The templar walked with steady steps through the desolate streets of the city. Nobody dared walk those streets after nightfall, but he did. The dragons that circled the sky, searching for any reason to scorch another person, were not the only reason people feared the night. The marauding gangs of the Gray Man sometimes were far more dangerous than the enraged beasts patrolling the skies. But men they were not, at least not all of them.
When the Gray Man first emerged on the world, he came only with those half beast half men. But who would have taken a mad man seriously? European kingdoms fought him with the aid of the templars and won. But it was a brief victory.
The Gray Man came back, this time with horrible beasts, demons out of legend and myth, ones that defiled the land and the heaven. Dragon, wyvern, griffins, and this time his armies took not only Europe but the entire world.
He stopped his bleak reverie and stopped in front of the door he aimed for. He knocked once, then twice.
A man with a scraggly beard and flowing robes opened.
“Master Merlin.” He bowed. “I am sir Mortimer the templar, commander of the last templars.”
Merlin smiled widely. “I have been waiting to see you for a thousand years. Please, come in.”
Sir Mortimer, the templar, followed Merlin inside the crowded hallway. Books lined the walls, sat on chairs, and even crowded the floor.
“Sir Mortimer, do you have the six hourglasses with you?” Merlin led him to a wall, brought out a metal rod, tapped it to the wall, and it slid to show a larger room on the other side.
“Yes. There are with me.” Mortimer followed Merlin inside what looked like an alchemist’s lab. An immense table occupied most of the space and on it beakers, vials, and strange tubes connected all over its length.
“Good, I suspect they will need to be filled.” Merlin ran to a strange apparatus at the north end of the room and placed two cups beneath it. The apparatus churned, bubbled, and it filled the two cups with an aromatic liquid. “Please, let’s talk over tea.”
Mortimer, a man who slew many of the Gray Man’s beasts and men, was at a loss for words. Did Merlin say that he waited for him for a thousand years?
“So, you found my message.” Merlin chuckled. “Took you some time to act on it.”
“We found it by accident.” Mortimer sipped from his cup, it was warm and soothing. “We were about to throw the basket you sent to the dogs.”
“But there are none left.” Merlin shook his head sadly. “They slaughtered all of them two years ago.”
“It was a matter of speech, sir templar.” Mortimer fidgeted. “Your message would have fallen on deaf ears if not for the hell we all live in.”
“I knew you would be hesitant to defile the grave of one of your own.” Merlin sipped his tea and sighed. “But I had no means to convince you but to convince him to take the secret to his grave. Which he did, and here we are.”
“Indeed.” Mortimer finished his tea and placed the cup on the lab table where they both sat. “Now, how can we use the hourglasses?”
“Before I talk about the hourglasses, did you read the book left with the hourglasses?” Merlin pulled on his beard as he stared at Mortimer.
“We did, and we failed to follow them.” Mortimer sighed. “Who was that Malachi? And why did he leave us with conflicting orders? I lost six of my men to the cursed portal.”
“Malachi?” Merlin’s eyes narrowed. “Strange. I thought I was the only one who visited your templar commander, Hugh De Payens.”
“According to the book, it was he who gave the book and hourglasses to Master De Payens, the great templar commander.” Mortimer felt the rush of oncoming battle boil in his veins. “But you claim it was you who gave De Payens the book, right?”
“There is only one Malachi whom I know of who could have bewitched De Payens after I left.” Merlin placed his hand gently on Mortimer’s own. “Calm down, sir knight, I need you alive to save the world.”
Mortimer looked in confusion at Merlin’s hand, and then at his face. “Merlin, are you immortal?”
“I am long-lived, extremely long-lived. But I am not immortal, I can be killed like any other man.” Merlin sat back in his chair and shook his head. “Malachi, on the other hand, might not be human, not anymore.”
“But who is he? And is he related to the Gray Man and his armies?” Mortimer felt useless, a pawn in a war fought by magic and sorcery.
“He can’t be.” Merlin shook his head. “But then again, our enemy is a player of the fates, and Malachi has his entertainment following those.”
“Player of fate?” Mortimer couldn’t assimilate half of what Merlin said, and it increased his sense of uselessness.
“Sir Templar, please, forget all about that.” Merlin clenched his fists. “What was in the book must have been altered by Malachi and his visit.” He stood and walked to one wall with an ornate tapestry hanging on it. He put his hand behind the tapestry and came back with a rolled scroll.
“This is the prophecy of colors, I translated most of it.” Merlin spread the scroll in front of him. “You and your men are the beginning and the end of this prophecy. Now, we must undo the damage the prophecy caused. You must go to the past and prevent it from happening.”
***
Mortimer knocked on Merlin’s door. Merlin opened wearing flowing blue robes.
“Master Merlin.” He bowed. “I am sir Mortimer the templar, commander of the last templars.”
“Damnations!” Merlin jumped back. “This has happened before!”
“What has happened before?” Mortimer asked in confusion.
“You. You happened before.” Merlin grabbed Mortimer and led him inside the house.
Merlin opened the hidden lab, led Mortimer inside, and ran to a corner with several trunks laid on the floor. He rummaged in them and came back with what looked like the stub of a telescope. He looked through the telescope at the puzzled Mortimer. “Yes, you have been here before. But in another timeline. I have to assume that you failed.”
“Another timeline?” Mortimer’s face swam with emotions.
“Oh yes, when you have been alive as long as I am, you learn a few tricks to measure the real passage of time.” Merlin ran and brought a candle, plucked a hair from Mortimer’s head, and dropped it in the candle’s flame. The hair burned a bright blue. “Interesting. You have done this more than once. How couldn’t I feel it the last time we met?”
“But we never met before.” Mortimer stared at Merlin as he would a madman.
“Not in this timeline, an earlier one.” Merlin sat down heavily. “Unless, I knew then, and yet I sent you again, and again. But where did I go wrong the last times?” Merlin stood and ran to the tapestry on the wall and grabbed the hidden scroll. “What did I miss?” He spread the scroll and leaned on it.
“What is in the scroll?” Mortimer asked.
“A prophecy that seems to be inevitable.” Merlin tugged at his beard. “But there must be a clue here on how to save both worlds, there must be.”
Mortimer swallowed his words. He understood nothing since he met Merlin, but what bothered him the most was that he believed Merlin could be the key to their salvation.
“Yes, yes, here it is.” Merlin stretched a section of the scroll. He read aloud. “Silver and gold will tug on the fabrics of fate, but only one can win. All colors must unite, or else, the dark would consume all. The fate of the world rests of the shoulder of a few unsuspecting souls, and in their rise, all must fall. The beginning is the end, and the end touches all. All colors unite, all colors rule.”
“What does this mean?” Mortimer leaned to read the scroll. It was written in Latin, and he was rusty.
“It means that I interpreted the prophecy wrong.” Merlin raised his head with a wide smile. “We don’t have to prevent it from happening, we just need to nudge it to the good outcome.”
If you enjoyed this story, check these too: Merlin, The Eternal Wizard, The Once and Future ….., The race to Dragon Mountain, and A problem of Faith.
Also check our books: The Green Boy, Red’s Soul, Through The Storm, The Eternal Agarthans, and The Trinity’s Dream.