The first thing he was aware of was Ruth’s voice speaking with the others. “Okay, I made it through to the other side. It’s quite a distance, however. I don’t see how you all are going to get through.”

“Why is that?” asked Mr. Prince.

“Even if Lucas and Frank could move the stones, there are so many of them it would take forever. Also, it would probably cause more stones to fall. It might be our only option, however.”

Merlin sat up. Then he gingerly touched the back of his head. It was a little damp, probably bloody. Staggering to his feet, he looked around at the others. No one else seemed hurt, which was good. He must have gotten hurt because he was the closest to where the cave started.

He wondered if he could do something to help. Since he wasn’t strong enough to do much else, he thought about a possible spell while Lucas and Frank started moving some of the rocks aside. Maybe he could keep more rocks from falling if they could move the other rocks. That meant he would need some stabilizing spell.

It took him several minutes to come up with a spell to help. Letting the others know what he was doing, he began the spell.

“While I am busy shirking

Keep the ceiling from moving,

While everyone is working.

While I am busy shirking

Keep the ceiling from moving.

While everyone is working.

While I am busy shirking

Keep the ceiling from moving,

While everyone is working.”

He hadn’t been sure how much energy it would take for him to complete the spell. Who knew how strong the remaining rocks in the ceiling were? There wasn’t quite as much pressure as he was expecting, but he knew the spell would wipe him out by the time the guys were done removing all the stones.

After finishing the spell, Merlin sat down and concentrated on keeping the spell going. Seeing that they didn’t have to worry about the ceiling anymore, Lucas and Frank began throwing rocks around like they were toys. Even Ruth was surprisingly strong from the sounds of rocks being thrown around from the other side of the rockslide.

Merlin didn’t know how long it took. At some point, he had blocked out everything but kept the spell continuing. He didn’t notice when the last rock was moved enough for them to get through. He didn’t even notice when Frank picked him up and carried him through the tunnel back to the surface.

At some point, he lost consciousness. He preferred that to falling asleep from exhaustion. Either way, he wasn’t aware of anything for several hours until he had recovered again. At one point, he woke up, but finding everyone else resting around the room, fell back asleep.

It was getting close to the morning when Ruth woke everyone. Sitting up, Merlin and everyone else looked at Mr. Prince. Seeing that they wanted some answers, Mr. Prince sighed and said, “Very well. I suppose you deserve some answers.”

“I think so,” Lucas said. Everyone else seemed to agree with him.

“Fine,” Mr. Prince said. “The first thing you need to know is that Ms. White and I are married.”

Everyone just looked at him. Merlin raised an eyebrow. While he didn’t want to say anything about the age difference, Ruth didn’t have the same problem. “Eww,” she said. “You’re like eighty years old and she’s...what, thirty?”

“Actually,” Mr. Prince said, “I am actually quite a bit older than that. For that matter, Ms. White is the same age as I am.”

Merlin nodded to himself. He remembered Mr. Prince saying something about that before. He had told them that the mirror had cursed him to look older than he actually was. Wait, if that was true, wouldn’t he look even older if he didn’t look as old as ...Merlin lost the trail of thought. Ugh...magic could give anyone a headache with all the possibilities.

“Many, many years ago, Ms. White’s stepmother left a magical mirror that would tell her anything she wanted to know. Unfortunately, some things are better left unknown. She found seven individuals who worked deep within the earth who were able to forge another magical mirror.”

Everyone looked at each other as if asking why they were listening to such a fairy tale. Then again, maybe it was true. After all, it had been a magic mirror. Perhaps because of this, no one interrupted as Mr. Prince continued.

“This mirror would allow someone to be whatever they wanted to be. Anyone who looked into the mirror would change to be whatever they saw. Now, at first, this seemed like a blessing. However, human nature is odd. While we often tend to see things that we want to see, we also see things we are afraid of seeing.”

Merlin nodded. That was true. He had found that out a long time ago when he had told a lie. He hadn’t wanted to tell the real reason he had done something, so he had told one of his ...well, not really a friend, an embarrassing story instead.

Of course, the person had believed him because he wanted to believe something so absurd had been the reason. He found out later that people would also believe what they were afraid of that might be true. If they thought someone was doing something, it wouldn’t take much to convince them of it even if it wasn’t true.

Mr. Prince continued, “Unfortunately, she saw much of her stepmother in herself as she gazed into the mirror. Since her mother had been a wicked person, she too became wicked. We had looked in the mirror together. Unfortunately, I also feared something. I could see her staying beautiful forever while I became the old man who would always be trailing behind her.”

Merlin frowned at this, not sure he believed that part of the story. It seemed too...convenient. Still, he didn’t say anything and let the story continue.

“All these years, she has continued to retain her youth. I’ve trailed her through the years, trying to break the curse. Every time I came close to breaking the curse, those seven little guys who made the mirror would be there to stop me.”

Merlin was starting to see where Mr. Prince was going with his story. Frowning, he wondered just how much of the story was true. If so, then what other things might be true? He shivered, seeing his world turn upside down. The world really was a strange place.

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“I can find her again. I can always find her. We’re still linked and will be forever. That might be one reason why she moves around so much. If you guys can help me, get to her again, we can try for the mirror pieces one more time.”

“We can use all the help we can get,” Ruth said. “Can you take us to wherever she is?”

“Yes, I can,” Mr. Prince said. “In fact, I think we should leave now. I have a car down the street we can take.” With that, he got up and motioned for them to join him. Not having a better option, they followed him.

Merlin was worried. Apparently, Ms. White had seven protectors. They were probably the ones who had rigged the cavern to drop on them. What else could they do? How in the world would they be able to get the mirror pieces from her? Apparently, Mr. Prince had been trying for years and had no luck.

Ms. White must not have gone far because Mr. Prince didn’t have to drive for too long. Unfortunately, they had to leave Ruth behind. It was simply too close to dawn for her to risk going out without knowing how far they would need to go. When they stopped in front of a business called the Rock Shop, Merlin put away his most current enchanted item he had made while they were driving.

“This isn’t good,” Mr. Prince said. “Not good at all.”

Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, Frank couldn’t resist and had to ask, “Why is it bad?”

“Remember those guys I told you about?” Mr. Prince asked. “The ones who made the magic mirror? Well, it looks like she ran to them. More than likely, they are here.”

“All of them?” Lucas asked.

“More than likely,” Mr. Prince said. “They generally stay together. Sometimes they will be joined by their other brothers, but more often than not, it’s just the seven of them.”

“Hmm, so eight against four,” Merlin said. “You said they made the magic mirrors. What else can they do?”

“Actually, they aren’t that powerful in one sense,” Mr. Prince said. “Their power rests mostly in their ability to make things. They don’t generally do much fighting. That doesn’t mean that they can’t fight. In fact, they are really tough. So tough I doubt you or I could hurt them permanently.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Frank said.

“Maybe we don’t have to fight them,” Lucas said. “All we really need to do is distract them while one of us gets the mirror pieces.”

“Yes, but where are the pieces? That’s the problem,” Merlin said.

“Actually,” Mr. Prince said, “Merlin can probably help with that. I’m sure he can cast a spell to find the mirror pieces and sneak in while we distract the seven brothers and Ms. White.”

Everyone looked at Merlin, who sighed, and then said, “Let me think for a few minutes. I don’t really have a spell yet for this. Why don’t you guys discuss what you are going to do to distract everyone while I am sneaking inside”

The others nodded and moved to the other side of the car while he thought about the spell he would need, and they discussed what they would be doing. Merlin finally decided he would probably need at least two spells. One of them would be to find the mirror. The other would be to get in without being seen. The problem was he might have some difficulty maintaining two spells at the same time.

Maybe if he cast a spell on an item. Then whenever he wore the item it would be activated. Would that work? Hmm, probably not unless he concentrated on it. So, he was going to have to combine the two spells into one. Maybe the item that helped him sneak in could also lead him to the mirror pieces.

That might work, he thought. Hmm, sneak and seek maybe. Guide and hide. Might as well connect the spell to the mask, he thought. Thinking about that, he got the mask out of the car. While he did have magic, he didn’t want to count on it. After all the sneaking he had to do last week, he had gotten his old Halloween mask out from last year.

The others had apparently decided what they were going to do and had finished talking. Mr. Prince noticed Merlin was ready, and said, “We’re ready if you are. When you get the mirror, meet us back here.”

Nodding, Merlin looked at the mask. He thought one final time about how he would word the spell. Finally, he nodded, ready to try the spell. Taking a deep breath, he began.

“While I wear this concealing mask,

Help me as I complete my task,

Allow me to find what I seek

And hide me from sight as I sneak.”

Merlin could feel the pressure building already. In fact, it was almost as difficult as a healing spell. Maybe the mirror pieces were hard for the spell to get a handle on because they were magical. He ignored the pressure and continued on until he finished the spell.

“While I wear this concealing mask,

Help me as I complete my task,

Allow me to find what I seek

And hide me from sight as I sneak.

While I wear this concealing mask,

Help me as I complete my task,

Allow me to find what I seek

And hide me from sight as I sneak.”

Slowly, he put on the mask. While it wasn’t the best mask to use since it made sight a little more difficult, it at least covered his whole face. Keeping his concentration on maintaining the spell, he moved toward the back of the store. He had an enchanted key ready in case the back door was locked. More and more he was realizing that being prepared was the king of adventuring. While it might be impossible to prepare for every circumstance, that doesn't mean people shouldn’t try.

By the time he had reached the back door, he could hear Frank and Lucas yelling at each other as if they were going to fight. Mr. Prince would be running interference, acting like he was trying to help. Luckily, Merlin didn’t need the key. Someone had been lazy and not bothered to lock the back door. Maybe the owners were so overconfident they didn’t really care. Either way, he was able to slip inside.

He wasn’t sure how he would know where to go at first, but the mask began to tug him forward, leading him where he needed to go. Soon, he reached an office. Unfortunately, this time the door was locked. Good thing he hadn’t needed to use the enchanted key. After using the key, he quietly stepped into the office and shut the door behind him, still holding the mirror piece-seeking spell in his mind.

The mask stopped working as soon as it had taken him to the front of a big painting of Snow White and the seven dwarfs. “Weird,” Merlin muttered. “So weird. Why in the world would someone have a painting like that in their office?” It was a little odd. In fact, the image of Snow White looked an awful lot like Ms. White herself.

Pushing his thoughts about the owners being strange out of his mind, he started feeling around the painting. He had seen enough movies to know that there were usually safes hidden behind the paintings. Unfortunately, he didn’t see a way to move the painting. It seemed fastened tightly to the wall.

Hmm, wait a minute he thought. Ms. White had pressed a stone in the cavern and that had activated the cave-in. Maybe there was a stone he could press here as well. Especially if the owners of the building were the ones who had designed the cavern as well.

It only took him a few seconds of pressing random rocks near the painting for him to hear a click. Not seeing anything happen, he reached up and tried to move the painting again. This time it came off the wall. Right behind it was a big metal safe.

Oh joy, Merlin thought. Now he was standing in some stranger’s office and would have to think up a spell. Who knew how long the others would be able to distract everyone? Thinking furiously, he tried to come up with a spell to open the safe. The last spell had left him tired, which made thinking a little more difficult. Pushing aside such thoughts, he began arranging the spell in his mind. Hmm, maybe a small variation on a spell he had cast earlier, he finally decided.

“When I start to knock,

Undo this safe’s lock.

When I start to knock,

Undo this safe’s lock.

When I start to knock,

Undo this safe’s lock.”