The Mage Returns

by Christina D Stewart

  "Any humans caught in that crossfire may suddenly find themselves stricken ill with a disease they never knew they had. If they were driving, they might find themselves in traffic accidents. It's not as if there were bolts of lightning that struck them, but the effect is the same. There would be a shock to the system that they would simply not recognize as magic. Police would issue tickets and doctors would diagnose a simple fall, heart attack, stroke, or whatever seems to make the most sense to them. But they'd never diagnose the real cause - being hit by magic."

  Merlin took another sip of his beer, wiped the foam off his moustache with his left hand and continued, "Every now and again, I am called out of retirement to sort out and adjudicate these kinds of disagreements. I am respected enough within the fae community that my word and my decision will be accepted by all."

  The young officer looked at Merlin and smiled. "One of the things experienced security officers understand is when people are lying to them. You may not be lying exactly, but you're not telling me the whole truth either," he said.

  The two men stared at each other, not blinking, challenging each other.

  Merlin nodded, decided to let the young man have this one, and said, "As I said, we're taking small steps. You haven't told me the whole truth about MI5's plans and I haven't told you the whole truth about my plans." He stared into Ross's eyes daring him to reveal more.

  Ross dropped his eyes first,."Okay, you're right. This is a slow process and we'll take it step by step," he said. "So what's next?"

  "Well, I have to sort out the dispute and I have no idea how long that's going to take. The Scottish Fae Council – yes, we have political councils as well as you humans do – has agreed to convene a meeting where I will judge. It starts at 6 p.m. tonight by human time. The fae world does not operate on the same timeline as that of the human world but that's close enough."

  Ross thought about this for a second and then said, "So you don't know how long this is going to take and I have nothing to tell my people. I rather doubt London will be satisfied with the explanation of you as a fae lord making some kind of judgment about a disagreement between fairies. That's just not going to fly."

  "Well, my friend-to-be, why don't we do something quite unusual and let you be an observer," said Merlin. A grin played at the corners of his mouth. It was the kind of smile that wasn't intended to be humorous but more of a "dare-you" intent. Those who knew him best avoided those challenges whenever possible.

  "You have to be kidding," replied Ross. "You're inviting me to a meeting of fairies and wizards?"

  "6 o'clock tonight," said Merlin. "Be on the sidewalk outside. Be prompt, wear nothing but black from your skin out, no jewelry of any kind, not even that wedding ring and be prepared to be utterly silent - not a word. No matter what you're asked, who asks it - even me - or what you see, do not speak. If you say a word, a single word for any reason, your life will be forfeit. One of those mysterious accidents I mentioned would be your immediate fate."

  The stunned look appeared on the young man's face, but he said, "6 o'clock. I'll be here."

  Ross talks to Smithers

  "OK, let me see if I understand you correctly, Officer Ross. You've found our sorcerer. You've talked to him and he's invited you to a meeting of fairies where he's going to be the judge in a salmon-poaching dispute. Is this correct?" said Smithers.

  Even through his cell phone,Ross could hear the broad stroke of disbelief painted on each and every one of the words. He also heard the implied criticism. Ross had faced men with guns trying to kill him. He'd survived against all odds in several roadside ambushes which had killed fellow soldiers. He felt himself getting angry at this desk-bound bureaucrat trying to cover his own backend while working to set Ross up as the fall guy.

  "Mr. Smithers, Sir. You expressly told me to find this individual. I did. I tracked him down in a major city, talked to him and got an invitation that may prove pivotal in our future. We agreed this man was either a magician or a high-tech expert on a con job. It doesn't matter that I haven't figured out which yet. But I've been invited to be a participant and either see the magic in operation or extend the con. If it's a con he's working, then I'll be there. And if it's real magic, if he's the real Merlin, I'll be able to report on that as well. What approach would you like me to take, Sir." The emphasis on the last "Sir" fell short of insubordination but not by much.

  Ross stopped, suddenly aware his voice had begun to sound angry.

  I am angry, he realized with sudden insight. I do want to go and see if this is true.

  There was silence on the other end of the line for ten seconds.

  "OK, go. Take a mini-surveillance camera with you. Get us some pictures and sound if at all possible. And, don't push these people, we don't know what they're capable of," said Smithers.

  "I was warned not to bring electronics, Sir," said Ross. "He's ahead of us on that score."

  All Ross received from Smithers was a grunt in confirmation. There was silence for three seconds and then Smithers spoke again.

  "Ross, if this Merlin fellow should offer a partnership of any kind, I believe we should accept the offer. Certainly having you working as a double-agent would be the most desirable position for MI5. Don't accept any offer right away but take your time and string him out a bit before accepting. Having you on the inside of whatever con he's working would be to our advantage," said Smithers. "I'll get it approved by Director Campbell."

  "Yes, Sir," said Ross. "I'll have to play it by ear, and see what happens tonight. I don't have any problem with that, Sir."

  "Right. Call me after 9 tomorrow morning with a report and take the camera anyway," said Smithers disconnecting the line.

  An image of Ross's daughter admonishing him, "You're silly daddy. You won't catch him, unless he wants you to. He's a very important fairy," came unbidden to his mind.

  Lawrence and Arthur Discuss Gwen

  Arthur and Lawrence walked home after their latest pickup game of football and were, like all young men of a certain temperament, still full of energy and devilment.

  Arthur connected with a quick punch to Lawrence's shoulder, "Yeah, you know you like Gwen. The way the two of you look at each other is so sick. Makes me want to puke," said Arthur.

  "So what if I do. That only makes me mature. Not like somebody I know," said Lawrence retuning the punch.

  "Oww! I didn't hit you that hard," said Arthur.

  "You're a wuss, a simple shrunken head," said Lawrence.

  "Shrunken head? What have you been watching you beast? Saturday morning cartoons?" said Arthur but he stepped off the sidewalk he was laughing so hard.

  A car rolling by honked its horn and, much to Lawrence's amusement, Arthur jumped quickly for the sidewalk.

  "OK then, you're entered into the kangaroo hop tomorrow morning with the little kids. You can teach that move for sure," said Lawrence gulping for air between his braying laughs.

  Arthur looked at him, "Juvenile," he said. It was his worst epithet.

  "That's all you got? Juvenile?" laughed Lawrence.

  "Well, it's all I need for an idiot like you," said Arthur giving Lawrence a hard, two-handed shove that would have been awarded an instant penalty if it was seen in any sporting match.

  "You're only doing that because you know we really can't fight, aren't you? Unless we're sparring at the dojo," said Lawrence. The laugh had gone out of his voice.

  Arthur stopped walking, looked at his best friend and said, "I hadn't thought about it that way. Sorry." He smiled slyly and his eyes reflected his regained cockiness when he said, "So, just because you're going to go join the Special Forces and fly around in an attack chopper, are you going to leave all the girls here just for me?"

  "You wouldn't know what to do with one if she came and sat on your lap. You'd probably get scared, dump her off trying to stand up and get away," said Lawrence.

  Having lured his best friend into the trap, Arthur sprang the jaws shut, "I'd know what to do if i
t were Gwen." He laughed as the colour on his best friend's face turned to blushing pink. Then he cemented it in, "You're sooo cute Larry, when you blush."

  Having been suckered into the trap by his brilliant friend, Lawrence knew enough to keep his mouth shut at this point but the look he gave his best friend was right up there with the top-10, disgusted looks of all time they'd exchanged over the years. But like all those who study karate, he knew sometimes you had to relax, deflect the blow and then charge back into the fight.

  "Who's been exchanging notes with Vivien then? I saw the two of you passing notes back and forth when you thought nobody was looking," said Lawrence.

  Arthur felt his face redden, he started to frame his counter, then the truth of the pattern emerged in his too-mature-for-his-body brain. "OK, so it's good you like Gwen and I like Viv because that's the way they act as well. I like Gwen but I like Viv better and you're the opposite. Right? So that's settled," said Arthur. But even as he said it, he knew there was something not-quite-right about it. He couldn't put his finger on what was wrong and being full of conflicting hormones, the feeling wouldn't stay long in his mind. A block later, the two separated with friendly punches and "see you tomorrows" to aim for their respective homes.

  By the time Arthur had taken ten more steps by himself, his mind was deep into another problem his math teacher had given him as a special assignment and all thoughts of Vivien had vanished.

  Merlin Meets With Scottish Fae

  Five minutes before 6 o'clock that evening, Merlin walked around the corner and saw an obviously nervous Officer Ross standing in front of the bar. Ross saw him at the same time and his eyes widened in recognition. As they met and shook hands, Merlin gave him a quick inspection from the top of his head to his toes. New black T-shirt, new black jeans, black socks, and black shoes were what he could see. Merlin raised an eyebrow and said, "Underwear?"

  "Commando," said Ross with an air of bravado.

  Merlin laughed out loud, nodded approval, and said "Good, you're ready." He continued, "From this point forward, no matter what is said, no matter what is done, do not make a sound and do not say a word. As I said before, your life depends on your silence. But, you are about to see what few other men have seen and it will change your life." There's only been a few others before you and afterwards you'll be known throughout the world of fae as a "True Thomas."

  "From the old ballad? It's true?" asked Ross, his eyes opening wider.

  "Quiet!" ordered Merlin. "Now, take my hand as if we're shaking hands."

  As soon as the young man touched Merlin's hand, the two of them disappeared from the street.

  And reappeared instantly in what appeared to be an ancient Roman forum. The large grey blocks of stone were stacked as giant steps up away from a circular platform that was slightly raised above the ground in the very centre of the circle. Flickering torches along all the aisles cast moving shadows and obscured the faces and clothing of those appearing out of thin air to take their seats.

  Ross's head swiveled back and forth in disbelief as he examined his surroundings. The first thing his security training emphasized was to always know where the exits were in any room. A quick look around showed there were no exits. He didn't have an escape route. He pushed down the panic and looked to find Merlin staring at him. He took a deep breath, held it and relaxed, letting the breath out as he did so. He met Merlin's eyes and gave him a thumbs-up.

  Having conquered the rising panic, he closed his eyes for a brief moment. When he reopened them, he slowly swiveled his head again. He saw Fae of all body shapes and skin colours appearing on the seats all around the forum.

  Merlin led him to the lowest tier of seats, grabbed his shoulder, turned him, and pushed him towards an empty spot. He saw Merlin hold his palm open and downwards to make a sitting motion as you would to a dog. Ross sat.

  He watched as Merlin strode to the centre platform to stand motionless, but apparently relaxed, in its very centre. Ross decided he resembled a man patiently waiting for a bus more than a grand wizard. He turned to see the seats filling up quickly. Row after row was now occupied by all manner of shapes and sizes of Fae. He saw some with pointed ears, some who resembled humans and some who were so far from humanity as to be the players in a nightmare. He did note what appeared to be an open block of seats running from the very bottom to the very top of the amphitheater. This was repeated on both sides and even he with his slow human brain finally figured out the empty aisle space separated the two sides of this dispute.

  He held himself firmly in check. He tried very hard not to panic and not to hold his breath, but to breathe regularly as he had been taught in his scuba classes. It was an apt comparison he decided. At this moment he was well out of his depth and over his head in a culture that was far beyond his understanding as the sea floor was.

  He was suddenly aware the chattering of the crowd had stopped. The silence was so thick and oppressive, he felt it press down on his chest. He turned his head rapidly back and forth and saw two figures approaching down the aisles on either side. The first down the aisle of each side was dressed in a white robe without a hood, but the second in line wore a long, black, hooded cloak that both touched the floor and hid the face of the wearer.

  All four, with their measured steps in unison, moved to flank Merlin.

  A large, ornately carved wooden chair appeared behind Merlin. A bright light shone directly overhead the chair. It was a spotlight of some kind illuminating the five on the platform and bouncing light off the chair in a variety of directions so Ross couldn't see the detail in the carvings.

  Ross switched his attention from the chair to Merlin and was surprised to see the blue jeans and leather jacket had disappeared from the man who had led him away from the pub. Merlin now wore a snow-white hooded robe, and was illuminated with a series of dancing, sparkling lights that shimmered on the robe like sequins on a dancer's costume. His hands were hidden deep within the wide sleeves, but the hood was pulled back onto his shoulders to reveal his head. His hair and beard had changed from the grey of Ross's world to a silver white that seemed alive and bounced the light back from the invisible spotlights.

  He watched Merlin pull the hood up over his head and lowered himself slowly into the chair. The energies bouncing off his robe now shifted to, and illuminated, the entire chair. Ross decided this was some kind of signal as the two beings on his right were suddenly lit with bright lights. He looked for the light source and couldn't find one.

  The being to Merlin's right, Ross couldn't tell what it was, spoke first. And in a lilting song it described the outrage it felt and the accusation it was making for the poaching of salmon in its stream. At the conclusion of its speech, the black robed figure behind it raised its staff and drove it onto the platform and the resulting thunderclap was a period to the testimony.

  Ross noted that this was the signal to the creature on Merlin's left to begin its story. With what Ross could understand, it was a story of betrayal and it too was delivered in song in verse. Similarly, at the conclusion of this testimony, the black robed figure behind it drove its staff onto the platform with the similar, resounding thunderclap.

  All of this time, there hadn't been in sound nor murmur from the audience. Ross suddenly became aware of this fact and looked around to see every eye was focused on Merlin.

  Merlin stood.

  Ross thought the crowd had been silent before, but realized now just exactly what real silence was. He had been raised in the city, spent holidays with other humans, and had never experienced real silence in his entire life until this moment.

  "My name is Myrddin and this is my word of judgment," said Merlin.

  Ross watched as Merlin raised both arms above his head with his fingers pointed to the sky. The arms on his robe fell exposing both arms to the shoulder. A simple gold torc with ends carved into dragon heads glimmered above the elbow on his left arm and a 3-inch wide, ornately carved, Celtic silver bracelet graced his right wrist. His left arm
returned to its place on his side, while his right pointed to the two on the right side of the platform.

  The first sound that Ross heard in the forum sounded as if a group of pigeons had taken wing on a windless morning. Looking around he saw those assembled were waving their hands as if they were clapping but their hands never seemed to meet. The sound was generated by their robes swishing back and forth.

  The second sound came from the black robed Fae to Merlin's left.

  It was an outraged voice in a language Ross did not understand. But the intent was clear. It said in no uncertain terms that this was a travesty of justice and that Merlin had erred and was in no position to remain a judge in this community of fae. The creature drove his staff into the ground and then pointed it at Merlin in what was clearly a formal challenge.

  Ross watched as Merlin responded in a simple and direct manner. Ross saw Merlin's hood slightly turn towards the speaker. His face never appeared, but his left hand snaked out of the sleeve of his robe and pointed directly at the speaker. A casual flick of his wrist immediately followed and the entire forum startled in surprise as the black-robed creature exploded into dust with a deafening roar.

  When the echoes faded, and all assembled had recovered from the shock, Merlin stood alone on the centre platform. The three survivors of the judgment had retreated as fast as possible to their original seats.

  Merlin pulled back the hood of his robe and even Ross in all his humanity, recognized he was in the presence of one of the greatest lords of fae. The power radiated off Merlin in waves so strong even Ross could feel them.