The Pearl of Avalon

He didn’t respond, so I repeated my question, “Are you, Merlin?”

“I am,” he said, calmly, “May I ask who you are?”

“My name is Chloe. I’m here with Arthur.”

“Arthur?” His eyes widened, “He is alive? Where is he? What is happening?”

“I accidentally spilled some water on him from the Grail. We found Nimue and she told us about the pearl. Arthur was fighting Modred when I started looking around here for you.” I hung my head, “I really hope he okay.”

“Arthur is very clever, I am sure he is fine. How is Nimue? Where did you find her?”

“She was in a well. I guess she was okay, considering.”

“My dear, Nimue. Trapped in water.” Merlin looked sad. “Can you break the lock with that dagger you have there? I recognize it. It is Arthur’s.”

“He gave it to me so I would have some protection,” I replied, backing up slightly to examine the lock. The key hole was slightly larger than the doors had been, so I started poking at it, “I’ll certainly try,” I said wriggling the tip of it around and around.

“It will be nice to get out of here. A person can only put up with the smell of his waste for so long!” His voice almost had a comical tone during that sentence. I thought, how strange. I don’t remember needing to use the ladies room since I got here!

“Who are all the skeletons?” I asked, changing the topic.

“They are the nine Sisters of Avalon. They are being kept alive by the pearl, as I am, but until it has been restored they cannot regain their flesh. What a pity, too. They are all such a delight to the eyes.”

“So I was attacked by the Sisters?”

“You were not attacked, my dear, Chloe.” He smiled slightly, “You just panicked too quickly. As you did here,” he said, releasing the grip of a bar and tilting his hand towards the skeleton who bowed to me.

“Why did she bow?” I had to ask.

“Because you are obviously here to help us.”

The lock clicked. I slid the door open. Merlin crippled out. I thought he was going to hug me, but he didn’t. I stepped to the side to let him come all the way out. He was a tad shorter than me, but that could be the way he was hunched over.

I caught a glimpse of another skeleton lying in an open cell nearby, “Why is this one not up and moving?”

Merlin hobbled over, “This is Morgana. Modred had wounded her very badly. She will need some water from the Grail to live again, and replacement of the pearl to regain her flesh.” He knelt down and laid his hand on her bony forehead. I could see she was wearing the same gray robe as the others, but hers had a few embroidered designs around the hemlines at the bottom and sleeves.

He stood up again and looked at me. He had a curious look on his wrinkled face, “What year is this?”

“Um, it’s 2009.”

“What?” His voice cracked. “Oh, my!” His voice lowered to a whisper, “I am so old.” He just shook his head and turned his back to me.

“You don’t look a day over 80,” I said. I thought that might cheer him up a bit. I hoped, anyway.

He did laugh, “I was 82 winters old when I met Nimue. I had studied the arts all my life. When she approached me at first, I was scared, but soon fell deeply in love. She took me to Avalon. Time means nothing here. As soon as you step foot on this island aging stops. Obviously, I spent more time here, than off. Many decades went by. Of all the total time I spent off Avalon, I may have gained only about 3 years.”

“So you and Nimue are... together?” That was the best way I could put it. It was really hard to picture an old man and a young, ghost-like woman... well, you know.

“We are,” he said, beaming. His eyes crinkled at the thought. They were pale eyes. Gray or light blue. It was hard to see for sure in the dim lighting. He put his hand over his stomach, “a nice meal would be welcomed!”

I had to agree there! I had only had one feed of dragon since stepping foot on Avalon. I guess the magic of this place was keeping me from starving to the point of death. I nodded my head and smiled, “I could sure use a nice feed too, other than dragon, of course.” A vision of a nice jiggs dinner with a big slab of blueberry duff filled my head. What a lovely vision.

“Dragon?” Merlin asked, “well, now! I was thinking more along the lines of an apple, but I guess you can only eat what is available.”

An apple? That didn’t seem like much of a meal to me. Not that I would argue with anyone if they were to give me one right about now.

Merlin shuffled into another open cell. I followed. He started feeling the walls. Brushing away dust and cobwebs. I heard him mutter something about “major cleaning,” but since he wasn’t really talking to me, I never bothered to ask him what he was saying. Instead, I just voiced my worry, “I really hope Arthur is okay.”

“I am sure he is,” Merlin said, still searching the walls for something.

“So this place truly does grant eternal life? Wow. I don’t think I could even imagine living forever. You don’t get bored?”

“Never bored. Always something to do.”

“I’m hoping to get home when all this is over,” I said, just making conversation. And, I liked hearing Merlin talk. He seemed somewhat of an all around comical man. The kind of man who you would like to have as a grandfather. I don’t really remember either of my grandfathers. They both died while I was still very young.

“Nimue can send you off the island through the stones or with her boat,” he said, and I remembered Nimue telling me the same thing.

“There is still some magic here though, right? Even though the pearl is missing?”

“As long as the pearl is not destroyed, some magic will remain, yes.”

“What would happen is the pearl was destroyed?”

Merlin stopped his task and faced me, with a forlorn look. “The island would become visible. All the creatures would perish. Age would catch up with all humans that live here, and any artifacts and buildings would be left to the mercy of the world.”

His words made me shiver. I didn’t really know how to respond. I just said, “When I get home, I promise, with all my heart and soul, that I will not breathe a word of this to anyone.” I would not be believed anyway. Padded room, here I come! “Avalon will remain a secret. The world is not ready for this kind of knowledge.”

“Thank you,” Merlin whispered, and returned to his search of the cell wall. “Ah ha!” he exclaimed, making me jump. “I knew my memory was not failing me!” He pressed in on something and the cell wall slid open. He turned and grinned at me, “I did design this place, after all.”

I followed behind him since he seemed to know where he was going. Another couple of secret doorways and we ended up out by the spiral staircase. The skeleton sister tagged along. Merlin took his dead time climbing the staircase. Poor man. It must have been nice to finally get out of that cooped up cell and stretch his legs. It might take some time before he could walk swiftly again. That is if he ever did walk swiftly.

There were seven skeletons in the room at the top of the stairs now. I had only left three behind. Plus the one I knocked out of the way. That was four. Three more must have just joined. The sister following us made eight, and Morgana made nine. The nine Sisters of Avalon. I wondered, which one was Vivian?

“Morgana is laying in a cell. Follow Nyneve,” he said to the seven skeletons in front of us, waving his hand at the skeleton behind us, “and bring Morgana up to this room. Stay together. I will come back for you.” He then motioned me to follow him and we left the room. We went down the tunnel and into another small room. Through a secret entrance of course. There were lots of those! Merlin was walking a little faster now.

This was only a little room. One torch lit it up very well. It contained only a small desk and chair. On the opposite wall was a door with a heavy padlock on it. Merlin took his time and looked at everything on the desk. There was a small jar with black liquid in it. I’m thinking ink, because right next to was a long feather with the point sharpened. There were also a few small jars of things I could not identify. Except for one, which looked like an eyeball. Gross! I didn’t want to know what the others held.

He went over to the locked door and shook the lock. “I never lock this,” he muttered. He then scuffed back over to the desk and pulled out a small drawer. It looked to me like he was lifting the bottom out of it, “Ah ha!” he shouted.

“What?” I asked, startled.

Merlin held up a large ring with some keys on it. Those old keys with the long shaft, as I call them. Skeleton keys. Not made of bone though. “Modred is not very clever!” He had a big grin on his face. His teeth were amazingly perfect.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, either he locked this door without knowing where the keys were, or, he hid the keys back in the same place I hide them.” He chuckled to himself and muttered something about Modred’s stupidity. He unlocked the heavy padlock and let it fall to the ground, “Come on, then,” he said to me as he pushed open the door.

I followed him down a short flight of stairs and around a corner. I would love to see a blueprint of this place! So many tunnels, twists, turns, rooms, and secret doors.

At the end of the tunnel, instead of coming to a doorway, as I had been expecting, we came to a tall rock. The top of the rock had been carved out and now held a large black globe.

Merlin ran his finger across it, “It has turned black.”

“Is that the pearl?” It was a little larger than a basketball, coal black, and gave off a slight, bluish glow. Almost like a black light, but much duller.

“Modred’s evil has corrupted it. I hope bringing it home will restore it to its natural state.” He looked at me, his eyes welling up with tears, “Tell me what you have seen.”

“What do you mean?” Was he thinking about something specific?

“What does Avalon look like now? And the creatures who live here, have you seen them?”

Oh, where to start? “The trees look burned. The temple has crumbled. Nothing left to that but the underground stuff, and that’s all crumbly and dusty. Um... I saw a dead unicorn. Nothing but bones. Lots of black dragons.....”

Merlin cut me off, “Black?”

“Yeah. I heard they were once golden. Black now. They multiply swiftly! Did they always do that?”

Merlin nodded, “And age swiftly. The life span of a dragon is very short. In no time they are an adult. Then they pass on and turn to dust. That dust then attaches to this mountain.”

“That’s how it got its name then?”

“Yes. The Golden Mountains.” Merlin wiped away a tear, “And you said you saw a unicorn?”

“A dead one, yes.” That broke my heart.

“Griffons?”

“They were alive. They attacked us!”

“They are usually so friendly,” he said. “They do not age or multiply as fast. Nor do the unicorns or pixies. Elves have a life span similar to the dragons. Did you see them?”

“No? There are pixies and elves here too?” Holy shit! Nope, the world is certainly not ready for this!

“Probably dead like the unicorns,” Merlin said, rubbing the pearl with the sleeve of his robe as if he was trying to wipe the blackness off it. “We must get this back to Nimue’s temple. It must be put back into place”

“We have to get back to Arthur. I’m scared for him,” I said, wishing I would turn around and he would be right there.

Merlin lifted the pearl and held it close to his chest, “Come. I think I remember a chant.”

I followed him all the way back to the room where we had left the Sisters. Morgana’s bones were now laying on the bed. Four sisters on either side of her. Merlin placed the pearl on the foot of the bed, laid both his hands on it and started to chant. I don’t what language he was speaking, but it sounded beautiful. The eight standing Sisters folded their boney hands in front of them and bowed their heads.

I watched as the light of the pearl grew brighter. The black started to burn away. I had to shield my eyes from the blinding flash. When I took my hand away the black pearl had changed into a beautiful white one.

“I think I can find my way back. I need to get to Arthur.” Surely he hasn’t been fighting with Modred all this time! I really couldn’t take not knowing if he was okay.

“You go then,” Merlin said, taking his hands from the pearl, “I will follow shortly.”

“Okay.”

“Be careful, child!” he said just before I stepped out of the room. “Modred is a dangerous foe.”

“I’ll be okay,” I said. I hope. “You just finish up whatever you’re up to now.” More chanting, probably. I didn’t stay to see if he would say anything else. I needed to get to Arthur. Not knowing if he was okay or not was eating at me. I dashed down the tunnel as fast as I could, stopping just before the entrance to the room.

I could hear the clashing of metal. They were still fighting! Maybe I hadn’t been gone as long as I thought. If I was gone a long time, surely they would both be tired by now. I peeked around the corner. Arthur had been knocked to the ground. There was blood on his arms and right leg, so he must have been injured badly, but was still blocking blows from Modred's sword. And Modred was swinging hard! I noticed Modred had some blood soaking through his clothes, so at least he was wounded too. Unfortunately, not wounded enough for my liking!

I remembered how I had used a rock to hit a dragon, and wondered if I could get a good aim at Modred's head. Maybe. I searched the ground near my feet but saw no rock that would be of any use. All too small. Shit. I didn’t want to throw my dagger.

Modred lifted his sword back over his head and came down fast and hard. I saw Excalibur get knocked out of Arthur’s hands and fly across the floor. Again, Modred plunged his sword down hard. I swear, I was just about to have a heart attack, but to my relief, Arthur rolled out of the way. Modred swung his blade again, this time catching Arthur’s arm. “No!” I screamed and ran out into the room without thinking any further. As I got a bit closer, I threw my dagger.

I missed.

Modred gave Arthur a hard kick and turned his attention towards me. He reached out and grabbed my arms. “You witch!” he screamed in my face and pushed me to the ground. “And to think I was going to let you live! Going to make you my queen!”

He kicked me in the side and let his right foot slam down hard on my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I gasped out, “You disgust me! I would never be with you!”

He dangled his sword in front of my face, “What should I do with you? Stab you in the stomach and watch you suffer? Stab you in the chest and make it quick? How about I shove this blade between your legs and twist it? Now that would be fun.” He let out a sickening laugh, “But I should have fun with you first, huh? It’s been a long time since I have had a woman.”

“You pig!” I choked out. He was breezing down hard on my stomach.

“Oh, what the heck!” Modred said as he raised his sword high, “Right between the eyes will be just fine!”

I screamed and closed my eyes, waiting for the sharp stab that would end my life. I heard a sickening sound. A whoosh. A crack. The clash of metal near my head. I opened my eyes just as Modred’s headless body tumbled down beside me. I screamed even louder when I saw his head near mine along with the sword he once held. His eyes were open, staring at me.

Arthur pulled me off the floor, “It is over now,” he whispered holding me tight.

I clung to him, sobbing heavily. “I’m so glad you’re okay! I was worried sick.” He grunted in pain so I loosened my grip a bit, “I found them,” I said, sniffing, “I found Merlin and the pearl.”

“That is wonderful!” he said, still keeping a firm grip on me, “and I am glad you are well, also.” He gave me a kiss on my forehead. “Now we just have to get passed the dragons and back to Nimue.”

“That will not be a problem, my friend,” Merlin said, hobbling through the doorway with the aid of a staff, “There is a passage way that leads underground from here to Nimue’s temple.” Hobbling fairly quickly, I might add.

I let go of Arthur so he could embrace his old friend. “It is wonderful to see you again!” Arthur said. “I dare not ask how you have been, for I think I have an idea.”

“A passageway?” I chimed in, still wiping away tears. “We could have bypassed all that trouble? How come Nimue didn’t tell us about the underground passageway? Did she know?”

“There really was no use in telling you about it because you cannot open the entrance on either side without this,” Merlin said holding the staff out to me. The tip of it had several small spikes. “This is a key. And yes, she knew of it. She is the one who had it put there.”

Okay, that made sense. Why tell us about a tunnel when there was no way to go through? I’ll buy that excuse. “Alright,” I said.

“Come,” Merlin said to Arthur, then turned his attention back to me, “There are no more skeletons.”

“That’s good to hear.” I just smiled. I was still feeling a little irritated at the fact there had been a tunnel. A straight through, no hassle, way to get across the island. How much time and energy would that have saved?

Arthur and I followed Merlin back to the room where Morgana and the Sisters were. They were all normal. The eight of them, standing perfectly still, just smiled and bowed their heads at us. Three of them were blonde, one had red hair, one had black hair, and the remaining three were brunettes. All of them had the same style of hair. Straight and long, down to their waists. No layers or bangs, just plain straight. Morgana was still laying on the bed. She had long, wavy, raven black hair that flowed over her shoulders.

“Morgana,” Arthur whispered and knelt down by his sister. I could see his eyes were glossy with tears.

“The pearl has restored her, but she needs the Grail to live again,” Merlin said, placing his hand on the pearl that was still on the foot of the bed. “We will need to carry her to Nimue’s temple.”

One of the blonde Sisters stepped forward, “Perhaps we could use the blanket that she is laying on now, Master Merlin?”

“Yes, Hanna,” Merlin said, “We could do that.” He turned to me, “Come here, lady Chloe,” he said, holding out his hand. I inched closer and stood next to him. “This is Hanna,” he said, pointing his hand in her direction. Then he pointed to the red haired Sister, “This is Elsa.” The second blonde, “Vivian.” One of the brunettes, “Floree.”

Then, on the opposite side of the bed, the third blonde, “Nyneve.” The two other brunettes, “Linette, Ninianne, and” then the black haired Sister, “Helaine.”

“It is nice to meet all of you,” I said, shyly. I was never really good at meeting new people.

Merlin placed his hand on my shoulder, “And this is Chloe,” he said to the Sisters. They all did a little curtsy in unison. “Come now, all of you!” He tapped his staff on the floor and scooped up the pearl in his arms, “Prepare the blanket. We shall leave at once!”

Arthur gently kissed Morgana’s forehead before the Sisters wrapped her up. He then returned to my side, “You will soon be able to go home.”

“It will be a relief to get back!” I couldn’t help but smile. My smile down turned slightly when I noticed the look of disappointment in his eyes. He turned away and stepped out of the room before I had a chance to ask him what the matter was. Would he miss me? I know I will certainly miss him.

Merlin smiled at me as he moved aside to let the Sisters carry Morgana’s body out of the room, “It will be a long walk,” he said. “Will you be able to manage alright?”

I’m guessing I looked pretty worn out. “Yes,” I said, smiling back. “I think I can manage a long walk.” A normal walk will be a piece of cake!

“Good!” he said, “We should come out through one of the large stones in the circle.” He grinned, “If my memory serves me correctly.”

I just smiled and followed the procession down through a tunnel. Merlin took the lead and led us all down a flight of stairs that had been hidden behind a secret door. At the bottom of the stairs was a large boulder. Merlin pointed the head of the staff at it and as he pushed it close I noticed several small holes. The spikes on the staff fit perfectly. When the connection was fully made, Merlin gave a little push and the boulder started to glow. A pulsating glow. Then dissolved completely, revealing a torch-lit tunnel. A very long tunnel. “Everyone in.” he said, waving us along, “Just follow the tunnel.”