Shedding

We ran, Jasper outrunning us all with his quick strides through the mist of gray. The ground continued to shake slightly beneath our feet, causing each step to be uncertain. Merlin was just a head of me, Edgar's little arms clinging around my brother's neck.

There was another piercing cry from the creature pursuing us. And yet, it was at such a frequency that, while I have a hard time remembering its sound, I know that its sound raced through the air as my vision blurred and my head began pounding. Instinctively my hands went to my ears, and the earth beneath my feet shook even more violently, casting me to its hard surface. I tried to push myself up, but the ground was relentless in it's shaking and my vision still seem clouded, black blotting the gray. Giving it my best attempt for that moment, I pushed with my arms and legs, only to be cast on my back within the second, and to see glowing red before me.

It was almost indiscernible in the darkness around it, but the red eyes that emanated from it were no mistake. Its large mouth opened in a sickly bellow, several sharpened teeth greeting me. Its face grew closer to me, as a long claw wrapped around my ankle, its skin seemingly made of cold black facets. Once again it opened its mouth to me, all the smells associated with death greeting me as I tried to scramble away, with nothing to grab onto to aid me in any way. Looking back at the beast its eyes seemed to grow brighter, and in a brief moment I felt my short life would come to an end, and I was almost okay with it. Almost.

It was also within that brief moment that I heard another cry, one I had heard many times as I watched the men of Camelot battle, but for once it was not a trained warrior. It was my brother. Merlin sprang forth upon the beast, completely encompassed in a glowing green light. The terrible monster cried once more, but was quickly silenced by the bright light that seemed to frighten even the ominous mist of the night away, leaving spots in my eyes as if I had just glanced towards the sun.

Eventually the light dimmed, and the fog was no more, and the terrible creature had vanished. I found myself lying on a surface of a rock, not the plush grass or damp dirt of the earth. I sat up slowly and found myself looking at who I felt must be my brother, but seemed most unlike him.

"Merlin?" I asked cautiously.

The creature smiled at me and bent down to be closer to me. It seemed to me, that if a man could take the sun and stars, push them all together, dress himself in those things, this would be the result. His eyes were bright like emeralds, but the rest of him was like green-tinted points of light stopped in such a way as to make the image of a man. He blinked at me, and began to speak without the use of a mouth.

"It is I, sister. Do not be alarmed. You have only known me as Merlin, but before I was Merlin I was Emris, and this is the way Emris lived in this land." He reached out his hand to me, and I reached back out to him and allowed him to help me up. His hand was neither hot or cold, but firm and comforting.

I glanced around, Jasper was no where in sight, but Edgar sat nearby, watching attentively. I glanced down at my own hand, still a soft human hand spotted with blood and dirt, no light to be found within it. "Why is it you have changed back, but Edgar and I remain the same?"

He gave a shrug, and looked to Edgar.

Edgar hopped over, and after checking my ankle for permanent damage, went on with an explanation. "When we stepped out of the temple, a safety precaution set by your parents was released. Knowing you would eventually be here to redeem them, your parents left as much of their powers as possible into the temple to be released to their children if they should arrive. After spending so long on Earth, the soul of our people can become tied to the form of that taken on by our kind, and need a little boost to help with the transformation back into our true selves. Yet, as you have noticed, Merlin did not transform automatically, and you have yet to change yourself. Merlin is by far the most powerful one here, and when you were threatened. He had all the incentive he needed to change."

"But I was about to die, and yet I remain in this form. What motivation is more powerful than that?" I asked.

"I think you know." He simply said.

And I did know. Back in that moment I almost felt relieved to greet death. I had lived long enough to lose someone I loved dearly, and I was scared to think I could never find him, and that he had truly died. And I thought, maybe if I die I will greet him and I will never have to be without him again. But I knew now that I cannot keep that kind of logic. There is a reason Nimueh sent us here, my home planet, to search for Aurelius. I cannot help but feel that they must be tied in some way.

"We better get moving!" Edgar cried as three more figures began to emerge from the darkness around us. "Where is that stupid horse when you need him!" He cried, starting to race away quickly towards a giant shadowed mountain against the now purple and green streaked sky.

Temple Exodus

I looked to Merlin and his face seemed pale and tired. His shoulders were tense as he exhaled heavily. Cautiously I reached over and took Merlin's hand in mine. "I'm sorry, brother. I should not take my hurt out on you when you too are hurting."

Merlin looked down at me and gave a small smile. "It truly is nice not being alone."

Edgar gave a little huff. "Well, I think you were never really alone. You had me... and then you had the Pendragons as well." Merlin looked at Edgar oddly as Edgar's nose twitched. "Anyway, we must get moving, this temple makes me feel very uneasy."

The gray fog that hung in the air never really dissipated, but instead floated about in thicker and lesser quantities like clouds. We eventually found our way to a stone wall and followed along its cracked and unstable surface until we found a doorway. Once we found the giant wooden doors, halfway falling off its hinges, we paused. There was a sound of wind that rushed through the holes and the splinted pieces of the wood, creating a sound of a mournful spirit.

Jasper had been following behind us with Edgar riding upon his back, which was quite a site to see. Merlin turned to look at Edgar. "Is it even safe out there?" Merlin asked. "What if this is a trap and we all die?"

Edgar looked at Merlin for a short moment before responding. "Merlin, you are the most powerful magician among your people, why should you bother being afraid of the unknown?"

"Edgar is right, brother. Together we can do anything, even open a door." I said with a smile. Merlin nodded and I reached ahead and pulled at the door's handle. The handle came half-way off the door as it came tumbling inward, a hideous smell crashing into our presence. Jasper reared back on his hind legs, nearly throwing Edgar off, as the door threw me back into Merlin. I coughed and gagged, trying to get away from the repulsive smell which reeked of the nightmares that previously haunted my dreams.

After a minute of coughing the air seemed to thin out, and the smell became more bearable. Standing up slowly I glimpsed outside of the doorway. Outside was even more darkness, only, if you squinted your eyes, you could almost make out the light of stars in a sky filled with the darkness of space. There were no trees or bushes, the only thing visible was a low fog hiding whatever may be on the ground.

We all glanced about at one another, no one making a single sound. Slowly, we all took steps into the unknown world of lost magic. Merlin was the last to walk out, his face becoming hardened by the reality of his past life. With his final step outside of the temple the door slammed shut behind him, a bright light bursting out from the door way. Merlin jumped back into me this time, just barely keeping his balance. The light seemed to be a mixture of reds and blues and gold. There was a king of peacefulness about it, and it made me feel like I was witnessing a part of myself that I had never seen before. It made no real sense, but I guess it must have meant something... it was just something I could not yet fully understand.

Not long after the light had struck a terrible quake began to take hold of the land, causing stones to fall from the temple as the whole building began to crumble. Edgar hopped off of Jasper and nearly tackled Merlin. "What are you doing? Run!" Snapping back to reality, Merlin and I realized the frantic sounds emanating from Jasper as figures began to emerge from the darkness, shrieks of anger filling the soundless void we had previously been in. One creature reared up on it's hind legs, long clawed limbs reaching to the sky, as it let out an ear-piercing screech.

The Fog

In the air was nothing; the ground solid but invisible, each breath releasing a cough, and the only sound being the echo of the racking coughs that shook my body. Slowly I regained sanity; the coughs lessened and the darkness soon seemed to dissipate into a gray fog thick enough to keep anything five feet from my face from being seen. Sitting up slowly I looked around and was startled by a pair glowing eyes beside me. Just as I was about to release a scream a hand covered my mouth, drawing the face closer to me to reveal my brother, Merlin.

His eyes were urgent and his frame was tense. "Shhh... be extremely quiet."

I began to wonder why he did not try to halt my coughing earlier when I then heard a sound across the distance. I closed my eyes and tried to focus in on the sound. The sounds were different then anything I had heard before. It was as if something was dragging its nails across the floor, and I could hear the sound of heavy breaths leaving humid marks as it carried on. A grumble echoed throughout wherever it is we are, but with no response the thing dragged itself away in another direction.

Merlin released his hand from my mouth with a sigh of relief. "You must be more careful, this is not a nice little Earth anymore."

"Where are we?" I asked, trying to look around, but the gray kept everything from sight. I tried to stand, but was startled by the movement a large creature in the fog, causing me to stumble back down. "What is that?" I cried, as Merlin chuckled.

"My name is Jasper, thank you very much." It said slowly in a low voice.

I stood up once more and stepped closer to the creature. Moving slowly through the fog I found a different shade of gray, with pale eyes gleaming at me. It was the old horse Merlin had ridden across the battle field. "You talk?" I asked, a little startled.

"You know, I thought I had taught you better than to dismiss talking animals." Edgar popped his head out of one of Jasper's saddlebags, and brushed out his jacket with his paws.

"Edgar!" I cried, snatching him out of the saddlebag and into a hug.

Edgar tensed for a moment, but then wrapped his short arms around me as well as he could. "I was afraid I would never see you again." Edgar whispered.

I slowly sat back down and set Edgar in front of me. "I could never abandon you, Edgar." I said softly, stroking one of his ears.

He nodded his head and wiped a few tears from his eyes. "Right. Of course." He said, clearing his throat. "So, what do we do now that we are home again?"

"Home?"

"Yes, now I know it has been a few years, and the place looks a lot different, but the horse is talking and I know how magic, or lack there of, feels, and this is Zelix." Edgar said.

"Well, what we are going to do is find Aurelius' body, and then be done with this whole mess." Merlin said hastily.

"But Merlin..." I said, standing up and touching his arm, "this is our home. We have to save it, don't we?"

"Look around you... I see nothing to save." Merlin's shoulder were slumped, and his eyes were downcast. "I am sorry you did not get to meet mom and dad."

"No, maybe they're just in hiding like before!" I cried. "You don't know anything yet! One place does not decide how the whole kingdom lives. We will save our home, and we will save Aurelius!"

"Sister..."

"She has a point, Merlin." Edgar said. "We have survived once before, surely there are others who have held out. You can at least try to save your home."

The Dragon's return

I stood up and looked around, everyone was backing away, both red cloaked and blue painted men, as if they had just witnessed a ghost. Suddenly there was aloud roar from the sky, and above a giant dragon trampled the trees tall enough to get in its way. The men would occasionally step backwards, but most could not even move away. I stood my ground as the dark dragon dropped down in front of me, crushing a few bodies that laid broken on the grass. It leaned its head in forward, the sun gleaming off of its black scales. The dragon seemed to scowl at me before leaning backwards on its haunches and transforming into a black cloaked figure. A few men let out gasps and a few tried to repress screams, but their overall conclusion was that there was a demon in their midst.

The figure pulled the hood of her cloak back, revealing pale skin with matching eyes and dark hair. "What have you done?" She asked, her tone cold as ice with a glare to match.

"I did nothing." I snarled. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"My name is Nimueh." She said, moving around me, surveying the area. "And I've come to collect the price." Her dark colored lips twisted at the corners. "Or have you forgotten the price for magic?"

"I hardly think causing the earth to push people would allow for such a visit." I said.

"Oh no, of course not," she said, tracing her finger across my back as she walked behind me. "I came for something much more serious."

"Fia! Get away from her!" I turned around to see Merlin rushing across the battle field on a poor gray horse, whom looked like death itself. When he got to us he launched off the horse and pushed me behind him. "What do you want, Nimueh?"

Nimueh's twisted smile vanished as Merlin scowled at her. "You know how magic works, dear Merlin. Now, tell me, where is your king?"

Merlin's eyebrows furrowed and he looked to me. "What did you do, sister?"

"I didn't..." I started, but looked around. "I don't know what I did, he just vanished."

"Vanished? What does that mean?" Merlin yelled. "What did you do?"

Nimueh brushed her hand up Merlin's arm. "Now, now, let us not be hasty."

Merlin grabbed Nimueh's arm, his knuckles turning white. "Don't you dare touch me, you viper."

Nimueh scowled once more, and yanked her arm free. "The price for one life is another, what is your plan of action, dear brother?" She spat coldly.

Merlin said nothing, but looked to me.

"If he was alive he would be here and he's not!" I yelled. "You have no proof!"

"Ah! Perhaps." She said. "But you messed with something far greater than you and a price must be paid. Thus we have two options. I can either kill you now, or send you to wherever it is you sent the body of our dead king, and you can bring him back here. What you have done is threatened the history of our people and it cannot be accepted." Nimwueh's lips began to twist upward. "Why don't I just do the latter, hm?" She threw her hands up and a bright yellow light branched out from them, and without a second to spare she blew on her hands and the light overwhelmed me.

The Battle

When the light began to peak through the trees we continued on our journey. Juniper kept a pretty fast pace, covering a lot of ground quickly. My heart began to beat faster as I wondered if I could make a difference, or if it would all be in vain. I felt panicked and frightful as the words of the dragon in my dream rushed to the forefront of my mind, "Your efforts are worthless, you cannot save what you wish to save, and surely you'll be left with only a grave. Every time an answer you seek, another falls and another grows week, but all will die... that is the rule of your magic eye." According to the letter Merlin had a vision of Aurelius' death. What if the dragon was not a dream, but a vision? My stomach twisted in knots and I thought I would become sick, but I had not consumed food in two days; nothing could come up.

I shook my head. I would not give into such thoughts. The future is not set in stone, it is merely a suggestion, and I reject its suggestion. I looked ahead with a resolve I would not let be crushed. Around midday we found ourselves out of the woods and crossing through a valley of rolling hills. The grass was a light green and blurs of white flowers appeared every now and then. The air seemed sweet, but not long after entering the fields the sound battle struck my ears. Juniper gradually slowed down as the anxiousness within me grew with each second.

"Don't slow down, Juniper! I know not how much time I may have."

Juniper threw herself into a full gallop until we came to the top of one of the bigger hills. Down below was a mass of blue painted men attacking my red cloaked ones. I jumped off of Juniper quickly and looked back to her.

"Run back home, your life is innocent and should not be wasted in merciless killing."

Juniper gave me a light nudge and then took off back towards Camelot. I began to survey the battle, looking for the knight I would recognize, and that's when a flash of purple caught my eye. One of the knights had a purple shield instead of a red one. I began to make my way down the hill when I saw another Saxon coming up the side of Aurelius, his sword drown back.

"Ari!" I cried, in a full sprint now, using my magic to push anyone who came to close to me away so that I would not be slowed. But in the instant that I had yelled his name the sword was plunging into his side. "No!" I threw my hand forward, now close enough for my magic to touch the blue painted man with the blood stained sword, and pushed him backwards into the sword of another, and all others surrounding were thrown back, my magic spreading out several feet from me by the power of my anger.

I dropped down and removed the helmet to find Aurelius breathing harshly. "How?" He asked painfully. 

"I stole a horse." I whispered. "I could not simply stand by if I had the chance to save you."

He tried to laugh, but it turned into a blood producing cough. The wound on his side was big, I could practically fit my hand in it. My eyes began to tear up as I looked back upon Aurelius with his dirty face and messed up hair.

"I don't want to lose you." I murmured, tears streaking down my face.

"Nor I you." He said, reaching a hand to my face. "I thought I would never get to tell you the truth." 

"What truth?" I asked, holding his hand to my face.

"That, when I first met you, I loved you. That is truly why I was so cold to you before. It was not because I wished to protect Merlin, but because I thought I had fallen for someone who would try to persuade me to kill Merlin, and I though I just might." He smiled a little. 

"Edgar told me a story of people who killed for love." I explained. "I stole a horse and caused someone to be impaled in these past two days. I think that means I love you a lot." I said.

"I quite like Edgar." He said softly before having another fit of coughing. "Take care, Fia."

And with that he was gone, and I pulled his body to me, crying. "I can save you!" I yelled. "A life for a life, I'll die so you can live!" I cried, trying to make my magic bring him to life. I tried with everything I had, but then he was gone, and stood, knowing full and well what it meant to kill for love.

Juniper

I ran down the plaza and found a horse that a rider had just dismounted. I vaulted myself on top of the horse, not quite sure how exactly to ride one. The rider yelled at me, extremely upset at his horse being ambushed, but the horse quickly yanked the rope from his handler's hands and took off towards the woods. I clung to the saddle for dear life while trying to keep myself from slipping off the side.

Once in the woods the horse slowed down evenly until it came to a complete halt. My heart was racing and my fingers were white as Edgar's fur from gripping so tightly. The horse turned its head and stared at me, seeming highly confused. It nudged me with its brown nose, like a mare would to a foal to tell it to get up and walk. I slid off the horse and tried it again, placing one foot in the stirrup and swinging the other over the horse. I ended up backwards, but got it right after that attempt. As soon as I had hold of the reigns the horse bolted once again, practically causing me to fly off the its back.

Somehow the horse seemed to know where it was going, and I had no plan of action, so I let the horse do as it wished, hoping by some miracle it would take me to Aurelius. The woods seemed to never change, as if it was an eternal loop of trees and birds and rocks. Eventually the trees did grew closer together and the sunlight grew dimmer and lower, causing visibility to greatly decrease. I decided to stop for the night, seeing as, at least where we were within the woods, we could walk over a cliff and have no idea that it was coming.

I grabbed some stray logs and sticks while the horse began to nibble on the grass. With the sun going down it grew cooler, so I ignited the wood with fire and sat down on a fallen tree, warming my hands. I took the letter out from a pocket that was sewn into the inside of my cloak, an odd thing I had never heard of, but Camelot seemed full of oddities, myself included.

Reading over Aurelius' words again I felt certain I could not have acted in any other such way. I ran a finger over his signiture. Ari. He had told me no one had called him that since his mother, and surely to sign his name like that he knew I would read this, and in writing this letter to Merlin in turn he wrote it to me. Edgar had spoken of love before I rushed away, a feeling I had never understood. Is this what it was like to be in the stories Edgar would read to me? I knew not. I simply knew I could not sit by and know he was going to die without trying to save him.

The horse moved over and made a move as if to nibble on the letter I was holding before the fire to see better. I yanked it away and folded it back up.

"No, bad horse." I said, trying to shame it.

The horse shook its head and sniffed my hair oddly and then snorted.

"Thank you so much, I greatly enjoyed that." I said sarcastically, wiping the snot from my neck. "Now, I am certain you have a name, but I did not take the time to ask before I stole you." I stood up and rubbed the horse's neck. "I wonder what it might be." Then I noticed a round piece of leather hanging from the bridle. On that piece of leather was the name, "Juniper" inscribed upon it. Juniper was a kind of tree that had berries usually harvested for gin. I suppose it makes sense, considering I found the horse  outside of the local tavern. "Well, Juniper, glad to have you along for the ride."

Juniper shook its head up and down and nuzzled its head against mine briefly before walking away to nibble on some leaves from a nearby bush. I hunkered down on the grass and leaned against the log, watching the fire dance across the wood until it died out, and with it I drifted into a fitted slumber.

The Letter

I rushed through the door into Merlin's main study, still wearing the clothes from yesterday. Merlin stood up, looking startled and eyes almost completely taken over by dark circles. My heart beat quick and each breathe seemed to be shorter then the first as an angered feeling took place in my soul.

"Why?" I cried, "Why didn't you wake me?"

Merlin stepped forward as if to give some kind of explanation but no words came from him. I noticed the open letter sitting on the table in front of him and rushed forward to take it up. Merlin made no notion to take it from me as I began to read.

My Dear Friend Merlin,

I'm writing this letter as a kind of goodbye that cannot be spoken in the presence of others. I want you to know that I do not hold you responsible for my death, you merely had a vision which cannot be helped. I know now that it is necessary if my brother is to become king and father the chosen heir of my beloved Camelot. I have accepted my fate, and parish I shall. It is of no consequence to finally be rid of all this pain a king must uphold in sending his people to war; I have fought far too long.

Our friendship is very dear to me, Merlin. So, as a friend, I am going to ask you to do something very hard. There is no doubt you know how dear your sister has grown to me. I could not bear it so see her one more time, Merlin. I would lose all sense of logic and polite behavior that a king must uphold before a battle, surely. Thus, I beg of you Merlin, keep her from me this coming morning. Spare my tormented heart, it has all ready chosen to fight 'till death for her.

Your Friend,
Ari

I dropped the letter and ran to Merlin's bookshelf and pulled down one of the leather bound books of Arthurian legend that Edgar had brought with him from his cottage. I flipped through the pages as fast as I could with my hands shaking from a tremor I could not get rid of. Within the first few pages was a family tree that gave a very brief description of people before Arthur, and sure enough it spoke of Aurelius' dying in a battle.

I stood there shaking and Edgar came to take the book from me gently as my fingers let it droop towards the floor.

"Sister..." Merlin whispered.

I shook my head and ran to my room, grabbing my red cloak. I tied it well and made my was as quickly as I could to the door.

Merlin grabbed my arm, his grip as strong as an eagle's. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked, trying to repress his feelings from becoming a scream of anger towards me.

"Changing the future." I said, trying to get out of Merlin's grasp. "I have magic, I can save him!" I cried, "I owe him that much." I whispered.

Merlin's face looked hard at me, just as he had the night of the dragon. Edgar tugged on Merlin's pant leg, looking up at him knowingly, shaking his head slowly.

"You must let her go, son." Edgar said softly.

"And why should I do that? Haven't I lost enough people in my life?" He cried, yet lessening his grip nonetheless.

"Yes, but love is a completely different matter, Merlin." Edgar replied.

I yanked my arm from Merlin's hand, and without a second glance found my way out of the castle, clutching Aurelius' letter in my hand.