Chapter Twenty-Three
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
The two-pronged attack began just before the freezing dawn, with a herd of enchanted wyverns forcing through Merlin's wards to the south of Llanfair PG, followed by a group of soldiers...led by the sorcerer Edwin himself...storming the northern edge of Menai Bridge.
Gwaine happened to be in Menai Bridge after a night patrol, and between individual skirmishes with masked opponents, witnessed Merlin's brief battle with Edwin. The warlock teleported himself from the other village the moment he sensed the enemy sorcerer within his wards, leaving Aithusa, Arthur, and the available Knights of Anglesey to deal with the wyverns.
Edwin seemed to quickly realize he didn't stand a chance against a fully-matured Merlin. Setting multiple occupied buildings on fire as a distraction, he slipped away while the warlock rushed to save the trapped villagers and Gwaine, among others, took out the few remaining non-magic enemies.
"They're testing our defenses," Merlin said when it was over. "My defenses. This is just the beginning."
Even without him saying it, everyone knew it was the truth.
This is just going to get worse.
Perhaps the only good thing to come from the attack was the two wyverns Aithusa had knocked out the sky for Hayden to trap. As Merlin was busy, Morgana was actually the one to rid the creatures of the last of Nimueh's enchantments, and Hayden chose to keep them alongside Amber.
"This one...she's little more than a baby," Hayden told Gwaine furiously as he paced alongside his newly-constructed wyvern pens. Amber grumbled at him; the other two, still exhausted from everything, stayed asleep. "Damn Nimueh. Those wyverns didn't want to fly straight into certain death; she forced them. Several died just trying to get through the island's wards! Anyway, she's not getting her hands on these two. I'm naming the smaller one Beryl. The other's Cinnabar. Take a look at his eyes sometime he's awake...wyvern eyes are always red but his are the deepest red I've ever seen."
"I'll take your word for it right now," Gwaine said as Amber let out a hissing shriek. Hayden moved over to calm her down; she already seemed to be responding well to him. Once a wyvern tamer, always a wyvern tamer.
The attacks kept coming. Some seemed more like tests than actual attempts to cause damage. Within the span of two weeks, an abandoned village on Anglesey's north coast was set on fire and a neglected dam on a reservoir was destroyed. In both cases, the fire and flood damage occurred away from inhabited portions of Anglesey. The island's human residents found out via Merlin's extensive alarm spells.
Other attacks were not so harmless. A patrol along the coastline south of the main villages faced a mix of enemy soldiers and wyverns. The ensuing skirmish resulted in the invaders being repelled at the cost of two dead and most of the survivors injured, including Sir Leon.
Another attack involved a herd of serkets being released just north of Menai Bridge. As Aithusa was somewhere over Scotland at the time, taking them out without getting fatally stung proved to be a nasty business, even with Merlin assisting. Unfortunately for everyone, much of the warlock's energy and concentration was constantly taken up by keeping the wards strong enough to avoid a major breach.
"These things could've stayed in the past!" Arthur yelled as he ducked yet another stinger; Gwaine took that moment to attack it from the other side."What's next: Wilddeoren?!"the king bellowed as he wheeled around to help.
"Don't jinx it, Arthur!" Merlin shouted, blowing up three with a hand-wave.
What did show up next were Elanthia beetles; over two dozen people went into unexplained comas before Merlin and Gaius caught on to the cause. No one died, but it was a close thing in several cases.
"Damn Edwin!" Merlin was heard to yell. "When I get my hands on him…"
Gaius apparently held a similar grudge. "You'll have to get in line, Merlin!" was his response to Emrys's outburst.
Besides the more "exotic" attackers, more and more enemy warriors kept slipping through the cracks to cause havoc, sometimes in twos in threes, sometimes by the dozen. Every time they were driven out. Every time, they came back.
Winter advanced with alternating rain, snow, and wind. Every day seemed colder than the last. The amount of Anglesey casualties caused by the continuous raids reached at least two dozen. Various illnesses kept sweeping through the villages, only kept somewhat under control by the tireless work of the healers and more than a little magic.
Gwaine kept himself busy doing his part to protect Anglesey. Even with all the tasks he took upon himself...patrolling, training, even repairing weather-damaged houses...he slept uneasily, plagued by dread.
Same as everyone, I expect. Everyone's working themselves to the bone this winter.
Merlin had it the worst. Despite his centuries of experience and massive power, Gwaine could tell that his old friend was stretched thin. He barely left the island anymore, leaving the distant scouting to Aithusa, and spent his days and nights modifying and strengthening protective spells, responding to every new attack as soon as he sensed it occurring, and using magic to search the land as best he could for any signs of their greatest enemy. And as always, he did it with little or no complaint besides the occasional "grumpy old man" outburst.
At this point, half of these attacks are probably to keep him occupied and unable to find Nimueh...or the Cup of Life, which is probably the key to defeating her at this point.
He voiced this idea to Merlin one evening as they were walking to Llanfair from Menai Bridge...Aithusa was off scouting yet again...and his friend responded first with a heavy sigh. "You are completely right. Aithusa and I have reason to believe Nimueh's probably lost most of her allies by this point...I'm sure some will turn up to cause trouble sometime...but she's got an endless supply of thrall soldiers...and Edwin. He's doing most of the attacking right now, doing her dirty work for her...Next time he actually shows his face on this island…"
A few days later, in the middle of a day-long sleet storm, Edwin did show up on Anglesey...along with a battalion and another flock of enchanted wyverns.
What followed turned into the closest thing to a full-fledged battle anyone had dealt with since the old days of Camelot. A group of knights...plus a recently-returned Aithusa...had to be sent to protect the island's livestock from the attacking wyverns. Hayden went with them to help keep the animals under control, something Gwaine only found out because Elen shouted it into his mind as he rushed with many others to defend Llanfair's outskirts from about half of Edwin's forces. Meanwhile, Arthur and Merlin led another mounted group of knights to Menai Bridge to confront the remainder of the enemy soldiers and Edwin himself.
With everything and everyone obscured by sideways sleet and roaring wind, it was pandemonium. Gwaine could barely see each opponent, let alone Percival, Haralda, Elyan, and all the others fighting alongside him. The only person he did get occasional glimpses of was Morgana, and that was because she kept throwing fireballs.
Whatever gets the job done, I guess, as he himself used a spell to hurl several enemies to the ground at once.
Just as they managed to defeat the last enemy soldier and were regrouping, an injured new recruit on horseback came tearing down the road from Menai Bridge with word that the other knights needed backup. "We're being overwhelmed…the warlock is fighting the other sorcerer out in a field…the dragon isn't with him yet..."
Gwaine was helping to figure out who could still fight and who needed medical attention when he heard his sister's voice in his head. Gwaine…
Kinda busy here, Elen… "Elyan, you coming with us?"
The other man grimaced and prodded the deep cut across his right shoulder. "Don't think so, Gwaine...This arm won't hold up long. I'll help make sure the other injured get to the medical center."
"Good man. Have you…"
Gwaine, this is serious!
Not now, Elen!
In that conversation's pause that followed, Gwaine confirmed that Percival, Haralda, Morgana, and about twenty more knights were ready to rush to the other village. Great, we should be enough to turn the tide at this point...now if Merlin could just…
Gwaine!
It was more of a scream this time, and it brought him to a standstill as the others moved out under Percival's shouted commands. Elen? What's happening?
I… A wave of nauseating pain hit him through their mental connection. I'm going into labor. And no one else is home...The twins are fighting with Arthur, I think Mary and family are at the schoolhouse, Hertha, too, the medical center is already getting overwhelmed...and Hayden...
Her voice cut off in other wave of pain, and Gwaine struggled not to gag. "Shit!"
"What's going on?"
He glanced up to see Morgana staring at him, black hair plastered to her head by sleet, sword in hand, expression one of concern.
Everyone's already rushing elsewhere… "My sister's having her baby...she's alone…" I don't know what to do.
Morgana didn't hesitate. "Go to her. We've got this covered."
When he didn't move, she let out a frustrated noise. "Look, I've given birth before. Trust me, your sister needs you right now. Go."
Perhaps for the first time ever, Gwaine listened to Morgana Pendragon and took off at a run.
On my way, sister.