by Ben Zackheim
“Yeah, he showed up in the forest one night.” Simon prepared for another outburst.
“HA! You realize that that means he told the truth, whether he knew it or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“When he gave you the seeds, he told you they would help you talk to your parents again!”
“Yeah, so?”
“And so they did! Because of the seeds you found your father. I like this Thadeus character more and more. So once you set out with the gold, it makes sense he would want to find you before you met the dragon. That way he could play your heartstrings. If Trejure or Rukkush had set out to intercept you, they would have probably — what do you people say these days — spilled the beans about Thadeus’ role in their own indelicate way. Thadeus beat them to it. So your idea to take the gold to Trejure was bold. And it surprised them. Lovely, lovely.”
His amused smile quickly disappeared. “But the downside is that you ignored my orders and left New Camelot. The power of your vambrace is immense and unknowable — which leads to fear in the enemy. Fear was all we had keeping them at bay.”
“So this is all my fault,” Simon said angrily.
“Well I told you not to leave, boy.”
“Leave him alone!” Gwen yelled. Her eyes were still filled with tears. But they also flashed anger.
Merlin sighed. “No, Simon, it’s your father’s fault. Thadeus is treading on ground no mortal should touch. He’s plotting to bring about the prophecy earlier than the fates would have it. It’s not for him to dictate when Camelot returns, yet he’s doing a very thorough job of pushing all the right buttons.”
That didn’t make Simon feel any better about himself, but he doubted the wizard cared one way or the other.
Merlin stood up straight and brought his staff down. The force of his stick on the floor shattered the tiles.
“Come! We must get to New Camelot. I don’t like the sounds of things out there.”
“I’m not leaving Caradoc and Chester here,” Gwen said, sternly.
“We’ll come back for them later. Assuming we live. Now come!”
“Do we really have a choice?” Gwen asked.
Merlin raised his staff and they disappeared from the room.
52
The party of three materialized in a thick blanket of black smoke. Merlin waved his arms and the fumes lifted.
They stood on a hill overlooking New Camelot and the Odder village. Mordred’s forces had been scattered, but a dozen dragons hovered over the ruins of the kingdom’s entrance gates. They flew in circles, craning their necks toward the ground to sniff something out. It looked like they were scared of something below them.
They were easier to read than Merlin.
Simon couldn’t tell what the expression on his face was, exactly. Rage for certain, but tears also collected across the top of his wrinkled cheeks. He muttered to himself before taking a deep breath that seemed to pull the sound out of the air.
“SWORDS HIGH!” Merlin called out. His voice carried through the entire kingdom.
He frowned at Gwen. She got the hint. She held up Excalibur.
It shone brighter than the sun.
In an instant, an army was united. A thousand raised weapons reflected the glow of war’s fire, and Excalibur.
The dragons prepared to attack. They flew higher to get the most speed they could.
But a lone dragon from the northern sky grabbed everyone’s attention. It was a gold monster, like Trejure, but smaller. On its back, his skin aglow in a flowing orange tint, was Rukkush. He blew into a horn that let out a sad, low tone.
The dragons immediately went back to hovering. They seemed confused, still torn between fighting now or another day. With a second blow of the horn they turned and flew away from New Camelot.
The gold dragon followed, too high to pick off with arrows, but low enough for everyone to see that Rukkush had taken control of the dragon army.
When the last enemy had faded into the clouds, the knights and citizens of New Camelot let loose a cheer that made Merlin smile.
When they got to the castle, Simon found Maille sitting against a wall, so exhausted she couldn’t stand. Two dragon corpses lay in the middle of a smoking crater nearby.
“What happened?” Simon asked her, helping her to her feet.
“I happened,” she said with a wink.
She spotted Merlin and ran toward him. Simon worried for a second that she was going to run the wizard over. But instead she wrapped her arms around his belly as far as they would go.
Merlin’s face softened and he patted her on the back.
Then she pulled away and stuck her bat in the wizard’s face.
“You ever run off like that and leave us with no plan again and I’ll team up with your ugly apprentice!”
But Merlin had already moved on by the time she’d finished her threat. He put his hand on Gawain’s shoulder and the two walked off.
“Where are they going?” Simon asked, watching Merlin and Gawain disappear into the shadows of New Camelot.
“Gawain ended up leading the troops near the end there. He and some trainees were the last line of defense and I hear they did great.”
“Caradoc…” Simon started.
“I know. I felt it,” she said. Her eyes filled with tears. She coughed to keep from crying. “However it happened, it was too soon for him. Tell me later. How are you?” She leaned her forehead against his.
“I can’t believe he’s gone.”
“He was very loyal to you,” Maille said.
“Tell that to Merlin.”
“What nonsense did he put in yer head now?” Simon sat down on some rubble and told her everything. How Caradoc was in cahoots with Thadeus to keep him safe. How his father had worked to get Excalibur for years in some crazy attempt to save New Camelot, apparently by destroying it.
He told her how he’d been his dad’s pawn.
“But that’s…”
“No. It makes sense to me now. It’s twisted, but it makes sense if you think like Dad. Remember in Shadow he said that Merlin was going too slow? My dad’s trying to speed up the prophecy.”
“But if Thadeus knows so much about New Camelot then he could have dropped you off at our door years ago.”
“I don’t think he knew where the castle was until he met Trejure. Besides, what would Merlin do if I just showed up? He’d already avoided my dad for years. So while Dad was in Trejure’s cave, as a prisoner or a guest or whatever, I think he found a way to force Merlin’s hand. He plotted how to get me the vambrace.”
Maille nodded, starting to see where Simon was going with all this. “Then Merlin would see you coming. You’d be on his radar. Which your dad thinks is critical to bringing about the prophecy.”
“Kind of. He thinks that Excalibur is key to the prophecy. And he believed Trejure had it. If my uncle and my dad are telling the truth...”
“That’s a big “if”, Simon,” Maille interrupted.
“I know it is. But they both said that Dad had no idea where Merlin was hiding. So he got a lot done without ever knowing where New Camelot is.”
“I just don’t get how he could do so much damage without even knowing where we are!”
“My guess is that Dad found the vambrace on one of the expeditions over the years. He must have known the value of it and its connection to Excalibur. So when he was captured by Trejure, he found out how sick the dragon was and realized the value of his find. But to offer the dragon the vambraces and to get Excalibur in return, Dad had to get our three vambraces together and delivered to Trejure. Maybe he thought an attack on New Camelot would be his best chance to get all three of us with our three vambraces in one place.”
“So what about the faerie?” Maille asked.
“What about it?”
“You’re saying he arranged for the færie to pack the gold tight in a place like the granary where the scent would drive the dragons nuts again?”
“What
do you mean, ‘again’?” Simon asked.
“Trejure had some gold dropped in a well over the hill there in 1803. The gold’s scent travelled straight up the well shaft. It was a really concentrated draft. Like an oven’s chimney. The intensity of the scent made them unstoppable.” She smiled weakly.
“What’s funny?” Simon asked.
She put a hand on his shoulder. “But we didn’t stick around for the attack, did we? Nah. We walked right into his lair.”
“You see, Maille? Everything that’s happened was to drive me and Gwen and Chester into a vulnerable spot where he could steal the vambraces for Trejure and get Excalibur in return. You can’t save Camelot without Excalibur.”
She took her hand away. Her eyebrows tightened in that way that meant she was about to measure her words carefully.
“The prophecy isn’t about saving Camelot, Simon. The prophecy speaks of saving all of Merlin’s creation.”
When Simon met her statement with silence, she elaborated.
“England is Merlin’s creation. Everything it is, has been created by him. He’s guided it from the shadows for thousands of years. When King Arthur returns it will be to save the country from ruin, not only our home. And when England is saved, when King Arthur sits on the throne, our country will be a beacon for peace around the world.”
“But…” Simon was stunned. All of New Camelot wondered who their enemy was, but if what Maille said was true, then the inscription on his sword had held the answer all along.
The inscription on his sword made it clear who was masterminding this whole mess.
The weight of what his father was trying to do settled onto Simon’s shoulders. He sat down where he stood. If the inscription was right, then Thaddeus’ mission to save England was dumber than Simon had thought. All the speeches his dad had given him about the decay of the world, the decay of values… he wanted to change all of that so badly that he’d become a puppet. His dad was doing exactly what the true enemy of Camelot wanted him to do. Thadeus’ mission to save Merlin’s creation would only end up destroying it.
“Simon,” Maille said, sitting beside him on the rubble. “What’s wrong? Are you injured?”
“No. It’s the... the inscription is....”
“What inscription?”
“On this sword that Hector gave me. It’s a message from Lancelot. It’s... I can’t say anything. Not yet. Not until I’m sure.”
Simon was devastated, angry, and sad. But the most powerful feeling he had was disappointment. How could his own dad think that waging war on innocent people could lead to a happy ending? Isn’t war part of the decay that Thadeus had complained about?
Then, Simon was hit by the most terrifying thought imaginable.
His mother would never approve of this.
Dread swept over him. Had his dad killed her? Had she tried to stop him from finding Excalibur? Thadeus had done his best to protect Simon from the dragon, but he’d seemed ready to kill Maille, Josh and Russ to get the vambraces.
It was too much. With the kingdom burning around him, Simon did what he’d vowed he’d never do again. He hid his eyes in his palms and wept. A hand on his shoulder relaxed him a little. Maille sat down beside him, close.
“I’m here for you, Simon. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but I’m here to talk if you feel like it. We all are. You’re not alone anymore. Gwen and Josh and Russ would follow you anywhere. You have a family now.” He glanced up at her. “Understand?” she asked.
He’d vowed to Sister Alphonsus that he would never give up looking for a family. And now, with his parents feeling further away than ever before, he knew that he belonged here. After years of trying to fill the void his parents had left inside, he’d found a family in the middle of a war zone. It wasn’t what he’d expected, but his heart spoke clearly. Maille was right.
Should he tell her what the sword’s inscription said? Simon opened his mouth to reveal its secret. Damn Hector’s warning about keeping it to himself. He wasn’t big enough to bear the burden alone.
But he calmed himself enough to look around. Through the heat of the fire, he saw Mayor Durdle directing people to where help was needed. Citizens and soldiers alike were putting out fires. Farmers worked around the perimeter of the wall, stacking stones back up. Children were herding livestock into makeshift pens. The mayor spotted trouble and leaped from his perch to lift rubble from a trapped man with a spell. Even Little Boo was out and about, managing people as he did so well.
The dragon army had only just disappeared on the horizon and these people were already rebuilding. Simon felt ashamed for his tears.
He’d carry his secret for as long as he could bear it.
He stood. Maille stood with him. As a clock’s bell struck midnight, they helped Josh and Russ scrub dragon blood from a wall.
53
“What’s that tower there?” Simon asked Maille. He still found new things to ask questions about, even months after arriving in New Camelot. Maille followed his finger to a cluster of towers near the east wall.
“Yeah, we haven’t gone there yet have we?” she answered. “That’s the apprentice’s quarters. It used to be where the wizard’s apprentices stayed, but they stopped that a couple centuries ago. There aren’t enough of us anymore. It’s used as guest quarters now.”
“What guests?” Simon asked.
“Visiting dignitaries, politicians, stuff like that.”
“From the outside world?” Simon started walking uphill again. He and Maille were hiking to Caradoc’s grave.
“Yeah, sure.” Maille said. “You’re surprised?”
“I didn’t know anyone knew about this place.”
“All the parents of the children brought here are regular people, Simon. Many of them trained here but they live normal lives now. A lot of them happen to be powerful people too.”
That made Simon nervous. “Powerful people aren’t good at keeping secrets.”
“Merlin keeps it on the down-low. Everyone who visits is put under a spell when they drink the wine from the goodbye toast. If they try to mention New Camelot, they faint. After two or three episodes most of them figure it out and shut up.”
Simon couldn’t believe how quickly New Camelot had recovered from the dragon attack. It was more beautiful than ever. Even with Shadow looming nearby, now empty. It helped that not a single kid was killed in the attack. They’d been ordered to stay behind and protect the main castle, which was never breeched. That was great for morale. But to balance out the glee, no one knew where the thousands of surviving soldiers of Shadow had gone. Simon suspected they would be back.
Merlin used the destruction of the castle’s outer wall as an opportunity to build it higher and thicker. A dozen turrets jutted out of it, perfect for taking out dragons. He and Maille designed a new weapon that was stationed on each tower. It was a massive steel ball that rotated slowly on a webbed scaffold, like a globe being spun by an unseen hand. Whenever someone asked Maille what it did, she would say, “Let’s hope you never have to find out.”
Somewhere in that world of stone was Excalibur. Merlin wouldn’t tell anyone where it was being kept. The old man wasn’t about to let it out of his sight again. It seemed he still had some stock in the idea that Arthur was the only one who could wield it. Gwen didn’t care one way or the other. She’d be happy if she never heard the word ‘Excalibur’ again.
Simon leaned against a tree that all of the kids called Caradoc’s Tree. It stood near the simple gravestone that marked his friend’s resting place.
His eyes drifted past New Camelot and settled on Shadow. He wished they would tear it down. Every time he saw it, he felt as if the battle had happened that morning. The pain of his father’s betrayal, the terrifying idea that Thadeus may have killed his mother, Caradoc’s death.
Merlin, however, fought the idea of dismantling Shadow, and hard. He argued that people needed to remember, because they’d only suffered through the opening battle of the w
ar. A war that would happen in their lifetimes. Citizens started to call it The Invisible War because of the invisible enemy sent by an unknown leader.
Unknown to everyone, except Simon.
The inscription on his sword spelled out who the enemy of New Camelot had been all along. At first Simon didn’t know what the poem meant. But everything he’d learned from Maille about the prophecy, on top of the sword’s message, left little doubt in his mind.
He ran his fingers over the bark of Caradoc’s tree. He thought of asking the troll what he would do. Who knows? Maybe he’d get an answer. But Simon thought better of it when he remembered that Caradoc wasn’t exactly known for his good decisions.
Still, Simon could do so much with the knowledge he had. He could follow a thousand paths!
Which was the right one?
“Hey, there they are,” Maille Rose said, pointing down the hill.
Josh and Russ trudged up the steep, green slope. Gwen followed them.
The boys reached the tree, out of breath, and arguing about how the world would be different if turtles had thumbs. Gwen rolled her eyes and sat downhill, closer to Caradoc’s grave. She laid a small bundle of flowers on the mound.
It had been five months since the troll’s death and they all missed him. Maille and Simon, in particular, didn’t realize how much he’d meant until he was gone. Caradoc might have worked for his father, but he’d protected Simon better than Thadeus ever had.
Maille, for her part, had spent so many years wrangling the troll and keeping him out of trouble that she’d completely missed the fact that he was a friend. She was determined to never miss details like that again, so Maille and Simon had, quite consciously, become best friends. Josh and Russ were along for the ride, and were the most dependable buddies a kid could have.
Gwen spent a lot of time tending to Hut, who had indeed been injured in the crash of the Excalibur II. He would be okay, but his plight was more drama for Gwen to lose herself in, and she did so with a gusto that implied she wanted to be left alone. Things between her and Simon had not become any clearer. They were friends, but since Chester pulled a second disappearing act on the night of the battle, she kept her distance from everyone.
