A/N: Okay, brand new AU that will have 15 episodes. FYI, everything you recognize as canon in this has been tweaked in some way.
Chapter 1
Merlin strolled down the stone path that wound its way through the Sanctuary, passing various habitats—some sealed with magical shielding, others open for their occupants to roam around. The Sanctuary was an oasis inside a mountain, a magically protected realm that Merlin had created, hidden away from the outside world. Dozens of floating orbs high above glowed with the warm hue of daylight. They followed the course of the sun outside, dimming for sunset and changing to the pale milky white of the moon at night.
Merlin passed a pool and a small glade set at the base of a waterfall streaming down from the cliffside above. He raised his hand in greeting as several shimmering blue balls rose up and chimed their hellos. Up above the Vilia's pool on a high ledge, an old griffin preened his feathers.
Down the lane, Merlin came to Gaius's hut. The old man was out pruning herbs from his garden for his medicinal supplies.
"Morning," Merlin said.
"Ah, good morning, Merlin," Gaius replied genially, only to turn and instantly snap, "Get away you little miscreant!"
Merlin stretched onto his tiptoes to see over the shrubbery. A pixie kept darting in to try to steal some elderberries off the bush.
"Shoo!" Gaius exclaimed, batting it away.
The pixie let out a small mewl and crossed its tiny arms with a pout. Its cheeks began puffing with mounting frustration, and Merlin knew it was on the verge of poking the bear that Gaius could be sometimes, so he whistled sharply to get the little creature's attention.
"Leave it alone," he warned calmly.
The pixie squeaked indignantly and sulked away.
"And stay out!" Gaius called after it.
Merlin shook his head fondly. "You've turned into a right crotchety old man."
Gaius harrumphed. "Who are you calling old?"
Merlin's lips twitched. Gaius wasn't that much older than him, but Merlin was an immortal warlock and therefore didn't age the same way. But he still looked to Gaius as a mentor and uncle, since he was the one to take in a young Merlin after his parents were killed in the Purge fifty years ago.
Gaius finished pruning his herbs, and Merlin picked up the basket on the ground to carry inside for him. The hut was bigger on the inside, just like the entire Sanctuary was bigger on the inside, a clever manipulation of space on Merlin's part to make sure they never ran out of room for those who needed it.
Gaius's hut was lined with bookshelves full of old tomes. Two large work tables stood in the center of the room, and a row of three patient cots lined the right wall. Merlin may have been a powerful warlock, but healing magic had never been one of his strong suits, so he was grateful for Gaius's skills as a physician. Especially since some of their work with the Sanctuary could prove a bit dangerous.
Speaking of which, one of the groundskeepers poked his head through the open door. "Uh, Gaius?" he called a bit nervously.
"Hey, Will," Merlin said.
The young man nodded to Merlin.
"What can I do for you?" Gaius asked, eyeing him shrewdly.
Will came all the way in and guiltily held out his arm, which had a nasty looking burn on it. Gaius went over and cupped his elbow to examine it.
"What did this?" he asked.
"I was cleaning the fire salamander habitat and didn't realize it was sleeping under a pile of dead leaves."
Merlin grimaced in sympathy. "Is it bad?" he asked in concern.
Gaius pursed his mouth as he inspected the injury. "It will hurt for a while, and probably scar, but I can treat it."
Will visibly sagged in obvious relief.
Gaius instructed him to take a seat on one of the cots, and Merlin excused himself to let him work.
The Sanctuary may have been his brain child—a place for magical creatures to live in safety and peace, away from the outside world that frequently persecuted them—but he couldn't run it on his own. And in addition to Gaius and the groundskeepers who lived in the Sanctuary, Merlin also had a group of specialized hunters who worked with him. They went out and rescued creatures that were in need of saving from humans—and for those creatures that were pure evil, they went out to hunt them down and save the humans from them.
Merlin spotted his friends, Lancelot, Gwaine, Elyan, and Percival, gathered at the edge of the target range and made his way over.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Gwen's testing her latest invention," Elyan replied.
Merlin arched his brows, intrigued, and joined the guys at the fence to watch. Gwen and Elyan had been with him a few years, the third longest of his collected family. Merlin had known their father, a blacksmith in Camelot. When Tom had fallen gravely ill, Merlin had sent some magically enhanced medicine from Gaius. He'd never imagined King Uther would suspect Tom's recovery as being unnatural and convict him of sorcery. After his execution, Elyan and Gwen had fled. Merlin had tracked them down and invited them to the Sanctuary. There, Elyan had trained to become a hunter, while Gwen had inherited her father's skill for blacksmithing, and she maintained their gear.
And was constantly working on improvements and new features.
She came strutting out into the middle of the range, wearing heavy padding and holding a five-foot long barrel, which was attached to a flexible conduit affixed to a pack strapped to her back.
"What is that again?" Merlin asked.
"Flamethrower," Gwaine said.
Gwen hefted it up. "Stand back!" she yelled.
Even though they were all already fifteen feet away, they reflexively took another few steps back from the fence.
Gwen aimed at the bare rock face; all the practice targets had been removed, so nothing should catch fire if this contraption worked… She depressed the trigger, and a spurt of fire shot out from the nozzle. But the kickback instantly knocked her backward and she lost her balance, the flames whooshing backwards with her fall.
Merlin shot his hand out and uttered a spell to extinguish the flames. Then he and the others scrambled over the fence to reach her. Elyan and Lancelot dropped down beside her as she struggled to sit up with the weight of her gear. They grabbed her shoulders and eased her upright, patting her down for signs of burns. She appeared to have escaped any, though.
"Are you all right?" Elyan asked urgently.
She nodded and angled her head at the barrel. "Needs more work."
Lancelot rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Guinevere, love, I adore your inventive mind, but please don't do any more work on this one without Merlin or a water creature around."
Gwen sighed. "Very well."
Lancelot and Elyan took her hands and helped her to her feet.
"It did shoot fire, though," she added excitedly.
"That it did," Gwaine remarked, sounding impressed.
They were interrupted by the barrier between the Sanctuary and the outside world shimmering as a messenger falcon flew through. Percival held his arm out for the bird to land, then removed the rolled up note from the small flute attached to its leg.
"It's from one of our contacts in Camelot," he said, reading it. "A griffin is menacing the area."
"Alright then," Merlin said. "Let's gear up."
Percival launched the falcon back into the air to return home, and the hunters made their way to the armory to get ready for the mission.
