Free Priestess Dreaming (An Otherworld Novel) by Yasmine Galenorn

yet. “You think the Merlin can help contain Yvarr?”
    “The post of the Merlin is that of High Priest to the Hunter. Chaotic? Yes, but the forces of the earth are chaotic. He can help you contain Yvarr; he and others like him who wake to these turbulent times. And after taking on the wyrm, the Merlin might just be able to help you counter Telazhar. His powers are grounded deep in the earth.”
    I closed my eyes. Legends had come to life before and left me disappointed. Morgaine—one of the supposed greatest sorceresses—was also a distant ancestral cousin, but she was corrupted with greed and I found it hard to trust her. Would the Merlin be different? I could only cling to a faint hope that he would. Whatever the case, we had no choice. With a creature like Yvarr on the loose, the world would be a far more dangerous place. If there was any way to contain him, we had to attempt it. Plus, the lingering thought that the Merlin might be able to take on Telazhar tantalized like the proverbial carrot and horse.
    I cleared my throat. “There’s no question about it. I’ll go. Even though I have to take Bran and Morgaine with me. We need his help.”
    The room fell silent as I stared at the table. The thought of traipsing off into the realm of the Elder Fae again was terrifying and gave me the cold sweats, but it was probably safer than Otherworld right now.
    Don’t bet on it,
a tiny voice inside whispered.
Telazhar has nothing on the Elder Fae. Remember Yannie Fin Diver?
    Another shudder raced through me. The freakazoid Elder Fae had chased Delilah and me down, determined to prove that we were his lunch.
    “I have a question, and maybe it’s stupid but I don’t understand something.” Delilah broke the silence. “Why do you keep saying
the
Merlin? Isn’t his name just Merlin?”
    Derisa cracked a grin. “No, my child. The
Merlin
is actually the title of a post—the post of the High Priest to the Hunter. The Father of the Druids is the son of the Earth Mother’s consort. Whoever holds the post, holds the title. But the men who wear that mantle are neither human nor Fae. For when they take the post, they are reborn into what they become. The men who are born to this post are groomed for it, a lot like the Dalai Lama—the boy is chosen when young and trained, when the reigning Merlin knows he’s nearing the end of his time.”
    Delilah finished her cookie and reached for another one. I shook my head. My sister was a sugar freak and a junk food junkie. If she’d been fully human, the amount of crap she ate would probably have done her in. “So, was he human when he took the post?”
    “When he was chosen to be the new Merlin, yes. But they undergo a dark and treacherous rite and this changes them. The Merlins live for thousands of years, although they can be killed. They are not kindly old men, they are not Gandalf of the
Lord of the Rings
, nor the wizard portrayed by
The Sword in the Stone
. Never, ever underestimate him.”
    I turned to Delilah. “Think of the human pope—he takes a new name when he’s chosen to office. The world has been without the Merlin for so long, it will be interesting to see what changes when I find him and bring him back.
If
we manage the task. His presence gives the planet a strength . . . it’s hard to describe, but think of it this way. If Derisa here vanished from Otherworld for a couple of thousands of years, the Coterie of the Moon Mother would fall into shambles.”
    “So the return of the Merlin could mean major shifts in the human pagan movement.” Delilah cocked her head. “That’s going to be interesting to see.”
    “Yeah, providing he hasn’t jumped the shark. All we need is a crazed Druid sorcerer running around loose.” Even as I said it, I felt sick to my stomach. Unleashing old energies could be dangerous. But again—we didn’t seem to have much choice. Somehow, Yvarr had woken, and the Merlin was one of the few who could fight him.
    “What do we call