Merlin's Story Update

As of approximately five minutes ago, Merlin's Story reached 40,000 words. The average novel is between 75,000 and 100,000 words, or about 300 to 400 pages. Now being longer than 40,000 words, Merlin's Story can no longer be considered a novella under the definition established by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Rather, Merlin's Story can be now be considered a novel.

I have not published any chapters on this blog for over five months now, and will no longer be publishing them for book publishing reasons.

I have written approximately 10,000 words in the last two weeks. Working at a steady pace, somewhat slower than this last week, Merlin's Story can be expected to be finished by the end of 2010 if things remain the way they are, by the end of May if things go well, and by the end of 2012 at the absolute very worst.

Sitting pretty at 186 pages currently, Merlin's Story is becoming considerably longer than I had anticipated, which was supposed to be a stand alone novel, spanning all of Merlin's life. In that, I have failed miserably, adding more and more to the story until finally one book would not do justice to Merlin. Thus Merlin's Story will not be one book, but rather two for certain, and more than possibly three books to form the Merlin's Story trilogy.

Keep checking up here for more info regarding Merlin's Story, due to be finished within the next year.

1 Year Anniversary

As of today, it has been exactly one year since I began writing Merlin's Story. I have started developing several other stories since, but Merlin's Story still remains my main project, as it is closest to completion.

1,000 Visitors

As of Friday, September 11, 2009, there have been over 1,000 visitors to Merlin's Story, over half of which have been international.

750 Visitors

As of today, 750 visitors have come to Merlin's Story. A remarkable accomplishment, especially considering the 500 visitor mark was hit last month and almost 80 visitors have come in the past two days, mainly from the U.S. and Canada. The most common search term people have come to Merlin's Story with is the search term 'merlin's story', or 'merlin story'.

Not long ago, NBC started their new series, "Merlin", and visitors have skyrocketed since. If you have not watched "Merlin", it is a remarkable series, very good, and offers a unique twist to the traditional versions of the Arthurian legends which can't be found anywhere else. A highly recommended show to watch.

Days of Now

Merlin heard loud, high pitched noises in the distance, as if someone were screeching. The stench of where he was almost unbearable, for he was surrounded by metal cans as big as himself filled to the brim with all sorts of things, from banana peels to small metal cylinders with letters on them like ‘AA’ or ‘C’.

Merlin looked around him to find he was in some sort of a dead-end hall with an open roof. At one end there was nothing but an impossible-to-scale wall. At the other end was a sight to behold.

There was a small white walking path, with many lines in it, forming squares. People walked in both directions along this path. Further beyond this was a black walking path, with odd lines drawn on it. Sometimes it was one line, sometimes it was two. Sometimes it was a solid line, sometimes it was dashed. Sometimes it was white, sometimes it was yellow.

And on this black walking path there were not people, but rather giant metal cages that moved incredibly fast and on their own as it appeared on four wheels. And inside these cages were people, many people. But in every cage, one person held a wheel of some sort.

Intrigued by this unique and fascinating sight, Merlin walked toward it slowly, as if in a dream. But the world Merlin saw from inside the strange hall was not the world he was walking toward. No, it was very much different, as Merlin soon found.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Get outta my way you vermin!”

All of these and more was yelled at Merlin. For such a beautiful world, these people apparently did not like him. But Merlin didn’t care. If things went the way they had been for the last several hours, he wasn’t going to be here for long, so why worry?

Merlin walked down the white walking path for a ways, not caring of the dirty looks he received. He was intrigued by this world. Was it some realm Blaise hadn’t told him about? If it was, why hadn’t Blaise told him? Or had Blaise told him about this realm without Merlin realizing it?

Either way, Merlin intended to look around while he could, for this was the first time the voice wasn’t speaking and Merlin was free to go where he’d like. And Merlin intended to take full advantage of that opportunity.

Merlin passed several glass windows, something only the rich could afford. But then again, most of the people on the walking path were elegantly dressed, though from what Merlin had heard, these clothes he saw were ‘casual’. Where Merlin was from, these clothes were so fine, not even royalty could afford them.

Inside the glass windows, Merlin saw many odd devices. Being the curious boy he was, Merlin went inside many of the doors next to the glass windows to look at the marvels inside the rooms. The room seemed to be an indoor merchant’s stand. Merlin could tell because people were handed others coins and paper, which looked oddly familiar. Not only that, there was much yelling, presumably bargaining. The merchants here were very stubborn on their prices it seemed.

Some of the things Merlin saw were so marvelous he had to ask others about them. There was one thing, a strange box, almost like the color box back in the Utopian realm, that when you pressed a button, music played.

“Sire, could you tell me what this is?” asked Merlin of a man walking past him dressed elegantly in black leggings, a black overcoat, a white shirt, and a red drape hanging down over his chest. The man was also holding a small rectangular metal object to his ear and talking to it.

The man looked curiously at Merlin as if he had come from a completely other world. As it happened, Merlin did come from a different world. “This is a radio,” the man told Merlin, then asked questions of his own, putting away the small rectangular object in his pocket.

“My, isn’t this a fancy outfit. Is your dad a businessman?”

“What’s a businessman?” asked Merlin.

The man gave a small chuckle. “You must be from a small part of Britain then.”

Merlin was about to ask how the man knew he came from Britannia, but Merlin realized it must be his accent and instead replied to the man’s question. “Yes, I do.”

“Well then. Are you an actor for a play? You look like you’re dressed for a Shakespeare play,” the man said.

“Um, no I’m not an actor,” said Merlin, speaking slowly, his reply laced with confusion, “And if I may ask, who are you?

“Lebaiy Norclans, small business owner and astronaut for NASA. A pleasure to meet you…?” asked the man, extending out his hand to Merlin to shake.

Merlin gripped the man’s hand firmly and shook it, stating his name as he did so.

“Named after the famous wizard, eh? Well anyhow, I have some business to attend to, so if you will excuse me, I’ll be gone. But first, Merlin, I would like to get in touch later, so here’s my card, be sure to call when you have time. Comprendai?”

“Um, yeah, ok,” replied Merlin, not sure how Mr. Norclans would be able to hear him when he was all the way in the Utopian realm.

Merlin continued looking at the indoor merchant’s stand after Mr. Norclans left. Some of the things Merlin saw were just wondrous, strange, and familiar all at the same time. A few of the things that caught Merlin’s interest after the radio was the color box, which he learned was a television, something called a ‘computer’, which when you pushed buttons did amazing things like connecting to the world wide web. Another thing that caught Merlin’s interest was a book. Merlin had seen many books, but these books, there were many, many copies of this book. Not only that, these books were the best bound books Merlin had ever seen.

Merlin read the words on the cover. The letters were oddly shaped, so Merlin had a hard time reading it. It looked like the book was called ‘Lofd oj the Fings’. Underneath that, it said ‘J. R. R. Tolkien’. Then Merlin looked at it closer and he saw the book was actually called ‘Lord of the Rings’.

Curious, Merlin opened the book and began reading. It started with a story called ‘The Hobbit’. Merlin read the first few pages, and couldn’t put it down. He would’ve been there all day had the merchant not asked him if he’d like to purchase the book.

Merlin looked up, an expression of slight surprise on his face. “Um, yes, I would actually.”

“Then come on,” said the merchant in a deep voice and led Merlin to what he had heard people refer to as a ‘cash register’.

The merchant held out his hand for Merlin to shake, so Merlin did.

“No, give me the book!” yelled the merchant. Apparently he hadn’t wanted to shake Merlin’s hand. Merlin handed him the book.

The merchant looked at the tag on the book and punched in a few numbers on his cash register. Then he told Merlin a number.

“Twenty-two fifty.”

Merlin was puzzled by this number. The man looked a Merlin with an expression of impatience, rolled his eyes, and told Merlin it meant how much money he owed. Twenty-two dollars and fifty cents.

“But I don’t have any money,” said Merlin. Again, the man did not look pleased with the world.

“Look in your pockets,” said the merchant, “Maybe, just maybe, there’ll be some money there! Just maybe, and you can pay for this book and get out of my shop!”

Merlin did as the man advised and pulled out a large wad of green paper. In the corners of the paper were numbers. Merlin looked for a twenty-two, but all he saw were hundreds. He counted them as he went along for future reference, but lost count on thirty-seven.

Meanwhile, the merchant looked on with awe, a small trail of drool escaping his mouth. Merlin pretended not to notice and handed the man one of his slips of paper.

“Will this cover it?” he asked.

The merchant eagerly took the slip of paper and said yes so fast it sounded like a dog barking.

“Wait,” Merlin said, a hint of suspicion in his voice, “That’s a hundred. You told me I owed twenty-two fifty. You need to give me back the money you owe me.”

The merchant’s childish grin flew off his face at those words. He reached into the register and started pulling out slips of paper angrily, muttering to himself as he did so. It sounded like “Out of all the things this boy doesn’t know, he has to know money! Why? It’s just not fair! But of course, it has to be this way!”

Turning in Merlin’s direction, the merchant put on a clearly fake smile and gave Merlin one slip of paper with a fifty, one with a twenty, one with a five, two with a one, and one coin with a fifty on it. Merlin assumed the man was being honest, said thank you, and left the indoor merchant’s stand.

Merlin walked on the white path for a while until he found a small area of grass and trees, with smaller walking paths more like the ones at home. He heard this area referred to as ‘the park’.

Merlin found a shady tree and sat down by it. Then he opened his book and began to read.

For hours Merlin read, completely oblivious to what was around him. He read of small people called hobbits, and dwarves, and wizards, and dragons, and Middle-Earth, and treasure. He read about a strange creature carrying an invisible ring, of elves, of exciting adventure.

Merlin read and read, and saw similarities that could not be. The author’s representation of many of the creatures to be found in the book were much like those in real life, such as elves. Happy most of the time, but serious when need be. And then dwarves, always thinking of gold and jewels and fighting with axes.

Merlin kept on reading. For hard-to-read letters, Merlin sure got along fine. By the end of the day he was almost done with the first segment of the book. He would’ve finished, had he been able to resist the call of coming slumber.

For all that Merlin saw in his dreams that night, he may as well have been awake.

The first thing that Merlin saw was an old lady walking with a carrying bag. She sat down to talk to someone, and put the carrying bag on the edge of the chair. She was so engrossed in conversation that she didn’t notice a man walk up near her chair and take the carrying bag. A thief. Back in Britannia, that would cost the man his left hand.

A flash of light and Merlin was witnessing a robbery. A violent robbery. The robber was holding in one hand a canvas bag filled with the green slips Merlin had used to pay for his book. In the other hand was a smaller version of the exploding pipe Merlin had seen. And the exploding end was being held to the head of a terrified man.

The people Merlin was hearing referred to as ‘police’ also held exploding pipes, which the people were calling ‘guns’. Merlin heard the police speak in a calm, but firm voice to the robber, telling him to lay down his arms and no one would get hurt. But the robber wasn’t about to let his prize go. No. His answer to the police was shooting the man he was holding the gun to. The man fell instantly to the floor, while the robber made a dash for it.

A light flashed again and Merlin saw a war. Despite his limited knowledge of this place, a war was a war; nothing could change that.

Another flash and another and another, each time showing Merlin horrifying scenes of brutality and evil. What had happened to the peaceful world Merlin had seen?

Then it came; a big explosion. The sky turned so red it looked as if it were on fire. Perhaps it was. Merlin didn’t know, for he wasn’t looking at the sky, but the innocent people dying so quickly they couldn’t possibly know they were dying. One by one they fell, still smiling from enjoying the weather the world had been offering only to take it away.

From the explosion, a mushroom cloud emerged, exactly like the one Merlin saw on the bronze wall. For a few moments, all was quiet, and then Merlin heard the boom. It was deafening. There was a final flash of white light, and Merlin was in his red dragon form high above the earth. And flying towards him was a giant black dragon that was missing its front feet. Riding on this dragon was a hooded wizard dressed completely in black, save for his or her pale skin.

The black dragon engaged Merlin with its back claws, gripping Merlin’s abdomen. Caught, Merlin tried his hardest to escape the black dragon’s grasp, causing both to lose altitude in a terrifying free fall.

The black dragon didn’t loosen his grip on Merlin. If anything, he tightened it. Merlin, unable to contain himself, roared in agony, serving another purpose; warning the people below of Merlin’s coming.

The people fled just seconds before Merlin impacted the ground. Only then did the black dragon loosen his grip and fly off Merlin. In a normal fight, Merlin would’ve taken this moment to fly away. But this was no normal fight.

The black dragon’s rider dismounted and walked over to Merlin. Merlin heard the slither of a sword being unsheathed. Moments later, he felt the iron pierce his soft underbelly, straight into his heart.

500 Visitors

As of today, approximately 500 people have visited Merlin's story and counting. A great milestone, this event is celebrated with this post.

Chapter 22: Days of End

Merlin was in a dark place, perhaps a cave or tunnel of some sort. He heard a faint dripping sound, presumably from stalactites above. Far of down the passage was a faint flickering light, similar to fire light.

Merlin, being the curious boy he was, went to investigate the light source. He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he heard a bellow of pain. Merlin, thinking it was just his imagination, continued walking after an initial shock. Then the sound came again, and again, a man's voice breaking from pain, pain that Merlin nor any mortal man could know.

Merlin eventually came to the end of the passage, where it met the chamber from where the light was coming. Peeking around the corner, Merlin saw a man and a woman. The man was bound to the cave floor in the middle of the cavern by five chains: one for his head, two for his arms, and two for his legs, each chain leading to one of three small rocks. He was slightly hunched over, head down, his mildly long dark hair hanging over his head. The man was without a shirt, and had pants that had ripped just above the knees, leaving the man with long tatters flying around his legs.

The woman was almost the exact opposite of the man, Merlin noticed. She was well dressed in silk clothing with well kept hair. She held a cup just above the man's head. In the cup was a green-yellow liquid. Quickly, the woman leaned forward, and caught another drop of the same color liquid. Merlin, looking for the source of the drop, saw a snake suspended above the man's head, a dark green one with two long fangs. It was from those fangs that the drop had come from, and Merlin could see the trails of the venom down the fangs.

Out of nowhere, Merlin heard a deep boom. It sounded as if someone were pounding on the cave wall. The woman, startled by the sound, was unable to move fast enough to catch the drop of venom that fell on the man's head. Once more, the man howled and thrashed against the chains.

The booming noise came again, combining itself with the man's howling to create an unearthly sound. Merlin closed his eyes and covered his ears, wincing from the pain. When he opened his eyes, he looked over at the man, and saw a giant crack in the wall behind the man. There was another howl, yet, the man's mouth didn't open. He just stood there, hunched over and breathing hard. Th howl came again, followed by the booming noise again, then suddenly, the wall wasn't there anymore.

Standing where the wall once was a giant red wolf. The wolf was unlike any Merlin had ever seen. It had red fur, the same shade as blood, and four fangs, two on the bottom and two on the top. The fangs on the bottom lip curled up over the top lip and the ones on the top curled over the bottom lip. Where its eyes should've been were two black round balls that stared at anything and everything. Not only that, it was as big as two full-grown horses.

Merlin watched as the wolf bounded over to the man, grabbed the chains binding the man's head in its fangs, and snapped them into a hundred pieces. The wolf repeated the process with the other four chains, and soon the man was free. For what seemed to be an eternity, the man stayed hunched over, muttering words Merlin could hardly make out.

"So long ... Baldr... Odin ... ten-thousand years ... Asgard ... burn ... pay," were some of the things Merlin heard the man mutter in his deep, hateful voice.

The wolf howled, breaking the trance that had set. The woman ran to the man and was about to catch the drop of venom that would fall on his head any second. She was to slow, but the man wasn't. Just as the drop was about to fall, the man gripped the neck of the snake in an iron grasp, and forced the snake to drink it's own venom. In less than a second, the snake stopped trying to escape the man's grasp. The man dropped the life-less snake on the ground and slowly rose, revealing his facial features to Merlin.

The man's face was much different than Merlin had been expecting. The man had a clean-shaven face covered in many scars, the most prominent among them being the one cutting through his right eye. His eyes, Merlin noticed, were blue with a small ring of red around the pupil. This man, Merlin wisely decided, was not one to get into an argument with.

The man, standing full, was much taller than Merlin had previously thought, standing as tall as two men. He strode slowly toward the hole in the wall, the wolf and the woman following. Merlin also followed after a few moments, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Outside, it was howling. The wind was hitting whoever was foolish enough to stand its way, the rain whipping them. Merlin surveyed his surroundings and saw he was standing at the very peak of a mountain in the middle of the sea. Looking over the edge of the small ledge he was standing on, Merlin saw a sheer cliff, mile-high waves smashing against the side. The man stood just at the edge, his hair and tattered pants swirling around him.

"Free!" the man yelled, victory in his voice "free at long last! Now all shall pay! No one will live!"

"Thus it was in the end that the fate of the beginning was sealed," said the booming voice that seemed to emit from everywhere, followed by a flash of light.

The place Merlin was looking at was completely different from the cave where the man had been imprisoned. He was now looking at a vast plain. On one side of the plain was an army of giants. On the opposite side was a city with giant walls. Merlin guessed that the walls were at least a thousand meters high. In side the city was an army that seemed to glow. They filled every empty spot Merlin could see, yet, they were outnumbered, one to ten-thousand. Leading the army of giants were two. One was a giant himself, and seemed to burn. The other was the man that had been imprisoned in the mountain, now wearing full armor and carrying an odd weapon. A bow, that looked normal for the most part, but the arrows were what Merlin found odd. They weren't the wooden steel tipped arrows Merlin saw everyone use. Rather, it was made of a bushy plant, one that Blaise had called mistletoe.

Merlin watched the scene with great interest as the armies stood their ground, neither firing. A slight breeze was present, causing the hair of those without helmets to sway gently. The man said one word under his breath, which carried to all of his army due to the direction of the wind. Less than a minute later, the army began to march to the walls of the city. The defenders of the city took up their bows and began to pick off the attackers in vain, for it seemed that for every one killed, two sprouted up in place. The man who was leading, meanwhile, avoided the arrows by shape-shifting to become a lion, a bear, a mouse, whatever suited his fancy. The army of giants was unstoppable.

"Brothers will fight and kill each other," said the booming voice, whisking Merlin off to see what it had foretold.

Men were now fighting on the side of the attackers, along with many others of many species. Two men, who looked exactly like one another, were fighting each other with swords, the one that fought with the giants eventually ending the fight with a thrust through the heart.

"Sisters' will defile kinship," said the booming voice, followed by a flash of light. The scene Merlin saw was a young lady that was fighting with the defenders stabbing her mother in the back and opening the gate to the army outside.

The voice continued to show Merlin the happenings of the battle, taking him from place and narrating what was to happen there.

"No man will have mercy on another," was the last thing the voice said before showing him a rapid scene of events. The wolf killed one of the defenders in an epic battle in the center of the city. A young man who had an undeniable resemblance to the one that had just died came up on the wolf, rolled under it and stabbed his knife through to the heart. A flash of light and Merlin saw the giant that had seemed to burn. First the giant set a rainbow bridge on fire, causing the land the bridge lead to to also catch fire. Then the giant, surrounded by defenders of the city, did the only thing he could do. Set the world itself afire.

Before long, the fire spread, engulfing everyone and everything, leaving in its path nothing but ashes. There was another flash of light and Merlin was looking at the same place he had first seen, the place where Gaea had created the world. Except there was a tree floating there instead of land. Merlin heard a frightened scream and saw two people in the tree, a male and a female, looking down below them. Before Merlin could see what the two people were looking at, there was a flash of light and he was in a different place once more.

Chapter 21: Days of Old

"My son has finally come back to me!"

Those were the words that hung over Merlin as Aurelianus held him tight, weeping tears of joy. All his life he had been without a father, and here he was, the one person whom he would've wanted most as a father telling him it was true. Even Blaise hadn't been as fatherly as Aurelianus in the short time Merlin had known Aurelianus.

Questions buzzed in Merlin's head. Why was Aurelianus here? Who were these other people? How could Aurelianus be his father? What had happened to the world outside? Where was he?

"Your son?" asked a tall man with a deep voice. He had elliptical-shaped glasses and wore a red shirt that folded out at the neck which was tucked into blue leggings that had many pockets and cuffs around the legs. His dark brown hair stood up and leaned forward slightly, all of the individual hairs being the same height. He had thick arms and big hands. His skin was slightly tanned, and he had brown eyes looking out from behind the elliptical glasses.

"Calm down Kirk," said Aurelianus, releasing his death grip on Merlin, and standing to face the man. Merlin had always thought Aurelianus was tall, yet, he barely came to the man's chest.

"Why should we?" asked a pale woman who had gray hair and gray eyes, and was a little shorter than Aurelianus, "You come back to us after millennia of hiding, and then announce that boy is your son. What is not to be angry about?" As the woman said this, she stayed calm, sitting in her seat, her long gray hair swirling about her.

"Merlin," said Aurelianus, "I think you should go upstairs. There will be a bedroom. It is yours while you stay here. Get some sleep."

Merlin obeyed without hesitation, sensing he was the cause of the tension in the air.

Upstairs, Merlin found a bed large enough to fit four people side by side and still have room for them to move around. Merlin crawled into the bed and collapsed from exhaustion, falling asleep before his head hit the pillow, despite the yelling below him.

***

A few minutes after he had fallen asleep, Merlin woke up. He drearily climbed out of bed and looked down to find himself standing on . . . nothing. Merlin stumbled backwards into his bed from shock, wondering how such a thing could be. Taking in a fuller view around him, he saw pinpricks of light, much like those he saw at night, except many, many more. All around him were those pinpricks of light, but he had no eyes for their captivating spell; instead, all he saw were the people beneath him.

Below Merlin were six people. Two were female and four were male, two standing off to the side. Curiously, each person's hair and clothing were the same color. The first woman was wearing a green dress. She was fairly tall and had a determined look on her face. As Merlin watched, she walked away from the rest, turning into ground as she did so. Soon, the woman was completely gone, leaving only a giant stretch of land floating in the middle of nothing.

The two men who had been standing off to the side stepped forth, one wearing white, the other, blue. The one in blue walked upon the newly formed land, and where he walked, water formed. Soon, the man himself turned to water, making a giant splash where he landed, causing oceans to rise. The man in white stood back while another came forth.

This person's color was red. He had many scars upon his face, and walked boldly to where the last two people had. Unlike the previous two, he didn't walk straight. He walked under the land, and became a giant cave.


Next the second woman came forth, dressed in silver, and walked above the land, melting into a dark substance. Quickly after her transformation, a man in black walked to the cave and became a substance much like the woman had become, but darker.

The only remaining person was the man in white. He stroked his beard before walking toward the land. Then, slowly, he walked over the land, and melted into clouds. Suddenly, the land began to sprout mountains, reaching for the sky. They grew ever taller, until one touched, when the sky and land recoiled from each other, as if bitten by a snake. Where they had touched were fourteen people, eight male, six female. One seemed to be younger and angrier then the others.

Merlin heard a noise, and the land became a ball, the cave wrapped in the inside. A few minutes following, the first six people Merlin had seen reverted to their original forms, and joined the twelve people standing on the land, except for one, the one who had created the cave. He instead raised his arms, lifting the ground and creating a deep pit. Not too far away from the pit the dirt landed, and solidified into a mountain.

Slowly, all but three of the people who had been created when the sky touched the earth walked toward something, touched it, and a crown made of that substance appeared on their head. One walked to the water. Another to the fire. For everyone, it was different. Two of the three who hadn't moved moved walked off. The one remaining was the younger boy, the one who seemed to be angry. Unless Merlin was mistaken, he was looking at his father, the one in white, with great hate and disgust.

Merlin was so engrossed in watching what was unfolding around him, he hardly noticed a voice speaking.

"Twas in the beginning that the seeds of fate were planted," said a deep, booming voice that seemed to emit from everywhere around Merlin. There was a flash of light, and Merlin was looking at a different scene, yet he could tell it was the same place he had been looking at, but in the future.

Where the sky had touched the land was now a magnificent palace. Standing on the roof was a man that had not been there before, holding up the sky, which was trying desperately to reunite with the land.

There were many more people roaming the land now, including many with only one eye and three with many arms. They all looked happy, as far as Merlin could tell. Then the man in white picked up the people with one eye and the ones with the many arms and threw them into the pit the man in red had dug. The woman in green seemed to be angered by this and summoned her sons. She told them they were to kill their father with a sickle, which looked to be a curved hook. Only one accepted the task: the young boy who was angry at the man in white.

Merlin watched as the boy crouched behind a tree, waiting to ambush his father. The boy's father, unaware of ambush, was quickly over taken by his son, who took his father's crown. As soon as the crown touched the boy's head, he grew to become a man. He walked up to the palace and sat where his father had sat. No one dared to defy him.


The woman in green was angered that her son, the one who had overthrown his father, did not free the people his father had sent to the deep pit. She was so angry, she yelled that his fate was destined to be the same as his father's.


"A pattern thrice begun," said the booming voice. Once again, there was a flash of light and Merlin was looking at a scene even farther in the future.


In this time, the one person who overthrown his father was now swallowing his own child whole, to avoid the coming of the prophecy. Yet, when Merlin looked closely, he saw the king wasn't swallowing a child, but a rock.


"Twice sealed the prophecy," said the voice again, followed by another flash of light.


Now Merlin was looking at a battle raging near the mountain where the palace was located. The people who had been imprisoned by the man in white were fighting on the side of what seemed to be the children of the king of the other side.


Watching the battle, everything finally clicked for Merlin. He realized he was watching the final battle in the War of the Titans, that the man in white was Uranus, his son was Kronos, and the boy leading the army to what must be Mount Othrys was Zeus.


Merlin watched as Zeus and his siblings defeated Kronos' army. Soon, only Kronos himself was left, armed with the sickle he had killed his own father with.Zeus took the sickle from him, and tore Kronos into hundred of thousands of pieces, and cast him into what must be Tartarus.

As Merlin looked, he thought he could see the man in red and the woman in green looking at one another. Suddenly, the woman in green, who Merlin thought must be Gaea, grabbed the hand of the man in red. From their grasp sprung a new person, on whom could hardly be called a person at all because of his grotesque appearance.

The creature's top half was man, or mostly, for his arms were covered in the heads of dragons, far more than Merlin could count. Below the creature's torso were two legs, made from coils of giant snakes. The heads of the snakes stuck out here and there, snapping at anyone who came close enough to feel their wrath. Merlin know instantly the poison of these snakes was fatal.

The creature was also covered in wings, some big, some small, some scaly, some made of feathers, but all gruesome. Yet, what caught Merlin's attention was the creature's eyes; two balls of fire, with a lump of ash dead in the center.

"Thus, Typhon is born, king of the winds," said the booming voice.

A flash of light ensued, and Merlin was looking at Typhon approaching Zeus, challenging him. Zeus accepted the challenge, and within a second was on his back, Typhon about to bring the final blow. The other Olympians join the fight, trying to save their king. Even when twelve are fighting one, the odds are grim for the Olympians.

Typhon shakes each Olympian off him, one by one, yet, Merlin only counted ten. One was missing.

Out of nowhere, Hades rams into Typhon's eye with Kronos' sickle. Typhon, momentarily blinded, howls in pain. Zeus took adavantage of the opportunity and struck Typhon with a lightning bolt. Typhon stumbled back into Hades, who pushed Typhon down the hole he had opened, a hole leading to the darkest realm of Tartarus. All that remained of Typhon was a few snake heads that were slithering on the floor, slowly losing life, and the sickle, now melted.

The person Merlin took to be Hephaestus walked over to the melted sickle, and with his bare hands, molded it into a familiar shape. With his fingernail, he carved one word into its hilt: Fanomar.

"An uncle yet to return," said the deep, boming voice before spiriting Merlin to an entorely different place.

Chapter 16: The Wild Hunt- Revised

This is a revised version of Chapter 16. It adds a little more dialogue between the Young One and Blaise, and changes the setting slightly. I hope you enjoy it.

***

Hurry, hurry, hurry, Merlin's wings seemed to say as he beat them up and down, and yet, Merlin was already flying as fast as he could, which made it all the more frustrating.Merlin knew time was limited. He knew he had maybe a few hours left to reach Blaise, if he was lucky. If he wasn't. . . Merlin decided not to follow that thought through to its conclusion.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, Merlin kept hearing, for every moment in the air was another precious second in which Merlin could save Blaise.

How will you find Blaise? taunted a voice in Merlin's head, How will you save him? What if you don't arrive in time? When Merlin thought these questions over, he realized he didn't know the answer to any of them.

Merlin was woken from his deep thoughts when he heard the clop-clop of a horse's feet from far below him. As he listened closer, he heard the familiar clink of a scabbard hitting the buckle of a belt. Merlin knew at once that the rider could be none other than Blaise.

Looking ahead of him, Merlin saw the forest end, and a small cabin a few yards away from a cliff, and flew faster towards it, hoping Blaise's course would take him to the cabin. Slowly, Merlin shape-shifted to his normal form and walked to the edge of the forest, ignoring the glare the windows of the cabin in the clearing gave him as he walked past. For some reason, Merlin felt as if something monumental had happened here.

Or was going to.

Merlin heard Blaise's horse approaching the clearing. Curiously, the horse stopped abruptly where the snow on the cliff met the forest. Blaise dismounted his horse and walked calmly and slowly to the cabin. Blaise did not knock; he simply kicked the door wide open, splintering it. Curiosity won over Merlin's better judgment, so he followed Blaise.

The cabin was empty. There was nothing in the cabin, nothing at all. This seemed odd as it had clearly been built several years ago, as could be told by the decaying wood. Again, Merlin felt the monumental feeling, stronger this time. On impulse, he looked out the window nearest to him. He thought he could see a boy of his age running into the forest. But Merlin had never been able to quite trust his own eyes, due to poor sight. Blaise had once promised him glasses.

Blaise. Where was he? Merlin got up from the window sill and began to look for Blaise. Moments later, Merlin heard a thundering boom come from the bedrooms of the cabin. Already forming a plan, Merlin ran towards the bedrooms.Merlin heard swords clashing against one another. He knew that one of the swords he heard was Excalibur, Blaise's sword. The other was one he had hoped he would never be near again if Merlin was right.

Flying around the corner, Merlin saw to people fighting. Blaise was one of them. The other had his back turned to Merlin. Suddenly, the man with his back turned took out a wand a screamed an incomprehensible word. As a result, Blaise went flying through the solid wood wall and landed on his back in a bath tub. The man flew at Blaise, wielding his sword high above his head as if it were an ax he would bring down on Blaise's head. Blaise quickly rolled out of the way and on to his feet.

The man's sword was stuck in the wood floor of the cabin. Taking advantage of the man's predicament, Blaise ran at the man, swinging Excalibur from the side in a long arc. The man merely said another word and Blaise's foot froze, causing him to trip. Anyone could clearly see the man was an expert when it came to magic. If the battle continued to progress this way, Blaise would die.

The two continued to fight each other, driving one another closer and closer to the cliff. For the third time, Merlin felt the monumental feeling. It was the strongest feeling of them all, so strong, Merlin fell on the ground and struggled to get back up. As he lay on the ground he heard Blaise and the man yelling at each other

."It's been many long years that I have been waiting for this day!" shouted Blaise at the man.

"I don't want to fight you!" screamed the man, his voice as sharp and cold as ice. It was a voice Merlin would recognize anywhere; it was the Young One.

"Of course you don't! You're afraid I will avenge your father!"

"I didn't kill Ambro!" said the Young One calmly.

"Then why is he not with us?"

"He left! He suddenly disappeared just as he was about to kill me! Why won't you believe me?"

"You most certainly earned your name, Shiroix, or as it means in the Speech, teller of lies."

"I am not lying!" screamed the Young One with fury as he brought his sword so hard against Excalibur, Merlin heard a high pitched squeal, which undoubtedly meant Excalibur had received a deep gouge.

Merlin, still shocked from the feeling, crawled to where he could see the Young One and Blaise fighting. The Young One muttered a few words, and made Blaise lose his footing, who staggered back and fell off the cliff, catching the edge with one hand, hanging for dear life. The Young One walked to the edge, and looked down at Blaise.

“Is this what you did to Ambro?” asked Blaise, “Did you kick him off the walls of the city? After all that he had done for you?”

“No. Like I told you, he was about to kill me and then disappeared.” replied the Young One, looking unforgiving into Blaise’s eyes.

As the Young One lifted his sword, fear came to Blaise’s eyes, as he realized what the Young One meant to do.

“Please Shiroix,” muttered Blaise as it began to snow and a slight breeze rocked him on the edge, “Do for me what Ambro did for you: forgive.”

“I can’t,” said the Young One sadly, averting his gaze from Blaise’s pleading eyes, “It is my destiny.”

Then the Young One kicked Blaise’s hand. Blaise fell without a sound.

Anger welling up in Merlin, he got to his feet and pointed his wand at the Young One, holding it with both hands.

"Zamaj!" Merlin bellowed. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came a stampede of giant dogs, slobber trailing behind them as they raced towards the Young One. Among the dogs were blood-red stags, fire-orange birds, horned lions, and a great many other creatures who all reminded Merlin of one thing: death. Leading the stampede was a creature riding a skeleton horse. The creature's face had much resemblance to that of a goat, except it was as black as ash. It had pointy ears, much like some of the elves Merlin had seen. It also had horns and two sharp fangs coming out of it mouth facing up like an elephant's tusk. When the creature turned its revolting features so it's red eyes were looking straight into Merlin's green eyes, Merlin felt one thought.

I am Perchta, was the thought the creature sent Merlin as it passed him.

Perchta turned her eyes back on the Young one and threw a flaming sword at him. It hit him right between the eyes.Seeing the sword, the stampede behind Perchta started to ravage the Young One's body, leaving nothing, not even a bone. Just as quickly as they had come, the stampede left, except for Perchta."Who are you?" asked Merlin.

I am Perchta, the leader of the Wild Hunt and the bringer of death, replied Perchta.

"Why did you come?"

You summoned us.

"Will I see you again?"

Only when your time has come.

With that final word, Perchta and her steed too left.Merlin ran to the edge and looked down. He saw Blaise lying on a ledge far below, the snow around him stained red.

"Blaise!" yelled Merlin as he flew down to his mentor.

"Merlin?" asked Blaise weakly, "Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"I had a dream and came to save you."

"It is too late for me. . ."

"No, it's not. I could use the healing spell you taught me."

"You don't understand; I have seen Perchta before. She told me the next time I saw her, it would be my death." said Blaise, his voice ever weaker.

"Merlin," continued Blaise, "I am dying, and there is nothing you can do. I will always remember my time with you and your mother because it was the happiest time of my life. Take Excalibur; pass it on to Uther and his son. For yourself, take this." With that, Blaise handed him the ring Merlin had seen in the dream. Merlin took it and put it in the pocket of his robe.

"Take this and go to the Utopian Realm. I trust you with this; do not let me down. Fare well Merlin." Blaise turned his head to face the sky and held his arms straight up. "Spirits . . . have I redeemed myself on this day?" Blaise asked of the sky, just as he had in the dream.

Slowly, Blaise lowered his arms, the light in his eyes slowly dying. Then he was dead.

"No! Blaise, no! Don't leave me! Don't leave me! I'm not ready! Stay here Blaise, stay here!" sobbed Merlin, tears rolling off his cheeks onto Blaise's lifeless body, "Blaise. . ."

For hours, Merlin sat there, shedding tears for his uncle. Watching from deep in the forest, Perchta almost felt regret for what she had wrought. She herself shed a few tears for Blaise. Crying was something that Perchta had never done, and yet, here she was. Although Blaise was dead, Perchta would make sure to do something to ease Merlin's pain. Something. . .

Unable to think of anything at the moment, Perchta took to the skies, heading back to her master, Hades.

Below Perchta Merlin continued to cry, and would for several hours. Even after he stopped, he would still feel the pain of losing Blaise, and would continue to feel the pain for many long years.

A Slight Mispelling

Pertcha is supposed to be Perchta. All future references to Pertcha will be Perchta.

Minor Changes

While planning the next few chapters, I had some great ideas I couldn't pass up, so I included then in the outline for the next few chapters. However, to make the ideas work, I had to go back and change a few things. Annwn, the Spirit Realm, has been changed to be the Underworld, and the mention of Arawn in the Wild Hunt has been changed to Hades. Future references to either Arwan or Annwn will be Hades and the Underworld.

Name Change

I have recently realized I have borowed an original name from another author, and so I am changing the name of that character. From now on, Nasuada will be refered to as Aithne, pronuced Ath-nuh.

Chapter 20: Ruins

Days had passed since Merlin encountered the lights. There had been good winds, pushing Merlin well on his way aboard the Eagle. However, the winds had pushed Merlin farther and farther away from the lights. By the end of the second day, there was no telling on what direction the lights lay.Yet, the lights were not to be last of the unusual events Merlin experienced on his voyage; far from it. For early on the third day, he saw something glimmering on the horizon. Being so far away, Merlin couldn't quite make out what it was. For a while, Merlin thought it might be one of those metal ships he had seen near the lights. Following this instinct, Merlin changed his course, and headed for the glimmering thing.

As Merlin came closer, he began to make out exactly what the object was. It seemed to be made of bronze. It was tall, and wide, and stretched across the sea as far as Merlin could see. Merlin didn't have to get any closer to know what it was: a bronze wall.Merlin knew from experience that no wall continued forever. It had to stop somewhere, somewhere there had to be a way to get in. So Merlin sailed along the bronze wall's edge, and surveyed the intricate markings that were carved on the sides.

The first markings Merlin saw were of people. The people were doing things, like holding a torch or rolling a wooden wheel. Then the pictures started to become more descriptive, showing a man riding a horse, man floating on the sea by way of a piece of wood. The pictures continued to get more and more descriptive, and Merlin began to see pictures like a man stabbing a giant with one eye with a flaming sword, a mountain being stabbed by a sword, releasing the wind, and a great many other pictures of those likes. These pictures were so detailed, it looked as if a great artist had carved it. Yet, it was the pictures ahead that Merlin wanted to see.

Merlin saw pictures of men shooting each other, not with arrows, but tiny little balls, that caused a small boom when fired. He saw the construction of a great metal pyramid, except it was only the skeleton of a pyramid, not the skin. He saw a great hollow metal box on wheels, which rolled over the flattened metal string beneath them. He saw more metal ships, these not quite so fantastic. He saw a box with pictures moving. He saw something like the winged-thing he had seen a few days ago, except it was white, and it flew off to the stars. He saw a strange, cylindrical object rotating around what looked to be like a giant blue marble, as if hung there with a piece of string. He saw everything, and the drawings were so realistic, they looked as if time itself had made them. The pictures even had color, something none of the other pictures had!

Merlin watched the pictures pass in awe. Such wonderful things, things he would have never had imagined in even the wildest of dreams! Then came a picture that Merlin would remember forever.The picture was of a city. Above it was a giant cloud. Yet, it wasn't the puffy clouds Merlin knew lived in the sky. This one was gray, and was shaped like a mushroom. In the next picture, the city was nothing but ruins, a sad site. Over and over this picture occurred, and it was always the same, a destroyed city with nothing left but its ruins. The cause was always the same: a gray mushroom cloud above a city. Then suddenly, there was nothing. No more pictures. Just a bronze wall.

Before Merlin could take in what was happening, a gust of wind came, pushing the Eagle into the wall, and forcing Merlin's head against it, knocking him unconscious as great bronze gates opened, and the Eagle was blown inside.

***

When Merlin woke, he found he was on the beach of a place he had never seen before. Yet, didn't this place seem so familiar to Merlin? As Merlin thought about it, it occurred to him that he had seen this place before. In one of his more enjoyable dreams. This beach was exactly the beach he had dreamt of once, in the dream where he was running along the water beside his son, laughing and enjoying himself. Merlin had thought no place could be so perfect as that beach, yet, here he was.

The beach had the perfect shade of golden brown sand, its waters were a majestic blue-green, and the sky was without a cloud. Everything was so perfect, yet. . . something was wrong. But what?

Leaving the beach, Merlin walked to where he saw buildings poking out over the horizon. It was not a long walk, and despite the sun shining brightly high above, seemingly never moving, it was perfectly warm. Along with the sun, the weather was odd; the wind wasn't blowing, not a single cloud as far as the eye could see, and everything was exactly the way Merlin liked it.

Before long, Merlin found what seemed to be a path to the buildings. It was made of black stone, and had white and yellow lines going up and down its length in various patterns. Sometimes it was double line. Sometimes it was a dotted line. Sometimes it was an unbroken line. The path was very wide. If Merlin were to lay down across its short side, he would make it almost halfway across the path, and Merlin had become quite tall.

The buildings, as Merlin found, were part of the city that was in ruins. Just as shown in the picture. The big hollow metal boxes were everywhere, but unlike the picture, these had long tubes attatched to a rotating top, and were painted to match the forest. Strewn across the ground were tubes with a squarish base with a hole in it. In that hole was a stick, pushing out from the tube. Merlin, curious as he was, picked up one of the tubes and pulled the stick. He stumbled as he heard the thundering explosion and burst of light, and dropped it like an uncontrollable torch, and looked up to see a sign that said 'Welcome to Washington, District of Columbia!'.

Littered everywhere were tiny little metal balls, small enough to fit in to the tubes on the ground that was covered in blood. The buildings that Merlin had originaly seen were crumbling like bread rolled between someone's fingers. Exploring one of the buildings, Merlin saw some of the moving-picture boxes that had been on the wall. Merlin jumped when he heard a sound. It seemed to be coming from the room across the hall.

Merlin walked to the room cautiously, as if expecting ambush. Yet, all he saw was one of the picture boxes, this one moving. A man with white hair sat in front of a desk, holding papers as if to read them.

". . . is not going well," said the man as Merlin began to hear his voice coming from, the box, "Thousands have died and many more are at this very moment. It seems as though our great emperor has gone too far this time, declaring war on the Allied Chinese Republic, and the people are suffering. American troops are barely hanging on to survival in the Chinese Republic, and we have reports the Chinese are preparing an invasion of America and all who aided us in previous campaigns. I am sorry to say that the great empire we have forged since our emperor overthrew the failed democracy fifty years ago is looking into the sunset, watching the twilight of the American Imperialism. We have maybe weeks left. Enjoy them while you can." finished the man, a sad look in his eyes. Then the picture box went blank.

Merlin exited the building, his mind swarming with new information. He looked up and saw a building he hadn't seen before, this one untouched by the battle that had occurred here. It was a giant whit building and looked much like a futuristic castle, with many pillars, windows, and two long flights of stairs on either side. In the center of the building was something that looked very similar to the colleseum Merlin had seen in his travels. On top of the colloseum object was another one, this one smaller. Then was a giant dome, and on top of that, a small spire, with a statue resting on top.

By instinct, Merlin walked to the building, climbing the steep hill to get to it. Finding a door wasn't too hard. It seemed as though there was one every twenty or so feet. Merlin walked around in the building, looking at the many statues and pictures, presumably of people dead in the battle.

As Merlin walked, he began to hear voices. At first he had thought the voices were a hallucination, just something in his head. However, as he walked, they began to get louder and louder. Curious, Merlin walked towards the noise.

". . . must aid them! The Third War is going badly and it is time we come and fight along side the Light! They need us!" shouted an all too familiar voice.

Finding the room the voice was coming from, he walked in to the doorway and saw a rather tall man banging his fist on the table. "Why not?" he bellowed, standing up as he did so. The man's hood fell back as he swung around violently, and Merlin saw the graying hair, which told him who the man was, and that he had seen him only once before.

"Aurelianus?" whispered Merlin.

As soon as those words left Merlin's mouth, everything fell silent, and the man whirled around as if Merlin's words could harm him. As the man's green eyes rested on Merlin, they softened, and told of the emotions their master was experiencing.

"Merlin?" breathed Aurelianus, still in a fighting position, "Is that you? Is it really truly you, or are my eyes taking to playing tricks on me?"

"It's me." said Merlin flatly.

"Merlin? Oh it really is you!" yelled Aurelianus, running to Merlin and picking him up in his arms and swinging him from side to side. "What took so long?" Aurelianus sobbed, tears of joy streaming down his face.

"What do you mean?" asked Merlin.

"Oh, never mind! You're here now and that's all that matters," weeped Aurelianus, putting Merlin back on the floor, "My son has finally come back to me!"

Explanation of Donate Button and Editing

Recently, I have been invited to travel with People to People as a student ambassador to Europe this summer. The trip is very expensive, so I have started asking for donations from people. If you would like to donate, click the button and enter the amount you would like to donate. Even the smallest donation will be greatly appreciated! If you would like more info, go to ssenrahontour.blogspot.com.

Also, I have gone and edited Merlin's Story. The last sentence in Apprenticeship has been cut.

Chapter 19: Lights

Merlin had been sailing for a few days now. It had been almost a week since he set off from Jeddah. The winds had been merciful and pushed his ship to the edge of the Red Sea in good time. If the winds kept this way, Merlin would be in the Indian Ocean before the end of the hour.
Merlin kept sailing, not paying the slightest attention to the dark clouds gathering. He was solely focused on getting to the ocean. Perhaps if he had looked up or down every now and again, he may have been able to avoid the storm. But he hadn't.

Merlin noticed the clouds only when it was too late. The rain began to come down, and Merlin heard a soft rumble in the distance. Knowing he was to face the worst storm ever to be seen, Merlin went below deck and braced himself for the inevitable titanic waves.

They did not come immediately; first came the lightning, which struck one of the three masts, and collapsed on the deck with a thud. The winds forced Merlin to listen to them as they screeched their sickening screech, and tore the ship apart, making the noises every man at sea feared: the voice of death.

Then Merlin spotted a leak in the side of the ship. It was a small leak, but a leak all the same, and one that would eventually sink the ship if not tamed. Merlin knew he had to fix it, but the only things that could plug the hole were on the upper deck. Courageously, Merlin ran onto the deck, grabbed a small cork, and shouted his victory to the winds. His victory would be short lived.

As Merlin was walking back to his hole, he heard a noise from behind him. Looking back, he saw what appeared to be a man of water. His chest was bare, and he had long hair flowing around his shoulders. He was as large as the largest waves, more than likely larger. In front of him, he held a trident. For what seemed to be years, Merlin and the water man stared at each other, neither blinking, neither swaying. Around them the storm had stopped, watching and waiting for the outcome of this meeting. Then realization dawned on Merlin.

"Poseidon?" he asked.

The water man gave a slight nod, and lunged at Merlin with his trident. As he collided with the ship, he became water, washing over the deck and swiping Merlin off of his feet. As he sank to the depths of the ocean and began to lose consciousness, Merlin thought he saw the face of a man looking at him.

***

Merlin woke to find himself on the coast. It was very cold, and there was deep snow all around him. His ship was nowhere to be seen, and the sun was setting fast. How Merlin had gotten here, or even where he was, was something Merlin would probably never know, but Merlin knew one thing: he didn't come here by accident. He was meant to be here. Why, he would soon find out.

The sun set in a spectacular array of orange and red and yellow colors, shifting as it settled into its bed behind the mountain, tossing and turning until it was comfortable. Yet, when the sun set, it was dark for only a few minutes. Merlin thought he must surely be in the land of the gods if the sun rose and fell so quickly. However, it wasn't the sun making the feeble light, nor the stars, nor a flame or torch, or any other light-making object Merlin could think of. It was a curtain in the sky, waving like a flag in the breeze. The curtain was painted brightly with colors, all sorts of colors, red, yellow, blue, purple, and many other colors Merlin had no names for. The majority of the curtain, though, was the same shade of green as Merlin's eyes, a bright green that was caring and understanding, and had a hint of blue, a blue that told the tragedies Merlin had encountered.

"This is why I'm here," whispered Merlin to himself, staring at the semi-transparent curtain that waved in front of the stars. Looking closely, Merlin thought he could see something emerging from the curtain.

As the thing came closer, Merlin could see it had the shape of a globe that had been split in half with its sides pushed in closer to the center. It came closer and closer, and before too long, Merlin could see long sticks coming out from the sides, a couple sticking out from the top, intricately carved patterns, and writing on the side of the object.

The object settled in the water, and Merlin walked towards it, realizing it for what it was: a ship.

The ship had three masts, all close to one another in the center of the ship. Each of the masts were connected to one another in an intricate array of rigging and lines. The hull was rounded, unlike the junk, and its headpiece was an eagle, which seemed live up to the name of the ship: Eagle.

Climbing aboard the ship, Merlin saw it was much like other ships he had been on, only bigger. Much bigger.

It was not long before Merlin, not so rushed this time, pulled up the anchor and put it near the side of the ship. Then Merlin raised the sails and caught the wind blowing to the south.

***

A week had passed since Merlin had set sail aboard the Eagle. Upon closer inspection of the vessel, Merlin had seen the hold had enough supplies for a year's voyage, that there was a small kitchen, and that it had comfortable living quarters.

As Merlin was just getting into his bed, he felt a sudden chill. Looking out the porthole, he saw. . . nothing. Nothing at all. All he saw was black, as if the world had just ceased to exist. Merlin, although not the expert sailor, knew he shouldn't be looking out only to see black. He should be seeing fish and water and sand. During the night, yes, perhaps he would see black. Only one thing was wrong: the sun still shone. Yet, Merlin saw only black.

Wondering as to what going on around him and why, Merlin trekked up to the upper deck. Upon emerging from below, Merlin's jaw dropped in disbelief, awe, amazement, wonder, and all other similar feelings. For the sight he was seeing was one no one had ever seen before, and one that he would fondly remember for the rest of his life.

No longer did Merlin see only black; he saw now a wide sea, shining a mighty blue, fish jumping through it and dolphins swimming in it, surrounded by a thick fog. Merlin, however, was far more interested in what was above, below, and on the sea.

A curious creation was above the water, Merlin noticed. It seemed to be a thick stick with odd shapes sticking out. They looked almost like. . . like. . . like a bird's wings! On the sea, Merlin's attention was torn between two sights: the sight of what seemed to be giant metal ships shooting small, rounded objects and large, elliptical objects at each other, and the sight of an eye almost as bug as he was, possibly bigger. Suddenly, the eye jumped, and caught the strange flying thing. With the eye came a giant body that must have been as long as the walls of Caernarfon Castle were tall. From the sides were giant flippers, which were close to half the size of the ship.

The giant creature landed back in the water with a tremendous splash, rocking the Eagle. When the mist cleared, there was nothing. Everything had disappeared. Everything.

Looking around for the strange but wonderful sights, Merlin saw that the giant creature was coming back. This time, it didn't swim along Merlin's vessel; it went under and bumped it, hard. Merlin, unprepared for the sudden bump, stumbled. His wand, which had been loosely held in a large pocket, flew through the air, spinning, going faster and faster towards the water.

Just as the cane-wand was five feet above the water, it was almost as if time slowed. The falling wand righted itself, and stayed upright. Slowly, ever so slowly, it came closer and closer to the water. Awed, Merlin just stayed where he was, his hand drooping over the side like a dead plant and his mouth and eyes wide-open.

The wand touched the water, but it did not sink. It was as if the surface of the sea had suddenly become hard as a rock. The water was perfectly flat, and the wand was standing straight up as the lights began to appear. From everywhere, where ever Merlin looked, he saw a small white light, scarcely bigger than his hand. All the lights shone brightly, and appeared everywhere. Some were on the surface of the sea. Some were on the deck of the Eagle. Some were even in midair, looking like pieces of parchment.

It took Merlin some time to figure out exactly what had happened. Years in fact. But when he finally figured it out, he cried, for what he had seen was something marvelous, something that would rock the very foundation of both the Dark and the light. Yet, if he told anybody, he would be criticized, and would be mocked. So when he figured it out, he kept it to himself, and tried in vain to find the place again. It was only when he realized that never would he be able to go to the magical place of lights and strange creatures, that he returned home and stayed there, and unknowing played right into the hands of fate, coming closer fulfilling his destiny.

Celebrating 100 Pages!

As of today, the final document of Merlin's Story has reached 104 pages. It is approximately 20,304 words. When completed, a novel should stand at about 75,000 to 100,000 words, equivalent to around 300 to 400 pages. By the end of the week, I should be about quarter of the way done with Merlin's Story, standing close to 25,000 words. Currently, Merlin's Story is 18 chapters, and the next 10 chapters are planned and drawn. Merlin's Story is also attracting a lot of attention; I get an average of six visitors a day, two of them from the US and the other four international. I have two regular readers from London and one from Switzerland.

Chapter 18: The Shipyard

"Ready Merlin?" asked Khoury.

"Give it your best shot." replied Merlin.

Upon hearing those words, Khoury ran at Merlin, holding a small elliptical ball in his hands. Merlin moved rapidly toward Khoury, trying to keep the ball from passing the goal line. Khoury was running so fast, he tripped over his own feet and lost the ball. Merlin, having years experience of walking rugged terrain, had no difficulty staying on his feet. He retrieved the ball as Khoury was still getting up, ran to the opposite end of the grass field, and crossed the line of sticks Khoury and Merlin had made by the beach.

"Beginner's luck!" shouted Khoury at Merlin.

"That may have been so, but we've played this game all week. I don't think I'm a beginner anymore." replied Merlin, handing Khoury the ball as he walked back to his position.

Some children had been watching Merlin and Khoury play, and asked to join in. Merlin and Khoury welcomed them. Throughout the rest of the morning, many other players were attracted, and before long, one team had seventeen, the other eighteen.

"Seems to me that you aren't playing a fair game," said a man from behind Merlin, "Mind if I join?"

Turning around, Merlin saw it was Abdul, returned from Mecca. Oddly, a week after Abdul had found Merlin wandering the desert, he had been called to Mecca, and hadn't told Merlin and Khoury why.

"We are one short; of course you can play." replied Merlin, a broad grin coming across his face.

As it turned out, Merlin's team won time after time. Strangely, it was always Abdul carrying the ball across the goal line.

After a few matches, Khoury and Merlin left their teams to speak with Abdul.

"Good game Khoury!" shouted Abdul to his son as they walked towards each other.

"How did you get so good?" asked Khoury.

"I'm the one who taught you the game, remember? I was coming back from a mission in the north where I had heard of a game they called 'fute ball', and taught you how to play when you were just a little boy."

"So why were you wanted in Mecca?" asked Merlin.

"I have another mission. They want me to go to a port some ways south and across the sea." replied Abdul.

"Won't you need a boat?" asked Merlin.

"Already have one," said Abdul, "Want to see it? Come with me."

Before too long, they were at the shipyard. Resting in the shipyard was a wide variety and array of ships. But the most curious ship was the one Abdul was pointing at.

The ship, unlike most that Merlin had seen, was shaped like a banana, and it hull was squared. Towards the back of the ship was a small cabin, with two windows. Behind the cabin, there was a small sail, insignificant compared to the massive sail on the cabin and the large sail close to the head of the ship.

"I've never seen the likes of this ship." said Merlin.

"I would say you haven't! This kind of ship is rare in parts, especially were you come from. I'm the only one with a ship like this as far as India." replied Abdul proudly.

"What kind of ship is it?"

"It's a Chinese junk. An Indian man had bought one from someone else and I bought it from him. It is a truly rare ship in most parts, and an extraordinary one as well. One of the fastest ships out there at eight knots. Now come on; let's get home. I'm sure you two want to hear about my trip."

Several hours later, long after Abdul had finished telling about his journey, Merlin laid in bed, sleep slowly overcoming him. He had been staying with abdul and Khoury for two weeks, long enough to refresh himself, and he was ready to continue his quest. The only problem was, he didn't know where to go. That hadn't kept him before, but it did now.

Merlin fell asleep still thinking of what Blaise had told him years ago, and was visited by dreams of the future. He saw himself on the sea, a storm coming close. The storm hit, and Merlin was knocked into the ocean. Just then, he woke, knowing he had to continue his quest by sea.

Silent as silence itself, Merlin stole into Abdul's room and placed a note, explaining why he had left and why he had taken the means he had. Then he followed the path to the shipyard, taking great care not to wake anyone in Jeddah.

It wasn't long before Merlin saw the ships. He quietly looked at them, searching for one in particular: Abdul's Chinese junk.

It took a while to find because it was so small, but Merlin found it with about an hour until sunrise. Merlin din't have long to raise the sails and prepare the ship for travel, and so raced against time. If Abdul were to see Merlin stealing his ship, Merlin wouldn't be able to continue his quest, keep his promise to Blaise.

Just as the sun was coming over the horizon, Merlin cut loose the anchor, and caught the south wind. Within seconds, Merlin was sailing away from the coast, and was on his way to the Utopian Realm.

Chapter 17: Wandering

"Take this and go to the Utopian Realm." Those words had been a few of Blaise's last. And those had been the words Merlin had been hearing in his head for a long time. Merlin couldn't remember how long ago Blaise had died. Hadn't it been. . . Two cold times since Blaise died? Yes, that was right. Two years since Merlin had last seen Blaise, the Young One, Pertcha, Geoffrey, and all of the others. At times Merlin forgot about the people of his past; other times, he couldn't sleep for he kept seeing them and hearing them. They were all around, so close Merlin could reach out and touch them. But then they weren't there. It had merely been a trick of the desert.

Was Merlin in the desert? He thought about. Yes, he was in the desert. Blaise had once taught him geography. From what Merlin remembered, he had recently passed the Mediterranean sea, and had crossed over into Africa. He was walking across what he thought was Egypt, and at the time he had had to cross a river, his mind had gone blank, and he had crossed the river and left it, thinking he would run into another in an hour or two. He had forgotten the river must be the Nile, the only water source any human being with no supplies could get necessary hydration from. Merlin was a wizard though, and that did a little to help him along his way.

Now Merlin was crossing the wide and endless expanse of what he thought to be the Sahara, or whatever other desert he was crossing. It was an endless task, and a life or death one at that. If Merlin were to stop even for a moment, he would surely not get back up. If he didn't get back up, he would die. So he continued, day and night, night and day, never straying from the constant walking.

Merlin knew he didn't have much longer to live. He had to find a town and soon. Whether it be large or small, wealthy or poor, so long as Merlin could get some water and rest. He had had no rest since he had left the water.

Merlin heard a sound behind him. It sounded like the clop of a horse's hooves. Instinct took over Merlin and he broke into a sprint fast enough to rival any horse. The horse's hooves also sped up. Merlin ran and ran, the same routine he had done since Blaise's death. It was the routine to survival, and Merlin desperately wanted to carry out his promise to Blaise; take the ring to the Utopian Realm. And he couldn't do that if he was dead.

Slowly but surely, the horse caught up to Merlin, and its rider tried none too gently to pull Merlin onto his horse. Merlin purposefully slid off the horse, and landed head first in the sand. There happened to be a rock not to far under the surface, upon which Merlin hit his head and fell unconscious.

***

"Father! He's waking up!" shouted a small boy of about Merlin's age.

Looking about him, Merlin saw he was in a a damp cottage, which looked to be made of some sort of yellowish stone. He was sitting on a thin blanket on the floor. Other than his uncomfortable bed, there was no other furniture. Furthermore, there seemed to be no other people as the boy returned with his father.

The man the boy called father had brown eyes, a goatee, and was wearing a sand-colored turban on his head. He looked at Merlin with something like concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked the man, kneeling down to be eye-level with Merlin.

"Yes, I think so." replied Merlin, rubbing his temples.

"You hit your head pretty hard. What's your name stranger?"

"My name. . . My name is Merlin."

"Interesting name. You don't come from here do you?" asked the man casually.

"No. I come from Britain."

"Britain!" exclaimed the boy, "How long have you been traveling? It must have taken ages to get here from Britain by foot!"

"I have been traveling for two cold times."

"Well Merlin, you are welcome to stay with us for a while. You must be very tired after such a long journey." said the father, apparently impressed with Merlin's perseverance.

As the man stood up to leave, Merlin asked a few more questions. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you names?"

"No, of course not! My name is Abdul and my son's is Khoury." replied the man.

"Where am I? Thebes? Memphis?"

"Heavens, no! Why Thebes and Memphis are on the other side of the Great River! This is Jeddah!"

"Where is Jeddah?"

"You don't know where Jeddah is!" exclaimed Abdul, "You truly are a stranger. Jeddah is only a day's ride from Mecca, the holy city of Allah. I was returning from spreading the faith when I saw you. You had better get some rest Merlin. It's been a long day for you."

Abdul ushered Khoury out the door. Within minutes, Merlin was fast asleep.

Chapter 16: The Wild Hunt

Hurry, hurry, hurry, Merlin's wings seemed to say as he beat them up and down, and yet, Merlin was already flying as fast as he could, which made it all the more frustrating.

Merlin knew time was limited. He knew he had maybe a few hours left to reach Blaise, if he was lucky. If he wasn't. . . Merlin decided not to follow that thought through to its conclusion.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, Merlin kept hearing, for every moment in the air was another precious second in which Merlin could save Blaise.

How will you find Blaise? taunted a voice in Merlin's head, How will you save him? What if you don't arrive in time? When Merlin thought these questions over, he realized he didn't know the answer to any of them.


Merlin was woken from his deep thoughts when he heard the clop-clop of a horse's feet from far below him. As he listened closer, he heard the familar clink of a scabbard hitting the buckle of a belt. Merlin knew at once that the rider could be none other than Blaise.

Looking ahead of him, Merlin saw a small clearing, and flew faster towards it, hoping Blaise's course would take him through the clearing. Slowly, Merlin shape-shifted to his normal form and walked to the edge of the clearing, ignoring the glare the windows of the cabin in the clearing gave him as he walked past. For some reason, Merlin felt as if something monumental had happened here.

Or was going to.

Merlin heard Blaise's horse approaching the clearing. Curiously, the horse stopped abruptly where the clearing met the forest. Blaise dismounted his horse and walked calmly and slowly to the cabin. Blaise did not knock; he simply kicked the door wide open, splintering it. Curiosity won over Merlin's better judgment, so he followed Blaise.

The cabin was empty. There was nothing in the cabin, nothing at all. Which seemed odd as it had clearly been built several years ago, as could be told by the decaying wood. Again, Merlin felt the monumental feeling, stronger this time. On impulse, he looked out the window nearest to him. He thought he could see a boy of his age running into the forest. But Merlin had never been able to quite trust his own eyes, due to poor sight. Blaise had once promised him glasses.

Blaise. Where was he? Merlin got up from the window sill and began to look for Blaise. Moments later, Merlin heard a thundering boom come from the bedrooms of the cabin. Already forming a plan, Merlin ran towards the bedrooms.

Merlin heard swords clashing against one another. He knew that one of the swords he heard was Excalibur, Blaise's sword. The other was one he had hoped he would never be near again if Merlin was right.

Flying around the corner, Merlin saw to people fighting. Blaise was one of them. The other had his back turned to Merlin. Suddenly, the man with his back turned took out a wand a screamed an incomprehensible word. As a result, Blaise went flying through the solid wood wall and landed on his back in a bath tub. The man came flying at Blaise, wielding his sword high above his head as if it were an ax he would bring down on Blaise's head. Blaise quickly rolled out of the way and on to his feet.

The man's sword was stuck in the wood floor of the cabin. Taking advantage of the man's predicament, Blaise ran at the man, swinging Excalibur from the side in a long arc. The man merely said another word and Blaise's foot froze, causing him to trip. Anyone could clearly see the man was an expert when it came to magic. If the battle continued to progress this way, Blaise would die.

The two continued to fight each other, driving one another into the clearing. for the third time, Merlin felt the monumental feeling. It was the strongest feeling of them all, so strong, Merlin fell on the ground and struggled to get back up. As he lay on the ground he heard Blaise and the man yelling at each other.

"It's been many long years that I have been waiting for this day!" shouted Blaise at the man.

"I don't want to fight you!" screamed the man, his voice as sharp and cold as ice. It was a voice Merlin would recognize anywhere; it was the Young One.

"Of course you don't! You're afraid I will avenge your father!"

"I didn't kill Ambro!" said the Young One calmly.

"Then why is he not with us?"

"He left! He suddenly disappeared just as he was about to kill me! Why won't you believe me?"

"You most certaily earned your name, Shiroix, or as ot means in the Speech, teller of lies."

"I am not lying!" screamed the Yoiung One with fury as he brought his sword so hard against Excalibur, Merlin heard a high pitched squeal, which undoubtedly meant Excalibur had recieved a deep gouge.

Merlin overcame the feeling that had grasped hold of him just as the Young One went for the killing blow. He ran around the corner and screamed a word at the top of his lungs, pointing his cane-wand at the Young One.

"Zamaj!" Merlin bellowed. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came a stampede of giant dogs, slobber trailing behind them as they raced towardsthe Young One and Blaise. Among the dogs were blood-red stags, fire-orange birds, and horned lions. Leading the stampede was a creature riding a skeleton horse. The creature's face had much resemblance to that of a goat, except it was as black as ash. It had pointy ears, much like some of the elves Merlin had seen. It also had horns and two shrp fangs coming out of it mouth facing up like an elephant's tusk. When the creature turned it's revolting features so it's red eyes were looking straight into Merlin's green eyes, Merlin felt one thought.

I am Pertcha, was the thought the creature sent Merlin as it passed him.

Pertcha turned her eyes back on the Young one and threw a flaming sword at him. It hit him right between the eyes.

Seeing the sword, the stampede behind Pertcha started to ravage the Young One's body, leaving nothing, not even a bone. Just as quickly as they had come, the stampede left, except for Pertcha.

"Who are you?" asked Merlin.

I am Pertcha, the leader of the Wild Hunt and the bringer of death, replied Pertcha.

"Why did you come?"

You summoned us.

"Will I see you again?"

Only when your time has come.

With that final word, Pertcha and her steed too left.

Merlin looked around for Blaise. He saw him lying on the ground near the cabin.

"Blaise!" yelled Merlin as he ran to his mentor.

"Merlin?" asked Blaise weakly, "Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"I had a dream and came to save you."

"It is too late for me. . ."

No, it's not. I could use the healing spell you taught me."

"You don't understand; I have seen Pertcha before. She told me the next time I saw her, it would be my death." said Blaise, his voice ever weaker.

"Merlin," continued Blaise, "I am dying, and there is nothing you can do. I will always rememer my time with you and your mother because it was the happiest time of my life. Take Excalibur; pass it on to Uther and his son. For your self, take this." With that, Blaise handed him the ring Merlin had seen in the dream. Merlin took it and put it in the pocket of his robe.

"Take this and go to the Utopian Realm. I am trusting you with this; do not let me down. Fare well Merlin." Blaise turned his head to face the sky and held his arms straight up. "Spirits. . . have I redeemed myself on this day?" Blaise asked of the sky, just as he had in the dream.

Slowly, Blaise lowered his arms, the light in his eyes slowly dying. Then he was dead.

"No! Blaise, no! Don't leave me! Don't leave me! I'm not ready! Stay here Blaise, stay here!" sobbed Merlin, tears rolling off his cheeks onto Blaise's lifeless body, "Blaise. . ."

For hours, Merlin sat there, shedding tears for his uncle. Watching from deep in the forest, Pertcha almost felt regret for what she had done. She herself shed a few tears for Blaise. Crying was something that Pertcha had never done, and yet, here she was. Although Blaise was dead, Pertcha would make sure to do something to ease Merlin's pain. Something. . .

Unable to think of anything at the moment, Pertcha took to the skies, heading back to her master Arawn.

Below Pertcha Merlin continued to cry, and would for several hours. Even after he stopped, he would still feel the pain of losing Blaise, and would continue to feel the pain for many long years.