The Dark Age

by Traci Harding

  ‘Pardon?’ Renford looked at the bird.

  That thee showed thyself.

  Renford turned to the others. ‘Did you hear that, the owl spoke. Didn’t it?’

  Though they had heard naught, all three nodded in the hope that Renford would pursue the conversation.

  Oh brother! We had best get thee back to normal Myrddin, one cannot bear to see thee living in such ignorance.

  ‘I beg thy pardon?’ Renford was insulted.

  Then, I forgive thee. The bird vexed him further. See that chalice over there?

  Renford turn and spied an old goblet. ‘Yes.’

  It be thy Holy Grail, Myrddin, where thee bade the Goddess to store thy knowledge. Go and drink from it. It is high time thee freed thyself from the menial existence thou hast been forced to lead.

  Renford didn’t know if he was suited to being a Merlin. ‘Art thou sure thou hast the right man?’

  One would wonder, I know, but I would recognise thee anywhere, old friend, trust me.

  Renford looked at his daughter for support, as he ever so slowly approached the piece in question.

  ‘It’s alright, Dad, really.’ Tory urged her father to do whatever the hell was being asked of him.

  Everyone held their breath as Renford reached out and took possession of the Grail. ‘Shouldn’t we put something in it first?’

  As Renford moved to turn the seemingly empty goblet upside down, Tory recalled how Taliesin had acquired his knowledge from a single droplet. ‘No Dad, the droplet, catch it.’

  Renford watched the drop fall from the rim of the chalice, and holding out his hand he chanced a catch that was successful. As the liquid splashed against his skin, Renford fell to his knees in much pain.

  ‘Dad!’ Brian moved to his aid but Tory held him by her side.

  ‘Stay back,’ she whispered. ‘He’ll be fine.’

  Brian wasn’t so sure he agreed with his sister’s diagnosis, for a brilliant white light shot out through his father’s eyes, nose, mouth and ears, forcing them all to turn away a second.

  When they heard Renford’s hysterical laughter, which seemed to have an added depth of lunacy about it, the three dared to look up.

  ‘The sleeper awakens!’ Myrddin announced, raising his arms into the air.

  Tory didn’t recognise her father at first, the man before them was so much younger and had so much more hair!

  Brian freaked. ‘Tory! Where is Dad?’

  Taller and more slender than Renford, Myrddin had long, jet-black hair that fell about him in wisps. A patch of white hair sprang from both his temples, making him appear all the more wise and weird. His face and features were more gaunt than before. His eyebrows were bushy, his beard and moustache trimmed and neat. Two streaks of white hair sprang from the corners of his mouth and ran through his beard to meet very neatly at a point below his chin, forming a perfect ‘V’ in amongst the black. The Merlin wore a long robe of dark blue, girdled at the waist, and a mantle about his shoulders. But his eyes were her father’s.

  Tory had inherited these same green eyes, where Brian’s baby blues had been passed on from their mother. ‘This is he,’ Tory, wonderstruck, concluded upon closer inspection. It is true then, I am the daughter of Myrddin.

  ‘Indeed, Taliesin is never wrong,’ the Merlin confirmed. ‘Speaking of which, we have to save him.’

  ‘No, it’s Naomi we have to save,’ Brian told him.

  ‘And Teo,’ Tory added.

  ‘Well, I was close.’ He winked at Tory, before looking to the owl. ‘Tobias, old friend.’ He wandered over to have a chat.

  ‘Now I have seen everything.’ Miles was looking rather pale.

  ‘How are we ever going to explain this to Mum?’ Brian whispered to Tory.

  ‘We don’t explain anything to anyone. For I am …’ Myrddin looked at Brian, transforming himself back to Renford’s form, ‘our secret.’ He chuckled. ‘Fear not my lad, Mahaud will pay.’

  27

  THE RETURNING

  Myrddin declared that they needed to draw Mahaud further into Gwynedd and away from the borders of the old Saxon country in Oxfordshire, so the party headed to the cottage at Aberffraw. Rose and Renford had been having a lovely discussion on the way there. Renford had returned to the car with the others a much changed man, and had apologised to his sister for his profound ignorance of her abilities all these years. He vowed from now on that she would find him far more open-minded.

  Brian drove this time as, unlike Miles, he was having no trouble keeping his eyes open; he was worried sick about Naomi.

  Tory placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘The hell you saw was just an illusion, Brian, designed to appeal to your greatest fears.’

  Brian showed her the burn marks on his hand. ‘Is this an illusion, Tory?’

  ‘In a way, yes. It is just the result of a clash of polarities, which you lost, because Mahaud’s will was more focused and therefore stronger than yours.’

  Myrddin sat forward in his seat to verify Tory’s claim. ‘Mahaud is what is known as a Mental elemental, she feeds off negative thought patterns. She has made mental and mystical psychism her forte, so as soon as you display a negative emotion or have a negative thought, you are granting her control over the conscious, then subconscious or subliminal level of your mind. If she obtains a firm hold, as with Teo, she can pollute your superconscious and universal mind as well.’

  As Brian still looked a little confused, Tory outlined the situation. ‘Mahaud would have overawed you with her horrors, vexed you to the point where you lost your temper, and then bypassed your conscious to your subconscious to suggest that the door would burn you when you touched it. As you believed that she was the greater force, you accepted the notion instead of rejecting it.’

  ‘But how am I to reject a notion, if I don’t even know of its existence, that’s not fair.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Myrddin stated with conviction. ‘Mahaud represents all that is unfair, unwise and impure, so believe nothing she presents to you. Trust your instincts, stay positive, and know your own mind. Then nothing can harm you.’

  Brian pulled into the driveway at the cottage, bringing the car to an abrupt halt. ‘Are you telling me that I could’ve just walked over to Teo and reclaimed Naomi from him, there and then?’

  ‘If thy belief had been strong enough, yes.’

  ‘Shit!’ Brian thumped the steering wheel.

  ‘Hey Brian, you wanted action,’ Tory reminded him as he opened his door in a huff.

  Myrddin nodded in agreement as he climbed out of the car after Rose, stretching and exclaiming rather loudly, ‘Ah, Aberffraw!’ He wandered around the grounds of the cottage. ‘This will do just fine. There be a transverse of energies here that should serve our purpose nicely.’

  ‘A ley crossing, you mean?’ Tory inquired.

  ‘Indeed.’ He walked off to the lawn behind the cottage, rather excited.

  Tory turned her attention from the Merlin to Miles who was still sleeping in the back seat of the car, and noticed he was shaking. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Die witch!’ he cried, becoming agitated.

  ‘Miles,’ Tory shook him, ‘wake up.’

  ‘Huh!’ He sat up, eyes parted wide and full of fear. ‘Tory!’ He grabbed her and held her tight. ‘I saw your body fall on the stone ground in a great pool of blood. I saw a bat, I saw a necklet.’

  ‘Waistlet,’ Tory corrected, stroking his hair to pacify him. ‘Fear not, it was my past you saw.’

  ‘And you survived?’ Miles sat back, unable to shake the feeling of dread and loss he felt. He vaguely recalled seeing this vision before when Maelgwn had been speaking to Tory of the crone, but it hadn’t affected him then as it did now.

  ‘I did.’ She smiled. ‘I have to go check what my father’s up to, will you be okay?’

  When Miles nodded, she kissed his cheek and made off around the back of the house.

  Tory caught up with her father. He’d stopped in the middle of the gras
sy flat and was concentrating on seeking the point where the energy grid crossed.

  ‘Pardon my ignorance,’ Tory said to him. ‘But weren’t such doorways usually land-marked by the Ancients?’

  ‘Do you recall a large sundial?’

  ‘Yes, in the courtyard.’

  ‘It would have been located about here, wouldn’t you say?’ Myrddin sized up a location before him.

  ‘Aye, that’s about right.’ Though everyone else saw him as Renford, Tory chose to see her father as he truly was. She found it comforting to see him so young and virile. Myrddin, holding his palms together and his arms outstretched, pointed his fingers towards the ground. With a deep breath, he lunged forward and spread his arms. As he did so, the earth before them piled aside into a tidy mound around the sundial’s perimeter.

  ‘By the Goddess, Renford.’ Aunt Rose was aghast. ‘You have come a long way.’

  ‘Thank you, dear lady.’ He bowed. ‘’Twas nothing really.’

  ‘That was just great. Wait till Miles gets a load of this,’ Tory squeezed her father’s arm, before taking off to fetch Miles. ‘I’m so excited to have you back!’

  ‘Well, I’m so pleased to be here,’ he exclaimed.

  Tory just laughed; he was so different, kind of mad, yet all-knowing. Now she knew at least two other souls who were in the same predicament as her, as Myrddin and Taliesin were also everlasting. Perhaps there are more of us, Tory considered, as she rounded the cottage to find Miles and Brian sprawled out on the ground.

  Brian was just sitting up when Tory ran to his aid. ‘What happened? Are you alright?’

  ‘Great!’ He stood up and jumped about. ‘I made it here before Maelgwn did. See, he still be out cold.’ He staggered about, a little woozy.

  ‘Brockwell!’ Tory nearly fell over. ‘What art thou doing here?’

  ‘I have come to fight Mahaud.’ He reached for his sword and was confused when he found it missing. ‘They said I couldn’t do it, but I be here alright.’ He looked over at the car rather cautiously.

  Miles stirred and Tory knelt down to help him. ‘And who are we at the moment?’

  Upon seeing her, he pulled her down close and kissed her.

  ‘That had better be you, Maelgwn,’ Tory threatened.

  ‘Aye.’ He smiled broadly, propping himself up onto his elbows. ‘Now, tell me why thou hast chosen to stay here to confront Mahaud, when she surely would have followed thee back?’

  ‘Because she holds Katren hostage.’ Tory used the name Katren instead of Naomi so Maelgwn would understand who she meant, totally forgetting how Brockwell would react.

  ‘What! How?’

  ‘Calm, Calin. I do not mean thy wife. Her name be Naomi, she be my brother’s lady. But as thou art Brian, Katren be Naomi, understand?’

  ‘Aye …’ Brockwell thought but a second, ‘then we must save her.’

  ‘Well, Myrddin be around the back working on that right now. Thou should go and let him know of thy arrival.’ Tory gave him a slap on the shoulder and headed him off in the right direction. She considered it was rather good that Brockwell would be filling in for her brother through all this, as Brockwell wasn’t as personally involved and would not be as easily distracted by Mahaud’s tricks.

  ‘Come on.’ Tory helped Maelgwn to his feet. ‘The house be much more comfortable.’

  As they walked, Maelgwn was very quiet. They paused to unlock the door and he touched Tory’s chin, turning her around to look him in the eye. ‘Be Miles part of the reason thee wanted to stay?’

  ‘Nay.’

  Maelgwn followed her inside, silently closing the door behind them. ‘Thee told him thee loved him, Tory. Be that true?’

  So it works the other way round; Maelgwn also recalls Miles’ thoughts and memories. ‘Of course I do, I love thee!’ Tory was burning up and her heart began to pound in her chest. ‘But I haven’t so much as kissed him, Maelgwn. In fact, he never even tried!’

  ‘I know.’ He held his palms up to her, motioning her to calm down. ‘What I be trying to say be that, if thee wishes to stay here in the future with me, I understand, for ’twas most probably the way it was meant to be in the first place.’ Maelgwn had to say it, though he’d fought through every syllable.

  ‘Goddamn it, Maelgwn!’ Tory sounded annoyed with him as she grabbed hold of the collar of his shirt. ‘How many times do I have to tell thee! I love thee! I wed thee! I even had thy child, which, by the way, I would not have endured for another living soul.’ She took a deep breath, and was forced to a smile when Maelgwn relaxed. ‘Yet, still thee can doubt it. I am coming back! I already have the means, I found the Chariot of Arianrod.’

  ‘Truly?’ Maelgwn couldn’t believe it. ‘That be the only one of the Thirteen Treasures which Taliesin doth not possess. He never did find it.’

  ‘Then that confirms my return. He hast been unable to find it because I am to bring the chariot back to him when I return. That be why it was not with the other twelve Treasures when Taliesin found them. How could it be, when I will have taken it back already? Time be very deceiving, indeed.’

  ‘Taliesin will be beside himself if this be the case, as the chariot would simplify his life greatly.’

  ‘I do not mean to interrupt.’ Myrddin walked right through the wall of the cottage. ‘But I need to use thy phone.’

  ‘Myrddin, thou hast found thyself at last.’ Maelgwn was very pleased to meet him face-to-face.

  ‘Thanks to thee, Maelgwn, old son. How art thou, and how fare all in the Gwynedd of old?’

  ‘Very well indeed,’ the King replied.

  ‘Yet I be sure it would be even more so if we could get thy lovely Queen back to thee. So if it pleases thee, the phone?’

  Tory pointed to it, a little surprised, but asked naught of his intent.

  He dialled a number. ‘Stay very quiet,’ Myrddin instructed them before turning back to the phone. ‘Teo! What are you doing there?’

  The Merlin spoke with Tory’s voice, and she was so shocked she nearly forgot his instruction and laughed out loud.

  ‘I do realise that, yes. I’m not going now,’ the Merlin informed Teo. ‘It’s a very long story, is Brian there?’ He paused. ‘No, I’ve been looking for him all night, and Naomi. Have you seen them?’ He paused again, appearing rather amused. ‘Teo, is there something wrong? You were acting a little strange last time we met.’ His tone became more inviting. ‘No, I forgive you, you should just take better care of yourself.’ He suppressed a laugh. ‘Well if you do see Brian, tell him I’ve got a couple of problems that I really need to discuss with him. Tell him to call me urgently.’ He waited for the next query. ‘Oh, Miles got called away to some island off the coast of Africa, and I can’t find Dad or Aunt Rose anywhere.’ He winked at Tory. ‘Look, I can’t talk, the baby’s crying.’ Myrddin pointed to a distant corner of the room and the sound of a child crying resounded for all to hear. ‘I’m still at the cottage, so he can call me here. Thanks Teo. Bye.’

  Tory and Maelgwn shook their heads, amazed by the man’s brilliance.

  ‘She suspects a trap,’ the Merlin informed them with a smile. ‘Thus she shall certainly bring the girl as a hostage.’

  ‘I believed it,’ Maelgwn assured him.

  Myrddin shrugged. ‘Whether she did or not, she will come. So we must prepare. Tory, grab your saxophone. There be a little tune I wish to teach thee.’

  Tory moved to do so at once, although she thought his timing rather inappropriate. ‘Haven’t we got more important things to do right now?’

  The Merlin smiled. ‘This tune be known to some as the Pan call.’

  ‘I’ll be right back.’ Tory hastened to fetch the instrument.

  Myrddin explained that each elemental had an appropriate musical note, which resonated to its correct frequency: Fire – C, Air – E-flat, Water – G, Earth – F. These four notes, when played in the right sequence and key, comprised the Pan call. But Myrddin warned her that the forces of Pan should never be summo
ned unless truly required, for Pan’s energies were known to be highly stimulating and if not used once invoked, could cause complete havoc. The true power of the Pan ray was that of healing, especially in cases of fever. The only way to destroy Mahaud was to charge her with as much positive energy and love as they could summon, for this was poisonous to the evil crone.

  Evening found them all well briefed by the Merlin. No matter what took place, it was imperative that they all maintain a positive view; anger and fear were the air Mahaud breathed. Myrddin cast an etheric shield around his novices. He explained that the invisible shield of white light would block out harmful thoughts from any earthlings, or earth-bound entities from the etheric world. It was a kind of sealing of one’s aura, preventing the witch from detecting their presence before they wished to make themselves known.

  Once they had Mahaud surrounded, the Law of Rebound (a greater force will always rebound a lesser power) would come into play; there would be no escape for the evil crone this time. But their success depended upon maintaining a focused and positive outlook as a combined power. If they could sustain this unity, any negative force Mahaud projected at them would rebound back on herself as positive energy.

  The evil witch would be taking a great risk venturing so far into fairy country. But the idea of Tory and her child left alone and defenceless would be far too attractive for the witch to resist. The moon was waning, which would work very much in their favour, as practitioners of magic knew this was the time of the month for endings, undoings, eliminating and separating. In addition, Mahaud still hadn’t an inkling of Myrddin’s involvement, which put them at a very definite advantage.

  The stage was set and all lay waiting in the shadows for the crone to make herself present.

  Rose, Brockwell, Maelgwn and Myrddin were all armed with one of the four implements, by means of which they could each summon an element. The Merlin had brought this personal collection from amongst the antiquities in his cave. These were the tools he used when performing such rites. The choice of who would be best to summon each element was decided by their individual birth signs.