift. The dragons, in a rage at the betrayal, awoke the volcano and destroyed the island, the betrayers and most of the fey with it.”
“As to your survival and rebirth, you didn’t survive. The king’s staff was an amplifier for his power. It was my greatest creation. One of the great dragons poured all her life into it, all her essence and magical strength and cast a spell into that amplifier as the lava began to pour over the assembly and molten stone rained down on us. That spell took the dragon’s life and your lives with it and imprinted its essence on you. The blue fire you can call is a mark of that dragon’s soul. She is now a part of you and the three of you are bound together.”
“Why she chose to sacrifice herself while the rest of her kin chose to destroy is a question to which the answer died with her. She sacrificed herself to save you. I knew her well and she cared deeply for the fey and I suspect the dragon knew that after Atlantis the fey would need a caretaker. That spell ensured your rebirth every time you die. I believe she saw the rage of her own people and feared they would no longer help their children. Her action bound the three of you together and bound your spirits to the Weave. Her brother is the one who saved me by taking me from the island.”
Morgana continued. "Now, as to my involvement. I was there because as the king had an advisor so did the queen and I was that advisor. The queen, you, trusted me as your guide and counsel. When I realized the fight was lost, a dragon saved me and took me to Britannia though in those days it did not yet have that name. I lived in what would become Ireland for many thousands of years.”
“Why?” asked Chelsea. "Why did I trust you over any other? There’s something you’re not telling us.”
“There is indeed,” Morgana continued. "You trusted me because you had always trusted me since you were born as any child trusts their mother.”
Sebastian’s eyes widened, and he stared at the two of them. "You can’t be serious. This is all pretty far-fetched.”
Chelsea stared at Morgana, her eyes tearing up. "No Sebastian, it’s true. I don’t know how I know or why I know but it’s true.”
“You know because you remember. Those memories are buried in the many lifetimes of memories you have but they are there. Sadly, Malka, your father was killed in the fight as were your parents, Baldric. So many died that day. What ones survived had scattered. The dragons went into isolation, many of them being driven insane and left as animals by the releasing of such powerful magic when they shattered the mountain and called the magma from deep below the surface. Those dragons were like beasts and became the monstrous dragons of legend from folklore.”
“The drebs, the betrayers, died as well. Their people lived in the tunnels below the island and did not anticipate the dragons using the volcano. In their hubris, they never dreamed the heights of rage to which the normally peaceful dragons could reach or what their power could do when unleashed. They turned the entire island into a caldera.”
“That is your heritage and your history,” Morgana told them.
“So that spell is why we can’t die permanently. It’s why we keep being reborn and drawn to each other,” Sebastian said. "Can it be undone? Can the dragon’s soul be separated?”
“You’re half right. That spell is why you are both reborn and pulled to each other physically, the dragon’s soul merged with both of you and pulls you to a center. You are drawn to each other emotionally because you are you. You two love each other. I have seen you many times over the centuries and every time I do you two are together. And no, it cannot be separated. What was is no more and what you became is what you are. It was a desperate act for a desperate situation,” Morgana told them.
“You’ve seen us in the past? Other than Camelot I mean?” asked Chelsea.
“Occasionally. I’ve not always been able to find you in every life but when I do you two are always together,” Morgana answered. “It has gotten easier as technology advanced.”
“That still doesn’t explain our connection to the Wardens. They didn’t exist at that time and wouldn’t for thousands of years,” said Sebastian.
“That’s easy. You don’t have one. I think you and the Wardens are drawn to each other because the Wardens have the same goals and desires you do. Like attracts like,” she said.
“So, we’re cursed in a cycle of rebirth and our nature will force us to always fight and struggle,” said Sebastian.
“Is it really so bad? You are gifted not
cursed. The dragon that took that action was the daughter of their eldest. She was ancient and wise and chose you. She considered all magic using creatures her children as all dragons did and chose you to be the guardian of their children and the vanguard against evil. That is a blessing unlike any that has ever been given,” Morgana told him.
“I agree with your desire to talk in private. This is a lot to take in. We need to discuss much of this with our advisers and see what information is useful. Don’t misunderstand me, Morgana, I appreciate your trust and faith to share this and I have no reason to doubt you. Chelsea believes you and that’s enough for me. However, right now we have far more pressing concerns than ancient dead cities and dragon spells. We have a world in crisis and the people of the world are a more pressing concern than our own family matters,” Sebastian told her. "For now, let’s keep this between us and we’ll bring in the others at the first opportunity. This needs to be discussed in detail not just a passing word in the hallway.”
“He’s right, Morgana...mother...we have a greater responsibility than ourselves. I don’t want you to think we’re discounting the wealth of information you have and I have so much I want to know but right now, what is of most value is what we can use to stop Mordred...my brother, I guess...sort of...and bring stability back to the world so we can continue rebuilding. You were awake for the shattering and you know what’s happened to the world and our first duty is to the people of it,” Chelsea told her.
“This is why the dragon chose you. You are the vanguard against dark magic. My knowledge and power are yours and I will help in any way I can,” she replied.
“Morgana, I have to know. I’m sorry to ask this but I must. Mordred is your son. If he is alive and he is responsible, he must be stopped. Will you help us against your own son?” Sebastian asked.
“I am in a precarious place, dear boy. I would want nothing more than to save both my children. In my long life, I have had only two children and now those two children are on opposite sides of a war of magic. In the end, I will lose a child. The pain of that knowledge is more than you can imagine though I will shoulder it. The lives and safety of vast numbers of people are at risk and I cannot sit idly by this time. The last time I could not bring myself to kill my son. I knew Mordred was wrong but to fight against my own child, it was too much. I paid lip service to the council but never brought my true power to bear. I thought he could be redeemed. When that failed, I thought the Seal, if it worked, might stop him. Now I know that was folly. I will do all I can to help you,” she told him with tears streaming down her face.
The Vanguard Page 2
