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.
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