Merlin's Target (An Untimely Error Book 3)

by Tom Larcombe

  He dropped his cloaking spell and continued down the corridor. In the small section that contained a burning lantern he found a crystal the size of a man's arm. It glowed with a bruised purple color that matched the eyes of the Dverger he'd just encountered.

  I can't just leave them, Merlin thought, they'll die. It isn't their fault that they were possessed and maybe if I destroy this crystal they'll recover. I just can't do it right now or they'll be after me again immediately.

  He put together a spell on the fly. One that would provide the two Dverger encased in the stone with more air to breathe. He tied the spell to the purple crystal with a trigger that would release the Dverger when there was barely enough energy left in the crystal to do so.

  That should take care of both the crystal and their release, he thought. I hope the Dverger natural resistance to magic helps them fight off the possession once the crystal is drained.

  He continued moving, determined not to rest until he was out of the tunnel and on the continent.

  Merlin was tired enough to occasionally stumble when he came across the staircase hours later. He made his way up the stairs, not even attempting to count them. At the top there was a small room where he was greeted by the remains of the door that once sealed the tunnel. The stone of the door was twisted and warped. It no longer fit the frame and when he tried the release, it no longer opened.

  It would take me hours, if not days, to smooth the stone back out. I don't have the time, he thought.

  Merlin drew a crystal from his satchel and tapped into its energy. He brought forth a tiny bar of intensely hot blue-white flame from his index finger. Using the flame, he cut away bits of the metal frame and the stone of the door until it was rocking precariously. He snuffed the flame, backed up a few steps and struck the door with a burst of energy, throwing it out from the frame and away from his body.

  Sunlight filled the small room. Dawn had broken and the day progressed until the sun was nearly setting while he walked under the channel. He tucked the empty crystal away then stumbled out into the fading sunlight and looked for a sheltered area to make camp. His lack of sleep earlier, combined with his recent efforts, left him exhausted.

  I should be able to sleep now, he thought. If I can't get to sleep when I feel like this then I may never be able to sleep again.

  The Dverger tunnel entrance was in a deserted area, as most of them were. A small copse of nearby trees offered the best concealment he could find with a quick search. He wearily cleared a small patch of ground before eating part of a ration and arranging himself with his head in the shade so he could try to sleep.

  * * *

  Merlin woke in a panic. The wind was whipping about him and it was dark out. The snap of giant wings brought him to full awareness. He took cover behind a tree, peering out into the darkness.

  A large moving shape blotted out part of the sky. It was visible only because it was blocking the stars. Merlin heard voices from its vicinity but only some of the words were audible.

  “... sure... right place?”

  “...says so... doubt... wrong.”

  “Drop... here then.”

  The shape lowered itself towards the ground, alighting in the open area in front of the entrance to the Dverger tunnel. Merlin used the noise of the creature landing to mask the sounds he made as he drew his pistol and ensured that he had a round chambered.

  When the creature stilled itself, silence took over the night. Not even the normal animal noises disturbed the stillness.

  Presumably because they've been scared stiff, Merlin thought.

  A voice, pitched in a normal conversational tone, called his name.

  “Merlin? Merlin, blast it. Where are you? I know you're around here someplace. Ferox told me the crystal he made for you is here.”

  Merlin stepped from behind the tree, pistol still in hand.

  “Gunter? Is that you?”

  “Merlin you bastard. You tried to leave me behind. I had to beg a ride from Ferox and Johann to catch up with you.”

  Another familiar voice called out from behind Gunter.

  “You've found him then? We need to leave. We could both get in serious trouble for being on the continent right now.”

  “Yes Johann, I've found him,” Gunter replied. “You two should go and continue the ocean patrol I interrupted. I don't want to get you in trouble.”

  Merlin heard something heavy strike the ground before Ferox lifted off into the air again.

  {Luck be with you Merlin. I wish I could help you, but even bringing Gunter to you was nearly impossible. I had to think of it as helping him instead of helping you with your mission.} Ferox sent.

  {I wanted to leave him behind where he'd be safe, damn you. Vadoma warned me that he'd face a horrible fate if he accompanied me.} Merlin replied.

  {You think he's unaware of that? Shouldn't it be his own choice? He chose to come and I chose to help him do so. Do not cast assistance off so lightly, Merlin. This is a war, people will be injured whatever you do. Allow those who would help you to do so. It is their choice, not yours. You tried to deceive him and he's angry about it.}

  {It was the only way I could think of to protect him.}

  {He doesn't want you to protect him. His job is to protect you. Who is to say if his job or yours is more important? Allow him to perform his job and perhaps yours will be easier. Perhaps your job would be impossible without his assistance. Now, I am away and you must explain yourself to him.}

  Ferox terminated the mental conversation as he sped off into the distant skies. Merlin turned his sun flashlight on and used it to illuminate the area around him. Gunter stepped into the ring of light, his face twisted with anger.

  “You tried to leave me behind,” Gunter accused.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Why?”

  “Vadoma told me you would be badly injured if you accompanied me. She also mentioned that you would face a horrible fate,” Merlin said.

  “Aren't you the one who chooses to disregard divination?”

  Merlin paused for a moment of thought before answering.

  “Yes, but hers have been more clear than most,” he finally answered.

  “Do you think that I'm not already facing a horrible fate? I deserted my country, left it to the insanity that was running rampant through it. I might have been able to do something to change that if I'd stayed. My dreams are haunted by the things I could have done differently. I could have done something!”

  “Gunter,” Merlin said gently, “the SS was taking over the research center. They already considered you a liability and I'm sure it was only a matter of time until they removed you.”

  “But you don't know that!”

  The sound of Gunter's fist striking his palm told Merlin just how disturbed his friend was. Gunter continued on as the sound of his strike faded.

  “Now you try to leave me behind when you go to lance the festering boil of insanity that has infected my country. I thought you were my friend, but now I don't know. Is that the type of thing friends do to one another?”

  Merlin chose his words carefully before speaking again.

  “I'm sorry Gunter. I had no idea that you felt that way. I should have, I suppose, but I've been focused on one thing after another. I didn't think that you felt that strongly about this. I thought you were simply glad to be out of the insanity and striking small blows against it. It should have been obvious that you would welcome a chance to carve out the source of the rot infesting your country. But I took counsel of my fears and arrogantly believed that if something happened to you, it would be my fault. I couldn't have that on my conscience, not after losing one friend to this war already because of my plans.”

  “Dieter would have been ashamed of you for acting like this. Remember, I knew him before you did and for longer. I may not be as old as you are, but I'm not a child. I will not have my decisions made for me as though I were.”

  Merlin stayed silent, accepting the painful rebuke as tru
th. Finally he nodded.

  Gunter turned and walked out into the field. He returned with a large bag on his back.

  “So, I'm only going to ask you this once. I will take your reply as a promise. May I accompany you on this mission and do my assigned job? Which, if you remember, is to protect you.”

  Demon shit, now he's fulfilled her prophecy, Merlin thought.

  “Yes, and please accept my apology for how I treated you,” he replied.

  Gunter fidgeted for a moment.

  “So, which way are we going?” he asked.

  Merlin removed the locator crystal from his satchel and panned it from east to west. He aligned it so the glow was at its brightest.

  “That way,” he said, gesturing in the direction the crystal was pointed, “but we'll go to Callais first and acquire transportation so we don't have to walk the whole distance.”

  “Let's go then, the sooner we start, the sooner we can finish.”

  “I'm sorry Gunter. If we try to go now, I'll only slow us down. I'm still exhausted from yesterday. Plus it's still dark out, which would slow us down more. I need to sleep. Wake me at dawn and we'll leave then,” Merlin said.

  “So, why Callais first? Just to find transportation to get to the front?”

  “I think that will be our quickest option. Maybe we'll get lucky and find some means of transport to get to Callais faster than we can on foot. I won't count on that though. I'm planning on walking from dawn until noon tomorrow to get there. Then we'll arrange transportation one way or another.”

  Gunter nodded. Now that he was back with Merlin he was impatient to be underway. He understood why Merlin was planning as he did though.

  “I'll stand guard. I've been resting well of late, you haven't. I'll wake you just after dawn,” he said.

  “As soon as I'm awake we'll get moving,” Merlin replied.

  He curled up into a ball in his previously cleared area and was asleep within minutes.

  * * *

  Merlin woke to Gunter shaking him. He opened his eyes and noticed that the sky was just starting to lighten.

  Gunter must be eager to be off, either that or he's still angry with me for trying to leave him, Merlin thought.

  He stumbled to his feet, his legs aching from the unaccustomed exertion he'd put them through the day before. He spent several minutes stretching, trying to work out their pain and stiffness. In deference to Gunter's apparent eagerness to be on their way, he ate another part of a ration while he stretched.

  “Alright, I don't think they're going to get any better so let's go,” Merlin said.

  Gunter grunted and shouldered his pack.

  “So, which way is Callais?” he asked.

  “It should be just north of us, about ten or fifteen miles. I wasn't sure exactly where the tunnel came out. Apparently they tried to run this one across the channel where it was narrowest. Narrowest being a relative term.”

  Gunter started walking with Merlin following behind. At first, Merlin limped along on his sore legs. But as they continued moving at Gunter's pace, the stiffness and cramps in Merlin's legs began to ease.

  The countryside was mostly deserted where they started, but the closer they got to Callais, the more built-up it became. After an hour or so, where Merlin wasn't sure what kind of mood his bodyguard was in, Gunter began to talk.

  “Why Callais?” he asked again.

  “It was the nearest major city to where I thought the tunnel would emerge. Plus it's a port, so I assume there will be supplies going through it. Hopefully, we can beg a ride to the front, or at least close to it, from there.”

  “I don't know, it's rather far from the fighting right now. Do you think they'll still be using it to land supplies?”

  “I'm not sure, but there are a massive number of soldiers to support. I think they're probably using every safe port they can to supply the advance,” Merlin replied.

  “Well, we'll find out soon enough.”

  * * *

  Chapter 5

  Merlin and Gunter arrived at the outskirts of Callais more than an hour before noon.

  “I can't believe they still call this a city. Can you see any buildings undamaged?” Merlin asked.

  Gunter shook his head.

  “I'm sure there are some of them still whole in that mess, but...”

  “I'd be hard-pressed to find one I'd trust not to fall down on my head,” Merlin replied.

  Gunter nodded wearily.

  “Yet another reason for them to hate my country. Although, the last bombing raid on this town was performed by the British. They mistook Callais for Dunkirk after Callais was already back in French hands.”

  “I wonder,” Merlin said, “I gave John and Nigel an idea for magically misdirecting German bombers to alternate targets. Perhaps the German wizards had a similar idea.”

  “I don't know, but we need to keep moving. Let's head down towards the coast. If there are supplies coming in, it should be obvious down there.”

  Merlin and Gunter picked their way through the debris. The main streets had been cleared but most of the side streets were still impassable to anything larger than a man due to the wreckage strewn about them.

  In a half hour they were moving along the coast, towards what appeared to be a frenzy of activity to the east and slightly north.

  “It looks like you were right. They are still moving supplies through here,” Gunter said.

  “Now, how do we convince them to provide us transport?” Merlin mused aloud.

  “We're in USO uniforms and we're actually members of the USO. We can make up a story to get where we need to go. Perhaps we lost the rest of our company for some reason? The company has moved towards the front and we need to rejoin them?”

  “I don't think that the USO has any companies closer to the front than we are now.”

  “Yes, but do the people in charge here know that?” Gunter asked.

  Merlin thought about it for a moment.

  “We'll work with that. I may need to do a little magical convincing but the only other quick alternative is to influence their minds even more. I'd rather lie, cheat, and steal before taking over another person's mind, even briefly and for a good reason. I can probably convince them our story is true though. I'll find out what they think and embellish it accordingly.”

  Merlin and Gunter approached the man who appeared to be in charge of loading the trucks. Merlin spoke to him in English.

  “Hello there. My friend and I are in a bit of trouble and we're hoping you can help us out.”

  The reply came in French.

  “Just what trouble are you fleeing, I wonder?”

  “None, we're trying to catch up to our troubles,” Merlin responded in flawless, if old-fashioned, French.

  “You see,” he continued, “my friend and I missed the rest of our company when it was time to depart. We know they're to the northeast of here and we're trying to catch up to them.”

  Merlin scanned the man's surface thoughts to see what he thought of the story. He winced at the images that ran through the man's mind.

  “So, I'm guessing that you found some of our wine, and perhaps a French woman or two that desired to reward their liberators? Did they wear you out so you slept past when you should have been back on duty?” the man asked with a leer.

  Merlin winced again before answering.

  “Something like that. Would it be possible to get a ride in one of these trucks if they're headed to the northeast?”

  The man laughed, the sound echoing back from the piles of debris.

  “I'll see what I can do. If my countrywomen have slowed you down, then it is my duty to speed you on your way.”

  The man gave Merlin another lecherous smile and a wink before moving off to speak with the drivers.

  “So, what did he say?” Gunter asked.

  “I forgot you don't speak French. He'll see what he can do.”

  “There was more to it than that. I may not speak the language but I can rea
d expressions well enough.”

  “He assumes that women from his country wore us out so we slept through when we should have reported to our company. I didn't correct his mistaken assumption since it seemed we'd get the best response that way,” Merlin said.

  Gunter chuckled.

  “There are worse things he could have attributed to us. I can live with this story, especially if it gets us where we want to go.”

  Several minutes later the man returned with one of the drivers in tow.

  “This driver is headed in the direction you asked about. You can speak with him.”

  After this sketchy introduction the man turned back to supervising the loading of trucks.

  The driver stuck out his hand.

  “Hi, I'm Jack,” he said, “Frenchy there said you need a ride?”

  Merlin took the man's hand and shook it.

  “I'm Merle,” he said, using the name John had told him was closest to his own and still in use, “Yes, we need a ride to the northeast. Our company is just this side of Coblenz.”

  Merlin had chosen a town that he'd heard was taken by the Allies just before his departure.

  “I'm going to Luxembourg, I can give you two a ride that far. I bet you can find another ride there. If not you can always make it in a couple of days on shanks' mare.”

  Merlin had to check the man's mind to understand his last comment.

  “Well, we'd rather not walk if we don't have to. Been too much of that already and I'm sure there's more to come,” he said.

  “Well, I can get you to the city of Luxembourg and maybe find a driver headed your way. But I don't promise the last.”

  “Luxembourg will be wonderful, thank you. When are you leaving?” Merlin asked.

  “As soon as these lazy bums finish filling my truck.”

  “That sounds good. Which one's yours?”

  “Oh, come on. I'll show you.”