Dragoncrest Cliffs On pathway to the stars

It started with a bright, flaming ball at the side of Merlin's sight, twirling and twisting and not going away, regardless of whether he kept his eyes shut or open. Whether he slept or lay awoke. Then it exploded in thousands of little, dazzling, dancing lights and were accompanied by the worst of headaches he had had yet. The pressure inside his skull was so intense, it felt as if it was about to split open. Merlin whined in pain and pressed his hurting head against all solid surfaces he could find, wishing for the pain to go away. 

It is hard to say, whether it did or maybe stayed the same, but transformed into something entirely different. A kaleidoscope of shapes and colours whirled before Merlin's eyes, as he lied nearly motionless on the cold floor of the cave he had hid himself in, eyes wide open and fear-stricken. The vivid hallucinations were not entirely harmless, they had a strangely obssessive (for the lack of a better word) quality about them. Just as he had not been able to will away the pain, they kept coming at him again and again, and he had no control over it. His damaged and long-suffering brain appeared to have finally taken life of its own, regardless of the main resident within. 

Then those chaotic and irregular images came to a halt, changed somewhat and suddenly the reality he had been in was washed away and he was left in a world, where beneath him an endless dark ocean rolled its waves soundlessly and above him bright against the midnight blue was the stary realm. Cautiously he got to his feet and began walking, looking around, listening and wondering. His heartbeat was the only other sound here and he got a notion that besides him no one else was here. Having always felt lonely in the crowd and at the same time overwhelmed by the people, it was soothing.

A tinkling, metallic noise made him look up and much to his surprise he saw the Spider God again, walking among stars, weaving its web and humming to himself. A soft singing voice made him look down and there, just beneath the surface of the water he saw the most beautiful creature, peering back at him kindly, smiling warmly and following. He looked at her, mesmerized and with longing. Her face felt familiar, known and seen an eternity ago, he thought he should have been able to put a name to it, but try as he could, he wasn't able to. And altogether this vision was missing something and he was unable to pinpoint, what it was exactly. 

Merlin turned his attention back to the spider and it seemed that this time the Celestial had taken notice of him. It turned his eight-eyed gaze looked at him for a long moment and then reached down that one spindly leg of his and, before the boy could say or do anything, he pierced his chest and reached in to the very place, where his soul resided. The same moment the water nymph broke through the surface and with a loud roar "MINE!" grabbed him and began to pull him under. 

Their fight over, who was going to claim this spirit, lasted only seconds, though to Merlin it felt like an eternity, then something within him broke and shattered. Part of him was dragged in the dark depths of the ocean, the other - shining and glowing brightly, free of the form that its shell had shaped for him, free of pain and troubles of the mortal world lied in the Spider's hand. He regarded it for a moment carefully and having finally decided, where its place would be, he reached up and put it among the rest of the stars in his kingdom. Then he moved on.

xxx

Early in the morning the ocean washed up the broken and cold body that had once been Merlin's. It seemed that in his daze he had lost his path and fell down the cliffs. Or just maybe the godess of the ocean unsatisfied by the meager offering of her servant had thrown it away.