Chapter 5

When Merlin awoke he felt strangely sluggish, almost as if he hadn't slept at all. He pulled himself from his bed and managed a brief wash using the stone basin of water in one corner of the cave. The cool water helped to waken him fully and he shuffled through to the main area of the ground floor of the cave.

He tried to focus on what he had planned to do today, but found it difficult. There was something important that needed his attention, he knew it, but he couldn't quite remember what it was. Taking a seat, he fed more wood onto the remaining embers in his fireplace and watched somewhat vacantly as the flames began to fan.

"Good morning, master. Are you going to be teaching me today?"

Merlin recognised Nimue's voice and he shook himself to try and figure out whether that was what he was trying to remember. Was the important thing teaching Nimue more of his lore or was it something else?

"Do not tax yourself so, Merlin. You know that my lesson today is the most important thing. I am on my way to you now."

Once Nimue's voice disappeared, Merlin felt his tiredness lessen and an image of a boy appeared in his head. There was something important about the boy. He tried to focus on the image, letting his gaze sink into the dancing flames of the fire.

A picture of the boy appeared to him. He was standing beside a young girl and Merlin identified King Eochaid of Dalriada lying on a bed in the room they were in. He sensed they were all worried about something and he was able to identify the imminent arrival of a large force of Britons from Strathclyde.

Merlin realised that King Beli of Strathclyde had been dissembling when he had advised Arthur he was raising troops to support him. It seemed clear now that the men of Strathclyde had been merely waiting for an opportunity to attack and subdue Dalriada. He was aware of the enmity between the two tribes, going back to Aedan's harsh treatment of Strathclyde before his death, and knew that Eochaid and the boy were in grave danger.

"Eoric, you must flee, avoid the men from Strathclyde if you possibly can. They mean to take and hold Dalriada for themselves and killing Eochaid and his family will be a key part of that."

He stopped sending his message as he felt his strength seeping away.

"Merlin, I hear you and I am aware of the danger. I'll do my best to get the King and his daughter to safety. There is something wrong with you; I can sense it, a sickness of the mind perhaps. Draw on my strength and renew yourself for I know I will need to rely on your advice and guidance in the days and weeks to come," Eoric responded.

Merlin felt a jolt of power surge through his body and he felt better, stronger, than he had in days. Along with the strength came a dim awareness of a cloud within his own head. It was a fleeting glimpse of something that shouldn't be there and he tried to focus his attention on it, his increased power allowing him to control the direction of his thoughts better.

"Master, what are you taxing yourself with now? I sense you are expending a great deal of energy on something. Is it what I am to learn today?" Nimue said as she entered Merlin's cave.

Merlin immediately felt himself lose his connection to Eoric and the thread he had been trying to follow into his own thoughts was also severed. A feeling of lassitude washed over him and he asked himself why he was trying so hard to identify the shadow, how important could it be anyway?

Nimue had caught a glimpse of the boy Merlin was connected with when she had entered the cave, but couldn't follow that thread because she realised Merlin was exploring that area of his mind that she had embedded her spells. It was imperative that he not uncover what she had done and she had to quickly address that by leeching his power to help re-inforce the mental blocks she had placed.

She was very worried at this loss of control. Where had he gained the energy to do this? When she had last connected with him he was barely able to keep a conscious thought in his head. Something had happened to give him strength and the fact that she didn't know what that was concerned her. Nothing could interfere with her plans. Who was this boy? She sensed there was a connection there that needed to be identified.

Eoric sensed the presence of Merlin and listened to the warning the wizard was trying to pass on. He responded by assuring him that he knew what the dangers were. His connection allowed him to feel just how tired and run down Merlin was and he mentally tried to channel some of his energy down the thread between them to strengthen the old wizard. He also tried to explore the black spot in Merlin's mind that he had sensed previously. Before he could do so however, his connection was abruptly cut and he was left with a picture of a beautiful woman.

She was dressed in some kind of wispy, diaphanous material that barely hid her womanly charms. Raven black hair framed a face that had high cheekbones and fine features, the deep blue eyes somehow disturbing. Eoric could see coral pink nipples topping two smallish breasts below her garment and he turned red as he felt his staff begin to stiffen at the image. At his age he had no sexual experience at all and he had sometimes dreamed of the female form, but this was the first time he had had that much detail to work with. His first glimpse of a woman's breasts and nipples and there was something alluring about the woman too.

Gemma noticed Eoric's face turn red and couldn't miss the rise in the front of his kilt that signalled his excitement. As a Princess she was virginal, but she had listened to the maids and serving girls in the kitchens and she knew all there was to know about men she thought. She in turn now went red as she recognised what was going on and she assumed Eoric's excitement was down to her. After all, there was no one else other than her father in the room. The thought that she excited him in turn excited her and she felt a flutter in her lower stomach.

Eoric shook himself, remembering what they now faced and focussed on his responsibility. He looked at Gemma and saw that her face was flushed for some reason. He looked at the King and realised he would need to carry him if they were to make their escape.

"Princess, we need to leave before the men of Strathclyde get here. I'll carry your father, you lead the way to the stables," he said.

Gemma was surprised out of her daydream by the sudden change in tone and atmosphere and she looked at Eoric as she too remembered the predicament they were in.

"You can't possibly carry him, let me call for help," she said.

"Princess, trust me, I can manage. Just lead the way," Eoric responded.

He bent towards the bed and lifted the King effortlessly into his arms. Gemma raised her eyebrows in surprise, but then turned and began hurrying through the hall, out onto the hilltop and down the path towards the stables. She could see the dark mass of the approaching horsed men and that helped spur her on.

Eoric was right behind her when she reached the rickety wooden structure that housed the horses. He took in the various horses available and began making his way towards the biggest of them.

"No, Eoric. That is father's warhorse and he has been trained not to allow anyone other than the King to approach him. You need to pick another," Gemma warned.

Eoric reached out and connected with the mighty beast, sensing the horse's agitation as he got closer to it.

"Steady now my fine friend. Surely you are a noble beast and you need to calm yourself so we can spirit your master away from danger. Steady for me now I say."

The horse responded immediately to Eoric's mental communication and he was able to help Gemma up onto its back and then lift Eochaid up in front of her. She was surprised at his ability to control the horse, but didn't raise the subject, as she knew time was of the essence.

Eoric led the horse out of the stable and headed them westwards. He glanced at the approaching mounted host and could see a squadron of them split off and begin to head in their direction. He let the energy from the earth under his feet surge through his body and called out to Gemma.

"Princess, you need to ride faster than you ever have before. Don't worry about me, just head for Crinan."

Gemma started to protest, but she saw the determined look on his face and instead nodded to let Eoric know she understood. She knew that he was on foot and unlikely to escape their pursuers and that made her gulp, a tear coming to her eye. She dug her heels into the huge horse and pinched her knees against its flanks to urge it forward.

Eoric slapped the horse on the rump and mentally urged it to fly faster than it had ever run before. He looked over his shoulder to gauge where the chasing pack had got to, groaning when he saw how close they were.

He knew he would have to do something to delay them to allow Gemma time to get the warhorse up to its full speed. He felt sure the quality of the horse would outrun the men from Strathclyde once it was into its stride. His own safety didn't enter his head as he turned to face them.

The band that had split to chase them was perhaps twenty strong and Eoric stood between them and the rapidly disappearing Gemma and Eochaid. He focussed on his connection with the earth and began to draw energy up from the soil.

"You are not yet strong enough to fight them directly," said his inner voice, "You need to use a device to delay them so you can get away."

"But what about the energy I used to form the copper, surely I'm strong enough to something similar to these men?"

"That was one blast and against an inanimate object. These are people and there are twenty-one of them. You couldn't draw up enough energy, quickly enough, to deal with all of them. Believe us, you need to develop your abilities more first."

Eoric accepted the advice from his inner voice and he raised his sword in both hands above his head, focussing on the energy that was welling up within him.

Gemma looked back and her heart leapt at the sight of Eoric, looking pitifully small in the face of the thundering horses, holding his sword above his head. Despite what he had told her, she tried to slow her horse. The horse was having none of it however, and he continued to surge forward.

Eoric concentrated the energy he had soaked up and began to draw up all the moisture from the area for perhaps two miles around. He felt the earth and water work with him as it rose up from below the surface, pooling quickly and mixing with the soil to create a boggy, marshy surface. He could see the Strathclyde horsemen immediately get into trouble as their horses began to lose their footing.