My Merlin Awakening (28 page)

***

I woke up later on the floor of the biggest room I’d ever seen. We were no longer under the water. Gold handcuffs immobilized my hands. Shackles held my feet together. I had a belt around my waist and a chain linking me to Gia.

She was still passed out. I sat up and shook her. She groaned in protest. I looked around us. Grey, Colin and the gargoyles had been chained into one bunch. They still had gills though. The pallor of their skin still held a hint of blue. I looked down at my arms. Still blue too. Beside the gargoyles, Blake and the other wizards had been grouped. Each wizard wore a small, yellow diamond amulet that hung from a gold chain. Blake and the other wizards, however, no longer had their rings. Their gills were gone and their skin had gone back to normal.

The hall was a rectangle with a red carpet perimeter that ran before a dais at the front of the room. A short stack of steps led up to an empty throne. Behind it a replica of the red doors and the bull had been painted in thick oils on a long, marble wall.

I didn’t see Matt or Vane.

I glanced behind me and gaped. I turned around. We had been placed on one side of the room. While a bright red curtain enclosed the right side, the curtains had been drawn back on the left wall behind us. No wall sheltered us. Instead, we had been placed near the edge of a completely open terrace. Pillars on either side of us framed the view of the entire city. We were on a hill. I craned my neck to look out. I sat on the third floor of a building that had to be at least seven stories high and the tallest building as far as I could see.

An ocean surrounded the city. We were on an island.

The city cascaded down from the hill and the pyramid-style palace in which I now sat. Below me, a gush of water spewed from a wide stone pipe and trickled over the side, creating a gorgeous waterfall that ended in a square fountain on the next level of the palace. Each level was wider than the one above it. Each one had an open terrace, outlined by the roots of trees that hugged the edges. Grecian stone pillars held up each level, but they’d been allowed to overrun with cultivated vines that curled and climbed upwards. Bright flowers in deep reds and yellows were sprinkled throughout. They framed numerous waterfalls; almost every building had at least two, and myriad hanging gardens.

A moat surrounded the palace and branching off from it, pipes circulated water down the hill into artificial canals that ran throughout the city.

The sight that arrested me, however, stood just beyond the palace on the hill. In a spot that everyone from the city below could see, twelve severed human heads had been displayed like a gruesome banner. They were spiked on twelve, thick, twenty-foot poles.

My eyes fixed on one in the center. The head looked out at the city, so I only saw its back. At the top, little hair remained. Most of the scalp looked as if it had been picked away by scavenging birds. Dried blood ran down the pole to the ground below. In that small spot on the fine green lawn, no grass grew.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Gia whispered.

“How? We don’t even know where we are.” I looked up at the sky filled with the red expanse of a sunset. How had we gotten out of the water to here? Where was this island and where was our boat?

The bleating blare of a conch stalled any further speculation.

Grey, Blake, the other gargoyles, as well as the other wizards all woke up. It took them a minute to realize they were in shackles. Some of the gargoyles wore their human faces. Some wore their beast.

“I can’t do any magic,” Blake hissed. “These stones…”

He broke off when a stream of longhaired warriors entered the room from the back. They lined every bit of available wall. Then, about a hundred or so people appeared who were dressed in a rainbow of colors, adorned with ornate gold. Green-skinned men with ponytails wore what looked like tunics under their togas. The tunic was a thin shirt and the toga had been fashioned from a single bolt of cotton that shaped to fit their form. It draped over one shoulder while the skirt portion extended to their knees. The women wore flowing gowns, also from one bolt of cotton. Some wore red, blue, and purple dresses that crisscrossed over their cleavage and left their backs mostly bare. Heavy gold brooches and clips kept the clothing in place. Gold bangles and headbands were used exclusively for decoration. Some women had pointed ears like Gia and me. So did some of the men.

The conch sounded again.

At the front of the room, from the right side, more soldiers entered. However, these soldiers wore helmets with black plumes instead of red. In the middle of them walked an older man with long, dark hair highlighted with streaks of silver. He wore a finer tunic and toga, but with a red sash tied around the waist. On his head, he wore a crown that was a simple gold band with a large emerald embedded into a curve at its center. The crown’s ends curled up in the shape of a fish. On each arm, he also wore gold armbands. On the left, the armband was fashioned like a snake. Its tail formed the band while its head pointed up toward the shoulder. On the right armband, a mermaid held a trident.

I tugged at my shackles. A fish and a snake on the King. Did it mean the Fisher King? Or Poseidon? I didn’t know. We had come to the right place, but I didn’t have a good feeling. I eyed the open terrace behind me. The way the ledge extended out to a point suggested sacrifice. I didn’t want to become one.

The King walked over to the throne and sat down. Hard lines marred an otherwise handsome face. Piercing green eyes shone from a paler green-skinned face. His gaze fixed on us.

Grey jumped up. “Who are you?”

I stood up too. “Release us.”

The King said something that sounded like Greek, but I couldn’t understand him. He waved a hand. The emerald on his crown began to glow. The green of his eyes also seemed to glow.

Warmth spread over my fingers, and the ring Matt had given me heated.

“How did you find the gate?” the King demanded from us. This time, I understood him.

“I’m hardly going to tell you,” Grey said. A soldier came out of his position against the wall and cuffed him across the head with a lance. Another knocked me to the floor.

The King turned away from us and faced the court. “Where is my son? Why has he called us here?”

“Here, Father.” Leonidas strode up the red carpet from the back of the room. The court of people parted for their prince.

Leonidas came to the center of the room. One finger pointed at me. “I have brought you potentials for the blood moon.”

Blood moon? As in red moon?
I groaned internally. Not another red moon. Things had not gone well on the last one. An image of a rooftop and an army of gargoyles flashed through my mind.

The King squinted at the gargoyles. “A champion among the beasts? I suppose it will make for better sport.”

Leonidas bowed his head. “I am glad you are pleased. But there is more—” He waved a hand and the older soldier from the cave came forward, bringing with him two bound prisoners—Vane and Matt.

I almost collapsed with relief. Vane’s eyes met mine and my stomach fluttered.

Like me, he stood with shackles on his hands and feet. His skin had returned to normal. His gills were gone. Somehow, the mermaids had subdued all the wizards’ magic.

Matt, however, was trussed up like a serial killer. Every piece of his body had been chained. His face was muzzled with an iron mask that had only half-slits to see through and small openings on the nose and mouth. The largest yellow diamond I’d ever seen was attached to a gold chain and hung around his neck. Vane wore a similar diamond and chain.

The King focused on Matt. “What is the meaning of this?”

“King Lelex.” The older soldier pointed at Matt. “This one is a powerful magician. We’ve had to subdue him.”

“Why have you not beheaded him?” Lelex barked.

“Take off his mask. I wish to see him.” King Lelex waved the older soldier to bring Matt forward.

A handful of soldiers emerged from their positions against the walls. They made a semi-circle just behind Matt. Leonidas unsheathed his sword. Lelex sighed, looking bored. The older servant used a small key to unlock the mask. Matt blinked at the sudden burst of light. My hands curled at the sight of him. A mass of bruises covered his face.

“He doesn’t understand you,” Vane said.

“He cannot speak,” the older soldier said.

“He does not need to,” King Lelex said. “Bring him to me.”

Leonidas grabbed Matt and pushed him toward the King. When they reached the dais, he shoved Matt down on the steps. “Kneel before the King.”

Lelex gave his son an unamused look.

Leonidas took Medusa’s snake from his cloak and held it out to the King. “We found this on him.”

Lelex’s eyes widened. “I thought this was only a legend. I have a feeling this one can tell us much.” He reached out and touched Matt’s head. The emerald on the King’s crown glowed. Matt’s body shuddered under the weight of Lelex’s probing.

On his throne, Lelex started sweating. “He is stubborn.”

Matt opened his mouth in a silent scream.

“No!” I stood up, pulling Gia with me.

“Let him go.” Vane struggled against his chains.

The crown glowed even more. Matt passed out. The King slumped back in his seat. “His name is Merlin. He is their most powerful wizard. I could not get more; his defenses are strong.” The King crooked a finger to beckon two soldiers. “Take him to the holding rooms. I will try again later.”

The soldiers dragged Matt away.

The King’s gaze turned on Vane. “Why are you here, wizard?”

“Why should I tell you?” Vane said.

The King deigned to glance at us against the wall. “I can start killing off your people one-by-one.”

Vane said coldly, “They are not my people.”

“Ah. They are Merlin’s.” The King’s eyes gleamed. “You do not like that.”

“Father.” Leonidas took the trident from the older soldier’s hands. “We found this on him.” Leonidas turned the trident so it lay horizontally on his hand and presented it on bended knee to his father.

Lelex took the trident. He turned it over several times in his hand. “It is real. I cannot believe it. It has found us again.” Lelex stood up and walked closer to Vane. The emerald on his crown glowed again. He held his hand out in Vane’s direction.

Vane shuddered, even though Lelex hadn’t touched him.

“How is this possible? He is a wizard…” He peered at Vane. “And yet, the Fisher King is marked on you.”

Vane blinked. “I am not Bran of Pellam.”

“Bran the Blessed? No, you are certainly not he. He came to us also. It happened over a thousand years ago, but I know our history well. After he lost his kingdom, he came to my ancestor.” Lelex said with a sneer, “Yet, he was no longer the Blessed. He came to beg for help. He was weak. Wounded. Defeated. My ancestor gave him more of a chance than I would have. He only had to prove himself. He did not even survive one challenge. Why would we help a creature like him? We are Triton’s descendants. Sons of Poseidon.” The King looked out over his court. The people cheered. He turned back to Vane. “No, Bran the Blessed was not the Fisher King. His kingdom meant nothing to us.”

“And the cup?” Vane asked.

Lelex laughed and shook his head. “Is this your true purpose? To live forever? There is no such thing. If there were, Bran would not have been defeated so easily.” Lelex took another step closer to Vane. “
You
defeated him.”

Vane frowned. “Yes.”

“But how? You cannot be so old.”

“A spell,” Vane said. “I was frozen in a cave. I woke only recently.”

Lelex turned his head toward us. He looked past us to the fading light in the sky. “It makes sense. Time grows short for us all. The day of reckoning is near. It is why these blood moon sacrifices must be our greatest.”

The people in the court murmured in agreement. Several faces looked out at the sky with fear. Lelex turned back to Vane. “The mark of the Fisher King is a sign from Poseidon. He is pleased with our offerings. Now, with the addition of these outsiders to the blood moon games, we will be able to give him a true prize.”

Leonidas marched up to me and grabbed me by the hair. He swept his legs under mine to knock me to my knees. Our interlinked chains caused Gia to go down with me. “It is our thirteenth night. The maidens will make a most auspicious sacrifice.”

Grey and the gargoyles tried to push themselves in front of us. A swarm of soldiers converged to restrain them.

I looked up at the hulking barbarian. “What a Prince Charming you are.”

Leonidas frowned in confusion. Beside me, Gia giggled.

Leonidas scowled, realizing that I was insulting him. He backhanded me, nearly knocking me down with the force of the blow. He pulled me up by the hair again, making me tear up. “Anything else you would like to say to me?”

No one noticed Vane taking a step closer to Lelex. Without warning, he lunged at the King. He moved so fast, and before anyone could react, he used his chains to put Lelex into a chokehold.

Vane commanded, “Release us or I will break his neck.”

Near me, Leonidas’s hand tightened on his sword.