Dark Times

Magic vs. Intelligence

"No, do it again."

Merlin said in his gentle voice, undoing the spell that Mal had taken so long to do.

"What? What was wrong this time?"

She was stunned to see what he had done to her magic. This was the third time he had taken out his wand and undone the spell she had done.

"Focus." He told her, as he enjoyed a bag of his favorite candies. "I love these candies, they're small, easy to eat and they're colorful."

She rolled her eyes and snorted again, trying to think of another way to do what he wanted. The wizard's request was rather easy, Mal had to carry a rock from one side to the other, but using magic and without failing.

"What's the point of that anyway?"

She asked, already getting anxious about it.

"To teach you intelligent magic."

He replied, eating another of his delicious candies.

"What are books really for?"

She joked with him.

"For people who have time and don't need to fight a Darkness. Wrong again."

He dropped the rock again.

"That's enough! I've had enough!" She yelled at him. "I haven't heard from my husband or my friends, Agatha is on the loose and you want to make me carry stones? What's the matter with you? "She shouted at him and her eyes blazed with visible anger."

"Mal, where are you going?"

Rashid, who had been keeping quiet until now, asked in anguish when he saw her running away.

"Mal, come back here."

Quite calmly, he got up from his seat and, seeing her heading back the way she had come, he cast a spell on her so that, even against her will, she was coming back.

"Let me go."

Merlin had thrown a kind of rope around her waist and when he saw that she was about to return, he made the green flame appear from his hands, making her steady her feet on the ground. The master lifted her off the ground and made her float back to them

"It doesn't matter how big the rock is, but how you move it." He looked into her eyes and spoke. "Create, plan and execute a strategy." He showed her doing his magic his way. "You won't defeat Agatha with your anger, use your intelligence."

She returned to her previous position. She took a deep breath, looked at the stones and analyzed a way to do what he had asked. "Calm down, Mal, you can do it," she said mentally. He looked at Merlin and saw the bullets he hadn't released. "Small and easy to eat." She remembered what he had said and knew what to do...

He saw Mal break three huge stones into small pebbles and when they all levitated, he took out his wand again and in an attempt to throw everything to the ground Mal managed to dodge all five times that Merlin tried.

"Don't even think about using that again."

She took advantage of the one time he was distracted and with her other hand threw the wooden object to the ground, away from him. All he did was smile at seeing her complete her first lesson.

"You can rest, I'll get some water."

She sighed slightly at finally being able to rest.

(...)

"How do you think things are going there?"

Mal asked Rashid, although she tried not to think so much,  thoughts were always on the boys.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Before I came, I told them that she might be in the castle."

He answered her seriously.

"In the castle?"

She was shocked at the possibility of Ben and Jay being in the same place as Agatha.

"Hey, relax, they're fine."

He tried to console her.

"Difficult to believe."

"If it makes you feel better, I can go there."

He offered sincerely and with a generosity she hadn't known until now

"Would you do that for me?"

She asked, since Rashid was still one of those who had caused this from the start, it was hard to trust him so much.

"Yeah, I guess so. Tell Merlin I'll be right back."

He smiled at her with the thought that, on the one hand, she was right about him, on the other, she had no idea half the things. He was gone in seconds, leaving Mal alone.

"Where's Rashid?"

Merlin asked when he saw the girl alone.

"He went to do me a favor."

"Can we continue?"

"Sure."

(...)

"Concentrate Mal." He asked her for the fifth time. "Your mind is connected to your magic."

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't.

"I can't Merlin, I can't get my mind off it and if..."

"Too much future, not enough present."

"I wanted to be there and protect them."

"If you don't learn, there's no use in doing anything."

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Ignore things and stay calm?"

"I don't ignore them, do you really think there isn't a second I don't think about my great-nephew? It's not about ignoring, it's about focusing on something else."

"I'm sorry about Marlin, he was an excellent teacher.

"Yes, he was. I shouldn't do this, because you need to develop your own technique, but I always close my eyes and think of a good moment and then I find the calm I need, why don't you try?

"Okay."

Again, Mal went back and closed his eyes and searched his mind for a good moment. Ben's coronation, he immediately smiled at the memory. Apart from the fact that it was on that day that he turned his mother into a lizard, the rest had been beautiful. She remembered dancing the night away, the moments with Ben and especially all the fun with her friends, which had been the best part.

From then on, every spell Merlin cast on her she was able to mediate with another, every spell he started she finished, every potion she remembered a solution and was able to make her own magic.

"You're like a rock, petrified."

Merlin was already in a position to test her again.

"You'll stand still like a statue. I know that one."

She said with an evil giggle.

"Congratulations, I'm proud of you Mal and..."

Before the wizard had a chance to finish his congratulations, Rashid appeared and it was clear from his face that he wasn't bringing good news...