The Merlin Chronicles: Box Set (All Three Novels)

by Daniel Diehl

  Vivian's gaze began to cloud with sadness but as her eyes wandered over the hedge rows of the maze toward the open plot in the center she brightened, a childlike smile replacing the look of frustration. “Would you all like to come inside and see my tower? Merlin has been there many times. It is where I nursed his wounds when he was dead.”

  Since there was clearly no house to be seen, Bev and Jason both looked confused but Beverley desperately tried to keep Vivian both calm and focused. “That would be very nice, Vivian. Maybe there we could talk this out.”

  “Not today, Vivian. I’m sorry, my dear, but we simply don’t have time to go inside. Maybe another day.” Merlin looked over Vivian's head toward Beverley and shook his head vehemently, but Vivian caught his movement and looked up at him.

  “You liked it, didn't you, my love. Did you like my house?”

  “Yes. Of course, but we really are in a hurry. Now what more can you tell us about the Ark and the keys.”

  “Nothing. You must find the box with the birds, open it and take out the keys. They are the only way to close the dragon gate permanently.”

  Merlin embraced Vivian so tightly it looked like he would crush her tiny form against his chest. He was crying silently. There were no tears, but Jason and Beverley could both see his chest heave with the effort of ragged sobs. Embarrassed for history's greatest wizard, who was, after all, as human as anyone, they turned away and headed back toward the outer edge of the maze. Finally, Merlin released the tiny child-woman, kissed her on the forehead and turned to rejoin his friends.

  “Please, don't go, Merlin. How will I find my way back to my tower without you to guide me through the maze?”

  To no one in particular, Jason muttered under his breath “Why doesn’t she just step across the hedges?”

  Vivian looked up at him sharply, raising her voice across the distance between them. “That would spoil all the fun. Don't you have fun where you come from?” Finally, she called out, “Merlin, when the dragons are dead and you are young, will you come back and love me?”

  Looking very old, Merlin turned to wave at her once and then shooed Jason and Beverley through the maze, only glancing back over his shoulder once more to see the retreating form of the Lady of the Lake, the tip of one index finger pressed against her teeth in concentration, picking her way toward the open space at the center of the vast, low maze.

  When they reached the edge of the island and were well out of Vivian’s hearing distance, Jason turned to Merlin, a scowl on his face. “So what was all that about you knowing about the cave and being dead?”

  “If I knew anything about the cave I’m sure I would have remembered it at some point over the last thousand years and I’m quite certain I’m not dead…at least not yet. Consequently, I can only assume she was remembering my death from the future.”

  “Ooo, that’s kind of nasty.”

  “At least, according to what she said, it would seem that we will eventually locate the cave.”

  The three of them stood there for a moment, looking silently out across miles of ocean, unsure of how to address Vivian’s prediction of Merlin’s death. Eventually, Beverley was the first to ask how they were going to get back to the shore.

  “Follow me. Stay close.” Merlin stepped off the low bank and onto the leading edge of the water, Jason and Beverley following him, half a step behind. Before their shoe soles touched the water, they were already on the opposite bank, the island and its strange inhabitant again invisible, enshrouded in mist and fog nearly two miles into the Irish Sea.

  Beverley stepped close to Merlin and tucked her arm through his, leaning close to his side. “Who is she? Really?”

  “No one knows. They used to say she is one of the last of the fae; what you call the fairy folk; probably a naiad, a water spirit. Neither entirely human nor entirely spirit, but something in between.”

  “You mean there really are fairies?”

  “So it would seem. Certainly the Welsh who followed the old religion believed in them, and the early church never entirely discounted their existence. In the Book of Genesis it does talk about ‘the sons of men and angels’. Some religious scholars claimed fairies were a cross between humans and angels, and the early fathers of the church held long debates to decide what these creatures really were and how they fell into the over-all scheme of heaven and earth.”

  “Was that one of those stupid ‘how many angels can dance on the head of a pin’ type of arguments?”

  Merlin nodded his agreement with a small, knowing smile. “It was just about that fatuous. But what they finally decided was rather interesting. The church finally agreed that when Lucifer mounted his war against God, there was a group of angels who refused to take sides. They were not bad enough to be cast into hell but neither were they good enough to remain in heaven with God and the angels. As punishment for their neutrality, God condemned them to an existence somewhere between the angels and humans, living in the eternal, but only half-real, world of the fairies. Never again angels, but never becoming human. Never dying but never really living. I don't know if it’s true, but it certainly would explain a lot. And there is no doubt that Vivian lives at all points in time simultaneously; remembering the future as well as the past while the present is always as dim as a fleeting memory.”

  “That’s sad…and really scary.”

  “That is also why I couldn't allow you to go into her tower.”

  “I didn’t see anything that looked like a house or a tower. What was that all about?”

  “The tower sets in that open space at the center of the maze, my dear. She keeps it invisible from most people, or it’s in some other dimension or, at least, in some way not a part of the real world. Once we went inside, there is no telling how long it might have taken us to find our way back out.”

  “You don't mean she would have held us prisoners?”

  “Oh, heavens no. But because she has no sense of time, she wouldn't know if we had been there for an hour or a century. And she likes to play games. Purely for fun she might hide from us and wander off for a few minutes or a hundred years. There’s just no way of telling. And without her we might never find the door. I couldn't risk it.”

  “But you have been inside.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you could have stayed there, with her, and been safe from Morgana, couldn't you?”

  Merlin looked at Beverley, his intense, hypnotic blue eyes glowing. “Yes.”

  “Why didn't you. You loved her.”

  “Yes, I did. And even after all these centuries I still do. But I would never have been able to work on a way of closing the gate if I were in there with her.”

  “So you gave up your life and your love for her, to live in that ball and fight Morgana.” She squeezed his arm tight.

  “And all the time, Vivian knew where the key was located.” He shook his head, weary with the weight of a thousand and a half years bearing down on his soul. “Jason” he said, bringing himself back to the present, “you’re an archaeologist. What do you know about the Ark of the Covenant?”

  “Oh, Lord, Merlin. That's not an archaeology question. That thing has been lost for thousands of years.”

  “And what do you know about where it might be?”

  “Based on nothing more than a couple of television documentaries I’ve seen, it’s either completely lost, maybe destroyed, maybe it never existed, or it’s right out in plain sight for everyone to see.”

  “And if it is the latter case, where might it be?”

  “In a church somewhere in Ethiopia. At least that’s what all the conspiracy crazies say.”

  “Where is this Ethiopia, place?”

  “I don't know what they called it in your day, but in the Old Testament it is referred to as the land of Sheba.”

  “Ahh, that would be the Kingdom of Aksumia, below Aegyuptus, south of the great cataract of the Nile. One of the very earliest Christian kingdoms, if I’m not mistaken. That might make sense, bein
g as how King Solomon had a relationship with the Queen of Sheba, who ruled that land during the Solomonaic period.”

  “Yeah, right, Ethiopia, south of Egypt. But that’s really pretty much all I know about it.”

  “Who would know more?”

  “Nobody I know, but I guess I can ask Professor Daniels when we get back to York. Maybe he knows somebody who knows something.”

  “I'm sure he’d be glad to see you again, Jason.”

  Turning at the sound of Beverley's voice, Jason asked, “How is he doing since his heart attack?”

  “Much better. He’s back in his office, but he isn't teaching classes yet. I see him now and again at King's Manor and he always asks about you. You should go see him. I know he’ll help you if he can.”

  “Would you like to come with me?”

  She squeezed his hand and nodded. “Um hum. And thank you for finally including me in this.”

  He pulled his hand away and slipped it around her waist, pulling her close to him as though his physical proximity could protect her from whatever the future might throw at them.

  THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE

  Book Two of the Merlin Chronicles

  Praise for

  ‘Revelations: Book One of The Merlin Chronicles’

  “I have to say this is a bloody awesome book!! I was gripped from the start and can't wait for MORE.” ~ Orchard Book club (UK)

  “Daniel Diehl has created an adventurous blend of Arthurian legend, biblical prophecy, classic wizard fantasy and contemporary urban fantasy.” ~ SpecFic Daily

  “The next big Fantasy read is here.” ~ Black Caviar Book Club (UK)

  “I couldn't put it down. This is such an awesome story.” ~ Ask David.com

  “Can’t help but entice the reader. The storyline is complex but accessible [and] Morgana le Fay is a brilliant baddie.” ~ RabidReaders.com

  “This is only book one. Diehl did a great job at giving hope and closure at the end of this story without foretelling what’s about to unfold in the subsequent books.” ~ Hippie Bookworm

  “Revelations will satisfy the expectations of fantasy enthusiasts and demand the attention of lovers of thrillers.” ~ Fantasy Book Review (UK)

  “Book one of The Merlin Chronicles is an outstanding novel. The well-developed characters and descriptive writing make it very easy to immerse yourself in his world.” ~ Netgalley

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Introduction

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Elven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Introduction

  This story is a work of fiction based primarily on characters from the Arthurian legends, Biblical prophecy and a diverse range of historical sources. Our Merlin - particularly in the case of his ancestry and personal history- is based primarily on the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth, a twelfth century English cleric who had based his Merlin on ancient Welsh sagas.

  Every effort has been made to maintain the authenticity of historical facts, Arthurian legends and other hard information that serve to give a realistic setting in which our characters live out their lives of make-believe. Additionally, most of the cities and physical sites referred to in the book are real. The buildings and places within the city of York actually exist and appear much as they are described in the story, as are the story of Sir Francis Dashwood, the appearance of his caves, the village of West Wycombe and the sites and places in Axum, Ethiopia. All of the individuals, occurrences and many details of these and other sites are purely inventions of my imagination and should not be taken as fact.

  This is the second book of (at least) a trilogy covering Merlin and Jason’s adventures and, as inconceivable as it seems, I suppose that some of you may have missed the first installment entitled Revelations: book one of The Merlin Chronicles. While I strongly recommend reading the first volume before diving into this one, I am going to make your life easy by opening this second volume of the trilogy with a prologue that gives new readers a short synopsis of the first book so they won’t be left scratching their heads, trying to fill in the blank spaces with assumptions and imagination. This does not leave you off the hook for volume one – go out immediately and buy it or you will never know how much fun you have missed.

  And now, dear friends, welcome to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: book two of the Merlin Chronicles.

  Prologue ~ Our Story So Far…

  Jason Carpenter, an American doctoral candidate in archeology studying at the University of York, in England, has been assigned to lead his first dig at the ancient castle of Tintagel on the coast of Cornwall. Here he is allowed to supervise the excavation of the castle's midden, or cesspool. Content with his lot in life and contemplating dating his fellow student Beverley McCullough, Jason's world is suddenly turned on its head when, at the bottom of the midden, he uncovers a strange glass ball, which should not exist at such an early level of the dig.

  Before Jason, his professor and the experts, can come to any conclusion as to the identity or purpose of the strange object, Jason is catapulted to instant fame, a short-lived, giddy state of affairs which collapses when the laboratory holding the sphere is inexplicably shattered by a mysterious explosion. If Jason now thinks his world and career have come to an end, he finds his situation becoming far stranger when the globe's previous occupant, Merlin the magician, appears in Jason's apartment where he unfolds a strange and convoluted tale centering around Morgana le Fay - the cruel, ever resourceful half-sister of King Arthur - who has survived sixteen centuries to become the head of an unsavory international conglomerate dealing in such commodities as weapons, drugs, oil and international crime.

  As Merlin spins a story of deceit and revenge that not only destroyed King Arthur's kingdom, but led the old sorcerer into a self-imposed exile after years spent fleeing from Morgana and her allies, Jason not only doubts his strange visitor's veracity but begins to question his own sanity. Adding one impossible fact on top of another, Merlin goes on to describe Morgana’s allies as an army of fire-breathing dragons whose arrival on earth was predicted in the biblical Book of Revelations and confirmed by medieval legends. Making the entire scenario even more unbelievable is Merlin’s claim that the dragons do not originate from earth, but are a supernatural life form that attacks through what he describes as ‘a hole in the sky’. Explaining that the dragons burn everything in their path and consume the released energy, Merlin is convinced that trying to warn the world about the peril would be hopeless because modern weaponry will not only fail to stop the dragons, but would actually provide their energy-based physiology with food. Merlin insists that only so long as he was hidden in his crystal sphere could he keep Morgana and the dragons at bay. Now that he has returned to the world, he is in danger of Morgana locating him with her scrying glass, whereupon she will kill him and nothing will be able to prevent the dragons from returning to destroy the earth.

  Slowly Merlin convinces Jason of the danger that he, and the entire world, are now in and Jason reluctantly agrees to help the great wizard return to hiding so he can continue his work of discovering a way to permanently prevent the dragons’ return. In an attempt to help Merlin rebuild his protective sphere, Jason enlists the aid of a manic biochemist named Jimmy Lo-Pan. But while Lo-Pan tries to recreate the globe, his work is discovered by Morgana who seduces
Jimmy and blows up his laboratory, killing the biochemist and destroying the partially reconstructed orb. Days later, Morgana tracks Jason to Liverpool, corners him in his hotel room, seduces him and nearly adds his life to her growing list of victims.

  Realizing that Morgana has not only discovered his whereabouts, but has also deduced his connection to Jason and their plan to return the wizard to his hiding place, Merlin convinces Jason that they now have no choice but to go on the offensive. With the help of Beverley McCullough’s younger brother Jonathan, Jason contacts a reclusive computer hacker who uncovers the shocking extent of Morgana’s political and economic power in the modern world and tracks her whereabouts. With this information Merlin and Jason begin a mad quest to the barren wastes of Mongolia where an ancient Chinese fortress serves as the sorceress’s headquarters and the seat of her international drug-smuggling syndicate operated by Triad gangsters.

  While on their way to Morgana’s hideout, Jason and Merlin are waylaid by a demonic spirit controlled by one of Morgana’s henchmen, the insidious Chinese necromancer, Dr Fu Ling Chu. After their car is swamped and nearly buried during a raging sandstorm, the pair are rescued by Mongolian nomads who direct them to the location of Morgana’s fortress but refuse to accompany them to this accursed place.

  Once Jason and Merlin reach Morgana’s fortress, they manage to slip inside unnoticed, but during their attempt to confront Morgana, Jason is taken prisoner. Now it is up to Merlin to rescue his young friend by defeating Morgana’s gang of Triad thugs, blowing up her opium processing plant and crippling her ability to carry out her long-planned revenge before he and Jason can make a dash to freedom in a stolen car – pursued every foot of the way by Morgana’s machinegun-wielding bodyguards.