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They flew on the currents through the skies on their large falcon mounts.
Lazarus held onto Cindy as they traveled. She nestled against him.
Cindy said, "I like you holding me."
“I wish we had time to be alone together," he said.
She laughed in his ear. It sounded like small bells. "Heroes like us don't get vacations."
"When all this is over, we will have all the time in the world together," Lazarus said.
"Do you mean it? Are you proposing to me?"
"Yes. And no. I want to propose to you, but in a better place," he said.
"You also need to get a ring. Well, at least you don't have to worry about talking to my father."
The scene before them was beautiful in the half-light of the waning sun. The deep reds and greens of the leaves almost reminded him of a William Turner painting. He didn't want the moment to end.
Shannol was in the lead. She navigated her flying mount with expertise. Lazarus wondered if they would travel through the night. When the moon appeared, Shannol started to fly closer to the hills and mountaintops, looking for a place to camp for the night.
Scanning the ground below, he wondered if there were orcs in the forest staring back at them.
Shannol flew lower and landed on a flat plateau overlooking a small culvert. There was enough room for all the large falcons to land. They dismounted and Shannol motioned at them not to speak. She went to her soldiers. Shannol whispered something, then and pointed to two of her scouts. The soldiers ran into the dark forest.
They waited in the shadows of the meadow for an hour. Lazarus heard owls hooting amongst the trees and also saw a group of fireflies gathering around a bush. The insects glowed the color of cool blue and then changed into a warm amber hue.
Cindy grabbed his hand. They stood like that for a while.
The two scouts ran quietly back toward Shannol. They spoke for a while.
Shannol then approached Lazarus. "We are fine, here. I had to make sure it was safe, so my scouts checked the area. We have to speak low and at a minimum, but we are safe for now. We will not have a fire tonight."
Lazarus nodded. The large falcons quieted and soon fell asleep. Lazarus took the sleeping bags from their sacks and placed them on the ground. He hoped tonight he would not have any nightmares.
In his mind, he heard Cindy's voice. "You will not dream tonight. You will be fine."
"Thank you for that. I hope you're right. I don't want to alert any orc patrols."
"I believe in you. Maybe with the Alpha Mages magic we can project a shield over you," Cindy said.
Grace's voice also came into his mind. "Yes, Lazarus, we can combine our magic to shield you. But I'm not sure if Cindy is strong enough to help."
Lazarus said in his mind, "Can you get Royce? Make sure he is close. I think I know how to cast this spell."
Grace left and came back with Royce. He looked at him.
Lazarus spoke into Royce's mind. "Royce, do you hear me?"
Royce said, "What the hell?"
Lazarus said, "Speak in your mind. We can communicate like this."
Royce said in his mind, "This is strange, but it seems normal, as if I should have known I could do this."
"You guys," Lazarus said, "will help me talk to Merlin."
Grace said, "Are you sure we could do this? Remember what happened on Captain Grendel's ship."
"Yes, I think we all remember. But Royce was not there," Cindy said.
Royce said, "What happened?"
Lazarus explained about when they were on Captain Grendel's spaceship and tried to contact Merlin, but instead of contacting him they contacted the Vvong Queen. It was a trap. After he was done explaining, Royce fell quiet for a while.
Then Royce said, "Why if we try to contact Merlin now? Will the Vvong Queen find us again?"
Lazarus answered. "No, I don't think so. And I feel that we can talk to him and with our combined magic. What do you think?"
"I think we can do it. I feel like it is different." Grace flipped her long brown hair and looked at them with uncertainty. Lazarus realized she was embarrassed.
Cindy agreed. "Yes, it is different. Maybe it's because we're here in Middle Earth. I think we are hidden from her."
"You are assuming a lot. But I'm ready to try. What should we do?" said Royce.
Lazarus said, "Let me speak to Shannol and tell what we are doing." He moved away from the Alphas and walked over to Shannol.
Lazarus spoke in low tones. "Shannol, we have been communicating. We are going to try to contact Merlin and ask for his advice."
Shannol nodded. "Yes, Master Lazarus. I knew you were telepathically speaking, because you were looking at each other without speaking. Go ahead."
"Thank you." Moving back to the Alphas, he noticed they had sat on the ground facing each other. He already knew what they were doing.
Cindy said telepathically, "We're waiting for you. Sit in the middle of us and we shall start."
"Cindy, do you have enough magic?"
"Yes, I'm okay. I hoped that since we're closer to the Blessed Isles it should be easier."
Lazarus sat in the middle of them. He nodded; magic started to flow out of the Alphas and into him. It felt like a wave of power hitting him. Lazarus lifted his hand and the magical flow of power ceased.
He looked at the stars in the horizon. Focusing his power, he reached into his magic.
He said in his mind, "Merlin, do you hear me?"
The scene started to fade from his eyes, then a bright light flashed before them. And instead of looking through Merlin’s eyes, he saw himself standing in a battlefield. The bright light he saw was a powerful lighting spell sprouting from an elven Mage as it shot into a group of insectile Vvong creatures.
"Merlin, where are you?" Lazarus said.
A huge beetle towered over him. Lazarus jumped to the side as the beast flew past him. Red glowing eyes burnt into his soul. An arrow passed right through him.
Lazarus yelped, then realized this battlefield was in Merlin's mind and was not real. Then he saw a knight in silver armor. He held a glowing sword. Lazarus knew the sword was Excalibur and the knight holding the sword was King Arthur. He was amazed.
King Arthur jumped into a midst of Vvong insectile creatures and started destroying and killing them all. Excalibur's magic created a vortex of power, destroying several creatures at once.
A large flying beetle buzzed in the sky and moved downwards to smother King Arthur. Lazarus ran, trying to get King Arthur's attention. But the knight didn't see the beetle soaring toward him. Lazarus yelled, but he couldn't hear him. Right before the creature was about to drop on top of the King, a bright light flashed beside him as tendrils of power destroyed all the Vvong creatures within several feet, including the large beetle, in a carnage of blood and insect guts.
The man’s eyes seemed to glow. He held a large gnarled staff with an incandescent white stone. Lazarus knew it was Merlin. King Arthur and Merlin faced the hordes of creatures. They stood back to back and fought with their combined powers and withstood the Vvong army.
Lazarus spoke. "Merlin, wake up. This is only a dream. You're trapped in your memories."
"Who dares speak to me about dreams? I'm Merlin. I would know if I am trapped in a memory," Merlin said.
Suddenly, the battle scene changed and they both stood by a large waterfall. King Arthur and the Vvong horde were gone. Merlin and Morgana sat on a large boulder, kissing passionately under the shade of a large willow tree.
Lazarus spoke. "Merlin, look at me. Morgana is doing this to you. She doesn't want you to wake up."
Merlin suddenly stood and Morgana disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
"Yes," Lazarus said. "Look at me."
"I know you," Merlin said. "Yes, you 're the one. You're supposed to help me. But I cannot remember. Wait, you're not him. You're a demon."
Merlin held up his hands. His staff appeared in his right palm. The glowing stone shone in an ethereal light.
