*Ok, it's 11pm and I am updating. This is how much I love you guys. So, enjoy, and reveiw! Thanks*
It was chaos. The castle was preparing for siege, the knights grabbing as many weapons as they could in the few hours left to them. The few hours left to live.
Merlin was panicking. He couldn't let Arthur face the threat alone, but now was hardly the time to tell him how he could help. He had been reduced to fussing around the Prince's chambers, embedding spells of protection and strength into Arthur's armour when he wasn't looking. He was at a loss as to what else he could do. Now, the Prince had gone to discuss strategy with the knights, and Merlin was alone with his fears. Camelot could fall tonight.
Aldora had been locked in one of the spare bedrooms in the castle. Uther had decided to save her trial until after the battle. Assuming there was a kingdom left afterwards. As a gesture of thanks for the warning, she was not chained in the dungeons, but there were still guards outside her room. Merlin could ask her what to do. He grabbed a plate of bread from the table near him, and left the room.
It was only when he was around the corner that he realised he was still holding Arthur's sword. No time to put it back now. He slipped it beneath his jacket, and turned the corner, plate in hand.
"Food for the prisoner" he told the guards nervously. They nodded and gestured for him to go inside. He did so, and closed the door behind him. Aldora was at the window, and she turned stricken eyes on him.
"They're going to fight?" she asked disbelievingly. He nodded. "But they'll get slaughtered!"
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know, but not this!"
"They're knights, it's in their nature." He said sadly, setting the plate down. His hand shook a little. She noticed.
"You're worried about Arthur" she guessed. He nodded again. She sighed. "What's with the sword? You're not fighting too, are you?"
"No." He pulled out the sword. "It's Arthur's." She looked at it, and after a moment, her eyes gleamed with sudden excitement. She held out her hand for the sword, and Merlin shrugged and handed it to her. She took it in both hands, one on the blade, one on the pommel.
"Mucro lumen" she whispered. Her eyes burned gold, and the sword began to glow. After a minute or so it dimmed, but it seemed brighter, shinier than before.
"What did you do?"
"Non-magical weapons don't work on vampires" she reminded him, handing back the sword. His eyes brightened with understanding.
"So now it's a magic sword?"
"It's no Excalibur, but it'll do the job." She said, turning back to the window. Before Merlin could ask what Excalibur was, she yelled to the men outside. "Hey! Leave him alone!" but she was evidently ignored. She sighed, and turned back to Merlin. She must have noted the confusion on his face. "They were annoying my gryphon" she explained.
"You have a gryphon?"
"Yep."
"Ok... that's weird."
"Hey, don't disrespect the gryphon, dragon boy! If you offend the gryphon, you have to apologise to it. And it isn't in a very good mood right now."
"Sorry, sorry. So how are they annoying your gryphon?"
"They're shooting arrows at it."
"Is it ok?"
"Merlin" she said, as if stating the blindingly obvious. "It's a gryphon. Of course it's ok." He laughed, but sobered immediately. He glanced out of the window. The sun was setting. There were only two hours left.
"So the sword" he said, pulling himself painfully back to the present. "It can kill the vampires now?"
"Kind of. It will take a lot more work to kill one than it would to kill a human, but they won't be expecting that it can hurt them. I hope your Prince is good at combat."
"He's excellent. But don't tell him I said that."
"I won't." She said. They lapsed into silence again, before Merlin worked up the courage to ask the question whose answer he feared most.
"Are we going to lose?" his voice shook a little. She turned to face him. The look on her face said it all.
"Last time..." she took a deep breath. "Last time, when it happened to... to my family... there was never any hope. We had no warning, no chance to defend ourselves. Even if we could have. My people were powerful, incredibly powerful, but they refused to use their power to harm others." she sighed. "Maybe if they had... but it's over now." She shook her head quickly, as if trying to shake off the memories. "But this is different" she said with conviction.
"Why?"
"Because I know how to fight now."
"You're going to fight?" he asked, shocked. He realised that his question mirrored her first, right down to the appalled tone. She looked at him sadly.
"What else can I do?" she sighed. He stared at her. "I have a plan" she told him.
"What is it?"
"Go out and kill as many as possible."
"That's not a very good plan"
"It's simple"
"True, but..." he let the silence speak for him.
"Don't worry. I have a reputation. I'm planning to work it to my advantage."
"How?"
"You'll see."
*Ta-daa! Ok, so I am quite unpredictable in my update habits, so keep an eye on me and see what happens. However, reveiws make me update faster! *Flutters eyelashes* Thankyou for reading!*
