“Dude, my head’s swimming,” said Kellan and he reached for his water. “How are you keeping time frozen this long? Hell, how are you freezing time at all.”
“I’m Merlin.”
“Bullshit, how are you doing it.”
“I am Merlin, and your understanding that is foundational for what we must do together Kellan. But, to your specific question, I have not frozen time. That is an ability reserved only for Sentinels and the Creator. I have just temporarily removed us from Time.”
“Huh?” said Kellan.
“Think of it this way. Time is a river and you have the ability to make that river flow faster, slower, or stop altogether. I cannot do any of the three. However, I can make people or things act like a large rock in that river. I can make time flow around us and ignore us as if we were not here. Your friends continue on as they were and when we are done here, will be none the wiser for having flowed around us.”
“I don’t get it,” said Kellan and looked to Shannon. She shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll explain it further at another time. I’ll even teach you if you like, but for now, I need you to come with me so we can talk more privately.”
“Oh, no he’s not,” said Shannon and one of her mysteriously hidden daggers appeared in hand. “You haven’t seen me in centuries, Oren, and you are not taking Kellan off to be killed somewhere.”
“Why on earth would I want to do that, Shannon?” he asked, sounding hurt.
“Because that’s what happens with Kellan. Someone shows up. He leaves and he gets dead, or hurt, or both.”
Kellan leaned in, “Isn’t it hard to get dead without getting hurt as well?”
“Kellan Thorne,” she growled
He smiled and kissed her cheek before returning his attention to Merlin. “Listen, I’ve had a really shitty day so far. I mean, you have no idea what I’ve—”
“You met with Lucifer, helped Michael save Ariel, and collapsed the pocket universe Lucifer had formed to try and affect creation.”
“Ok, so you do have an idea. Somehow. But my point is that’s enough for one day. I just want to finish my meal, go home, watch The Crown on Netflix and try to find where else Shannon has hidden her daggers. I think I’ve earned it.”
He could see Shannon nod in agreement when Merlin raised one hand in a placating gesture. “Please, just hear me out. I promise on the soul of my sister that I will not be taking you into danger. To the contrary, I just want to take you to my home in Salisbury so we can talk. Great events are afoot and I want you to be prepared. Part of that preparation is meeting several beings that you do not, as yet, even know exist.”
“Not tonight, Oren. Honestly, just come by the house tomorrow and we’ll talk then.”
Merlin shook his head. “Unfortunately it really must be tonight because you must be prepared by midnight tomorrow.”
Kellan groaned. “No way. What’s going to happen tomorrow?”
“I can’t tell you that, but I will show you and,” he looked to Shannon, “I promise it presents no danger. In fact, I can promise that the next two days will be the safest you have had since accepting the Mantel of Order.”
Shannon looked far from convinced. “How are you still alive Oren while you sisters are not?”
He pointed to her. “You always were the sharpest of the McLeods Shannon. It is no wonder I loved you so. You asked the perfect question for it is foundational to everything. The answer is that I have no soul.”
“What?” asked Sentinel and Soulborn together.
“You both know I am a Nephilim as were Shaylee and Nissa. We were all children of Taliesin and Lamia. Shaylee and Nissa were both endowed with a soul at the time of their conception while I was not. None who have a soul may live forever because as the soul grows in wisdom and grace so the body must grow in frailty. It is part of the balance our Creator set in place when Time began. Perhaps it is my lack of a soul that also allowed me to so fully embrace the power granted me as a Nephilim. I don’t know, but I am Merlin. I am the wizard of legend. It is with that power I managed to pierce the veil of time and slip backwards to a point centuries before my actual birth. That is why my mother, Lamia, believes me dead. I was already quite old by mortal standards when I ripped through time. She felt me leave the world and,” Oren shrugged, “she came to the only logical conclusion available.”
“That was mean,” said Kellan, then added, “a serious dick move, Oren. I saw her at the Council of Havilah and she’s still broken up about the three of you.”
“It was necessary, Kellan for reasons I do not have either the time or inclination to explain. However, without pride I say simply that I am the most powerful wizard who has ever lived. I have seen Millenia pass, have raised up kings and brought low tyrants. I have seen things you people would not believe. But for all that, I have no soul and cannot die.”
“Cannot?” asked Shannon softly.
Merlin shook his head. “Well, like any angel, I can be destroyed, but that is different from dying. Dying is a transition to something else. Destruction is oblivion. I seek death not oblivion. In order to die, I need a soul and there is only one of three beings in all of creation capable of making that so.”
“I don’t want to know,” grumbled Kellan.
“I do,” said Shannon and reached over to hold Merlin’s hand in her own.
“Maurius, Kellan, and God alone are capable of piercing the Guff and extracting a soul. God has not answered. Maurius demands a price I will never pay. That leaves me with but one remaining option.”
“Kellan,” said Shannon.
“Kellan,” agreed Merlin
“Well, shit,” offered Kellan, “I wanted to go home and watch The Crown.”
“I do not come empty handed, Kellan,” said Merlin with an enthusiasm that had been lacking in his earlier speech. “You wield great power, but all that power is born of Order. I offer power and training of an entirely different sort. I offer the wild power of nature and creation itself. Find for me a Wizard’s Soul and I will teach you secrets that will keep you and those you love safer than ever you could without them. Maurius, can but wield the power of Chaos, however, that is enough when all you can command is the power of Order. You have seen what Ares can do and there are other Mantels as well. They all draw from that same place which stands apart from both Order and Chaos. It is of both and yet beholden to neither. That is what I will give to you, my old friend. Twice you saved my life. Once as a child and once as a young man. Grant me this last favor that I might die having a living soul within me. If you do so, I will deliver to you power that will cause the mountains of heaven and caverns of hell to quake with trepidation.”
Kellan sighed, “Oren, I’m not much interested in making either of those places tremble, quake, or otherwise take undue notice of me. I’m really just trying to affect the most good I can while not placing those I love in undue danger.”
Merlin reached over and brushed his thumb against the scar on Shannon’s cheek. “And how has that worked out so far?”
“Low blow, Oren,” said Kellan softly as Shannon linked her arm in his and leaned against the Sentinel.
“Perhaps it was, but if by swinging such a blow I can help you safeguard those you love, I will accept your judgement. Give me until dawn and if I have not persuaded you to help me, we can part again as friends.” He turned to Shannon. “Regardless, you have my word he will be safe and sound until I return him to you tomorrow.”
She nodded. “Time means nothing between friends, Oren. For me, it has been but two years since we parted in Glenn Ferry. For you it has been seven hundred.”
He smiled, “Much longer than that my sweet Shannon, but the hows and whys surrounding that tale must wait for another day.”
“Even longer,” Shannon whispered half to herself then turned her eyes to Merlin and said, “If, after all that time, you trust us to help you, then the least I can do is trust you to safeguard my Kellan.”
Kellan let
out a resigned sigh. “Ok, where are we going? Salisbury? Isn’t that near Stonehenge?”
Merlin laughed. “Of course. Where else would the world’s oldest and most powerful druid keep a house.”
Kellan shrugged. “And when are we going?”
“Why, right now if you are willing.”
“No, I mean, are we traveling back in time, forward, what?”
“Time, my young Sentinel, like souls are things that I have no power to alter. Only once was I able to pierce the veil of time and it cost me dearly. No, we will be but traveling from hither to yon.”
“What about those guys?” Kellan gestured to Glenn and Juliet.
“Never you mind,” said Merlin with a smile. “Remember, the river flows around such stones and cares not for what the stone does. Their minds will fill your absence with a reason and so long as you don’t call attention to it, they will be none the wiser.”
Kellan leaned over and gave Shannon a long kiss which she enthusiastically returned. He leaned back slightly, placed a softer kiss on the tip of her nose, then turned to Merlin. “So do you want me to portal us there or what?”
He smiled, “No, I think I have that part covered.” He turned to the Raven that had been sitting silently on his shoulder and whispered something to it. The big black bird tilted back its head and let forth a loud caw, then flapped its wings. As it did so the world began to swirl about them and Kellan felt himself being drawn upward as if carried by a whirlwind.
The large deck and restaurant tables receded only to be replaced moments later by the richly appointed library of a British manor house.
Chapter 9
A Fireside Chat
Kellan looked out one of the thick glass windows and touched a pane with his finger, feeling the slight ripples of the imperfectly crafted material. He heard a loud pop and turned to find Merlin poking at logs in the massive stone fireplace as flames licked up the seasoned wood.
“This place looks like hell,” said the Sentinel.
Merlin raised an eyebrow as a mocking smile spread across his lined face, “Ahh, the colonial bluntness comes through. You Americans do have an interesting sense of propriety when a guest in someone’s home. I’m sorry you find it not to your tastes, but it has served me well for over a millennia in one form or another.”
Kellan stared at his host uncomprehendingly for a long moment as the wizard’s response settled into his mind. A moment later the young Sentinel’s eyes widened and he took a step forward, hands raised in negation. “No, no, Oren, you misunderstand. I love this place. It’s very—me. Well, it would be very me if I had unlimited wealth and huge tracts of English land. I was being literal. It looks like Hell.”
Now Merlin’s face broke into a grin and he leaned against his iron poker. “Whatever are you going on about, Kellan?”
“Hell, Oren. Hell looks like Downton Abbey. Well, it actually is kind of Downton Abbey. Lucifer made it a perfect replica. Apparently he likes Masterpiece Theater.”
At this the old wizard could no longer contain himself and started laughing, “Really now, Kellan. It is fine if my home isn’t to your tastes. I take no offense. I am quite content with —“
“I’m being completely serious,” Kellan interjected, “Obviously, you’ve never been to Hell, have you?”
Merlin’s smile fell away and he cocked his head, “Honestly, Kellan, is that a sincere question?”
Kellan nodded.
The wizard took a deep breath and motioned for Kellan to sit even as he settled himself into one of the plush, high-backed, leather chairs. “Why, no, Kellan. I have not been to Hell and, in point of fact, I know of no-one who has.” He paused. “Until now, that is. Whatever were you doing there?”
“Mostly drinking bourbon with Lucifer and getting schooled on foundational principles. You know, because the Cabal was mucking with things and trying to unwind all of creation.”
Merlin steepled his fingers and absently tapped them to his lips. “Yes, I did hear something of that. Seems a far fetched plot with little chance of success.”
Kellan barked a laugh.
“What?” asked Merlin
“Those cabalist bastards came within a short-hair of succeeding.”
“Really,” said Merlin leaning in. “how intriguing. I’d love to hear that story. Would you share it?”
Kellan looked decidedly uncomfortable. “I suppose. But it really sucked to experience the first time and I have no strong desire to relive it.”
Merlin nodded, “Very well. I understand completely.” He gave the young Sentinel a wink, then added, “I have several of those myself. In your own time then.”
“Thank you,” said Kellan, visibly relaxing.
“Of course. Think nothing of it. Now, to the point. I have several things on which to school you myself. I can only hope my lessons live up to those of Lucifer.” Kellan looked unconvinced and Merlin spread his hands questioningly. “What?”
“Well, it’s just that Lucifer, despite being Satan and all, was quite the congenial host and a fairly entertaining instructor. There was even some math and I hate math.”
“I’ll do my best then, Kellan,” replied the wizard dryly.
Merlin sighed in frustration. “No, Kellan, I do not have any marshmallows. What is a Some-More, anyway?”
The young Sentinel had been diligently poking the burning logs and urging them towards greater heat. He turned his head at the question, glancing over his shoulder at the wizard. Kellan flashed a brilliant smile and Merlin immediately raised his hands. “S’more,” he corrected. “You’ve never had a s’more, Oren? Oh, my boy, you have a treat in store for you. All we need is some graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows.” Kellan had begun twirling the poker like a walking stick as he absently continued. “Of course we’d have to find Hershey bars, can’t use Cadbury even though Hershey’s chocolate is the K-Mart of chocolate. Must be authentic, Oren. Now, do you have a car or something. I try not to portal everywhere. Or maybe you have a broom that would—” Kellan broke off as he made eye contact with Merlin. “What?”
The Wizard took a deep, calming breath. “First, I’m well over 900 years older than you, Kellan. I am no longer that boy in a tree. I am your elder so please do try to keep that in mind. Second, I believe our discussion around the how the fabric of creation is stitched together takes precedence over us making Some-Mores.”
“Sssss’More,” Said Kellan again drawing out the words as his eyes flashed to life. He poked at the air and a glowing green line began to follow his finger as he traced the word in the air. It hung there a moment, glittering, then broke apart.
“How did you do that, Kellan?”
“Hmm, what? The letters. I dunno exactly. Seramai showed me. I saw him do it in the Vatican once and thought it was cool. It’s no big deal, just a parlor trick. His letters are glowing amber which is much cooler looking, but— Oren, why are you looking at me that way.”
The wizard worked his jaw as he stood up, forcefully taking the poker from Kellan. “You mean Ares, don’t you?”
“Whatever, I decided to keep calling him Seramai. It’s what Meghan calls him and it’s how I first met him. I consider myself grandfathered in to his bullshit lame backwards trick name.”
“Which tricked you sufficiently, as I understand it.” Kellan made to protest but Merlin stopped him with a glare. “You are almost impossible to keep on task, Kellan. I don’t even know where to pull the threads of our conversation together again. What were we talking about?”
“S’mores.”
“No! Before the S’mores.”
“My finger writing?”
“Yes. Your finger-writing, is exceptionally dangerous, Kellan. Didn’t Ares tell you that?”
“No, but come to think of it he was suspiciously helpful when I asked him about it.”
“No doubt, he would have found it endlessly amusing if you had created some violent environmental incident with your scribblings. Kellan, what you just evoked was an
empowered glyph.”
“A what? I mean I know what each of those words mean separately, but, how about a little context.”
Merlin stared at the Sentinel for the barest of moments then shook his head slightly and raised a finger. Kellan felt power gather and watched as Merlin traced an intricate symbol in the air. Golden liquid energy followed his rapidly moving finger leaving a complex glyph hanging in the air.
“Pretty,” said Kellan. “It looks just like the ones Sera can make. What’s it do?”
“Yes, as I mentioned an hour ago, all power not of Order or Chaos manifest as amber even as those two foundational energies do in Green and Red. As for what it does, why don’t you touch it.”
Kellan smiled, “Cool.” He closed the distance between them and tapped the glyph with a finger. It shuddered and began to break apart. “Aww,” began Kellan, “I thought it would do—” The young Sentinel was cut off as the glyph shattered with an explosive Whooosh, hurling him backwards and up into the air. He crashed against the interior stonework above the fireplace and was held in place momentarily by the forceful blast. Kellan then slid down the stones, bounced off the mantel, and fell in a heap in front of the fireplace, moaning.
Merlin seated himself with a self-satisfied smile spreading across his face. “How is that for ‘a little context?’ I strongly suggest you not meddle with the glyphs again until you find an instructor.”
Kellan had rolled himself into a sitting position and rubbed bruised ribs, then looked up at Merlin. “You coulda caused me to seriously break something, Oren. How did you know I would have time to form a shield to take some of the blow?”
Merlin’s smile broadened. “You had time to manifest a shield? That is fortunate, but wasn’t part of my calculus.”
Kellan gave the old wizard a flat look, “Very funny. Ok. Point made. I’ll stop making light-brites until you teach me what’s what.”
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