So I finally finished this chapter after locking myself in my room for a few hours with my computer, while my mom yelled at me to go outside and do something. I just told her to go outside herself and then tell me why I'm refusing. It's 21 m.p.h winds for crying out loud! Like I'm going out in that. I've already seen trees falling outside my window thank you very much! So no I decided to stay inside and make sure I finished this chapter for all you great readers out there so you don't kill me for that cliffy in the last chapter.

So if your still read my entire rant here I'm giving you a jar of virtual cookies. They're homemade!

Anyways enjoy the story!

Even as the winds threatened to blow them to the ground, everyone in the party, close to the oversized bull hurling itself towards them, were on their feet weapons at the ready. That is everyone except for most of Snowdonia's knights. Only two of the blue caped knights were standing, along with Merlin. Some of the druids- about five- also stood with them. None had their weapons at the ready, but their hands were outstretched. As Arthur went to move forward he ran into a barrier, and looked over to see Merlin staring at him with eyes of gold. The other knights and soldiers tried to advance as well, only to also be blocked by the barrier.

Merlin and his knights, and druids, formed a wide circle around the bull, as it became confused, and unable to decide which target to aim for. Merlin recalled what he knew of the creatures. The tarw efydd they were called. They had fought the beasts before, but it had not been easy. Instead of fur it had a coat made of faded bronze plates, resembling armor. Its horns were sharp and could pierce the strongest steel, and fire flowed freely out of their mouths. It was a creature much like the khalkotauroi found in Greek mythology. But the tarw efydd was not so easily defeated, as the mythical bulls were by Jason.

Merlin looked to his two knights. Jarret was one, and he was rather skilled at it. He had chosen magic as his second choice for a weapon, but he just as often used it to heal, or entertain children. The other was named Silias. He had once been a druid, but he had visited Snowdonia many times, and grew to love it. The boy had often watched the knights train from afar, before Merlin had called him over and had him join. Silias had turned out to be skilled in battle magic, and became a knight a few months later.

The tarw efydd turned, its head shaking back and forth; looking from one person to the next. The magic users lifted their hands and a multicolored dome formed around them. The colors in the shield depended on its source. The amount of that color depending on how much was put in from its source. The blue took up most of the space in the dome, swirling amongst the others shades of green, red, yellow, orange, and even grey, swirled in the dome. And white flew among it as well, mixing with the other colors. And even with all the colors, the dome still appeared translucent.

The tarw efydd tossed its head, snorting out flames as it ran at each person within the dome, attempting to impale with its horns or burn them with its red hot fire. At first each of the sorcerers merely pushed the bull back with their magic, but then they began to move. First one of the druids broke the formation, running out towards the beast. It turned and charged and the druid crouched down as the sorcerers directly behind the tarw efydd shouted an incantation and the bronze beast was suddenly flung into the barrier, as the druid rolled underneath it.

The sorcerers all came to stand in the middle of the circle created by the dome, and as the bull charged at them, their eyes all flashed gold simultaneously, the dome changed into a whip like shape, and the tarw efydd was lifted into the air. The 'whip' rapped around the bull on one end, melding into the rock of the mountain on the other. The beast was lowered to the ground, now tethered to the mountain. It was at this point that all but three of the sorcerers passed out from exhaustion. Left standing was a fair haired druid woman, and Silias, both looking worse for wear, and Merlin, who seemed fine and only a bit tired. The tarw efydd began to pull at its tether.

Arthur watched how now the knights of Snowdonia began to move towards the restrained beast, albeit still cautiously. The barrier preventing Arthur and his men from interfering had long since fallen, but still nobody moved forward from his side.

The knights formed an arch approaching the tarw efydd slowly. The druid, Salias and Merlin were in the formation, breaking it up into thirds. The bull threw fire at one side, only for it to be blocked by one of the sorcerers and for the rest of the group to continue advancing. Once they were close enough those with swords- which were most of the knights- pulled them out, the sound of metal ringing echoed across the mountain.

It was at this moment that the beast began to buck and kick. Its horns threw one man into the air, only for him to crash back down with a sharp cry of pain. One of the druids on the side ran forward and began to examine him. It was obvious to Arthur that the druid was one of the healers Merlin talked about. Another man was kicked in the chest and sent to the ground, and one fell prey to the bull's tossing head, and was bat aside like a fly. It all happened in the time of a few seconds.

As one the swords became alight in blue flames- flying wildly in the strong wind- and were plunged into the bull, as close to the neck as they could manage. It occurred to Arthur that this was the one place where the armor-like plating did not cover the tarw efydd. It's one weakness. Only one sword managed to hit its mark, as the beast thrashed in madness. The sword directly under the bull's head, going through until the point was poking out of the sword was visible on the other end. The sword was pulled out, and the beast fell to the ground. It was still thrashing as Merlin ordered his men to back away quickly. And just as the bull began to light up in flames Merlin shot his hand out making a shield of blue that protected them. And the bull exploded, shards of its armor shooting out, and fire fighting hard to break through the shield it now encompassed.

Arthur was awed by the power that was obviously controlled by Merlin. His friend seemed to be struggling to fight against the force of the explosion, but he still was only beginning to show signs of exhaustion. The fire dissipated, and Merlin let the shield fall as he collapsed to his knees, panting. Beads of sweat formed on his brow. He seemed to sway in the wind. Arthur ran forwards.

"Merlin! Are you alright?" Merlin just closed his eyes and breathed for a moment before turning his bright blue eyes on him, and smiling.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired is all. The last time I had to use such powerful magic was when I fought Sigan, and that time I passed out." Arthur gave him a dubious look, "No really! I fine! Just tired. I'm actually I didn't pass out like the others. They're much more experienced than me."

"Uh huh. Right. What was that thing anyways? I've never seen one before."

"I wouldn't have expected you to. It was a tarw efydd, and to be honest I don't even know why it was here in the first place. They're not exactly mountain dwellers. But they are deadly. Speaking of, I need to be sure my knights are ok." As Merlin moved to get up Arthur grabbed his arm, pulling him back down.

"You're exhausted Merlin, you need to rest."

"I'm fine." Merlin snapped yanking his arm away. Arthur frowned at him, but let him go nonetheless, knowing that there was no way to keep Merlin from doing anything he had his mind set on doing. And to be true to himself, Arthur was still stunned by the display of pure power that had just taken place. He decided though, that Merlin just needed some time. Attributing hiss behavior to exhaustion.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK

Merlin was riding side by side with his most trusted knights. Jarret had come to not long after the tarw efydd had been defeated. He was still slightly slouched on his horse though. Jarret looked to Merlin before speaking up. "I don't know how you do it Merlin. I was ready to fall over as soon as we made the dome in the first place, and passed out as soon as the bull was tethered, but you just went through it like it was an everyday thing for you."

"Yeah, well… I was still rather tired, and honestly all I really want to do right now is sleep. And you did very well yourself."

"Yeah, I had to be dragged away so I wouldn't get caught in the explosion." Merlin gave him a sharp look.

"Along with four other druids who were all more experienced than you. What you did today was very powerful magic, more so than what you've normally used. Having passed out is nothing to be ashamed of. It simply means you pushed yourself almost beyond your limits, and you did it to protect people. You should be proud of yourself for being able to last as long as you did. Having not grown up immersed in magic as Silias and the druids were, it would be expected that it would affect you. And yet you lasted just as long as the others. That is not weakness. That is a show of great strength."

Jarret smiled at that, his confidence boosted. Wymer watched with a knowing look about him. He rubbed his horse's neck, whispering words into her ears. It was obvious that the mare was still tense from the fight earlier. He sat back up, and looked behind to where the druids were, before looking ack to Merlin. "How are the injured faring?"

Merlin met his eyes. "Blythe is healing well. He was lucky that his spine didn't break when he fell, and the druid's magic is speeding up the healing process, however he probably won't be able to fight in the battle now. Dawson has a nasty bruise and a fractured rib, but nothing too bad otherwise. Perhaps Hadden can heal his him better, but we won't find out until we get to the caves and he can see for himself. And Caldwell is sore, and having some troubles breathing. The kick to his chest was extremely hard, and should have killed him, but he will live. It's unlikely he will be able to fight though."

Wymer nodded. It was as he had expected. He watched the small falcon flying above them. The winds had died down now, and the bird was taking the chance to stretch its wings. He reminisced about times long ago when he was younger. Back then falcons were more common to see flying among men. Hawking had been a sport many participated in, and they were good for messengers as well. But that was also a time when magic was free in all the land. Looked to with awe and wonder instead of fear. He looked forward once again as Warrick spoke.

"So we're a few man down then. Just great." He seemed annoyed. Ileana was next to speak up.

"It's only three men Warrick. Yes I'm sorry they were injured, but it's not like it can be helped. It won't have much effect on the battle. And now we have more men who can help train the civilians going in to fight." Merlin smiled, nodding his head as he saw the logic in the statement.

Warrick sighed, "Yeah I guess you're right." He looked ahead. They had been riding for a while now, and the sun was sinking low to the ground now, casting long shadows ahead of them. Even with the darkening sky's though he could begin to make out a space between where the mountain they currently traversed met with another creating a narrow valley between them. "We're almost to the pass."

They all looked ahead, spotting the pass. It was still a little ways away, and they would have to continue travelling even after the moon appeared. The first screams from the wyrvens began to resonate across the mountains. Maurelle shifted in her saddle. "Merlin, are you going to be able to stay awake tonight? You're exhausted from the fight earlier."

Merlin looked to her and took a deep breath. "I have to. Kilgharrah the pass is too narrow for Kilgharrah to fly through, and there's no safe place for him to land close enough. I may be tired, but I have no chose. I can only hope the wyrvens won't bother us to much tonight." He looked ahead again, as Níl landed on his shoulder. He turned to the bird, "Fly ahead to the pass. Find The Order of the Ravens." The falcon flew ahead, and Merlin hoped The Order would understand that they were coming, but had been delayed. Merlin slouched in his saddle, trying to keep from dozing off.

Alright this is important!

I currently have a poll up that you should all vote on. Pretty much I want to know if you all want me to make this story longer and probably get darker, and have some... other characters show up in the story.

Or do you want me to do a shorter story, and not have those other characters pop up, but rap this up with a few unanswered questions at the end, write a sequel, and have those characters pop up for totally different reasons in the sequel.

I know exactly how both options would go for the most part and this is pretty much all I can tell you without ruining it. The problem is I can't decide. So I'm asking all of you out there. And if you can't put something in the poll, you can leave a review for me with your answer. I'll be counting them all up after the next three or four chapter because both plots are the same up until then.

...

Takes deep breath. OK now that that's out of the way...

Just for those who were wondering, yes the wind on the mountains in this story was inspired by the wind knocking down trees outside my window. That and mountains tend to have really strong wind gusts anyways...

I'm not sure how happy I am with how the fight with the bull creature went. And for those who want to know tarw efydd means bronze bull. At least that's what I was told so I could be wrong. But whatevs. No changing it now. And wow... I think this i the longest A/N I've written so far...

Anyways, hope you like it! And happy reading... or writing.