| |
Lazarus finally righted himself and floated in the sky. His evil twin was staring at him with a crazy grin. Lazarus tried everything, but his powers were useless against this foe.
Lazarus said, "Why do you fight me?"
"The Vvong Queen told me you were powerful but you're weak. You tried to defeat me with your powers. But they are not strong enough. Now you shall die."
"No," Lazarus said, but his voice was meek. He couldn't think straight. It was as if his head was made of lead and he couldn't think of anything except pain.
His evil twin created a flame ball in his hands and hurled it at him. Lazarus was about to embrace his death, but then his mind flashed to Cindy and the other Alpha Mages. They counted on him. They respected him. He was not going to die like this.
Lazarus opened his hands and let the magic flow into him. And before the flame ball burnt him it combined into his magic and Lazarus’s power doubled.
He smiled. He knew how to destroy this specter. "Come on. Try to kill me."
His twin roared and created a blinding spell of lightning mixed with burning flames. The spell flew straight at Lazarus, but he decided to do something different. He held his hands open.
The spell stopped at his hands and merged with him. Lazarus felt his powers start to elevate and change. His evil twin suddenly flew straight at him and struck him with power. Lazarus didn't flinch, but took the punch straight in the face. His evil twin's hands crunched as they touched his skin, and he yelped in pain.
Lazarus created a spell and shot it at his nemesis, and he yelled in pain again and exploded in an eruption of guts and blood.
Instantly, the castle appeared on the mountain again. Lazarus sighed. He was still in pain and moved toward the edifice. Wary, he slowly approached the front gates of the castle. Nothing attacked him. Lazarus was ready. He was still powered with magic from his evil doppelgänger. Then he heard something, and he instantly tensed. He waited.
Lazarus heard a humming noise and it was coming from inside the edifice. He soared upwards and moved through the battlements and walls. Nothing was watching him, yet he still felt as though something was.
When he soared past the front portcullis, he noticed the interior of the edifice didn't have any buildings or smaller structures inside it.
Lazarus spotted several large crystals in a circle with one larger crystal in the middle. He saw somebody was embedded inside in the center crystal. He heard a voice in his head, but the speaker was not talking to him.
The speaker said, "Morgana, my love, where are you?"
Lazarus slowly approached, waiting for more guardians to appear. He touched the ground closest to the middle crystal.
"Merlin," Lazarus said. "I'm here. How do I free you?”
Merlin didn't notice him and was still calling Morgana's name. Lazarus placed his hand forward. Through his eyes, he saw the magic protecting the crystal. He saw tight bonds of power interlacing each of the crystals surrounding it. Then he understood. Each of the crystals was a conduit for the central crystal.
"Merlin," Lazarus said, "I will get you out of there."
He turned the first stone and checked the magic around it. The crystal was using air magic. Then he scanned the other stones and each crystal was using one of the elements of magic: earth, air, water, fire, steel, and the middle crystal was the cosmos. Lazarus was not sure what to do. Maybe I should attack it with the corresponding element?
He moved closer to the earth stone. He placed his hand on it, and the magic jumped into him. Lazarus created an Earth magic spell of stone projectiles and hit the stone. Suddenly, the crystal flared for a second and its power started to diminish. But it was not enough.
Lazarus moved a few paces away. He needed to create something stronger.
Beneath the stone Lazarus created an explosion of stone, earth and dirt into the air. The crystal started to vibrate louder. Lazarus kept up the barrage of magic. Suddenly, the crystal exploded, and Lazarus created a force field around him.
The shards smashed into his barrier. Merlin suddenly looked at him. He was talking to him and Lazarus couldn't hear him.
"What?" Lazarus asked.
Merlin was making a motion with his hands to stop. Lazarus was not sure what he meant. Then he thought of the Vvong Queen. She had done this to him. Merlin couldn't speak. He was under her enthralling power. Lazarus needed to release him.
Lazarus moved away from the crystals. He knew what he had to do. And he knew how to create this power all at the same time.
He started with the Fire crystal. It pulsated with red power tendrils. He shot a roaring ball of flame at it and then he turned to each crystal and used the corresponding power at that. He heard the stones shatter at different times and then Merlin's crystal exploded outwards. Lazarus’s barrier shielded him from any harm, but he couldn't see anything for a while because the debris and dust covered everything.
Then Lazarus heard something that he didn't expect. Merlin flew upwards in the air, and said, "Why did you do that?"
Lazarus was taken back. Merlin had directed him to come there and free him.
"You wanted me to free you. You couldn't talk. So, I broke the crystals."
Merlin was neither young nor old. And he didn't have a beard like the one depicted in many pictures. He looked familiar, as if he was one of his relatives. Lazarus saw a resemblance to his family, perhaps an Uncle.
Merlin flew close to him and stood before him. The great wizard was also not tall. The were the same height.
"I tried to talk to you," Merlin said, "but you didn't hear me."
"What? But I thought you couldn't talk."
Merlin shook his head and raised his hand toward Lazarus, who felt a warm sensation in his ears and his head.
"Hah," Merlin said. "Morgana, you’re always up to your tricks."
Lazarus said, "I don't understand."
"I could talk, but Morgana created a spell so that you couldn't hear me."
Lazarus understood. But he didn't understand this rouse. "But why would she do that?"
"Well," Merlin said in an authoritative tone as if he was speaking to students, "because when you incorrectly broke all the crystals, you also freed Morgana. But tell me also who you are?"
Lazarus stared at him "You don't know me. I have been talking to you in your visions. And you and the Elves found me to open the Bastions, and also find you."
"You didn't open the Bastions. You can't do that without my help, or there would be major catastrophes all over the world." He paused. "You must be the high Alpha Mage. Only you can free me of my prison. I can see your power."
Then something dawned in Lazarus’s mind and he didn't like the implications. It was all so easy. He was tricked. Actually, all of them had been tricked from the very beginning.
"I'm sorry. I have failed you," he said.
The great wizard shook his head. "No, I have failed you. I should have tried to find you. But I was trapped in the crystal and couldn't talk to you."
Lazarus felt like a fool. Morgana had manipulated everything from the very beginning. And he didn't want to think that all this could have been avoided, from the destruction of the world, to the murder of his friends.
Morgana had manipulated him and his friends to open the Bastions. She was the one who showed him about the cosmos magic. It was her all along, using Merlin as a disguise.
