Alaia Skyhawk: ANNND onwards to part 3! (Is seriously enjoying writing these after waiting so long) :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Music: N/A
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Chapter 10: The Darkest Hour ~Part 3~
The three of them strode into the council chambers as a single unified group, Arthur at the head, Leon and Merlin in step side-by-side behind. Only a moment's recollection reminding Merlin to halt a brief moment to drop back behind the both of them as was appropriate for a servant. Thankfully no one noticed the error, save the guards outside the doors who paid no heed to it anyway. They were all too distracted by the sobbing young woman in the centre of the chamber.
Arthur made his way to her, the gathered knights and council members parting to allow him to pass, Arthur speaking to his uncle the moment he reached them both.
"What's happened to her?"
"Her village was attacked."
Arthur frowned.
"By who?"
"It's not entirely clear, Sire."
Agravaine now moved aside, Arthur moving to the young woman's side where she was being comforted by Gaius. Merlin had chosen to go around the side, to where he could see but be otherwise disregarded.
"What's your name?"
The woman raised her head a little, although not high enough to meet his gaze.
"Drea."
Arthur reached out to her, placing his hands on her shoulders in reassurance, his tone soft and comforting, his posture almost half bowed before her smaller height so that he could look her in the eyes.
"Drea, I'm Arthur. Don't be frightened. Tell me what happened."
Merlin watched from his position, noting to himself that Arthur's direct and sympathetic method to comfort her and get the information, was far more personable than the distant way Uther would have just sat on his throne and questioned her. Here was clearly shown part of what would make Arthur such a loved king by his people when the time came. He stood as their caring guide, not as their isolated dictator.
Drea responded to it, at last meeting his gaze as she fought back her tears to explain.
"My mother, my father, my little sister, they're-"
Again Arthur firmly kept his hand in place to comfort her.
"It's all right... Someone attacked them?" She nodded. "Who?"
Drea's head was bowed again, although this time in remembered terror.
"There was no-one.. just shapes."
"You didn't see their faces?"
Her eyes met his again, pleading to be believed.
"They had no faces." Arthur glanced at Gaius in silent command to the physician to be ready to research, not in disbelief as Drea seemed to think. "I keep telling you. They were there, but they weren't there... They moved so quickly... It was if they weren't real, but they must have been." She choked back a sob, on the verge of hysterics. "I could hear the people screaming and then... silence. They were all dead."
Arthur had hear enough, passing her to Gaius' care.
"Thank you." He turned to his uncle, stern and commanding, his soft manner replaced by resolve. "Where is this village?"
Agravaine answered solemnly as they began to exit the hall.
"Howden, to the east of the White Mountains. It's no more than half a day's hard ride."
Arthur glanced over his shoulder to where Leon followed, his eyes flicking briefly to Merlin to indicate the orders were actually for him.
"Ready the men. We ride out at once."
Leon nodded and went off ahead, but it was Merlin who slipped off into a side passage and into an alcove, pulling out his amulet and triggering four of the symbols upon it.
"Get ready to ride out. Elyan, I'll need you to come help me saddle the horses as soon as you're ready."
Merlin came out of his alcove, passing by close to the kitchens and giving an order to one of the servants there to prepare a day's travel food for seven men and have it sent to the stables. He then proceeded to that area, managing to get three of the mounts saddled before Elyan showed up to help him finish the other four. The pack of food arrived on his heels, Merlin securing it to his saddle as the servant of the group before he and the knight led the seven horses around the outside of the inner wall to the courtyard where the others were already waiting for them.
Nothing was said as they mounted up and rode out, all of them remaining silent until well beyond the city walls. It was only then that Arthur spoke, giving the four knights who had not been present, the run down on where they were going.
"The Village of Howden was attacked by strange creatures, more than likely magical. Everyone was killed except for the single survivor who managed to get to Camelot and warn us. I need all of you on alert, and keep Merlin at the centre of our formation at all times while we ride. If these things really are magical in nature, then he's our best chance against them."
Merlin watched as the five other Knights of the Brotherhood formed up around him, raising his eyebrows at the precaution.
"Do I need to remind you that that, if anything happens, it will be me protecting all of you and not the other way around?"
Arthur glanced over his shoulder, looking mildly amused.
"No, you don't, but I'm taking the precaution anyway. No arguments."
"Yes, Sire." He smirked. "But don't you think it's going to look a bit strange if you've ordered your men to guard the 'servant' in the group, and not yourself?"
At the expression which followed on the prince's face, Gwaine started to chuckle, setting off the rest of them as well. Arthur then shook his head in irritation, before correcting his orders.
"Ride in loose file formation, with Merlin at the middle. That way the clot pole's still guarded, but less obviously."
Merlin stared at him with feigned indignation.
"That's my word."
Arthur laughed.
"Yeah, and it suits you perfectly."
The banter had lightened the mood, warding off apprehension, but all of that returned a few hours later when they arrived at the edge of Howden Everything was deathly quiet, only the chickens and other livestock providing any of the normal sounds for a settlement of this size.
The light was fading fast, the glow cut off earlier here than further east by the sun passing behind the nearby line of the White Mountains. Smoke rose from the smouldering remains of a cooking fire, so faint now that it was clear the fire itself had ceased to burn properly some hours ago. It was eerie and surreal, and no one argued when the prince gave the order for thin slats of wood to be pulled from a nearby fence and then be turned into torches.
It was Merlin who pulled the wax-soaked rolls of cloth out of travel pack, binding them tightly around those staves before lighting them all with a quick spell. He didn't make one for himself, he didn't need one. From a moment of meditation to check, he sensed no life here save that of his friends and the animals. There were no people left here to see him if he used his magic to light his way.
He didn't tell the others that though, knowing they still hoped to find survivors. He wouldn't crush that hope, they'd learn that fact soon enough on their own.
They walked through the centre of the village, tense for signs of danger and ready to react at a moment's notice. Eyes watched doorway's warily, even as they spread out to look through those doors and into the houses themselves.
A loud bang from a door stopped them in their tracks at one point, everyone frozen to the spot until the goat that had caused it fled out of the building in question. The search continued on, everyone startling again when a strange echoing crunch had all the knights present pointing their swords in Gwaine's direction.
Gwaine held up his hands in apology, one of his hands gripping the apple he'd just picked up and taken a bite out of.
"Sorry."
Everyone let out the breath they'd been holding, Lancelot shaking his head at Gwaine's casual snacking until Elyan's shout brought them all to a house towards the far end of the village.
They entered to find him kneeling before the body of a middle-aged man, the villager's expression one of shock and surprise, his face and hair covered with a layer of frost that had not melted even hours after the time he must have died. Beside him was a woman of similar age, as frozen as he was, and as Elyan stood up, Merlin crouched down beside them.
He held his hand out over them, closing his eyes and murmuring an incantation under his breath, while Arthur watched him quietly.
"Can you tell what killed them?"
Finishing the spell and opening his eyes, Merlin looked up at him and shook his head.
"I sense no magic clinging to them. It wasn't sorcery, that's all I can tell."
He might have said more, but for his gaze snapping onto something behind them. They all turned to look, hearing the faint unearthly scream as whatever it was disappeared from view and vanished into the shadows.
Arthur frowned.
"You saw it?"
Gwaine smiled nervously as all of them nodded.
"We are literally chasing shadows..."
They left the house, continuing the search by the light of their torches, night now well and truly upon them. Every step they took was haunted by more of those distant wails and screams, Merlin the most edgy of all as he realised he'd heard them once before.
During his vision of the Cailleach.
Hearing a noise inside an abandoned barn, Merlin entered it warily by what little light came from the moon through its windows. Inside he could hear the rustling clearer, moving slowly towards the pile of hay at the back before a chicken exploding out of nowhere had him scrambling back in fright.
Heart pounding, he cursed himself for being so paranoid, only to go still as another wail reached his ears far closer than those they'd heard up until now. He hurried back outside, looking around at the alert and seeing no sign of any of the others being close to him. The dark was only making it worse, and at last he resorted to magic to shed light on his surroundings.
"Leoht." The resulting orb of light shone brightly in his outstretched palm, steady and reassuring until moments later it inexplicably flicked and started to die. He stared at it, focusing his will. "Leoht... Leoht!"
The light vanished, Merlin closing his eyes for a moment searching for the web of magic around him. He then felt a moment of terror, as the tendrils that were his connection to its power slid over it as though it had been coated with glass... A barrier if icy stillness that fought all his attempts to get past it and draw power.
More ghostly screams reached his ears, those of a woman in torment, before another came from behind him screaming like a man, and he turned to see the misty shape swooping down out of the darkness towards him.
Merlin took a step backwards, scrabbling desperately for the power of the land with a panicked incantation on his lips.
"Fleoh nu on moras! Fleoh nu on moras!"
The thing's head took on the appearance of a skull, its screams chilling him to his soul until a torch suddenly came out of nowhere, striking it as it then wailed and disappared.
"Merlin!"
Lancelot turned to face the nigh-trembling warlock, concerned and confused at the fear on Merlin's face.
"What happened?"
Merlin shuddered, even as he felt the icy wall between him and the web of magic melting away.
"My magic... I couldn't use it. As soon as that thing got close to me..."
Footsteps pounded from behind them, Arthur and the others coming into view as Lancelot then called out to them.
"There's something out there!"
Arthur arrived beside them.
"You saw it?"
Lancelot nodded.
"When it saw the light, it fled."
Arthur turned to Percival and Leon, pointing to the far end of the village.
"Get the horses."
That was when he and the other's noticed the shaking Merlin, the fact that he was afraid sending chills of terror through them all.
The warlock's words then scared them all even further.
"It's not something that you can chase or something you can kill." Another ghostly shout echoed around them. "We need to get out of here, now. I'll explain the rest of what happened, later."
They fled the village, stopping only briefly to grab all the rags they could and for Merlin to soak them with hastily melted wax from scavenged candles. There were still many hours of darkness until dawn, and the torches they had wouldn't last that long. But most terrifying of all was still how pale Merlin looked, his eyes wide as they constantly searched their surroundings.
They encountered only one more of the creatures during the frantic ride back to Camelot, Merlin choked shout, as he felt the ice slide between him and the land again, their only warning. They arrived back at the city not long before dawn, the warlock immediately seeking out his mentor when they soon learnt of the horrors that had also stalked those streets.
The creatures had come as night had fallen, driven off only by light and killing many.
Merlin found the physician in the hall often used as the emergency infirmary, except that there were no wounded to be treated. Every one of the still forms had been shrouded in cloth, every one of the victims was dead and coated with a hoar of frost that resisted all warmth that might make it melt.
Gaius turned when he saw his ward at the doorway, noting the paleness of the young man's face.
"You saw them?"
Merlin nodded mutely, swallowing the lump of terror in his throat so that he might speak.
"I was useless against them. I tried, but I couldn't do anything. I was cut off completely from the land, like they froze it around me whenever they came close." He swallowed again. "I've never felt so powerless... Something deep inside, and when it came for me, I felt this emptiness... I couldn't breathe... I'm scared."
Gaius hurried to his side, pulling him close in comfort.
"Merlin, it's all right. It's not your fault. You're not facing this alone."
Merlin clung to him, to that reassurance, before pushing himself away and making himself let go.
"I still need to report to Arthur. We rode out of Howden without me explained what happened when I was attacked out there. He knows I'm scared of them, but not why. I have to tell him."
Gaius sighed, nodding.
"I understand, but go get some sleep first. Arthur will be busy right now with all that has happened here. It can wait until dawn, when the light of the sun drives the creatures away."
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"We've suffered fifty dead, maybe more. Mainly in the lower town."
Arthur paced in his chambers as his uncle made his report, the dawn light pale but welcome through the windows. Camelot's people were in a state of panic, and all was practically chaos within the walls.
"And there's no way of fighting them?"
Agravaine shook his head.
"No. Our only weapons are torches, and the light doesn't kill them, it only repels them."
Arthur looked over to where Gaius and Merlin also stood in the small room, his eyes settling on the physician.
"What are they?"
Gaius looked grim, having recognised the creatures almost immediately when they'd attacked last night.
"The Dorocha, Sire. The spirits of the dead. On Samhain's eve in the time of the Old Religion, the High Priestess would perform a blood sacrifice and release them."
Agravaine took a step towards him, frowning.
"But who would do such a thing now?"
Gaius glanced at him.
"Morgana... We know she was travelling to the Isle of the Blessed."
Arthur once more began to pace, concerned.
"And how do we defeat these creatures?"
"I don't know, Sire." The prince stopped in his tracks, Gaius regarding him gravely. "No mortal has ever survived their touch."
The prince remained still, before turning to his uncle.
"I want the city and castle guards organised into additional patrols, and extra wood for fires to be brought in from the forest. A curfew is to be instated immediately, with all citizens to be indoors at least half an hour before nightfall. They are to gather together into as few houses as possible, to conserve fuel for the fires to keep the Dorocha at bay."
Agravaine nodded, hastening out of the room.
"I will see to it at once, Sire."
All three of them watched him go, Arthur waiting until the door was closed before looking to his servant.
"Merlin, are you going to tell me now what happened last night? I don't think I've ever seen you so scared. And how did you know that other one was coming at us in the woods?"
The warlock shivered at the memory, moving to the mantle to get the silence book that sat there, and proceeding with it to the table where he placed it face down at the correct page. Only once the three of them were safe within its area of effect did he speak, his voice quiet and edgy.
"I didn't notice it with the first one, the one we caught a glimpse of in the house where the dead farmer was. It was only when I tried to fight off the one that attacked me that I realised it."
Arthur braced his hands on the table's edge, starting to look worried.
"Noticed what?"
Merlin's eyes met his.
"All of my magic, my spells, except for speeding up my own time, require me to draw power from the web of magical energy that covers the land. My power, like all sorcerers, depends on my ability to draw energy from that web. It's like the life energy of the land, which is in turn fed by all living things. But the Dorocha..." He bit his lips, fear flickering in his eyes. "They are dead, and when they come close to me it's like a shroud of death surrounds me. It coats the land like ice, stopping me from reaching the web of life within it."
Arthur started to stare in horrified realisation, the knowledge now of just why Merlin had been so scared.
"You mean to say that..."
Merlin nodded, a sense of dread filling them all.
"When they are close, it's like I have no magic at all... When they are close, I am completely powerless against them."
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Alaia Skyhawk: lol, you guys must be hating me for all these mini-cliffies. But what can I say, this episode is practically CRAMMED with opportunities for them XD