Merlin:
More than five hundred years old. Slightly insane and mostly humorous, Merlin is the strongest mage in the books, and guides Kim on her journey. He is later Guinevere’s best friend. Has a collection of magical artefacts. “Talks funny” because of his visions of the future and his mental instability comes from his ability to see the future (but nobody knows what his excuse was before that).
Secrets of Camelot, Chapter 8:
One of Merlin’s candles sneezed at me. Merlin chuckled. “He’s got the grippe. Went a bit on the wild side last night. Wandered off in the rain. But, don’t worry, it’s not contagious.” He wrapped a towel around the little candle to keep it warm.
I couldn’t help laughing, my eyes open in disbelief.
My favorite artifact so far was a small blue book that sobbed bitterly when I found it.
“Oh, Charlie, not again!” Merlin took him off the shelf and explained that he was frightened of strangers. “Come, come. She doesn’t bite. There’s a good lad. Now, I’m going to put you back, and you can watch her quietly just like the others.”
Many of his books were alive. And one was… “I’d describe Herald as…sort of undead,” Merlin said.
Merlin’s Creed, Chapter 9:
Merlin sat by the fire, looking at Kim.
“So, dude, how come you’re not using magic?” He had cast the tent spell so they could speak freely.
She smiled and held Seth’s hand. “We weren’t safe. I feared detection.” She wondered what “dude” meant.
Merlin’s Study
from Merlin’s Creed:
Merlin laughed. “It’s no surprise. There’s a fool moon tonight. Fool with a double o.”
“What does that mean?” Seth asked.
“Well, it’s a bit hard to explain. Generally, it means… Actually, why don’t you come in and see it for yourself? It will distract your mind.”
He shrugged and smiled. “Why not?”
Merlin opened the door. “Careful. On a night like this, you can never trust a door to actually be a door.”
“I’ll do my best.” He walked in and immediately felt his foot step on something.
“Ouch!”
“Sorry.” He looked down and saw a book.
The book turned. “Sorry? How would you feel if I stepped on you?”
“Did that book just talk to me?”
“He’s my graduation gift from magic school.”
The book started banging against Seth’s leg. “Take that, you bastard!”
Seth laughed. The book hit him harder. “Ouch. Okay, okay, you can stop it now. You got even.”
“I will slice you with my pages. Ha!” The book persisted.
He laughed again and shook his leg. “Okay. Cut it out. You’re making too much noise.”
“No. You’re making too much noise.”
“Okay, I need to keep going.” He picked up the book and put it on a shelf.
“Hey! Come back, you coward!”
Merlin took a staff and knocked on the floor three times. “Shame on you. This is my guest.”
“Some guest. Nobody has any manners anymore. Nobody cares.” The book turned with its back to them and started to cry.
Merlyn sighed impatiently. “He’s an alchemy book. Sometimes they think they’re nocturnal.”
“Like tonight?”
“Yup. My collection of magical objects from before the Curse goes a little mad on a fool moon. But, it’s a good show. How about a drink?”
“A drink?”
“Yes. That thing with the cup and the liquid.”
He chuckled. “Just a small one. Battle tomorrow, you know.”
“Yes. Indeed. But first, we’ll need a wine cellar.” He moved his hand across the floor. A shining rectangle formed on the bottom. “Open!” Merlin commanded.
The wood lifted, revealing a flight of stairs.
Merlin winked. “Never live above any neighbors. Kills your conjuring spirits. Pun intended.” He led the way down.
Seth followed, amused.
The space below was filled with colorful bottles arranged on shelves. Actually, arranged was not the best word to describe them. Nothing in the room seemed in order.
“They represent what happens when you drink from them. Like that one, that can’t walk straight.” Merlin pointed at a bottle that was slowly advancing toward them, leaning on the wall.
“I see.” Seth raised his eyebrows.
“No. You don’t. But that’s a different problem.”
Seth laughed. “Maybe I should have that one, snoring against the shelf.”
“Shhh…don’t wake him. He’s crazy when he’s woken.”
Another bottle banged its top against the wall.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Oh, you want to stay away from that one. That would result in too much guilt.”
“And those two, dancing over there?”
“Are you crazy?”
This was a surprising side of Merlin. Probably not many people knew about it. He was lucky to see it. He looked around him at the abundant magic that surrounded the man.
It continued when they were back upstairs and Merlin brought him a tray of snacks. “I can’t offer you utensils, I’m afraid. One of my knives is experiencing a serious case of insomnia. Oh, check them out.”
A group of sleepwalking pointy hats made its way to them, headed toward another room. They marched along in one line, snoring with their eyes open, and bumped into one another when they turned to avoid his chair.
The images of the room filled Seth’s head when he lay beside Kim again. The drink that Merlin gave him in the end, which he now realized was a mild sleep drug, took its effect.
More of Merlin in Merlin’s Creed and Secrets of Camelot