"A Cat Will Do..." Follow the raven through the Door. Twist and turn, warp and weft. Dodge the greedy, grasping ghosts, placate the Guardians of the Sacred Path with blood and truth and magic. Step lightly now, from stone to stone across the brook, then down. Down the silver moonbeam trail. Into the ancient, hallowed glen. Oak leaves rustle, murmur, sigh. Faery laughter on the wind. Glowing eyes in midnight shadow. Shivers up and down the spine. Whirl and twirl, wand in hand. Make the Sign and speak the Name. "Merlin!" Take the scroll from outstretched claw. Quoth the Raven, "Evermore." "A Spell To Control Ye Familiar Beaste?" Fingers tremble, break the seal. Behold! Virgin skin devoid of ink. Alas! Dismay. Despair. "I know my Talent is only small --" "Pfah! 'Tis nothing to do with Talent at all! This truth I learned in my thousandth year, now take yon quill and write it down: Ye may have Magick up ye wazoo ... But a cat will do what a cat will do!" ******* Production Notes: Written in Notepad, rendered in Stable Diffusion (NMKD Gui 1.5) and postworked in Photoshop (CS2 and Express) and PaintShop Pro to replace the original boring blue fog-with-a-hint-of-tree background, adjust the layout and add the raven. Very important bird, that raven. ;-) No, it was not my intention to render another witch. It should have been a cat in a wizard costume. Because Halloween. But the AI had other ideas and I thought it was just too funny to throw away. Besides, recycling is supposed to be a good thing, right? P.S. I am very well aware that "wazoo" is a modern slang term that would not have been known in Avalon, Camelot, or the Founder's Era. But Merlin's always been a bit timey-wimey, to the point I'd suspect him of being related to a certain Gallifreyan who travels about in a wee blue box ... ...if I didn't know for certain he's a cat. ;-) ******* Credits: Sveva's Fantasy Extreme Backgrounds (Rendo marketplace) Adam Wright's Postwork Actions Megapack (Rendo) Ron's Skulls Photoshop Brushes (Raven) at Daz 3D