Chapter 71

After Philos and Dastan left, Merlin stood alone in Philos' laboratory, his surveyed the surroundings. With a solemn gesture, he raised his hands and conjured a bright red ball of pulsating energy. The sphere hovered in the air, casting an eerie glow over the room as it pulsed with power.

Merlin's eyes narrowed as he focused his energy, channeling his will into the pulsating orb. With a final surge of concentration, he released the ball of energy, allowing it to float freely in the center of the laboratory.

Then Merlin's form began to shimmer once more, the air around him pulsating with arcane energy. And then, in another blur of motion, he vanished.

He then appeared standing atop the Memnon palace, his keen eyes surveyed the chaos unfolding below. The bright red ball of pulsating energy, released moments ago in Philos' laboratory, had erupted into a fiery explosion, engulfing the room in a maelstrom of destruction.

From his vantage point, Merlin watched as guards scrambled towards the source of the blast, their shouts echoing through the night air. But Merlin's attention was elsewhere. With a focused mind, he closed his eyes and reached out with his senses, seeking the location of Cassandra.

After finding her, a surge of energy pulsed around him, shimmering with otherworldly power. In a swift motion, Merlin vanished from the palace rooftop, leaving behind only a lingering trace of magic in the air.

Again Merlin arrived in th4 room, where he sensed Cassandra, Merlin looked aound himself within a strange room of the palace, and he slammed the doors shut and barricaded them with an ornate chest. He turned to get his bearings. This was no magician's lair... and yet it was. This was a goldenhued sandstone chamber whose hieroglyph decorations seemed feminine, a sensation enhanced by delightful scents of oil and flowers and incense. He knew at once he was in Cassandra's quarters; not in her bedroom, or living chamber, no—this was an indoor bathing pool. And he knew it belonged to the sorceress, because Cassandra herself lay within the huge bath, her lovely head and a shoulder looming above a surface covered with rose petals. Her almond eyes grew large— she may have been a prophet, but she had clearly not anticipated his entry into her quarters, and was dumbstruck.

But, then, so was he. The sorceress's handmaidens, who'd been tending her alongside the pool, which took up most of the floor space in the modestsized chamber, were not struck dumb: they screamed like frightened children, and ran into the adjacent rooms of their mistress's quarters.

Quickly the regal Cassandra regained her poise, and she rose from the rose-cloaked water, throwing back the damp mane of her long dark hair, displaying every inch of her golden, wellformed flesh, perfect breasts, narrow waist, the flare of hips, flawless skin pearled with moisture, every female secret shared. She stood with her arms at her sides and her chin, and her breasts, held high. No woman had ever been more at ease with her beauty as she said, "Well, Wizard? Are you going to take me away, or just stare?"

Merlin shook his head and said,"I am going to take you back to your tribe, so come with me."

Cassandra was in shock, but Merlin didn't have time for this since he knew the handmaidens would have alerted the guards.

So he quickly went and grabbed her, while disapparating away with the Sorcereress.

He appears with the Sorcereress held close to him closed alley.Merlin looked down at Sorcereress to her long hair streaming with water, her golden skin beaded with droplets — whirled at Merlin, no longer in the grip of their shared predicament, her regal bearing returning in full force. Her longnailed fingers turned to claws and her hands flew toward the Merlin's face.

But Merlin stopped her and said,"Please this for your own safety, so please cooperate with me. I am really going to take you too your tribe elder Lady Mohiam. "

There was hint of recognition in her eyes, she slightly nodded and said nothing, her chin high... but trembling, perhaps with the chill of the water ... perhaps from something else.

"I suggest we find you something to wear," he said. "You may catch cold in your bare skin ... and more unwanted attention."

Merlin conjured a bedouin robes and scarves from a washerwoman, Cassandra wore it without complaining.