Modern Merlin

by Jason Paul Rice

  “I hope so. I feel like I’ve let her down. Look at me. I’m a complete failure. No job. About to get kicked out of my house. The only thing I have going for me is this girl, and you hate her.”

  “I don’t hate her or anyone, for that matter. She might be the loveliest woman in the universe, but I know that she will try to kill you or inflict you with the disease.”

  “What disease?”

  “The dark spirit disease. Once inflicted, forever afflicted. There’s no cure for it except a merciful death, or a lifetime imprisonment in solitary confinement.”

  A worried look spread over Mike’s face. Alayna smirked and said, “Don’t worry. It can’t be sexually transmitted.”

  Mike wondered how she knew what he was thinking. “If you think I’m going to kill Emily, you’re crazy. I don’t even want to talk about this here.”

  “I agree. Tell me something about your mom.”

  Mike rubbed the blond hair on his chin. “Well, she had blond hair, blue eyes. She was kind of short, I guess. She was always painting her fingernails. She had a big mole on her left arm, and she called it her chocolate chip.”

  “That’s nice, but I didn’t ask for a list of physical descriptions. Give me something that tells me about her as a person.”

  “She worked at a packing plant to make sure we could pay the rent while taking care of the cooking and cleaning. She took me everywhere, and she even was president of my baseball league. She didn’t know much about baseball, but we needed a president, and she stepped up.”

  “How nice. What else?”

  Mike’s eyes lit up, and he wiped the tears from his face. “She used to read me a bedtime story every night. I don’t remember all the books’ names, or even what they were about. I just remember being with my mom. My dad made it clear he didn’t want anything to do with me from the start, so it was important to me.”

  “That’s sweet. Is there anything else?”

  His frown shifted to a smile as he paused for a few moments. “She used to say that I was made out of the stars above.” Mike chuckled. “I know it’s not true now, but it always made me feel special. She always said that I was her special star.” He gave Alayna an extra squeeze, and slowly stood up, breaking the embrace.

  “She was technically right, you know?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “If you go by the big bang theory, she was correct. The big bang started with the formation of atoms that eventually led to stars. Then you had exploding stars known as supernovae that had a big impact on forming the galaxies and planets. Without those explosions reconfiguring the universe, earth as we know would not exist. So technically, your momma was right, Micheal.”

  Mike’s smile grew bigger, and he looked down at Alayna’s gentle face. “Thank you for coming here. I think it’s time to go back now.”

  Mike and Alayna walked side by side in silence for the first few minutes.

  “Do you think you’re up to another lesson in the other world?” Alayna asked.

  Mike nodded and took a few deep breaths. “I think I can handle it.”

  They walked to the river and found the door marked with a triskele. Alayna led the way through the darkness, and this time, Mike confidently stepped off the ledge.

  They emerged into the paradise-like underworld and headed for the Grand Oak Forest. Alayna pointed to a long, moss-covered log, and the two friends sat down.

  “What are we doing?” Mike asked impatiently.

  “We’re waiting, silly,” Alayna teased.

  “I know that. What are we waiting for?”

  Alayna cracked her knuckles. “I told you last time what the new lesson would be. This is another short one, but you will get to meet some very important people. So make sure you act properly.”

  Mike saw an owl hooting on the branch of a pine tree. He wondered what a bird of the night was doing out in the middle of day. The owl ruffled its feathers and Mike rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

  When he looked back, a woman draped in a cloak of flowers and exotic feathers that hung to her knees was standing on the tree branch.

  The fair-skinned female gracefully pranced down the branch and jumped to the ground. Her bare feet snapped and crunched the brush beneath as she approached them.

  Alayna curtsied. “My inspiration.”

  The woman bowed her head and held it down for a few moments. “My dear Alayna. Wonderful to see you again. Is this the new student?”

  Alayna gestured to Mike. “This is Micheal Merlino.” She pointed at the woman. “And this is the lovely Blodeuwedd.”

  Mike wasn’t sure what to do. Should he bow or to take a knee? Blodeuwedd eased the pressure and extended her hand. A sweet flowery smell grew stronger as he took a step closer to the blond woman. Her slender fingers gripped his hand and shook it up and down.

  “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She smiled and tightened her grip.

  The pressure increased until Mike felt like the bones in his hand were about to snap, then Blodeuwedd released her hold. “The pleasure is all mine.”

  He could see the imprint of her fingertips on the back of his aching hand.

  She turned to Alayna. “When are we leaving?”

  The faerie answered, “As soon as our flying friends show up to take us to the Otherworld known as Clara Spiritus.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Blodeuwedd wiggled her nose around and started to disappear. Her hair vanished first, followed by her arms. Then her face and legs were erased, and the cloak of flowers and feathers hit the ground.

  The exotic cloak shifted around, moving up and down. Mike was convinced a beating heart was inside it. He took two terrified steps backward and watched a beautiful owl wearing a necklace of intertwined flowers wiggle out of the cloak. The majestic bird had bright yellow forward-facing eyes and a facial disc of golden, white and black feathers arranged in vertical patterns.

  Mike couldn’t take his eyes off the black and white feathers or the standing ears on top of her head. Blodeuwedd shook her face around, and Mike zeroed in on the golden beak and extremely long silver filoplumes as the owl suddenly flapped her wings and took to the air.

  Alayna said, “You can pick up your eyeballs now.”

  Mike jumped. He had been fully focused on the shifting creature and her beauty. “That was pretty wild. Is she a Goddess?”

  “Indeed. There are many that you will learn in due time. Today we will travel to Clara Spiritus so you can get some more background information on different forms of magic before we start going into precise detail. It’s my last big push for your recruitment.”

  “Well, what do I do? Do I bow? Or what did you call Blodeuwedd? Your excellency or something?”

  “My inspiration. I won’t go into heavy detail, but Blodeuwedd was formed by the flowers of the broom, meadowsweet and oak. She didn’t have the life on earth you would expect from a God or Goddess, but that is the beauty of this culture. We are all flawed creatures, and there is no shame in that. How we react to our flaws is what will define us.”

  Mike heard a clomping sound that seemed to be getting closer.

  Alayna whispered, “Epona has sent us a gift to get to Clara Spiritus.”

  “Who’s Epona?”

  “She is the Goddess of Horses and Fruitfulness. Another note about the system of Gods and Goddesses. It can sound quirky to people just learning about it, but trust me, there is a grand system for everything that you will find out soon. I hate to keep teasing you, but I don’t want to pack too much into your mind and make your head explode. Just seeing some of the visions down here can be a lot to take in, not even mentioning the information involved.”

  “I’m not going to lie. This is kind of making me think this world is all a dream.”

  “You want me to pinch you?” She gestured with her fingers and thumb.

  “I’ll thank you to stop pinching my butt at any point in time.”

  “We’ll see about t
hat. I’m trying to keep your exposure down here at a minimum, by the way.”

  “Minimum? It’s like a mythological playground. I don’t really understand some of the creatures I’m seeing, but I like it.”

  The clomping sounds grew nearer as two animals trotted down the dirt path toward them. A white Pegasus and a peryton with brilliant shades of purple, red and blue slowed to a walk as they approached Alayna and Mike.

  The Pegasus hadn’t blown Mike’s mind because he had seen many iterations of the creature before. The Pegasus’ tucked wings imparted a regal look, but the horned animal captured Mike’s attention.

  The peryton appeared to be a twelve-point stag with reddish-brown fur. The outside of his wings started with red at the shoulder and bled into a purple in the middle before blending into a vibrant blue at the tips of the wing feathers.

  The peryton towered over the Pegasus like a stallion over a pony. Alayna said, “Our rides are here.” She whistled with an intensity that filled the woods. Within moments, Blodeuwedd arrived in owl form, and the group moved to the verdant clearing outside the woods.

  Alayna walked over to the Pegasus and patted the animal on the head. “I’ll be riding with Anabelle and you will travel with Redridge.” She pointed at the peryton.

  Mike slowly approached the enormous animal. With the huge rack, the animal stood taller than Mike. He tentatively patted him on the shoulder and could feel the warmth and power of the creature. Redridge leaned down, allowing him to get on his back.

  Alayna said, “Grab the area right near the base of the wings. It’s the perfect spot to hold, and it doesn’t hurt Redridge.”

  Mike jumped up on the animal’s back and held on for dear life.

  The animals trotted along the flat stretch of land, picking up speed. Mike felt and heard the peryton’s wings expand and begin to beat. Its feet came off the ground, and they were gliding through the air. The peryton kept flapping its wings as they rose up even higher.

  Blodeuwedd streaked by, reminding Mike he wasn’t there alone. He searched the sky for Alayna and found her with a big smile on her face as the Pegasus did a few barrel rolls. Redridge took Mike near the loose dome of electric-charged tree roots.

  The blue sparks jumping off the intersected roots gave Mike an uneasy feeling. The peryton flew close to the grid of roots and dove through a large opening.

  Suddenly, Mike was surrounded by swirling sparks of blue energy as the peryton streaked through the madness. It was like he was caught in the middle of a storm cloud and couldn’t escape. The air pressure ratcheted up and the air became much denser.

  The pressure started to squeeze his head like a vise. Just when the stress became almost unbearable, the peryton zipped into the night sky void of any electric storms. The stars provided enough light so that Mike could locate Alayna and Blodeuwedd again. They seemed to be flying straight toward the moon.

  Mike didn’t understand the scientific principles of the underground world, but he was enjoying it.

  A strange cloud appeared in front of Mike and Redridge. It looked like radar footage of a hurricane. The swirling white mass seemed to be pulling them in. The peryton barreled directly into the vortex.

  Complete darkness.

  Mike felt like his body was being pulled in all different directions. He tried to fight it, only making matters worse. He couldn’t feel the peryton anymore as he was trashed around the vortex. A bright blue flashed, nearly blinding Mike.

  When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a plush green valley of rosebushes. Two steep mountains flanked the valley.

  Alayna’s voice made him jump. “Are you ready?”

  He whirled around to find her smiling. “What happened to Redridge and Annabelle?”

  “They took us to where we needed to go and went back to the Deep Burrow.”

  “Can they go to earth? I mean, my world?”

  Alayna led him through the dark valley and ignored his question. “Oh, Mike, there is a growing problem in the world right now. There are a few different underworlds out there similar to this one. However, their purposes are very different. In some of these worlds, good and evil have been reversed. Villains believe themselves to be heroes.”

  “How?”

  “Not sure, really. Differing opinions, some would say. Sometimes, it derives from jealousy, and then the people rationalize it. After some time, it becomes an accepted practice as it’s been normalized. Anyway, the problem we’ve run into lately is that some of these evil underworlds are sending their minions to the surface of the earth to wreak havoc.”

  “Why?”

  “Probably to cause trouble. For attention, maybe. I can’t say for sure, but they want something and they are infiltrating your world. That’s why we need to get you trained, so we can weed out any problems that sprout from these worlds. As amazing as it is to see these peaceful creatures in this world, it can be terrifying to see the malevolent monsters, some the size of a school bus, in a city setting. A strange wave of paranormal events unlike any the world has ever seen has been on the uprise in the past few years, and I believe it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

  A warm breeze rolled through the chilly valley and provided a slight blanket of warmth. They followed a line of torches to a great opening in the base of the red rock mountain on their right.

  The seductive strumming of a stringed instrument accompanied by soft singing echoed out of the opening. Mike’s legs almost gave out as he followed Alayna into a fire-lit cave. They entered a huge hole that expanded greatly to expose a massive room.

  Mike counted fourteen torches around the room, and four people, not including Alayna, Blodeuwedd and himself. Mike scanned the room. There were long stone slab benches, two cauldrons, several individual wooden chairs and a round table in the middle of the room. The two enormous cauldrons sat at the top. Abstract nature scenes had been chiseled into the walls and were highlighted with vivid color.

  As he took all this in, a woman approached the bench with the cauldrons and a young man with shaggy blond hair who had paused at their entrance resumed playing a lyre. Mike’s eyes were drawn to an older man with antlers coming from his head and birds peeping from his grandiose beard, and a shorter man who appeared to be all muscle. The Gods were much taller than most of the people he had seen in the Deep Burrow.

  Alayna whispered. “This is one of the gathering places of the Gods. I brought a few people together to explain some things to you. Don’t be intimidated. They don’t like people to be in awe and drop to their knees in deference. They just want to share in the world with you and learn from your experience.”

  Alayna and Blodeuwedd sat down around the table and urged Mike to join them. His heart was pumping out of control, and his mouth had run completely dry. Mike sat betwixt the two women.

  Alayna leaned closer to him and pointed to the woman stirring the cauldrons. The woman had dark-hair and wore a loose red dress that shimmered in the firelight. She danced back and forth between both cauldrons holding a golden stirrer that would have rivaled a boat oar.

  Alayna whispered, “That’s Cerridwen. She won’t come over, as she needs to tend to her concoctions.”

  The powerful aroma of sage and rosemary flooded the open cave before filtering out into the night sky. The antlered man stopped sharpening his long knife and made a grunting sound.

  The skinny young man put down the lyre and turned his attention to Alayna. “You’re right, he does look like Lance.” He came over and sat at the table.

  “Told you,” Alayna gloated.

  The muscled man set down the boulder he had been exercising with. Cerridwen stood with her back to the table and attentively stirred one of the cauldrons slowly.

  Mike waited. Nervously. His eyes darted around the table. He waited for Alayna or Blodeuwedd to introduce him to the Gods. What was he supposed to do? Blurt out, ‘Hi, I’m Mike. How you doin’?’

  A few more anxious seconds that felt like hours to Mike went by.

  Ala
yna finally said, “I wanted to thank all of you for your grace and compassion, and willingness to help out a new student. This is Mike.”

  Mike stood up and bowed. He had no idea why he had done that. The male Gods smirked at Mike and made eye contact with each other.

  The young man seemed to defer to the elder, who spoke in a booming tone. “Micheal. I am Cernunnos. Most refer to me as the Lord of the Wild Things. I look after the animals of the world and their spirits in other worlds.” The horned God wore silver robes, and his dark beard and hair were streaked with wise notes of graying. Several unidentified baby birds kept poking out of his beard as he continually fed them sunflower seeds.

  Mike leaned closer to the table.

  Cernunnos continued, “A thirst to learn is one that needs quenching. We will help you along this journey, but you will be the one who determines your ultimate outcome. A coach can take an athlete only so far.” The God stopped and smiled, confusing Mike. “I see you keep peeking over at him, Cerridwen, so we might as well get the introductions over with now. Cerridwen is antisocial and won’t come over to say hi.” He said the last sentence loud enough for Cerridwen to easily hear him, and laughed heartily.

  Mike didn’t think it was very funny, but he joined the rest of the table with a forced chuckle.

  The young man said, “I am Mabon, the Young Son of Light. I seem to keep my youth as the years go on.” He rubbed his smooth chin, and Mike noticed his fair face was unwrinkled. “I am the God of unity and music, which go hand in hand, if you really think about it. I also dabble in cosmology. Did you see my telescope outside the cave?” The man spoke with the youthful exuberance of a teenager, almost bragging about a new toy.

  Mike responded, “That’s what that was. I thought so, but it looked out of place given the overall setting. That was some pretty good music you were playing earlier.” Mike had no clue why he said that other than pure nervousness.

  The God rubbed the three blond whiskers on his chin. “Much appreciated, my good man. Ah yes, fiddling away on my lyre. Not to worry, there’s no fire to speak of.”