Don't own…not making money….blah, blah….
Warnings: Yaoi, violence, hints of NCS….maybe more later. 1,2,3,4,5 and Merlin are the good guys; 6 and 13 and Relena are baddies, so if that bothers you, don't read. More characters may be added later. WATCH OUT FOR THE FLITTENS.
Fantasy and magic are big, i.e., Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. This is just my attempt at both. Didn't want to borrow from Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but I've always liked Camelot and Merlin so….here it is. For those that care, the word "Bande" is old French for troop or a group, (I wanted to use an old word form since this is set in medieval times.)
THE ENCHANTED BANDE OF MERLIN'S KEEP
By Katreve
Part I
A Black Unicorn with wings slowly wended its way through the night forest. It blended so well with the darkness, that only those that knew he was there were aware of his presence. Even his hooves fell on the leafy forest floor silently. His eyes were not black though, they shown like amethysts whenever a sliver of light would break through the shivering leaves of the forest to strike them. The unicorn reached a clearing and stood waiting, looking up into the starlit moonless sky.
A rush of wings heralded the arrival of those he awaited….a Griffin, a Phoenix and a smallish Dragon, no bigger than the Unicorn. They too were silent once they landed. The Unicorn tossed his head as if in greeting, then the four creatures moved together as if to converse, yet no sound came from them….instead a strange glow began to radiate from their center and grow outward until it encompassed the entire clearing. It was as if the magical creatures were now encased in a dome of flickering luminosity.
The creatures then began to change ….to shape shift. Within moments four boys stood in place of the creatures.
Duo Maxwell, tossed his long braid much as he would have perhaps switched his long black tail while in his form as a unicorn. His amethyst eyes still gleamed just as they had a moment before. He put his hands out as the others reached theirs to him.
Heero Yuy, a few minutes before in the form of a Phoenix, had serious deep blue eyes and chocolate brown hair giving no indication of the brilliant plumage he possessed just a moment before. His hands met Duo's.
The former dragon, Chang Wufei, he of the black hair and onyx eyes, also placed his hands on top of Heero's.
Trowa Barton, whose form had been the Griffin, was taller than the other three boys, his forest green eyes were hooded but he reached his hands out also so that all four boys' hands now were clasped together in greeting.
They as they dropped their hands they began to communicate telepathically.
**Any success tonight?** Duo's thoughts sounded in the mind of his mates.
**No,** Heero sent in return, **But they are gathering. I feel it.**
**As do we all.** added Wufei.
**Treize and Zechs should surely have called all their kind by now…the conflict will begin soon.** Duo sent.
Trowa seemed lost in inner contemplation for a moment. Then he sent his thoughts to the others, **Did you hear it tonight…the melody and the song?**
Duo nodded, **I did, the rest of you?**
**'Hn…** was Heero's sending but it was his affirmation.
**I wish we could find the musician. His music is almost as if it is enchanted even as we are.** The tall-green-eyed boy thought to his mates..
**Though I am surely not enchanted as you four, I play and sing to hopefully touch you somehow,** A soft sending from without their circle shocked all four boys. But the sending continued, **I have watched all four of you for some days and nights now. I have been afraid to approach you but feel I must.**
All four young mages stiffened with caution,….. these soft, gentle, almost sighing thoughts were telepathically transmitted from somewhere within the near bushes and trees of the forest that surrounded them.
They all turned their backs to one another, each facing a different direction of the compass….searching the dense dark forest. The dome of light that encompassed them wavered a bit, it was for their protection from those they would fight and yet ….
**I am frightened, or I would not have dared disturbed you. I am sorry, but I feel a threat of evil to come.**
"Who are you?" Heero spoke aloud now, and his tone was angry. Who dared intrude on the Bande of Merlin's Keep?
A soft sound of a lute playing, the melody that all four had heard of late…it was a melody of the morning as it sighed awake, of birds that sang, of soft breezes….
But now it did not appease Heero's suspicion or anger, "Those we fight can appear as gentle creatures as your song tries to tell us you are. But I do not trust one who does not show himself. And may not trust you even if you do."
Duo's voice tempered Heero's edge, "Let us see you. I know you are afraid."
"It says it is, whatever it may be." growled Wufei. He too like Heero was suspicious.
Trowa kept his counsel, waiting. The melody had touched him and he yearned to see it's source.
"I am sorry. I see I have disturbed you greatly. I sense your distrust, from at least two of you, and I understand. You do not want me near you. It is the same as the others. I had hoped….but …I am sorry…I will leave. Your anger and disbelief…it is my fault, for why should you trust me?" The voice was fading even as the melody was.
"It's a trick, Zechs or Treize seek to distract us with a fey voice and melody." Wufei's voice was hard and cold.
"But how did his thoughts pierce our barrier and our minds? How did he…." Trowa started.
But Duo acted. With sudden movement he ran toward what he believed was the source of the sound. He moved almost as silently and swiftly as he did in his form as a unicorn.
The leaves of the bushes surrounding the clearing barely made a noise as he passed.
The others waited until their heard and felt a sound of shock and fear.
Then Duo's voice cursing, "Stop you little hellion, calm down. If you approached us you must have felt you needed our help, now you are fighting me."
As Duo's voice grew louder he moved back into the clearing and passed through the shimmering barrier. He was carrying a struggling boy a little younger than their years of 16, and of smaller build and height. In fact he looked thin and pale and his clothes were mere rags. He had a lute slung over one shoulder so that as he struggled it kept banging against Duo, making it harder for him to hold onto the boy. Suddenly the boy stopped his thrashing about and became still.
Duo cautiously set him down but kept a hold on his arms, though he tried to be gentle for the boy looked fragile in some way. The waif had pale blonde hair and eyes the color of aquamarine gems. Those eyes now reflected the light from the magical dome of light surrounding them. Though he was in rags he was fairly clean. His eyes met Wufei's for an instant and then dropped as he cringed as if Wufei's deep scowl had struck him a blow.
Trowa walked forward and bent to raise the boy's chin, "Little one, as Duo said, you sought us out. Why now do you fight us and try to run away?"
"You…two of you do not want me here. I only came because I had no other hope, but I understand why you who fight the evil ones cannot trust me. I should have ….."
The boy shivered suddenly as if cold and seemed to shrink back against Duo who still held him from behind, "No one except the evil ones want me. All others drive me away, believing I am cursed and I probably am. I thought perhaps you, the enchanted ones of Merlin's keep, would help me to understand what I am, how I can read thoughts and feel things and why I …."
He stopped and his eyes grew wide and fearful as his shivering grew into shudders that wracked the frail frame, "They are coming for me. Now. Let me go, I must hide." He started to pull away from Duo.
But Duo, Trowa, Wufei and Heero had also sensed a flight of the dark ones approaching. Heero raised his hands and in an instant had shape shifted to his Phoenix form. Duo moved back as Heero swooped over and covered the boy with his wings. Within seconds the other three had also changed into their enchanted forms. They kept the barrier of magic surrounding the clearing in place. The evil ones could not surmount that barrier for now, but all four knew that they could not keep the barrier in force for an extended period of time.
Two handsome creatures flew and landed at the edge of the clearing just beyond the barrier's perimeter. Both were human in form except for their wings, one with ginger hair and striking blue eyes while the other had shoulder-length white hair and eyes of ice-blue. Their wings, however, were similar to those of bats and for all their beauty, their minds were pits of black malevolence. Many of their minions were with them, though the numbers in no way represented the Demon Clan in full force. But for Zechs and Treize to be there, this was no ordinary quest or searching for souls to claim for their evil dominion.
The creature with the white hair, Zechs, moved forward and nodded almost graciously to the four within the clearing.
"We are looking for a cast-off boy. The villages and towns have thrown him out saying he is cursed. We have seen him but he slipped away from us. We have claim to him for it is said that his curse is evil. Our last report was that he was seen and heard in this area. He plays a quite charming lute and is …."
"I cannot believe," Heero, in his Phoenix form, interrupted, "that a mere cast off from the villages would interest the leaders of the Demon Clan to the extent that they themselves must lead the search. Surely some of your lesser underlings could have handled the task."
Treize now stepped up beside his companion, "We are just trying to gather all the souls that belong to us before our upcoming …..altercation. You four have been patrolling for weeks and practicing your magical and real battle arts. We know you will fight us as we endeavor to expand our dominion over these lands. But now, this moment, it is not time for us to engage in battle."
Duo stepped forward switching his tail in annoyance, "Well then get back to where you came from. These are not your lands, nor will they fall under your dominion as long as we can oppose you. These lands are under our protection. As well as any souls….cast off from the towns and villages or not."
"The boy belongs to us." Zechs eyes glowed red suddenly. "He is near, very near. He has been in hiding, terrified…as he should be. If you keep him from us…."
"You'll what?' sneered Wufei, "you'll fight us? So what is that to us, we are ready at any time."
A minion suddenly approached and spoke into Treize's ear. Treize listened and then turned his head back to peer at the enchanted creatures who were his enemies.
"The child is not anywhere outside of your circle of magic, therefore, since we sense his nearness, he must be within it. With you. You shouldn't be protecting him, he does not belong to you. His people have given him to us."
"Come and get him if you think he is with us." Taunted Duo praying that if the demons did decide to attack, that the barrier would hold for only three could fight without hindrance. Heero was protecting the little golden one as Duo now thought of him, and would be hard put to fight at full strength and keep the boy safe too. Nonetheless, Heero, who only moments before had been suspicious and angry with the child had now clearly shown that he intended to protect him. And it was if they all had come to the same conclusion….the young boy's eyes spoke the truth…he was not a demon or a threat. But to the Demon Clan he must be important or they would not seek him with such determination and with….Duo looked at Zechs and Treize again….and with lust. The last realization snapped something in Duo's mind and with a cry he reared, his hoofs and magical horn striking lightning out through the barrier toward Zechs and Treize.
Trowa and Wufei were caught off guard by Duo's sudden offensive attack but they joined in immediately.
Wufei lifted off and breathed fire of his own as he turned in mid-air to cover the opposite side of the clearing where he had sensed other demons had been gathering.
With a roar of defiance Trowa also lifted himself in his Griffin form and his call cast waves of vibrations throughout the forest and sent demons scurrying from the sound which could burst their minds if they were too close.
The magic barrier suddenly dropped as Zechs and Treize screeched out their call to battle and launched their own attacks of bolts of reddened energy beams.
Heero scooped the boy up immediately and took flight. He felt the boy still shuddering within his smaller wings, his larger ones carrying them away as swiftly as he could. He had to secrete him somewhere safe and get back to the battle to help his mates.
But as suddenly as the battle had started, Zechs and Treize called it off. A number of their lackeys had already fallen at the fury and suddenness of the attack which Duo had set in motion.
As the lesser demons took flight away, Zechs and Treize rose into the air also and hovered.
They faced the three boys who held to their enchanted forms and who also floated in the air glaring with eyes of amethyst, emerald and onyx fire at their adversaries.
Treize said nastily, "The cast-off child is ours, we will take him eventually."
"Not for any of what you have in mind….you filthy…." Duo's voice was cut off as Treize's evil laugh sounded,
"Oh that's just a side benefit, one which we intend to enjoy to the fullest. He was cast off because of his curse. We want to make use of that too. If you intend to try and keep him, be warned, we consider him to be our property. And we always claim our property in the end."
"Are you trying to frighten us? He is cursed you say? That child may have been told he is cursed, may have been driven from his own kind, but a curse can be made into a blessing if handled well. And I, for one, find it hard to believe such a gentle creature who can play and sing so beautifully is cursed at all or that he belongs to you." Trowa's words were spoken with a certainty.
"Or ever will….." Heero was back, the boy no longer in his possession, but the other three knew he would be safe wherever Heero had left him.
"Well then, let the battles begin, not just for the lands we seek, but for that boy." Treize snarled and then he and Zechs lifted into the air and banked sharply and were gone.
The Four settled back to earth slowly.
Duo tossed his shining black mane and spoke to Heero, "So you think we can trust him now? What happened to your suspicions? He could still be a decoy planted by the demons….or could he?"
"Stop taunting me, Duo. We all saw his eyes, there was no guile there. And when I touched him I was doubly sure. He is in the cave on the ridge near here. I spell warded the entrance for both protection and camouflage. But one of you needs to seek out Merlin and bring him as quickly as possible. The boy is ill and is burning with fever.
"I'll go…." Said Trowa and his Griffin form took to the sky.
"Hurry, dawn is not far off," called Duo, "and though it will keep the Demon Clan at bay, you will not be able to keep your form then either."
Trowa's voice floated back, "Of course I know that Duo. Now the rest of you go and care for our little one."
Duo snorted in what sounded very much like a chuckle and glanced back at Wufei and Heero.
"Hn…" was Heero's typical response while Wufei merely shook his head as he questioned. "Our little one is it now?"
"Apparently so." Duo chuckled once again as he and the other two winged creatures lifted into the air and flew swiftly to the cave where Heero had hidden the boy.
TBC…..