Inspiration: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the Desolation of Smaug. (Of course they had to end on a cliffhanger!)
Rights go to BBC and Peter Jackson.
A thank you to those who have reviewed, you guys keep me writing!
Winds rippled past the tent during the night. Each of them took an entire night on watch, rotating night to night. The higher they went, the colder it got. It was difficult work climbing the mountain. The terrain was sloped upward at best and sometimes nearly horizontal.
The mountainside was covered with loose rocks. The mountain snow covered peaks scarped the clouds. On the second week they saw their goal, a valley carved the land behind the White Mountains and beyond that a lake. Going down the mountain was easier than going up. His legs felt like they were burning.
They rested with the view of their goal in sight. A river flowed down from the mountains to the Valley of the Fallen Kings. A waterfall fed a series of rapids. The river was too treacherous to use. It raced wildly by while they restocked on water. Filling their waterskin's a howl went though the air. "Just a wolf." Gilli said plainly. A series of wolf howls came from behind them. "A wolf pack more like." Avalon added. He had heard those howls before. They were being hunted by a pack of magic wolves. "Up the trees!" The howls got louder and closer. Avalon, Merlin and Gilli climbed the nearest tree, each carrying their packs.
The first wolf came into the clearing, as large as a horse. Meliagrant rode atop it. He was dressed in black and red armor. Gilli paled."It can't be." The knight was supposed to be dead. Meliagrant smiled evilly."Do you smell that, the scent of fear?" He breathed in and out slowly. "I remember the same stench coming from your father, boy." "Right before I killed him." Meliagrant turned to his pack. "Attack, my pets." The wolves jumped and gnawed at the branches. As the tree tipped a little, Merlin had an idea.
He noticed that the pinecones on the tree were as dry as kindling. "I hope you have a plan, Merlin." Avalon spoke from the opposite branch. The wind was slightly blowing towards Meliagrant. The pinecone began to burn slowly. Avalon smiled."Better than no plan at all." She lit her own pinecone and they began throwing them at the wolves below. The fire stuck on their coats and sent them into the stream or rolling on the grass. Gilli got out of his shock and lit one in each hand. The fire was burning in several trees and was getting hotter below them. He focused on the ground in front of Meligrant. "Cume hay forbearnar." Meligrant retreated with a shout as a wall of flame reared up in front of him.
The wind shifted sending the wall of flame for their tree, catching fire at the trunk the tree tipped over a little. They climbed higher, the smoke making them cough and eyes water. "Get on the branches facing the river!" Maybe by distributing their weight, the tree would fall into the river.
The tree fell into the river, being swept downstream by the powerful currents. The fire was extinguished on contact with the water. The wolves were still following them. "My bow!" Avalon had finally found her weapon, it was on Gilli's back. Every arrow took down an enemy. Soon the river twisted and the bandits were left behind. Ahead, the rapids got rougher. The water sent waves over the branches, making it harder to hold on.
"This is fun!" Gilli yelled from behind. "You're crazy!" Avalon yelled. He couldn't reply, the top of the tree was nearly always submerged. Drenched from head to toe, he never felt more miserable. "This was a bad idea."
The river calmed. Looking around, they were in the Valley of the Fallen Kings or close to it. THe group swam ashore, when it was shallow enough for them to swim and the current not as strong."Ugh." Gilli more or less collapsed on the shore. Only Avalon was still standing. She started making camp while Gilli and himself recovered. Their hands were raw from the tree and legs had been scraped up by the bark. "Let's never do that again." Gilli nodded, all of them were to exhausted to talk much. They still had their weapons, but Avalon only had one arrow left. The quiver refilled itself. "Handy trick." They had lost only a few coins to the bandits. A week's rations were unaccounted for.
Drying off their chainmail with rags, Gilli stayed in the sun to dry off. while Avalon changed. The sun was beginning to rise as Avalon went behind the trees. He had no idea if they had left Meliagrant behind, so no fire was lit. Avalon limped toward them. "Are you okay?" A wound could easily get infected if not treated correctly. "It's only a scrape, that's all." Avalon replied in atone that said,"I can take care of myself, thank you." Gilli was still dripping wet, but lying in direct sunlight.
"You could lose your leg." Avalon sighed and went behind a bush, while he grabbed bandages. She had her pants rolled up to mid thigh almost. Her legs were badly scraped and bleeding slightly. No bark had to picked out, witch was something. Avalon winced as he began cleaning the wound with soap and boiling water. "Sorry." He began to wrap the bandages around the leg."Just get it done." Avalon gritted. She rolled her pant leg back down."Thank you." The silence was slightly awkward between them.
The trio camped there, choosing to continue in the morning. Gilli kept watch, since he had slept most of the day. Avalon had the tent while he slept outside. His dream again took him to Arthur's side. Well, more like snippets of Arthur. A knight in red armor and a knight in green armor went past his vision, too fast to get a closer look. The Lake of Avalon's waters turned as black like ink. The sky turning red, like blood. Freya lay at his feet, Arthur's sword in her side. "No." Nothing could survive a blade forged in the dragon's breath. She would not be coming back. "Remember, Merlin." "I have always loved you...I always will." The word were barely audible. The scene changed again, still at the Lake of Avalon with the image of dying lake over lapping the healthy one. Freya appeared, holding the Sword of Light in her hands. Her dress was in rags. She knelt before him. "Save us, Emrys."
He awoke in a cold sweat. It was not yet dawn. Gilli had given no clue that he had heard him. Except for the vision of a a wasted Lake of Avalon., the rest of the journey through the Valley of the Fallen Kings was uneventful. No one, not even bandits went into the Valley because of the crystal cave being so near.
THe boatman had left. A voice broke over the surface of the water."Go back, for this is a terrible place of evil." The mists had grown thicker than usual. Halfway across a dragon's roar echoed from above them. "That wasn't Khilgharrah." A shape flew above them much like a dragon. No flapping of wings, an illusion. That made him feel better, almost.
The boat stopped at the Isle of the Blessed. The stones had changed from grey to black. A cold wind blew through, sending shivers down their spines. "What if it's a trap?" Gilli had gone white. Avalon unsheathed her sword. "It is most certainly a trap." Just what he needed to hear.
Avalon pulled out a Sidhe staff from her pack and lit the crystal at the top. "Leoht."Even though it was high noon, the darkness made it as black as night. Breathing out it was chilly enough for it to mist. The altar where Nimue had been defeated was a polished jet black. Something or someone was watching them, it was too quite. A dark cloud entered the room. "There is no light that can defeat darkness." It was almost as if darkness could speak.
The shadow attacked and Avalon made a shield of light cover them from the onslaught. The darkness hammered at the shield making it shrink. A mighty blow from the cloud made the light fail. His vision went temporarily dark. Avalon relit her staff, but she was on her knees. The shadow paused as if savoring the moment of defeat before snuffing it out again.
All of them were thrown back to the wall and pinned. Drawing the Sword of Light, the cloud recoiled. The sword was glowing faintly. Gilli and Avalon were pinned against the wall, while he felt the darkness push him from behind. Slashing behind him, the cloud dispersed where the sword slashed before reappearing. Hopelessness sized his heart. How do you fight a shadow?
The cloud attacked again, making it so dark that nothing could be seen. He felt himself being slammed against something hard and realized he was lying down. He was on the black altar. A dagger made of darkness appeared and cut his arm drawing blood. His entire body was on fire, even though it only drew a few drops of blood. When the first drop hit the altar, the pain stopped and his arm healed. The darkness retreated from him and his friends.
Gilli and Avalon looked at something behind him with fear. Turning, the darkness was thickening into the shape of a person. Legs, torso, arms, then head appeared. The darkness seemed to sink into the figure's clothes. Becoming more defined, he almost recognized the figure. It wore the same thing he was, just a darker shade. It's skin was almost white, as pale as death. When it rose from the floor, his heart almost stopped. They could be identical twins, except it's irises were a permanent gold. A Dark Merlin.
Dark Merlin laughed, an insane sound that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Dark Merlin stretched out his hand and examined it."So good to have form." Dark Merlin curled and uncurled his fingers, enamoring his newfound freedom."I am fear, I am darkness, I am death." Dark Merlin smiled predatorily. "But listen to me go on, I am being uncivil." "Let me show you my home." The ruins of the Isle of the Blessed shivered and rebuilt themselves. A castle of darkness surrounded them. "We don't have to be enemies, we can be friends." Dark Merlin's words were more directed at him.
"I can offer you an escape." Dark Merlin pointed to a castle wall, it shimmered and changed to a view of Camelot."There sits the most oblivious king in the land of Albion, not knowing his fate." "From the throne of Camelot, we could usher in a new era of peace for magic." Magical creatures would no longer be hunted for trophies to be hung on walls and the Old Religion will be the law of the land." Dark Merlin's eyes gleamed. "All it takes, brother is a shake of the hand." "All you want could be yours." Dark Merlin suddenly smiled."Even Freya." That last part was tempting. "You would make sure I was destroyed in the process." Dark Merlin shook his head."Good, bad what does it matter?" "Besides I am a Emrys too." That chilled him. "I am everywhere, we are many, for we are legion." At the last word, a set of doors opened. A set of knights came out, dressed in black armor. The armor gave off the same shadows as Dark Merlin, just on a lesser scale."Or, maybe you want a more drastic display." Darkness clouded around them and the world darkened.
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