"to what king do you serve?" asked Merlin to the hefty man.
-to which the girded man said,
"This is not a kingdom of servants but free men of many trades. You must be from the south." he said with an accusatory inflection in his voice.
-Merlin replied "yes, sort of."
-The man then asked, "have you seen a young boy in leather armor made from black deer?"
-Without looking at his apprentice Merlin replied with a quick, "No, I'm sorry. we are on our way to they next city. How far is it?"
-He answered, "If it is a city you seek and no small village, go this way than left at the fork two days walk. you'll notice that one sign is bigger than the other."
-the younger man steps in to ask, "is he a criminal?"
-.,"No, he is my nephew and i would care to have him do this chore himself." The large man leans his pitchfork against the cart and uses it to sit at the bay of the wagon. he continues looking at Merlin."are you in search of great philosophers?' as Merlin agreed by shaking his head.
-the old man paused then urged them, "you will need sharp knives, if the table shakes."
-Merlin knew this to be true as he had been there many times to learn his way around the intricate markets. To the wheazing man Merlin says, "thank you. I wish you luck in finding your boy this day but we must cover more ground while it is still the day. we cannot afford to waste the time we did when we were young" Merlin looks to the boy and says, "pick up my things boy, off we go."
-They walked for the better half of a day through the viridescent wooded path as he taught the unwitting son several incantations. Periodically the boy would get one correct but hazardously come near to starting fires or burning himself. Casually Merlin would countermand the chaos before it caused damage one instance after the other. As the road led on, Merlin stretched his sight into the distance ahead with a whispering spell. He could see the signs for the fork in the road in the center of a great field. He stops their hike to eat and let his son rest but not letting him know he has seen the sign for the city.
-Merlin:"it would do you good to stay close and awake when we reach the turn in the pike."
-Troy:"why?"
-Merlin:"mercurial bandits. they like to labor and cause great malfeasance to innocent patrons of the cross at crossings."
-Troy:"It isn't far than is it?"
-Merlin:"No."
-After the sun fell a hands width, they began to walk again. They continued and the sign came closer and then finally close enough that his son could see the sign. Merlin began to pace himself to a slower walk. As he had predicted there were two robbers in the grass behind the sign and in the grass near it.
-Merlin reaches into his pocket and slips out a small pearl and pitches it towards the feet of the villains. As Merlin and the boy watch, a cloud of smoke billowes out of the ground where the pearl had fallen filled with small black and shiny lights almost the sight of a dark glitter vortex with white fog. As the smoke cleared the two would be thieves lay on the ground, each others faces in awkward and undesirable places of the other, bound together with wet leather still leaking what can be seen as water.
-The boy who had not the time to drops his bag and reaches into his pocket. His intent is again to write down what the wizard had conjured.
-Merlin torts, "Not now boy! pick their pockets clean and we will be going."
-"yes sir" the boy replied, "right away". he laughed at them and emptied their pockets. Merlin began to walk away slightly searching the horizon. as he did they boy stepped to the side and grabbed two tufts of grass with soil and roots. He stuff in each of them the vegetation and utters, "don't move a muscle, I've got this handled". he then strikes one man and kicks the other than immediately runs to catch up with his trail guide.
-the night falls and they rest. Another day arises and they pass three villages that could only be considered trading posts. they ask at every crossing how far the city is and every reply was a lie or wrong. Another night comes and they camp and rest. In the morning eventually they come within visual range of a great walled city. as they come closer they reach the fenced in corals that hold the live stock of the meat market and of the royal family. it holds large beasts of burden, horses, and birds some taller than men with two and sometimes three legs.
a farmer is shaving away the hair on a cow in the shape of a circle.
-the younger traveler inquisitive by design turns to Merlin to say, "let me talk with this man. wait for me, I'll only be a moment" and he darts over to the fence shouting, "sir sir si......" and with a clean sweep the boy falls to the ground hitting his head. on a fence post.
-as he shakes off the haze from his eyes he turns to the soil and searches the ground for what had fell him so abruptly. as he brushed away the soil he finds a treasure of marbles. Merlin now stands in the light of his search.
-"what are these" the boy asked.
-"they are marbles made by the vampire guards. come along now. we're not inside yet."
-"vampire guards?" he nervously asked
-"This is Netheros. the city of the vampire queen and her king and a small court of vampire brethren. together they are the monarchy, imperial guard and faithful watchers of a quiet city"
-"were visiting vampires?" he asked
-Merlin replies" yes. the citizens are farmers and livestock keepers who gather great stores of blood for them to keep in accord with their royal monarchs.
-boy: "they are peaceful hosts?"
-Merlin: " yes. they take only the blood and in exchange provide protection from the greater beasts of the land. they despise intense light but would battle in the greatest of sunlight to defend the city. you will meet them soon. they are part of a wast and old network of clans of vampires that span this world. they will not feed on people in exchange for their blood tithing and as i said before, you are my guest on this trip.
-boy:"they are not like the tales I've heard in grammar school?"
-Merlin:"not completely. it is this way in every vampire city, their discrete nature keeps them from being know of entirely in a world which they have watched mature, they call themselves new man not vampires and it would do you good to remember that." as they neared the gate Merlin tells him to not say anything at the entrance at the city wall.
-they reached the city wall and door glows red more so at its seams and slides open. two guards step out in partial armor that was very thick despite it did not protect some of their more vulnerable points. a third guard while upside-down rolls in front of the door as if laying on it from the other side. with his hair hanging the magical guard says "who are you and why are you here?"
-Merlin says:"I am Merlin wizard stratus. i have come to see the queen with my new apprentice. tell her i am here and i will be waiting at the first libation storage i can find." Merlin's eyes begin to turn silver and with the boy behind him unable to see, Merlin winks his eye shut once. the guard agrees to let them enter.
-they reach a pub and sit. Merlin says, "order yourself some food. if you cannot read the menu, just tell them what you want." the boy has no menu and begins to look for one.
-"one drink as large as you can give me" Merlin shouts and pulls a smallish gold bar out of his sleeve.
-as his son looks around he finds some sort of list that he assumes is a menu on the wall and below it a painting of a woman.
-it is a picture titled Medusa and below it an inscription:
-[-when you look in the mirror, you are bound]
-there is little light aside from candles and a faint skylight as he looks around. the barkeep brings out a drink twice the size of Merlin's hand. "what to eat?" the cook asks. the boy chooses to have a giant leg of one of the birds outside the castle walls and as Merlin hears this he chooses the same.
-the meal is served quickly with several pictures of water. the boy begins to feast as he notices that it's quite spicy but when he looks to Merlin, the wizard seems unaffected and eats heartily.
-no longer intrigued by his surroundings the thought of monsters crosses his mind again. "what of greater beasts, Merlin?" the boy asked.
-Merlin:"their land.....this land is cursed with unicorns. I'm sure they told you that unicorns are friendly buy unicorns are naturally dangerous. a full grown phoenix will hunt and eat a unicorn but not all of them. they protect these people from such greater beasts.
-boy:"unicorns?..the ones that look like white horses with the tusk on their skull?" he gestures as if he has a horn on his own head.
-Merlin:"unicorns are not friendly. the horn is sharp and nearly unbreakable." he pauses to drink then replies, "dragons also eat unicorns & everything else." the small group of people eating in the same place laugh after hearing merlin tell him this. the boy in wonderment looks up and imagines several flying creatures.
-casually the boy picks up his journal from his sack and begins to write down in his book the details of the past day. Merlin has another heaving, foaming ale. Merlin takes several pieces of the remaining meal and wraps them into a sack for carried lunch and then again a second time for his son. As they finish a guard comes to tell them his message,"she will see you, when you are ready, lord Merlin."
-Merlin:"very good. hurry and finish. you will want to see this soon."said Merlin to the young man.
-and with that they left behind them a group of quiet and suspicious patrons of the quaint eatery. they look on concerned about journalists from the outside who might upset the delicate balance between them and their hosts. they head through the city past shops into an inner corridor lined with smaller shops and homes with smoked glass doors. eventually they arrive in a room in the upper levels of the city. it is dimly lit by many evenly space torches and a single rectangular opening in the ceiling shining light on the wall and floor just past a stone carved throne in the center of the room.
-the young man filled with intrigue rushes into the room and is caught by two of the guards and halted in his steps. though he is confused he does not struggle. as he looks around the room he notices the lone throne with the queen sitting in it. within moments he realizes that it is the famed Medusa, the same as the one in the painting he had seen. immediately he hangs his head as to not look at her. the stories from his childhood had told him that to gaze upon Medusa's eye would turn any of man to stone.
-Merlin enters the room and with one hand at his staff takes his knee to the ground and hangs his head in an honored respect. the boy copies Merlin's action
-Medusa:"Merlin" she proclaimed excitedly, "it is good to see that you have come home" she said to him as he rose to his feet. "it is sad that you have already eaten. I was about to drink, myself."
-At the mention of drink, a servant, one of her kind, left the room hurriedly. she continues, "come here let me see you."
-Merlin replies, "as always i am not home. we might only stay one night." he said
-the boy looks around the room to notice that one of the guard keeping him in place and several in the room are wearing tinted opticals.
-she asks Merlin, "who is this with you? is he one of us or one of you. he kneels before us." as the young dude hears this he stands up.
-Merlin leans in and says, "he is one of mine, quite literally but do not tell him this." he turns back and waves for him to join them. as the guard looks to Medusa for approval she nods her head to approve and they begin to walk to the long table behind the throne. the small vampire servant child brings in a glass picture of blood for her to drink as they sit down at the table. as they sit they notice that the throne has a chair built behind it like a mirror of the other side. much to his surprise the young apprentice notices that her hair is not made of snakes, just a woven mesh of large bunches and with a fine boutique .
-Merlin says, "that throne is odd. this room is nice have I ever seen it before?"
-Medusa:"did you pay for your meal with another lead brick?"
-Merlin:"yes...but they wont realize it until its in a million pieces days from now."
-Medusa:"I know things of millions Merlin. you shouldn't fool the village, if you return too soon they will show you how they are upset with your deal. what have you come for Merlin?"
-Merlin:"this is my new apprentice and I need a map to the doors."
-she smiles as she looks pleased and after a slight pause agrees,"I approve. i will have the cartographer copy you one soon. but you will have to stay the evening as you promised." to this Merlin agrees.
-she claps her hand and calls for a servant. the same vampire child returns and she tells him to get the map in a strange ghostly language he cannot understand. she and Merlin begin to reminisce and speak to each other in the strange language that sounds like whispers, echoes and silver strings. the words are beyond him and slightly sound like owls in a canyon under a summer moon. he can tell when they laugh though and he reaches for his journal and pen. the queen realizes his actions and in his language tells him not to write much in the eyes of the public, that they are raised to keep her and her clan a secret from the outside world. again they chat with each other in the strange voices.
-Merlin:"where is your king?"
-Medusa:"he is out teaching to the newest centurions, the trials."
-Troy(Merlin's son):"the trials?"
-Merlin:"they brave into the fields in hunt of the grievous beasts."
-Medusa:"they spend weeks in the fields learning the hunt for their own survival."
-Merlin:"and the glyph of rapture"
-Troy:"glyph?"
-Merlin:"they will choose a symbol for their drink to be put upon their blood bags if they pass the trials.
-Medusa:"The king will have a pouch of human blood from the charity of one of our youngest farmers. and several viles of the aged blood of unicorns, fairies, many other things
-Merlin:"dragons, black elves, "and after rolling his eyes, "a sleipnir"
-Troy:"odins mount?"
-Medusa:"yes the horse of the god king which he has hunted for longer than you can imagine."
-Merlin:"there are too many scriptures for it to be false!"
-Merlin signals the servant over and asks for two glasses of plebian fairy and Medusa calls for the map.
-Merlin takes a drink and says:"we all know that Odin lives."
-Medusa:"merlin here has been on an eternal quest to find a sleipnir so he can make a duplicate for himself"
-Troy:"have you met Odin?"
-Medusa:"he says he has seen him as he was posing as a teacher in the islands."
-Merlin:"do not tell him i am a liar. i was younger and studying in greece.
-Troy:"what does he look like?"
-Medusa:"like the body of his choice."
-Merlin:"drink that. when the map is finished we'll be meeting another old friend of mine. i think you should have something extra in your veins in case he still checks.
-Medusa:"he never did"
-the drinks arrive for all three of them. they drink and are satisfied.
-the servant reenters to inform them "the map should be done by the morning sunrise"
-Medusa:"let us take ourselves to my great hall. we will keep you warmer if we are nearest a fire and mead.
-Merlin:"agreed"
-They find them selves in a lavish hall filled with many curtains on the wall. it was a well insulated lair. Marc sits and begins to write more into his journal. after no time at all he falls asleep and after Medusa leaves so does Merlin.