Chapter 21

Two faces

Arthur and Merlin had fallen down a sandy bank into a cave. Huge grey stones rose up either side of them and the blue sky had gone, a rocky ceiling now stood in its place. 'Arthur,' breathed Merlin hoarsely, Rupert? Arthur leaned his head against the cave wall and closed his eyes. 'I don't think we can get back to him.' he said sadly. The two friends sat in silence for a moment, each with their private thoughts.

'Did you hear what he said Arthur, about his son?'

'Yes, yes I did. But come we have to move on and find out what's in store for us now.' They walked cautiously further into the cave and as they went the cold chalky perfume of the place changed, it grew fouler with each step with a sickly mixture of rotting meat and dung.

'Go slowly Merlin,' whispered Arthur. 'I will face this beast but if I cannot kill it, you must.'

'Arthur I don't know if I can,' said Merlin painfully.

'And what would you do if I lowered my sword, would you let me die?'

'Don't even joke about it Arthur, I'm telling you I can't do it anymore.' Arthur looked at Merlin's anguished face.

'No, Merlin, I wouldn't do anything so foolish, I just hoped you might find some resolve if ……..' Arthur tailed off. He had thought about lowering his sword. It would take a shock like that to pull Merlin out of it. He'd seen his knights lose themselves after a battle. It often took something drastic to bring them back. Arthur stepped down into the cave first, the smell was getting worse and he covered his nose and mouth. Just as he did so a huge head appeared close above him, the head of a snake and below the head, the body, spotted like a leopard.

'Arthur!' yelled Merlin, 'come back! It's the Questing beast Arthur!'

Arthur had guessed the nature of the beast from the scent. He could never forget the pain of its venom coursing through his veins. He stepped sharply backwards but the beast was fast. It raised itself to strike, the two front feet were clawed like a lion and the back legs hooved like a stag. Merlin came up behind Arthur and Arthur instinctively pushed him back out of the way. The questing beast reared and twisted its sinewy neck, it swept out its cat claws to topple Arthur but he was ready for it and dived swiftly out of the way, he jabbed his sword into its foreleg and yelled, but the beast was in no way disturbed by a yelling man. It hardly reacted to the wound and bore down on the prince with a frightening speed so that he found himself again within its grasp. With all his strength he threw himself up between the forelegs and drew his sword across the neck. He felt the sword strain under the blow, it had hardly made a scratch and a tight knot of fear churned in his stomach. Arthur ran through the hind legs and for a moment baffled the beast. Arthur turned and looked at Merlin.

'I cannot kill it Merlin, something is wrong!' Merlin with sword drawn made to enter the fray.

'No Merlin!' commanded Arthur, 'Not that!'

The beast on hearing his voice swung around with its paws and crashed into Arthur, the sword flew from his hand and he was thrown several feet through the air.

Merlin cried out as the beast turned to finish off his prey. 'No!' screamed Merlin, 'you leave him, leave him! Come here, over here,' he said waving his arms frantically. The beast turned…Merlin's legs went weak, all this was too familiar, this is just how it happened before. He could not let it happen again. With a huge effort Merlin lifted his sword and threw it, it turned over and over in the air and without thinking Merlin shouted the words.

Breagdan annuiel gefeluec, the sword glowed blue and hit the beast full square and it crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust.

Arthur hit the floor hard, his body jolted painfully against the armour and his helmet went flying. Merlin was yelling and waving his arms. The beast was coming for him but something in Merlin's voice made it turn. Arthur saw his friend's eyes widen in fear and his own heart leapt. Then Merlin found the strength to hurl the sword at the beast, his eyes glowed with a bright gold light and his voice became low and powerful with words that Arthur could not understand. In a ripping sound, blue smoke leapt out of the air around the sword and it seemed to catch light in a burst of cold flames. Arthur was struck with a mixture of awe and shock, Merlin was transformed, unearthly. As the flying blade found its mark Merlin's golden eyes faded and he looked down at Arthur. Arthur threw his head back and laughed. Merlin jumped down to him, alight with happiness.

Merlin held out his arm for Arthur who, although badly bruised leapt up and grabbed him around the shoulders. They hugged each other hard and Arthur almost winded Merlin with his enthusiastic back patting.

' That was incredible, Merlin! You are incredible!

Merlin could not speak he kept shaking in his head in disbelief, his eyes shining, a huge grin on his face. Everything, but everything was going to be alright.

But his joy was short lived. Arthur suddenly let out a groan of pain. He fell forward onto his knees. Merlin caught him and lowered him to the ground, he searched his body for a wound, when he pulled his hand from under his shoulder it was covered in blood. 'Arthur , Arthur,' urged Merlin, but the prince was unconscious or worse. 'But it didn't bite him,' said Merlin in dismay. 'It didn't bite him this time.' Around them everything grew dark, the walls of the cave turned to buildings around a great courtyard, stones were strewn on the ground, bodies lay in terrible aspects, struck down as they fled and terror hung in the air like smoke. Out of the darkness came a darker figure and Merlin stood to face him, this was the night of gargoyles and here was Sigan coming for him. Could he remember the spell to defeat him, did he still have it locked inside him? As the sorcerer drew near Merlin saw his face, etched with a calculated cruelty and arrogance. But it was not the face of Cornelius Sigan, it was Merlin's own face.

Merlin wanted to run. He turned, looking for an escape. The sorcerer with his face did not smile but cast an amused look at him.

'Oh I forgot,' he said with a voice at once like Merlin's yet devoid of anything gentle, any kindness. 'You are scared. Always there's fear, then a kind of bravery, then a ludicrous euphoria as though you had no idea of your power. Really isn't it about time you grew up Merlin?'

'Who are you?' said Merlin.

Now the sorcerer did laugh. 'My god!' he said 'was I ever that dim? This.. he said,' opening his arms wide in an all encompassing gesture, 'this Merlin, I Merlin am the person you really are. Forget fawning over the prince. You don't need him.' His voice became low and seductive. 'Merlin you can do whatever you want to do, you know one day you will realise it. One day this is who you will be. So why go through all the pain, I'm offering it to you now.'

'No!' seethed Merlin.

'Be honest Merlin, look at him. Merlin looked down at Arthur. 'He is so feeble and so weak. You don't need him you don't even care for him as much as you imagine. He's just an easy option, a distraction at best.' The sorcerer with Merlin's face lifted his hand towards the fallen prince.

'Don't touch him,' said Merlin mirroring the gesture and casting a glassy shield over Arthur's body.

'Fine, I'll leave that to you when the time comes.'

'What do you mean, what time?'

'The time you do the deed yourself. It is you that kills him in the end Merlin. Not Mordred, though he makes it easy. It is you and shall I show you how?

The sorcerer's eyes flashed gold and Merlin felt a searing pain through his head. Pictures began to form.'

'Get out of my head!' screamed Merlin and held out his hands. His eyes glowed gold and from his fingertips a stream of lightening flew into the face before him. But his own image lifted a hand to deflect it and Merlin felt a stabbing pain across his eyes. The air was singed with the power of their magic. Merlin fell to the ground clawing at his face with frantic hands. He heard a quiet laugh as the sorcerer approached. Merlin could not see anything. His eyes were blinded. The voice filled his head and he could not tell what was inside his head from what was outside him.

'I cannot kill you Merlin, but I can fold you up and put you in my pocked, like piece of paper.' Merlin felt an excrutiating pain as his body was assaulted by a power of such intensity, that it t drove out all other sensation. His mind could hardly form thoughts and all that resided in him was the knowledge that he was beaten.

Then he heard Arthur's voice, loud and clear.

'Fight Merlin, fight it!'

'He has me Arthur.' he answered in despair Merlin felt a hand on him, hands over his face prising his fingers from his eyes and Arthur's voice close to him. 'Use your gift Merlin he said, you can use magic in a dream, you saved me remember. In the caves you made light. Now Merlin please, please save yourself.'

Merlin allowed Arthur to move his hands from his face, with all his effort he ignored the searing pain in his body, he opened his eyes, his vision was milky and blurred. In the palms of his hands two blue balls of light grew, they rose from him like something born out of heaven itself and floated into the air. Their light engulfed everything, the courtyard, the stones the bodies. Merlin saw his own face before him, his own eyes deadened with the lust for power. He looked at this reflection, this other self and spoke to it softly. 'I cannot kill you but I will fold you up and put you in my pocket, like a piece of paper,' and with that Merlin swept his hand through the air and spoke, 'ic i ácwiðee.' And the rejected vision silently crumpled into nothing.

Merlin opened his eyes and saw a clear blue sky. Arthur was leaning over him, a relieved smile on his face.

'Where are we,' said Melrin taking Arthur's hand to raise himself up.

Arthur looked around at an indistinct landscape. ' I can't tell yet where we are but you collapsed after you killed the questing beast and fell into some kind of trance.' Gradually trees came into view, giant trees grown to magnificent proportions, there were unmistakeably the trees of Heaf. Arthur's heart sank, but closer to them something else began to appear, the scattered stones of a ruin, a wall a gateway: the Castle of Eadbald. Rising out of the ground in the circled by the twelve trees under a kind sky.

Out from amongst the willow came a woman tall and dark, so like Morgana that Merlin's heart leapt. As she came closer, Merlin saw that she was indeed in her likeness but older. She held her arms out and it the palm of her hands held a sword. She bowed to Arthur like a warrior rather than a princess.

'You!' said Arthur turning to Merlin. 'This is the woman that helped me at the River Wicci.'

'Welcome both Arthur and Merlin,' said the woman. 'I am indeed the one who you saw at the River and I am come now, the last vision of the Forest of Heaf to bring you this,' she handed the sword to Arthur. 'This is the final resting place of the Twifeald stone.'

'This is the stone? Asked Arthur instantly recognising the sword as his father's

'This is one of them,' she said.

'What? We have to find and destroy another?' Asked Arthur.

'No Arthur this one is benign. The name of the stone: Twifeald is a clue to its nature. It is twofold, twofaced. The Twifeald stone embodies both light and dark. In this stone resides the light. It is the other you must find and destroy.'

Merlin moved close to Arthur and studied the sword. 'Is it exactly like Uther's?' he asked, his mind whirling.

'Like it yes,' but in The King's sword the stone at the hilt is not so brightly coloured.

'And who keeps this sword?' asked Merlin.

Aidith looked at him and smiled. 'It is mine Merlin but I would give it to you if you asked it of me.'

'I would not presume…'

'You may, later,' she said.

'I don't understand,' said Arthur, the stone has such power how can it be contained so easily, why does it not affect my father and wreak havoc with our Kingdom?'

'There is nothing easy about it Arthur. I am bound to it. I have caged it there with the skill of the smith and the very blood in my veins. I have done this these long years …' she turned to Merlin. 'waiting for you.'

'You are Aidith.' said Merlin. Arthur looked from one to the other in astonishment.

'Just so,' laughed Aidith.

Arthur handed the sword back to her. 'Now you both know where to find it,' she said.

'All I need to know is how to destroy it,' said Arthur.

'It is not given to you, Prince Arthur to destroy this stone. This task is Merlin's and his alone. He must return to Camelot and destroy the stone with his skill as a warlock. I cannot help him in that but I can tell you that once Uther Pendragon dies, when the fifth Kingdom of Camelot ends, then the stone will exert It's full power and you will all be enslaved to it. The carvings, the drawings will no longer depict a prophecy, it will be a depiction of history and your kingdom will destroy itself.

Aidith turned to Merlin, 'now son of Emrys, come with me and we will talk of many things.'

Merlin cast a look at Arthur who gave him an imperceptible nod. Aidith took his arm like his mother was given to do and they strolled away through the castle gateway to the trees beyond. Wait called Arthur, Aidith where are my men.

Aidith turned. 'Look for them Arthur and hope they live. I cannot tell you where they are but all that entered the forest or the castle are here now.'

Arthur set off to find his men. Across the clearing he saw a familiar sight. His horse grazing peacefully, looking for the world as though the last thing she wanted was some exercise.

'Come Lamri,' he called. She raised her dappled head but seemed not to see him. 'Lamri!' he called again, and she whinnied and started to trot over to him. He raised his hand to her muzzle and she butted him with her head. This simple gesture threw him all the way back to Camelot and his stables and the greeting his horses gave him each morning. Then remembered walking through the West gate after he battled the dragon and Gwen throwing her arms around him. For the first time in his life, Arthur yearned to go home.