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The Royal Gardens was set behind the Princesses’s castle. It was composed of bushes cut in small hedges with long pathways of roses and flowers. An elf servant directed them to an open flat grassland close to a small lake with ducks and geese swimming along its surface. Lazarus had seen a similar royal garden in his vision before when he was looking through Merlin’s eyes. They held a small sack of supplies and wore a black leather armor given to them by the princess.
The servant nodded and walked back to the castle. It was beautiful in this area. Lazarus could see large garden parties here with all the royalty talking and eating.
Lazarus said, “Professor Jacobs, please tell me upper Earth is just as beautiful as this.”
“Yes, there are places like this but there are many dangers as well. I will have to reacquaint you to this new century after you come back.”
They stopped walking.
Grace said, “So, what do you want us to do? Do you want us to give you our magic?”
Lazarus had to be careful how he worded this because he already knew that the Alpha Mages magic wouldn’t help him.
“No, I wanted to test something first. I want you to stand a few feet away from me.”
Cindy looked at him in surprise. “This is different. Are you sure you don’t need our magic?”
“Well, I'm not sure. I just want to test my little theory,” Lazarus looked away from her when he said that. Cindy must have felt something odd, but she was still looking at him.
Lazarus said, “Ok, everybody, please move away from me.”
He took out the Amulet. The stone in the middle of the gold setting started to change. He hadn't even start using his magic. Lazarus realized his cosmic powers were leaking out of him and entering the Amulet. It seemed the stone was sipping energy from him.
Lazarus saw his magic swirling along the amulet. He was sure that he was the only person who can see this. He lifted the amulet in the sky and pretended to cast a spell. He waited for an appropriate amount of time and then opened up his mind to the stone. It was too easy.
“Lazarus, can you finally hear me?”
“Merlin, is that you?” Lazarus said.
“Yes, I am stuck in the shadow realm. I had to transport myself there, when I destroyed Bruen and the sword of Omens,” Merlin said.
“How can I bring you back?” Lazarus said.
“You have to come here and bring me back,” Merlin said.
“All right, I'll have to tell my friends,” he said.
“Don’t worry. Time is different here. It wouldn't take too long,” Merlin said.
He looked over to Cindy and the others. Everything from the trees moving in the wind to Grace blinking were moving very slowly.
“How do I get to the shadow realm?”
Merlin said, “You have to concentrate on my Amulet and think about me and I will do the rest.”
Lazarus did exactly what he was told and then he felt like he was falling down a dark hole. It was like being on a roller coaster. Except, it was not fun. Then he suddenly found himself in a large valley. He couldn't see everything around him. The ground and sky looked dim and dark.
“Merlin, where are you?” He said.
Lazarus looked around a large vista. The amulet was floating close to him. Lazarus tried to touch it but it floated away from him. Then he understood.
“Show me where your Master is,” Lazarus said.
The Amulet started to glow brightly which help illuminate the surrounding area. Then it floated away from him. He followed the stone it seems like for hours. It was hard to discern the landscape before him. He noticed it was mostly dirt and boulders. He didn't see any vegetation or bushes. And the sun overhead never change.
Lazarus didn't get fatigued. He scrambled up a slope until he was on top of a hill that overlooked the valley below. The Amulet shot forward and stopped at a man sitting on a boulder. The man grabbed for the amulet and held it.
“It took you long enough, young wizard.”
Merlin turned to him. The Great Wizard looked like one of his Uncles with dark flowing white hair and a small beard. He almost looked like the pictures he had seen before in books and paintings.
Merlin said, ”Can we get out of here. I'm powerless. I used all my magic against that orc mage and the sword of omens.”
“Your powerless here?”
“Yes, the Shadow realm is a place where I cannot replenish my magic. Give me some of your powers,” Merlin said.
Lazarus closed his eyes and let his powers engulf the Great Wizard.
Merlin said, “Aye, I feel that you had learnt the cosmic element.” He paused. “That’s enough. We need to get back to upper Earth. We have to make preparations She is almost there.”
Suddenly, Lazarus felt the odd feeling again of moving down a long pathway being suck into another place.
