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Guardian of the Great Guardian, Arthur,
Defender of this realm,
Keeper of the Sword of Feidhlim.
Rest, my love, until Albion needs your help once more.
I stepped back, shaken to the core.
‘Merlin’s buried here?’ I gazed at the effigy in awe then frowned. That face…
‘You need to take the sword,’ Wren murmured.
‘I—I can’t. It’s too big. All this, it’s huge. This can’t be meant for me!’ I felt a wave of panic. Merlin? Arthur? These people were the stuff of legends. What on earth was I doing, thinking I could ever be part of this world? I was a solicitor from Cornwall. I didn’t belong here.
‘Only you can do this, Wulfram,’ Phoenix said gently. ‘This is your destiny.’
My blood turned to ice in my veins as I recalled the vision I’d had in the crystal cave. Him saying those exact words to me.
The image of the dark-haired woman filled my mind again. ‘Free my love!’
I knew what I had to do.
I stepped onto the narrow ledge at the side of the sarcophagus, grasped the handle of the sword firmly, and pulled.
It slid out easily, as if it had been embedded in butter rather than stone.
‘You did it!’ Wren gasped.
There was an ominous rumbling sound. The effigy crumbled to dust and the sarcophagus began to crack.
‘What’s happening?’ I cried, terrified. We all leapt back and Nightwing flew to the other end of the crypt. Wise bird.
The ground shook and I thought the whole chapel was going to collapse and we were going to be buried alive.
‘We need to get out!’ Wren cried, but I couldn’t move.
‘No,’ I said, suddenly realising that was the last thing we had to do. ‘Wait.’
The sarcophagus broke apart and we all coughed and spluttered as clouds of dust obliterated our vision and blocked our nostrils.
I waved my hand around, trying to clear the fog. I heard Wren scream and my heart thudded. Now what?
The cloud of dust dispersed, and I stared down at a man, lying in what remained of his tomb. His eyes fluttered then opened fully and he stared up at us all in bewilderment.
He muttered something I couldn’t understand and sat up.
We all stood, frozen to the spot.
He repeated what he’d said earlier, but none of us could fathom what he meant. For some reason the translation spell wasn’t working. It didn’t matter at that moment. All that mattered was that at last I was beginning to see the bigger picture, and everything was making sense. Not only that, but I knew suddenly, with absolute certainty, that I was no longer alone.
This was Merlin, and he was here to help me.
As he’d always helped me.
My friend. My mentor.
Emrick.
