by Allan Kaspar
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Conversation
By Richard Lawrence
Merlin woke with the sunrise, as was normal, but, today, something felt different. Not dangerous or threatening, just different. In his mind he ran through his defences. They were tied to his life force and he could feel even the smallest of changes. The aversion field he had set around his tower was intact and unbreached, anyway, it would take the strongest of human wills to force their way through it. The fear was quite intense. The camouflage was working well, no breach, his tower still looked like a tree in the forest.
OK, the physical defences, the lightning bolts attached to his door were still there, as were the poison traps. Nothing breached, nothing could had got in. But, even so, it felt like something was there.
He washed himself in the water bowl and dressed quickly; looking forward to the bread and cheese he had ready for breakfast. He was pleased with these, he made the bread himself and the cheese was delightful, mild and creamy, only a few days old.
Merlin walked down the stairs, still searching for the origin of the feeling, looked around his living room, the door bolted shut and the windows tight, shelves full of books and scrolls, his sofa and table and the cold fireplace. He went to it and started a fire, to warm the room and heat bread and milk for breakfast. He was crouched down, warming his hands, when he heard a rustle behind him.
Someone was reading a scroll!
He span round and there, sitting on his sofa as if he had always been there, was a man. A normal, ordinary, everyday man, calmly working his way through the scroll, not dressed as a member of the aristocracy, nor as a peasant, simply a man, medium height, medium build in non-descript clothing. The man put down the scroll and looked at Merlin. The eyes, oh my god, those eyes, Merlin wanted to run and hide; he had never seen such intensity or power.
“This is very good,” said the ... being “A treatise on the foxglove and its medicinal properties, I am impressed.”
“Thank you” said Merlin “Who are you and why are you here, better yet, how did you get in?”
“Oh, I didn’t disturb your defences, I came in another way.”
Merlin’s mind span, he knew of other ways, of course, he had used them himself, the mirror for one, or gating and he knew, theoretically, of others, but they all required you to know where you were going in the first place.
“I am here, because I need to have a word with you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Merlin.
“Because of the legacy of your father, you have power beyond that of a normal human, you can converse with gods and daemons, alter the course of nations, cause massive harm, or great good, I am here to find out what you intend to do with it.”
“Why?”
“God sent me.”
“Which one?”
“Ah, that is the question, isn’t it, so, I think a little history would put things in perspective for you, we can then have a word about your intentions. Please, take your breakfast while I explain and we can go from there
“My name, currently, is Uriel, which you may recognise from the new church, although I have had many other names through many other religions, my role, among many others, is to gather information for the current, major deity
“I have worked, in the past, with the Egyptians and Greeks, the Persians and Romans; I inspired the old men to their cave paintings, supported Kings and Princes, Gods and Daemons throughout history and back into prehistory.
“I was with the earliest men when the atmosphere was poison and they lived in cities created by their masters, but I understand you have seen that, so you know what I am talking about.”
Merlin nodded; despite himself he was fascinated by the story. He quietly nibbled his bread and motioned for Uriel to continue.
“The beings known as Angels and, of course, Daemons, we are the same thing, it is a matter of semantics, have existed for longer than man has been here, we were around long before that blasphemy was thrown out of his home and exiled here, his prison. We remember him though; we come from the same place.
“When he was exiled, we followed to try and mitigate, somewhat, his powers and influence on this planet. Throughout the span of human memory, we have been called Angels, Messengers, Daemons, the hand of God, well; the list is endless, as are the names that have been given to us.
“You must understand that whilst we exist in this realm, this universe, there is nothing mystical about us, we are simply more evolved, more advanced than humans, we have our powers, of course and we got them from the same source as you did, from our parents.
“So, while you may be seen as a Daemon by some humans, because you are so far beyond them, so are we viewed, even by you, because we are much further advanced.
“What we feel an intense interest in though, are your gods. Of all the peoples in the universe you, as a race, are the only ones who feel a need to create gods, to try and explain natural events and moral issues through forces from the outside. Your intense belief creates gods, weaves them out of a created, subconscious desire, gives them life, shape and power, and limits them too.
“So, you started with the simplest tribal gods, those of fertility and fire, hunting, lightning and so on and, when these beings appeared, they found us here already, we, as a group, decided it would be interesting to work for them, we could learn more about humans that way.
“An endlessly fascinating species and worthy of study.
“So, though the aeons, we have watched gods grow and then fall out of favour, sometimes gods are simply creations of the mind, at other times they are a being, or person, who has amassed a following and power. But, wherever they are, they all still exist.
“Even though they are no longer worshipped the gods of Babylon are still wandering the desert, the ancient gods of fire haunt their forests, the sea gods frolic with whales, Olympus is on its’ mountain, well, you get the idea.
“The newer religion, first that of the desert nomads and, currently, this new one are the most powerful of those currently existing so, of course, we are attracted to them.
“Gods, being human creations, have human emotions and the current god is worried about what you are going to do with the gifts your father gave you, oh, he is a brother of mine, so I suppose I could call you my nephew, if you like.”
Merlin shook himself out of the stream of thoughts “No, no, that won’t be necessary, thank you though.”
“So,” said Uriel, “Here we are, I need to find out what you are going to do. Please don’t be worried though, you are far too powerful for us to destroy outright, like us, you are probably as close to immortal as makes no difference, but we could, if we wished, limit your power, limit your ability to influence.
“So, what say you?”
Merlin sat for a moment, nibbling his bread and deep in thought. Uriel gave the impression that he was prepared to wait for as long as it took. Merlin looked back at him.
“I don’t know,” he finally said, “I can feel what I believe is right or wrong, but I have no idea what the consequences, the outcomes will be. I have seen good actions be perverted and twisted until the outcome is horror and destruction.
“I have also seen a man act out of pure self-interest, even evil and create something good and beautiful. I have concluded, over the years, that it is better to do good, although I still have difficulty grasping the concept, as it betters the lot for the majority. On a personal level, I remain neutral, I will do what I need to do to achieve what I think is necessary.”
Uriel looked at him, nodding “That is a good answer, and the one I expected,” He thought for a moment, “You mentioned consequences, your inability to see what is likely to be the outcome of an action, I can show you, loosely, how to get an idea of the actions and consequences.”
Merlin sat up a bit straighter “That would be interesting, but I can see a few problems already.”
Uriel smiled, “I thought you might, I think a brief discussion about
the nature of time may be in order.”
Merlin nodded.
“As you know,” said Uriel, “There is no problem in looking backwards in time, you do it all the time, when you watch the stars, you are seeing light that is millions of years old. With your mirror, you have looked back into the past and seen what happened.”
Merlin nodded again.
“That is easy; the past is all around us. We see it every day. The future though, that is another matter.
“I know the Druids taught you their divination techniques, how did you find them?”
Merlin thought for a moment, then laughed, wryly, “Loose and fluffy is the best way I can describe them.”
“Good, you see the problem,” said Uriel, “The problem is not the divination; it is the nature of time. You can see into the past because it has already happened, but it is difficult to look into the future, as that has not yet happened. Let me ask you a question. In the nearby village is a blacksmith.”
Merlin nodded “I know him.”
“I know, that is why I picked him. Perhaps you can describe what he will do tomorrow?”
“Well,” said Merlin, “Only in the broadest of terms, he will start the forge at the same time he always does, have the same breakfast, work till the same time and finish when the sun goes down, but what he will specifically do depends on so many things, the weather, how he is feeling, what customers may bring in ... Oh, I see.”
Uriel nodded, “Yes, you do see, even trying to predict what
