Savior of Avalon

Chapter Five

The next morning, I woke to the sound of the shower running. Thom was awake and fresh faced, sitting at the desk and sharpening his already threatening looking sword. I studied it and noticed for the first time how amazing it was. The hilt of the sword was made of, what looked like, solid gold.

Sensing my eyes on him, Thom turned and looked in my direction, smiling brightly. He seemed a lot more chipper than he had been yesterday. In front of me now was the Thom I had always known, the Thom who made my mother feel at ease, the Thom who snuck me ice cream even after Mom said I couldn't have anymore.

Involuntarily, my lips were curling up in a smile.

"You're in a good mood," I observed, sitting up.

"Today is a new day, Lucy," he said, placing the sword back into its sheath. "We're closer to Camelot and closer to getting Nicole back."

I slumped down on the bed as I retreated into my own head. It had been one full night since Mom was taken to Morgana for God knows what. I hoped that, wherever she was, she was safe.

"I went to the store earlier this morning," Thom went on, reaching over for a bag and then tossing that bag lightly at me. "I got you a few changes of clothes, a toothbrush, that face scrub you like."

I bit my lip, suddenly feeling bad that he had to spend so much of his money.

"I'm not setting you back to much, am I? I know this stuff,"—I shook the bag—"couldn't have been cheap."

Thom looked away, shrugging. "It's from the account your mother had set up. Just in case something... happened to her."

It was like Thom had drove his sword straight through my chest. I closed my eyes. We would find her. I had to believe that.

The door to the bathroom swung open and my eyes were almost burned out of their sockets by what I saw. Merlin was standing in the doorway with jeans slung just right on his hips and his shirt was off. He had a body like nothing I had ever seen in my sheltered life. Male models would gladly give their thumbs for a body like his.

I realized I was just staring at him and he was just looking at me, so I snapped my attention elsewhere, letting out an unattractive shriek.

"What the hell are you doing?" I yelled. "You can't just come out here half naked."

"I apologize," Merlin bit out, his voice was sharp but there was also a hint of something I'd never heard in his voice before: embarrassment. "I thought you would still be asleep."

"Well, I'm not," I snapped.

"And how was I supposed to know that?" Came his sharp retort. "You sleep like the dead."

I turned my attention back to him in fury, his hotness forgotten.

"I had a long day. My mother was kidnapped and I practiced a ton of magic. Forgive me for wanting to get a little sleep."

Merlin scoffed and rolled his eyes as he pulled on his shirt, covering those amazing abs. Before he could say anything, though, Thom stood.

"I'm going to go get us some breakfast now that you two are awake. There's a McDonald's right across the street, so..."

He left quickly and Merlin and I watched him with wide eyes.

"What's with him?" Merlin wondered, looking at the spot where Thom had been a few seconds before.

I shrugged, feeling kind of worried. Then, I sighed and hopped out of the bed, reaching for the bag Thom had gotten me. Once my feet touched the ground, I was hyper aware that Merlin and I were standing close to each other. Too close for comfort.

"Ummm..." I shifted from one foot to the other, not liking how close we were. "...Can I get to the bathroom?"

He shrugged and moved out of my way, seemingly unbothered by our closeness.

I knew it was probably just because the only male I'd ever known was Thom and he was always like a father to me. I had never, in a million years, dreamed that a guy as attractive as Merlin existed. Although he was a complete tool, it didn't stop the fact that he was lightyears more attractive than any male had any right to be. That's the reason why my heart was pounding and my ovaries were being replaced by fireworks.

Besides, nothing would ever happen between Merlin and I, I thought, snorting to myself as I ran the shower water. We were just too different. He pissed me off, I pissed him off. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't attracted to me and he had a girlfriend. Nimue. Lady of the Lake.

I stripped out of my clothes and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water run down my body. I closed my eyes as my thoughts wandered.

According to the legends, she was supposed to be beautiful. We would be in Camelot soon enough. I couldn't help but wonder if she was really as beautiful as the stories said. I couldn't help but wonder what King Arthur and Guinevere and Lancelot would be like. Hell, I just wondered what Camelot as a whole would be like.

Most of all, though, I wondered if I could really do what the prophecy said I could. I mean, the destiny of helping bring a kingdom back together and then becoming the queen of Avalon was a huge deal. Not to mention I was supposed to marry my true love under a starry summer sky.

All of this was way too much pressure. Normal seventeen year old girls worried about things like boys and prom and homework. Me? I was worrying about my kidnapped mother and saving Avalon and Camelot from a evil sorceress.

Could my life get any weirder?

☪ ☪ ☪ ☪ ☪ ☪ ☪ ☪

After we had all dined on McMuffins, coffee for Thom and orange juice for Merlin and me, we hit the road again. It seemed like all I was seeing was the road and these cars when all I really wanted was to get to Camelot and save my mother. The stories about Morgana said that she wasn't the type of woman who made you nice and comfortable and fed you cookies. The way her men reacted to her... made her seem like she was some kind of monster.

Merlin stiffened in his seat, his jaw tight all of a sudden. Thom picked up on his distress and looked at him from the review mirror, raising his brow.

"Merlin?"

"Morgana's men," Merlin said, his voice terse. "They're trying to track us."

My eyes widened and I swiveled around in my seat, turning to face him.

"Do you think we can get my mom back?" I asked, my voice hopeful to my own ears.

Before my sentence had even finished, both Thom and Merlin were shaking their heads.

"They're just Morgana's lackeys," Thom was saying, his face getting tense as he pressed harder on the gas. "The only way to ensure Nicole's safety is by going straight to the source."

My shoulders slumped dejectedly and Thom removed one hand from the steering wheel, patting my shoulder in comfort before placing his hand back onto the wheel.

"At this rate," Merlin was grumbling, glancing at the cars behind us suspiciously. "They'll catch up to us."

"We need a shield," Thom murmured, sparing a glance at Merlin from the review mirror. "Do you think you could...?"

"I could." Merlin was scowling as he spoke. "But I wouldn't be able to hold it very long." He made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat and waved a hand. "They'd just find us anyway."

Merlin's gaze snapped to me and he stared at me, his eyes appraising me with such intensity that—despite my intense dislike for him—I felt my face grow warm.

"What?" I asked, my voice coming out far squeakier than I wanted it to.

"I can't use too much magic in this world, but you can," he said, quietly.

As Merlin made his observation, my eyes wandered behind him and went wide. Four huge cars and two motorcycle were gaining on us. As I watched, the men in the motorcycles pulled out machine guns and pointed them straight at us.

"Thom..." My voice was weak and my throat was dry as I stared my impending doom in the face.

Thom looked behind us, his face calm.

"Merlin, Lucy," he said to us, pressing hard on the gas, "hold on."

The cars raced forward and Thom began weeding his way through the cars on the interstate right as the men in the motorcycles fired at us. Instinctively, I let out a scream and ducked to cover my head.

The interstate became chaos. Cars honked and sped out of control as the men in the black SUVs and motorcycles chased us. Thom was focused, his jaw clenched as he wove this way and that, successfully dodging the bullets being fired at us.

"Sibyl," Merlin called out, having to raise his voice due to all the Hell going on around us. "You have to teleport us somewhere safe."

"Somewhere safe?" I cried out, my head still ducked low. "I don't know anywhere safe. If I teleport us somewhere, we might end up further away from my mother and that is not an option."

Merlin opened his mouth to protest, but Thom cut him off.

"No, Merlin, she's right. You want to save Camelot and we want to save Nicole. We won't be able to do either of those if we get set back days." Thom swerved, narrowly missing a Civic. The driver honked at us as it veered into another car. "All I need is for you to make the car bulletproof," Thom said this as a bullet flew into the car, grazing his shoulder and causing it to bleed. He hissed once. "If you make the car bullet proof, I can get us out."

I nodded once, turning to face Merlin.

"What do I do?"

"Close your eyes and center yourself, Sibyl," he said, his voice not shaking at all. I didn't understand how he was so calm during all of this, but it did make me feel a little better.

I closed my eyes and reached deep down inside myself, finding my center. Suddenly, all of the noise faded away and it was just me and a warm golden light

"Merlin. There's... I can see a golden light."

"That's good," Merlin was saying, sounding impressed. "That's your magic. Reach into it and tell it to keep us safe from the weapons."

I reached toward the golden light. Right as my fingertips touched it's warmth, it wrapped itself around me, coiling around my body like a snake. Safe in its hold, I demanded it keep us all safe from the weapons being fired at us.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up rigidly, a power I had never felt before coursing through me. I touched the dashboard, barely registering the golden sheen my skin had taken.

In a powerful voice that I didn't even recognize as my own, I commanded, "Protegat nos malum."

The golden sheen from my skin faded into the dashboard and suddenly the entire car was surrounded by gold. As my power drained into the shield, I felt myself growing weak.

"Hold on to the shield as long as you can, Sibyl," Merlin pleaded. "Thom..."

"Aye aye," Thom grunted, now that the bullets were ricocheting off the shield harmlessly, Thom entire focus was on finding a getaway. "I have a few safe houses all over," he was saying as he turned suddenly. "I think we might be able to lose them. Just hold it a little longer, Lucinda."

I nodded, gritting my teeth as I forced my inexperienced magic to hold.

The two bikers sidled up beside the car. One was on Thom's side and the other was on my side, smiling maliciously. They seemed to realize that the shield was protecting us from weapons, but when the biker on Thom's side smashed his fist through the glass, I realized the shield didn't protect us from physical attacks.

Merlin surged forward, putting his hand over mine.

I snapped my attention to him in surprised, my mouth hanging open as I struggled to find the words to express how weird this was.

And then I felt it.

Merlin's magic merged with mine. His strong lightening with my soft golden light, creating something far more powerful than what either of us could do alone.

I gasped and I felt his body jerk in surprise.

"What is that?" I wondered, looking at him with wide eyes.

With eyes just as wide as mine he said, "I had to merge our magic. I can't perform any great feats in your land of no magic, but you can. Perhaps because you've been here longer, I don't know."

As he was talking, the biker on my side smashed his fist into my window, trying to reach into the car. The biker on the driver's side was battling Thom for the steering wheel, so the car surged this way and that.

"Use my magic to repel them, Sibyl. Quickly."

I closed my eyes, seeing Merlin's magic and mine fused together. Alone, his magic was beautiful, but cold. Alone, my magic was beautiful and warm, but too soft. Yet here, together, fused as though they belonged together, it was as if they had been born to be that way.

I reached out, feeling the warmth of my magic and the sharp sting of his lightning.

My eyes opened as power—his and mine—burst inside of me.

"Levavit vocem meam, hostes repellere," I called out, watching as the lightning flowed onto the dashboard.

The men reaching into the car were hit with a shock so powerful, they flew from their bikes and away from the car. Thom, regaining control, looked over at me, shocked and impressed.

"Thanks, kid."

"No problem."

"What about those guys behind us?" Merlin asked, referring to the four cars still chasing us.

Thom gave a mischievous smile.

"They won't be a problem."

Thom veered into the lane leading to the main roads. Other cars honked at us, most likely very annoyed, but we all fell into line and the other four cars were long lost.

We drove for a while—driving around just in case Morgana's men were still looking for us—before Thom finally drove us to one of his safe houses located on the outskirts of Illinois.

Only then did I release the shield around the car and returned Merlin's abilities to him. I slumped forward, my head about to hit the dashboard until two strong hands caught me.

The hands around me were not Thom's hands. These hands were ivory and graceful, smooth and yet callous.

"Is she okay?" Thom asked, worriedly, his hands going to my forehead. "She's burning up."

"She'll be fine," Merlin assured Thom as I faded out of consciousness. "She just needs rest."

☪ ☪ ☪ ☪ ☪ ☪ ☪ ☪

When I came to, my head was pounding and my mouth was dry. When I sucked in a breath, it sounded more like I was wheezing.

I opened my eyes slowly, squinting because of the pain in my head. It hurt so badly, it brought tears to my eyes.

"Lucy, you're okay." There was heavy relief in Thom's voice as he stood over me, his hand going to my forehead.

I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was so dry nothing came out.

"Luce?" Thom asked, his brown eyes were wide and he looked like he was about to have a heart attack. "My God, Lucinda, are you okay?"

"Relax, Thom," came Merlin's icy tone. When I turned to look at him, I saw he was across the room, sitting regally in one of the chairs. His face was inscrutable as he looked at us. "She's thirsty. Get her some water."

Thom's eyes shone with understanding and he nodded, running into another room. He wasn't gone for five seconds before he came barrelling back with a cold glass of water. If I had any saliva, my mouth would have watered.

Because I was too weak to lift my head on my own, Thom did it for me, pressing the glass to my lips. I drank eagerly, drinking until there was no water left.

Thom rested my head back onto the pillow. Looking around the room now, I realized I was in a bedroom. A very spacious one with hardwood floors and a high ceiling. The furniture was scarce, but yet tasteful. The chair Merlin was sitting in was a deep mahogany, he was repeatedly tapping his index finger on the arm of the chair, like he was nervous about something.

"How long have I been out?" I croaked, cringing at the sound of my voice.

"A few hours," said Thom worriedly, eyeing me as if he were afraid I was about to pass out again. "Merlin said you used a large bout of magic and that this was especially bad since you're unpracticed. You were very impressive." Thom's face was thoughtful. "I guess the prophecies are true. Nicole will be proud."

I smiled weakly. That was all I really wanted. To get Mom back and show her that her losing my father and spending her life protecting me was not in vain.

"Get some more rest," Thom said, smiling a smile that held a ton of relief. "Merlin will stay here with you since he knows more about this type of thing than I do." He looked in Merlin's direction. "If anything goes wrong—"

"I'll notify you right away."

Thom nodded once and gave me one last look over before he turned the lights off and left. When he was gone and it was just Merlin and I alone, the atmosphere was...different. For some reason, every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was the way our magic blended together. Like we were two halves of a whole.

"Merlin..."

"What?"

"When we were in the car and you combined our magic... How did you do it?"

He was quiet for a long time before he spoke up, "Sorcerers do it all the time," he said, flatly. "It really wasn't that big of a deal."

His tone was icy, but there was something indecipherable underneath. It made me wonder if he could feel this weird pull between us.

"Merlin..."

He sighed, clearly annoyed. "What?"

"Do you love Nimue?"

There was a long pause—a pause so long, I was sure he was just going to ignore my question.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" He asked. I wished the lights were on so I could see his expression. I had a feeling it was an interesting one.

"I just wondered because I've never been in love," I murmured, looking up at the ceiling, barely making out the patterns. "All my life, my mother made sure I had no attachments—for good reason, obviously. So, the concept of being in love with someone... it interests me, I guess."

"...I care for her," he finally spoke up, hesitantly.

I turned my head in his direction, slowly. If I moved too fast, the room would spin and I'd either throw up, pass out or both. I squinted in the dark, wishing—for the second time—that I could see his expression.

"I'm completely inexperience at this whole 'love' thing," I said. "But, I'm pretty sure caring about her and loving her are two completely different things."

Merlin sighed. This sigh wasn't really annoyed, just...rueful.

"I'm a sorcerer. I've lived for hundreds of years. It's too late for me to fall in love," he was saying, his voice a tad contrite. "Love is for the young. Love is for when your lives are short. With a life as long as mine, falling in love and being with that same person everyday for the rest of my life." He shook his head. "I can't imagine that."

"Maybe you just haven't met the right girl," I said, softly. "Love doesn't really care about age or how long you live. Love just...happens."

He said nothing and I knew the conversation was over, so I turned away and closed my eyes. I was dreadfully tired, my limbs felt like they weighed a ton and my eyelids were so heavy, it was as if someone put little weights on them.

Sleep came to me so quickly, I never even had a chance to fight it.