Maeve frowned slightly, because the spell suddenly felt… heavy and older than she expected.
“Right the wrong that once performed,” she continued slowly.
The lights in the cavern flickered violently and the Gate pulsed harder, faster. Almost strobe-like. Magic surged outward, fast enough to lift her hair from her shoulders.
Maeve’s stomach dipped uneasily. Okay, that felt slightly concerning. Still, it was too late to stop now.
“Bring back that what was once mourned.” She recited the final part and was met by intense silence… seconds ticked by and Maeve waited. She sighed loudly. “Well that obviously didn’t work,” she muttered… then the Gate exploded with power.
CRASH!!!
Maeve stumbled backward as blue-green light erupted from the water in violent spirals, magic whipping through the cavern like a storm.
“What in the hell…”
The pulse intensified, getting faster and faster, making the very walls of Merlin’s Gate tremble.
And then…
CRACK.
The sound thundered through the caverns loud enough to shake dust from the ceiling. Maeve’s eyes widened.
“Oh no, it’s coming down… what have I done?”
Another crack echoed and then another, the magic spiralling through the Gate turning wild instantly. Maeve bolted upright from her chair.
“Arietta!” she screamed. “Isabeau!” Her hands covered her head in case something fell, not that it would do much good.
No answer… probably because the cavern had just sounded like reality splitting in half.
Maeve sprinted from the spell room toward the main cavern of Merlin’s Gate, boots skidding slightly across wet stone. More cracking echoed ahead and the air hummed with ancient power as Maeve burst into the main cavern and froze.
“OH MY GOD!.”
The enormous body of glowing water at the centre of Merlin’s Gate churned violently, but that wasn’t what stole her breath.
The memorial statue of Maximus stood cracked clean down the middle, or rather, what remained of it. Thestone split apart slowly with grinding echoes through the cavern, and something moved within it. Maeve stared, shock and awe held her in its grip.
“No bloody way.”
The stone collapsed outward suddenly, as if pushed into the water below, and there, lying motionless upon the submerged platform beneath where the statue had stood, was a figure. A human. A very human male… and very naked.
Maeve blinked rapidly.
“Seriously?”
Footsteps thundered behind her as Arietta and Isabeau finally arrived carrying crisps and what appeared to be three chocolate bars. “What exploded?” Arietta demanded.
Isabeau stopped dead beside her. All three witches stared at the platform.
Silence reigned for seconds until…
“Is that…” Arietta started slowly.
“Yeah,” Maeve said faintly. “I think it might be.”
Isabeau looked horrified. “But how?”
