Merlin and the Land of Mists Book Three: Galahad

by P. J. Cormack

  And then Draago was there. The huge dragon had answered his Dragon Master’s summons and flown at great speed only to be met with the news that the Raven Boy had disappeared in a flash of light but Grim and Kraak had desperately told the dragon of Merlin’s need to go to Galahad’s aid. Once again Draago had taken to the air with the harsh beating of his massive wings and flown as straight as a fire-driven arrow to the Great Stones of Avalon.

  The boy enchanter felt a huge surge of relief as Draago landed alongside of him.

  “Draago, you came.”

  The last of the Dragon Kind bowed his great head to the boy who was both his Dragon Master and Dragon Rider.

  “Of course I came. You are my Dragon Master and you called to me, but I would have come anyway,” the dragon said.

  “I know and thank you Draago,” Merlin said and then the boy raised his arm and pointed up at the enormous figure of the Lord of Chaos. “Do you know what that is?” Merlin asked.

  Draago did know. In fact he had been more than aware of the huge figure that hung over the Great Stones, “It is the Lord of Chaos,” he told his Dragon Master, “Something has opened up a Split in Time and let the Forces of the Lord of Chaos through.”

  “Then we need to send him back,” the boy enchanter simply said.

  With that Merlin raised his arms high above his head and sent huge bolts of glowing fire up at the figure of the Lord of Chaos and into the Chaos Clouds. Draago joined his dragon-fire to that of his Dragon Master and great sheets of flame rose from the Great Stones of Avalon into the Forces of Chaos that threatened all of Camelot and Avalon.

  Galahad too played his part by finding a new energy that drove the Chaos Warrior back hard across the Great Stones and away from the Dragons’ Teeth. The Forces of the Lord of Chaos reeled back under the attack of the boy enchanter and his friends. The massive figure of the Lord of Chaos seemed to reel away and bend in on itself but then the impossible happened. The Lord of Chaos straightened his huge figure and directed the thunder and lightning of the Chaos Clouds back at Merlin and Draago. From being the attackers the boy enchanter and the dragon were forced into being defenders.

  The Power of the Lord of Chaos would have overwhelmed even some of the Elder gods but Merlin was not so easily defeated. The boy put up a protective shield over himself and his two friends so that the Lord of Chaos’ killing bolts were deflected aside. It took great strength and determination for Merlin to hold the Spell of Defence and the boy knew that it was only a matter of a very short time before he could hold that enchantment no longer and then he, the dragon and Galahad would be crushed beneath the full Power of the Lord of Chaos.

  Galahad was fairing little better for the Chaos Warrior had recovered from the boy warrior’s attacks on it and was now battering Galahad backwards once more. In very short order Merlin, Galahad and even Draago were forced back towards the Stones of the Dragons’ Teeth and all three of them were fully aware that this was where they would make their final stand.

  “Can’t you do something, Raven Boy?” Galahad asked his breath coming in short, painful bursts.

  “I’m trying to,” Merlin shouted back equally struggling for breath.

  “Then try harder,” Galahad bleakly told the boy enchanter.

  The two boys and the dragon were now very much at their breaking point but stood defiantly as the Lord of Chaos almost paused as if to savour his victory and in that moment’s hesitation both he and all his Forces of Chaos were lost.

  A truly huge figure appeared in the Ring of the Great Stones of Avalon. There was no spectacular explosion or flashing of light for this was the greatest and cruellest of the Elder gods. This was Mithras Invictus, Mithras the Undefeated, Mithras the Bull Slayer who needed no show of spectacular sound or light and the god had come to save his son. Even at the height of his worship by the multitudes of the Legions of Rome he had rarely been glimpsed by his priests and followers. Certainly he had never been seen to walk the earth in all his Power and Glory but that was exactly what the Elder god did now.

  Time seemed to stand still as Mithras Invictus stood as tall as a Titan and turned slowly to glower with a dreadful rage at the Lord of Chaos. There was none who could stand against the greatest of the Elder gods and even the Lord of Chaos seemed to hover as if petrified into stillness by the unlimited anger and cruelty and power that emanated from the boy enchanter’s father. Then Mithras Invictus arm moved so fast that it was impossible for mortals and even a dragon to see the speed with which the Elder god moved.

  As the Knife of Mithras Invictus sped towards the Lord of Chaos so Galahad ferociously renewed his attack on the Chaos Warrior. The Creature staggered back and Galahad leapt high in the air as he had seen Achilles do and drove his sword hard down through the Creatures throat and into its heart. As Galahad had delivered the killing blow a shard of blue light had broken away from the Elder god and this too arced down into the body of the Chaos Warrior as if following the boy warrior’s killing sword thrust.

  The Creature of the Lord of Chaos staggered away from Galahad with a look of total disbelief on the blackened ruin that served as its face. The Chaos Warrior threw back its head and roared as its whole body was blasted apart to fall to the ground as blackened slivers of putrefied flesh. But still the Elder god had not finished with his revenge on the Lord of Chaos and his Forces. As the Lord of Chaos staggered and collapsed with the knife of Mithras Invictus sticking from its body so the Elder god grew in size and leapt effortlessly up and into the Chaos Clouds. With one smooth movement Mithras Invictus retrieved his Killing Knife from the body of the Lord of Chaos.

  Merlin knew exactly what would happen next for his father was the Bull Slayer, the god the Roman legions had worshipped and the god who had leapt upon the bull and cut its throat. And that was what the Undefeated god now did to the Lord of Chaos. Effortlessly he pulled back the massive head of the Lord of Chaos and cut that Beings throat from one side to the other. There is no return for any Being from such a blow as Mithras Invictus delivered to his son’s enemy and Merlin, Galahad and Draago watched in an almost horrified bemusement as all the Forces of the Lord of Chaos collapsed and then appeared to be sucked with great force through a whirling breach in the sky over Avalon’s Great Stones.

  There was a look of satisfaction on the face of Mithras Invictus as he turned to look down at his son for Mithras Invictus was a god who enjoyed killing. Even so the Elder god’s face hardened as he looked at Merlin.

  “I told you that I do not like to be disturbed,” the god bellowed at his son.

  “I’m sorry,” Merlin said without looking a bit sorry, “It will not happen again.”

  “See that it does not,” the greatest of the Elder gods thundered back at his son.

  “I thought that you didn’t care for Avalon anymore?” There was more than a hint of mischief in the boy enchanter’s voice.

  “I don’t,” Mithras Invictus grimly replied, “But there was great valour here and the Lord of Chaos had no right to enter my realm.”

  With one more glowering look at his son Mithras Invictus, Mithras the Bull Slayer was gone. As before there was no great clap of thunder or burning fire, it was just that one moment Mithras had stood in the centre of the Great Stones of Avalon and the next he was gone.

  Then there was a great beating of wings as the unicorn herds of Stormrider and the griffins led by Firewing dropped down from the sky. The Lords of Winter had already been panicked by the sight of the Unconquered god dealing so summarily with their master the Lord of Chaos and they were completely unprepared for the joint attack of the unicorns and the griffins. The battle cry of Firewing that was half lion and half eagle roared across the skies of Avalon as the griffins tore mercilessly into the Lords of Winter. Desperately these unholy Lords turned away from the onslaught of the griffins only to be met by the flailing hooves and razor sharp horns of Stormrider and his herd.

  As the Elder god had come to the defence of his son and Avalon so the Old Magic that wa
s the unicorns and griffins also brought a terrible vengeance with them. Stormrider and Firewing had always regretted that they had not been present to aid Merlin in his fateful battle with the Dark Lord and his Creature from the Underworld that had been known as the Minotaur.

  This time they were here for their Raven Boy and they would not fail him. The Beasts of the Old Magic tore into the Lords of Winter with a ferocity that Mithras Invictus himself would have been proud of. No matter how the Lords of Winter twisted and turned there was no escape for them and they were scattered far and wide across the Skies of Avalon with the unicorns and griffins ever chasing after them ripping and tearing in their pursuit. Then the sky was clear and it was as if the Lord of Chaos and his Lords of Winter had been wiped out of Time and Existence.

  The two boys and the dragon stood for a moment each remembering the battle that they had just fought and which they had so very nearly lost.

  Galahad was the first to speak, “Who or what was that?” The boy warrior asked his awe plain to hear in his voice.

  “That was my father,” Merlin quite simply told him.

  “Your father the Elder god,” Galahad said as if it was all too much for him to take in.

  “My father’s name is Mithras Invictus, Mithras the Unconquered,” Merlin told the boy, “He is the greatest and most feared of the Elder gods.”

  “Very few mortals have looked on the face of Mithras Invictus,” Draago confirmed, “Looked on it and lived, we are all very deeply honoured,” the dragon continued.

  “I thought that we were all dead,” Galahad spoke what all three of them had been feeling.

  “To be absorbed into the Forces of Chaos is more terrible that death itself,” Draago told the boy warrior.

  “You fought well,” Merlin told Galahad, “You fought very well.”

  Galahad grinned at the son of Mithras Invictus, “Thank you, Raven Boy.”

  “You can call me Merlin,” the boy enchanter said, “You have more than earned the right.”

  “That would be good,” the boy warrior replied.

  “It was well done,” Draago said, “And I am deeply honoured. No dragon has ever looked on the face of Mithras the Bull Slayer and probably never will again.”

  “I didn’t know dragons truly existed,” Galahad said looking with due reverence at the huge dragon that towered above him.

  “I am the last of my kind, young warrior,” Draago told the boy.

  “Return to Dragons’ Keep,” Merlin told the dragon, “Go once again with the Raven Boy’s thanks.”

  “I will always return when you call, Dragon Master,” Draago told the boy enchanter, “Fare thee well, Galahad. You will be the truest and finest of knights for I know who you are and also what you will become.”

  With a puzzled look on his face Galahad bowed his head not just at the compliment that the dragon had paid him but also because it was fitting to the last of the Dragon Kind.

  “Fare thee well, dragon,” the boy warrior replied.

  Draago took off with the huge powerful beating of his large wings but he did not immediately fly away as the boys had expected him to. Instead he hovered high above the Great Stones of Avalon and then breathed out a massive burst of fire.

  As the flames died away Merlin could see the plumes of smoke form the words that he knew only too well but now he could see that there was an extra verse.

  “When Evil stands at Camelot’s Gates.

  Then will come he of the Old Magic,

  In a time before the Raising of the Sword

  By the Old Magic will Evil fall.

  The Unicorn, the Dragon, the Raven and the Undead

  Will face those Evils that all Camelot dreads.

  By the Power of the Raven Boy and the Power of the land,

  Shall all be protected and all Evil withstand.

  Enchantment from a future long foretold

  That which will summon the boldest of bold,

  Comes the white haired boy at first untrusted

  He of Lancelot’s line but never corrupted.”

  From Mona’s Isle comes the Druid girl

  To Camelot’s in its time of black.

  Power from the Winter now unfolds

  To the Beasts of Magic before untold.”

  Galahad looked questioningly at the boy enchanter.

  “It’s a prophecy,” Merlin told the boy warrior, “A prophesy that was written down thousands of years ago in the Dragon Lore. Now in us the prophecy comes to fruition.”

  One look at Merlin’s bleak face was enough to tell Galahad that this was something that the boy enchanter wanted very much to keep to himself, at least for the presence anyway.

  “Where to now?” The boy warrior asked feeling that it was safer to completely change the subject for there were times when Merlin could look frighteningly like his father.

  “Home to Mo Dhachaidh,” Merlin said giving his friend one of his rare smiles. “Unless you fancy another go at Achilles.”

  Galahad realised that he was aching in every bone and muscle and the cut on his arm where the Chaos Warrior’s sword had bit deeply was throbbing fiercely with pain.

  “I think I’ll give that a miss,” he told the boy enchanter, “At least for today.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  AVALON

  CAMELOT CASTLE

  THE GREAT THRONE ROOM

  “Once again Merlin has not answered my summons,” King Uther Pendragon’s words were as cold as death itself. “This is not good enough, Galapas. Explain to me why I should not send my men to drag him here by force.”

  Camelot’s High Mage cleared his throat before speaking. He was well aware that the king was becoming even more increasingly unstable and that he needed to choose his words very carefully to avoid spending time in Camelot’s dark dungeons.

  “I fear, sire,” Galapas told Camelot’s king, “That they would not be able to find him. Merlin can hide in plain sight when he chooses.”

  ‘Not to mention blasting anyone who foolishly tried to lay a finger on him about a hundred foot in the air,’ Galapas thought to himself but decided not to pass these thoughts onto to his king.

  For a moment King Uther Pendragon’s eyes took on a sly all-knowing look. “Then I will order them to drag this other boy, this Galahad, to Camelot. Let us see how Merlin reacts to that.”

  The king looked around at the faces of his Knight Commander, Sir Lauriston du Lac, and Camelot’s Queen Alona for their agreement to what he undoubtedly considered a clever plan. Unfortunately for King Uther Pendragon their concern at the outcome of this ruse was quite obvious to see.

  “I beg you to desist, sire,” Galapas asked for the High Mage was well aware that Merlin would treat any attack on the boy warrior as an attack on himself – or worse.

  Queen Alona, as ever, tried to bring a sense of reason to her husband, “Galapas is correct, Uther,” she told the king in her melodious voice. “There is no need for harsh words here. Merlin’s loyalty to Camelot and Avalon has never been in doubt.”

  That set the king off on his now familiar track, “His loyalty to me is greatly in doubt,” he stressed the words ‘to me’ to make sure that his message hit home.

  “Let us have your thoughts, Sir Lauriston,” the queen said to Camelot’s Knight Commander who she knew she could always rely on for a considered voice as long as he wasn’t leading some ridiculously dangerous foray in battle.

  Sir Lauriston shook his head sadly, “I must admit that these matter are beyond my comprehension, Queen Alona. Perhaps it would be best if Galapas tried to explain Merlin’s behaviour to us.” The Knight Commander was fond of the boy enchanter but he was well aware that his first duty of loyalty was to his king.

  “Can you do this for us, Galapas?” The queen asked hopefully.

  “I can try, my queen,” the High Mage replied, “It is hard even for me to understand what has happened but I will do my best.”

  “Proceed, Galapas,” King Uther Pendragon ordered in his be
st ‘no nonsense’ voice.

  Camelot’s High Mage took a deep breath as he tried to gather his thoughts to him. “There are many worlds just as there are many Times. As well as the Present, the Past and the Future between these worlds is the Realm of the Lord of Chaos. This is what keeps the Past, Present and Future apart and prevents them from breaking through into one another. The Realm of the Lord of Chaos is a vast terrible expanse ruled over by Beings that we cannot even guess at for they are truly monstrous creations.”

  Galapas hoped that this was at least making some sense to his audience for it was very hard for him to understand it himself, let alone explain it to others.

  “This is what you truly believe, Galapas?” Queen Alona asked the High Mage in her quiet voice.

  Galapas gravely bowed his head, “Yes it is, my queen.”

  “Continue,” King Uther Pendragon ordered firmly but Galapas could see that the king’s eyes had glazed over at the complexity of the explanation.

  “The Lord of Chaos is constantly seeking New Worlds and New Times to add to his kingdom,” the High Mage persisted. “Normally he cannot move into these other realms but on occasions a Split or Tear is caused by some supernatural event and the Forces of Chaos can thrust themselves through these Rents and into worlds that are normally forbidden to them.”

  Sir Lauriston could just about follow the High Mage’s explanation, “You believe that a split was caused in the Fabric of our World and Time,” the Knight Commander suggested, “A split that allowed the Lord of Chaos to bring his Forces to Avalon?”

  “Yes, Sir Lauriston, I do,” Galapas agreed.

  “And just what caused this so called ‘split’?” King Uther Pendragon asked and there was more than a hint of disbelief in his voice.

  “I do not know, sire” the High Mage admitted, “But it could have been caused by the arrival of Galahad.”