His Mage

Two

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It took them two weeks of travel before they could made the crossing to England. She hadn't been back since she was a little girl and it should have felt more significant than it did. Though this was her homeland, she didn't have any special affinity for it. Honestly, she was more Frankish than English at this point. Her thick accent would make anyone in England assume she was from the continent.

For all their travels, Merlin had avoided England. The Apprentice had always been curious about the capitol of Camelot and the busyness of the port city of Londinium. Merlin however, made it clear it was a topic he wouldn't discuss. The Apprentice assumed it was to protect them from the purges the King Vortigern had brought down upon the Mages of England.

It took them weeks before they reached Camelot. The moon was almost full as they approached the ancient city. It sat up on a hill, it's battlements looking more than a little imposing. A wide river snaked around the lower town, providing a natural moat as well as a small port to serve the town within the castle walls. Rising above the walls was a half constructed mage tower. Vortigern had been obsessed with its construction, nearly bankrupting his own country in his quest for power.

While the Apprentice was distracted by the tower, Merlin led them straight down to the docks. Instead of going out on a dock however, he moved to the shore line. His traveling boots sucked into the mud at the edges as he stood, staring down into the bay thoughtfully. He knelt beside the water, reached down, and touched his fingers to the dark water.

The Apprentice shivered as she felt the crushing power of Merlin rise around them. Gooseflesh erupted on her bareskin. She had been with Merlin since she was a little girl, but it was still impressive to see his casual display of power. It always made her feel a little inferior. No matter how hard she tried and how much she studied she would never be as powerful as him.

There was a crushing rumble, like thunder and the water rushed out of the bay like someone had pulled the plug of a basin. All the boats dropped and were left hanging from the docks like abandoned marionettes.

"Where did it all go?" she asked after a moment.

Merlin glanced over his shoulder at her. His eyes alight with power. He arched his brow. They had been together long enough to know it was meant as encouragement to prompt her into considering the answer herself.

The Apprentice blew out a frustrated puff of breath into the chilly night air and pushed her hair back from her face. She tried to think about how she would perform the magic. You couldn't just get rid of it. Magic couldn't ever be created or destroyed, only channeled, summoned, or transformed.

"Water to fire," she said after a few long moments of consideration. Fire magic could be volatile but was the easiest to syphon power into; it was greedy, it consumed.

"Steam?" Merlin asked with a rueful chuckle and a hint of mockery. "Imagine the stink. All those boiled fish? You would smell Camelot for twenty leagues off."

She sighed, feeling he needn't have laughed at her. "The sea then," she finally said. "Keep it simple, water to water. Send it out with the tide."

Merlin tilted his head to her in acknowledgement of the correct answer. She still didn't like it. Water rarely listened, it was too fluid. It served as a reminder that not only was Merlin powerful, he was also a master spell crafter to work with such a fickle element.

"Are you going to tell me why we came all this way for you to empty the bay?" she asked a little sharply. She didn't like the feeling that her Master was mocking her.

Merlin waited until the water settled before he gestured to the deep gut of land left behind where the thriving port of Camelot once stood.

The Mage moved over to the edge, staring down into what had once been the bay. The bottom was all mud and rocks that had fallen from the quarry above. Standing apart from the other rocks, only a little ways from where the shore had once been, was an odd shaped stone. In the light of the moon she caught the glimmer of steel and silver. A shiver went down her back as she felt the first brush of it's magic.