Chapter Seventeen

Arthur fell back into the chair, exhausted.

"You can tell Gaius, his roof is fixed."

"Here," Merlin handed him a cup of water.

"Thanks."

"It's late. Gaius should be back soon. You should stay for dinner," said Merlin, sitting down next to Arthur.

"And eat Gaius' cooking?"

"It's better than yours."

Arthur grimaced. "I think I'll take a good poison instead. Besides, Gwen's having me over."

"Sometimes I think the only reason you're seeing her is because she feeds you," Merlin said with a wink.

Arthur laughed. "What about you Merlin? There must be some girl, in the whole of Camelot, you're interested in."

Merlin shrugged and shook his head. "No, not really." He bit his lip and then glanced nervously towards Arthur. "There's this woman."

"Really?" Arthur grinned at him.

"No, it's not like that. Not at all like that," said Merlin firmly. "I like talking to her. That is more decidedly *it*. We share a common interest in….gardening," he lied. He wanted Arthur's advice about Morgause but knew he had to tread carefully.

"You garden?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know that," Arthur frowned.

"Well I…keep it a secret. And it's hard keeping it a secret sometimes because…it's very much a part of who I am. And she gardens. So we talk about gardening…and it's really nice to have someone to talk to about gardening."

"Gardening?" asked Arthur skeptically.

"Yes." Merlin tried to sound innocent.

"You could always talk about gardening to me," suggested Arthur doubtfully.

"Err, no," said Merlin firmly, "You'd really have to 'garden' yourself to understand. But the thing is she's not…while it's amazing to have someone to talk to about gardening…I don't know that I trust her."

"Trust her?" Arthur looked at Merlin skeptically. "What? You're afraid she'll steal all your gardening secrets or something?"

"No…" Merlin searched for the best way to phrase things. "I just think she might be a bad person. At the same time, talking to her about gardening is very…freeing."

Arthur looked skeptically at Merlin but then smiled and leaning back looked up at the ceiling. "I suppose you could always-"

"What's that?" asked Merlin abruptly.

Arthur glanced towards the front door. He heard distant shouts and what sounded like feet running.

Arthur rose and made towards the doorway, Merlin following behind him. As they came out onto into the courtyard the first thing that struck them both was how dark the night had become. Then they saw several people clustered together looking up in the sky and two guards running down towards the gate.

Stepping out into the open space Arthur looked up. The moon was bloated out by a large dark shadow. It wasn't a cloud or anything else he could readily explain.

He glanced towards Merlin.

"Amon?" Arthur suggested.

"I don't suppose all he's going to do is make it really really dark tonight?" asked Merlin hopefully. Screams immediately started erupting from further in the city.

"Merlin, go into the castle!"

"Where are you going?"

"To the lower city, I need to find Gwen!" Arthur started towards the gate but stopped as he heard what sounded like snarls and one of the guards yelling. He moved several feet closer when the body of one of the soldiers came flying through the air, landing with a thud directly to his left and then the large dark shape leaped on top of it.

The closest thing it resembled was a giant dog. But it was huge, little shorter then Arthur, and even in the darkness he could see the long pointed fangs. And it was black. With the light from the moon blacked out, everything was in deep shadows but this dog was the blackest thing of all. There was something unnatural about the blackness. And it's eyes glowed a dark, bloody red.

Arthur saw the dead man's sword had skidded from his hand as his body had fallen and he bent and picked it up.

Arthur's hand grasped the sword handle with familiarity. It had been several months now since he had held a sword. The one he had taken with him when he had left to find the druids had been lost at some point along the road, as he had stumbled through the rain returning to Camelot. But as he held a sword now it almost felt as if he had been training with his knights just yesterday. After months of confusion and struggle, this was something he knew. This was something he felt prepared for.

The beast lunged. He threw himself to the left and struck as the beast turned to attack again. He cut it across its left shoulder but it hardly seemed to daze the creature. It raised its front paw and the sharp claws at least three inches long seemed to gleam from within with a dark, shadowy light of their very own. It slashed down at Arthur as he raised his sword to parry it.

Two knights came running out of the castle; one was shouting something towards the remaining soldiers at the gate while the second moved into help Arthur.

Merlin watched anxiously from the side. He kept being on the verge of helping but he couldn't see a way of doing it without being noticed. He did however realize Arthur and the knight were having trouble seeing. In the inky blackness they could only aim for the dog's general direction, they couldn't see too clearly what they hitting at. He glanced around him quickly and then hurrying towards old crates he whispered a few magic words and flames sprung up, illuminating the courtyard.

The flames flew up just as the beast slashed again with his paw. Arthur dodged it easily but the knight was slower and caught the blow on his shoulder, it threw him down to ground and blood poured from the wound. The beast stood over its fallen enemy and raised its paw again to deliver the killing blow. Arthur leaped forward and slashed.

The animal raised it head and howled in pain as the end of its paw separated from the rest of it. Arthur lunged again, slitting the throat. The beast fell backwards.

Arthur knelt down beside the fallen knight.

"Sir Leon, can you move?"

The man grunted in pan.

"Merlin!" Arthur called, "Help me carry him into the castle."

Carrying Leon together, the two men were able to move him inside. They met Gaius in the large entrance hall and taking one look at the hurt knight he quickly directed them to take him into a bedroom and he started examining the wound.

Gaius was able to stop the bleeding and gave Leon something to help him sleep, but he looked grave as he walked away.

He heard Arthur's hurried description of events and frowned. "Come, we must see Uther."

Arthur wanted to protest but as Merlin quickly started following Gaius, he sighed and fell into step too. After all, the beast was dead and everything seemed to have happened quickly. Gwen was probably alright, and he should probably know what was happening before rushing off to find her.

The three reached the throne room. Several knights were in anxious consultation with Uther and there was tension in the air.

"Your Majesty," said Gaius, approaching the king quickly. "In the courtyard, it seems there was-"

"Yes," Uther interrupted. "I already know."

"Arthur was able to kill it. I am almost certain these are not natural beasts, but magical."

"Do you have any idea what kind of magic?" demanded Uther.

"From his and Merlin's description I believe them to be Shadow Hounds. Very powerful, very deadly."

"But obviously, killable?"

"Yes, they have two weaknesses that I am aware of."

"What?"

"They are the most powerful in the dark. Light, any form of light, will weaken them. It's the only hope to destroy them, but even with firelight they are extremely deadly. However they are only borrowed creatures, summoned from another realm, and can only last the night."

"So we can wait them out?"

Gaius looked alarmed. "You mean there were more of them?"

"Yes. I've already received reports of several of these beasts in the city. Three knights have already fallen to them. We've closed off the gates and they seem largely restricted to the lower city now. Let us prey they do not break through. I've sent several soldiers down to attempt to evacuate some of the people but…one man returned…only one. He…" Uther shook his head sadly.

"You have to send more! Send the knights!" burst in Arthur.

"They'd be cut down! I cannot afford to send the knights," said Uther, angrily. "Magic is at foot here and this may not be the end of it. The rest of the city for the time is safe, but they would be severely compromised if I sent the knights into the lower city! We were barely able to close the gates to prevent any more of those things through to the rest of the town, we lost several men in the process. If we open them now I doubt we would be able to secure them again."

"You can't leave people to die!" shouted Arthur. Right now the rage he was feeling towards his father matched what he had felt when he had first learned the truth of his mother's death. He felt himself grip his sword instinctively as the fury rushed through him. Gwen could be cut off down there, locked in the lower city with those 'things' and Uther was refusing to send help.

"I will do what is best for me people!" thundered Uther, "And you will remember your place!"

Arthur calmed down. He nodded curtly. "I can't leave the people to die. My place is with them." He turned and walked quickly out of the throne room.

Merlin exchanged one quick glance with Gaius. Gaius saw the look in his eyes and he opened his month to say something, but before he could Merlin had turned and was following Arthur out.

AN: I hope no one minds a slow moving story...while everything in this story was planned out before I started writing I didn't actually expect it to always take so long to get from point A to point B, and there's still a ways to go. Sorry :-).