Book of Secrets

There weren’t always dragons in the valley but the moment my young apprentice got ahold of my Book of Secrets, nothing was the same.

Dragons were the least of our problems honestly. After the orcs attacked, I locked myself in the observation tower. I started to become desperate.

You see, my name is Merlyn and I am a wizard. The court wizard for King Arthur.

Up until this moment, Arthur’s search for the Holy Grail had reached a disappointing end and Arthur’s near madness insisted it was my fault.

“Merlyn, if you are not powerful enough to tell me where the grail is by now, maybe you should take a student.”

“Your majesty, I do not TEACH magic.”

“Get someone in here to help you, Merlyn. I need to find the Holy Grail.”

“Your majesty, I cannot-“

“No more excuses, Merlyn. Find someone. Or I will.”

And so I did as my king commanded.

But Considering the last time that I had chosen someone to help, they ended up committing treason with the King’s wife seven times (once in her chambers, thrice in his, once in the kitchens, and twice on Arthur’s throne) so I was a bit nervous about choosing a student that would end up holding the power of the universe itself in their hands.

When I chose Lancelot before, I had consulted the Lady of the Lake on where to find the man I sought to aid Arthur on his quests. She gave me a vague description of a blonde haired, blue eyed, male and I took it to mean the first one I saw at the location she showed me but apparently that was incorrect…

So this time I scried for a student myself. I figured cutting out the middle woman would fix things this time and make things less complicated.

Well, guess who was wrong again?

Now I am stuck in a tower, surrounded by orcs, with no book, and my “apprentice” has fled (either in shame or guilt, I haven’t decided yet).

Luckily for me, Arthur was out frolicking at the local brothel trying to drown his sorrows in wine and waistlines to get over the betrayal of his knight brother and his beloved queen when my apprentice decided to play wizard, so Arthur was not present to see that I had once again… chosen incorrectly.

Apparently my apprentice had thought it a good idea to read aloud from my book while I was visiting the priest about funeral services for the late queen.

Although Arthur had to convict his queen and his best friend of treason, he still wanted to ensure they were taken care of in the afterlife and would not allow negative talk about either after their sentences were carried out.

Arthur believed that death was punishment enough for their crime.

If I’m perfectly honest, Arthur didn’t want to put either one to death but that was the punishment for treason. If Arthur had waived the punishment, he would have lost the support of his people as their king. No one wants to put faith in a government that picks and chooses who has to follow the law.

While I was returning from seeing the priest, I noticed a strange shape on the horizon. Upon a distant hill stood a massive number, of what appeared to be people, approaching Camelot.

As the mass of bodies approached, I noticed they were much larger than any human man and they held a great deal of intimidating weapons in their fists.

I sprinted back to the castle and ordered the nearest guard to alert the king of an attack.

As I approached the gates I saw my apprentice rushing toward me with tears in their eyes, “Master Merlyn, I’m so sorry! I only wanted to see-“

Just as they spoke, a large shadow fell over their face and a loud roar caused the earth to quake beneath us.

“Dragon!!” a woman screamed from behind us, just as the beast released a fiery column of death on the belfry.

I snapped my head towards my apprentice, “What have you DONE??” They stared at me for a moment and I noticed they had a bag in their hand.

“What are you-”, just as I spoke the words, my apprentice took off down the road, passed the market, and out the city gates.

As I rushed inside the city, I began to hear screams of terror as orcs slaughtered citizens and the moon turned red with blood.

I locked myself in the observation tower and began my search for answers. What horrors has my apprentice unleashed upon the world in my absence and why?