Ever My Merlin

chapter 1 – ENDINGS

Forever. I ached for it. I hurt for it in places that didn’t have a name. I wanted it. I wanted it for my friends. I wanted it from my family. The world. Like anyone, I imagined some kind of forever for myself—whether good or bad—then, it was snatched out from under me.

The ghostly faces of seven billion people shimmered in a wall of water that stretched from earth all the way up to the heavens. As I faced the giant wave, I made a wish. I wished to change my fate. I wished to live.

How had I gotten here?

One word—tsunami. Wave after giant wave of ocean turbulence devastated the coastlines across the world. New Zealand. Australia. Hawaii. California. Indonesia. India. Five volcanoes started it all. Erupting simultaneously, they threw the whole world into a nightmarish scenario. Relief agencies that were strained dealing with just one hotspot struggled to cover five. However, it wasn’t just the hotspots that were impacted. The effects bounded out into a radius of pure chaos.

In Hawaii, the Wizard Council summoned the wizards who lived there, a surprisingly high number, to stand on the rocky cliffs and push back the onslaught of water. As the underwater volcano, Loihi, spewed out of control, it gave birth to a new island, a birth that wasn’t supposed to happen for another hundred thousand years. The vassal of the Earth Shaker had woken. The Fisher King, and I’d woken him.

I was halfway across the world from Hawaii. My legs were rooted on a flat, concrete rooftop, at the top of a square, white building, in a row of identical white buildings. Other wizards lined up beside me, evenly spread across fifty or so roofs. We faced the ocean, which, just a few days ago, had been a haven of tranquility and peace for the city behind us.

I couldn’t see the beach anymore. There was no beach. Wave after wave assaulted the shoreline, overrunning the mile-long expanse of sand that stretched from the buildings to the water’s edge.

Squatty steel and concrete buildings, only two stories high, were the last barricade as the water relentlessly tried to inundate the crowded metropolis of Chennai, India.

Its vibrant, noisy city streets, usually packed with three-wheeled rickshaws, bicycles, and cars, were abandoned and silent. Millions of people, a rainbow of brightly colored cotton and spice, had to be evacuated from their homes in the wake of the tsunami alerts. The blare of sirens sounded ceaselessly. Somewhere behind me the static-laden voice of a radio announcer described the panic-stricken chaos caused by the mass exodus.

On the rooftop, Matt took my hand.

I looked up into his tired amber eyes, somewhere deep inside a battle-scarred soul, their brilliant depths banked with faint power. Lelex’s torture still lingered, and now I was asking for more. My fingers intertwined with his. He inclined his head in tacit support, unruly, auburn curls brushing his forehead.

Grey took up my left. After him, Gia stood holding hands with Blake. The four of us, tied together by our common bond as Candidates to pull Excalibur from the stone, faced a horror from which only the sword could save us. In my free hand, I gripped it. It was King Arthur’s sword once, a long time ago. Now, it was mine. Its power hummed in my hand, and sweat filled my palm. It was ready. But was I?

In my free hand, I gripped Excalibur. It was King Arthur’s sword once, a long time ago. Now, it was mine. Its power hummed in my hand, and sweat filled my palm. It was ready. But was I?

Earlier this morning, Matt, the gang, and I left Greece to fly to Indonesia. Three volcanoes had exploded, spewing smoke, ash, and lava across the island chain. In the northern region of Sumatra, the Toba caldera was the site of a supervolcano. The eruption had caused a massive global climate change about eighty thousand years ago. Only two hundred years ago in 1815, Mount Tambora’s eruption, a nearby stratovolcano, instigated a volcanic winter, resulting in a worldwide famine that reached all the way to North America.

No matter which scenario we faced this time, it wasn’t good.

On our way, though, we were derailed. Matt and I saw a vision of a massive underwater earthquake farther north in the Indian Ocean. This one occurred near the Andaman Islands, sending shockwaves across the Bay of Bengal to the eastern coast of India.

One call from Matt to the head of the Wizard Council, the First Member, and the private plane carrying us changed course, making an emergency landing at the Chennai International Airport. Several black Mitsubishi SUVs whisked us from the airport toward the beaches. Twelve of us came from Greece—my brother Grey, my best friends Gia and Blake, Colin, three gargoyles, three wizards, and of course, Matt and me. I glanced at my friends. They’d all become my family. After what we’d gone through in Greece, I wouldn’t have blamed them if they’d wanted to stay behind. They refused to leave my side.

Blake’s words had been memorably British. “Not likely you’re going to leave us out of the adventure.”

Adventure, this was not.

Sirens started blaring through the city in the middle of our drive as the Indian Ocean disaster warning systems finally caught up to what we already knew. We dodged panicked pedestrians, scooters, and an occasional cow randomly wandering through the dusty streets. The leader of the local underground contingent of wizards, a surprisingly young twenty-year-old named Hari, drove down the crowded streets with a grim expression. Half an hour later, we pushed through the stampede of evacuees to reach the beaches at the edge of the city.

Hari stopped in front of a row of white buildings. I could smell the ocean behind them, and hear the rush of the waves. It evoked memories of cawing seagulls, gentle sunny days, beach blankets, and sweet ice cream. However, this was not that beach. Not today.

Beyond the building, past the solitude of the beach, impending rage simmered in the roaring darkness. I stared up at sulky, grey clouds as we got out of the SUV. Residents hurried past us with bulging suitcases, so focused on their own escape they didn’t even give us curious looks.

With Matt beside him, Hari led us into the building and up a narrow, concrete staircase. Hari told him, “I’ve asked everyone to gather in the other buildings. This house is at the center, so it will be the best for you, Master-ji.”

“Good work,” Matt replied.

Hari beamed under the simple praise, giving Matt the awe-struck expression that all the wizards inevitably seemed to get around him. We emerged from a short doorway. I looked out across what seemed like a never-ending sea of rooftops. In either direction from us, men and women spread out in what must have been a mile-long line. Those nearest to us watched the quiet ocean with petrified expressions.

I asked, “How did you gather so many wizards so quickly?”

Hari gave me a curious look. “Keltoi magic originated from here, of course. Many live close to this region.”

Of course. I knew practically nothing about the origin of magic, or the Keltoi, as the wizards called themselves. As a “Regular,” I’d only been taught enough to stay alive.

“Every city along the coast has been readied per the orders of the Council. We have formed a line of defense from here to Kolkotta. We are ready to do whatever it takes.”

“I doubt any of us are truly ready,” Matt said.

I elbowed him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t being dramatic. Whether we succeeded or failed, I had no illusions that stopping a tsunami in its tracks was a task we’d survive. I took out a knife from my pocket and held it up to him.

“Aayat,” Matt said.

In a faint whisper of blue light, the knife lengthened into a sword. The blade glinted in the dim light, its power throbbing for all to see. Across the rooftops, all eyes turned in my direction.

A slim girl in braids hurried to Hari. Her eyes locked on Excalibur. “You brought her. We are saved.”

I tried not to cringe from the expectation in her eyes. Unconsciously, I took a step closer to Matt. My fingers curled around the famous sword. I had to believe I could do this.

Hari put an arm around the girl’s shoulder. “Merlin has brought us hope, Sangeetha. He will not let this defeat us.”

Sangeetha put her head into Hari’s shoulder. Her young face lighting up, she told him, “Neither will you, husband.”

Hari grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The tender look he gave her hit me like a sucker punch. A sudden vision of Vane’s smile (arrogant with a hint of reluctant sweetness) flashed in my mind, and I had to look away. It was all too fresh.

I walked to the edge of the rooftop, raising Excalibur in the air, my palms slippery with sweat. Gia, Blake, and Matt fanned out on either side. Grey and the gargoyles gathered just behind. Another string of wizards extended down both sides of me, all looking toward Excalibur. I prayed they would not be disappointed.

“It’s coming,” Hari said.

The surf on the beach receded. Further out in the ocean, a wall of water, the tsunami, rose up like the giant hand of an ancient god.

Then, it was upon us.

It rushed toward the rooftops. For a moment, its colossal majesty froze me solid and my world became a giant fishbowl. To my right, Matt muttered, “Sphara,” and faint blue magic flowed from him. The other wizards followed his lead and chanted along.

I lifted Excalibur higher in front of me. Magic flowed to it from the wizards. I could feel the sword absorbing and magnifying it. The weight of the magic pressed down on me and I struggled to stay upright under the onslaught. A magic veil spread out from the sword and solidified to form a shield, an invisible wall, between the colossal wave and us.

Water bombarded my shield like a hurricane pouring down on a single umbrella. The wizards kept chanting their magic, trying to reinforce the umbrella. The tsunami deluge was ceaseless.

I dug my heels in and braced against the power of the wave that threatened to blow me backward into a watery oblivion. My hand, now squeezing tighter than I ever thought possible, clutched the sword and I hung on for… one second… one minute… one hour… forever.

Finally, an undefined moment in time later, Gia fell to her knees with a defeated gasp. Blake pulled her back up, supporting her. One-by-one, the wizards started to collapse. The shield was weakening. From the corner of my eye, I saw the edge of the rooftop. Hari and about half the wizards struggled to hang on.

My hands, grasping Excalibur, throbbed and I tried not to drop it.

Grey walked up from behind me, grabbing the hilt from one side. I blinked as Excalibur’s weight eased. On my other side, Matt stood completely still.

His eyes were closed. “Hold on, Ryan.”

“We won’t let you fall.” Blake moved to the open spot at Matt’s right.

The shield held with renewed fortification. I could almost see power draining from them into the blue shield. From the cold weight of the Dragon’s Eye around my neck, I felt their souls emptying. He and the remaining wizards were going to flame out; and when that happened, nothing would be left alive in the shell of their bodies. Flaming out was every wizard’s worst nightmare—to use up your life force to strengthen your magic. I couldn’t let that happen. But I wasn’t sure how to stop it.

I held onto Excalibur even as my arms throbbed and my muscles burned for relief. The wave continued to beat down on us in a never-ending torrent. The weakened shield started to crack, and water began to seep in. I could hear screams coming from the surrounding rooftops. Water swallowed several rooftops in its merciless advance.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek until I tasted my own blood. The pain helped me refocus my mind. I had to do something. Closing my eyes, I gave all of myself. An invisible hand reached inside my body and scooped out my very insides. My life force enriched the flagging magic—at a price. I could feel a feeble weakness hollowing my bones.

“No.” A harsh voice boomed in my head.

Vane. He spoke to me through the amulet, the Dragon’s Eye. A shot of intense longing sped through my veins. At least I would know him one last time, before I knew nothing more at all.

“Not yet, DuLac. I have use for you still.” From somewhere in the world—I had no idea where—he yanked open a door between us.

Power flowed to me through the amulet. Vane linked through his brother who linked to me. A surge of magic filled me, green and thick, hungry and strong.

And angry. So very angry.

My eyes snapped open. The new magic shoved me aside to feed Excalibur, sparing my lifeforce. The blue of the shield turned a muddy green and hardened with power. A faint hum filled the air. I caught a taste of the ocean, not the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, but the briny Atlantic.

The cracks on the shield disappeared, and the onslaught of water was stemmed. The thrust of the tsunami now pattered against the invisible wall like the gentle spraying of a spring rain. Another few minutes passed and it was all over. The tsunami subsided; the shield winked out. Magic rippled back into the wizards. Its powerful wave, a backlash, slammed us.

I fell against hard concrete. It took several seconds for me to hear the blood pound against my eardrums once again. Pushing with my palms, I propped myself up. The world around me laid unearthly quiet. Behind me, Grey and the three gargoyles groaned as they stirred on the ground. I dared to look around me.

Strewn across the rooftops, where wizards once stood, their bodies now slumped… unmoving. Nausea spiraled its way up my throat.

Grey pushed himself up and looked around him. Shell-shocked, he said, “Are they all…?” He didn’t finish the thought. He didn’t need to.

Looking for Matt, I spotted his still form, lying on the concrete, flat on his back. A panicky feeling overwhelmed me. When I saw the faintest rise and fall of his chest, I exhaled a ragged breath. My palms scraped against cold, hard concrete as I pushed myself into a sitting position. I told Grey, “We have to check them all. They might still be alive.”

Aside from me, only Grey and the gargoyles woke up right away. Grey went to Blake. Blake sat up and nudged Gia. She smiled at him weakly. With a shaky grin, Blake pulled her into a protective hug. My chest swelled with happiness at the sight of them—a glimmer of light in the middle of the darkest storm. Hari woke up next. About one in four of the Indian wizards—the strongest ones—woke up. But the rest didn’t.

The gargoyles raided several of the flats in the building and found bed sheets to cover the ones who didn’t… the ones who were never going to awaken.

An hour later, Blake balanced on a narrow ledge, staring out over the rainbow of bed sheets with a bleak expression.

“Blake, get down!” Gia marched over to him. She yanked him toward her, her body shaking with anger. After punching him in the chest, she asked, “What are you doing?”

Blake ran two hands through his hair. “I-I don’t know. I never imagined it could be like this.”

“I know,” she whispered. Blake pulled her close and wrapped his hands around her waist.

I went to a weather-beaten cot in one corner of the rooftop. Grey laid Matt on top of it. Hari walked up to me and asked, “Is he…?”

I touched Matt’s neck, to reassure myself, more than anything. “His pulse is weak, but he’s alive. I don’t know why he won’t wake up.”

I touched a hand to the Dragon’s Eye, the amulet he’d given me.

“Matt.” Inside my head, I called for him, but I got no response. Always before, his presence stayed with me, connecting us as long as I wore it. Now, there was nothing but a great void when I called to him.

“This is not good,” Hari said.

I looked at him. “What is the word from the rest of the coast?”

Hari smoothed his plaid, short-sleeved cotton shirt. There was a faint tremble in his hands. Sangeetha and another wizard, a younger version of Hari, came up to us. Sangeetha put a hand on Hari’s back. The tension in his shoulders eased a fraction.

He said, “Our friends in Kolkotta suffered much worse than we did. Only one-third survived. Over five hundred flamed out.”

I sat on a jute-strung cot. My fingers tightened on the coarse, khaki fibers bent tightly around the wooden frame. The rough material dug painfully into my skin. I took a steadying breath and looked out at the eerily quiet ocean.

Hari continued, “That is not the worst of it. I’ve been in touch with the RTSPs—the Regional Tsunamis of the South Pacific advisors—they are predicting another quake within the hour. They think this one will happen farther south. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says the same. This time, they expect it to hit every country in the Bay of Bengal. Sri Lanka, Chennai, Kolkotta. All the way up to Bangladesh and even Thailand, the Andaman Islands, and Indonesia—Banda Aceh—will get the worst of it.”

In 2004, the tsunami that hit the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh and its surrounding islands claimed the lives of an estimated one hundred and thirty thousand people. Forty thousand more were said to be missing. I knew because I read the statistics while on our flight to the island country. As strong as that tsunami was, it hadn’t even come close to the shores of India. My eyes glanced over the rows of covered bodies across the rooftop. Even at full strength, we couldn’t combat such a strong quake.

I looked down at Matt. Our best hope.

“We need him,” Hari said, reading my expression. “Without him, you do not have enough magic, sword-bearer.”

“He’s still weak from our fight with the mermaids.” I sat down next to Matt. “Can we evacuate?”

Hari shook his head in a manner that could have been either “yes” or “no.” He said, “Chennai is mostly flat, but maybe.”

“Then go now,” I said. “Try.”

“Is there no hope, then?”Hari’s youthful face blanched.

“There’s always hope.” I had to believe that.

“Very American of you to say,” Sangeetha commented. “Luckily, we are just as optimistic.”

Hari broke into a reckless smile that seemed to lighten his weary features. “I’ve made my peace. If there’s any chance, then I must be here to do whatever is necessary. There are over four million people in Chennai alone. There is no way they could all evacuate. If there is the slightest hope… I will stay. I must.” He turned to Sangeetha and took her hand. “But you will go,” he ordered. He put her hand into another wizard’s hand. “Raj, take her out of here.”

In the wind, her black braids swayed with hypnotic calm. Sangeetha tore her hand away from Raj. She faced Hari. “I don’t take orders, Master Hari. We made a vow and I, for one, took it seriously. I go where you go. I stay where you stay.”

Raj protested. “But, Sangeetha, he’s right. It’s not safe—”

“It’s not safe for anybody,” she stated. “And don’t try to force me. You’ve never agreed with him before. Now’s not the time to start.”

With a glare at the two brothers, she stalked off.

“You knew she was stubborn when you married her,” Raj told Hari.

Hari watched his wife walk away with a frown. “I should spell her.”

“If you do, you’ll be eating gobi at every meal for the rest of your life,” Raj said. He and Hari grimaced at the same time and exchanged an exasperated smile.

I sympathized—with Sangeetha. The two brothers reminded me a little too much of the two who’d recently taken over my life.

Above us, the sky darkened to a forsaken, steel grey. The sharp scent of the ocean permeated the air, filling my nostrils. I knew the advisors were right. We hadn’t seen the last wave, nor had we seen the strongest wave yet. I looked around me. Blake and Gia held each other closely while staring out at the ocean. Grey knelt down on one knee, the fabric of his T-shirt clinging to him, to tuck a cotton sheet gently around a fallen wizard. So few of us remained. I looked down at Matt.

The wind ruffled his slightly long hair. His auburn curls fluttered under the soft breeze, framing his face. It was the only movement his body made. I took his icy fingers, wrapping them in mine.

I remembered the day I first met him. It seemed a long time ago, even though it was actually only about five months. The beginning of the school year. Now, we were deep into spring. Almost April. Almost prom. Almost graduation. With all the school I missed in the past month, though, I doubted I could graduate. The stray thought was laughable because it was highly unlikely that I would even survive today.

A slap of wind hit my face, chilling me. Like a boa constrictor tightening around my body, my dwindling hope threatened to squeeze the life out of me. I looked down at Matt’s still face and clutched his fingers as hard as I could. “C’mon, Matt, wake up. I can’t do this without you.”

Closing my eyes, I grasped the amulet. The amulet he’d made. The ruby gemstone heated as I slipped into his mind, seeking him. His name was Matt. His name was Merlin.

***

I noticed him right away. No, it wasn’t his lean, rugged face. Or the dark waves of shiny hair that hung just a little too long on his forehead. It wasn’t the slim, collarless biker jacket he wore, hugging his lean shoulders. It was the way he stood. The confident way he waited in the cafeteria line to get a slice of pizza. He didn’t saunter. He didn’t amble. He stood at the center, and let the other people buzz around him. His stance was straight and sure.

He could have ruled the world.

He showed up in my history class that morning. It was his first week. New school year. Our senior year. It was hard for me to believe I made it this far. Hard to believe I was sitting in school as a normal person and not in a padded cell, after what happened. I blinked and reminded myself that I was okay. I got rescued—in a sense. I had begun a new life, and now all I had to do was get through one year of high school. Easy, right?

Maybe I’d even venture out of my comfort zone and actually talk to a guy.

As if he could feel my eyes upon him, the new guy looked up. Amber eyes focused on me, peering into my soul as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. Gads, I hoped not. He smiled with straight, even teeth.

The dull grey of my afternoon lifted. My breath caught.

I almost choked on a half-eaten celery stick.

Coughing, my cheeks heated with embarrassment. I pried my gawking face away from the long, cool drink that came in the form of a six-foot-tall, biker jacket-wearing boy.

His name was Matt. Matt Emrys.