The Timeless One

by James Riley

  Fort just stared at him for a moment. “No. He told me not to fight! He’s made it pretty clear that if I help them, we will lose. Why would he tell me that if he secretly wanted me to fight?”

  “Because if you hadn’t felt so down on yourself, and looking for some way to help, you might not have used Learn on the book of magic,” Cyrus said, sighing. “He knows how to manipulate people, Fort. He’s done it six times so far.”

  Fort’s mouth felt dry, and he couldn’t believe this was all true. “But… he couldn’t have known. It was all coincidence. I only have Ember because of D’hea freaking out at the tar pits. Without her, I would never even have needed the book of dragon language—”

  “Who do you think made sure that dragon egg in the tar pits hatched before D’hea got there?” Cyrus said, glaring at him. “You don’t get what I’m saying. Merlin’s been around for an eternity. He can arrange things hundreds of years in advance, and has. And now he’s manipulating you, too! And I can’t let that happen. I won’t let him change the fate of this entire world just because he thinks knows best!”

  “No, that’s not possible,” Fort said. “No one could plan things out to that level. He couldn’t be human!”

  “Yes!” Cyrus shouted, slapping his shoulder. “Now you’re finally getting it.”

  Fort swallowed hard, not liking what that sounded like. “Getting what?”

  “That he’s not human,” Cyrus said. “Merlin looks like one, just like you looked like a soldier a second ago, but he’s not.”

  Fort felt his entire body go cold. “Then what is he?”

  “What do you think?” Cyrus said. “He’s an Old One.”

  - THIRTY -

  CYRUS’S REVELATION HIT FORT LIKE a punch to the stomach. “Merlin… is an Old One?” he said, barely able to say the words. “But—”

  “That’s how he’s manipulated humankind for centuries,” Cyrus said. “I’ve seen it, Fort. That’s the real reason I was in his cottage, to learn as much as I could about him, and to see if I could stop his plan. But he knew what I was doing and pulled some strings so I’d be sent away by William. It’s no coincidence that Sierra woke William and the rest up when she did. Merlin had everything exactly where he wanted it, using his own magic to send the other Carmarthen students back to the precise moment he wanted them, before Sierra and Damian could get the book of Time magic.”

  Fort fell back against one of the frozen soldiers, feeling faint again. “But… you brought us to him,” he said quietly. “You told me to bring the book of Spirit magic to his cottage! You had us in the home of an Old One, and thought that was okay? Cyrus, what were you thinking?”

  The other boy looked away. “I knew he wouldn’t interfere, not directly. You three were too important to him. And I needed to know what was coming next.” He turned back to Fort sadly. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you all of this at the time, but he knew I was trying to stop him and would have sent me away before William did if I’d revealed what I knew.”

  “You’re sorry?” Fort shouted. “You just told me the guy who’s been training Jia and Rachel for months is an Old One!” He paused as that fact really sank in. “I ate his stew! So did my poor baby dragon!” He turned away, gritting his teeth. “Which one is he, Cyrus?”

  “Pardon me?” Cyrus sounded confused by this. “What do you mean?”

  “Which Old One is he?” Fort said. “What’s his magic? We’ll need to know if we’re going to fight him. That, and how he got back to our planet. If Merlin found a way to return after they were all exiled, we have to make sure none of the rest can follow him.” He looked up at the ceiling, thinking out loud. “He knows Time magic, but that can’t be his specialty, since the Timeless One is already the Old One for that magic. Unless there are multiple Old Ones of each type?” He shuddered at the thought. “If that’s the case, we might be in real trouble—”

  “Merlin wasn’t exiled,” Cyrus said. “He’s always been here. But it doesn’t matter, because you don’t have to fight him. You couldn’t even if you wanted to—he’s far too powerful. To beat Merlin, all you need to do is keep this sword away from Rachel—”

  This threw Fort again. “Wait, go back. I thought they all were exiled. All but the Timeless One.”

  Cyrus sighed deeply. “Fine, okay, yes, you’re right,” he said. “All but the Timeless One were exiled.” He rubbed his temples. “I suppose I do have to explain this. Let’s back up a minute. Have you ever heard the stories about how Merlin lives backward in time? That part made it into the King Arthur tales and is basically true, if not very descriptive.”

  “Backward in time? What does that mean?” Fort said.

  “The easiest way to imagine it is that he’s born in the future, lives his life in reverse, and dies in the past. Are you with me so far?”

  “Not even a little bit,” Fort said, trying to wrap his head around how that could be possible. “Does everything just look like it’s moving backward to him then?”

  “Yes, but he just uses Time magic to align himself with the rest of us whenever he needs to manipulate events.”

  “So he does know Time magic?” Fort said. “Does that mean there are multiple Old Ones?” He winced. “If we have to face two Old Ones of Spirit magic, we’re done for.”

  “I’m getting to that,” Cyrus said, sounding almost miserable. “Merlin does live backward: He was born at the end of time and, assuming he doesn’t get killed along the way, will live until the very beginning. But think about how long that is, Fort, between the beginning and end of everything. Trillions of years, if not more.”

  “I don’t see how this—”

  “I’m saying, in that long a time, immortals can change. You’ve grown and progressed even in the months since I’ve met you, Fort. And even someone as eternal as an Old One can evolve, become someone new, especially over so many millions of years.”

  Fort groaned at trying to follow this. “Cyrus, what are you saying? That Merlin isn’t the same person he was when he was younger? I don’t get how this has anything to do with which Old One he is.”

  “That is what I’m saying, and it matters here,” Cyrus said, looking like he was suffering from his own headache now. “Over that long a time, we’re not talking about changing small things, like going from loving cakes to hating them. After a few hundred million years, anyone could change dramatically, to the point that they might not even recognize their younger self. They’d be almost an entirely different person.”

  “Just tell me what you’re trying to say!” Fort shouted, getting more confused by the minute.

  “I’m saying that Merlin is an Old One, and has been on our world for all his life. And I’m also saying that only the Timeless One was left here when the rest of his family were exiled. Do you see now?”

  Fort just blinked a few times, only for Cyrus’s point to finally click, and his mouth dropped open.

  “What?” he shouted. “No. No way. No!”

  “Merlin is the Timeless One,” Cyrus said, nodding. “And I know how that sounds, believe me. But when someone can live for an eternity like the Timeless One, and use Time magic to travel to any point in history, you can see how the same creature can—”

  “Can what, fight himself?” Fort said, his headache now back and pounding almost as bad as when he’d learned the book of magic. “How can that even be possible? And don’t say Time magic, because that just makes me more confused!”

  “The Timeless One is Merlin’s younger self, literally millions of years younger,” Cyrus said. “And they want different things. Younger Emrys, that’s the Timeless One’s real name, he wants the other Old Ones to return to this world, whereas Merlin wants to rule everything by himself. It’s for this reason that they can’t fight each other directly, because if older Emrys destroyed his younger self, it’d create a time paradox, and probably rip apart the whole universe.”

  Fort’s eyes widened with horror. “Oh, of course! ” he shouted. “Because we can’t hav
e one Old One fighting himself. That’d be too strange!” He groaned loudly. “Two Timeless Ones? Seriously? Now we have to use Excalibur on both of them?”

  “No, that’s the whole reason I’m telling you this!” Cyrus said, leaning in close. “Fort, you can’t face the Timeless One. Merlin is setting you up. He doesn’t care if any of you live or die. All he wants is to defeat his younger self, so he can win. If you and the others try to fight the Timeless One, you’ll—”

  “Lose?” Fort said.

  “Yes, almost assuredly,” Cyrus responded bitterly. “But even if you beat him, then Merlin will still be around to take over the world. The only way to keep either of them from besting the other is to refuse to play. They’ll keep each other in check, which is the best we can do for a being of such power.”

  Fort stared at him for a moment, lost in his thoughts, then slowly nodded. “Okay. I think I finally get it then.”

  “You do?” Cyrus asked. “So you agree with me? You won’t play his game? You’ll leave the sword here?”

  Fort looked at his friend, the only one who wanted anything to do with him from the moment he’d arrived at the Oppenheimer School. As much as he’d never really understood Cyrus, Fort had always been so thankful for him just being there and not thinking worse of Fort for being less powerful than the others.

  And he’d seen Cyrus’s magic firsthand and knew it was real. Cyrus really could see everything he’d claimed to have seen, and Fort couldn’t imagine his friend had any reason to lie about it all. Not to mention that it made an awful sort of sense: Of course Merlin wouldn’t want Rachel or Jia to tell Fort that their trainer was actually the Old One they intended to fight. He still didn’t know why his friends had stuck with Merlin, but he could ask them that later.

  For now, Cyrus needed an answer.

  Fort took a deep breath, then opened his mouth to say—

  “Don’t,” Cyrus interrupted, wincing. “I saw you making this choice but hoped you’d listen, given our friendship.” He sighed deeply, down to the bone. “I could stop you, Fort. I think we both know that.”

  His hands began glowing with black light.

  Fort took a step backward, knowing that he’d never have a chance to stop Cyrus, not if the other boy really wanted to keep him from the sword. A flurry of magical words passed through his mind, but none made sense, none would stop a Time magician as powerful as Cyrus—

  “And I want to stop you,” Cyrus continued, “for the sake of everything. But not if it means I’d have to hurt you. I won’t do that. Not for anything.”

  The light faded from his hands, and Fort blinked, not having seen this coming at all.

  “I have to hear it from him, Cyrus,” Fort said quietly. “I heard everything you said, but I can’t let this go. I have to take the sword and get the story directly from him.”

  Cyrus nodded and slowly smiled at Fort. “The very first time we met, you told me we’d end up being the best of friends, and that our friendship would change everything. You probably don’t remember that, but it’s true. And I hope that’s still the case.”

  Fort nodded, even though he remembered Cyrus saying they’d be best friends, not Fort himself, but he didn’t want to argue the point. “I’ll be back, Cyrus. And if Merlin admits to it all, maybe I can figure out a way to fix this. I’m sorry—I really am.”

  And then, before Cyrus could respond, Fort teleported himself, Rachel, the Jia golem, and the sword away.

  - THIRTY-ONE -

  FORT LANDED ON THE GRASS outside the destroyed cottage, with Jia’s golem, Rachel, and the case with Excalibur in it appearing right beside him. The clearing was empty, which made sense, as he’d left Ember inside the cottage, but still, everything felt eerily silent.

  Instead of thinking about it, Fort turned to the others and raised his hands up over Rachel and Jia’s golem. “Start!” he yelled in the language of magic, hoping that would cancel his Stop spell.

  Nothing happened.

  Uh-oh. Fort tried a few more phrases, from Restart Time to Move Again, My Friends! but nothing seemed to work. Finally, he gave up, realizing that maybe this was for the best. After all, Rachel and Jia apparently already knew Merlin’s secret, so it was fitting that Fort face the Old One alone now, to confront him about it.

  Which meant there was no putting off what had to happen next.

  Fort took a deep breath, then opened the case with Excalibur.

  The last time he’d held the sword, it’d set him on fire after judging him unworthy. Jia claimed that the sword had changed its mind by the time Fort had taken down William in his monstrous, Spirit-magic-filled form, but he knew he couldn’t count on those good feelings anymore.

  Still, if the sword’s whole purpose in life was to take down the Timeless One, Fort intended to help it with that. So maybe it could listen to reason for once.

  “Listen, Excalibur,” he said, his hand pausing in the air just over the sword’s hilt. “I know we got off to a bad start, but I want you to know that I’m on board with your whole mission. I’m happy to be your partner here and let you do all the work. Together, we can take away the Old One’s magic, okay? But I’m going to need you to not burn me alive in the process. Deal?”

  Fort paused, but there was no response from the sword. After a few seconds, he rolled his eyes, not sure what he’d been expecting. Still, after everything else, a talking sword shouldn’t have been out of the question.

  “Deal!” someone shouted, and Fort leaped backward in surprise, only to realize the voice came from the door knocker. “Ha, did I get you?” the imp shouted.

  “No!” Fort shouted back, lying completely. “And hey, did you know you’re answering doors for an Old One?”

  “Times are tough,” the imp said. “And an imp’s got to work.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to say you’re going to lose your job,” Fort said, his hand still hovering over the hilt. “Because I’m about to take Excalibur inside and use it on Merlin.”

  “Like I haven’t heard that one before,” the imp said, which didn’t sound good.

  Still, whether the sword was going to judge him or not, he’d wasted enough time. Fort spread his fingers out wide, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then quickly grabbed the sword, wincing in anticipation.

  Shockingly, he didn’t feel anything but the cool hilt of the sword, so he happily opened his eyes, only to yelp in surprise as he found flames running from the tip of the blade toward the hilt, coming straight for his hand.

  “Ahh!” he shouted, but didn’t let go. He’d used his Healing spell on his hand before, and would just have to do it again.

  But before the flames reached his hand, they seemed to pause at the cross guard of the sword—and stopped. He slowly lifted Excalibur up out of the box and stared at it in amazement. “Are you really not going to burn me?” he asked.

  The flames pushed down toward the hilt once more, and again Fort flinched. But just like the last time, they paused, then pulled back up to the blade.

  Apparently that was his answer? If so, the sword had found a way to talk.

  “Aw, it likes you!” the imp door knocker shouted. “Doesn’t think you’re worthy, granted, but it likes you. That’s adorable.”

  “Do you… speak its language?” Fort asked, holding the sword out for the door knocker to see.

  “It’s a sword—it doesn’t speak a language,” the imp said, giving Fort a questionable look. “No, I’ve just seen more than one Artorigios here, and it isn’t always the biggest fan of them. Respects them, sure. They’re heroes, after all, and worthy of wielding it. But you, it seems to have taken a shine to. Otherwise it’d let the flame burn you.”

  Fort looked down at the hilt, just an inch away from the flames. He could feel the heat on his hand, but not in an uncomfortable way, which was odd, considering how hot the fire had been last time he’d held the sword. Even now, waving his other hand a few inches over the sword felt far too close, given the flames’ heat.

&nbs
p; “Thank you,” he said to Excalibur, and meant it. He’d never had a sword want to be his friend before, even if it didn’t think he was worthy of carrying it. “I hope I can win your respect through what we’re about to do.”

  The sword’s flames intensified for a moment, then diminished back to their previous state. Fair enough.

  Fort picked up the ruined door from the ground, held it in place with his free hand, then pulled it open with the hand holding Excalibur, ready for anything. Merlin could see the future, so he had to know Fort was coming. He braced himself.…

  But the only one inside the cottage was Ember, curled up in dragon form on the table, the pot of stew now lying on its side on the floor, half-eaten and licked clean.

  “Ember, come out here,” Fort said in the language of magic, and the dragon looked up at him in surprise, then quickly stood and slunk out the doorway.

  “Hello, Father,” she said to him. “I am glad you’ve returned, as I’m hungry and wish to go hunting. Do you still intend to take me?”

  Fort winced. “Uh, not just yet. I have to take care of something inside, but I need you to wait out here. Can you do that for me?”

  The little dragon tilted her neck to give him a questioning look, before getting excited as she noticed Excalibur’s flames. “What do you have to take care of? Is it burning something? Because I would very much enjoy burning something just as much as hunting!”

  “No, it’s not burning anything,” Fort said quickly, trying to hide the flaming sword behind his back, then giving that up as pointless. “This is for, uh, decoration.”

  She gave him a suspicious look, and he knew he wasn’t fooling her. “Whatever you say, Father.” She turned to look at Rachel and Jia’s golem. “I assume I shouldn’t hunt the other human and the possessed sculpture, then? They would not be much of a challenge in their state?”