Dash turned a pair of stark green eyes on me.“Oh, that’s really quite simple. When I realized what you and Merlin were, the connection you shared, I knew I’d finally found what I’d been waiting centuries for.”
“Centuries? Nobody’s that old.”
“Once again, you are wrong. I am nearly one thousand years old.”
I gasped. Hadn’t expected that one. “But how?”
Dash smiled, baring sharp white fangs.“You are but an ancestor, the last scion. I, however, am the original.”
“You’re the imposter Merlin,” I said, knowing innately that it was true. It was the only thing that made sense, given how interested she—or, I guess, he—was in Merlin’s and my lineage. “But I thought you died.”
A puff of magic replaced the little black cat with a very old man whose white beard stretched to his ankles.“Everyone thought I did. Lucky for me, my illusions kept me hidden until I could find what I needed.”
“You were the first familiar. You pledged your loyalty to the real Merlin!” I spat at him, disgusted.
Dash appeared unfazed.“Yes, well, why be the servant when one can be the master?”
This was awful. The only other familiars I’d met had both turned evil in their lust for power. If I survived this, would the same happen to me?
I thought back to the last time we’d faced Dash in a confrontation. If I could keep him talking, it would buy us time. We could still get out of this, Merlin and me.
“Why did you send those zombies after us?” That part still didn’t make sense to me.
“Oh, that’s easy. Have you really not figured it out yet? I needed to get you to Nocturna. Luckily, you’re nothing if not predictable. You came here just as soon as you could get your master to agree, didn’t you?”
“Merlin and I are really more of a partnership,” I corrected, glancing to my fallen ally in his cage.Please, please wake up.
“Does it matter when you’ll both die at daybreak?”
“Why do you want to kill us?”
“Why not? By the way, I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to keep me talking to delay my evil plan. But it doesn’t matter. This all has to go down at a very specific time, and I already told you when that is.”
“Daybreak,” I said through dry lips. “And even you call your own planevil. Shouldn’t that tell you something?”
“Good, evil,” Dash droned. “They’re more alike than you think. The perception of both changes with time. You may consider me evil, but future generations will see me as a god.”
“You’re a monster,” I spat, which took some effort since my mouth was well on its way to going dry.
“And your opinion doesn’t matter. You are nothing more than a footnote in the legend of my glory. With your blood connection and the stars in perfect alignment, I will reforge the mighty Excalibur and use it to gain ultimate power over both the magical and the mundane worlds alike.”
“You sound like a crazy person,” I said.
“You try waiting almost one thousand years for your revenge, and see how you like it.”
“Revenge? Against who?”
“Merlin granted me one ultimate wish as his thanks for my taking on the role of his familiar. And when he didn’t like it, he tried to trick me out of what was due to me.”
“You asked to be as powerful as him,” I shouted. I knew Dash’s logic made sense in his own mind, but it certainly didn’t ring true in mine. “Familiars are only supposed to be vessels.”
“Now!” Dash-Merlin-whoever exploded. “Why do you think those rules are in place? Hmm?”
“He cursed you. How did you survive?”
“No, he forced me into hiding. Once the magic was granted, he couldn’t take it back. Not without this.” He reached two hands into the cauldron and extracted a glittering sword.
“Is that—?” My breath hitched.
“Excalibur. Yes. At least it will be. Nearly one thousand years ago to this day, your ancestor Arthur pulled it from a stone, declaring it the ultimate weapon. But that’s not why Excalibur was made, nor what it was meant to do.”
I blinked hard. None of what this guy was telling me lined up with what I knew of the original legends.“Come again now?”
“Merlin made it for me. Not because—”
“I’m sorry. This is getting really confusing. We’re up to three Merlins now, and it’s making it hard for me to follow.”
The dark wizard groaned.“Very well. The original cat sorcerer created this weapon, not to take one’s life but to take one’s magic.”
“It was meant for you.”
“Yes, but I’d already managed to escape. He became so frustrated that he jammed it into that stone. And by doing that, he couldn’t extract it himself.”
“Or he would lose his magic,” I concluded.
Dash smiled wide.“Precisely.”
“So Arthur…?”
“Was a means to an end. Because he pulled the sword from the stone, he would never be able to wield his own magic, even if he wanted to. And that made him the perfect subservient familiar… Oh, look who’s finally decided to join us.”
My eyes zoomed toward the cage where at last Merlin—my Merlin—was beginning to stir.
19
Merlin roused and attempted a standing position, but his back thumped the top of the cage, forcing him back down in a crouch. He shook his head before glancing around the summit.
“Gracie!” he shouted when his eyes landed upon me.
“Merlin, it’s okay,” I called back, relief flooding my chest. With Merlin’s help, we still had a chance. “We’re going to get out of this.”
“Haven’t you been listening to anything I said?” Dash demanded, stomping over to me in a fit.
“Yeah, I heard you. But you lost before, and I’m willing to bet you’ll lose again.”
“Oh, a bet? What are the stakes? Oh, I know. How about your life.” The old wizard chuckled, clearly amused with his own banter.
“Who’s this guy?” Merlin asked, his words coming out slurred. The lack of magic still weakened him. We were at a definite disadvantage.
I sighed.“It’s a long story, but that’s Dash who also happens to be the original imposter Merlin. He’s going to kill us so he can reforge Excalibur or something like that.”
Dash rounded on me, his gaze filled with venom.“Hey, show a little respect. I worked hard on that plan. And you’re leaving all the best parts out.”
I shrugged, enjoying the fact that I was getting to him. Right now that was the only way I had to fight back.“It’s kind of a convoluted plan, if you ask me. Is that the best you could come up with when you practically had a millennium to do so?”
“It’s flawless,” he shouted, sending a spray of spittle my way. “Granted, that ridiculous duel set things slightly off course, but the end result will be the same. Many years ago, our ancestors formed an eternal bond when Arthur pulled Excalibur from the stone. The sword was forged by the cat wizard to rob me of my magic, but instead Arthur was the first person to succumb to its curse, meaning the three of us and our bloodlines were thusly tied for eternity.”
I cracked a smile.“Thusly, huh?”
“Enough!” Dash’s shout echoed across the distance, proving just how isolated we were on top of this mountain.
“Yes, I think I’ve heard enough,” Merlin ground out, still trapped in an awkward crouch position, thanks to the relatively small size of the cage. “You’re the imposter wizard, but I’m the real deal. The last in the most powerful magical line to ever grace this planet. Which means I can beat you, you big fake.”
True, he didn’t have much room to maneuver in the cage, but that didn’t stop Merlin from lightly kicking back his feet in his classic lightning summoner maneuver.
Nothing happened outside the cage.
But inside, Merlin let out a stuttering gasp and fell flat on his stomach.
Dash laughed evilly.“You think I wouldn’t lightning-proof that thing? It’s a magical cage. Anything you try to cast will only feed the cage and make it stronger. There’s no way out.”