July 24th, 2006
5:21 P.M.
-My goodness. I drop everything else, pick up the story I left out in the cold, and suddenly it's blazing hot. Perhaps it's a need to see it to the end, as I've NEVER left a story unfinished. Perhaps I feel I owe it to Mike, and to the others.
Or perhaps I really did just twink out enough to a point where it was unavoidable. Nonetheless, it's coming as a deluge, and soon it will all be done. I'll post both the final chapter and Epilogue at the same time, as that's been my pattern in the past.
For the time being, here's a little more to whet your whistle.
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“You seem a little dazed, Mr. Jones.” Merlin announced, amiable to a fault as he folded his arms. “Yes, call me Merlin. The magician from King Arthur’s court.”
Michael Jones’ throat was dry as he lifted a shaky hand to point. “I know who you are…but you’re telling me…the monkey in ancient Egypt…”
“That was me.”
“And the donkey in the wild west…”
“Me also.”
“But, that…that’s impossible, you couldn’t…”
“Unless, I too, had the power to transcend time and space.” The old wizard concluded, unable to stop a grin. “I find it’s helpful to take alternate forms at times. I hope you can forgive the deception, but it was necessary at the time.”
“Have you been following me?” Mike accused the old man. Merlin thought it over for a moment, then shook his wizened head.
“Following you? No. But I have been guiding you, Michael Jones. Both you and your uncle, for some time now.” Michael’s flabbergasted stare prompted him to continue, which the wizard did with a sigh. “Long ago, I had a very good friend from a planet far distant from this one. His name was Hirocon.”
A lightbulb flashed in Mike’s mind. “But Hirocon is the name of…” He shook his head. “Good lord. You mean to tell me that Mica’s father, the king…”
“Yes, I knew him.” Merlin mused. “A bit stuffy at times, but you couldn’t find a better player for Nine-Men’s Morris. He spread the Tetrads across time and space, so that only a chosen hero of his people could find them.” Merlin pointed to Mike. “That would be you, in case you were wondering.”
“Why me?” Mike asked, flabbergasted.
“Well, when you saved the children, I assumed you’d know why.” The old magician deadpanned. “Hirocon never got into the specifics of Argonian religion and mythology, but I recall there was something about the Starseer returning in their hour of greatest need. And when those children needed a hero the most, you saved them. You even had the Starseer’s weapon, did you not?”
“I did.” Mike retorted. “But not anymore. And if it’s all the same, I put that debate to rest a long time ago. I really don’t know if I believe in reincarnation, so whether or not I am the Starseer or not, I just happened to be there.”
“True hearts in the darkness.” Merlin suggested, smiling again. “I see you’ve taken good care of that book I left for your Uncle.”
The corner of the wonder world jutted out from the side of his coat, and Mike tucked it back away. “YOU gave this book to my Uncle?!”
“The fallen traveler waits in time.” Merlin nodded, repeating the sentence. “I was the courier then, yes. But I had my reasons, so don’t go believing I’m some sort of sick man out to control your life. I’m not.”
“So why did you do it then!?” Mike demanded. “You’ve taken me from my life, thrown me headlong into another fight, and for what?!”
“For the Tetrads, Michael.” Merlin said back, chastising. “For the Tetrads. Believe me, you have no idea how important they are. They had to be found.”
“So why didn’t you collect them!? You’re supposed to be the most powerful magician in history!”
“Magic?” Merlin questioned, and smiled. He lifted his hand and produced an orb of energy Michael recognized. “You can make a room as bright as day with the flick of a switch. You can talk to people thousands of miles away instantly. Are such things magic in your world? No, Michael. Hirocon came to me because I had a rare gift among our kind; an aberration, a trait countless generations had tried to remove by genetic drift. Some will call it magic, and perhaps it is. But Hirocon always told me it had a true name; Shilivre.”
“Heinous.” Mike uttered, sitting down. “Totally heinous.”
“It’s not quite so unusual, you know.” Merlin sighed, kneeling down beside the boy sent to save the world again. “Bana Omoy had Shilivre. Zodus, the half-breed had Shilivre. And you have it.”
“Had it.”
“No, HAVE it.” Merlin chirped critically. “Lands above, you’re a stubborn one. Michael, you’ve ALWAYS had Shilivre. When you saved Princess Mica, you lost too much of your power. It was too weak to respond, and you were untrained with it in the first place. I gave it back to you; or rather, I helped you to remember how to use it.”
Merlin lifted himself to his feet, brushing out his blue robes. “Just as I’ll help you to learn how to use it to its fullest. For what you’ll have to do, you’ll need it. Nothing less will do.”
Mike stood back up. “But what if I’m not the…”
“Starseer or not, you are their hero.” Merlin explained. “You are the one chosen by the Argonians to defend them. And you alone have Shilivre strong enough to stop the shadows of Zodus.”
Mike bit his lip. “Are you sure that I’m the one?”
“Hirocon could transcend time and space. It was he who taught me how to do so.” Merlin exhaled. “Rellini-Uros? Zodus? They exist in the ancient past of Earth. Yet you saw Zodus alive and well, a relic from that forgotten age. You fought with him, defeated him. I was Hirocon’s second contact in the timestream, and the one he trusted when Zodus fell from grace.” The old wizard removed his star-sparkled blue hat, pursing his lips. “He believed a hero would come to make right all the wrongs his mistakes had caused. I have searched for years for that hero, and if it is not you, Michael, then there is truly nobody else who can do what must be done, and all my work, my promise to Hirocon was in vain.”
Michael shut his eyes. “Merlin…tell me. Just what did Hirocon put in those Tetrads that was so important?”
“The most important thing of all.” The sage old man whispered. “The hope of a lost people. Beyond these tunnels, beyond the dragon, is the final Tetrad. With it, you will carry the fate of every Argonian that has been…and every one yet to be.”
It was plenty to take in. But then, Mike rationalized, he’d been forced to accept plenty of things in his time. Once more, he was being asked to become a hero, however unwilling he was.
But this was the third time it had happened. And maybe, just as he was stronger than he had been…Perhaps he wasn’t quite as unwilling.
The boy from Seattle opened his eyes again, and they shone with purpose. “Teach me what I need to know.” He asked, and Merlin felt a surge of hope run through him. “Teach me to use my power.”
The old wizard nodded his head.
It was time.
-end snippet