Mordred 15.2

The New Realm

“I came seeking for answers.” I shouted at them. There was Aladdin standing by himself at the tree trunk still nursing his hand which was partly burned by my fire craft. Leggins was cleaning his sword with the newly plucked leaves with his eyes fixated on the leader of the serpents. They have fought a brief battle as expected of them for they were enemies. 

Rumple was by himself on the large boulder displaying the newly knitted piece to the three witches. Both the enemies have not resumed their fight for Rumpel stood in the middle while I paced between them. We were resting by the edge of the treeline after a long run in the woods.

“Ever since I arrived, all I had was the battling with the others. The Dark Queen, Snow White and the Dwarves, the Witches.” I voiced out my frustration. “In the outside land I was task to do the same. I had dragons and evil wizards to contend with.”

“My King, those are the tasks of the King.” The three witches crowed out their replies.

“Such are the tasks of the Guardians.” Aladdin smiled while he added in to that. “You should not have accepted the task if you were not accustomed to the battles.”

“I knew my role well. I maintain order between us and them but I am here for those unanswered issues. There are rumours of the Master that was causing these issues. I could not find those answers there but I think Merlin will know.”

“Merlin is dead.” Rumpel brought me back to reality. “You said so yourself.”

“Merlin lives!’ The three witches called out in unison. “The Master cannot be killed that easily.”

“I am not so sure. I think Merlin may not be dead. Seth showed us the image of Merlin with the missing thumb. He knew then.” I shared my thoughts with the witches. The whole issue of Merlin dead was becoming unreal when I explored the issue. 

“Seth was mimicking what he heard.” Aladdin replied. “We all heard Merlin died in some incident and only his thumb was found.”

“Then why mock me?” I cried out.  “You knew he had died. But what if he was not?”

“Yes, why mock the King?” The three witches echoed their support for me.

“Its …” Aladdin was cut off by Leggins. The later stepped forth and explained...

“Merlin is dead. We have to accept that.”

“But we did not kill him. None of us ….could do it.” Aladdin looked to me. “Merlin was under our protection once before but not any more. We seek him for our justice.”

It was disbelieving that the Master himself needed protection. Aladdin glared at Leggins but the later looked away. .

“It’s time he knew.” Leggins looked away from Aladdin. “Merlin was under their protection when Keb commanded them some time back. We don’t know why, but it was believed that Merlin and Keb had a battle which neither could win but the tragedy of the battle was Neheb died. In that battle, a new evil was discovered. That evil was creating chaos in the realm.”

“Leggins, if you are going to tell him the truth then out with it the whole truth.” Aladdin voiced out. “This is his legacy too.”

“Yes, speak the truth.” The three witches sounded out. “The myth must be rested or the truth will never be revealed.”

“The place to speak the truth lies not here but in the caves of the Fallen.” Leggins voiced out again.

I have not heard of the caves before. “The place is not far from here but the journey will be dangerous. The Fallen have regrouped their numbers and will be ready for us.”

“How can that be?  No one knew of our coming.” I argued back.

“In the Divide, we used to command but of late, we found ourselves outnumbered and their numbers are ever growing. They are here not to take on us, but the whole realm. Merlin is with them.”

“Who are the Fallen?”

“Follow me and all will be revealed.” Leggins replied before he moved but the three witches declined.

“We cannot follow where the part leads to the cave.” The three witches moaned out. With that they took a leap towards the treelines.

“Haste on our way or we will lose this war.” Leggins called on before he took to run towards the treelines. The Elf did a leap onto the nearby tree trunk and then used it to propel himself up the upper branches. In his jump, the Elf had his sword swinging at the top branches. Just when we thought there was nothing there, a figure was seen soaring up. It was a frame of Man and yet it had wings on its back like the birds. It cried out with a shriek when the sword slashed at its feet. It still managed to reach the top of the tree top before it was brought down with a strong gust of wind. That last bit was my doing when I send the birdman pounding onto the nearby tree branches. The birdman dropped down to the ground level with its left wing bend in a crude manner. The birdman tried to move but Leggins was onto it. The Elf had his sword on the neck of the birdman.

“Move and you die.” Leggins told the fallen creature. It was then I saw the Birdman in detail. It was dressed in camouflage which was how it stayed hidden. Its face was covered in dark grease but it did not hide the facial of Man. The birdman sat up and then pulled at the damaged wing. Once it was righted, the birdman snapped it back onto his back and appeared as part of his body from the shoulders to the thighs. The birdman then looked to the fallen weapon on the ground. It was a Man’s weapon; a long range rifle with a reaching distance of over eight hundred metres.

I kicked away the weapon and then looked at the birdman.  

“Birdman?” I called out. “That is not any I have ever seen.”

“They are the hidden enemies of ours. They were known as the Demi-Gods then but here they were given a name to be called the Fallen. They have come here with us during the rift, and it was here they found more of their own. They have organised to regroup and established their own domain.” Leggins explained.

“My name is Gabriel.” The birdman spoke up. “I am not part of the Fallen. I am an Angel of the Heavenly Realm. We are here to stop the Fallen. Are you Mordred?”