Throughout history there are recordings of wizards of all sorts. Some were powerful and brave while others meddled in the mysterious ways of darkness. Some were mischievous while others never even realized they possessed magical abilities. However, they all had one thing in common. Most all of them were fake. Most are nothing but legends and fairytales passed down from generation to generation. Stories and writings are filled with their fictional adventures. But that does not mean all of them were fake. For example, one wizard that truly did exist is to this day one of the most well known magicians of all time.

Merlin, Slayer of the Dark Knight, Possessor of the Orb of Destiny, and Protector of The Kingdom of Camelot, was lying in his death bed, ill with a most horrible disease. Coughs vibrated through his aching chest. His heart faintly bum-bumped its slow tune.

He was in his home, at the top of the Mountains of Lightning. Camelot could be seen a mile north. The townspeople respected Merlin, but like all humans, they were always suspicious around the sorcerer. He understood and decided to live in the mountains, where no one could be bothered with his presence except for the occasional falcon, flying circles around the top of the mountain. At the very peak was the cave. And in the cave was Merlin.

The old magician gazed weakly at his son who had just entered through the animal skins hung over the entrance. Torches casting purple flames revealed the features of the man. Like his father, the son was wearing a pointy hat upon his head. He was covered in robes and in his hand he held a wand. The father’s and son’s faces were much alike. They both had beards, although the son’s was a bit shorter and more neatly trimmed. The son had lively brown hair while Merlin’s had turned as white as snow. They both had sharp noses and chins without an ounce of fat upon them. And their eyes were much alike as well. Both pairs were stormy grey and always alert.

The man bowed to his father. Merlin nodded.

“I was starting to think you weren’t going to show up son. You are always so late Mataz,” said Merlin.

Mataz smiled and replied, “Better late than never my father.”

Merlin grumbled.

“You know I am getting old son. With age may come wisdom, but impatience follows closely behind. Do not be late again. Now, to the reason why I have called you here.”

The torches flickered and darkened slightly. Mataz leaned in closer to his father. Merlin continued, “This information is of paramount importance. If word of this gets out, the world will most certainly be doomed. There is a secret. It has been kept safe in our family line since the dawn of time.” Merlin looked up expectantly at his son.

Mataz nodded vigorously and quickly responded, “I am trustworthy father.”

Merlin replied, “Yes, I know.” He paused, and then continued, “I believe you are ready for the secret of the Triangle.”

Mataz interrupted, “If you are speaking of how the triangle is the most powerful shape in the language of magic, there is no need father. I know of that.”

Merlin looked at his son sternly and reprimanded him by saying, “What did I say about my impatience? Do not be late and definitely do not interrupt. No, I am speaking of the Triangle. Capital T. Not just any triangle. The Triangle is a shield our family has kept polished. Unlike knight’s shields, however, this shield is invisible. It is the Triangle that provides protection from lies in the center of it.” Merlin stopped and looked up to his son.

Mataz asked, “Well, what is in the center of this Triangle? Is it a weapon? A fortress? A doorway into heaven? What is it father?”

Merlin looked tiredly into a torch’s light and replied, “I do not know. No one does. We are forbidden to know. The Triangle is in the sea near a new world that has yet to be discovered. I was going to travel to it a few weeks back when all of a sudden this sickness took hold of me. Every 1000 years, we must visit this secret location and cast the triangle spell you were speaking of. Then afterwards, we speak one last incantation to bind it, and we leave. The area is marked by a golden light streaking into the sky that only our family can see. Be warned son; do not travel to the center of the Triangle where the light is coming from. Do not be tempted. Who knows what terrible things will happen if you go there?”

Merlin suddenly had a coughing fit and after about a minute, he was once again able to speak. He continued, “You will encounter 3 challenges once you cross the Triangle’s perimeter. These will test you. Get past them and an orange light will shoot into the air. Go to its source, cast the spell in that location, and leave. Remember, go to the orange light, not the yellow. Now I will give you the items necessary for your journey.”

And with that Merlin reached to a wooden table standing next to his bed. On it lay a black book, a vial of red liquid, and a mirror. He retrieved these items and set them upon his lap. He first handed the black book to his son.

“In this book is the spell which you must say after calling out the triangle spell. Page 56 if you want to find it quickly.”

Mataz put the book in his right pocket. Then, Merlin picked up the bottle of red liquid and gave it to his son.

“This is my blood. It was taken from my arm weeks ago. You shall find a use for it.”

Mataz gingerly put the vial in a satchel hung across his shoulder. Finally, Merlin gave Mataz the mirror.

“This is a mirror that contains no magic. Nevertheless, you may find usage for it still.”

With doubt Mataz pocketed this last item. He asked, “How will I find this place?”
Merlin replied, “Head straight to the west without turning and it will find you.”
Mataz nodded and looked up to his dying father. Mataz said, “I will see you when I return.”

Merlin smiled and said, “If God has not yet brought me home, you may.”

They shared a hug and Mataz turned to leave. As he left Merlin said, “You will find a boat waiting for you to the west in the sea. And Remember what I have said Mataz. Do not succumb to temptation.”

A month later the sun rose to find Mataz upon the boat his father had lent him. It was a small vessel, fit for few people. Mataz had been traveling west, just as his father had instructed. One would’ve thought that Mataz would have starved to death without bringing any supplies but a mirror, a book, a vial of blood, and the clothes he was wearing. But with his magic he was able to summon small, tasty fish to simply throw themselves on board, ready to be cleaned and eaten.

Mataz awoke from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and came out of the small room at the back of the boat. After stretching his stiff limbs, he checked if the boat was still heading west. The vessel was being magically taken care of. The sails closed and opened on their own. The steering wheel was locked in place so the boat would not turn. Even the floor cleaned itself of all debris thrown upon it.

Mataz was now certain they were heading west for the sun was rising behind the boat. Mataz then turned his attention to the horizon ahead of the boat. He gasped.

What he saw didn’t make sense. It seemed that there was a second sun rising in the west as well! But that was impossible. He looked closer and saw that the light ahead was not a sphere, but a cylinder shooting from the sky into the ocean. He was almost there!


He went to the front of the boat and expectantly awaited the arrival of the Triangle. But after hours of waiting, the light had not seemed to have gotten any closer. He was about to go back into his room disappointed when it happened. A sudden chill went down the back of his spine. He felt a buzzing inside of his brain. The boat rocked to the right. A cold wind went by. Then silence.

Mataz did not know how he knew it, but he did. He had just crossed the perimeter of the Triangle.

A sudden bump jolted him back to reality. The boat leaned to the right and rocked back and forth. The movement stopped. Then a larger bump from the left sent Mataz stumbling across the deck. He caught himself along the side. He looked over the edge into the dark water.

At first he couldn’t see anything except for the dark water. He looked closer. No, it wasn’t the water that was dark. The water was a crystal blue. The dark spot was about 50 feet long, about as long as Mataz’s boat was. It was also about 5 feet wide. The boat was about 10 feet wide. Whatever was under the water was half the size of the vessel.

The shadow moved and went under the boat, heading for the opposite side. Mataz hurried over to the other edge just in time to see what was under the water. Swimming up towards the boat was the largest shark Mataz had ever seen. He did not know they could even grow to such a size. He had seen some sharks on his voyage, passing by without much concern. They had never bothered him. But this one was a monster.

As it surfaced, he saw the eyes of the grey fish. They were as black and as expressionless as coal. Below the pair was a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. A dorsal fin stuck up behind the massive head.

It rammed the side, throwing Mataz to the deck. He grabbed his wand from his pockets and ran back over to the side. The shark was still surfaced and moving parallel to the boat. With a flick of his wand, Mataz sent an arc of electricity towards the fiend. It should have killed the beast on contact, but instead rebounded harmlessly. Mataz tried several more spells, but each one failed. The shark was magic proof!

Another giant bump vibrated throughout the boat. His ship could not take much more abuse. Mataz ran into his room, desperately looking for anything to ward off the attacker. His eyes looked over his few belongings. He was losing hope until he spotted the vial of blood. He snatched it and ran back outside. He looked over the right edge, and sure enough the monster was coming in for another crushing blow.

Quickly, Mataz pulled the cork out of the bottle and threw the vial in an arc across the ocean. His father’s blood rained down all throughout the water. Immediately, the shark lost interest in the boat and swam off to investigate the blood.

Mataz chanted an incarnation and the wind grew, sending his vessel skipping across the waves, away from the huge fish.

Mataz took time to sit down and let out a huff of air. That must have been the first challenge. Mataz shook his head, fearing what else was in store for him. He stood and looked at the damage the shark had done. The hull had several indents from where the iron-hard skull had collided. Mataz was certain there were leaks. He was about to go down below deck to inspect it when he heard a terrible shriek coming from the sky.

He looked into the air and saw a flash of movement. A second later, something flew straight through his sail, ripping the fabric severely. He followed the movement and saw the source of the ripping and shrieking.

A large falcon soared through the air. Much like the shark, it was about five times larger than it ought to be. But that was not the weirdest thing. To start, it had three wings on each side, six wings in all. And sticking out of its head was one large green eye. Not two, just one. The eye stared down at its prey, which happened to be the sail at the moment.

Mataz saw that it was swooping in for a second run. He fumbled for his wand and within moments green sparks shot at the falcon demon. But like the shark, the spell had no effect. The falcon screeched and went through the sail again. A few more times and the sail would be ruined. Mataz ran back into his room. Hoping that the mirror would do something, he grabbed it and ran back out.

Meanwhile, the bird was hovering in place, flapping its wings to stay aloft. When it saw Mataz emerge from his quarters it screamed triumphantly and went down like an arrow towards Mataz. Mataz saw the green eye narrowing in on its prey. Sight seemed to be the sense. The sun was behind the bird, causing the monster to be nothing but a silhouette. Holding up the mirror, Mataz reflected the sun into the evil green eye.

The bird screeched in pain and surprise and went hurtling over to the left. Disoriented, it flapped frantically out of control, spinning in circles until it crashed wildly into the sea. The beast righted itself and flapped its six wings spectacularly rising from the ocean and then disappeared into the horizon. The only evidence that the bird had ever been there were the ripped sail and a few feathers, floating in the sea.

Mataz fell over, exhausted from the rush of adrenaline. He took several deep breaths to calm himself. One more challenge, he thought to himself. Only one more remains. It did not take long for it to reveal itself to him.

Mataz stood and moved to the front of the boat. He looked out to the light, growing closer every second. And then before him the water started to spin. Velocity and size grew until a massive whirlpool stood one hundred yards ahead. But unlike any whirlpool he had ever known, this one moved upwards, in a spiral, instead of down. He looked into the sky and saw that the clouds were coming down, spinning together like a tornado. The upside down whirlpool and cloud tornado made contact and molded together into a giant mass of air and water. The blue and white shape began to change form until a man, made of ocean and sky, stood several hundred feet tall before him.

The monster looked down at Mataz with shining gold eyes. It seemed to be studying him. Mataz was frozen by fear. He could not defeat this opponent. Even with magic this creature was just too powerful. He could feel energy radiating from it. The creature blinked, nodded at Mataz, and slowly started to melt. The clouds returned to the sky, and the water returned to the ocean, causing quite a couple of waves.

Mataz smiled. He laughed. He had made it! An orange beam shot into the sky. Mataz excitedly headed towards it. As he headed there, he wondered why the last challenge had not attacked. He supposed it must have checked whether or not he was in the Merlin family line. Mataz shrugged. He did not care really; all that mattered was that the orange beam was approaching.

He got to it and saw that the beam stopped a couple yards above the water. He wished it was lower so he could touch it, but remembered his task. He retrieved the book, and after saying the triangle spell, he recited the spell inside the book.

After it was complete, there was a purple flash. It went away as soon as it occurred. Mataz looked around. He did not know if it was his imagination or not but everything seemed…better. The sun shone brighter and warmer. The ocean seemed clearer and the air crisper. Mataz smiled. However, his gaze slowly drifted over to the yellow light. Surely, he thought to himself, the treasure that I protect can not be forbidden to be seen by my eyes. In his chipper mood, he set sail for the light.

He arrived and saw that the yellow light came close enough above him that he could touch it. It felt warm and it heated his skin. He took his hand away and looked down into the depths. Then, after using a spell that would allow him to breathe underwater, he jumped in. Then, smiling up at the sky, he let himself sink into the water.

The family line of Merlin ended on that day. Mataz’s body was never found. Merlin died, a sad old man, not knowing what had happened to his son. Today, scientists and other professionals have studied The Bermuda Triangle and still can not find a reason for the strange disappearances and occurrences that happen there. But you and I know. Since the border is past its fixing date, the boundary is weakened, and the three challenges are often too weak to appear. But occasionally, they reawaken. Ships that disappear are consumed by the shark. Planes are attacked by the falcon of six wings and one eye. The giant of air and water rarely occurs, but if it does, you know you are near the treasure.

The treasure itself, however, has not been found. No one knows what it is. But there is one thing that is certain. Whatever the treasure may be, not the greatest sorcerer nor the weakest peasant may feast his eyes upon it without the danger of drowning in the deep waters of temptation.