AN.: Welcome back. Enjoy the read.
They sat still, their backs pressed against the trunk of the fallen tree, their sensitive ears picking up every sound around them, which were amplified by their own fear. Their warm breath danced through the cold air in front of them before it evaporated. The coldness seeped through their clothes and dug its way deeper until it was crawling under their skin. The wind was whispering to them creating illusions of phantoms, the ghosts of those who were lost. The only movement that could be spotted was their chests rising and sinking rapidly. They didn't dare to make a move as they waited for something to happen. Above them, the sounds of Kilgharrah fighting off the wyverns had finally died down, but Gwaine feared that they were still far from save. The dragon had told them himself that he was able to feel Merlin because of their relationship as dragon and dragonlord. If the wyverns had arrived because Merlin had subconsciously ordered them to come here, then it might also be possible that they were able to feel Merlin's presence. Gwaine's breath hitched in his throat when he heard something; Behind them in the undergrowth, a twig snapped. Slow, dragged-out steps sounded over to them on a wave of wind. A rattling breath and a low grumble made the hair on the back of their necks stand up. Gwaine didn't even realize that he was holding his breath until the pressure in his lungs became too much and he had to take in a big gulp of the fresh, cold night air. Next to him, Merlin was concentrating on something; His eyes were half-lidded and his eyebrows knitted. His lips were pressed into a thin line and his face even took on an unusual shade of color. Gwaine wasn't used to see Merlin like that. The sound which had been directly behind them moved away and soon faded away in the distance. They remained unmoving for a few seconds longer until Merlin dared to whisper.
"I can feel Kilgharrah calling out to me on our mental link. He says that he managed to scare most of the wyverns away, but we still need to be careful. I tried to scan our surroundings-" Suddenly, his clear blue eyes were as wide as saucers, staring into the open before them.
"They are coming, I can sense them." Merlin whispered, not daring to look at Gwaine. "And if I can sense them, they can probably sense me as well. I'm putting us in danger." Merlin's voice was barely above a whisper now. Gwaine looked at Merlin and grabbed his hand, holding onto it to let his own warmth sink into Merlin's ice-cold fingers and to grab his attention. As soon as Merlin looked at Gwaine, the knight made sure to convey that it wasn't Merlin's fault through his eyes, hoping that it would reach the self-conscious warlock, who had an exceptional talent to hide his light under a bushel. Merlin's face told Gwaine that he understood as his soft lips slowly formed into a small smile. They stayed like that for a drawn out second before Merlin started to move, his face contorting into a serious expression. Gwaine followed his idea and stood slowly. He had to steady himself by holding on to the tree; his legs were numb because of the coldness and the uncomfortable position they had sat in. Without a word, Merlin started to proceed through the woods, determination in every step he took, following a path which was unknown to Gwaine.
Suddenly, Merlin stopped dead in his tracks, causing Gwaine to slam right into his fragile friend. They tumbled to the floor together, coming to a halt with Merlin on top of Gwaine. Gwaine opened his mouth to ask if Merlin was alright, but Merlin stopped him by pressing his hand down on Gwaine's mouth to silence him.
"Shh." Merlin ducked down, looking at something in front of them. "They are ahead of us. And behind us… We are trapped."
Merlin didn't realize that he was still pressing his hand down on Gwaine's lips, so Gwaine gently grabbed his hand and removed it. "I can fight them. I don't have my armour but I brought my sword along. I can protect us."
"No Gwaine, it's too dangerous, there are too many wyverns." Merlin got off of Gwaine and knelt next to him in the dirt. "…Perhaps I could order them to leave."
"But then you have to use your magic, don't you? It might be too dangerous." Gwaine interjected.
"We have no choice. I will order them to leave us alone with all my might as a dragonlord." Merlin and Gwaine got up and walked ahead. Gwaine drew his sword, the steel glinting in the dim moonlight. They stepped around a big tree into a small, grassy clearing, which was surrounded by unforgiving darkness. There was an earsplitting screech coming out of the forest in front of them and then, three wyverns stepped into the moonlight. Gwaine forgot how to breathe for a second; He had seen wyverns before, yes, but it was still a breathtaking sight, especially when being that close to them. The wyverns almost looked like a mixture between a bird and a snake. They each had a set of horns on top of their scaly heads. These scales were as dark as the night sky and were glinting in the moonlight, making appear slick. Their eyes were red and it almost seemed like hellfire was burning within them. They had their teeth bared, a long and dripping wet tongue was clicking against the dagger like teeth. Unlike the majestic dragon Gwaine had met earlier, the wyverns were barely bigger than a human. Their fluid movements assured that they had great reflexes and were used to act on instinct. There was a bone-chilling grumble deep in their throats, saliva dripping out of their snouts to the forest floor. They moved their heads around to look at their prey from every angle, flapping their black wings in excitement.
Merlin stepped protectively in front of Gwaine, straightening his back, puffing out his chest and holding out a hand, his palm towards the wyverns, he roared words in a language unbeknownst to Gwaine.
"Nun ge dei s'eikein kai emois epe'essin hepesthai!"The roar was deafening and after Merlin had finished his command, the time seemed to have stopped for at least a few seconds. There was no movement; The wyverns stood still, not knowing how to react to the sudden command of a dragonlord. Merlin was breathing heavily and Gwaine adjusted his grip on the hilt of his sword, his knuckles whitening. Then, slowly, the wyverns took a step backwards, retreating into the woods.
"It worked!" Gwaine couldn't help himself from shouting out loud as soon as he saw the wyverns retreating. Then, out of nowhere, there was a scream behind him; Gwaine had barely enough time to turn around, pulling his sword along and ripping the hilt upwards to prevent the wyvern's claws from slicing across his face. The claws struck his blade, the sound which was created reverberated around the clearing. Gwaine was pushed backwards because of the force from the impact, avoiding the other claw, which was swung at him, that way by mere centimeters.
"Gwaine!" Merlin's shout was lost in the chaos as Gwaine used his sword to prevent another claw-strike from finding its target. Then, there was a tail slapping against his shins, causing Gwaine to lose the ground under his feet. He fell into the dirt, managing to hold his sword protectively in front of him and preventing the wyvern, which was now on top of him, to bite his head off. The dagger-like tools in its mouth were snapping shut a blink away from the tip of Gwaine's nose. Gwaine had one hand pressed against the cutting edge of his sword while the other was gripping the hilt with all the strength he could muster. He felt a sharp pain in one hand and there was a tickle of warm fluid dripping down his wrist onto the ground, but all Gwaine could see was the hellmouth opening and closing aggressively in front of him and all he could think was 'Is Merlin safe?' His answer came shortly afterwards when Gwaine heard another command roared by the dragonlord close by.
"Nun de ge dei s'eikein kai emois epe'essin hepesthai!" Nearby, a flock of cackling crows left the roof of the woods and flew in the opposite direction. Gwaine's struggle decreased as the beast broke off his hunt for prey. The wyvern got off from Gwaine and tentatively retreated and took cover. Breathing heavily, Gwaine sat up, wiping sweat off his face with a shaking hand and inspected the injured hand by holding it closely to his face. There was a deep cut from his own sword.
"Gwaine!" Merlin was next to Gwaine in an instant, inspecting the cut as well. To Gwaine's relief, he was unharmed. "I'm so sorry! All the wyverns which were close by should've listened to my command and leave us alone, but it must've been too weak and therefore didn't reach the wyvern which attacked you." Merlin's words were laced with worry.
"Merlin, I'm alright. You tend to forget that I am a knight of the round table from Camelot. I can deal with a cut. It's nothing to worry about." Merlin looked at Gwaine, not convinced.
From the corner of his eye, Gwaine spotted movement behind Merlin. Something was charging at his friend with deadly intend; A wyvern was flying towards Merlin near ground level, claws outstretched and ready to take lifes. Without a word of warning, Gwaine hugged Merlin close and threw himself together with Merlin to the ground, aiming for cover but the wyvern was already too close for him to do something else besides hugging his friend for dear life. The claw came anyway and sliced through clothes and flesh mercilessly. It had struck Gwaine's back. The pain came instantly, making him cry out loud. Merlin begun to struggle within Gwaine's still tight grip as he tried to break free. Gwaine's vision faded for a moment and there was a high-pitched sound in his ears. His breathing increased and the pulsing pain on his back prevented him from noticing the small bundle of warlock who struggled within his grip.
"Gwaine! You have to let go of me!" Merlin screamed at his friend while struggling, but the only answer he received was a pain-filled groan. Then, Merlin saw the wyvern again; It had turned around and aimed for Gwaine's back again, trying to finish the job.
Right then and there, Merlin was beyond angry. All of a sudden, the anger boiled up from within him. It was his fault that the peace treaties were probably going to fail. His fault, that Arthur had to shoulder another burden which was way to heavy for someone alone. His fault that Gaius had been injured and had to suffer and worry about his ward because said ward didn't even manage to make the right decisions. And it was his fault that Gwaine was injured and fighting for his life to protect someone who was as useless as Merlin right now. Merlin didn't want Gwaine to make that sacrifice. He didn't deserve someone acting as selfless as the pain-ridden knight embracing him, willing to sacrifice it all. But most of all, he was angry with himself. Angry for being powerless.
He embraced that anger, holding onto it, feeding upon it and he used it to fuel his power.
"Nun de ge dei s'eikein kai emois epe'essin hepesthai!" The wyvern stopped mid-flight and crashed to the floor, crying out, getting up shakily and fleeing into the woods like a hurt animal. Around them, the air was filled with the terrified screeches of other retreating wyverns. They were finally safe. Gwaine must've also somehow registered that the danger was gone, because his breathing calmed down and his squeezing embrace loosened up.
"Gwaine!" Merlin was finally able to snake out of his friend's arms and sat down next to the knight. The sight of his back was gruesome; Merlin could see the maltreated flesh beneath the blood soaked-through, tattered clothes. Carefully, Merlin peeled the fabric aside and looked at the claw-shaped marks which were dragged across Gwaine's back. The cuts itself were not that deep, but the mark covered a big amount of Gwaine's back. 'It must hurt a lot' Merlin thought. Gwaine answered that thought with another groan.
"Merlin?" Face still down in the dirt, Gwaine started to move carefully. As soon as he moved the muscles on his back, he hissed loudly and stilled his movements to ease the pain.
"He got me good, didn't he?" Gwaine asked, turning his head to the side to glance up at Merlin.
"The claw marks are extensive, but not that deep. But I can imagine that it must hurt a lot." Merlin sighed and pressed the palms of his hands into the sockets of his eyes. "I'm so sorry Gwaine. It's all my fault." Gwaine looked at his conflicted friend from his position on the ground. Without a word, Gwaine moved, biting through the pain, sat up and took one hand from Merlin into his. He then held it up and looked at it for closer inspection.
"Mhhm, weird… It doesn't seem like your nails match the marks on my back. Then it wasn't you, and it certainly wasn't your fault." Merlin looked at the knight in front of him, who smiled at him.
"Merlin? Thank you for saving me. Again, I guess." Gwaine gripped Merlin's shoulder to assure him that everything was alright. Merlin shook his head at the knight's behavior but Gwaine saw the smile that creeped its way onto Merlin's face. The warlock took of his neckerchief and covered the injury on Gwaine's back as best as possible to prevent dirt from getting into the wound. Then, he helped Gwaine stand up and let his friend lean on him as they slowly made their way back to Camelot.
"Gaius is going to kill me." Merlin muttered.
"He is going to kill us." Gwaine said. They both sighed simultaneously and wobbled back towards home.
AN.: Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it.
Q: How am I doing with writing action scenes. Are they satisfying to read?