Merlin himself

During the years I had spent in the Looking Glass World, I had studied the palace of Irrat no worse than the neighborhood of my hometown. Of course, the real world had its peculiarities, but I quickly grasped the concepts of right and left and didn't get confused. I'd gotten to the lab where I'd arranged to meet Roger and Louis without much trouble, and now I was staggering from corner to corner, exhausted from idleness.

 Outside the window, the last rays of the setting sun cast a blood-red glare on the walls and windowsill, like an omen of impending disaster. The Great Full Moon of Kainos was only a few hours away... It was a good time to look back, to reflect, to sum up.

For the umpteenth time, I wondered if we had made a mistake coming here with all the Keys. Of course it was good to be in tune together, to be powerful and all that. But I felt like there was something we hadn't considered, something we hadn't anticipated. Not a good feeling, I might say. Especially before a crucial battle. And there was no one to consult with - Alex and Victoria were sneaking in the other way, preparing some magical surprises of their own.

Footsteps rang in the hall. It was a little early for my friends to come, so I hid under the Veil of the Wind and stood by the door, keeping silent. The key turned in the lock.

Who could it be?

The door opened and I saw the silhouette of a woman in the doorway. The woman crossed the lab, heading for the secret door that once led to an underground passage.

Mara, and it was she, had pulled a lever on the wall and was waiting for the passage to open. 

I stepped to the door and locked it, hiding the key in my pocket.

"There's no way out of here," I said to Mara, taking off the Veil, "it's been piled up for a month."

She immediately turned around. If looks could kill, I would have dropped dead, no doubt. But as it was, I just stood there and smiled.

"What, rats fleeing a sinking ship?" I asked.

"You get in my way too often," she said.

"So do you. We have to deal with it anyway."

"What's your offer?" she asked as she moved along the wall.

"Oh, I have no idea, sweetheart," I spread my hands, "only the Lace had become too small for both of us."

"Well," she shook her black curls, "the Looking Glass couldn't hold you, and neither could Kordgan. I have to take drastic measures!"

"Are you going to bite me to death?" I asked, resting my hand on the hilt of the Helyswort.

"With an iron against a lady?" she snorted. "Honey, that's uncivilized!"

"I'd rather use magic against a witch."

"You and magic? Is that a joke?"

"How about the Great Master's Key? Aren't you afraid of it?"

Now she took a closer look at my blade, and there was a grimace of greed on her face, spiced with a fair amount of fear.

" I won't let you use it against me!" she said.

"Really?"

"Stop talking, loser!"

"You got me," I grinned, and used a trick I'd once used on my uncle: I just blinded her with a flash of the sapphires.

"You son of a bitch!" Mara screamed, waving her small dagger blindly. When did she get it? "You are dead!"

"Sure, you're right," I agreed, approaching her. I twisted her hands behind her back and carefully took the dagger from her. "Just relax, okay?"

I tied her up and pushed her into a chair, after which I listened to a stream of elaborate curses for a while.

Finally she stopped cursing and fell silent.

"What are you waiting for, Arthur?" she asked after a while. "You can’t kill a lady, eh?"

"You're not a lady, and you never have been, and it's not a crime to finish a creep," I objected, reaching for her neck with my hands.

"Don't you dare!" she yelled.

"Don't worry, I will."

"Just remember, Irrat is in my father's hands. You will not escape retribution."

I didn't pay attention to her words and mentally connected with Victoria. I thought Alex would want to be involved in his relative’s fate. No matter what I said or felt, I had some trouble killing that snake in cold blood.

Vic said they would come soon. While I was waiting, Louis and Roge showed up. 

"Wow, is this a bad time?" Roger exclaimed when he saw the tied up woman. "You're a pervert, Archie!"

"What the hell are you thinking about?" I replied. "This is the woman who has put me in the Looking Glass."

"You're in luck. What are you going to do with her?"

"I don't really know," I shrugged. "I can't think of a punishment worthy of her."

"Oh, there's plenty of room for fantasy!" Roge rubbed his hands together merrily. "For example..."

The examples he gave broadened my horizons considerably, but were completely morally unacceptable.

"Roge, you lack imagination," Louis said, "you're too limited."

"Then think of something more original," Roger grumbled.

Louis walked around Mara and ran his hand down her throat.

"Dangerous little thing," he said thoughtfully. "Don't you want to pay the lady back in her own coin, Archie?"

"You mean drive her through the Mirror?" I asked in turn. "Louise, that's brilliant!"

"Don't get too excited, Corney," Mara spoke up. "You've already proven there is a way out. I'll come back for you!"

"We'll think of something!" I waved off.

"You still have to get to Guard-Ancha," she remarked.

Contrary to our prisoner's gloomy predictions, we got there without too much trouble, although the company grew quite large after the arrival of Alex, Victoria, and also Stattada and Boldvann.

The corridors were full of armed men, but as soon as we approached, they all turned and ran as if on command.

"I made some noise in the north wing," Alex explained, "to make them think they were under attack."

"Wow! You think that'll work?"

"Not for long," he shrugged. "If they're not idiots, they'll figure it out soon enough."

At the entrance to the Pentagonal Hall, I stopped, overwhelmed by an unexplained panic attack. Silly, of course, but I saw that most of my companions had similar feelings.

Alex shook his head and entered first. I overcame my fear and followed, leading the prisoner. Victoria was next and the other four stomped through the door.

"I'll do the ritual myself," Alex told me, which made me feel better: I had no idea how to do it.

Actually, I had an idea how to improve the process, but I decided not to make it public for now, to honor the place, the time, and the placement of the accents. So I stepped back against the wall and watched the Prince's actions along with everyone else.

Alex placed Mara in the center of the pentagon, removed the witch's bindings - she remained motionless, staring blankly in front of her. He went beyond the edge of the pattern, took candles from the shelf and walked along the lines of the pattern, reciting spells. The candles glowed in his hands, and he placed them in the corners of the pattern, which grew brighter and brighter.

"Let the Gate be opened!" he announced, stopping at the prisoner's back. "Go, Lady Morgana, and may your sins be forgiven. Go, and remember what you leave here."

She walked toward the Mirror, stepping into its surface as if into the smooth water, only there were no circles.

"So be it,” Alex said, making the familiar seal. "I hope she won't find her way back."

At that moment, a raven flew into the hall, made a circle above our heads, and landed at the door.

"Merlin!" Alex exclaimed happily.

"Yes, it's me, Your Majesty."

"Highness," Alex corrected him.

"Formalities, sire, formalities!" the raven chuckled, looking around at those present with a black beady eye. "You're not thinking of ceding the throne to your mad uncle, are you?"

"I am not," Alex replied, "but my uncle is still a big problem."

"There are no unsolvable problems," the raven said philosophically, "but we must hurry. Kainos rises in an hour."

Everyone headed for the exit.

"Wait a minute," I said.

"Is something wrong?" Vic asked worriedly.

I didn't answer, but stepped toward the Mirror, determined to make sure Morgana would never come back. I swung and threw Helyswort at the Mirror’s surface. It cracked. I struck again and the Mirror shattered, exploding with the shards of glass.

There was a scream behind me, the sound of something heavy thumping on the floor, and the gasp of surprise from the entire company. I turned to look.

 I saw an old man with gray hair and a long beard, dressed in a faded black cloak, sitting on the floor. My comrades were standing around him. All of them looked puzzled. By the way, the raven was gone.

"Meriddan?" Alex uttered as if he had seen a ghost.

"That was my name a long time ago," the old man replied, staring at the prince with unblinking, bird-like eyes, "but how do you know it's me, Alexander?"

"I just recognized you," Alex said with a smile. "But how did the Supreme Guardian of the Shield suddenly turn into a raven, and what magic brought you back to your former appearance?"

"Help me up, young man," Meriddan, aka Merlin, took Alex's hand and stood up. "Thank you. It feels strange. How the perspective changes! I hope I can walk on my own. Yes! But first I have to thank you, Arthur!“ the old man bowed in my direction. “For destroying the greatest of my creations and thus returning me to my human form!”

"Well… you’re welcome," I replied confused.

"Hm," Merlin scratched his head, "but time is running out. Hurry, my friends!"

"Anyway, I don't understand," Alex began.

"I'll tell you on the way," Merlin waved his hand and hurried out of the hall.

We followed him.

"A long time ago," the old man began as we walked down the stairs, "I designed and built the Palace of the Looking Glass. At first it was not a prison, just another toy of the mad demiurge. But one of the rulers of Irrat, whose name almost no one remembers…"

"Opgent," I said.

"You're right," Merlin confirmed in surprise. "Opgent was a bad ruler and ended up making a lot of enemies. His enemies were powerful and caused him a lot of trouble. That's when he had the idea of using the Looking Glass Palace as a prison. I was against it, but..." the old man flapped his arms like a bird's wings, "Merlin is the greatest, but not the only magician of the Edge. There were those who were able to carry out Opgent’s idea. I fought back with all my might, but I was defeated, captured and turned into a raven. I remained in this uncomfortable form for years, waiting for someone to break the Mirror, which was the prerequisite for my release.”

"You could talk, why didn't you tell anyone?" Alex asked.

"Because that's the way the spell was designed," Merlin explained. "Everyone be quiet, I hear footsteps."

"Here we go!" Roger rejoiced, overtaking the old man on the descent and drawing his sword from its sheath.

A small group of armed men appeared.

"The palace guards," Alex muttered.

"How does that help?" I asked as I stood beside Roger.

"Halt!" the head of the guard yelled. "Weapons on the ground, hands behind your head, face down on the ground!"

"Whom did you raise your voice to, you mutt?" Louis, who had somehow gotten in front of the others, grew outraged. "Didn't you recognize their highnesses?"

"Get them," the chief ordered, and it was the last thing he had time to do. Louis simply thrust his blade at him. He fell into the arms of his comrades, but they unceremoniously pushed him over the railing.

"No military honor," Louis summed up, swinging his blade from side to side with the speed of an electric grinder. It was over in a few seconds, and neither Roger nor I could join in the fun.

 "What a fighter!" Alex exclaimed.

"You see," I hummed.

At the bottom of the stairs we met another group that was a bit larger. This time each of us had an opponent, but in the end we won, and none of us were wounded. The next corridor was empty. Another staircase, the left turn. Around the corner, a wall of fire blocked the way.

"I've been waiting for something like this," Merlin admitted, flapping the hem of his black robe like a wing. The fire disappeared. "Oh, these modern underachievers! No school, no elegance: they get their hands on the source and nothing else is needed... Well, let's go! Why are you stuck?"

Further on, the way became more cheerful because some joker had decided to turn the palace into an amusement park: there were falling walls, disappearing stairs, whirlpools, and fountains of fire. There were even some magical animals flying around overhead. Merlin took care of it all before any of the other wizards in our little group could even flinch. After spending so many years in a raven's body, he retained all of his skills and abilities! Incredible! 

That's how we went on, and for a moment I began to suspect that all this magical stuff was unreal, more for intimidation, like when I'd followed Norn's clues to find Helyswort. My brain was working frantically, comparing and analyzing, and the conclusion I came to was, I might say, unexpected. But I didn't have time to share my knowledge with anyone. Lava poured from the ceiling and we rushed forward as fast as we could, backed by Merlin's forces.