Arthur was glad he and his men had decided to stay an extra night, the vampires from the isle had just left leaving the castle in relative peace. It's own inhabitants were all now resting lazily about simply chatting or relaxing after the big event.
The Round Table Knights, their king, Lancelot and Merlin were all sitting up against the trees int he castle's centre enjoying the clear starry sky. Lancelot and Merlin took turns pointing out different constellations to the group as well as the stories that came with them.
Merlin was in the middle of telling such a story when a loud cry broke through the peace. It was Aithusa's roar and soon the large white dragon appeared over the edge of the castle and plummeted toward the ground almost taking out several trees as she did so.
"Aithusa!" Merlin exclaimed getting to his feet to calm the dragon.
It took several minutes of gentle words and ministrations until the dragon was approachable by any of the humans, by then she was nuzzling at Merlin sadly, whimpering.
"What's frightened you so much little one?" He asked gently, Arthur almost snorted at the use of the term 'little one'. Aithusa was twice Merlin's size!
"A village, all dead." The dragon answered, "Even the children, the bodies reek."
Arthur was about to ask why a village of dead bodies would scare such a huge and strong creature but stopped himself when he remember that for all her speed and strength, Aithusa was only a child.
"Where?" Merlin asked, "Its alright, I wont make you come with us."
The dragon mumbled something that sounded like 'north'. Arthur knew his lands well, there was a large village, maybe fifty or so people, to the north of the valley.
"That village is in Camelot, we should go and see if the dragon's claim is true." Arthur spoke seriously.
"I'll come as well." Merlin announced, "If it was sickness that wiped out that village it wont be safe for you to approach, but I can."
"Good idea." Leon nodded.
"I'll get the horses." Lancelot finished.
-oOo-
The group had ridden for an hour to reach the village, from where they stood at the top of a small hill it looked normal enough. In the quiet night the village was still but Merlin's keen senses could tell something was wrong, the entire place stank of bad blood.
"It looks peaceful enough." Arthur muttered.
"Going by how Merlin's nose is screwed up I'd say it doesn't smell fine." Gwaine noted taking in the vampires expression.
"Aithusa didn't lie, this place reeks." Merlin coughed, "I'll go in, you all wait just outside so I can call to you."
He then quickly dismounted and walked hurriedly into the village, immediately he saw the bodies and knew it wasn't sickness that had killed these people. For once the bodies were not strewn about the place but piled in neat stacks every few meters. Each body was pale, with wide staring eyes and two small wounds somewhere on the body.
This was the aftermath of a vampire hunt.
They did the same thing back at the castle with animal carcasses they'd fed on. But this wasn't the work of any vampires he knew, it simply couldn't be.
"Merlin! Are you alright in there?" Lancelot called.
"Yes." He replied feeling his voice crack nervously, what would Arthur and his men say when they saw this?
He heard Lancelot swear when he saw the bodies, making the same conclusion.
"What the hell...?" Elyan breathed.
"Vampires did this." Merlin replied cooly, "Not vampires from the Isle or my castle though, they would never."
"Northern Vampires." Arthur spoke up, "You've spoken about three groups of vampires before is passing. Three Lords, three groups. Lancelot once mentioned a group in the north."
Merlin bit his lip.
"The Northern Vampires are not known for being friendly, they were formed years ago by a group that believed vampires should rule over humans. They don't keep human thralls and kill for their food."
"That's why you think Morgana joined them?" Arthur added quietly, Merlin gave a curt nod.
"But they never stray from the icy north." Lancelot argued, "Why would they travel this far to kill an entire village?"
"I don't know." Merlin admitted and the group lapsed into an uneasy silence.
Finally Percival spoke up.
"Well, the least we can do is give these people a decent burial."
The others swiftly agrees and searched the houses for shovels with which to dig the graves. Slowly they began to burry the people, trying their best to try and figure out who was related to whom so that families could rest together. They were almost done when Merlin glanced movement out of the corner of one of his keen eyes. A cape disappearing behind a hut.
"Hey!" he called out chasing after the figure, "It's alright we didn't do this, we're trying to help."
He skidded to a stop around the corner coming face to face with a young man in thick furs. More correctly, a young vampire. He was very young, almost a fledgling, with dark hair and blue eyes very similar to Merlin's own. His fangs and claws were descended, both coated in a black substance, ready to fight.
Merlin did the same just as the rest of his human companions appeared around the corner. Arthur and the rest of them drew their swords, Merlin was thankful he'd insisted on making one for Lancelot.
"Why did you do this?" Merlin hissed, "Where are the rest of your hunting party."
The vampire studied him before grinning.
"You must be Merlin." He grinned, "Morgana said you'd be surrounded by their kind."
Merlin felt himself freeze.
"My names Mordred." The boy continued, "Sorry to disappoint but the others are long gone."
"What did they leave you behind?" Gwaine taunted.
"I wouldn't if I were you." Mordred growled, "Those swords aren't silver plated, you can't hurt me. I on the other hand, can hurt you."
He lunged and Merlin leapt to meet him, the two vampires crashed together in mid air and tumbled to the ground in a frenzy of scratches and bites. Merlin winced as the blackened nails scraped across his skin, they had been coated in some form of poison, of course it wouldn't hurt him, vampires weren't effected by poisons save for rosemary. He'd have to be careful though, he had no doubt it would be deadly to his human friends.
The vampire lord sunk his teeth into Mordred's forearm, causing him to hiss in pain and much to Merlin's surprise, force him off with a shockwave of magic. He'd not been expecting the abrupt attack and flew backwards into a barn, winding him momentarily.
He quickly got to his feet just in time to see a fireball flying towards him and with all his vampire speed he could not doge it. He cried out as the flames made contact with his chest, forcing him to the ground with a groan. Fire, one thing that could seriously harm a vampire. He was lucky this Mordred was not yet a master and that the flames had dissipated as soon as they had hit his body. That didn't take away from how painful it was though.
He forced himself off the ground, onto his hands and knees and saw the other vampire stalking toward him only to be blocked all of a sudden by a very human shape.
"What do you think you're going to do with that useless weapon?" Mordred scoffed.
"Try me." Lancelot growled.
"Lancelot don't-" Arthur started but was quickly flung backwards, along with his knights, by Mordred's spells.
"Arthur!" Merlin cried, getting to his feet and trying his best to ignore the burns.
"It's pathetic that you care for this filth." Mordred sneered as Merlin stepped in front of Lancelot to protect him.
"They are worth more than you ever will be." Merlin hissed, he could see Mordred's lips twitch into a twisted sort of smile when he saw the way Merlin winced as a result of the burns.
"We'll see, a war is coming you know and there is nothing you and these petty humans can do to stop it." Mordred growled as he lunged forward, five black nails out in front like tiny daggers that even Merlin's strong body would succumb to if impaled on.
Several things happened at once, Mordred came at them, Merlin felt a heavy push to the side and suddenly he was crashing onto the ground and Lancelot was standing there staring down at his torso where Mordred's claws were currently buried.
The vampire yanked the claws out with a spray of blood, Merlin watched horrified as Lancelot stumbled backwards and fell. The second his friend hit the dirt the world seemed to unfreeze for the vampire and he had lunged for Mordred, wanting nothing more than to rip his throat out only to have him dodge and then with a smile, disappear in a swirling black wind.
The murderous rage that had filled him for those few seconds drained swiftly and was just as quickly replaced with bone chilling fear as he turned back to where Lancelot was bleeding on the ground. Vaguely he could hear Arthur and his men running towards them but he blocked them out and quickly fell to his knees at Lancelot's side and placed his pale hands over the five deep wounds.
"You'll be fine, you'll be fine." He assured hurriedly, "Gestepe hole! Þurhhæle!"
No effect.
"Þurhhæle dolgbenn!" He tried desperately, calling to memory every healing spell he knew, "Wel cene hole!"
Still nothing, that black poison, it must of been immune to magic.
"No, no no no no, you can't die." Merlin whispered as he felt the blood continue to leak through his fingers, "What do I do? My magic wont work!"
Lancelot coughed weakly, "I don't think there is anything you can do..."
Merlin felt his hands being moved away by a larger pair and looked up to se Percival stopping the blood flow much better than he had been, that didn't stop the blood from coming though. As a vampire Merlin was never disgusted by blood in any form, most of the time it made him hungry, now it just made him feel sick.
"You're alright?" Lancelot muttered, "Those burns..."
"Shut up, I'm fine worry about yourself for a change!" Merlin snapped feeling his eyes burn.
"There must be something we can do." Arthur spoke hurriedly.
Lancelot shook his head slowly, his eyes were beginning to droop, much to his shame Merlin felt himself sob, digging his nails into the ground in frustration. Lancelot smiled sadly at him, weakly placing a hand on the vampires shoulder, which he immediately grabbed and held there with one of his own. He placed the other at Lancelot's neck, feeling the pulse get weaker and weaker.
"You can't die." Merlin whispered brokenly, "You're the best friend I've got."
"...that means a lot." Lancelot admitted tiredly.
"Hey! Stay awake..." Merlin begged gripping Lancelot's face lightly with both his hands, "Stay with us. Stay with me, please."
The man blinked up at the vampires face with a weak smile, once again no words were needed, Merlin understood exactly what he was saying.
I'm sorry.
Then his eyes closed and Lancelot breathed no more.
I warned you not everybody would live...
Also sorry but I had to upload this several times before it would actually work!
