by Tom Larcombe
“I did, I taught you all mental shields that would protect you from him. I'd hoped to have more time with him and be able to steer him away from that type of magic, but they shipped him off without telling me.”
“Oh, I see. You gave us the means to protect ourselves. I remember you drilled everyone hard on that exercise also, harder than any others. To make sure we could protect ourselves from him?”
Merlin nodded.
“Yes, but this case is different. The man is clearly over-matched, not a wizard, and is in a position of authority. Someone needs to help and it seems that I'm the only one who can. Hopefully with your assistance. Can we begin now?”
“Yes, my apologies again. I'm not used to people who are actually altruistic.”
“Don't confuse altruism with enlightened self-interest. If Herr Schreiber's mind is taken over then I, and all of you younger wizards, will be subject to the orders and whims of the one who controls him.”
Dieter's face paled.
“I didn't quite follow the situation through to that conclusion. What do you need me to do?”
“As I said before, we're trying to break the spell. Since I based the counterspell on the way you observed it, I want you to watch and tell me if the spell reacts as planned. I may also need to borrow energy from you if the spell is stronger than I anticipate. If I do, don't let me take more than you can spare.”
“So, you just want me there mainly to watch?”
“And tell me if the spell is reacting as we want it to.”
“I'm ready.”
The two men sat and split off threads of their consciousness. Together, they projected their thoughts into the castle. Merlin found Herr Schreiber asleep in his bed. He was sleeping poorly, his body acting out the mental struggle his mind was putting up against the spell.
A second person was awake in the room. Merlin touched their thoughts and found that it was Herr Schreiber's wife. She was unable to sleep due to his thrashing and her concerns about him. With a touch on her mind, Merlin guided her into a sleep that would last at least a few hours. Then he returned to her husband.
{Dieter, can you hear me this way?}
Dieter turned to look at Merlin.
{Like talking with the little dragon?}
{Yes, much the same. I wouldn't have tried this but you seemed able to communicate with Anguis.}
{Yes, I can hear you.}
{Good, I'm going to start the counterspell. Let me know if and when it appears to be doing something.}
Merlin focused on the black blanket covering Herr Schreiber's mind. He built a smaller version of the stasis spell he once used on himself, surrounding the mind and its enshrouding spell. This time the power points were held in Merlin's mind instead of crystals.
Energy began to flow from Merlin into the spell structure. He realized, as it began to take affect, that he would never be able to keep enough power flowing into the spell structure from outside its area of effect. Before the spell closed to begin its work, Merlin split his consciousness again, sending a tiny portion of it inside the spell.
Seconds passed as Merlin watched Dieter for some sign that the spell was working.
Weeks passed as Merlin fed the spell from the inside. His energy levels, high to begin with, were already drastically lower.
Minutes passed and Merlin felt weak. He gestured to Dieter, who moved closer, and then began to tap his student's energy.
Months passed and Merlin was on the point of collapse when he felt a new source of energy streaming into him.
{Merlin, the spell is beginning to break down.}
Merlin himself noticed that the blanket he perceived the spell as showed a rip down its center. The edges were fraying badly at the same time. Herr Schreiber's struggles intensified.
Because of his efforts over the past few months/minutes within his stasis, Merlin was intimately familiar with the spell on Herr Schreiber. He noticed immediately when it began to disperse. Herr Schreiber's consciousness burst into existence beside him. The man began to struggle to tear apart the rest of the spell on his mind and Merlin borrowed some of the energy Herr Schreiber was expending to put a last burst of effort into his counterspell.
The two portions of Merlin's mind that were out of his body merged. The differences in experienced time between the two parts left him feeling nauseous as he used the remnants of the previous spell to start a mental shield for Herr Schreiber.
He borrowed more energy from Dieter since his own was exhausted and the mental shield took shape quickly. Merlin guessed, from the previous spell, that whoever placed it relied on the sheer strength of their magic. He'd devised the shield he was currently building with that in mind.
His final touch made the mental shield far more formidable than it appeared. Merlin installed a shunt on the shield spell. Any other magic trying to assault it would find itself drained into the shunt. The shunted energy would then reinforce the shield itself. Unless the attacker was observant, the more force they used trying to break down the shield, the stronger it would get. There were ways to get around the shunt but they would require time and finesse, not brute magical strength.
{Time to return.} Merlin sent.
Dieter's mental projection looked as strained as Merlin felt.
The two men returned to their bodies. Merlin remained sitting, waiting for his nausea to pass. He would spend the next day or two trying to reconcile the apparent difference in time between the portion of his mind that had been within the stasis and the rest of himself.
Dieter groaned and stood. Merlin watched as Dieter swayed, apparently light-headed, and moved to a more comfortable position.
“That hurt,” Dieter said.
“Yes it did. The spell was stronger than it appeared. Evidently our Herr Schreiber is incredibly strong-willed. Otherwise he never could've managed any damage to that spell with his struggles.”
“Then it's gone? I thought so but I wasn't sure.”
“Yes, I used the last remnants of its energy to start the mental shield for him. Then your energy to finish building it. I apologize for that, destroying it took more power than I thought it would.”
“What was that last little bit I saw you doing?”
Merlin explained about the shunt and Dieter actually laughed out loud.
“I'd love to see the look on their face when they try to break through and get to his mind again.”
“I wouldn't. That would mean I was far too close to whoever placed that spell on him originally.”
“There is that,” Dieter said, “Are we done then? I feel as though I could sleep for a week.”
“We're done. The best way to recover is to eat, sleep, and spend a day doing something you enjoy.”
“Well, there's no food so I guess it's sleep then eat in this case.”
“It depends on how picky you are. When I was issued my gear the quartermaster ensured I had something called iron rations. I don't know about you but right now? If it's edible, I'll eat it.”
“They're meat and crackers normally. But I agree, if it doesn't run away or eat me first, I'll eat it also.”
Merlin took out the two iron ration packs he'd been given and handed one to Dieter. The two men made quick work of the entire contents. Merlin caught Dieter running his finger through the can to find any remaining meat. Privately he agreed that it wasn't enough but the two ration packs were all he was given.
“You can take the bed if you like. I've slept on worse surfaces than this floor,” Merlin said.
“I'm too tired to argue so I'll take you up on that.”
Merlin took one of the blankets and curled up on the floor beneath the window. He wanted to be in the first rays of light from the sun when it came up in the morning. Moments later, he was asleep.
* * *
Chapter 12
Despite his exhaustion of the night before, Merlin awoke after the sun had been shining on him for an hour. He could feel the energy of the sun trickling into him and slowly beginning th
e long task of recharging his power. He stood and walked outside.
I wish there were a way to regain my powers more quickly. If only there were dragons still about, he thought.
A pulse around his neck answered his unspoken thoughts.
{Yes Anguis?}
An image of himself popped into his mind. In it, he appeared to be holding much more power than he currently was.
{Yes Anguis, I need to recover my power.}
The image altered slightly to show something streaming from the small dragon statue into Merlin's body.
{You can help?}
Merlin felt the dragon's head, nestled against his throat, nod.
{Please do so then.}
Merlin could swear the small dragon sighed with relief. Anguis unwrapped himself from Merlin's neck and launched himself into the air. He disappeared and a minute or two later Merlin heard the gleeful shouts of children somewhere. He continued to hear their laughter for a half hour or so. When it ceased, Anguis returned. He perched on Merlin's hand and Merlin could feel the power flowing into him.
“Thank you Anguis,” Merlin said formally, “The last time I needed to scrape for power was so long ago that I forgot how much can be obtained from the glee and wonderment of children. And I'm certain that you were a wonderment to them.”
Anguis preened and strutted up Merlin's arm before wrapping around his neck again.
Well, I'm in better shape power wise than I was before solving the ward on the scale at least. And I hope that Herr Schreiber comes through his ordeal without any damage. At least he should be safe now. That will increase my own safety somewhat, Merlin thought.
He went in and woke Dieter, who groaned and made a show of stiffly getting out of bed.
“Well, breakfast is available shortly, but if you don't want it right away you can go back to sleep.”
Dieter's stiffness disappeared in a flash and the two men walked to the cafeteria.
After a breakfast three times larger than either of the men normally ate, they returned to Merlin's cottage.
“You know Merlin, I don't know what to think of you.”
“Why?”
“You're willingly working with these people. Three of your students are not here voluntarily. We were given the option of this or being put on the list of Undesirables.”
Merlin could hear the capital letter on the last word, so he answered in kind.
“What is an Undesirable?”
“You don't know anything of the Germans, do you?” Dieter asked.
“I only know what I've observed. Some of them are good people, some not so good. I'll admit to meeting more of the not so good in this place. But the local tavern was full of the good types. Even some of the soldiers I've met have been the good types.”
“You'll find that those who know what's really going on tend towards the not so good types. Personally I'd say they're evil incarnate but...”
Dieter's sentence trailed off as the guard knocked once on the cabin door, then entered. The guard took his customary seat and after a long moment Dieter spoke again.
“Well Merlin, I'll be on my way back to my quarters then. It's been an honor to work with you.”
“I'll see you tomorrow night for classes Dieter, but you're welcome to stay here for now if you like.”
Dieter's eyes lingered on the guard for a moment before moving back to Merlin.
“No thank you. I'll be going now.”
Dieter left and Merlin gave some thought to what he said. Combined with his task of last night and the other compulsive behaviors bordering on madness around the keep, he had to admit that Dieter might have a point. He decided that he needed to do some more looking around.
“Excuse me. I don't need to go to the vault this morning. Could I get you to carry a message to Herr Schreiber for me?”
“Certainly sir. What would you like me to tell him?”
“Just a moment and I'll write it out.”
Merlin sat down and wrote out a missive asking about Herr Schreiber's health first, then asking if he might have an appointment with him at his earliest convenience. He sealed it and handed it to the guard.
“I don't know if there will be a reply or not.”
“I'll wait until they tell me one way or the other sir.”
“Thank you.”
The guard left the cottage and Merlin sat, lost in thought.
I'd look around today but even with what Anguis procured for me, my energy is still quite low. I'll have to replenish it today. If I go to the vault I can request the bone and the staff. Then I'll have enough power for some investigative research. This afternoon, I'll go down there this afternoon and request those.
Merlin's thoughts calmed and he slipped into the deep sleep that would help him recover his lost energy more quickly.
He awoke more than an hour later when the guard returned. The closing of the door snapped Merlin out of his rest.
“Sorry sir,” the guard said, “Herr Schreiber's secretary told me that he is ill today and won't be in the office until tomorrow at the earliest.”
“Did you leave the message?”
“Yes I did sir.”
“Thank you. I think I'll be going to the vault this afternoon. Until then I need to sit in the sun a bit. I'm feeling tired today.”
Merlin moved outside into the sun. He had some energy remaining and intended to use a small bit. He didn't want the guard to see him in trance though. He didn't have any single reason but his fears about the men he was working with were growing .
He sat down and detached a portion of his awareness. He moved his consciousness to Herr Schreiber's quarters, carefully threading the maze of electrical current. When he arrived, Herr Schreiber was there being fussed over by his wife. In the brief time Merlin was present he noted that she was keeping him in bed. The man protested that he was fine and needed to go to work but she told him that after last night he was taking day of bed rest.
Merlin returned to his body and just sat in the sun for a while. He felt himself slowly recharging but was worried that it might not be going fast enough. Everything he'd noted recently had him on edge, waiting for something to happen. Minor changes were occurring around him in a manner that surprised those affected. They seemed to be adding up, building towards something larger, and he couldn't decide what that larger thing might be.
As soon as lunch was available he went to eat. He told his guard that right after lunch he'd want to go down to the vault and change out items, so the guard joined him.
“Honestly, we spend so much time together, you should let me call you by your first name,” Merlin said.
“I'm sorry sir, that wouldn't be appropriate,” came the reply.
Merlin shook his head. He was almost positive that the guard was assigned to watch him personally. The man never seemed to care what he took from the vault, just noted it down and said nothing. He still couldn't determine how he was being watched at night, if he actually was being watched. He never saw anyone watching but with the marvels of technology currently in the world he was sure there was a way.
The two men went down to the vault and this time Merlin changed out his previous two items for the living staff and the bone. Originally he was going to leave the bone, his reluctance at using death magic souring him on the idea of using it. With some further thought he decided that if his idea was true, that if a part of the person was trapped along with their energy when death magic was captured, then he should use all of that power as soon as he could and release what remained of the people it came from.
The staff virtually hummed with energy. He could feel the ward on it keeping the energy contained but when they came out of the basement levels, and the staff was struck by the sun, it became more active. When the sun struck the wood of the staff the tiny buds on it unfurled into small leaves and he could feel the staff concentrating the energy of the sun. He was positive that if it weren't already full of power it would be drawing more into itself from that concentration
.
With the staff already full, a small amount of the concentrated power was simply draining off and pooling nearby. The pools were similar to those the dragons used to leave behind but far smaller and with less energy in them. Merlin was happy to have the extra power to build his reserves back up. It was only a small amount of energy but it seemed to be about the same amount a man would generate from lying in the sun.
Merlin spent the rest of the afternoon preparing himself. Over the next few hours he transferred the energy from the bone into his crystals. Some of it went to restore his own personal energy as well.
When he was done, the bone was only an empty container. His loathing of death magic led him to deconstruct the spells on the bone which allowed it to store magic. As a bonus, his deconstruction allowed him to determine how the wards were originally created. He thought he could make them himself now. He left a tiny bit of magic infused into the bone in case they were testing the items he returned. Since Anguis' removal hadn't triggered any alarms, he was sure that as long as the item tested magical at all, there would be no fuss. Assuming they were testing the returned items.
Merlin laid down in his bed and sent out his awareness. This time he was going to thoroughly search the castle. Dieter was right in that the only thing Merlin knew about the Germans was what the Germans told him. It was time to see if they were truthful or not.
He spent the next several hours with his consciousness wandering through the research facility. Minor bits of magic let him open drawers, flip through pages, and gave him access to anywhere he wanted to look except for two areas that were heavily warded. The results were startling.
He slipped back into his body and stayed in bed, lost in thought.
Undesirables... All that means is anyone that those currently in power hate. Jews, homosexuals, political prisoners, Gypsys, and wizards that refuse to cooperate if Dieter was correct. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. From what I found they wouldn't want anyone with any sort of power to be free and not under their thumb.
I'm confused though, they keep referring to a special treatment. They use all the prisoners for, essentially, slave labor. What other special treatment are they talking about? They say that the special treatment increases the power of the Third Reich, and even more so the power of the Schutz-Staffel.
