CHAPTER 22
REUNION
Merlin rapped his staff on the ground and spoke a quiet word under his breath. The black hole popped open, beckoning them to abandon the place of dust and ashes for the lush greenness that was Faerie. Although Hob wanted to stay and explore his home world, he also found himself anxious to return to the quiet and peaceful forests, the green valleys and blue mountains of Camelot. He poked Ben in the ribs and tried to whisper quietly to him.
“I think you do it much better.”
“Huh?” Ben replied.
“The magic,” Hob answered, nodding toward the wizard.
“Oh. How so?”
“The magic words you use, like hocus-pocus, shazam, and abracadabra.”
“Don’t forget Scooby Doo.”
“Oh yeah, that was my favorite one.”
“Thank you Hob, but the magic was in the staff, not in me. However, Merlin is the real thing; a wizard.” Ben smiled at the thought of that. First Dwarves. Then Elves. Now Wizards. Now all he needed to find were some hobbits!
“Are you two coming with us or are you planning on hanging around until our dragon friend wakes up?” Merlin yelled. After screeching at them, and the sleeping dragon behind them, the wizard promptly hitched up his robes and stepped into the black hole, with Gabriel following close behind him. Ben and Hob scrambled after them and the black hole snapped shut, leaving Crag and its ashes to the drowsy dragons.
“This place hasn’t changed much at all,” said Merlin, looking around the small courtyard. “Even that old tree is still here!” The wizard poked at one of the drooping limbs with his staff and the limb tried to grab it. “HA! I’m STILL faster than you!”
“Merlin,” said Gabriel, “I really wouldn’t do that. That Faerie Oak has been the sentry tree at the lodge here for centuries now and it is one of the oldest Faerie Oaks in the entire region. It may have slowed down over the years, but it has become a little temperamental too.”
The wizard turned his back on the tree to glare at Gabriel. His floppy hat slid down over his eyes and when he pushed it back on top of his head the tree limb he had poked with his staff whipped out and snatched the hat from his head. Merlin whirled around and tried to grab his hat, but the tree dangled it above him, just out of his reach. “Give me back my hat,” the wizard yelled, leaping up into the air and trying to grab it from the tree. Each time he jumped, as soon as his fingers touched the hat, the tree would snatch it from his grasp. “Give it back, or so help me I’ll whittle you down to a toothpick and use you to clean the tobacco from my pipe!”
The tree immediately dropped the hat and although it became still once again, Ben could see it quaking just a little. However, he couldn’t tell if the tree was quaking in fear or quaking in laughter.
Merlin retrieved his hat from the ground, dusted it off, and pulled it down onto his head. He gave the tree one last angry glance and then turned to Hob. “You don’t happen to have any good pipe tobacco, do you?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Hob answered.
“Then perhaps, after we eat, you would kind enough to share some?”
“Absolutely. Now that you mention it, I’m starving! What do you have to eat around here, Gabriel?”
“I’m sure we can round something up. Let’s find Torac. He may be down below.”
“Below what?” asked Merlin. The wizard’s hat would not stay on top of his head and had slid down over his eyes once more.
“If you can keep your hat out of your eyes, then you shall see,” Gabriel replied with a smile. “Follow me.”
The lodge was not deserted at all. In fact, Ben was delighted to find Louise and Casey there waiting for them, along with another dwarf named Torac. Hob and Torac seemed well acquainted and conversed quietly with each other, while Gabriel introduced Merlin to Ben’s grandma and sister.
“It’s been over six hundred years since you left Camelot,” said Louise. “How is it that you are here?”
“That is a long story,” Merlin replied. “One that I have told once and will tell once more, but not now.”
Louise wasn’t sure what to think of the eccentric old man who was supposed to be a powerful wizard, and if Gabriel had not been there to confirm his identity, she would never have believed him to be who he claimed to be. But Gabriel had introduced him and after the introductions, Torac led them to the kitchens and served them all a spread of food that would make any dwarf proud. While they were eating, it dawned on Ben that someone was missing.
“Hey, where is Amos? I thought he was supposed to come here with you.”
Hob put his knife and fork down and wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve. “Where are Gob and Nob? They should be here too!”
“Gob and Nob,” Gabriel answered, “stayed at the garrison. They were waiting there for us to return from the archives in Dwarvenhall so that they could go to Crag with us. When we left Crag we should have gone there first to pick them up, but I am curious, like Ben, to know where Amos is.”
“You’ve been to Crag?” Louise asked, sliding her chair back from the table. “It all makes sense now. Merlin is the wisest one and you went to the Dragon’s Cradle on Crag to find him. Ben Alderman, of all the sugar-cured, tenderized, hickory-smoked ham hocks, you are the pinto beans! How could you deceive me like that?”
Hob turned and stared at Ben’s ears. Yep, poor old Ben was in a pickle; his ears were practically glowing. Gabriel was remaining tight-lipped too, so there was no help coming from that end of the table.
“Ummm, Louise, it really wasn’t dangerous,” Hob offered.
“When I want your opinion, Mr. Hob, I will ask for it.”
Oh no, Ben thought, she is really coming unglued. “Grandma, what Hob is saying is true. It happened to be the time of The Ashing, so most dragons were asleep.”
“Ben, I don’t care if every dragon on Crag was dead, you went there knowing that I would not approve of it. That’s as bad as a lie.”
That last comment stung. It was really an accusation and Ben felt a tiny seed of resentment take root. As Louise continued to chide him that seed ignited into a spark of anger. Louise prattled on, her words fanning the spark until it finally burst into a flaming inferno of rage. Ben had had enough. He jumped up from the table with his fists clenched, but rather than lash out at his grandma he fled from the room. Casey shot her grandma a look of disappointment and then chased after her brother.
Merlin rose from the table and broke the awkward silence that hung in the air. “Let’s go have that smoke.”
“Great idea,” said Hob, jumping up and hurrying after the wizard.
“Wait for me,” cried Torac.
In a moment, Louise was all alone at the table with Gabriel. “Oh no,” she said. “What have I done?”
“Nothing that cannot be undone,” Gabriel answered. “Ben is no longer a child, Louise. What he did, he chose to do more so to protect you than anything else. He knew that you would try to go to Crag with him and he didn’t want anything to happen to you.”
Louise dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. “I’m an old fool. What should I do?”
“Go to him,” Gabriel said with a smile. “Your heart will guide you.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Louise got up from the table and went in search of her grandchildren. She found them sitting on the steps leading up to the porch in the small courtyard. She came up behind them and placed her hands upon their shoulders to push them apart so that she could sit between them. “Ben,” she began. “I owe you an apology. I was angry because you could have been hurt, or even killed, but I know why you did what you did and I was wrong to react the way I did. You’ll be thirteen years old soon, so I guess I need to quit treating you like a little boy. It’s hard for me to do that, because I love you and I want to look after you. You understand, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do, and I’m sorry I got so angry, but Grandma, you need to understand somethi
ng too.”
“What is it, dear?”
“Things are coming to a head. Everything in the prophecy has been fulfilled now except for the part about the chosen one bringing the mighty down. I have the sword now; the sword from the past. That’s why we were supposed to meet Merlin, the wisest one, at the Dragon’s Cradle; he had the sword.”
“Ben, do you believe you are supposed to use the sword to kill Bellator?”
“No, not really. I believe I am supposed to face Bellator and I believe the sword will play an important role in the outcome of things, but I don’t think I will actually have to fight him. I mean, how could I? But things have always worked out for the best and I have faith that they will work out this time as well. You need to have a little faith too, Grandma.”
Louise turned to look at Casey. “You’re being awful quiet. How do you feel about all of this?”
“Ben is right. He didn’t have to fight the witch, the gnome king, or the dragon and they were all defeated. I think this will be no different. I believe in him and, like he said, I think things will turn out for the best.”
Louise shook her head in amazement. “I never dreamed my two grandchildren would be telling me to have faith and that things would turn out for the best, but I guess you two are growing up. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll make a deal with you.”
“What kind of deal?” asked Ben.
“I’ll try my best not to treat you like a child if you will not treat me like a doddering old woman. Deal?”
“Deal!” Ben said, with a grin.
“Good. Let’s find the others now and decide where to go and what to do. I imagine Torac has caught them up on Amos’s plan to rescue Marcus.”
The wizard and the two dwarves were found on the patio behind lodge. Gabriel was there with them, talking quietly with Merlin, while Hob and Torac puffed on their pipes and argued furiously over who could blow the best smoke rings.
“Has Torac brought you up-to-date on Amos?” Louise asked.
“Not yet,” Gabriel answered, “but now that you are here, why don’t you tell us? He’s not in any trouble or danger, is he?”
“I don’t know. He could be. You obviously know about the tunnels.”
Gabriel nodded and then briefly told Merlin of the tunnels that connect the cities of Faerie. When he was finished, he nodded to Louise to continue.
“We were going to accompany Torac on a trip to pick up supplies from one of the cities, but when we got to the hub Amos got out of the wagon and informed us that he was going to rescue Marcus. That caught us all by surprise and Torac tried to convince him to wait, but you know how stubborn he can be. Anyhow, we gave him Casey’s charm so that he could find Marcus…”
“Casey had a charm to locate the keeper?” Gabriel interrupted.
“No,” said Casey. “It was the little arrow charm that was supposed to point the way to the Twilight. I noticed that it was pointing down the tunnel that led to Jupiter and we figured since we weren’t on Camelot that it must be pointing at the keeper. Amos placed it on a string and held it between his teeth when he transformed.”
“Transformed into what?” asked Merlin, with a puzzled expression.
“A bear, of course. What else would you expect him to change into?”
Merlin scratched his head and Louise had to explain that Amos was a shape shifter before she could continue with her story.
“Anyhow, Amos instructed us to send word to the dwarves manning the supply rooms at the other cities to stay out of the tunnels. He told us to wait at the lodge for him and then he changed into a bear and lumbered off down the tunnel toward Jupiter. We’ve been waiting on pins and needles ever since he left.”
“How long ago was that?”
“It was yesterday afternoon. Torac said he’s had time to get there and back, so we’re thinking that maybe Marcus is locked up somewhere and he’s having a hard time getting him out.”
“It would not be like Bellator to lock up the keeper or anyone. He would simply tell them to stay put and then kill them if they did not comply.”
“Then what do you think is taking so long?”
“Maybe they couldn’t return by way of tunnels?” Hob offered. “Maybe they are making their way overland?”
“Or maybe Amos has been captured,” Ben offered. “I don’t think we should wait too long. If they are not back by this evening, I think we should strike out for Jupiter at first light.”
Louise looked at her grandson. Suddenly, he did not seem like a twelve year old child any longer. There was wisdom in his eyes that was way beyond his years. It made her heart swell with pride, but it ached too in knowing that his childhood innocence was being stolen away with the heavy burdens and responsibilities laid upon him. She wanted to reach out and sweep him up in her arms, but she knew she that she couldn’t. Ben was growing up.
“Ben is right,” said Gabriel. “We will wait until morning and if we have not heard from them, we will leave for Jupiter.”
“What are our plans?” asked Merlin. “Are we to ride up to the front gate and knock? Are we to ask Bellator, most feared of all the immortals, to give us back our friends? What of the sword? Are you sure that young Ben here is the chosen one, because if he is not then we will be delivering the thing that Bellator wants more than anything right into his hands. And if Bellator gets his hands on Excalibur, all is lost.”
“We have no plans as of yet,” a big voice boomed behind them, “but it is now time to make them.”
“Amos!” Louise cried. “Thank goodness you are okay.”
Grinning ear to ear, Amos moved out of the doorway and Marcus stepped out onto the patio. The keeper’s eyes fell upon the wizard and he froze, his mouth open and moving, but nothing coming out. The wizard laid his staff aside and took the keeper by the arms.
“Merlin? Is it really you?”
“Yes, old friend, it is I.”
*****