The next day they heard their door burst open waking up both Sam and Dean from their slumber. They both looked to Cas who was, of course, awake and he seemed to be confused and concerned at the sudden entrance of whomever entered the room. "Merlin, what's wrong?" They heard Cas ask as they quickly woke themselves up. Dean looked out the window and noticed it was not yet dawn.
"The castle is under attack!" Merlin shouted and noticed that the men in front of him gave each other concerned looks.
"Do you know what's attacking the castle?" Dean asked without turning away from his brother.
"I-I don't know. I've never seen it's like. One of them looked like a normal person but they had eyes black as ebony and seemed to have control these creatures...they were huge, and they looked like a strange type of dog, but they were almost transparent."
That got the brother's attention even further. "Cas...?" Dean asked.
Cas nodded his head sensing the question Dean was about to ask. "It seems he can see hell hounds. Tell me, how many of them did you see?"
"Of the dogs? I saw perhaps three of them, and they are going after people in the outer skirts of the city. They seem to be advancing slowly, but one of the...one of the creatures with black eyes advanced further and started attacking in the lower town, and now he's trying to get into the castle."
Dean sat up and rubbed his face in frustration. "Okay, look...those dogs are called hell hounds. Only demons can control them. If there are demons here then that means the one demon that was working with the witch has friends, and I don't know if the witch has friends. However, it is likely there are more demons than just three. Cas...can you get us dressed appropriately to fight?"
Cas nodded his head and waved his hand. Then, suddenly they were dressed in extremely noble looking armor. "I am so jealous right now! I wish I could get dressed like that."
"Yes well...the occasion called for it. I promise you, Cas doesn't normally do this for us." Dean said as he jumped up from his bed and he quickly noticed that his dagger was no longer a normal dagger. "Cas...how did I end up with an angel blade?"
"Me too." Sam said as he took the blade out of it's decorative sheath.
"I took the liberty of going back to the bunker in our time line and grabbed them for you."
"Well, thanks for that." They immediately left the room with Merlin following behind them.
"The king is in the throne room. He will want to speak with you. Arthur is there as well, he told me to come get you."
"Thank you, Merlin." Dean said as they rushed down the stairs and to the throne room.
Once they made it there the guards immediately opened the doors, and Dean realized that Cas hadn't placed the spell on them and if he did now, he would be arrested and burned for witchcraft. 'Time for improvising.' "Sire, Merlin came to us and told us that there are creatures attacking the castle. He told me of what they looked like. I know these creatures. They are evil and they are the creatures of darkness I told you about."
"The demons?" Uther breathed out, fear evident in his eyes. "And their...their invisible creatures?"
"Those are called hell hounds. They control them, and they are extremely dangerous."
"Have you fought such creatures together with your brother, and your servant?"
"Too many times to count, Sire." Dean cleared his throat, and shoved the sense of pride for how he was holding himself and how we was speaking way down in his gut so it wouldn't screw up his plans or put them in any danger. "My servant, my brother, and myself can handle them by ourselves if you'll let us. I told you of what Castiel has done for me. He is more than capable of vanquishing the demons and their pets."
"At least take my son with you. He is our best fighter, and the future of Camelot."
Dean sighed, sensing he wasn't going to win that argument and nodded. "We will take Arthur and his servant, but you must keep everyone else within the castle walls. That includes your knights. Do we have an agreement, King Uther?"
"Are you certain you can quell this evil?"
"I'm certain, Sire." Dean stated with pride and conviction in his voice.
"Very well, I will call back my knights and I will hold in as many of the towns people as possible. I'm choosing to trust you with my son's life, do not make me regret this."
"You won't, your majesty. Let's go, Samuel!" Dean said as he patted his brother's shoulder and quickly noticed his brother's wide eyes, but chose to ignore it for the moment.
Once they all got outside, they noticed that Uther was keeping to his word as he called all of his knights back and instructed them to bring as many civilians as possible. Arthur came up beside Dean ready to battle, and Merlin stepped besides Cas ready to do whatever was necessary to keep his friends safe. Meanwhile Sam was standing between Cas and Dean and he looked at Merlin and Cas, then to Dean and Arthur and the dragon was right. They are alike, and it was to the point that it was almost frightening. "Tell me..." He heard Arthur start. "How the hell are we supposed to attack something we can't see?"
Sam smiled briefly as he thought, 'They even talk the same...almost.' He allowed the smile to fade as he began to explain to Arthur how to track the beasts. "Well, there are several ways, but for right now, just look for tracks in the dirt out of place or things getting knocked over around you. We will help you, but right now I believe we should be looking for anyone who is still out here and seemingly calm considering the events happening at the moment." Sam tried to sound as distinguished as Dean had sounded when he spoke to Uther without the spell on them, but it didn't come out the same and for that, Sam was even more impressed with how Dean was able to hold himself in front of King Uther.
"I can do that. I suspect that your servant will be able to adequately handle the hounds?"
"He has before." Dean stated with a shrug. "We should pair up, but I don't know who Sam will be paired with."
"Why not pair up with me?" A man said as he rode in on his horse. He jumped off and stood in front of them with his sword ready.
"Gwaine!? What the hell are you doing here? My father said you can't return, he'll kill you!"
"I don't know what to tell ya, mate. You know me and the odds I like."
"Slim to none!" Merlin stated excitedly.
"Right you are, Merlin. Now, how do we fight these beasts and their pets?" He asked as he hit his horses behind making him run away.
"Myself, Castiel, and Sam have special weapons to kill both the demons and the hell hounds. All we need is for the ones without the weapons to fight them off for as long as they can so we can strike and attack."
"Sounds like a plan!" Gwaine said excitedly, and almost as if on cue, a demon walked forward.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Winchesters and their pet angel." The demon clicked his tongue and smiled. "Tch Tch Tch...you would really think that the three of you would learn at some point. Especially you, Dean."
"What does he mean by...pet angel?" Arthur asked seriously.
"Oh...they haven't told you? Well, let me ask you Arthur Pendragon...do you believe in God, Heaven, Hell, and the like?"
"Of course, why are you asking me this?"
"Their servant is much more than a simple servant. He is an actual angel of the lord. A warrior of heaven if you could believe it!" The demon growled out. "And Dean Winchester right there, well...he was one of our most fun occupants in Hell. That is...until Castiel over here decided to grip him tight and drag him out of hell kicking and screaming."
"Dean...is he...is he telling the truth?" Arthur asked as he did not look at Dean, but at Castiel.
"Yes. He speaks the truth, but that doesn't change the fact that he needs to be stopped." Castiel answered.
"We will speak about this further...after the battle." Arthur growled out.
"Ah, no fun!" A woman's voice sounded from behind the demon. She came forward and she had short blonde hair and a blue dress clearly from the Arthurian era. "I was hoping perhaps you would try and burn him for witchcraft."
"Yeah, and who the hell are you supposed to be?" Dean asked ready to kill her where she stood.
"Well, I used to be a friend of Rowena's but then for some reason she has gained a strange sort of conscience if you will. She wants to be a bad witch then she wants to be good then she wants to be bad...and it's all because she met you Winchesters. So, in order to make her see sense I was..."
"You were going to take control of Emrys?" Castiel said carefully, but his voice was still laced with Malice.
"My, you catch on quick." She said as she placed her hands on her hips. "Jeremy, attack them won't you?"
"With pleasure!"
Two other demons showed up and were accompanied with their hell hounds. One went after Dean and Arthur, another went after Sam and Gwaine, but the biggest hell hound went after Merlin and Castiel. Merlin used his magic to cause a rope to wrap around the hell hounds legs, and was filled with pride when it actually worked, then Castiel used his angel blade and pierced it through the beast's heart. "We got the dog, but the demon is still an issue, huh?" Merlin asked and received a quick nod from Castiel just before he dodged an attack from the demon that the hound belonged to.
"Castiel, if you give us Dean Winchester we could work out something. We could just go after the witch."
"I refuse to give Dean Winchester to the likes of you!" Cas made several attempts to cut the demon but he avoided him with ease.
"Oh come on, he treats you like an actual servant. You must realize that he only keeps you around because you're convenient to him, and after all the times he hasn't listened to you, and has thrown you aside..."
"None of that matters!" Castiel shouted and thunder boomed above them. "He is my best friend and yes, he has his faults, but so do I!" Cas advanced and managed to cut the demon's cheek. "I don't care if I'm just convenient or if I turn completely human and no longer have my powers!" He shouted and more thunder sounded as he cut the demons other cheek. "I will protect him and fight for him for as long as I am able with whatever strength I have. We are loyal to each other, and after everything that has happened between us, there is nothing you can ever hope to do that will changed that!" Cas pierced the demon with the angel blade and the demons body immediately went slack and fell to the floor with another loud boom of thunder.
"Y-You really wouldn't care if you were a normal human? If you had no powers?" Merlin asked as he looked at the vanquished demon and hound.
"I've been human before. I've gone without my powers and it was frightening and I didn't understand how to cope...but Dean had still cared for my well being. He had still accepted me, and assisted where he could. Even though every now and then he is intolerable, selfish, arrogant, and condescending he is still also kind, respectful, courageous, strong, and he has a good heart when it matters most. If I were to be human permanently...I would do what I could for him."
"I think...I think I would do the same for Arthur." Merlin said as he watched Arthur and Dean fight off the demon. They had apparently killed the hell hound and were taking turns attacking the demon. "Should we help them?"
"Well, I could easily just smite them all, but I don't think Dean would appreciate that?"
"Why not?"
Cas sighed and shook his head lightly as they watch Dean and Arthur fight as well As Sam and Gwaine who had vanquished the demon first and then went after the hound. "He enjoys fighting. It seems to give him a sense of joy and a rush of sorts."
"Arthur is the same when he goes hunting."
"Well..." Cas chuckled lightly. "...That's exactly what they do. In our time they are called hunters. They hunt creatures like this all the time, and many of them are more dangerous than a few demons and a spiteful witch."
Once Sam and Gwaine managed to kill the hound they came to stand by Cas and Merlin. "What do you think is taken' them so long?" Gwaine asked.
"Dean is probably carrying out the fight." Sam stated with an irritated sigh. "Dean!" He shouted.
"What is it Sammy!?" Dean asked as he was still fighting the demon.
"We're finished with our opponents! Castiel and Merlin defeated theirs before Gwaine and I did, but we're done! Will you hurry it up already?"
"Oh...fine!" He growled out and spun the demon around so he could pierce him in the back. Once the demon laid lifeless on the ground Dean walked over to the others with Arthur following behind him.
"Wait a minute...are you telling me we could've killed the demon sooner?"
"Well, I could've." Dean supplied.
"Well why didn't you?"
"Arthur, I have asked you the same thing when we go hunting. If you can kill it why don't you?"
"Because it destroys the point of a hunt, Merlin."
"And there you have it, Prince Arthur. That's the reason." Dean said with a grin. "Now...where did that witch go?"