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Merlin moved a few paces behind him and lifted both of his hands. Then he changed into a large gray and black wolf. Lazarus was surprised. He almost scrambled backward where he was sitting. He didn't know Merlin could also transform himself into animals.
Merlin said telepathically, “Not it is your turn.”
“I don’t know how to begin,” he said.
“Lazarus, I'm surprised you didn't transform before. You have the powers of all the Alpha mages. You couldn’t have attained the Cosmos power without having all the other elements.”
“Ok. I’ll try.”
“You can do it. Don’t think about it. Just do it.”
Lazarus stood and focused on his magic. He didn't change.
Merlin said, “You need to focus on the type of animal you want to change into too.”
Lazarus focused again and thought of a large black wolf. He closed his eyes, and he felt something different. It was a tingling sensation all over his body. Something changed within him. It was hard to describe. He opened his eyes and knew he was not human. His senses were greatly enhanced. He heard the sounds of the birds flying and smelt the rabbits and animals along this valley.
“Very good,” Merlin said. “Are you ready to hunt?”
“Yes,” he said.
The prospect of hunting excited him. It was also like the feeling he had when he had the bloodlust in battle. It was intoxicating. He followed Merlin down the ravine into the forest. A wolf cry was punctuated by other wolves. He also howled. He understood the calling. They were welcoming him into their lands and they haven't heard or seen shape shifters for ages. He howled back and ran after Merlin. He smelt a rabbit in the darkness of the forest. The sun was moving down on the mountains.
His sense of time seem different. He didn't think in seconds and minutes anymore but the passing of days and seasons. Merlin started to run faster in the forest. Lazarus ran with him. He had a sense of rhythm and rightness he had never felt before. Looking next to him in the forest, he saw wolves running and hunting with him.
The wolves started howling. He smelt the animals. His food. He sensed the beating of animals hearts as they heard his howling. Lazarus ran in wild abandonment. The air seemed charge with excitement. He moved and zeroed into a rabbit. He ran toward it. The rabbit was running along the forest moving along the bushes and dead wood. He need to get it before it would get to its hole. Lazarus jumped and pounce on it. He was not sure how he was suddenly next to the animal but time was different.
Lazarus killed the creature and started to feed. He was done after a few minutes. Scanning the forest, he saw Merlin also eating. They looked at each other. Lazarus felt the need to hunt some more, but he heard Merlin’s voice. “Don’t hunt more than you need. We are guests here.”
Lazarus understood. He wanted more food but already his hunger was sated.
“Merlin, I’m done.”
“Ok, let’s get back to our base camp and start a fire.”
***
LAZARUS SLEPT SO SOUNDLY that he didn't know he was in a dream until he realized the grass plains that he was in was not England. He couldn’t see Stonehenge on top of the hill.
A voice boomed, “Why do you seek the sword, Excalibur?”
“I need to defeat Morgana. I need to defend Earth.”
“No,” the voice boom, “you want the sword for your own selfish needs. You want to rule over the Earth.”
“No, I don't want to rule anything.”
“You lie.”
Suddenly, the hill started to change into a large dais with a gold ornate chair in the middle. He saw himself sitting in the chair wearing a round gilded crown encrusted with jewels and gems. It sparkled in the light. He was inside a large throne room and before him was hundreds of people staring at him.
The people said his name over and over, “Lazarus! Lazarus!”
He felt their fealty and love. He also sensed power. Then another gilded chair appeared and a red headed gorgeous woman sat there. Her green dress was low over the shoulders revealing her large bosom. She smiled at him with lust. She seemed to say in her eyes, “I am your slave. I will do anything you want. You want me.”
His dream changed. He was laying on a soft bed with several naked women laying next to him. The women writhed like snakes moving around him. Intense pleasure radiated and tingled over him. Suddenly, he stood.
“Stop this, Morgana!” he said.
Everything changed, and he was not in a bedchamber anymore. He was standing in a vast battle. A large insectile Vvong creature stood before him.
Morgana said, “You need to join with me, Lazarus. You understand what power is. We can join together and rule the world.”
“No, I will not be a slave to you!”
“You will give me Excalibur and free me from this bondage. You will not be a slave. You will be my lover and equal,” she said.
“I don't believe you.”
“Give in to me. Or your friends will die.”
Lazarus noticed his friends were in the battle field fighting against a vast army of Vvong creatures. He saw Royce in his Alpha Grog form running toward a creature. The Vvong insect skewered him with its long talons. Then he saw Grace eviscerated by a large beetle monster with large claws. Lazarus turned away knowing this was all a dream. But he heard Professor Jacobs yelling his name, “Lazarus help us.”
Professor Jacob and Della was engulfed in flames burning in tendrils of magical fire.
“No!” Lazarus said.
Yet, the horror was not over. Lazarus looked over and saw Morgana holding a blond woman in her claws.
The Vvong Queen said “You want this mere woman. She is mortal. I’m immortal.”
Cindy said, “Lazarus, help me? I love you. You have the power to help me.”
“Please don’t,” he said. “Stop this!”
Morgana said, “This will come to pass. You cannot stop it. Join with me. Forget the old fool, Merlin. Give me Excalibur.”
“No,” Lazarus said.
Morgana cut Cindy in half with her large talons. Blood squirted in the air soaking everything in his sight. He heard in his heard Cindy yelling.
Lazarus awoke on a bluff. A fire was still burning and Merlin was asleep. Lazarus watched the flames of the fire for a while before he slept again.
