by Tom Larcombe
Gunter sighed.
“We'll need to get you off this airfield quickly. Johann is the best pilot I know but he can't keep his mouth shut about anything when he's at his home base. Soon, every person on this airfield will know who you are and what you did. Some might not believe it, until they look at the shot patterns on the plane anyhow, but others will believe it instantly.”
“Why is that important?”
“Many people have heard legends of you. Would you like to be surrounded by a crowd of people wanting to meet a living legend? Or would you rather quietly leave before a crowd can gather?”
“I see. Yes, we should leave as soon as we can then please.”
“Come with me, we'll see if we have transportation waiting. If not, I'll commandeer a vehicle.”
There was a car waiting for them. Merlin found himself getting into the back seat of a vehicle similar to the truck but shorter.
“So, this is just for moving people? The truck is for moving lots of people or materials?”
“Correct. I continually forget that much of what I take for granted is brand new to you.”
“That's all right. I'm continually amazed at what I find. I've yet to manage to absorb all of it though. I'll need some time to myself soon so I can try to do so.”
“I'm sure we can arrange for that. Especially after I report on the healing you did as well as the defense of the airplane. They'll spend a few days just trying to make sense of that before they want to talk to you about it, I'm sure.”
The ride took less than an hour from the airfield and the rest of it was made in silence. Merlin attempted to still his mind and continue adjusting to the new things he'd seen and learned. Sights outside the window and the sheer speed of the ride made it difficult for him to do so. Those distractions, combined with the pain from his hand, made it impossible to meditate or even simply still his thoughts.
The car began to slow as it approached a massive stone wall, taller than a man. It stopped at a gate and the driver exchanged words with the guard. The gate opened and the car slowly moved up the drive.
“This is the research facility. I've let them know that you would prefer to be somewhere without electrical power and they said they could accommodate that.”
“That was kind of you Gunter. You've been most thoughtful towards me.”
“This, I believe, is yours,” Gunter said, holding out the crystal that Merlin gave him.
“Oh no, please keep it. The magic I used on it should last indefinitely. So long as it gets an hour or two of sun each day, it will provide light for you throughout the night. It's the least I can do with all you've done for me.”
“Then accept my thanks.”
“You are most welcome. Will you not be staying at the facility?”
“Only for a day or two I should think. They'll have questions for me. I don't know if I'll see you again or not.”
“I certainly hope so. There's no-one else I know around here.”
“I'm sure you'll meet many people soon. Both those who wish to study you and those who wish to study your knowledge. Be wary of who you befriend though. There are some men here that I wouldn't trust if given the choice. There are rumors, dark rumors, about some of the things they do here. I would that I didn't have to bring you here, but I must follow my orders.”
“I understand Gunter. If you've heard tales of me then you know that even in my day there were those whose intentions were not... honorable. I've learned how to identify and deal with them. Hopefully those skills will still work after all this time.”
“I must say, it's an honor to have met you Merlin,” Gunter said.
“You've shown me that there are still decent men in this time, so it is my pleasure to have met you.”
The car came to a stop in the circular driveway. Two different types of guards patrolled the area. They all wore gray but some of them wore collars of a different color.
“The guards with the collars the same color as the uniform, are they an elite force? They wear the rune for lightning, doubled.”
“They would have you believe so. Others say not so much. They are the Schutz-Staffel or the SS for short.”
“Protection Corp?”
“Their name comes from their history. I don't believe that the meaning of the name relates to their duties very much now. I will say no more on that though; those who do often encounter problems.”
Merlin reinforced his mental note about dissent in the ranks due to Gunter's observation.
“Then I shall say no more also. Thank you for your candor,” Merlin said.
Guards opened the doors of the car and the two men exited.
Merlin was escorted into the front doors of the largest building after he exited the car. He thought Gunter was led to one of the other buildings nearby but he wasn't positive. A quick glance around as he entered the building showed that there were three other structures in the immediate vicinity. Each of them was made of massive stone blocks, giving them the appearance of castles or fortresses. He was ready to start asking questions immediately but when he was led to an office by the guards, the only person there appeared to be a functionary.
“You are Merlin?” the man asked.
“Yes.”
“I understand that you have an aversion to being near electricity, is that correct?”
“Yes, but–”
The functionary plowed through Merlin's attempted distinction between electrical types.
“We've arranged alternate accommodations for you. I will have someone lead you to them and you can tell them if the quarters will be satisfactory.”
The man pulled on a cord and moments later the door opened again. A different guard entered the room. He waited patiently as the functionary gave him instructions, then turned to Merlin.
“Please follow me,” the guard said.
He turned and left the room. Merlin looked to the functionary once again, ready to ask a question. The man had already dismissed Merlin in his mind and was rummaging through a drawer on his desk. Merlin sighed inwardly and turned to follow the guard.
He fumed as he was led to his quarters.
Dismissed as though I were a wayward child. Despite their evident eagerness to get me here, I was met by what was obviously a flunky. There's something strange going on here. Gunter's nervousness, the different guards, everything tells me that this is not a good place. If they want to separate me and leave me alone then I shall take advantage of it.
Merlin looked about the small stone cottage they provided for him to stay in.
“It will do. A touch small, but for just myself it will be fine,” he said.
He settled down on the stone floor in the middle of the cottage and worked on stilling his thoughts.
All the wonders I've seen, simply an expression of the ingenuity of mankind. The thousand plus year sleep, an error on my part. Who could guess that the dragons would never fly the skies above my cottage again. The wrongness I'm feeling from this facility? Well, now that my thoughts have calmed I can start to get to the bottom of that.
Merlin placed a crystal on the windowsill with his wounded hand, using the motion to stretch his fingers. He knew if he didn't stretch them frequently as they healed, he'd end up with a claw that would take months to straighten. The heat of the sun on the burn reminded him that the wound was still very new and that he'd need to attend to it later on.
The prism refracted the sunlight into a rainbow on the wall. Merlin placed himself in the refracted light and settled into a comfortable position. It wasn't necessary, but the refracted light acted like a mnemonic to him when he wanted to split his consciousness. He could spend less of his own time and energy when using it.
Merlin split off a thread of his awareness and advanced it towards the larger building he recently left. He could sense the areas where electricity ran inside the building and snaked his awareness around them. The one time he got too close to it he could feel it drawing off his power and disrupting his probe.
He
made it back to the office he was in earlier and slid his awareness into the functionary's conscious thoughts.
I can't believe the riff-raff they send here. Every circus freak and misfit they can find. They send them here and treat them as though they were something special. Well, if that last one was a wizard like they said, he can use his magic to find out that he has a meeting with Herr Schreiber tomorrow morning at ten. He can use it to find the cafeteria schedule or he can starve. I can't believe they waste so much money in this place. They could fund another division with what they spend here.
The man's thoughts continued to churn. Evidently Merlin was interrupting a frequent internal tirade. The parts that didn't deal with Merlin directly had an oft repeated feel to them as though the man were thinking of his complaints in a rote fashion, allowing them to fester.
Merlin withdrew his thoughts from the man. He was a low level functionary, more of a secretary than anything else. He would have no idea of what was causing the unease Merlin felt.
He snaked his awareness further into the building, continuing to avoid the electricity that ran through parts of it. He was shocked to discover several warded areas that were strong enough to keep his thoughts out.
I guess Gunter was telling the truth when he said they were happy with some of the people he brought here earlier. If they're researching magic, then someone here has actually been successful. They're basic wards, it's the first one I taught Nimue even, but they're well constructed and strong.
Merlin's attention was caught when his thread of awareness noted a strong source of magical power in the basement. It was stronger than anything he found since waking up. He willed his awareness towards it.
Could it be? That's dragon magic, I'm sure of it. I need to get closer.
As his senses closed on the magic source he recoiled in horror.
Dragon magic it is, but I've never heard of a dragon going insane before. Whichever one this power comes from is certainly mad though.
Merlin shuddered.
Anyone who used that as a power source would be tainted by the madness present in it. I wonder if they know?
His disgust at the idea of an insane dragon snapped him out of the calm state needed to keep his awareness split. He sat, staring at the crystal on the windowsill.
So, a mad dragon. I wonder if that's causing my feeling of unease. It certainly could be. That dragon must have been here recently for the power to be so strong and fresh. I'll need to keep an eye out for it. That's not a creature I would wish to meet.
Merlin stood and recovered his crystal from the windowsill. He exited the building and, using simple non-magical skills, followed his nose to find the cafeteria. It wasn't meal time but a bit of banter with the workers gained him both a snack and the schedule of when meals were available. The cafeteria was yet another stone building, all by itself behind the main facility.
He spent the time until dinner in the cottage working on healing his hand. It retained its flexibility so far and, already, the damage looked as though it were several days old. When he went to the cafeteria for dinner he looked around for Gunter but couldn't find him. He did see the functionary he encountered earlier and, when he caught the man's eye, graced him with a smile and a nod. The man paled and got up from his table, hastily exiting the dining hall.
After a meal that was heavier than he was accustomed to he returned to the cottage. Once again he settled in to split his consciousness. With no sun to diffract, it was entirely a mental challenge. Without his rainbow trick it took him a few seconds longer to split off a portion of his awareness.
As his mind explored the research facility again he saw that one of the wards he noted earlier was down. He moved his awareness into the area to see what the ward was protecting.
The first thing Merlin noticed was why the ward was down.
The idiots scribed it onto the walls and someone left a door open so the ward is deactivated, he thought.
When the door closed again the ward would snap back up. As he examined it he realized that it was a near duplicate of his own wards in this style. He altered the ward slightly but not in any way they would notice. He simply keyed the ward to allow him to pass through it. It would take a highly skilled wizard to notice the difference. He doubted that there was one here other than himself, unless they lived behind one of the other wards.
The second thing Merlin noticed was the books. They lined the room on shelves attached to the walls. Several books were out on the table, covered with glass casings. These books looked ancient, easily as old as himself. He took a closer look at them and nearly lost his calm. The first two books under glass were his own journals from just before he went to sleep. He remembered putting instructions for the wards they used in this building in his journals. They might even have been done from rote and not needed a trained wizard to set them.
His attention traveled down the line of books under glass.
That's Nimue's writing. I'd know it anywhere, he thought.
He took a closer look at the journal in question.
'Merlin has been gone a year now. He is still there, I can see him, but for all intents and purposes he is gone. I've been continuing my studies from his journals. It's more difficult to learn that way but is still possible.'
Merlin's calm snapped. He found himself entirely within his own body, staring out the window at the night sky.
I never thought of how it might be like for Nimue with me gone. She sounded lonely in that entry and that was only after a year. I wonder how long she stayed at my cottage, waiting for me.
Merlin was unable to calm himself enough to send his mind back to the book room again that evening. He comforted himself with the thought that he could now enter it at any time despite their attempt to keep its contents a secret.
* * *
Chapter 5
When the sun rose, Merlin woke to its first rays. He knew there were two hours to pass until food would be available in the cafeteria. After breakfast he'd have several more hours before his appointment with Herr Schreiber. He planned his morning accordingly.
The time until breakfast he spent working on his wounded hand. His sorrow over Nimue provided the energies for that. He preferred to work with positive emotions but this was available and using it would help him work through the distraction it caused so he could go back and read more of her journals.
He arrived at the cafeteria slightly before they opened, bantering with the staff again as he waited for them to serve breakfast. Once they opened he acquired a plate of food and sat down to eat. At this time of the morning there were few people here but he imagined there would be more in another hour or so.
He finished eating and returned to his cottage. Setting a crystal on the windowsill, he split his thoughts. He quickly sent his awareness back to the room with the books. The ward was active now but it recognized him and let his awareness pass.
There were two men in the room, painstakingly copying the entries from the journals into new texts. One was working on Merlin's own journals and the second on Nimue's.
Merlin glanced at the transcription of his own journals. It was in a language he couldn't read, although he had a sneaking suspicion that it was simply the written version of the one he'd been speaking the last few days.
I wonder if I can still juggle two spells at a time, he thought.
He sent his thread of awareness into the man transcribing his journals. He found the written language being used and, at the cost of draining one of his crystals, copied it to his own mind. The splitting headache that followed was insufficient to break his calm, although it was a near thing. He looked back at the transcribed section.
So that's how they found me. I wrote the location of my cottage in my journal. I'm amazed there were enough landmarks remaining to find it, but they did. Or at least my cave, I didn't see the cottage at all.
He moved over to look at the transcription of Nimue's journal.
'I wish Merlin were here. I've heard rumor
s that the remaining knights of Camelot are out hunting the dragons. Their new God has declared the dragons to be agents of His enemy. At least, the priests in Camelot have told the knights that. So now the knights are off to cleanse the world of their God's enemy. In the process they will strip the land of much of its natural magic. I'm sure Merlin could go back to Camelot and set them straight if he were here. I'd go but from what I've heard women are less than nothing there now.'
“Can you believe this tripe about dragons and Camelot?” the scribe working on Nimue's journal asked.
“How can you not believe it? With some of the things that go on around here that we've seen. Like that ward they had us put on the room. Remember the reason we're working by lamplight? The ward cuts off electricity when it tries to pass through it.”
“Okay, I'll admit some weird things happen around here.”
“Have you heard some of the stories from the airfield? They have a pilot that retrieves all the people they study here, some of the stories he's told are outrageous. But in most cases he has something to back it up. His latest story is that he had a man on board that blocked bullets from Spitfires, otherwise he'd be dead now. It sounds ludicrous but his plane was shot up from behind the wings all the way to the tail and there wasn't a single bullet hole from the fuel tanks to the cockpit.”
“Yeah, I've heard Johann's stories, you actually believe them?”
“Let me put it this way. I find it easier to believe that dragons and Camelot existed than to try to convince myself that the things I've seen and heard are all lies. Now get back to work. You know they want ten pages a day and this godforsaken runic writing system gives me a headache. The pages are brittle too and it's nearly impossible to turn them without destroying them. No-one's used these runes in a millennium and yet we've got twenty-five year old books written in them. Those will be interesting to translate when we get to them.”
The two men bowed their heads back over the books. Merlin moved over to another journal that was still under glass. This one was also in Nimue's writing. An intricate drawing was inked on the opposing page.
