Merlin's Travels (An Untimely Error Book 2)

by Tom Larcombe

  “I think you're right about that. I don't know if drawing the knife into an immaterial state would allow it to still contain the demon,” Merlin said.

  Verruckt paled slightly at the thought.

  “Then I'll just be going in there to see if there's enough room. Otherwise we'll have to think of something else.”

  Verruckt and Stramm went off to one side of the camp and began to prepare for the spell. The rest of the party sat down and thought of ways to keep the knife from being able to influence anyone.

  “There are wards to contain such things,” Merlin said. “But I don't have the materials I would need for that and the end result isn't exactly portable.”

  “So, we need to find a way to keep him out of our minds?” Anselm said.

  Merlin nodded.

  “Will the mental shield you taught me as my first spell work for that?”

  “No, that activates if there's an outright attack on the mind. Demons use a more stealthy approach, they speak to your mind without invading. Suggesting that you could get your desires if only you would do this or that thing. They wear your resistance out a little at a time and before long you find yourself opening up and letting them in since things have been going so well.”

  “So we just need to resist suggestions that aren't things we'd think of ourselves,” Anselm said.

  Vadoma turned to him.

  “How, exactly, do you tell if an idea is your own or implanted? I know you're attracted to me physically, I feel the same. So what if an idea popped into your head of a way to make me even more attracted to you. It seems like a simple thing and you wish you'd thought of it earlier. But the idea is the demon working with your own thoughts and ideas, twisting them slightly. Then it would have a foothold and you would be unaware that it does.”

  “She's got the right of it Anselm,” Merlin said. “They're reputed to be sly and cunning, to be able to put you in their debt without you even knowing it. We need a better way than simple mind shields.”

  Anselm slumped, dejected. He stayed that way until Vadoma put her hand on top of his, then he straightened up again.

  “So what are their weaknesses? You're the one that taught me that everyone has them,” Anselm asked.

  “That's the problem. I'm not entirely sure. I never studied demons thoroughly, just tried to avoid them. I know that it's tied to the knife and may have a limited range of influence with the knife as the center. I know that the knife, or the spells holding the demon in it, would need to be destroyed for it to physically come here. That's about the sum of the concrete knowledge I have regarding demons.”

  “What about rumors then or some other clues you might have?”

  Merlin shook his head.

  “I'm sorry, I just don't know. I was accused of consorting with demons so many times in my youth that I always made a conscious effort to avoid anything about them.”

  “He's ready,” Stramm called.

  Merlin walked over to Verruckt.

  “Do you have a bag?”

  Verruckt nodded.

  “Call up to us if our plan will work. We'll lower the rope to where we hear the sound of your voice.”

  The Dverger nodded again. He began to walk towards the crevice but with each step, he sank deeper into the earth as though he were walking on a personal set of stairs that ignored the rest of the world. Well before he reached the edge of the crevice, his head dipped out of sight below the ground.

  “Well, I guess we should go over to the edge of the crevice and get ready to toss a rope,” Merlin said.

  Stramm shook his head forcefully.

  “I need to stay right here, not move my feet at all. You go. I'll remain and anchor him to this spot.”

  * * *

  It was half an hour later when Merlin heard Verruckt call out.

  “Toss me down a stick or something to shove this thing into the bag with, would you?”

  Merlin walked over to the trees and found a sturdy piece of fallen branch bigger around than his thumb.

  “Watch your head Verruckt, I'm tossing it down near where your voice is coming from.”

  Merlin tossed the stick into the crevice.

  “You almost hit me with it. When you toss the rope down, use the same spot,” Verruckt yelled.

  Merlin waited patiently, his ears cocked for any sign of a problem.

  “Toss the rope down.”

  Gunter walked to the edge of the crevice and started paying out rope slowly, in the same spot Merlin tossed the stick from. He was nearly out of rope when Verruckt asked him to stop.

  “Looks like about eighty-five or ninety feet down. I guess Rein did a good job trying to dispose of this thing,” Gunter said.

  “Haul it up, slowly and carefully,” Verruckt called.

  Gunter drew the rope back up. He took Verruckt at his word and it was ten minutes later when a small cloth bag came sliding over the edge of the crevice. Gunter stepped back from it and gestured to Merlin.

  “Come on back Verruckt, we have it,” Merlin called.

  He sighed inwardly and untied the bag from the rope. Gunter drew the rope away and began coiling it. Merlin checked the bag, the drawstring was still closed and the knife wasn't poking through the fabric.

  That'll have to do for now until we decide on something better, he thought.

  He returned to the campsite with the others. As they entered Stramm called out.

  “Don't get between me and the crevice. You don't want to be in his way when he's coming out.”

  The group avoided the area mentioned. Several minutes later most of them were staring as Verruckt climbed his personal stairwell out of the earth.

  “So now that we have it, what do we do with it?” Verruckt asked.

  “Well, you've done as I requested. You can return home if you like,” Merlin said.

  “And miss the rest of this story? You must be mad. I'll send Stramm home, he's a bit young to be out and about in the midst of a war, but I'd prefer to continue on with you.”

  “Are you sure Stramm will be safe traveling alone?”

  Verruckt sounded as though he were trying to convince himself when he answered.

  “He'll be fine. Less than a half day's walk from here he can enter a network of caverns we Dverger use for undetected travel. He'll use that to get home. The areas around the entrances are a lot like this, deserted. I think he may not see anyone on his way there even.”

  Merlin paused for a moment, considering.

  “I have no objection to you continuing with us. So long as you're sure Stramm will be alright.”

  “Which way are we headed from here?”

  “Northeast.”

  “If you're worried about Stramm, we can escort him to the entrance. It's due north of here so it wouldn't even be that far out of our way.”

  “I think we can do that,” Merlin said.

  “Then back to my original question, what do we do now that we have the knife you wanted?”

  “I need to examine it and figure out a way to keep it from causing problems, assuming I can.”

  “The thing has a nasty feel to it. I didn't even want to use my own knife to push it into the bag,” Verruckt said.

  “Yes it does, I'm hoping that examining it in full sunlight will help with that some. Although I'm not looking forward to it.”

  Verruckt nodded and went over to Stramm. Merlin heard him instructing the younger Dverger on how to use the caverns. It sounded as though Verruckt were simply reminding him, as opposed to teaching him something new.

  Merlin raised his voice and spoke to the group.

  “Please, give me a few minutes over here. I'm going to examine the knife but I'd prefer to do so by myself.”

  He knelt and placed the bag on the ground in front of him. He ensured that there was a stick nearby to slide the knife back into the bag with if necessary. Then he opened the bag and slid the knife out.

  It was a matte silver color, with ornate etchings adorning the base of the blade.
The etching was done in a darker gray than the rest of the weapon. The spells that bound the demon to the weapon were worked into the tracery. Merlin found it easiest to distinguish them with his Sight. With it, the portion used in the binding spells stood out in bright silver compared to the darker gray.

  He pored over the spells used, trying to identify what he could. It appeared that the demon was bound to the blade until it was destroyed. If it survived the destruction of the knife then it would be free to wander the world, doing as it would. There was nothing in the spells that prevented the demon from using its own powers to attempt to destroy the blade. There were also no conditions for simply freeing the demon and sending it back to its home plane.

  Merlin devised a protection that he thought would limit the demon's influence and prevent it from bringing its spirits forth into the world. It was a combination of magical and mental shields that he thought would suffice given the spells he noted on the knife.

  He used the stick to slide the knife back into the bag and closed it. He cast a quick series of spells on the bag and then returned to the group. He got their attention and spoke to all of them at once.

  “I think I can contain it, at least mostly. Everyone will need to be aware of their own mind and on guard against being influenced. I know I can keep it from summoning its spirits, but the mental processes of a demon are not something I'm familiar with. So I don't know if the spells I'm using will keep it from trying to influence us. They will definitely limit what it can do but it may still be able to exert some influence.”

  “You don't know if it will work?” Vadoma asked.

  “What I can do should be sufficient if people stay on guard and watch their thoughts. The protection I can offer will keep it from forcing an opening to someone's mind, so if each of us is careful to not give it one, we should be alright.”

  Vadoma looked uncertain but the rest of the group appeared more confident. Besnik took Vadoma aside and spoke to her for a minute. When she returned to the group she seemed more accepting of the conditions.

  They gathered their belongings and left, heading due north to escort Stramm to the tunnels he would use to return home.

  * * *

  Chapter 15

  The area they moved through was undeveloped. The few roads and houses they found were easily avoided, and they made it to the entrance of the tunnels in just a few hours.

  “Let's stop here for a break. We can have lunch before we move on,” Merlin said.

  They sat in a small cave that provided access to the tunnels, if you knew how to open them, while they ate their lunch.

  Merlin noticed that Vadoma, who had been staying close to Besnik throughout the trip so far, was eating with Anselm. He recalled that she was walking with him much of the time today also.

  I'm glad they're getting along. I'd hate to see Anselm get his heart broken, but she appears to like him well enough, Merlin thought.

  After lunch Verruckt insisted on showing Merlin how to access the tunnels.

  “We have these all over Germany and a few in the rest of Europe. Some of the access points are even in major towns. You'll find that they're all marked with this symbol.”

  He pointed out a stylized snake roughly carved into the stone.

  “Or one very much like it. The position of the open mouth will show you where to open the door.”

  Verruckt followed the open mouth of the snake for two of his hand spans. He grasped a protruding rock and twisted. A door in the back of the small cave opened with a grating noise.

  “Not supposed to do that. I'll have to find whoever is responsible for this door and get them to do maintenance. They're supposed to open silently.”

  Stramm said his farewells to Verruckt and entered the tunnel.

  “There's a second control inside the tunnel for closing the door,” Verruckt said. “You locate it the same way.”

  The door grated closed and Verruckt left the cave.

  “Now, he's safe. Shall we be on our way? Thank you for taking the extra time to escort him,” Verruckt said.

  “You're welcome. He assisted us so it was only right that we assist him in return. Our journey isn't so time-sensitive that we couldn't spare a few hours to ensure his safety,” Merlin said. “Now, we'll just have our guide get us back on track.”

  It took two attempts to get Vadoma's attention. She was sitting next to Anselm, her leg pressed firmly against his. The first time Merlin called her, she was oblivious. The second time, Anselm spoke to her and she turned her head.

  “We need to be moving. Which way do we go?”

  Vadoma blushed and stammered an apology before indicating the correct path.

  “We're going to have to either go through, or around, a couple of cities. We'll follow the Lahn river, mostly, to the Wesser. We follow that river a bit, then we cut overland to get into the Harz mountains where you said we need to be. It'll take a week or more since it's over a hundred and fifty kilometers as the crow flies, more than that on foot.”

  “It may not take that long,” Merlin said. “I'm not against appropriating some transport if we happen to find a military vehicle suitably unattended. I may be the teacher, but some of my students have taught me a few things as well. Seems a few of them enjoy riding in other people's automobiles and devised a spell to quickly start a vehicle without the key.”

  “So, should we not avoid cities then to give you more of a chance for that?” Vadoma asked.

  “Let's take it on a case by case basis. When we get near one, you tell me and let me know what size it is. We'll judge the risks from there.”

  “I'll do that. We start on foot going this way though.”

  Vadoma walked over to Anselm, dragged him to his feet and started to walk, holding onto his hand. Merlin followed but he noticed that Besnik looked upset and was keeping a close eye on Vadoma.

  They walked through the rest of the day and set up camp in a clearing. Vadoma laid out her sleeping gear right next to Anselm's and Merlin couldn't help but overhear Besnik asking her if she thought that was a good idea. Merlin didn't hear Vadoma's answer but Besnik moved away before preparing himself for sleep.

  An hour into the first watch, Merlin was woken by a commotion. He heard Anselm's voice carry in the otherwise silent night.

  “I thought we were going to wait?”

  Besnik roared in anger and jumped to his feet. He sprinted the few steps to where Anselm and Vadoma were and grabbed Anselm. He drew Merlin's ex-student up off the ground and tried to pull him away from Vadoma. As Anselm protested his innocence Vadoma stood, utterly nude, and grabbed Anselm again.

  “Get off of him Besnik, he's mine!” she yelled.

  Besnik looked around confused and when he saw Vadoma's state, he grabbed her blankets and tried to wrap them around her. She shrugged off his attempted help and plastered herself against Anselm.

  “Why are you denying me? You know we both want this.”

  “Because we agreed before that we'd wait until after this task was done. I'm trying very hard to stick to that agreement but...”

  Anselm was lost, staring at the nude woman in front of him.

  Merlin created a light in the center of the campsite and looked around. Nimue was coming into the campsite from sharing the watch with Verruckt. Gunter was awake and looking around. Anselm's hands were creeping towards Vadoma and when Besnik saw the motion he tried to push himself between them, to no avail.

  Merlin shook his head. He knew that Anselm wasn't the type to be doing this while others were watching so he quickly split off a tiny piece of awareness and used it to view the scene with his Sight.

  Ropes of reddish-orange power surrounded Vadoma and tendrils of it were reaching out, trying to ensnare Anselm. Merlin followed the power back to its source and, as expected, found it coming from the bag holding the knife.

  Do I try to break it, shield it, or what? First, I think I'll move it out of range, he thought.

  Merlin grabbed the bag holding the knife and
called to Nimue.

  “Contact me when they snap out of it.”

  He sprinted out of the campsite back along the path they followed earlier in the day. He was more than two hundred running paces away when Nimue spoke to his mind.

  {They're out of it and incredibly embarrassed.}

  {I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to move the knife farther away and hide it, then I'll return.}

  Merlin continued down the trail, at a walking pace now. He moved a rock, dug a hole in the dirt beneath, and then covered it with the rock again after placing the bag in the hole. He walked back to the camp slowly, allowing time for the embarrassment to fade before he returned.

  When he arrived, Vadoma was swathed in blankets and Anselm was still red-faced. Anselm was attempting to apologize to her, while she told him it wasn't his fault. Meanwhile Besnik was trying to keep the two separated.

  “Stop it!” Merlin called, using the command voice he'd learned from Gunter.

  When everyone turned to face him, he began to speak.

  “What occurred was from the demon's influence. I warned you all to guard your minds but perhaps my warning wasn't taken seriously enough. This is a small sample of the demon's tactics. It works on existing desires, strengthening them until they are impossible to resist. It can then use the person under its influence to affect others.”

  Besnik looked confused while the rest of the group tried to digest what Merlin told them.

  Merlin took pity on Besnik and walked over to him.

  “You know, she wasn't under her own control there. It wasn't Anselm's fault either. But the demon can't create emotions and desires out of nothing, so I'm guessing sooner or later this is something you'll need to deal with.”

  “I'm supposed to protect her. That's my job. How do I protect her from this?” Besnik asked.

  “You don't, because you can't. She'll have to protect herself. I'll show her how. You'll need to worry about protecting yourself, as well. You can't carry out your duty to her if you fall under the demon's sway,” Merlin said.

  Besnik considered that for a moment.

  “I don't know how. I'm not a wizard like she is, or like you are. What can I do?”