The Lost King—Chapter 13
When Addy awoke only seconds later, both Merlin and Arthur were hovering over her like a pair of worried puppies.
"Are you okay?" Merlin asked, his face full of concern.
She smiled brightly, lighting her whole up. Of course she was okay. He was alive! "Are you?" She asked.
"Yeah, actually. For someone who has just been skewered by an evil demon-dragon...I feel pretty good!"
She responded to this by pulling him down into the snow for a relieved and passionate kiss. Arthur, meanwhile, pretended not to notice.
When at last Merlin broke free, he said, "Addy, what happened? Arthur said there was some sort of strange red glow around me and then I just woke up."
She had no idea how to answer that question, because she didn't know herself. "I couldn't lose you. It was all I could think about. And then, it was like I could feel how to bring you back, like the earth was telling me how."
Puzzled, he looked at her, his eyes like a crystal stream of purest water. "Addy, do you have magic?"
Magic? She had never done anything out of the ordinary her entire life. Well, until she travelled in time and met Merlin. "No, I don't think so. I really don't know what happened."
Arthur returned, looking worried. "Sorry to break this up, but there's a bunch of people heading this way. I just thought I would let you know."
"People?" Merlin asked, looking towards the direction he was pointing. "Why?"
"Well, I guess it's because I defeated that Afanc, and they think we're heroes now." He paused dramatically, "Oh, and probably because they saw you shoot lightning from your hands."
"Oh. Right." Merlin considered. He looked down at his blood-stained, ripped clothing. The wound underneath was entirely gone. He glanced at Addy. She had brought him back. She must have magic, powerful magic. So, why doesn't she know? He thought. Why didn't I know? There wasn't time for these questions now. Merlin could see the crowd of people starting to make their way towards them. "We should get out of here. The last thing we need is paparazzi." He took Addy's hand, lifting her up. It was ice cold.
With a puzzled look, Arthur mulled over the word 'paparazzi', but Merlin interrupted his exhaustive mental taxation by exclaiming, "Addy, you're freezing! What's wrong?"
"Wrong?" She asked. "Oh, nothing." She waved off his concern with another smile. "That hand was just buried in the snow. Give me a sec to warm it up." She shoved her hand deep into her pocket. "Now are we going to go-" She felt something in her pocket. Something small, burning her hand. "What's this?" She said, pulling it out.
It was a small gold coin. It glinted in the remaining daylight, bouncing amber rays into her eyes.
"What's that you've got?" Asked Arthur.
"Just something that odd little doctor at the hospital gave me." Absently, she tossed him the coin. She watched it tumble through the air as if it were in slow motion, as she recalled his voice. Then, she remembered all that he had told her. Exactly what he had warned her of as she left the hospital:
"Oh, look." Dr. Bretir said, stooping down and picking up a little glinting object off the hallway floor. He barely looked at it, as if he already knew exactly what it was doing there. "A coin. Here." He handed it to her. She could see the side she was holding had the face of a king. A king she knew. She turned it over. On the other side was the silhouette of her wizard.
"What is this? I don't understand?" She asked. The doctor was grinning now, but he no longer seemed small to her. His presence filled the space in the hallway as if he was somehow much larger than what he appeared.
His voice echoed down the empty corridor, implanting itself deep within her mind. "Two sides of the same coin. That is what has been said of them. But there is so much more than that to it. When one side rises, the other must fall. And as one falls, the other will rise. And the hand of fate keeps turning it, over and over, in an endless dance. Do you understand?"
She shook her head. Of course she didn't understand. He was being especially cryptic, and she hated riddles. Also, the room was spinning slightly and she wasn't entirely sure she was still standing on the floor. What was happening to her?
"Don't worry. One day you will. For now, keep the coin. As a token from me."
She slipped the coin into her pocket. Why couldn't she focus her eyes? The hallway kept waving in and out, like she was underwater.
"Good. Now, before I return you, there is one more thing about coins you must understand. And this is the most important part," His voice lowered until he was barely more than whispering, and yet, it felt far louder in her head than anything else he had previously said. He placed his small hand upon her wrist and stared up at her. She could see flecks of gold shining behind his glasses. "Most people think there are only two sides to a coin. But they are wrong. There are not two sides, Addy Singleton. There are three."
Addy snapped back to the present with a jolt. The doctor had used magic on her! Who was he? And why did he tell her all that stuff about coins? One side rises, the other falls. Merlin and Arthur? What was that all about? And what did he mean by three sides? Coins don't have three sides.
"Addy, you alright? You look a little...unnerved." Merlin said with concern.
She nodded slowly, still unsure about what had happened. She was wrestling with how to tell him what had happened to her.
"We had better get going, that crowd won't take long to figure out where we are. Come on, follow me." Merlin said, leading them through the mess of overgrown trees in the small city lot. They could hear the sounds of the people getting louder behind them. Even the failing sunlight wouldn't keep them hidden long. Merlin paused them in a small, open space of piled up dirt. His eyes flashed momentary as he held out his hand, fingers spread wide. Fog rose up from the frozen ground, covering the trees in a thick, impenetrable blanket. "That should keep them busy," Merlin said.
The area they were in was the only space not completely blanketed by fog. The trees they had come through formed a murky border. They could just make out the last of the sunset as it turned the surrounding fog into fuschia-tinted cloud. Arthur looked around at their strangely clear little circle, and all he could think was, "Great, Merlin. So, how do we get out of here?"
Just as he spoke, a strange electric hum began to fill the air. A lilting melody danced about them, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once.
"What's that?" Arthur asked, spinning around trying to peer through their misty fortress.
In a shocked voice, Merlin said, "Magic. It's magic! Strong magic. I haven't felt anything like it before. Addy are you-" He turned back to look at her. She was standing perfectly still, as if frozen. There was a rosy aura around her. But her normally warm hazel eyes were now desperate and scared. Whatever was happening to her was not of her doing.
Suddenly, next to her, thin, shimmery magical beings materialized into the air. They encircled her quickly and completely, calling, "The queen! The queen has been found!"
Merlin tried to reach her, but even with his magical reflexes he was too slow. With a last desperate plea for help, Addy vanished.
"Noooo!" Merlin yelled and fell upon the spot where she had just been.
Arthur spun around again. "What happened? Where is she?" He shouted.
In unbearable anguish, Merlin replied, "She was taken. Taken by the aes sĂdhe. The fairies! She-she's gone and I don't know how to get her back."
Author's note-
One more chapter left, just a little bridge between this book and the next. I will put the final book in the trilogy up as soon as I can. It will be called "Queen of the Wild Magic" and it will, hopefully, answer many of the questions I've raised in the the last two stories. Thank you all for sticking with it so far, I hope you have enjoyed it. Last chapter up soon! And as always I love hearing from you, so please review!