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Now under the heavy curse of Melusina, Nathan had embarked on the first step to free her and her sister, Melior, from their imprisonment in the Fae Realm on the estate of Count Raymond of Toulouse. Only the sword of their grandmother, Nineve, the Lady of the Lake could lift the curse laid upon them by the jealous Morgan LeFay. Nathan was the perfect fool for Melusina to use. Morgan LeFay, spiteful sprite that she is, had put a curse on the sisters when they attended a festival on the property in the Middle Ages.
Morgan had done this in order to avoid competing for attention of a man, Accolon, and she cursed Melusina and Melior in a jealous fit. Accolon being a bit of a rogue made a jealous Morgan quite unpredictable.The two girls got stuck in a faery realm that no one else had been able to see or perceive for almost 800 years, except for the pure of heart, Nathan the Seeker and his brother Daniel who also had become trapped there.
Melusina's problem was that she and her sister were trapped. It's was a complicated situation. The only person who could fix the problem was Merlin.The girls needed Merlin to revoke the fairy spell that Morgan LeFay had cast that kept them trapped. The problem for Merlin wass that he also had been trapped and was sleeping in a magical tree,Yggdrasil, in a magical cave in Avignon, France. He was put there by none other than Nineve, Melusina's grandmother. Nathan would need the magic of the talisman that is Excalibur to wake up Merlin, who is sleeping in the tree Yggdrasil the world tree. The sword Excalibur belongs to Nineve, so Nathan had to go get it for Melusina's plan to work.
Melusina had seductively given Nathan her list of plans. "I know you will want to get married right away, so I will need you to do this. Wonderland is the most romantic place for a honeymoon. Once you have found Grandma Nineve's stargate you can go in. It's always unlocked there. Her home will most likely be under a spell, but no worries, love! Get the sword Excalibur, which she keeps on the wall above the fireplace. Here are the symbols to the stargate portal to get to the magical dimension where Merlin will be sleeping. Once he is awake bring him here through the portal with these symbols. He will break the faery spell keeping me prisoner. Then he can surely marry us as repayment for waking him from Grandma Nineve's nasty spell."
Nathan had lovingly agreed to go on her quest and set out on the journey. Nathan first traveled by horse to Avignon from Toulouse. Nathan's only driving force was thinking about his love for the beautiful Melusina, and how to retrieve the sword from Nineve, the Lady of the Lake. He had almost four days ride to think about these tasks. Luckily for him, being a Seeker came in handy and fate would bring him an opportunity for more adventure!
Scattach the Shadow had also found herself on adventure and was out looking for some elven cattle for a nice snack. They make the best butter and cheese. Scattach met up with Nathan as he was reaching the lake where Nineve dwells. Nineve was often here in the winter but not the summer. Thankfully she is not always home, which was exactly what Melusina was counting on when she sent Nathan to get the sword during the summer month of June. In his excitement he spooked the herd of elven cattle and angered Scattach.
"What the heck do you think you are doing?" accused Scattach in her angriest voice she could muster.
"I am on a quest for my true love. I have come seeking something. Forgive me and my rude manners please," Nathan calmly and politely offered.
"Hmm. Sounds fun," Scattach replied. She was busy sizing the man up to decide if she was going to attack him or keep talking to him. He seemed intriguing enough. Scattach is known as The Shadow. She is the greatest warrior of all time. She is an Immortal from the times of Atlantis. She is called The Shadow because she moves so fast. She is six foot tall and has fiery red hair.
Nathan being a man of few words walked to the edge of the calm waters of the lake and just stepped right in. Scattach followed him curious at what this guy was doing. They walked into a stargate portal that took them to Nineve's home. The portal was a thin fluid-like opaque veil that on the other side was a cave of quartz crystal illuminating from within itself. Nineve lives beyond the cave of quartz and in an amazing world where gods and goddesses dwell. A gorgeous city of light!
Scattach opened the locked entry. They entered the magical abode of the Lady of the Lake and stole the legendary sword Excalibur. Once they had the sword, they went to find Merlin. When the two of them arrived at the cave entrance they looked around. Scattach the Shadow was on high alert knowing that they were walking into a serious situation. What a strange day!
Nathan called out, "Merlin! Wake up! It is time to go!" The sword Excalibur was glowing inside its gem-encrusted sheath and casts colorful lights all across the cave.
Inside this enormous cave is the world tree, Yggdrasil, and sitting on its limbs were all types of birds.
Morrigan the Crow was there, next to Merlin the Falcon and Freya the Hawk, and Thoth the Ibis. All of them were asleep and put here by Nineve. All of the birds in the tree became awakened and began to transform to their human body form.
Nathan took the opportunity to grab Merlin and get back to the stargate portal to Melusina! Nathan wass not really thinking about how things would change now that he had awakened a tree full of Immortal Birds! He wass just thinking about heading to Wonderland for his honeymoon. O frabjous day, calooh calay!
Bibliography-This story is part of the King Arthur unit. Story source: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).
This story is part of the Welsh Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas with illustrations by Willy Pogány (1908).
Author's Note- This story is an adaptation of the story when Nimue/Nineve, the Lady of the Lake, puts Merlin to sleep in under a rock. Some of the legends say he is in a cave, some say he is in a tree. In either case he is asleep and not dead. I am choosing to tell the story about what happens when Merlin wakes up for yet another adventure!
I also added the half unit story that I read this week called The Stray Cow that is part of the Welsh Fairy Tales Unit. These stories have helped me to pull together the continuing adventures of Nathan the Seeker.The story of the Stray Cow is fun. The Lady of the Lake has cattle and one of them falls in love with a farmer's cows. People don't usually get to see the cows, but this lucky farmer steals one and is blessed with prosperity because of the lucky cow. When the farmer decides it is time to butcher the magical cow the Lady of the Lake shows up to get the magical cow and the farmer loses his wealth.
The part that I used from The Passing of Merlin is where the Lady of the Lake emerges from the Lake and Merlin falls in love with her to his own undoing, much like how Nathan falls for Melusina. Also, I focused on the place to find Merlin where Nineve put him so we could wake Merlin up. In the story of The Stray Cow I brought in the Lady of the Lakes cattle which had attracted the attention of another Immortal, Scattach the Shadow. She helps Nathan to get the sword Caliburn (Excalibur) and joins in the story.
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