Present year: 2023

Lastshire

[Marty's POV]

As instructed by Master Merlin, I had returned to Lastshire, where, just as the high priestess finished explaining my role to me in the events which were supposed to follow, I was asked to retrieve my masters' mortal forms: their bodies, from the past. Unfortunately, by the time I had made it to them, Mistress Morgana's body was already burnt beyond repair. 

The high priestess, however, had assured me that she would take care of it and that I must not disclose what had happened here to Master Merlin when I met him next. After that, I was dismissed once more, only to be summoned back shortly after to be introduced to Master Merlin from the past. 

I found how he looked at me: apprehensive and suspicious, odd. It struck me then how close I had gotten to Master Merlin, and now that I was a stranger to him, it bothered me more than I wanted to admit. I hated that he was treating me like I would a nosy relative at a party I didn't want to go to in the first place. 

Then with the help of the High priestess and her mysterious friend, Balinor, who I had thought to be dead, we convinced Master Merlin that the stone of Erer was safe with me. 

But to make things right, I needed to manipulate the past. After two short trips alone, the high priestess instructed me to 921 one last time. This time, however, I was not alone. To guide me through the land that Master Merlin called home a thousand years ago, the high priestess had sent his consciousness along with me.

With my master's soul safe inside the stone of Erer, the high priestess, as we had discussed earlier, dropped us right in front of the tree that my master and mistress had trapped themselves in a millennium ago. 

***

The year: 921

Albion

Though I had been to 921 twice before, this was the first time I would get to look around. The forest was dense. My magic buzzed inside me, begging to be let out. This was probably because of the elm tree- standing tall, lush, and proud- it was a sight to behold. 

The fact that I would be the one to cut down this magnificent tree broke something in me, but I had no choice. It had to be done. "Master," I whispered from under my cloak of concealment, "I am sorry for what I am about to do now."

'A heads up would be nice.' Master drawled, 'You said that I am your master; it's the least you can do, am I right?'

It was truly unfair that the priestess had left it to me to do all the explaining to my master about what we had been sent here to do. After all, for this Merlin, the one who was tagging along with me in the amulet, I was nothing but a stranger. Yes, we had interacted earlier, but it was only once. Moreover, in his memory, I was someone who had helped save Lady Morgana once, ten years ago.

Taking a deep breath, I bit my lips and blurted. "I need to keep you safe and hidden. The tree, your current residence, is not easy to hide," I paused, hoping he would take my next words like a champ. "Master, I got to chop down your tree and transfigure it into a table. I will try to turn it into something nice, but I already know I will do a terrible job."

'You don't make a lick of sense, lad. Can you be more specific?' Master was angry; it scared the crap out of me. 

"I need to transform the tree into a coffee table and kinda mutilate it," I added hesitantly, moving my thumb over the amulet, hoping it would calm him down. It didn't.

'Lad, you are testing my patience. Just tell me the truth and be done with it.' Master commanded, and I obliged. 

After I finished explaining what we were expected to do, my master- sounding entirely defeated- asked to confirm, 'So, you want to chop down this beautiful tree, turn it into furniture, and cut a hole in its center, rendering it useless and then hide the piece you took from it and the amulet in a safe place, am I getting this right?'

"Yes," I replied in a small guilt-ridden voice. 

'Fine. I can't really blame you; I let Arthur down first,' he spoke from the amulet; regret dripped for every syllable. 

"I am sorry, master." 

'Don't be,' he said before falling silent for a few seconds. I could almost sense the gears in his mind turn, and then, 'Let's not waste time, Marty. We have a lot to do and not enough time. Let's get a move on then, shall we?'

As always, he was right. "Yes, master," I replied, and we got to work. 

By the time we had finished, Master Merlin had filled me in on our next course of action. With the coffee table tucked under my arm, we made our way to Blimpot, where we found a Wyllt who went by the name Merlot. He was my master's fifth cousin twice removed. 

After making his acquaintance, I convinced him to invest in a plot of land in a less-than-ideal location on the eastern border of Camelot: present-day Oadley. 

Before Merlot left to sign the land deed, he invited us to a meal, introducing us to his mum, wife, and two children. The younger one, a boy who looked no more than four, was a splitting image of my master. I reckoned we had strong genes in our family, or it was simply a Wyllt thing. 

As soon as Merlot had introduced his family to me, Master Merlin had fallen silent, only to speak when I was taking my leave. 

'Hand the chair over to the young one.' He instructed before adding, 'Tell Merlot that as long as this table stays in Wyllt residence, no harm shall befall them. If you can't convince him with words, use magic.'

Convincing people was a gift I lacked, so I jumped to the second option. After handing over the now-mutilated coffee table to the child- who seemed to love it- I used magic to convince him that the table needed to stay. I also put a charm on the furniture as a precautionary measure that bound it to the child, ensuring it never left the Wyllt residence. 

This was not the first time I had used magic in this Albion of 921. From locating Merlot Wyllt to making him think that investing in a useless piece of land was the best decision he would ever make, I had used magic every step of the way.

After taking care of the matter- with my master's guidance- I teleported my not-so-fat butt to the Pendragon Castle, where Arthur Pendragon (my idol) was born and raised. It was good that we were invisible to all and sundry, thanks to the high priestess's concealment charm. 

Imagine our surprise when we heard The Queen's ladies-in-waiting discussing her pregnancy. 

'Guin is with child!' I heard Master Merlin exclaim. The joy in his voice almost moved me to tears. "It would appear so, Master." I concurred.

'I need to see her.' Master commanded, and despite my reluctance to enter The Queen's chamber, I did so anyway. 

The woman sleeping on the four-poster bed seemed familiar. Her dark hair rested over her shoulders, and her thick, defined brows were pulled together in concentration. Her lips parted and quivered as we neared her, and tears slipped out of the corner of her closed eyes, "Merlin… " she whispered and woke up with a start and pulled her purple-colored quilt to her chest. "Where are you, Merlin? Arthur left me, and so have you. You were supposed to be my pillar. Who should I trust now?" she glanced at me then, and I stopped breathing only to realize she couldn't see me. She left a shaky breath and smiled, "I am with child, my friend. Come back soon, will you? Camelot needs you." 

I felt wetness on my cheeks. I was crying and knew in my gut that my master was too. 

'Guin,' I heard my master whisper; a soft sob left him a moment later. I stood rooted to the floor, awaiting instructions. I couldn't imagine what he was going through; after all, it would be the last time he would see her. 

'Lad,' my master's voice broke my reprieve. 'We need to make her go back to sleep,' he said with resolution. 

Once The Queen was asleep, with my master's help, I placed an eleven-hundred-year concealment charm on the chamber and all the Pendragon queens who would occupy it in the centuries to come. Afterward, Master Merlin ordered me to prick The Queen's finger and then mine; mingling our blood, he asked me to cast a charm of enlightenment on the Pendragon blood so that no one except a Wyllt could recognize Arthur when he would be reborn to take the reins of Camelot in his hands again. 

The last enchantment we put on Camelot was one of bloodline power. It was to make sure that no one could challenge Queen Guinevere for the throne, and as long as a Wyllt existed in Albion, a Pendragon would sit on the throne. 

With the line of succession taken care of, Master Merlin and I left to fulfill our final mission together.

Back at Blimpot, we entered Merlot's house undetected, where I extracted master Merlin's soul from the stone of Erer and returned him to the coffee table next to a now-slumbering mistress Morgana.

"See you in eleven hundred years, master," I muttered, caressing the coffee table's top. "I will reject you at first. Please don't give up on me and wait for me to come around. I will cooperate," I promised and bid him a warm farewell. 

It was a given that Master Merlin would have a tough time explaining his absence to Mistress Morgana, but I knew he would succeed. After all, even the blind could see that the man was head over heels for her.

The last part of the mission was for me to do on my own. Recalling what Dwight had told me about where 'the packages' were found, I teleported to the spot. It belonged to a nobleman. Retrieving the heartwood from my sachel, I wrapped it in a fabric the high priestess had entrusted in my care, with instructions to place a blood sacrifice charm on it. 'The blood of the known.' she had called it, but before she could explain the intricacies of the spell, she was called away, and I was left with half-baked knowledge of that particular spell. 

Technically, I knew what needed to be done, so without wasting time, I removed the amulet from around my neck and gave it the same treatment as the heartwood. Doing so, I wrote a note I would be reading eleven hundred years from now; pasting it on the packages, I hid the items in a hidden compartment between two walls. 

When I was sure I had done everything I was supposed to, I closed my eyes and muttered the spell that would take me home, "Dumas no haihus!"