I came very close to dropping this story, the creative juices weren't flowing, school work was piling up (not that that has stopped…), reader response was almost non-existent, and I really had no idea where this story was going.
But all that was in the past. Merlinus' first ever feature length story on is back with a gusto. Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review.
Chapter 3: Everything Does Not Return To Normal
Merlinus followed Matthew and Erk as they rushed outside into the bright sunlight. Merlinus had to pause to let his eyes adjust, so it was a few moments before he realised who it was he was standing next to.
"Rath!" exclaimed Merlinus as he recognised the solemn, dark haired Sacaen nomad.
Rath merely nodded to acknowledge their meeting. He turned his attention instead to a worried looking Erk.
"The key?"
Erk looked up, almost annoyed to have been disturbed from his thoughts.
"No. Merlinus lost it-"
"What? I hardly-" but Erk continued, not paying attention to Merlinus' protest.
"-but there's still time. I don't believe the morphs know where it is either."
"So where to then?" asked Matthew.
"That's up to Merlinus." Erk turned to the merchant. "Where did you send the key? You'll have to direct us."
"Oh, of course. That won't be a problem. I've been there myself, actually. Very nice place. A beautiful mahogany interior-" Merlinus stopped as Erk glared at him. "Right. Well, if you'll give me a moment, I can draw you a map and-"
"We don't have time for maps," snapped Erk. "You're coming with us."
"Are you sure that is such a good idea? He would only serve to get in the way," said Rath, as if Merlinus wasn't there.
"He made a mistake, and now he has to help fix it. End of story Rath. Now Merlinus," said Erk, turning back to Merlinus. "One more try. Where is the key?"
Merlinus decided he didn't care for this new Erk one bit. He much preferred the Erk of old, the quiet moody Erk, who wasn't always so serious.
"Ah yes, it's-it's on the city's east side. Not that far at all."
"Good. Ride with Rath. We'll follow."
Merlinus noticed the two horses for the first time. He didn't relish the thought of a horse ride, especially with the untalkative Rath for company. But he forced a smile and let Rath help him onto the beast's back.
"How have things been Rath?" asked Merlinus, trying to break the ice.
"Which way merchant?" asked Rath bluntly, wasting no time with pleasantries.
Merlinus sighed.
"Head south four blocks and then-woah!" Rath's horse took off like an arrow, with Merlinus forced to grab hold of the nomad's waist and hang on for dear life. They darted through the narrow city streets, dodging people and carts at every turn. Merlinus gave up and closed his eyes tight. He began hurriedly mumbling half forgotten prayers under his breath, invoking St. Elimine and any other deity that felt like helping out to simply get him to his destination alive.
At last the horse came to a halt.
"Is this the place?" asked Rath.
Merlinus opened his eyes a crack and peeked out at the large townhouse that stood before them.
It was a nice, two storey affair; a house that screamed "I have money, but not too much!"
"Y-yes," Merlinus managed to squeeze out, "This is it."
Rath dismounted quickly, and Merlinus followed clumsily after, his leg catching on the saddle as he tried to get down. He fell in a heap on the ground behind Rath, who had chosen then to admire the building's shingle work.
Erk and Matthew came galloping up then. Erk was off the horse before it even stopped.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
"I assure you it is. I've been here on more than one occasion and I'll have –"
He was cut off by the sound of Erk knocking heavily at the door.
The door promptly opened a crack, and the face of an older woman peered at suspiciously.
"What do you want now?" she asked briskly.
"Good day madam," said Erk, as severe as ever, "we're here to see," Erk paused, turning back to Merlinus for silent confirmation, "Mr. Lemmings. It's about a certain piece of furniture." he finished.
"Oh, Mr Merlinus!" said the old lady, recognizing the merchant in the background. "Yes, yes come in," she said, opening the door wide. "My husband is up in his study, admiring his new drawer, no doubt," she said with a chuckle.
"Thank you, we won't be long, I assure you," said Erk.
"Oh, no trouble. You know, you're not even the first to enquire about our new drawer? Why, we haven't had it more than four hours, and we've already had two different inquisitors. It must be some piece he found," she said, smiling.
Erk cast a worried glance at Matthew.
"Did you say someone else has come to see the drawer?" asked Erk quickly.
"Oh yes. In fact, they're still up there now. I was about to bring up some tea and-"
But Erk didn't wait to find out what else Mrs. Lemmings was bringing up. He hurtled past her, almost knocking her down, and rushed up the staircase, Matthew and Rath right on his tail. Merlinus followed them, smiling apologetically at the startled woman as he past by.
"So sorry about that Mrs. Lemmings, he's normally a very nice young man… really," he apologised before rushing up the stairs himself.
"Why I never…" started a very confused Mrs. Lemmings.
As Merlinus climbed the last step, he heard a loud bang, and saw a flash of red from the end of the hallway. A door flew open, and in rushed Erk, Matthew and Rath.
They had entered Mr. Lemmings' large study, and were greeted by an unhappy sight.
An old man, Lemmings they assumed, lay on the floor, the puddle of blood growing larger before their eyes.
The room had been trashed, ransacked in pursuit of an elusive quarry. And there in front of the drawer, that had so recently sat in Merlinus' cluttered office, stood the two dark robed figures who had so recently stood in front of Merlinus' counter.
They looked up in unison, a look of surprised confusion on the larger, a sly smile on the face of the smaller. In his hands was the key that they had all been looking for.
He spoke first.
"Ah Erk, too late, as always," he laughed, and Graven joined in. "You'll note that I have the key now."
"Not for long Vennius," and as Erk spoke, his clenched fists ignited into twin balls of flame.
Vennius placed the key deep within his robes and smiled devilishly.
"We both know that won't be happening Erk. I must admit though, I was rather surprised that you would have trusted such an important object to that incompetent fool. I thought better of you."
Merlinus quivered. They remembered him.
Graven spoke up.
"I believe you made a deal wif the merchant Vennius. Somethin' 'bout rippin' 'is eyes from 'is head if he lied to us?"
"Right you are Graven. You see Merchant, we have a certain reputation to uphold. When we give you our word, we don't make a habit of breaking it."
Rath stepped in front of the shaking Merlinus.
"If you're finished scaring the peddler, I believe we have some business to finish," he pointed to a long scar along his chin that Merlinus had not noticed before. Rath withdrew a long, curved scimitar from his side, and Matthew followed suit, taking out a short sword of his own. Merlinus tried to sink into the wall, wishing he were invisible.
Vennius scowled.
"Please gentlemen, I hardly have time for this. But my associate here will be more than willing to entertain you. Graven, if you don't mind?"
Graven unslung a massive battle-axe from his back, and took a few practice swings, slicing the air with great whooshes.
Vennius smiled.
"My dear Erk, I'm afraid this is where we part, again. Perhaps next time?"
"You're not going anywhere Vennius, not this time. We finish this now!"
Vennius sighed, and withdrew an ornate pocket watch from within his robes.
"As much as I would enjoy finishing you off here and now, I have far more pressing matters to attend to. You have made obtaining this key far more difficult than it ever should have been, and as such, we are quite quickly running out of time," he paused to smirk at Erk. "Oh and Merlinus," he said, turning his eerie golden eyes on the merchant, "we'll be seeing you."
Vennius spun suddenly, releasing an orb of dark energy at a nearby wall. The wall disintegrated on contact, and Vennius took a running leap out of the gaping hole into the street below.
"He's getting away!" cried Matthew, and he made to follow him through the opening, but was stopped by the mammoth hand of Graven grabbing his collar. Graven tossed the thief around like a rag doll, finally pitching him into a startled Rath. They collapsed in a heap. Graven chuckled.
"We've no time for this nonsense!" shouted Erk, and from within his robe he withdrew an aged blue tome, flipped it open, and began muttering under his breath.
"Your magic don't scare me, fool!" Graven raised his axe high, poised to strike at the stationary mage.
Erk came to life at once. His arm outstretched, he roared "EXCALIBUR!"
A great gust swept through the gaping hole in the wall, slamming the door shut and swirling the loose papers scattered about into a small twister. Graven faltered, unsure of what was happening.
Then, suddenly, the spell came into effect. Great, broad sweeping gusts of green magic blasted the behemoth. He screamed in agony, and then it was done; the papers settled to the floor and Graven collapsed in a heap, lifeless.
Erk stood there, his breath heavy.
"A little bit of overkill there, eh?" Matthew joked feebly, trying to break the silence. Rath, having disentangled himself from him, gave him a swift smack to the head, and then walked to where the wall had once stood.
Erk joined him, slamming his fist on the remaining bit of wall.
"Damn it! We had him, and he slipped away."
"Again," added Matthew, rubbing the back of his head as he joined the other two.
They gazed down the street, but knew that Vennius was long gone by then.
"So, uh… what do we tell him?" asked Matthew.
"We tell him that we lost the key, that's what. We still have a chance, though. Like Vennius said, they are quickly running out of time," replied Erk.
Merlinus, forgotten in the fight, tried gingerly to open the door, now hanging on one hinge after Erk's impromptu entrance, without being noticed.
Squeeeeeak
"Where are you going Merlinus?" asked Erk, stopping the merchant in his tracks.
Merlinus turned guiltily. "Well, I- you see- you h-hardly need me anymore, and I just thought I would- I would uh… leave?" he said sheepishly.
"He can't leave," said Rath, once again addressing Erk as if Merlinus wasn't there. "You heard the morph. The merchant isn't safe."
"Yeah, we can't just leave Merlinus out there by himself. He won't last a day with that madman on the loose," chimed in Matthew.
"I'll be honest," said Erk looking at his two companions, grim as ever, "I don't like the idea of taking him with us-"
"Right as always!"
"- but I wouldn't feel right if he were to get hurt. I dragged Merlinus into this mess, and now his safety is my responsibility."
"Really, it's not necessary! That villain, he surely wasn't serious!"
"So it's decided then, Merlinus will accompany us," said Erk, still not even looking at the merchant.
Merlinus sighed, and sat down against a wall. What had he gotten himself into this time?
"Come Merlinus," said Erk, "there's no time for rest. Vennius puts more and more distance between him and us as we speak. Up! We ride north at once."
"It is many moons to the Gate," said Rath, "we will need supplies."
"And we should probably check in with the boss. He is paying the bills after all," added Matthew.
"By Elimine's Light!" Erk cursed, "You are both right, but the longer we delay, the farther Vennius gets." Erk rubbed his brow, the lines of worry across his face readily apparent. "First things first Matthew, I suppose it was high time we paid a visit to our benefactor." To Merlinus, "Come now, we're off to see Hector."