"Foolish, Emrys! Foolish indeed!" The words seem as clear to me as the ringing of crystal, cutting through the haze. The voice is at once familiar and unknown to me. "When I was the High Myrddin, I would never have been fooled by a simple spell of Resemblance!" Despite the words' harsh tone, I feel somehow comforted by the voice. "I taught you better than that!"

Tuan?

Master?

"Yes, my student. My successor. My greatest failure. Had I known you learned so little from me, I would never have relinquished High Myrddin to you."

Forgive me, Master Tuan, I have tried ...

"Silence, Emrys! If not for the fae bound to you by covenant, that witch, that damnable witch would have ended the line of the High Myrddin. Even now, the last vestiges of her strength are all that keep the serpent's poison from ending your wasted life."

Wasted? But I have steered the Destiny of the Isles into the hands of the Pendragon! Surely my work has not been for nothing?

"Work? Meddling! 'Tis not the calling of the High Myrddin to take the reins of Destiny. Bah! Niamh naDruithne should have become High Myrddin, and not you. She would have honored the duty of the High Myrddin to Avalon. But you ... you bear the folly of your wanderlust in every wrinkle upon your skin. Now you turn to the Crystal Cave! Had you not allowed yourself to succumb to the ravages of Anno Domini perhaps the Queen would not be prisoner of Tanglewood! Perhaps that fae-blessed ranger Kendal would not be clapped in irons! May the weight of the Dolorous Stroke rest heavily upon your soul."

Enough, Tuan. Be not so hard on him. His heart breaks with every beat. Do you forget we are bound?

Ganieda? Oh, my dear Ganieda! I have failed you most of all ... you lent me strength to reach the Crystal Cave, and all that is gone! Bled from me like an ill humour!

No, dear brother, you have not failed, not while you still draw breath. Feel no shame for needing help, for humility is a virtue. Ceridwen is a trickster, among her other foul traits. She played your feelings for Niamh like a fine fiddle to slip past your guard. But remember the debt you owe to your fae companion ... her guidance saved your very life.

I shall remember, I swear it.

"Good, boy. That's the spirit. Now, we must get you into the Cave before your companion's strength is gone." With that, I feel a weight lifted from my chest. As my bleary eyes struggle to open, I see that the feeling was quite literal, as the fae had collapsed upon my chest. She is set on the ground, as gently as if she were weightless, suspended by her garments from the jowls of a massive grey wolf. A smile weakly creeps upon my lips as I see the form my Master has reincarnated in. The same form that is second-nature to my own. The same form that now takes a strong hold of my blood-stained cloak, and drags my limp body into the Crystal Cave.