466 AD
BRITTAIN
Hours later, Merlin was sitting on the side of his bed, head held in his hands.
He had done the lesson, as she had called it. Honestly, by that time, he had been afraid not to.
He had already known how to call fire, that hadn't been the lesson.
She had been teaching him to use all of the elements and how to direct them.
He had been a good student, and he had seemed to not only surprise her, but to satisfy her as well.
By the time they'd left that clearing, nothing had been living. Not a single plant, nor animal. Even the insects had gone silent. The earth, the trees and even the pond were gone, leaving a large section of scorched earth.
What had changed, he wondered now. How had things gotten this far, and how long had he been a part of it without knowing?
It needed to end, he thought. He could not be a part of something this destructive. This evil.
There was only one who could help him, and he was loath to reach out. He had avoided it for most of his life.
He would continue doing so now, had he any idea of how to deal with this woman. Her powers were so beyond his, however, and he had a feeling that his father would be the only one who would be able to help him.
With a sigh that felt like it came from his soul, and a weariness born from knowing that he had no choice, he moved to the small polished piece of metal that he had learned to use as a scrying mirror.
With reluctance, he brushed his fingers over the reflective surface, the words that his mother had taught him long ago rising from the recesses of his mind to fall from his lips:
"Mirror to see, mirror to know
Mirror to help my power flow.
Mirror absorb, reflect my gaze,
Show me the truth beyond your glaze.
Show me the future, show me the past
All that is hidden, revealed at last.
Mirror, mirror, display for me,
My father, Oberon, whom I wish to see."