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Uh-oh Quiz time "Myrddin was a prophet orked for a chieftain named, um"

"Gwenddoleu"

"I knew that Give e was spotty in front of end "They lived in the sixth century" Nearly fifteen hundred years ago, around the ti to extend their life span "Myrddin went insane after his chieftain’s entire army was killed in battle He ran off to the woods and lived as a wild man Later, he prophesied his own triple death"

The triple death was how Myrddin Wyllt’s story always ended He predicted he’d die three ti And he did A crowd of thugs, jeering at the h above a river He landed on a stake, which impaled him, and droith his head underwater Three deaths for the price of one

Mab nodded, and I felt a rush of relief at passing her pop quiz "That’s the gist of the recorded legends, yes But the legends tell only part of the real story Myrddin served as Gwenddoleu’s bard, but he was actually working for Colho’d promised the wizard vast rewards if he could deliver the secret to eternal life Myrddin believed he’d found it He experi he’d made them invulnerable, suic failed and the army fell, Colas livid Myrddin fled for his own life

"He went into hiding in the woods There, he learned the languages of aniive more and more control to his demon half As you know, most demi-demons have a human form and a shadow deed his two sides into a single entity That’s where the name Myrddin Wyllt comes from Wyllt is the name of his shadow demon; it means ‘wild’ When he called Wyllt forth into himself, he added its naed them?"

"Part of Wyllt is always present in Myrddin’s human form, and part of Myrddin always dwells in the demon plane As far as I know, no other deh Myrddin hasn’t been around to teach anyone"

"The triple death" Myrddin Wyllt couldn’t have died that way, not if he was running around Boston now "So that part of the legend is untrue?"

"Myrddin Wyllt was indeed driven off a cliff, is killed hiyourself in three different ways didn’t sound like a fun way to liven up a dull afternoon

"He wanted to convince Colwyn he’d finally achieved i those injuries was nothing Colwyn could use Merging with his demon half allowed Myrddin to enter and exit the demon plane almost simultaneously For each injury Myrddin sustained, he blinked into the demon plane, healed there, and returned--too fast for the eye to perceive Colwyn believed hi him"

Mab shook her head "He never had the chance As you know, the character of Merlin is ends What other ways did a wizard called Myrddin or Merlin come to his end?"

I searched my memory "He was i to the legend, Ni nyic, and locked hi tothat she’d tangle with a demi-demon

"It was a tree," Mab said She wrapped her hands around her e and stared past me, her eyes unfocused, her face sad Then she shook it off She stood up and carried theto the sink "And there Myrddin stayed Until Colwyn undid the spell and released hie "But I wish by all that’s holy he’d stayed there forever"

17

I WANTED TO ASK MAB MORE QUESTIONS, BUT SHE SAID she wanted to rest I couldn��t bla the collective unconscious had to leave a worse hangover than transatlantic jet lag So I changed the sheets on et that character nice and shiny for my aunt--and redistributed clothes into the hamper or the closet

When Mab was settled, I went to ain absorbed in the news, so I went into the kitchen to use the phone When I picked up the handset, a stutter tone indicated voiceI punched in the nues The first call had come in just after seven a htly e absolutely convinced that you were in danger, and I promised I’d call andGive et this, okay?"

A coe was from the same number, recorded a few minutes later This one was from Maria herself "U "It’s Maria Your niece Sorry, that sounded dumb I know you knoho I am You, um, said I could talk to you if I had any more weird dreams And I did, but this one was really weird There was this lady who said she was ot so quiet and hurried I could barely hear her words "I’ve gotta go Don’t call e ended, and there was no more voice mail

Mab hadn’t erased her presence froht I felt bad that Maria had worried about , but she’d be fine once she kneas okay The memory of the dream would fade--it probably had already

I checked the clock It was a little after one; Gould be at Justin’s playgroup I dialed her ho to say hi and would try again later That should put Maria’san answer since it was the middle of the norm workday--and that ured I’d try, and then go over and letup the phone

"Yeah?"

"Axel, hi I hope I didn’t wake you"

"Nope Deliveries" Talking with Axel was always an exercise into him on the phone felt positively skeletal