"What would you require as proof?" asked Merlin. And as he spoke, Billy reached up with his right hand and stretched his collar. "Gettin' a bit warm in 'ere," he said. With his left hand, he held up the handcuffs. "These yours?" he said.
Legault immediately brought up his pistol, but without even turning around, Merlin made it come flying out of his grasp. Legault cried out with alarm as it sailed across the room and landed in Billy's outstretched hand. As he held it up, the magazine detached itself and floated free. One by one, the bullets sprang out of the clip and came down to stand in a neat little row on the table in front of him.
"Jacqueline, luv, 'ave ya got a fag?" said Billy.
Jacqueline, her hands suddenly free, handed him a pack of cigarettes. As Billy shook one out and lit it with a jet of flame from his thumb, Legault cried out once again. He was suddenly handcuffed with the same bracelets that Jacqueline had been restrained with seconds earlier.
"Y'see, Inspector," Billy said, "we've been cooperatin' with you all along. We could 'ave easily popped off anytime we wanted to. Like this, see?"
Billy took Jacqueline's hand and snapped his fingers. They both suddenly vanished. A moment later, they came walking through the door of the interrogation room, past an astonished Legault.
'"Scuse me," said Billy, coming back to the table with Jacqueline and sitting down. "Can we 'ave done with the tricks now and get down to business?"
"Professor," said Raven, "it really is you!"
"I think perhaps I'd better sit down," Renaud said shakily.
Legault stood by the door, his hands still cuffed in front of him. He cleared his throat uneasily.
"Oh. Sorry," Merlin said, and the cuffs sprang apart and fell to the floor. Sheepishly, Legault bent down to pick them up.
"This is incredible," said Raven. "Why have you been arrested? Does anyone else know you're still alive?"
"And why are you with this woman?" asked Piccard-. "I recognize her now." He turned to his partner. "Her name is Jacqueline Monet. She is a notorious criminal."
"Yes, of course," said Raven. "I thought she looked familiar. What is this all about, Renaud?"
"In all honesty, I have no idea, mademoiselle," Renaud said, shaking his head with resignation. 'T was intending to hold them on suspicion of murder until I could find out more, but now ... I must admit that I am totally confused."
"Perhaps I can enlighten you," said Merlin, "but it is a long and rather complicated story. But before I begin, let me give you all fair warning. If, at the end, I am not absolutely convinced that I can depend upon your full cooperation and discretion in this matter, then Jacqueline and I will disappear and no one present in this room will have any memory of ever having seen us."
Renaud glanced at Raven. "He could actually do that?"
Raven nodded, her expression very serious. "Easily," she said. "He may be in the body of a boy, but if he wanted to, he could blast us all into oblivion in the blink of an eye."
"Comforting thought," Renaud said wryly. "If I've said anything to offend you, Professor Ambrosius—"
"Merlin will do."
"Uh, yes," said Renaud uneasily. "Well. . . Merlin . . . please accept my apologies."
"And mine, too," Legault added hastily.
"No need to apologize," said Merlin. "You were only trying to do your duty. However, first things first. Max Siegal is completely innocent. There is no. reason for you to hold him any longer."
"I will see to his release immediately," said Renaud.
"After we have had our conversation will be soon enough," said Merlin. "In the meantime, let me first answer your questions." He turned to Raven. "As to why we have been arrested, Inspector Renaud was fully justified in his suspicions. There has been a murder, or rather, a shooting in self-defense. As to whether or not the perpetrator actually died, we do not yet know that. As to whether or not anyone else knows about what's happened to me, it is a closely guarded secret. A small and very select group of people know, among them Chief Inspector Michael Blood of Scotland Yard; Captain Rebecca Farrell of the Los Angeles police force; Ben Slater, a Los Angeles reporter; and Dr. Sebastian Makepeace, of New York University. Two others who also knew are dead now. I.T.C. agents Faye Morgan and Thanatos."
"The ones who disappeared," Piccard said. "You were responsible for that?"
"No, don't be absurd," said Merlin. "They both died in the line of duty, slain by necromancers."
"Necromancers!" Raven said. "Then the rumors are true! There is some sort of conspiracy of necromancers!"
"Yes," said Merlin, "only it's far worse than you think. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. There are still many things you do not know. Such as the fact, for example, that the I.T.C. agent you knew as Faye Morgan was, in reality, a two-thousand-year-old sorceress named Morgan Le Fay."
Raven stared at Merlin with disbelief. "The Morgan Le Fay?" she said.
"The very same," said Merlin. "My very first pupil."
"But how could anyone possibly survive for two thousand years?" Renaud asked in astonishment. "Had she been in an enchanted sleep, like you?"
"No," said Merlin, "she was awake for all those years. She survived for so long for the same reason that I would have survived, had she not placed a spell upon me, partially suspending my life functions. We are both immortal. As is one other who knows about me, the last survivor of the days of Camelot. Arthur's son, Modred."
They stared at him, stunned. "Modred is still alive?" said Raven. "But according to history, he and Arthur killed each other!"
"If he had been mortal, as Arthur was, then he surely would have died," said Merlin. "But although everyone believed him dead, he recovered from his wounds and he is still very much alive and presently in Paris. And also on your 'most wanted' list. You know him as Morpheus."
"The professional assassin?" said Piccard.
"He was a hired assassin," Merlin said, "but he is no longer. I make no apologies for Modred, nor do I excuse his behavior or what he has done with his life. Perhaps I am to blame for that. Nor does Modred himself make any excuses for how he has lived his life. When you realize that he is a powerful adept in his own right, and has had over two thousand years in which to amass his resources and perfect his craft, then perhaps you'll understand why the I.T.C. has never been able to apprehend him. And even if you did, you would never be able to hold him. The only way you could stop Modred would be to kill him. An immortal can be killed, if the wound is immediately fatal, but after you have heard me out, I think you will agree that no matter what he has done in the past, Modred must now remain alive. And free."
"If I might interrupt a moment," said Piccard, somewhat dazed at all these revelations, "you keep mentioning immortality. How is that humanly possible?"
"It is not humanly possible," Merlin replied. "It is possible only because neither Morganna nor Modred were ever completely human. They were born half-breeds, as was I."
"Wait a moment," said Renaud. "You mean to tell us that there are actually inhuman creatures among us? Members of some alien race?"
"Not alien," said Jacqueline. "They were here long before we were. And they look a great deal like us. But they are not human."
"They were called the Old Ones," Merlin said. "An immortal race of magic users that dates back to the dawn of time. When primitive humans first appeared, they were already far more evolved than they were, with a well-developed civilization of their own. The myths of Atlantis and the lost continent of Mu are derived from them. They subjugated primitive humans and used them in their thaumaturgic rituals, killing them to obtain their life energy to empower their spells. Necromancy, in its earliest form. It is far older than the white magic that we practice now. The bloody rites of the ancient Egyptians, the sacrifices of the Aztecs, the Mayans and the Druids; the ritual killings of the Cult of Kali; all had their beginnings in the necromantic rites of the Old Ones. They became part of human folklore and mythology, the inspiration for the gods of the Greeks and Romans, the source of creat
ion myths and the basis for the legends of vampires, shapechangers and other supernatural beings. The Arabic tribes knew them as the Djinn. The Native American tribes called them Kachina and gave them other names, such as Gitchee Manitou. And the Celts called them, simply, the Old Ones."
"What happened to them?" Raven asked. "If they're still alive, why don't we know about them?"
"Because very few of them have survived," said Merlin. "At some time before recorded history began, there was a cataclysmic war between them, on the scale of one of your world wars. It came about when humans started to evolve and many of the Old Ones ceased to look upon them as animals, but as intelligent beings like themselves. Many of them came to feel that it was wrong to take human life for its thaumaturgic potential and they began to practice a new and more humane form of magic, one that did not kill the source of the spell's energy, but allowed for recovery. That was the beginning of white magic, so named for the Council of the White, the ruling body of the Old Ones, comprised of the most powerful sorcerers among them. But there remained among them those who did not share their concern for the developing humans, who did not wish to surrender the power that could be gained more quickly and easily through necromancy. These were called the Dark Ones and they rebelled against the authority of the Council of the White, which led to a devastating war. Its memory survives in human legends as the Ragnarok, the Gotterdamerung—the Twilight of the Gods."
They were all utterly still, hanging on Merlin's every word with awestruck expressions on their faces. For the first time, they were hearing the explanation to myths and questions that had puzzled humanity for centuries.
"In the end," said Merlin, "the Council of the White defeated the Dark Ones and there were only a few survivors left. The war had completely decimated the immortals. But the surviving Dark Ones still would not surrender to the Council's will, so they were entombed alive in a subterranean chamber deep beneath the Euphrates Valley. And to insure that the Dark Ones would remain imprisoned for all time, the surviving members of the Council gave up their lives to empower the greatest spell they ever cast. The spell of the Living Triangle.
'Three stones, three keys to lock the spell,
Three jewels to guard the Gates of Hell.
Three to bind them, three in one,
Three to hide them from the sun.
Three to hold them, three to keep,
Three to watch the sleepless sleep.'
And with the casting of the spell," continued Merlin, "they infused their life energies into three enchanted runestones— a ruby, a sapphire and an emerald. All save one of them. And that sole survivor of the Council placed the runestones in a small chest over the Dark Ones' tomb, as keys to lock the spell that would prevent them from escaping. That last member of the Council was my father, Gorlois. Like many of the Old Ones before him, he took a human for a wife. My mother. Morganna was also his daughter, by another human female. And throughout the years, those humans who possessed unusual abilities, such as extrasensory perception, and those who are capable of magic use today, such as yourselves, owe their talents to having had an Old One for an ancestor. But over the years, the strain became diluted until immortality was no longer passed on. And for thousands of years, the runestones kept the Dark Ones prisoner in their secret tomb. Until recently, when the runestones were discovered and removed."
"The Annendale Expedition!" said Piccard. "The dig sponsored by the American corporation and Shiek Rashid Al'Hassan!"
"Precisely," Merlin said. "And once again, I am partially to blame. When I awoke and brought back the discipline of thaumaturgy, the spread of magic throughout the world roused the Dark Ones from their slumber. They reached out against the power of the runestones, and though they could not escape, they drew upon the life energy released by the evil acts of mortal men and slowly, they grew stronger. And when Al'Hassan, who was the first of my students to achieve the rank of archmage, discovered the thaumaturgical trace emanations stemming from the site of their tomb, he co-sponsored an archeothaumaturgic dig, hoping to unearth ancient magical artifacts from prehistoric times. Instead, he became possessed by the power of the Dark Ones and they brought him to their hidden chamber. He removed the chest containing the runestones, thereby taking the key out of the lock and making it possible for the Dark Ones to escape as soon as they had grown strong enough. And for that to happen, Al'Hassan needed to cast a spell that would bring about the release of a tremendous amount of life energy, channeled directly to the Dark Ones."
"The cataclysms that occurred several years ago!" said Raven. "The tidal wave in Buenos Aires! The rain of fire in Moscow! The blackout and mass hysteria in New York and the earthquakes in Peking, Hawaii and the United Semitic Republics!"
"Exactly," Merlin said. "It was Al'Hassan's spell to release the Dark Ones. And he succeeded. We tried to stop him. Morganna died in the attempt, slain by Al'Hassan. I died when I lost my battle to contain the Dark Ones and my body fell into their pit as they came streaming forth. Yet even as the Dark Ones were being freed, the power of the Living Triangle struck back through its avatars, killing many of the Dark Ones. But an undetermined number of them managed to make good their escape, and now they are loose upon the world. And the power of the Living Triangle, working through the runestones, is the only thing on earth that is capable of stopping them."
"I recall a case involving three enchanted runestones," Raven said. "Faye ... or Morgan . . . was assigned to that case. They were stolen from a New York gallery by two young thieves, but the charges were mysteriously dropped."
"That's right," said Piccard. "And we've been trying to locate those two thieves ever since, to bring them in for questioning. Their names were—"
"Wyrdrune and Kira," Merlin said. "You will recall that I spoke of the avatars of the spell of the Living Triangle. They have become those avatars. The runestones chose them."
"They chose them?" said Renaud. "Inanimate gems?"
"They are not inanimate," said Merlin. "They are the repositories of the astral spirits of the Council of the White. And they each have bonded themselves to the three avatars. "
"Then who is the third?" asked Piccard.
"Modred, of course," said Merlin. "Each of them is descended from Gorlois, the last surviving member of the Council. Modred because he was Morganna's son. Wyrdrune and Kira because they are descended from her sisters, Elaine and Morgause. Wyrdrune was one of my pupils. A somewhat undisciplined young warlock who, when the power of the three runestones is combined, has powers even greater than mine. Kira is not an adept at all, yet under the combined presence of the runestones, she too can exercise incalculable power. And as for Modred, he is the strongest of the three. He was the one who defeated Al'Hassan."
Merlin turned to face Renaud. "Perhaps now you'll understand why Chief Inspector Blood and Captain Farrell were not entirely forthcoming with you. If knowledge of this became public, there would be mass hysteria. Every adept would be under suspicion of being an inhuman necromancer. The public would panic and strike out against magic users in their fear. And that would only serve to increase the Dark Ones' power. In Whitechapel, we tracked down one of the Dark Ones and destroyed him before he could come into his full power. In Los Angeles, we found two more and it was in the battle we had with them that your fellow agent, Thanatos, was killed. And now we have tracked several more to Paris. Tonight, Jacqueline encountered one of their acolytes, a man named Jacques Pascal, a human who had been possessed by them and sent out to kill, so that they could absorb the life energies of his victims. It was undoubtedly Pascal who was responsible for the murders of Joelle Muset and Gabrielle Longet. But this new murder you've told us about clearly indicates that the Dark Ones have at least one other acolyte, possibly more. And the manner of the murder would suggest that they have made a shapechanger. Or what you would call a werewolf."
"Mon Dieu!" said Renaud. "A werewolf! Such a thing is possible?"
"For the Dark Ones, almost anything is possible," said Merlin.
"Why on earth didn't you come to us?" asked Raven. "How could you keep such a thing secret from the I.T.C.? We could have helped you!"
"And you could have hindered us, as well," said Jacqueline. "How could you expect to go up against the Dark Ones when you could never even manage to apprehend someone like me, who is only a witch? Besides, Modred never trusted you. Al'Hassan, one of the directors of your own board, was in the service of the Dark Ones!"
"Those are not the only reasons," Merlin said. "I hope you will excuse Jacqueline's natural antipathy toward the I.T.C., but the fact remains that there is no way the agency could be mobilized to help us against the Dark Ones. Your bureaucracy has become large and unwieldy. There would be no way to insure that the information would not leak out to the public. We cannot work against the Dark Ones through organizations, only through trusted individuals. People like Michael Blood, Rebecca Farrell, Ben Slater and Sebastian Makepeace. And now you."
Raven nodded. "I see," she said. "You're right, of course. I can't dispute your logic. To alert the entire agency would entail far too great an element of risk. And if the Dark Ones are everything you say they are, it's possible that they could have already infiltrated us. Which would mean that we can't even trust our own people. I'm almost afraid to ask this question, but how do you know you can trust us? Isn't it possible that one or more of us could be in the power of the Dark Ones?"
Merlin smiled. "You're underestimating your old teacher, my dear," he said. "I know each of my students better than even their parents know them. If I had reason not to trust you, I'd see it in your thoughts. As for the possibility of your being in the service of the Dark Ones, if that were the case, then the stone set in this ring would have been glowing with a brightness that would almost blind you."
They all stared at the ring on Billy's hand.
"You mean that is a runestone?" said Piccard. "I thought you said that there were only three of them?"
"Three that are part of the Living Triangle," Merlin said. "This one is a fourth, not part of the spell, but equally as powerful in its own right. It holds the astral spirit of my father, Gorlois. And if any of you were in the service of the Dark Ones, I have no doubt that Gorlois would have manifested himself and killed you on the spot. And even if I wanted to, there would have been nothing I could do to stop him."
[Wizard of 4th Street 04] - The Wizard of Rue Morgue Page 11
