Merlin stared at them. His gaze traveled from their faces to their joined hands, then to the other solemn figures around the room. “You are dragons. Have the knights, then, given up hunting your kind?”
Appearing to recover from the awe of seeing the great sage awakened and on his feet for the first time in his life, Nate spoke, “No, sir, far from it. We’ve been directed all these years, in your name, to finish exterminating them.”
The old man blinked, then a scowl twisted his lips. “No, not in my name. The extinction of dragonkind was never my goal. Never my intention. They are as much creatures of magic as I am, and balance would be lost from the world should they all perish.”
Everyone in the room let out a collective, relieved breath.
Nate started from the beginning. He told Merlin about the current order and their goals. Their targets. Their recent kills. Astrid remained at his side the entire time, aware of the thick tension rolling off the other dragons. Friends and loved ones had been killed, and while Nate himself hadn’t been party to their deaths, their anger and pain painted him guilty by association. Tlaloc looked over twice, fury in his dark eyes.
Discussing Fafnir, Hermes, and Watatsumi tore open mending wounds, threatening the indifferent atmosphere.
When he finished his tale, Merlin shook his head and turned toward the nearest door. “There is much to do. Many wrongs to right. Betrayals to repay,” the old wizard said with renewed vigor in his voice. “Kay’s actions will not go unpunished.”
Nate immediately side-stepped in front of the wizard. “I mean no offense, but you’ve been asleep for a century. You’ll break a hip or something if you hurry out there,” he said. “Why don’t you sit down for a few while we catch you up on the last century?”
Merlin drew himself up into a proud, stiff-spined stance. His body creaked, and it clearly caused him discomfort. “I am Merlin, young man. I shall not ‘break a hip.’”
Nate resembled a little boy, chastised and flushed. “I don’t know how to tell you this, sir, but the times have changed since you last walked among humans. They’ve got cruise missiles, fighter jets, drones. Starbucks. It’s dangerous out there.”
Teo nodded sympathetically. “Starbucks is a great weakness for many.”
“Besides,” Astrid chimed in, “your robes would draw attention. No one dresses like that anymore unless they’re going to Renn Fair.”
“So I see…”
The wizard pursed his lips, looked around at the gathered men—Loki in particular—then clapped his hands together twice. Blue smoke swirled up from his feet and around his head. When it cleared, his robes were gone, replaced by a well-tailored, cream-colored suit. He wore an unbuttoned linen jacket over a rich, plum velvet waistcoat and lavender shirt with a purple plaid tie. Brown, Italian leather loafers, and a mahogany walking stick topped with a copper owl completed his look.
“Damn,” was all Nate had to say.
Astrid stared, and beside her, Loki’s mouth fell open.
“I hate you, old man,” the dragon muttered enviously. “This suit was a one of a kind design.” Grudgingly, he added, “But I must admit you wear it better.”
“Agreed. Though I hate to say it, waist-length beards are not a thing anymore unless you’re impersonating Saint Nicholas over the holidays or a member of the Amish community,” Maximilian said.
“Or in a motorcycle gang,” Chloe added.
“Ah.” Merlin snapped, and his magnificent beard morphed into a neatly groomed shape around his jaw, two feet shorter in length. His hair became collar length silver waves. “Acceptable?”
“Quite,” Saul replied.
“By all appearances, you are certainly prepared to re-enter society, but how do you feel?” Loki asked. “You’ve been under the effects of a violent curse for several human lifetimes.”
“I’ve certainly suffered a loss of magic, but this is a temporary setback,” Merlin admitted. “I require my belongings and access to my lair.”
“If all of your spell books and tools are behind in your lair, they’re as good as lost. I wouldn’t put it past Kay and the others to have raided your hideout to cripple your effectiveness if we awakened you.”
“That treacherous worm,” Merlin said, “is to blame for my extended sleep. In my dreams, I saw him curse me with the aid of a dark witch.”
“We suspected as much. Loki recognized the spell and removed it,” Nate said. “If I may ask, why didn’t you wake up to stop Kay if you saw them doing it?”
“I could not. I suspect he had prepared for a very long time. When I went to my rest, a great weariness came over me beyond what was typical. At the time, I thought nothing of it. We had defeated a great army, and I had taxed my magic to its limits. Now, though, I wonder if more was at play.”
“Poison perhaps,” Ēostre ventured.
Merlin nodded. “Yes, I believe so.”
“Where is Arthur?” Nate asked.
Merlin’s jaw tensed. “Kay has imprisoned him. He and the witch acted shortly after they incapacitated me and murdered him in cold blood. Through my dreams, I watched, incorporeal and helpless, as they bound his spirit in a stone.”
Max and Ēostre made eye contact.
“Grandma,” Astrid said in a whisper, “wasn’t Grandpa Fafnir’s spirit bound in a gem, too, by a dark witch.”
“Yes. Agnes had a small collection of such objects, but we freed all the trapped souls we found.”
“Which means Arthur’s must not have been one of them,” Astrid said.
“Then you know of the dark one who cast this foul curse upon me.”
“She’s dead. A dragoness murdered her to conceal those particular wrongdoings,” Loki replied. Maximilian turned to him and opened his mouth, but his cousin waved it off with a soft-spoken, “This is a conversation for another time.”
Nate rubbed his hand down his face. “I may have seen it, but I had no idea what it was at the time.”
“Describe it,” Ēostre requested.
“He wears this pendant with an enormous ruby jewel, and it’s always dangling from a chain he wears under his shirt. I asked him about it once when I was a kid, and he told me it came from a lover he had in a past life.”
Ēostre nodded. “It may be Arthur’s bound spirit. We must acquire this.”
“If Kay knows I am awake, he will take steps to ensure he remains in control. We mustn’t allow him the luxury of time.”
“Everyone isn’t loyal to him. I think Percivale and Lancelot are waiting for something like this.”
“The three of you and Sir Bors were always among the most dutiful and resolute of Arthur’s knights, and I sense all four of you live at present. Can they be located and brought here?”
“Now hold on a moment,” Saul protested. “While I have been forced to accept one slayer here, I am not certain I feel comfortable bringing his more experienced and bloodied brethren into my home.”
Astrid stepped over and set her hands against Saul’s arm. “Daddy, we need them. Go ahead and call your friends, Nate.”
Her father grumped but offered no further complaints. Chloe patted his back in sympathy.
Nate remained silent as he fired off a text to his fellow knights. After several exchanged messages, his shoulders sagged and he glanced up at the others.
“They’ve agreed to meet and discuss it. They’ll phone me when they decide what to do, but in the meantime, they’re clearing out their lockers and getting the hell out of dodge where the order is concerned. Kay’s been up to some shady shit.”
While the other dragons expressed their skepticism, Ēostre flashed a sunny smile at her fellow dragons then Merlin. “Then I suggest we all use this time to rest and cool our heads. Preferably over tea.” The epitome of serenity, she turned and strolled from the room. Max, and eventually the others, followed.
***
Once Astrid left Nate’s company to chat with her mother and father about their recent bonding, the other dragons chose to assemble i
n the pastures to sate their immense appetites. Max had wisely suggested for Tlaloc to eat and return to his human form before the trigger-happy and paranoid dragonslayers arrived and feared they had been drawn into a setup.
With their shapeshifting new allies divided around the property, Chloe guided Nate and Merlin to Saul’s man cave and left them unattended after serving them glasses of sweet tea. She promised to return with a meal for both.
Nate had to admit his new father-in-law had style. The leather sectional created an L-shape with an enormous chaise able to comfortably seat two or three people. At Chloe’s insistence, or rather, the insistence of his new mother-in-law, he’d kicked back in one of the two recliners to enjoy his drink.
“The dragon’s wife is courteous,” Merlin remarked after she served them with hearty breakfasts of fried eggs, fat sausages, and English muffins. He glanced down at the armrests then in their general area in awe.
“She is,” Nate agreed. Ravenous, he devoured his meal and swigged down a full glass of tea. He hadn’t much to say to Merlin, while his emotions coasted down a turbulent road shifting between admiration and resentment.
“I imagine you carry many questions for me. You do not yet recall your lives from before.”
Nate shook his head. “No, I haven’t slain a dragon yet, and I have no intention to do so. My memories are locked away.”
Merlin laughed, a deep, chortling sound. “Is that what he’s been telling you all?”
Confusion knit his brows together. “It’s what everyone says. What all the knights believe.”
“As if I’d use murder to unlock your memories. Barbaric.” Merlin scoffed and pushed his empty plate aside. “No, Galahad, each time a knight was reborn, all he had to do was sit in reflection at my resting place.”
“But… how could we not know that? Why don’t we remember? Percivale has been down to your tomb at least once, and I know in my heart he doesn’t condone Kay’s behavior.”
“It is true that slaying a dragon would jolt your memories, but it has nothing to do with the target and everything to do with the scar inflicted on the soul. Any extreme act of violence would do the same. By the same token, true joy and love would also encourage those memories to come forward. The ties of family. That is why I designed the bond between the knights to tie you to one another whenever possible in each lifetime.”
Nate snorted. “I hate to break it to you, but being Kay’s son was a horrible experience. My memories should have returned to me when I was seven by that logic.”
“It should never have been that way. I am sorry.”
“Why didn’t you reach out to us? You’re Merlin. You’re a legend.”
“With the soul scavenger leaching away my magical reserves, I was unable to reach any of you to deliver an adequate warning.” Merlin shook his head. “If only I hadn’t placed my trust in Kay. If I had foreseen the evil that would fester in his heart, I could have prevented all of this.”
“He fooled us all, it seems.”
“What of you? I sense something different about you. A close tie to these dragons. Astrid in particular.”
Nate spread his hands and sighed. If Merlin could sense their bond, then he wondered if the others would perceive the spiritual connection between them.
He decided he didn’t care. “We’re bonded. I love her. There isn’t much more to say than that I suppose.”
“Fascinating.”
“Fascinating?”
“Indeed. Love between our kind, slayer and dragon. It is a beautiful thing, Nate, and a gift well deserved. There were times in the past when there was a tentative peace between some members of their kind and our own, but I would have never thought such a thing possible as friendship and even affection.”
A delicate cough drew their attention to the djinn in the doorway. Mahasti offered them a pleasant smile. “Forgive the interruption, but your friends have entered the property. They will be here momentarily.”
“Come. Let us meet them beyond Drakenstone’s sanctuary and guarantee they have come in peace. I also imagine a dragon’s abode is daunting, to say the least, even for a knight,” Merlin said.
The dragons had beaten them to the punch. In their human shapes, they gathered outside to await the SUV coming up the private road. The vehicle parked several yards away, and Nate approached alone. Merlin waited beside Saul and Chloe.
“It’s all right,” Nate called out. He waved and stopped short of the vehicle. Three wary knights stepped from the SUV, bearing skeptical and reluctant expressions.
“Nate, do you swear on your sword and honor that this is no trap to lure us to the mercy of the enemy?” Bors asked.
“On my word, no harm shall come to any of you so long as peace is kept on our side.”
The three men had dressed in military-grade tactical gear. They sported protective body armor and concealed weaponry, augmented by enchantments and a host of charms to repel fire and the elements.
They hadn’t come without preparations of their own.
“No one is keeping me here against my will or making me lure you here. The dragons and Merlin only want to get to the truth.”
“Damn. It’s Merlin, after all.” Lancelot hung back, staring at the assortment of dragons peppering the drive. “If you hadn’t candid camera’ed a picture of him with the big black dragon in the background photo bombing the shot, I wouldn’t have believed he was awake.”
“Believe me, I’m still trying to reconcile it all, and I’m the one who busted him out of his cell.”
Lancelot crossed his arms. “Yeah, about that. Kay is frothing. He’s insisted that you’re under a spell and beyond our help. Nate, he’s issued a kill-on-sight order for you. Says you’re a lost cause this cycle and you’ve got to be recycled to your next life to repair the damage they’ve caused.”
Somehow he’d expected it, but deep down the knowledge stung. His flesh and blood father wanted him dead.
“I told him it was bullshit and I wouldn’t be a party to it. That’s about when you texted me.”
“Thanks, Lance.”
“No need to thank me for doing what’s right. Though I was beginning to wonder if the dragon chick really did ensorcell you.”
“It’s true,” Percivale agreed with a heavy sigh and drooping shoulders. “I had wondered myself, though she seems to have brought together a fine group of allies to help us make sense of this madness.”
“The knighthood is completely divided, Nate,” Lancelot said. “We’re not the only ones who doubted Kay, but we decided for our safety, we had to get out before he realized we weren’t part of his scheme.”
“Tell me the dragons have a plan of their own,” Bors said.
Nate grinned. “Why don’t you ask them yourself? Merlin is waiting on us. All of us.”
The great wyrm Tlaloc posed an intimidating figure whether in his dragon or human form. Percivale’s approach faltered, eyes fastened to the black dragon’s face until Nate encouraged him with a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“They will cause us no harm, and I’ve promised the same from the three of you.”
“A truce,” Lancelot agreed. “Nothing we haven’t done before on occasion before Kay lost his mind.”
“Exactly,” Nate agreed, as a fleeting memory resurfaced, only to disintegrate like wisps of smoke. Watatsumi, Hermes, and Arthur had once combined forces in the past.
But why? He’d have to ask Merlin. He clung tenaciously to the memory and led the others to the wizard with the dragons as casual observers to the reunion.
“It is you,” Lancelot whispered. He dropped down to one knee and bowed his head. Percivale and Bors followed suit. Nate remained standing.
“By the achievement of Sir Galahad and through no effort of my own,” Merlin replied. He gestured with his hands for them to rise. “There is no need to bow before me. I have failed you most grievously over these years, and for that, I apologize.”
Bors shook his head. “Perhaps we are the ones who
failed you. If we had doubted Kay and challenged him sooner, we would have realized you would never abandon us, Merlin.”
“None of this can fix what happened,” Nate spoke up. “What’s done is done. It’s about what we can change now before anymore innocent people, dragons or otherwise, lose their lives to Kay’s insanity.”
“Spoken wisely, Galahad,” Merlin agreed.
Percivale nodded. “Then we have to take the fight to Kay. It’s our only option.”
“Excellent. I hoped you would say as much,” Tlaloc said. He grinned. “I look forward to dispensing justice upon this Kay.”
Lancelot shook his head. “There are wards around our compound that will keep dragons from coming within five clicks of the perimeter.”
“But not Astrid.” Nate abhorred the idea of putting her in danger, but he wouldn’t bench her either. Her eyes darted to him, widened with surprise, and then a satisfied smile came over her face.
“But not me,” she agreed. “I’ll fight with you.”
“Excellent.” Merlin clapped his hands together. “Once within the compound, I can unravel the magical defenses. Long years of cursed sleep have damaged my magical fortitude, and I will require time.”
“We’ll give you as much as we can,” Bors said for them all.
“And we will be ready to move in when the barriers fall.” Saul folded his arms against his massive chest and regarded them with cool eyes.
Lancelot licked his lips. “I know we all need to work together, but sending a horde of dragons down on our brothers?”
“We will not go in with guns blazing, so to speak,” Max assured the knight. “Our focus will be Kay, and whichever knights stand with him after being given the chance to lay down their arms.”
“There’s going to be a lot of humans,” Nate said. “They’ve been recruiting heavily.”
“A lot of humans?” Bors repeated. “He’s got his army there. Kay takes in anyone with a gripe against the supernatural willing to pick up a rifle these days.”
Nate turned to his brothers and met their gazes without fear. “If he has an army, we better prepare ourselves to give him a war.”
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