BOOK IV - The Red Dragon

CHAPTER 9

Summary

Merlin is called to see Ambrosius in Caerleon in June. He knows before he even sees his father that he will be going abroad to Ireland to help destroy the allies Pascentius has made there. Uther tells him he speaks the truth and that they'll be going to Killare, a fortress atop a hill which must be destroyed by siege engines. Just before he steps into his father's quarters, he sees Keri walk up to Uther's door. She has always been just an opportunistic whore like her mother before her.

Ambrosius reveals to Merlin that Pascentius is still in Germany with about 20,000 men, but the greater problem lies with..........

Notes

Merlin is once again in the chains of his Sight and Power. First, his father needs him to use whatever power he has to..........

New names in this chapter: Killare, a fortress in Ireland where the heart of Ireland lies; Gilloman, the young King of Ireland

CHAPTER 10

Summary

Merlin arrives in Ireland with Uther and his troops and they face young King Gilloman who comes to meet them on a flat plain. Gilloman escapes both the first battle and the second, but the British troops capture Killare. Merlin then goes to the Dance described by Ambrosius and walks around it until he trips over a black stone in its center. He knows this is the stone he has come to find and passes out.

The next morning he is awakened not only by the sun, but also by the arrival of Uther, some of his troops, and an Irishman. Uther Notes that Merlin's power is as strong as theirs, because no other man would have had the courage to spend the night there alone. They have brought the Irishman to tell them which one is the King-Stone. The man says it...........

Notes

This chapter is a fulfillment of many bits of foreshadowing from early in the novel. First, Merlin is able to raise the King-Stone, because, during the years he spent in Less Britain, he had continuously worked out, in his head and in models, techniques he believed would raise these great stones. The god had put him to work on..........

New names in this chapter: Fionn Mac Cumhaill, the great King of Ireland who had taken the black stone from the Giant's Dance in Britain to Killare in Ireland

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