Merlin kept his sword raised, simply staring at the beings before him. They stared back, albeit angrily. They stood there for a few moments, sizing each other up, before Aithusa let out a grunt of frustration and stamped her foot.
"Enough of this," she growled, projecting her thoughts to all those present. "Hashna, you must have known that it was I that landed in the meadow." The angel in the lead of the troop of menacing women spoke in a lilting voice.
"And you, Aithusa, have been with us long enough to know that we simply heard the call of death through the trees. It is our duty to guard this forest, and we care for it as if every blade of grass is our kin. Each tree-"
"Yes, yes, I've heard it all before. But that is no reason to attack me." Another one of the angels spoke from behind Hashna.
"In truth, it was not you that caught our attention." Her startling green eyes locked onto Merlin's as she spoke. "It was the creature riding upon your back as though you were nothing but a common mule."
"Hush, Alula," hissed Hashna, but Alula still glared daggers at Merlin as he made to dismount.
"But," asked another standing beside Alula. "What is it that rides on you, Aithusa? I've never seen anything like it in the forest." All the others nodded wonderingly, accept for Hashna, who stared at Merlin with what he guessed was wonder.
"Dare I believe it?" she whispered, stepping toward Merlin, unthreatening. Merlin stilled as she came closer, even though he wished he could step away. She kept walking until her face was inches from his. He noticed that she had lines around her eyes that he hadn't seen before. He supposed that she was the oldest of the group. She lifted a hand cautiously and ran a finger along the stubble on his chin. She jerked her hand back as though he had slapped her. "It is!" she exclaimed, stepping back. "A man!"
"A man?!" exclaimed the others, looking at Merlin with renewed interest. Chattering broke out amongst them.
"But I've only heard of those in stories!"
"They're wingless? I never knew. What a shame."
"They're taller than I imagined."
"Where's all his hair? What is that growing out of his face?"
"Hush now," chastised Hashna. "He's not some animal for you to stare at. If you can't handle seeing strange things in the woods, you won't be allowed in at all." This earned silence from the group, as though being barred from the forest were equal to a death sentence. Hashna turned to Merlin once more. "Are there more of you in the forest? Or are you the only one?"
Merlin was about to assure Hashna that he was, indeed, alone, when he remembered something quite important. He clapped a hand to his forehead. "No! I'm not alone. I have a friend that I left in the woods all alone, and I forgot him until now. His name is the Doctor, and he's frozen solid." He was really panicking now. What a friend and companion he had been! His heart was beating fast and his breathing became shallow as he imagined all of the horrible things that could have happened to the Doctor in his absence. "There was nothing I could do, so I left him with some blankets and a heater, and went to scout the area for some help, when I got cornered by frogs and-"
Aithusa roared loudly, leaving his ears ringing as well as silencing him.
"Enough with this senseless talk! I shall find him and bring him here for the Enkeli to heal. Now, Merlin, give me this Doctor's general position. I shall find him." Merlin assumed that the "Enkeli" were the angels, who were still staring at him shamelessly in blatant wonder. Merlin described the Doctor's location, and she took off once more, leaving yet more ruts in the earth of the meadow, earning a chorus of hisses from the angels, who flinched as though Aithusa's claws were carving into their own flesh.
They stood there awkwardly for a time, neither party speaking, the Enkeli staring and whispering among themselves, and Merlin shifting uncomfortably with the sensation of being examined through a microscope. Finally, Hashna withdrew from the group of angels, and approached Merlin once again.
"I'm afraid that we have no authority to decide what to do with you," she said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "We are but Cemen, guardians of beings who cannot speak for themselves. I believe that this is a matter for our Ayal: we haven't seen a man in thousands of years. Forgive my garrison, they have never seen the likes of you, and they're quite excited by drama."
"That's an understatement," answered Merlin, looking over Hashna's shoulder at the still whispering group of angels. Hashna smiled.
"I would advise you not to make jokes around other members of my kind," she chastised lightly, "Many are not old enough to remember the ways of humans. Though truthfully, I believe that the loss of humor was a quite a sacrifice for the good of our kind."
"Why? What happened?" Merlin asked quickly. He was not about to waste a chance to talk to and extraterrestrial being who seemed willing to speak openly. But, she only smiled again.
"All in good time," she answered. Merlin frowned, disappointed. "Do not look so morose. I merely think that this matter is something for the Ayal to discuss. Again, those of my station and I, put quite frankly, don't care for matters of state. We are content to reside in the forest, and care for it. As a result, I know next to nothing of legal affairs, those are reserved for the Maethor and the Ayal. Now, come, and let us take you to them, for the forest is filled with dangers."
They began to walk in an uncomfortable silence, the angel that insulted Merlin, Alula, sulking near the back, her eyes burning into the back of Merlin's skull. After a few minutes of this guarded quietness, Merlin had had quite enough.
"You keep using all of these strange words," he began, and the angels startled when he spoke; he supposed this was because of his voice, which seemed to be pitched 3 octaves lower than theirs. "Maethor? Ayal? Cemen? What do these words mean? If I am to help with whatever problem that has befallen you, I would like to understand the laws of your people."
"Those words you mention are the names of our ranks," Hashna replied. "Our positions in life. The Maethor are our warriors, the Cemen spirits of nature, those who protect and learn from it. The Ayer is our ruler, what you would call a queen. We also have the Kal, our seers, the Dariger, our healers, and," her voice took on an almost reverent hush, "the Amil. The caretakers of our young."
"Young?" Merlin asked, "From what I understand, you are all female. How can you reproduce if you have no male counterpart?"
"Our children are not born of our flesh. They are born of the earth, and of magic." This caught Merlin's attention.
"How is this possible?" he asked.
"Our young are born in a sacred place, and are cared for by the Amil until they are old enough to begin living within our ranks."
"And what is this place called?" Merlina asked.
"The place from which our children emerge from the earth is named cristalla hl¯æw: it is the most sacred of places, and most have only beheld it at the time of their birth." Merlin stopped walking. Could it be? Or could it be some mistake? Maybe his brain had been addled by the events of that day, but cristalla hl¯æw sounded an awful lot like the Ancient Language's name for,
"The Crystal Cave?" he asked.