Merlyn's Last Dream

Goblin's Gold P1

Contrary to popular belief, Gaius didn't contain every single book ever created on his endless shelves dedicated to ancient tomes. Merlyn wasn't a fan of the library, Geoffrey being a little bit of a self entitled prick who appeared to believe that reading should be a privilege known only by those over the age of sixty, but, with the physician busy in the lower town, she'd promised to sacrifice herself for the greater good. The book should help save a couple of lives which, in theory should be worth a lot more than the cost of the servant visiting the library, but as she approached Geoffrey, who appeared to be scratching furiously at a piece of parchment, she knew that he would test her patience.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, the old man lifted his hand, motioning for her to stay silent. She waited, raising her eyebrow and staring, exasperated, at the wall in front of her whilst Geoffrey compared two seemingly identical documents. Seeming pleased, he finally decided to glance up at her, evidently annoyed by the interruption.

"Yes?" he inquired impatiently, squinting through the light coming from the large windows behind her.

Merlyn smiled brightly, deciding not to make any witty comments, doubting Geoffrey would appreciate them. "Gaius asked me to fetch a book. The, uh... Bestiary of Gwilym of Cambria." she squinted at the paper Gaius had tucked into her palm before she'd left, barely recognising the words written on the paper.

"The Bestiary." Geoffrey sounded surprised. "I haven't seen that for many years. It'll be somewhere in the East Wing... I have no idea where."

Merlyn nodded, turning vaguely in the way she thought to be east, only for Geoffrey to cough pointedly at her. Turning to face him, she found that he was pointing in the opposite direction to where she was heading. She smiled sheepishly, shuffling in the right direction, wondering where on earth she'd need to start.

If she'd thought that Gaius had a lot of  books, she'd have been very much mistaken. The sheer number of scrolls in the library was incredible; clearly Merlyn hadn't taken the time to appreciate it the handful of times she'd had to walk through the stacks before. Choosing an aisle at random, she squinted through the cobwebs, trying to get her bearings. The servant almost laughed when, on her third shelf, at the very top, she found The Bestiary, white webs almost obscuring the title from recognition.

"Great." she sighed, briefly wondering if she could use magic to levitate the book somewhere within her reach. Deciding against it, she jumped half heartedly, but fell quite short, so, instead, checking the sturdiness of the shelves, she hauled herself up, placing her other foot on what she expected to be solid wood, only for the shelf to buckle, rotating swiftly. The witch found herself in a secret room, dusty statues, odd boxes and books escribed with runes littering the floor. It was chaos, dark and powerful. For a moment, she wondered if Geoffrey knew about this, a pocket of magic harboured beneath the King's very nose, but she dismissed the thought. Nobody had been in that room for a very long time.

Picking a book at random, she opened it to reveal spells and sorcery long since lost from Camelot's heart, The Bestiary long forgotten. Flicking through the pages, she walked around aimlessly, absorbed by the potent magic in the air. She accidently kicked a strange, cylindrical object and was startled to hear a sort of growl from inside.

"Girl." a gravelly voice caught her attention as she listened to the faint tapping on the cannister.

In one of her stupidest decisions to date, Merlyn carefully put her ear to the box and lifted it so that she could pull the lid off, or at least, undo it's clasp.

"Onluc scrin."

The lock broke, so, very slowly, she lifted the lid. Peering inside, she could see absolutely nothing.