Merlin shot his hand out, feebly blocking the large being’s massive hand. “Do not touch him! I warn you, Cantus. You who go by your planet’s name, you know something of unity. You are all one on Cantus. So are we on Camelot. This may be Uther’s son, and Uther may have killed this brother of yours, but we are one as well. I will not let you touch this boy. Our future and our past depend on it.”
Bruin roared through his helmet like an angered lion. “Stupid D.R.U.I.D! You will all burn in Cantus’s fire!” He lunged for the baby again, but was not ready for Merlin’s defense.
Quicker than a flash grenade, Merlin reached through the ample folds of his robe to his legs and pulled two separate, ornate Avalonian metal rods out and linked them together to form a metal staff his exact height. With a hidden strength, he slammed it into the ground, gathering the kinetic energy and throwing the Cantus being away from him and the baby.
Breathing, he posed for battle. “I dare you to try that again, Cantus,” he said. “You have attacked our king’s son and have now declared war on all of Camelot. Uther will know.”
Bruin stood up and shook himself off like a wet dog. His breathing a deep growl like that of a bull as he eyed Merlin up and down.
“One lucky stroke, D.R.U.I.D,” he said. “But you are right. War has been waged. Tell Uther this: The son of Cantus, Horsa, will be avenged. Uther has struck the first blow by killing him out of anger and Cantus will retaliate in kind. Uther, beware. The hell planet is waiting to strike.”
With one final snort, Bruin took off with his wings then vanished in a puff of odd black dust. Merlin gasped and clutched his heart. Kinetic energy was a hard power to channel through his body. If it hadn’t been for the highly reverberant Avalonian metal that comprised his staff, he and the baby would be dead.
But now he had lost precious time. He had saved the child, but sacrificed Igrain.
19
A Soldier’s Death
“Vivian!” Merlin called in his mind to the other D.R.U.I.D. “I need you in the med bay of Castle Pendragon. It’s Igrain, she’s given birth.” He wanted Nimueh there, but she could not be trusted as her love for Uther would drive her to tell him of his son’s birth.
A medical team awaited them on the dock of the hangar. He had no choice but to call ahead and tell them that Igrain was ill and dying. When they docked, the team rushed in, clothed in tight-fitting pollution suits for protection and masks over their faces. Merlin didn’t know what the Mist pollution would do to other humans, but he, being D.R.U.I.D, seemed to be unaffected.
“The D.R.U.I.D doctors must work with her,” he panted, gathering the baby in his arms. “The toxin may be harmful to humans.”
A nurse came forward and tried to take the baby from his arms, but he pulled back. “No, I must watch over him.”
“Sir, that baby looks ill,” she reasoned. “Very pale and his veins are pulsing an unhealthy color. I must get him under observation.”
Torn between wanting the child to be alright and wanting to protect his and Uther’s secret, Merlin hesitated. Which was more important right now: Uther’s treachery towards Igrain or the child’s life? This child’s life was worth more than his current existence. So much depending his living. The entirety of existence depending on his small, frail shoulders.
With a moan of anguish, Merlin handed the baby over. “Please, do not do anything to the child until I am there. I must stay with his mother.”
“Some air and clean food will help him.” She took the baby from his clutching fingers. “We’ll lay them near each other.” She smiled sweetly.
“Merlin!” It was Vivian. She ran to his side, panting and clutching her flowing D.R.U.I.D robes in her arms. She still glowed from being at the circle. “A ripple has formed in the Crono-sphere. Something has disturbed the time continuum. Something was pulled out and then replaced, I think.”
“Yes.” He led her off the dock and out of the wind as they spoke. “Vivian, there is so much I wish I could tell you right now, but Igrain is ill. She went to Excalibur and the Mist engine leaked somehow.”
“Our technology is not perfect, Merlin, we have our faults.” She skipped every other step to keep up with him.
“I know, but it’s still odd to me. It’s been sedentary for so long; I didn’t think this would happen. What caused it?”
“Merlin, these things happen,” she said. She gathered her breath as Merlin scanned his retinas to be let into the next level. The D.R.U.I.D labs were hidden away on the seventh level basement. “Unless,” she thought more to herself than to him. “There is something you’re not telling me about this child. Is he… human?”
“Yes,” he said shortly.
The next few floors he covered in silence and began to walk faster until he was jogging down the halls. The lights were dimmer and a red tint covered them all. Vivian and Merlin’s skin glowed with an iridescent whiteness in the strange light.
“What is this light?” she inquired.
“To discern Avalonians from the humans.”
At that moment, as if to illustrate his point, a group of heavily armed guards walked past. Their faces were covered and the only skin visible didn’t glow as they walked past the D.R.U.I.Ds. Their eyes followed them for a few paces.
“You are not trusted in Uther’s court,” Vivian mused. “You seem to be wielding greater powers than I imagined. Will you stay and make this planet yours?” She judged him as she spoke. “That is not how we should do this. We are too strong.”
Merlin didn’t answer right away. He opened a glass chamber and ushered her in where they were sanitized before being let into the lab. Inside, the light gleamed soft and a white-ish blue.
