Um... yeah, hi everyone, remember me? I have no words to explain just why this chapter took so long to finish... seriously, it's a mystery even to me. Somewhere towards the end of November I just sort of looked at the file and went: 'oh yeah, I should probably finish that...' Yeah... Anywhoo, thanks to everyone, who read and reviewed the last chapter - your comments are always much-loved and appreciated. And a big thank you to Glastig for betaing this chapter.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the plot. And possibly the bubble.
Warning: Should probably point out this chapter has some spoilers for season 2. Nothing past the first half of the season though.
Key in the Kingdom
Ninth Encounter
Months passed by in Camelot. Chilly, windy autum full of harvest festivals turned into a blindingly-white, bitter winter, which gradually melted away into spring, with new buds, new grass and new adventures. The renewal of spring also heralded a new determination to King Uther's war on magic (Merlin theorized it was because being stuck indoors all winter had given the king too much time to think).
Spring also brought new dangers. Workers repairing the dungeon walls found the old tomb of an ancient and powerful sorcerer – who turned out to have a slightly different definition of 'dead' than most people – and Arthur's attempt to teach Merlin a lesson about behaving like a proper, normal, servant backfired completely when the replacement turned out to be a thief with less common sense than Merlin had on most days. Then Morgana got kidnapped by druids. Although Arthur was fairly certain he hadn't gotten the full story from Merlin about that one, there wasn't time to drag it out of his manservant before the two of them were once again in the middle of a crisis and rushing off to rescue Guinevere.
Then the Witchfinder arrived and Arthur was sure he spent a week not breathing as first Gaius and then Merlin were accused of sorcery. He had also never been gladder for his years of practise of holding his tongue in front of his father and the court, because he fairly certain yelling "Stop, you cannot burn Merlin; he's to be my Chief Warlock when I am king!" would not have gone over well with anyone. Except perhaps Morgana. She would've likely been delighted.
He hadn't given Dawn more than a second thought since the long, dull nights of winter when his own thoughts and shared stories with Merlin, Morgana and – with increasing regularity – Gwen were the only way to pass the time. A part of him was sad to think he'd never see the girl again, but there were more important things to worry about. Dawn's friends seemed capable enough most of the time, therefore he assumed her absence meant they'd lifted the curse or however else one went about solving such a magical problem.
He hadn't ever expected to see her again. So, naturally, he did.
As though someone had decided huge, spiked demon dogs, long-armed, dark-skinned demons and trips to the future weren't memorable enough, Dawn's final appearance overshadowed them all.
Just like the first time they'd met, it was a beautiful, sunny day with just a hint of breeze. Arthur was incredibly thankful to whatever instruments of Fate or the Old Religion or whomever it was that decided such matters, that his father had been away from the castle that day with Morgana, visiting the keep of Lord Bartholomew – an old ally of Uther and friend of Morgana's father.
Merlin was pretending to look useful (though admittedly not very hard) while Arthur was leading the knights through morning sword drills. Then the air around him seemed to shudder. He noticed several of the knights pause mid-swing, eyes darting around. Merlin froze, suddenly more alert than he had been all day.
Then he heard the noise.
It started as nothing more than a steady, high-pitched whisper of sound, but gradually it became louder, lower-pitched and more recognizable. He was so completely focused on the sound and trying to figure out where it was coming from, he didn't notice the Camelot knights spread out, their swords held in front of them as they too searched the courtyard for the source of the heart-wrenching screams.
They sounded female and whoever she was, she was obviously in a lot of pain – steady, constant pain. However, despite how close the screaming sounded, none of them could find its source.
"Sorcery," Arthur heard one of the knights whisper. Many of them looked nervous, unsettled by the screams, but Arthur was proud to see them all holding firm.
Suddenly, he felt a presence to his right. He tensed, eyes darting to the side, and then relaxed when he saw it was only Merlin.
"Merlin," he growled out in warning.
"Stand back, Arthur," the young man said and Arthur frowned, the admonishment on his lips forgotten. "You need to tell your knights to stand back."
The prince paused, looking again at his manservant, this time taking in the intent focus on his face. He was clearly seeing something Arthur wasn't – or couldn't – see.
"What is it?" he asked quietly, not wanting to bring the knights' attention to how he was taking his cues from Merlin.
"I-" Merlin frowned. "I'm not sure, but it's getting stronger."
Arthur really wished magic was something more tangible. He could see the sorcerer, could hear the words of a spell (unless it was Merlin casting, because he was special, apparently) and could then witness the result of said spell, but he couldn't see the magic itself. And talking with Merlin had proved utterly useless, because he couldn't understand what it was Arthur wasn't seeing.
Nonetheless, Arthur looked at the spot Merlin was so focused on. His eyes widened. He wasn't actually expecting to see anything, so he was understandably shocked to see the air in the middle of the training grounds shimmer green.
"Move back!" he commanded, motioning with his left arm to indicate where he wanted his knights to move back from.
The ones on the outskirts of the gathering saw what their prince did almost immediately, gasping and grabbing their comrades to pull them back. It appeared that it took about half a dozen steps of distance for anyone to see the green shimmer.
The screaming stopped and there were several moments of utter silence. No one moved. Then the air was filled with several pained sobs, which echoed slightly, as though the sound was being magnified by being inside a cave.
"Oh god, it hurts. Make it stop. God, make it stop!"
Arthur froze. He recognized that voice.
"Dawn?" he whispered. And then, louder, he called: "Dawn? Dawn, can you hear me?"
A new sort of panic filled him. Something was hurting his friend and he could see neither her, nor her tormentor in order to help. There were a few more moments of complete silence.
"Arthur?" the voice said quietly.
"Dawn, I'm here! Where are you?"
"I-I'm... oh goddess, no! No, I'm doing this; I can't stop it! I can't – I-I have to, I-"
"Dawnie, sweetie, you have to calm down," a third voice cut in, a kind feminine voice that reminded Arthur a bit of Guinevere.
"I'm trying!" Dawn screamed, now more in frustration than in pain. "Oh god, I can feel it... it's getting stronger... I can't keep it in!" She screamed again, this time there was nothing but pain in the sound.
"Make it stop!" she sobbed. "Please, please, Willow, make it stop!"
Arthur felt on the verge of tears with helpless frustration himself. He wanted to do something, anything to help, but without being able to see what was going on, he couldn't do anything but listen to Dawn's anguish as she tried to stop whatever was threatening to happen.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Merlin suddenly called out.
Arthur glanced to his manservant. His eyes widened when he saw that Merlin's were glowing as the young man stared intently at the shimmery air. He looked worried, but calm, confident and more at home in his own skin than Arthur had ever seen him outside of a few moments when the two had snuck away on a hunting trip so that Merlin could practise with his staff.
Of course, Arthur realized, if any of them could help Dawn, it would be Merlin.
"Merlin?" Dawn asked, her voice sounding pained, like she was talking through clenched teeth. "I don't know. I-I'm trying to keep it in, to stop it from overflowing, but I don't know if I'm strong enough."
"You are Dawnie, you can-" the gentle voice began.
"Then don't."
The decisiveness in Merlin's voice surprised Arthur. "Let it go. We'll fix it after, but if you try to keep it in it could tear you apart and then escape anyway."
This, right here, Arthur suddenly realized in a moment of perfect clarity he would later wonder the truth of, was his future Court Sorcerer. Chief Warlock, Merlin was going to be his Chief Warlock. Which admittedly didn't have quite the same right to it, but sorcerers were evil and Merlin wasn't, therefore Merlin was a warlock. Court Warlock perhaps?
"W-wait, I don't think-" the other voice was protesting.
"Okay," said Dawn, apparently deciding to ignore it in favour of trusting Merlin. "Stand back then."
Arthur had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he motioned for his knights to get even further back.
Dawn screamed again, but this time it was different. There was a sense of relief in the scream, like something was erupting from her, as though she were in the throws of – Arthur cut off that thought abruptly. Which wasn't difficult to do, because in that moment the shimmery, green, barely-there mist that hung in the air began to glow. It flashed in a single, sudden glare of bright green light that had Arthur wincing and shielding his eyes.
Then the light was gone and in its place a pale green bubble about the size of a small hut hovered just above the ground.
Dawn knelt on grass-covered ground in the centre of the bubble and behind her Arthur could see the gnarly, twisted trunk of a tree he recognized as growing on the extensive grounds surrounding the large house Dawn and her fellow demon hunters lived in. Dawn looked exhausted; dark circles under her eyes highlighted by red-rimmed eyes and tear-tracked cheeks. She was breathing heavily and Arthur couldn't help but notice the bright red scratch marks running up and down her bare arms.
She looked up and met his eyes and the prince gasped at the green glow in them.
Something else in the bubble moved and Arthur watched as a young, red-headed woman wearing a long skirt and a billowy, long-sleeved blouse (it was the most modest-looking outfit he'd seen any of the women from Dawn's universe wear) knelt next to Dawn. The hand she placed on Dawn's shoulder was comforting, but her gaze was worried. Dawn glanced up at her and nodded at something she said.
The redhead then turned and looked out of the bubble, observing everything critically before meeting Arthur's gaze. She smiled warmly.
"Hello, you're Arthur," she said, her voice sweet with a breath of shyness layered with confidence. It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway. "I'm Willow."
Arthur gaped. This was the witch. Looking at her kind eyes, small hands and petite frame, he couldn't help but wonder whether all incredibly powerful 'good' magic users looked ridiculously harmless as a rule or if he just happened to meet the only two that did.
"Hello, I'm Merlin," said a voice from beside Arthur.
Willow's eyes widened, sparkling with excitement.
"I can tell," she said. She took a few steps and then glanced quickly to Dawn, who nodded with a sort of tired half-smile, before stepping out of the bubble, shuddering slightly as she passed through its green walls.
"Wow," she continued, the awe in her voice unmistakable. She raised a hand to Merlin's cheek. "I've never seen anything like it! I mean, I have to meditate to become one with the powers of nature so that I can feel what the land feels, but you-you're like a part of the land." She frowned slightly and removed her hand, stepping back with a twist of a smile on her face. "I don't even think you know what that means yet. The land, its magic, clearly loves you. Once you figure out what that means and realize how much power you have to use and how to use it, you'll be incredible! I can see it."
"Xander said you were incredibly powerful yourself," Arthur commented after a slight pause, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed that this woman - who Xander had assured him was a very, very powerful witch – was looking up to Merlin, who was, at the moment, a mere servant.
Willow shook her head sadly and there was something in that gesture that had Arthur paying attention again.
"I have power, because I punched a hole into the well of power that exists in the world – like hammering a tap into a wine barrel. And now that I've got that hole, I can use it, but not like Merlin can. I'm tainted, see. I fell too low, let myself drown in that power – and not the good kind either – and it nearly consumed me. I still get nightmares sometimes about how close I came to losing myself completely to dark magic."
She shuddered in remembrance, before mentally pulling herself away from the dark, empty place her mind had apparently taken her to and her eyes lost the dullness that had momentarily settled inside their depths. She looked to Merlin again, her eyes sparkling once again.
"But you-you're pure! Your magic hasn't been tainted by even the slightest darkness. It's like the land's given you an all-access pass to its magic just because it likes you. Your magic really is a gift; next to you I'm just a thief, stealing magic because I'm powerful enough to do it."
"Uh, Wills?" a voice called from the bubble. It sounded slightly distorted, but very familiar. Willow's eyes widened in surprise before she whirled around to face the bubble, where – sure enough – Xander stood pointedly scanning the edges of the green bubble with exaggerated eye gestures. "I thought punching holes into other dimensions was kinda what we were trying to prevent."
"Um, well yes, we were... ideally," Willow stuttered. "But the magical forces were getting a bit too powerful and, uh, swirly and they were hurting Dawn and-"
"It would've torn me apart," Dawn's hoarse voice interrupted the witch's babble.
"I told her to let it go," Merlin added. Arthur nodded in agreement – he had to at least appear like he knew what was going on .
"Oh, hey Merlin," Xander said as he grinned widely despite the obviously tiredness that lined his face. "And Arthur."
"Hello, Xander," Arthur greeted the man with a slight nod, while Merlin waved happily – looking once again like Arthur's idiot manservant.
"Sire?" Sir Leon's soft voice said from Arthur's left. Arthur shifted his attention to the knight, immediately noting the sword in his hand and confusion on his face. "Is this the work of sorcery?"
Arthur froze. Right, the knights were still here. And watching. Damn.
Arthur cleared his throat.
"So, have you managed to figure out the cause of the curse?" he asked Xander in what he hoped wasn't too obvious a way to divert everyone's attention elsewhere.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Merlin move towards the bubble.
"Arthur," he called softly, reaching out tentatively to touch the surface of the bubble. "I don't think it's a curse."
Before it even occurred to Arthur to say anything, Merlin was stepping into the bubble. Beside him, he heard Sir Leon gasp. Merlin blinked and looked around, obviously fascinated. Arthur felt like hitting him.
"No, it's not," Dawn whispered and Arthur barely heard her. She looked up at Merlin with fresh tears in her eyes as Merlin looked down. "It's me."
Sir Leon stepped forward, so that he was just in front of Arthur but not obscuring his prince's vision. Arthur sighed. Of course it couldn't possibly be a curse: that would've been far too easy.
"Explain," he said, hoping against all hope that, perhaps, just maybe, the explanation was simple and straight-forward and did not involve Dawn and magic-casting in the same sentence.
"I'm sorry," she said and Arthur decided then and there he really didn't like explanations that began with those two words.
Merlin knelt next to Dawn and leaned in to say something to Dawn, his voice soft enough that Arthur couldn't make out the words. Then he took one of her hands in his and gave it a comforting squeeze. Dawn nodded, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again and began to speak she looked at Merlin, but her words were loud enough for all of them to hear.
"I'm not human, not really," she said and Arthur felt his world turn upside down. "Six years ago I was a ball of green energy known as the Key and there were a bunch of monks guarding me. Then this crazy evil goddess named Glory showed up, looking for the Key so that she could open a portal to her own hell dimension. So, the monks cast a powerful spell, sending the Key to the strongest warrior on the side of good: the Slayer. Except they didn't just say: 'Here take this ball of energy and protect it with your life.' Oh no, they gave the Key human form and then they gave it memories of a human life and gave the Slayer memories of a younger sister and everyone else around the Slayer also got memories of this little sister's life. They made everyone think the Key was a normal human and made the Key think she was a normal human with an ordinary life and an older sister, loving mother-"
"Xander, look out!"
Luckily Arthur's reflexes were faster than his mind, because by the time he'd dragged his thoughts from Dawn's tale, he was already in a defencive position with his sword held in front of him. Xander managed to be a bit more aware and, after a quick look behind him, he was diving to the side just as a big furry, horned demon came tearing into the bubble.
It exited the bubble and paused for a moment, its bright purple eyes darting to and fro from beneath an overhanging fringe of yellow fur. The viciously curved claws on its hands looked just as dangerous as the giant war axe it was holding. Although completely naked, long yellow fur mostly covered everything Arthur didn't want to see (he was trying very, very hard to pretend he wasn't seeing the bits of things he didn't want to see).
Arthur tensed, preparing to charge the creature.
And then the demon lept to the side and a streak of lightening sizzled past it, missing it by a handspan and disappearing into the depths of the bubble. Arthur glanced to the side and froze, jaw falling open before he could stop himself. Willow was glowing. Not just her eyes, like Merlin's did, but her entire body was encased in white light.
"Uh, Wills..."he heard Xander say. "You know, Giles kinda liked that chair."
"Oops," Willow responded with a cringe. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Oh goddess!"
Her outstretched hand fell to her side and she began to run towards the bubble, seemingly having forgotten about the demon blocking her way.
"Willow!" Arthur called out as he ran to intercept the demon, whose eyes glittered triumphantly just before it lept at the redheaded witch.
With an extra burst of speed, Arthur managed jump in between them, giving the demon his best 'I am a knight of Camelot and you will not pass' look. The demon wasn't impressed. It swung at him with the axe and Arthur met it head-on with his sword. The impact rattled the bones in his arms, but he somehow managed to stay upright. He looked up to meet his opponent's eyes and just as he realized the brute was holding its axe with only one hand, he felt a second impact on his left side.
The flying sensation was cut short when he collided with something that made a high-pitched noise before cushioning his fall as he clattered to the ground.
"Oh boy, am I ever glad armour went out of fashion centuries ago," Willow's strained voice said from beneath him.
Arthur apologized and lept to his feet – or attempted to in any case. His limbs didn't seem to want to listen to his instructions of 'leap' and 'jump' or even 'move'. Suddenly there were two sets of arms underneath his shoulders hauling him up and off of Willow. He nodded his thanks to Sir Leon and Merlin, blinking at the wobbly sensation that produced. Sir Leon remained by his side to steady him, while Merlin helped Willow to her feet.
"Are you alright?" Arthur called behind him, not looking backwards in favour of watching the demon being besieged by Camelot's knights.
Who may as well have been a small swarm of insects for all the good they seemed to be doing. The demon looked annoyed as it swatted at them with its axe. Arthur went to raise his sword and frowned. He looked down, feeling the first signs of panic shoot through his mind when he realized he couldn't move either one of his arms. He tried to form fists, but all they did was dangle limply. All he could feel was a slight tingling sensation in his muscles, emanating from his right side, where the sensation seemed to be accompanied by a vague burn as well.
Then he noticed the blood through newly-torn gashes in his chainmail.
"I can't feel my arms," he told Sir Leon, trying to suppress the panic he could feel bubbling to the surface with greater force than before. If he couldn't feel his arms, then he couldn't grasp his sword, which meant he couldn't fight the demon and stop it from killing everyone-
"Its claws contain a paralysing venom," said Willow. Arthur's eyes widened and he snapped his head up to look at her. "B-but don't worry, it wears off in a few minutes. Er, if you're a slayer it takes a few minutes... I'm not sure how long it takes to wear off a normal person..."
Arthur looked to Merlin, who was holding his sword and examining a rather large nick in it – presumably where it had impacted with the demon's axe.
"Ah, sorry, it has magical properties of its own. Trying to get rid of it with magic might only make it worse-" Willow gasped and Arthur looked up. The witch stared at the bubble for a few moments before turning to look at him with a sympathetic wince. "Sorry, the portal's destabilizing. I-I think it might be linked to Dawn's emotions. I have to go help her, 'cause I'm not sure how much longer she can stay calm enough to hold it stable for on her own and if we let it destabilize again instead of properly closing it, then we could have multi-dimensional hub in our backyard and I don't even want to imagine how many kinds of bad that would be."
"Go, we'll take care of Arthur," Merlin assured her as he stepped up to Arthur and smiled reassuringly.
Willow nodded gratefully and dashed into the bubble. Arthur turned his attention back to the demon. The knight's siege was crumbling and Arthur knew they were stalling the inevitable at best. He dreaded to think what would happen once the demon got loose.
Sir Leon stepped in front of his prince, sword in front of him and ready to defend him.
"Sire, you should retreat to safety," the knight said. "I'll distract the beast."
Arthur opened his mouth to protest: he couldn't just run away while his men were fighting. A hand landed on his shoulder and interrupted that thought.
"I'm sorry, Arthur, but he's right," said Merlin. The sympathy in his friend's eyes shone through despite the fierce determination that made Arthur's heart stop. Just like that, he knew what Merlin – idiot that he was – was going to do.
"Merlin, no!" Arthur called out, praying that, for once, Merlin would actually listen. However, Merlin merely smiled and stepped away from him. He noticed Sir Leon tense and send a confused look Merlin's way, probably wondering just what the serving boy thought he could accomplish that would have his prince so worried.
Taking a deep breath, Merlin's eyes took on a hard edge as he turned to look upon the demon. He watched as the last of Camelot's knights was swept aside by the demon's large hand and raised his own hand in front of him.
"In bǽlwielm forhienan se wiðere ," he chanted, his eyes glowing with a familiar golden light.
A wall of flames erupted in the demon's path and then encircled it. Sir Leon started, but held his ground, though he cast a surprised glance in Merlin's direction. The wall of flames burned brightly and Arthur suddenly envisioned a battlefield with Camelot's enemy trapped within a large flaming circle, bewildered, frightened knights and mercenaries having no choice but to surrender, a battle won with minimul bloodshed. The fiery circle then began to shrink, coming closer and closer to the demon, until it was enveloped in flames.
From within the fiery depths, Arthur saw the demon grin. Then it calmly walked out of its confinement, bearing not a single sign of the fire.
"Uh, sorry, we probably should've warned you," he heard Willow say from somewhere beyond the drums beating in his ears. "It's a hell demon, so totally used to fire and brimstone."
"Thanks for letting us know," Merlin grumbled and the flames died down completely. Meanwhile, Arthur wondered how anything living in hell managed to grow fur.
"Bombs away!" Xander's voice suddenly resounded throughout the training field.
A yellow-brown bag fell to the ground right in front of the demon, sickly yellow smoke exploding out of it upon impact. The demon roared and staggered backwards, squinting and clutching the lower half of its face with its free hand. Ahead of him, Arthur heard Sir Leon and Merlin utter almost identical noises of disgust, waving their arms in front of their faces. Seconds later, Arthur caught a whiff of the smoke and nearly gagged.
"What the hell is that?" he demanded.
"Stink bomb," said Xander from beside him, making Arthur jump at the proximity. Xander grinned at him and held up two more identical sacs. "We use them mostly against stray werewolves. 'Cause if you think what you're smelling is bad, just imagine what it would be like if your sense of smell was ten times better."
Arthur decided he would really rather not.
"Don't you have some way of killing this thing?" he asked instead, automatically searching out Willow.
Willow was, meanwhile, kneeling in front of Dawn, holding her hands in her own. Both women had their eyes closed and looked as though they were concentrating. Xander must've noticed him looking.
"Sorry, Willow's out for the count right now," he said. "The dimensional bubble was getting a bit too wobbly to be good – not that any bubble is actually good, but nice, stable bubble: waaay better than wibbly wobbly bubble."
Arthur thought that made sense. Maybe.
"We're really just stalling here," Xander continued. "The real cavalry had her sword shattered by Hairy's super axe, so she's gone to get her own super weapon so she can go super slayer on his ass."
"Just so long as that makes the demon super dead, I don't particularly care what your cavalry does," said Arthur, wincing as the tingling in his arms turned into more of a crawling-burning sensation. He sincerely hoped that meant he'd be able to move his arms soon and not that they were a hair's breath from falling off.
Then Sir Leon charged and Merlin chanted a few words, which summoned a gust of wind that blew the demon's long fur directly into its eyes. The knight picked his moment well and his sword slid neatly into the demon's middle. The demon screamed in pain, slashing downwards with its over-sized battle axe. Leon barely managed to pull his sword out and dance out of the way with all his limbs intact, a trail of blood trickling down his arm proving just how close it had been.
Merlin and Sir Leon looked at each other and grinned. Arthur couldn't help but join them.
"Well done you two," he said. "Merlin, I don't suppose you could create a slightly larger distraction? Like, perhaps a flying dragon or something to that effect?"
Merlin rolled his eyes. "You know, magic doesn't actually work that wa- oh." He paused, turning his head to look at the castle thoughtfully. "I could try that, I suppose... 's a bit far, though..."
"Head's up, guys," said Xander. "I think you've officially pissed the furball off."
"Xander, use another one of those stinky bags; I'm going to try something," Merlin said before falling back a few steps and then moving a bit to the right.
Xander looked to Arthur and the prince shook his head. He had no idea what his manservant was up to. It almost looked as though he was trying to get a clear view of something on the castle (a window perhaps?). Xander shrugged and then threw one of the bags he was holding at the demon. The demon paused mid-stride to bat the annoyance aiming for it only to have it explode directly in its face.
The bellow it let out was deafening.
After a few moments, Sir Leon took a deep breath and charged at it.
Showing a bit more caution this time (or perhaps half-blinded by the horrible smell himself), the knight opted to slash quickly at the demon's stomach and then dart out of reach of the demon's wicked claws. Unfortunately, the demon showed no signs of the knight's daring attack.
"Stab, not slash: good to know," Xander said from beside him.
"Stab?" a new voice said from the direction of the bubble. "Good, I can do stab. Bloody, stinking sun..."
Arthur snapped his head to the side. Spike stood at the edge of the bubble holding something large and metal in his hand as he surveyed the battlefield.
"Hey, Bleach Boy, where's the Buffster?" Xander called, not really looking at the vampire.
"Dealing with the second beastie that showed up after this one ran off."
"Oh."
Spike hefted the large metal object onto his shoulder and Arthur saw that it looked a bit like a gigantic crossbow, one that would take half his knights to carry. The vampire aimed and then released the trigger. A metal bolt twice the size of a sword sailed through the air and buried itself deep into the demon's side. The demon screamed in pain.
"You took the harpoon?" Xander asked as the creature attempted to tug at the bolt. Out of the corner of his eyes, Arthur saw Spike shrug.
"Worked, didn't it?"
"Except that now you're outta ammo."
"No, I'm not."
There was a thud accompanied with a chorus of metallic clangs as Spike shrugged a long, black sack off his shoulder and let it fall to the floor. It was followed by some shuffling and more clanging and then some quieter noises as Spike presumably re-loaded his crossbow-like weapon.
"You know, I really, really hope all of those are, like, uber-overkill," Xander commented.
Arthur clenched his fists, feeling a surge of joy and relief as he looked down and realized he could. The burning in his arms had gotten worse, which Arthur was now taking as a good sign.
The demon bellowed in pain as it finally managed to pull the bolt out of its side. Arthur really hoped the impending blood loss would kill it quickly. Sir Leon was several steps in front of Arthur, watching the demon. The demon was panting loudly, eyeing the humans with angry eyes. Then it roared and charged at Sir Leon. The knight barely managed to fling himself out of the way.
"Uh, Spike, how's that reloading coming along?" Xander called, a shrill hint of panic in his voice, which Arthur echoed in his mind as he watched the demon whirl around to where Sir Leon was scrambling to his feet.
"I did!" the vampire called back, irritation evident in his voice. "Bloody thing's stuck!"
"Stuck? What do you mean, stuck?"
The demon grinned and sliced the air in front of it with one mighty swing of its gigantic war axe. Then it began to advance on Sir Leon.
"I mean, it's been sitting in a bloody warehouse for something like 150 years and doesn't like the workout I'm trying to give it!"
"Well you've got about 30 seconds to convince it otherwise!"
"Not gonna 'appen, mate."
Sir Leon managed to struggle to his feet by using his sword like a cane. Arthur's eyes widened, his breath freezing in his chest, when he noticed the knight favouring his left leg – and probably downplaying it as much as possible in order to not give away how badly he was injured to his enemy.
"Great, just great. Arthur, sorry, but I'm borrowing your sword."
Arthur glanced away from where Sir Leon had managed to duck under and then scoot away from the demon's axe, which had just attempted to cleave him in two. His first instinct was to protest – a knight simply did not give away his only weapon – but he clamped down on the reaction, knowing the sword was useless to him at the moment without the use of his arms. He met the determination in Xander's eyes and nodded.
Xander gripped the sword tightly and took a deep breath.
"Heeyaaa!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he took off full-tilt at the demon, sword waving above his head as though it should've had a banner attached to it..
Arthur really, really hoped the man was doing that just to distract the demon, because at the moment he was making Merlin look like a master swordsman.
Thankfully, Xander proved quickly that his actual abilities were far better than that initial display hinted at. He even managed to hold his own for a short while, which at least allowed Sir Leon a brief respite from the battle. Unfortunately, the large nick in the sword Merlin had been observing earlier had been rather serious and, after deflecting a second swing from the demon's axe, the top half of the sword shattered away, leaving Xander staring at a broken sword with a look of baffled horror on his face.
A punch at his torso sent Xander flying through the air and back into the bubble from whence he came, colliding with Spike, who was still attempting to make the gigantic contraption in his hands work.
Somewhere, off to the side, Merlin let out a triumphant shout.
Arthur looked over at his manservant with a frown. What was the idiot doing anyway? And now that he thought about it, wasn't he supposed to be some sort of really powerful wizard? Merlin didn't notice Arthur's glare, he was grinning from ear to ear, sweat pouring down his brow as he looked into the distance. Whatever Merlin had just managed to do, it hadn't been easy. Whether or not it would prove worth it, was, of course, another question altogether.
Arthur squinted into the distance, trying to see what about the castle had Merlin so excited. Just as he thought he saw movement on the battlements, a cry from Sir Leon had him turning back to the battle.
The knight was still on his feet and in possession of his sword, but was now sporting a brand new cut on his right hip. Arthur cursed. He could fully clench his fists now, but could only move his arms slightly.
"Merlin, I hope you have something very clever-" he began, but Merlin ignored him completely.
"Sir Leon, stay back!" his manservant called out.
Sir Leon, who'd began to circle the demon in the opposite direction of Arthur in order to keep the monster's attention as far away from his prince as possible, paused and spared a confused glance to Merlin. Like Arthur himself, he was probably wondering why now, of all times, Merlin had decided to give out useless advice.
Which, as it turned out, wasn't quite all that useless after all.
The demon's eyes lit up when Sir Leon glanced away, smirking as it raised its massive axe one again. Arthur froze. It lunged, its speed defying its bulk. Sir Leon's eyes widened, but he managed to hold off the demon's blow with his sword. Just. The demon pressed its advantage and swung again, apparently abandoning any sort of finesse it may have possessed in favour of simply tiring its opponent out. Sir Leon attempted to backpedal away as quickly as his right leg would allow.
None of them had noticed the fallen dagger until the knight was tripping over it.
The next thing Arthur knew, he was being held back by long, skinny arms. There was also a lot of screaming involved.
"Arthur, wait!" he heard Merlin yell above the din (oh, apparently that was him trying to taunt the demon into turning its attack away from Sir Leon).
He swiped at his manservant to dislodge him and some part of his mind registered that, although his movements were sluggish, he was at least able to move his arm. Arthur watched helplessly as the demon stepped onto Sir Leon's sword.
"Merlin, I order you to do something!" he cried desperately.
"I already have you great prat!"
The demon lifted its axe and swung.
A shadow swooped down and there was a painful-sounding screech of steel hitting stone with great force. Arthur winced. Then he blinked, staring incredulously at a still-alive Sir Leon, who looked equally perplexed at still being alive. Their eyes met and they looked to the demon. It was screaming in frustration as it tried to dislodge its new assailant, who was silent except for the heavy sound of beating wings. Then the demon swung the axe wildly and the creature flew off, just out of range of the blow.
It took Arthur several moments to realize what he was seeing. His jaw dropped.
"Merlin, is that one of the castle gargoyles?" he asked, scarce believing he was even asking the question.
"Um, it might be..."
The gargoyle (because that's exactly what it was and Arthur even knew exactly which battlement it normally overlooked) took another flying dive at the demon, sharp talons swiping at its head. It caught the demon across the side of its face and then immediately turned around in mid-air for another go. This time the demon met it with a mighty swing of its axe, hitting the gargoyle square-on and stopping the vicious-looking talons from reaching it. The gargoyle didn't budge, but Arthur's eyes widened at the crack that appeared on one of its shoulders.
"Damn," Merlin whispered, raising his hand. He muttered something under his breath and his eyes glowed. The crack glowed and then repaired itself.
Unfortunately, Arthur hadn't been the only one who'd seen that. The demon's furious eyes glared at Merlin. With a sideways shove using its axe, it threw the gargoyle off to the side and then snarled at the sorcerer.
And then Sir Leon was there, his sword piercing the demon's hide almost to the hilt before he bellowed a war cry and slashed to the side with as much force as he could. The partially-disembowlled demon screamed and fell to its knees.
"The 'ead!" a voice hollered. "Chop off its 'ead!"
Sir Leon raised his sword. It glowed blue seconds before it hit the base of the demon's neck. Its head flew off to the side and then the lifeless body flopped to the ground with a dull thud.
Relief flooded Arthur, nearly sending him to his knees. However, one look at Sir Leon's battered form and he knew he had no right to that luxury. It had been the knight's hard-earned victory, not his.
"Sir Leon!" Merlin cried, already running to support the knight. Arthur followed at a more sedate pace.
"That was an excellent job, Sir Leon," he said to the knight, squeezing his shoulder (and if the knight noticed he had the grip of a wet kitten, then he had the tact to ignore it). "You are an honour to the knights of Camelot."
Merlin rolled his eyes as he examined the wound on Sir Leon's hip. "What he's trying to say, is that you were amazing!"
"Thank you, sire, Merlin," said the knight with a tired smile. He looked behind Arthur curiously. "I would, however, be interested to know how exactly I came to be aided by what appears to be one of the castle's gargoyles."
Arthur turned to look behind him. Sure enough, there was the gargoyle using the demon's long fur to carefully clean blood off its claws.
"Um, right, yes, the gargoyle..." Merlin began.
"Yes, the gargoyle," said Arthur, already dreading the headache that was inevitably on its way. "It would be rather nice if it could be conveniently gone and in its regular position by the time my father returns and decides to destroy it as a construct of magic and then gives orders to hunt down the sorcerer, who conjured it."
"Animated it," Merlin corrected. Both Arthur and Sir Leon turned to stare at him. "Er.." Merlin faltered, looking a bit sheepish. "It already existed, therefore it wasn't conjured, just given, um, life... sort of. So, 'animated' not 'conjured.'"
"I highly doubt my father will care about the distinction."
"Merlin..." said Sir Leon, staring at the young man with wide eyes, looking a bit stunned. "I thought perhaps that... but that fire too, that-that was you."
Merlin winced and Arthur wasn't sure whether he wanted to hit his manservant for giving himself away like that or simply beg the knight not to tell his father. Then he realized the knight was looking at him. Arthur met his eyes calmly, trying to determine what he would do about this revelation. A few moments later, Sir Leon apparently made his decision and nodded to his prince with a small, please smile. Arthur smiled back and then they turned to look at the gargoyle, once again, which had now finished cleaning and was staring at them, its head cocked slightly to the side – looking a bit like one of Arthur's hunting dogs.
"Well, then I suppose whoever this mysterious sorcerer is, he must be an incredibly brave and noble soul to risk so much to save my life and the prince's," Sir Leon finally said. "It seems I owe him my life and my friendship."
Merlin grinned.
"I'm sure the mysterious sorcerer is happy you and the prince are alive and will gladly accept your friendship."
A growl interrupted their gargoyle-viewing. The gargoyle raised itself onto its haunches, lips curling into a silent snarl. Arthur exchanged looks with Merlin and Sir Leon and, as one, the three of them turned to their right.
This time, the demon had blue fur and a helmet with three horns sticking out of it.
Author's Notes:
In bǽlwielm forhienan se wiðere – A variation of the spell Merlin used to defeat the afnac in 1x03; my thanks to Merlin Wiki for the possible spelling and translation. It should mean 'In fire's heat defeat the hostile' or something like that.
Thanks so much for reading!