Mordred 10.1

10

The Previous Realm

My right fingers were twitching with the winds swirling at the tips. The air in the wind was getting heated by the gifted fire but I was cooling it with the moisture in the air to avoid them seeing my acts.  My left fingers were making earthen mini balls on the ground heating it hot but held down by the pocket of winds.

I was at the top of my element.

I was the King of the four elements.

I came to know of it when I worked with Merlin. He helped me to control the skill crafts. Merlin told me that I was gifted with it unless the others who acquired their skill crafts by learning.

“No one can take it from you.” Merlin told me. “Not even me.”

That last line was delivered by Merlin with a smile.

“That scares me at times.” Merlin added in that line then when he was still my master in controlling my elements. I trained under Merlin to perfect my crafts and it was with him over fifteen years of hardship I was to endure. I was with him in his so named Academy of Masters and Apprentices.

It was a grand castle in the deep valley surrounded by the dark forest and forbidden by the Head Councillor to allow anyone to be there unless he was invited or was one there as Master or Apprentice. Once before the valley was accessible only to the well hidden community that avoided the others until Merlin found them and managed to convince them to serve only him. He did not bring them out of their hidden land but chose to build the home on their land. It was guarded by his army, the Elves. The elves patrolled the dark forest against intruders. The elves were well versed in the art of hunting. They never had to fear the wizards and witches for they were shielded from the crafts. It was what Merlin found out when he met them. He won them over not with the crafts but with his wits of words. They swore allegiance to him and only to him. That was the initial thought then.

The castle itself covered a land area of over half a mile, with its eight imposing towers on it with the high dark walls that overreached the jump of the leaping lion by many more times, and the long palisades that ringed it with the manned armed sentries carrying weapons of bow and arrows along with the giant ballista that was spaced on there. It was choice of weapons for them provided by the Head Councillor.

Inside the castle walls were the four main building structures comprising the main streams of the crafts; dark, white, inventions and gifted. Of the four above, the first three were learned by the books or embedded by rituals. The last one was the ones which were gifted by it.

I was in the last building.

The list of members was few and so could be memorized on their names. Besides myself, there was Chiton, Fangnir, Rumpel and one other which we hardly mentioned.

Berlin.

He was Merlin’s brother.

He was our House Master then in the streams of our building. The difference between the Masters and the Academic Masters was the later determine your Master for you. Berlin selected me to learn under Merlin. It was a privilege to be tutored by Merlin for he had had few apprentices under him. Even among the Ladies of the Lake, only Nimue was given to him to tutor while the others were placed under different Masters. I learned more from Merlin on how to control my crafts and then to combine them into one. It made a difference to me.

“There is no fear than your own mind.” I recalled then Merlin communicating with me through the mind thoughts when I was in the dark forest. “Let your sight show not fear but courage. Let your ears listen to courage and your mouth to speak the words of courage so that you may feel the courage inside you.”

In that dark forest, I was to meet my biggest fear.

Berlin.